Let’s Join the Pope by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2001 After the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center, one of the convicted terrorists told a New York federal judge before sentencing that one of the principal reasons he had committed the attack was because of all the Iraqi children who had died as a result of the U.S. government's ...
The State Cannot Donate by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2001 At the first post-9/11 Christmas, perhaps it is appropriate to draw the distinction between the private and governmental assistance provided to the families of the World Trade Center victims. The outpouring of support from the private sector reflected the caring and compassionate nature of the American people because it came from ...
The Free Market Is Indomitable by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2001 Deep in the November 14 New York Times report on the liberation of Kabul there was this perhaps little-noticed paragraph: "Food appeared plentiful. A central market that lines the road leading into the city had large amounts of fresh meat for sale, fruit juices from Iran and even Coca-Cola, a ...
Half a Win Is Better than None by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2001 Fans of the Second Amendment are rejoicing because a federal appellate court has affirmed that the right to keep and bear arms belongs to individuals, not collectives. Anyone who can read plain English already knew that. But now we have a U.S. appellate court saying so. That can't hurt. The October ruling ...
Recovering Our Bearings by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2001 CHRISTMASTIME ALWAYS PROVIDES a good time both for reflection and for looking forward. While we usually do this as individuals and families, this year is an especially good time to do so as a nation. How did America start, how has it changed over the years, and where are we heading? Our country began as the ...
If Only Freedom Had a Price by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 2001 IF ONLY FREEDOM HAD A PRICE, we would know what each individual thought it was worth. Each individual could express his own valuation and judgment of what he would pay to maintain or increase his freedom and what he would have to receive in exchange to give up some or all ...
Self-Inflicted Violence by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2001 IN OUR RUSH justice for the perpetrators of the horrors of September 11, we seem to have forgotten another kind of violence that is ready to befall America: the self-inflicted violence of an open-ended, comprehensive, and essentially secret global war conducted by the U.S. government against an enemy so amorphous it apparently cannot be ...
The Hopped-Up DEA Chief by James Bovard December 1, 2001 “I WOULD HOPE that we are judged by the lives that are touched and the hope that we give America,” declared Asa Hutchinson, Bush’s new Drug Enforcement Agency chief during a press conference on his first day in his new job. Considering that the DEA seeks to maximize the number of people that it sends to prison each year ...
Settling for an Injustice by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2001 The federal government's antitrust case against Microsoft apparently will end in a settlement. All that remains is for the presiding judge to give her blessing and for some recalcitrant state attorneys general to get on board. It's understandable why Microsoft would acquiesce in a settlement. The long case has been costly. ...
Healing the Health-Care System by Lawrence D. Wilson December 1, 2001 HISTORY CAN OFTEN yield insights into our dilemmas. Health care is no exception. The Founders of America envisioned a health-care system based on principles of the dignity and liberty of every person. They were: 1. A right to work. England’s system of guilds and licenses kept many people out of the healing arts. America would allow anyone to become a doctor ...
Book Review: Ludwig von Mises by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 2001 Ludwig von Mises: The Man and His Economics by Israel M. Kirzner (Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2001); 226 pages; $24.95. LUDWIG VON MISES was, without a doubt, one of the most important economists of the 20th century. Every textbook on comparative economic systems, for example, will point out that it was Mises who initiated the famous debate over economic calculation under ...
The Wolf, the Coyote, and the Sheep by Jacob G. Hornberger November 27, 2001 Americans who are rushing to embrace the federal government's efforts to protect them from terrorists might want to keep in mind the story of the wolf, the coyote, and the sheep. One day the wolf and the coyote got into a battle with each other. In the midst of the fight, the coyote attacked the ...