Gun Control: A Historical Perspective, Part 1 by Future of Freedom Foundation March 25, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 Gun control is an issue which never stands on its own. By this I mean that the motives behind it are rarely those expressed by its advocates. There is almost always a hidden agenda. On rare occasion, those proposing the confiscation of weapons are candid about their motives. Such was the case in Japan in 1588 when the Shogun Hideyoshi disarmed the populace during what came to be called the Great Sword Hunt. He decreed: "The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the collection of taxes and dues, and tends to foment uprisings." The motivation behind gun control is much the same today; it's just that our politicians are not as candid as Hideyoshi. The Japanese ...
Book Review: The Bush Betrayal by Future of Freedom Foundation April 26, 2010 The Bush Betrayal by James Bovard (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004); 336 pages; $26.95. The reelection of George Walker Bush rubs too much like the gruesome aftermath of a hit and run made bearable only by our instinctual ability to self-medicate in numbness. For a first-stage coping mechanism just ask the Sopranos psychiatrist it works. For a long-term political strategy, however, its nothing short of disastrous. So now, faced with the prospect of another four years under President Bush rule, the opposition faces a do-or-die challenge to break the Sirens song of big government with a clear clarion call for liberty. And it starts in the same place as it did in the last major social revolution: with a massive effort in public education. James Bovards latest book, The Bush Betrayal, could be the start. I know of no better way to prepare ourselves for the coming administration than to read some ...
The Only Real Revolution by Future of Freedom Foundation March 31, 2010 Happily for America, happily we trust for the whole human race, they pursued a new and more noble course. They accomplished a revolution that has no parallel in the annals of human society. . . . In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example . . . of charters of power granted by liberty. James Madison Throughout history, small groups of men with political power have controlled the masses of men by force. On every continent, stretching back through the centuries, the pattern was essentially the same — a pharaoh, king, emperor or dictator had ultimate control over the lives and fortunes of his subservient followers. The underlings were taught that their proper role was to serve those in power. Whatever small freedoms the common ...
The Pentagon’s Favorite Demon by Future of Freedom Foundation April 1, 2010 In 1991, as pressure was mounting in the U.S. Congress to cut the Cold War-era military budget, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs General Colin Powell said: “I’m running out of demons. I’m running out of villains. I’m down to Castro and Kim Il Sung.” North ...
Slavery Reexamined, Part 2 by Future of Freedom Foundation March 27, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 But the tax slavery vs. chattel slavery story is not over. The one place medieval serfdom did not take root was in Russia. Unlike the farmers in Europe, the small farmer in Russia during the Middle Ages was free, and he could ...
Wartime Confessions of a Talk-Radio Heretic by Future of Freedom Foundation March 31, 2010 This speech was given before the Phoenix Economics Group in Phoenix, Arizona on March 19, 2003. I left my radio studio this evening to be here just as President Bush’s ultimatum to Saddam Hussein expired. The ...
When Government Replaces God and Family by Future of Freedom Foundation April 26, 2010 Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men. — Mortimer Adler It is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. It knows best what we need and what must be done. We must trust in its absolute power, knowledge, and presence in all areas of our lives. ...
Time to Rethink the War on Drugs by Future of Freedom Foundation March 25, 2010 Eighty-four percent of Americans say that possible cocaine use in his 20s should not disqualify Texas governor George W. Bush from being president. But if a cocaine user can go on to be president, why should we put young people in jail for using cocaine? Maybe the voters' indifference to Bush's possible past indicates that ...
The Legacy of Milton Friedman, Part 1 by Future of Freedom Foundation April 26, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 It has been more than a year since Milton Friedman passed from our lives. What a world he departed. The desire for liberty burns ever brightly. The forces of statism resist ever strongly. How we miss his presence.
Unchaining Africa by Future of Freedom Foundation April 26, 2010 Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Africa’s Future by George Ayittey, (Palgrave/Macmillan 2005); 483 pages; $35. So much promise, so little progress. Populated with creative people and filled with natural resources, Africa, one might think, should be a global powerhouse. ...
The Perils of Nation-Building, Part 2 by Future of Freedom Foundation April 2, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 Giving up on expansive nation-building ambitions is the only sensible course of action, for there are few successful models upon which to draw for Iraq. America’s obvious successes are Germany and Japan, yet neither looks like Iraq: both comprised ethnically homogenous populations, possessed democratic traditions, and sported ...
The Colombia Quagmire, Part 1 by Future of Freedom Foundation April 2, 2010 “THIS IS NOT VIETNAM,” declared Vietnam-era draft evader Bill Clinton on his arrival in Colombia last year. Alas, while the continents may be different, the conflicts offer eerily similar potential as quagmires for the United States. “This is always how it starts,” warns writer Patrick Symmes. But there’s still time to stop. As Symmes rightly observes, “Colombia isn’t Vietnam ...
