Archive for Charles Johnson

Charles Johnson, a third-generation Freeman contributor, is a research fellow at the Molinari Institute and author of Rad Geek People’s Daily weblog.

The Many Monopolies

We libertarians defend economic freedom, not big business. We advocate free markets, not the corporate economy. And what would freed markets look like? Nothing like the controlled markets we have today. But how often do we hear mass unemployment, financial crisis, ecological catastrophe, and the economic status quo attributed to the voraciousness of “unfettered free [...]

24Aug2011 | Charles Johnson | 19 comments | Continued

There’s Too Little Trust in Government?

There is one point on which I can unequivocally agree with E. J. Dionne, Jr.’s, column “Can We Reverse the Tide on Government Distrust?”: “So far, the Obama administration has missed the opportunity to demonstrate . . . how it is changing the way government works. How is its approach to . . . regulations [...]

22Oct2010 | Charles Johnson | 2 comments | Continued

Opposing the Civil Rights Act Means Opposing Civil Rights?

Just after winning his Republican primary in May, Rand Paul got himself into a political pickle over his views on property rights and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Having reluctantly discussed concerns about antidiscrimination laws with the Louisville Courier-Journal and NPR, Paul made his now-notorious appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show, where Maddow grilled him [...]

25Aug2010 | Charles Johnson | 16 comments | Continued

Is the Problem Really Too Little Trust in Government?

Individualists know that when you reward the institutions that created crisis, you are going to get more crises.

23Aug2010 | Charles Johnson | 12 comments | Continued

The Health Care Debate Was “Meaningful”?

Let’s give credit where credit is due. David Brooks does say one true thing in his New York Times column, “The Values Question”, on government health care reform: “The system after reform will look as it does today, only bigger and more expensive.” Brooks is certainly right that no “health care reform” proposal with any [...]

24Feb2010 | Charles Johnson | 1 comment | Continued

The Health Care Debate Has Been “Meaningful”? It Just Ain’t So!

Credit where credit is due: David Brooks does say one true thing in his New York Times column “The Values Question” (Nov. 24) on government health care reform: “The system after reform will look as it does today, only bigger and more expensive.” Brooks is certainly right that no “health care reform” proposal with any [...]

22Dec2009 | Charles Johnson | 22 comments | Continued

Individualism Clashes with Cooperation? It Just Ain’t So!

Individualists get a bad rap in politics these days. That should come as no surprise; politics these days is dominated by electoral politics, and electoral politics is an essentially anti-individualistic enterprise. With free markets and other forms of voluntary association, people who can’t agree on what’s worthwhile can go their own ways. But the point [...]

20Jan2009 | Charles Johnson | 5 comments | Continued

Libertarianism Through Thick and Thin

To what extent should libertarians concern themselves with social commitments, practices, projects, or movements that seek social outcomes beyond, or other than, the standard libertarian commitment to expanding the scope of freedom from government coercion? Clearly, a consistent and principled libertarian cannot support efforts or beliefs that are contrary to libertarian principles—such as efforts to [...]

1Jul2008 | Charles Johnson | 4 comments | Continued

Scratching By: How Government Creates Poverty as We Know It

The experience of oppressed people is that the living of one’s life is confined and shaped by forces and barriers which are not accidental or occasional and hence avoidable, but are systematically related to each other in such a way as to catch one between and among them and restrict or penalize motion in any [...]

1Dec2007 | Charles Johnson | 60 comments | Continued

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