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The Language of Force

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“If the state could use laws not for their intended purposes but to silence those who voice unpopular ideas, little would be left of our First Amendment liberties, and little would separate us from the tyrannies of the past or the malignant fiefdoms of our own age. The freedom to speak without risking arrest is ‘one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation.’”—Justice Neil Gorsuch, dissenting, Nieves v. Bartlett (2019) Tyrants don’t like people who speak truth to power. Cue the rise of protest laws, which take the government’s intolerance for free speech to a whole new level and send the resounding message that resistance is futile. In fact, ever since the Capitol protests on Jan. 6, 2021, state legislatures have introduced a broad array of these laws aimed at criminalizing protest activities. There have been at least 205 proposed laws in 45 states aimed at ...

Interventionism, Not Capitalism, Has Caused Our Economic Problems

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In a Pew Foundation opinion survey report in September of 2022, it was found that only 46 percent of Democrats had a “positive” view of capitalism, down from 55 percent in 2019. On the other hand, 74 percent of Republicans said they were positive on capitalism, which was a decrease from 78 percent in 2019. At the same time, of all those surveyed, only 23 percent strongly said that people have equal opportunities to be successful under socialism, compared to 36 percent who strongly say that opportunities for success are more likely under capitalism. Notice that large majorities think that opportunities for success do not exist under either system. More men than women have a positive view of socialism (38 percent for women, 35 percent for men) than of capitalism (48 percent for women, 68 percent for men). Among age groups, 44 percent of those between 18 and 29 have a more positive view of socialism (44 percent) than of ...

Understanding Freedom and Faith in Freedom

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There are two major obstacles to achieving a genuinely free society in our lifetime: one, a lack of understanding of the genuine principles of freedom, and two, a lack of faith in freedom. The first obstacle involves principally nonlibertarians. The second obstacle involves everyone, including libertarians. If someone were to conduct a survey among the American people today in which people were asked if they felt they lived in a free society, I would bet that the vast majority of Americans would respond yes. Sure, Americans complain about how the federal government operates, about the large amount of federal spending and debt, about regulatory mishaps, about the adverse results of various foreign interventions and wars, and about various other aspects of the welfare-warfare state system under which Americans live. But I believe that most Americans would willingly agree with singer Lee Greenwald’s refrain, “I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free.” My favorite quote is by the ...

Time to Separate Piety and Politics

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The First Amendment of the Constitution specifies, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In Washington, the “free exercise thereof” perennially includes politicians exploiting religion to sanctify themselves and all their power grabs. Piety with a side of eggs One of the most brazen if not most shameless “free exercise thereof” examples ...

Beware of the Government’s Push for a Digital Currency

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“The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes.”—Thomas Paine The government wants your money. It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it. The government’s schemes to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud taxpayers of their hard-earned dollars have run the gamut from wasteful pork barrel legislation, ...