Daily Articles

Gun Seizures Could Lead to Civil War

by James Bovard December 1, 2019

“Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15,” declared “Beto” O’Rourke at a Democratic party presidential candidate debate in September. Compelling Americans to surrender their so-called assault weapons is “the newest purity test” for Democratic presidential candidates, according to the Washington Post. O’Rourke and other Democratic presidential candidates, including Cory Booker, Kristin Gillibrand, and Bill de Blasio (now withdrawn ...

Unlibertarian Libertarianism

by Laurence M. Vance December 1, 2019

Just like liberals, conservatives, progressives, populists, and constitutionalists — but certainly not as bad — libertarians are not always consistent when it comes to libertarianism. In fact, what some libertarians propose is unlibertarian libertarianism. Libertarianism Libertarianism is the philosophy that says that people should be free from individual, societal, or government interference to live their lives any way they desire, pursue ...

Understanding the Freedom We Have Lost

by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 2019

Few people can really understand what life is like in a totalitarian state unless they have lived there or have had the opportunity to visit such a society for an extended period of time. For most Americans it seems like an impenetrable world that is not easily comprehended. How can you imagine living in a society with virtually none ...

The Long Shadow of World War I and America’s War on Dissent, Part 1

by Danny Sjursen December 1, 2019

Part 2 “War is the health of the state.” So said the eerily prescient and uncompromising anti-war radical Randolph Bourne in the very midst of what Europeans called the Great War, a nihilistic conflict that eventually consumed the lives of at least 9 million soldiers, including some 50,000 Americans. He meant, ultimately, that wars — especially foreign wars — ...

Thanksgiving and the Birth of American Free Enterprise

by Richard M. Ebeling November 27, 2019

Once more it’s that time of the year when most Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. The turkey is carved, the stuffing and sweet potatoes are passed around, and many slices of pumpkin pie are happily consumed. But how many of us know or appreciate that Thanksgiving really celebrates the failure of socialism and ...

Drugs, Dogs, and Democrats

by Laurence M. Vance November 25, 2019

Although the word federalism does not appear in the Constitution, it is one of the most important and innovative concepts in it. The states of the United States of America created the national government in 1789. The states had been in existence as independent, sovereign colonies for many, many years. Only Georgia (1732) among the original thirteen colonies was not ...

Rogue Agencies Have Been Abusing Their Powers for Decades

by John W. Whitehead November 22, 2019

“When a man unprincipled in private life desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper . . . despotic in his ordinary demeanour — known to have scoffed in private at the principles of liberty — when such a man is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity — to join in the cry of danger to liberty ...

Business Ethics and Morality of the Marketplace

by Richard M. Ebeling November 21, 2019

Who do people consider to be less ethical or honest than either telemarketers or used car salesman? If you said Washington politicians, you’d be right on the button. According to Gallup News Services, members of Congress are right at the bottom of perceived ethical behavior and honesty. Every year Gallup issues the results of a public opinion survey concerning people’s ...

Oklahoma Frees Some of Its Political Prisoners

by Laurence M. Vance November 15, 2019

Communist and other authoritarian and totalitarian governments around the world have always, throughout history and at this very time, arrested (or sometimes just simply seized) and jailed (or sometimes just killed) political dissidents and other nonconformists whom they considered to be “enemies of the state” whose only crime was disagreeing with some government law or policy. Those so horribly ...

Casualties of War

by John W. Whitehead November 14, 2019

Come you masters of war / You that build the big guns You that build the death planes / You that build all the bombs You that hide behind walls / You that hide behind desks I just want you to know / I can see through your masks…. You fasten all the triggers / For the others to fire Then you sit back ...

The Case for Globalism, So-Called

by Richard M. Ebeling November 13, 2019

The global economy seems to be coming under attack from a variety of directions. On one side, there are the reborn “democratic socialists” and other “progressives” who insist that the international capitalist system exploits workers and minority groups. On the other side, there are nationalists and other nativists who fear the loss not just of jobs but the cultural ...

Inessential Government Workers

by Laurence M. Vance November 12, 2019

Government “shutdowns” in the United States occur when Congress and the president cannot agree on appropriations bills to fund the federal government before the previous ones expire. Since the current budget and appropriations process began in 1976, the federal government “shut down” three times during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, once under George H.W. Bush, twice under Bill Clinton, once ...