Daily Articles

What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen

by Fredric Bastiat December 1, 1999

Have you ever heard anyone say: "Taxes are the best investment; they are a life-giving dew. See how many families they keep alive, and follow in imagination their indirect effects on industry; they are infinite, as extensive as life itself." The advantages that government ...

Liberty and Virtue: Invaluable and Inseparable, Part 1

by Doug Bandow December 1, 1999

Part 1 | Part 2 There is no quicker means of raising a skeptical eye among many conservatives and libertarians alike than to endorse both liberty and virtue. Many people who consider freedom the preeminent political objective perceive support for virtue to be an implicit call for restrictive new laws. ...

The Virtue of Freedom

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 1999

Christmas is the perfect time of year to reflect on such things as freedom and virtue. People give presents to their friends and loved ones, donate food and clothing to the poor, and make contributions to their churches and other worthy causes. And they do it all voluntarily. No one forces them to do so. Do you ever wonder how ...

Morality and Social Security

by Rev. Robert A. Sirico December 1, 1999

It is widely acknowledged by people of all economic and political persuasions that something will have to be to be done about Social Security in the coming years. Some want to shore up the system through higher taxes and other reforms. Others want to convert it to a private-oriented pension system. Even President Clinton has entertained the prospect of ...

Book Review: The Quest for Cosmic Justice

by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 1999

The Quest for Cosmic Justice by Thomas Sowell (New York: The Free Press, 1999); 214 pages; $25. On August 18, 1919, during the Russian Civil War that resulted in the triumph of communism and the creation of the Soviet Union, there appeared the following passage in the first issue of The Red Sword, a newspaper published in Kiev by the Bolshevik ...

Should the State Punish Drug Offenders?

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1999

Republican presidential contender George W. Bush's refusal to deny cocaine use raises some fundamental, moral questions: Why should the state be punishing adults for drug offenses? Why shouldn't people be free to engage in self-destructive behavior as long as their conduct is peaceful? Why should anyone be put in jail, fined, or have his property confiscated for simply engaging ...

Waco: Lies, Deaths, and Cover-Ups

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1999

Afer the bombing of the Alfred J. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, President Clinton declared, "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." I wonder whether the president still feels the same way in light of the ...

Imports are Good!

by Sheldon Richman November 1, 1999

As champions and opponents of the World Trade Organization (WTO) descended on Seattle, it would have been nice if they at least had their premises correct: Imports are benefits. Exports are costs. That is the opposite of what most people inside and outside the meeting hall believe. They insist on ...

Oh, Go Away Already

by Sheldon Richman November 1, 1999

It's unseemly for people who have never created wealth to tell those who have how to spend it. Especially when they do so while sitting around the Villa La Pietra overlooking Florence. The Associated Press described the setting as "a spectacular 14th-century Renaissance palace with frescoed ceilings." Perfect for ...

U.S. Acts of Terrorism

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1999

"The U.S. government is warning American citizens to beware of "terrorist" attacks all over the world, including the U.S. Our government has attacked and bombed people in Iraq, Serbia, Panama, Haiti, Somalia, and many others. Today, we have embargoes against Cuba and Iraq, which are creating misery and death for innocent ...

CAPSULE COMMENTARY: “The Tragedy of Elian”

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1999

"Fidel Castro has upped the ante by demanding the return of a 5-year-old Cuban boy to his Cuban father. The boy's mother and stepfather and nine others were drowned when their boat sank after they escaped from Cuba. The U.S. Coast Guard captured the boy as he clung to an inner tube ...

CAPSULE COMMENTARY: “FDA Tyranny”

by Andy Falkof November 1, 1999

"The Food and Drug Administration is contemplating whether to allow Cygnus, Inc. to market its new product, GlucoWatch, which can measure a diabetic's glucose level without having to draw blood. Its an innovation that enables more frequent and less painful checking. GlucoWatch is not 100% accurate under certain conditions, and the ...