Lysander Spooner, Part 1 by Wendy McElroy October 1, 2005 Part 1 | Part 2 The 19th-century individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker called Lysander Spooner “our Nestor,” a Greek name denoting “wisdom.” The 20th-century libertarian Murray Rothbard referred to Spooner as “the last of the great natural rights theorists ... the last of the Old Guard believers in natural rights.” Natural-rights or natural-law theory, as espoused by Spooner, is ...
Wal-Mart’s Not Coming to Town by Gregory Bresiger October 1, 2005 Wal-Mart is not coming to my neighborhood. That’s because the powers that be of New York City recently said that Wal-Mart wasn’t wanted here. In fact, given the comments of our political and labor leaders, one would think Wal-Mart was a kind of disease. What are Wal-Mart’s sins? It has ...
Economics for the Citizen, Part 8 by Walter E. Williams October 1, 2005 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Economic theory is broadly applicable. However, a society’s property-rights structure influences how the theory will manifest itself. It’s the same with the ...
Waging War on Carcinogens by Rosalind Lacy MacLennan October 1, 2005 America’s War on “Carcinogens”: Reassessing the Use of Animal Tests to Predict Human Cancer Risk by the American Council on Science and Health (March 2005); $15.95. America’s War on “Carcinogens”: Reassessing the Use of Animal Tests to Predict Human Cancer Risk calls for medical researchers, journalists, and lawmakers to refocus and change the rules of engagement in the war ...
Freedom’s Fair-Weather Friends by Sheldon Richman September 30, 2005 In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, some members of Congress are talking about passing a national law against price gouging. One problem should stand in their way: there is no objective definition of “gouging.” Whatever the law says will therefore be arbitrary and unfair. The 20 states that forbid gouging ...
Leave New Orleans to Private Development by Sheldon Richman September 26, 2005 In the Alice-in-Wonderland world of politics, when government fails, and fails spectacularly as it did with Hurricane Katrina, the only thing to do is give it gobs more money to make everything right. But when has government made anything right? Even when it seems to do something worthwhile, we soon discover ...
Katrina Exposes Government for What It Is by Sheldon Richman September 14, 2005 If a private-sector employee performed as badly as the federal, state, and local governments performed before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina, he would be summarily fired. But the governments will claim their budgets were too small and proceed to extract more money from the taxpayers. Thats how the ...
Ammunition Registration Unworkable by Benedict D. LaRosa September 9, 2005 California, the land of innovative gun-control schemes, is at it again. This time the focus is on regulating ammunition — preferably out of existence — within the state. Democratic State Senator Joseph Dunn has introduced Senate Bill 357, which would require that all handgun ...
A Special Message from Jacob Hornberger by Jacob G. Hornberger September 9, 2005 FFF ALERT: We just received a matching-gift offer of $10,000 from an FFF donor to help us with our radio-outreach program, which is explained in my letter below. Our supporter has committed to match your contribution of $250 or above. That means that if you send us $250, we receive $500; if ...
The Deadly Legacy of the Welfare State Lies in New Orleans by Jacob G. Hornberger September 7, 2005 Among the most tragic scenes in the Hurricane Katrina disaster was that of the thousands of poor people — almost all of whom were African Americans — who were stranded at the New Orleans Superdome and Convention Center, desperately waiting for the federal government to come and save them. Why were they ...
A Methodology for Hope by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2005 A major adverse consequence of the 9/11 attacks has been a feeling of resignation that has come over some advocates of liberty. The feeling is that, given 9/11 and the “war on terrorism,” the omnipotent state is here to stay for the indefinite future. As difficult as it was to restore libertarian principles to our country in the pre–9/11 ...
The Supreme Court Repeals the Constitution by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2005 An unidentified New York Surrogate Court judge famously said in 1866, “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court we now know (if we needed reminding) that life, liberty, and property are in peril even when the legislature is not ...