Daily Articles

Why Not Separate School and State?

by Leonard Read April 1, 1991

Government "education" includes three forms of coercion: (1) compulsory attendance, (2) government dictated curricula, and (3) the forcible collection of the wherewithal to pay the enormous bill.... The results of force are bad enough as related to the pocket-book, but they are far worse as they ...

Are Compulsory School Attendance Laws Necessary? Part 2

by Samuel L. Blumenfeld April 1, 1991

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Both the Unitarians and the liberal Protestants began to view the public schools and compulsory attendance as the most effective means of maintaining the Protestant character of American culture in the face of massive Catholic immigration. The fact that the Irish were poor and unschooled did not endear them to the ...

Politically Correct Thinking and State Education

by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 1991

You may recall seeing the December 24, 1990, issue of Newsweek on the newsstands. The cover had a granite wall with raised lettering, spelling out the words, "Thought Police." If you read the article, you learned about something called "politically correct thinking." A growing number of institutions of higher learning ...

Reflections on National Service

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 1991

National service looms as one of the most dangerous threats to the American people in our 200-year history. Previously advocated only by liberals, national service is now also embraced by many on the conservative side of the political spectrum, as evidenced by the recent book, Gratitude, by America's foremost conservative, ...

Book Reviews: Economics on Trial

by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 1991

Economics on Trial: Lies, Myths, and Realities by Mark Skousen (Homewood, Illinois: Business One Irwin, 1990) 314 pp.; $21.95 (h). For 150 years after Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in 1776, most economists started from a ...

Why Americans Won’t Choose Freedom

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 1, 1991

All across the land there is an unusual stirring among the American populace. The American people are sensing that something is severely wrong in our nation. They see the ever-increasing taxation, regulation, bureaucracies, and police intrusions. And they are gradually discovering that, despite their right to vote, they have ...

Producer Interest vs. The Public Interest: The Origin of Democratized Privilege

by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1991

In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith constructed some of the most devastating arguments against the then-prevailing system of economic policy — mercantilism. In practically every country in Europe, governments regulated, controlled and planned the economic activities of their subjects. In France, the regulations were so detailed that they specified how many stitches should be used in ...

Are Compulsory School Attendance Laws Necessary? Part 1

by Samuel L. Blumenfeld March 1, 1991

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 It is assumed by the vast majority of Americans that the issue of compulsory school attendance is a settled matter, part and parcel of every civilized nation-state, and a prerequisite of a democratic society. We all acknowledge that a representative form of government requires an educated electorate for its survival. But ...

Book Review: Unfinished Business

by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1991

Unfinished Business: A Civil Rights Strategy for America's Third Century by Clint Bolick (San Francisco: Pacific Research Institute, 1990) 159 PP; $19.95. At a time in world history when the demand for human rights has become almost universal, little or no attention has been paid to the importance of economic liberty. If a man is to have a right ...

The Preservation of the Bureaucracy

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 1991

Two hundred years ago, our American ancestors instituted the most unusual political system in history. The Constitution called into existence a government whose powers, for the first time ever, were extremely limited. Thus, unlike other people throughout history, Americans lived without such things as income taxation, welfare, licensure, immigration ...

Democratized Privilege: The New Mercantilism

by Richard M. Ebeling February 1, 1991

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, most of the governments of Europe established a set of economic policies which became known as mercantilism. Kings, princes and parliaments implemented and vigorously enforced detailed and pervasive controls and regulations over almost every aspect of economic life. Many imports were prohibited, and exports were often subsidized. The state imposed wage, price ...

The Roots of Limited Government

by Alan Barth February 1, 1991

The government of the United States, for all its majesty, is a limited government of limited powers. It operates under the terms of a fundamental charter — a written Constitution — which specifies what it may do, and also what it may not do, and which fixes certain procedures for its dealings with its citizens. If a Constitution is ...