Daily Articles

Education and the Presidential Race

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2000

THE REPUBLICANS, as the old saying goes, never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Gov. George W. Bush demonstrated that truism when he clinched the presidential nomination and told the nation that education would be at the center of his campaign. Over and over he has said that a Bush presidency would “reform education” and make sure every ...

Of, By, and For the People?

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2000

We live by myths. For example, most of us believe we live in a representative, constitutional republic (sometimes erroneously called a democracy). Everyone learned this at school, and the belief follows most people throughout life. If things are not exactly to their liking, they fall back on the ...

Bush’s Social Security Sham

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2000

GOP presidential hopeful George W. Bush wants to let working people invest some of the money now taken by the Social Security payroll tax. The principle is sound. Money taken by the tax is not invested, but consumed. It pays benefits to current retirees, with anything left over ...

Census Bureau: A Threat to Freedom

by James Bovard June 1, 2000

THERE ARE three certainties in life — death, taxes and the continuation of the Census Bureau’s proud tradition of keeping information it collects about individuals strictly private.” So announces the Census Bureau’s web page, seeking to assure Americans that they have nothing to fear by opening their lives to the prying of this year’s census. Regrettably, after seven years of ...

Gun Control: Where’s the Logic?

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2000

One of the old Bolsheviks is reputed to have said that the best way to destroy a country is to debase its currency. A central bank is well-suited to that mission. But there's another effective way: degrade people's ability to construct or follow a logical argument. Government schools ...

America’s National Culture on the Border

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2000

People who rail that America's "national culture" is threatened by immigrants never explain which national culture they are referring to. I recently visited my hometown of Laredo, Texas, which is located on our nation's Southern border. In grocery stores and department stores half the signs are in Spanish and store ...

Kill the Estate Tax

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2000

Alas, the bill moving through Congress that purports to repeal the estate tax is more valuable for what it reveals about its opponents than for what it would accomplish. The big-government lobby is up in arms about a Republican-sponsored bill, ...

Terrorism … or War?

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2000

As U.S. government officials never tire of telling us, we live in a dangerous world. Terrorism especially is an ever-constant threat, even on American soil. But is it possible that the U.S. government itself is responsible in large part for making the world unsafe for the American people? The Washington Post recently reported that during the past three ...

Count Me Out!

by Carl Watner June 1, 2000

HISTORY DETECTIVES UNITE! What is the common element in the following episodes in American history? • On his march through Georgia, near the end of the Civil War, Gen. William T. Sherman used a map annotated with county-by-county livestock and crop information “to help his troops ’live off the land.’”

It Didn’t Start with Elián

by Michael A. Ledeen June 1, 2000

MOST AMERICANS probably believe that it is wrong for the U.S. to return a refugee to an evil tyranny from which he has escaped even if they question whether this principle applies to a small child like Elián Gonzalez. Most Americans probably also believe that our government has generally acted in accordance with this principle. Not so. Our history of ...

God and the Economy: Is Capitalism Moral? Part 2

by Doug Bandow June 1, 2000

Part 1 | Part 2 Economic Freedom is important because it helps disperse power, allowing the development of private institutions — for instance, associations, corporations, think tanks, labor unions, and universities — that can counterbalance state power. Moreover, private property is necessary for the exercise of many political rights. If you can’t buy a printing ...

Book Review: 15 Great Austrian Economists

by Richard M. Ebeling June 1, 2000

15 Great Austrian Economists edited by Randall G. Holcombe (Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1999); 258 pages; $15.95. TWENTY-SIX YEARS AGO, in June 1974, I was fortunate enough to be invited by the Institute for Humane Studies to be one of 40 people who attended a week-long conference on Austrian economics in South Royalton, Vermont. After a decades long hiatus, ...