Archive for Jim Powell
Jim Powell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, is the author of FDR’s Folly, Wilson’s War, Bully Boy, Greatest Emancipations, The Triumph of Liberty, and other books.
John Locke Natural Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property
A number of times throughout history, tyranny has stimulated breakthrough thinking about liberty. This was certainly the case in England with the mid-seventeenth-century era of repression, rebellion, and civil war. There was a tremendous outpouring of political pamphlets and tracts. By far the most influential writings emerged from the pen of scholar John Locke.
1Aug1996 | Jim Powell | 9 comments | ContinuedAlexis de Tocqueville: How People Gain Liberty and Lose It
Alexis de Tocqueville was a gentleman-scholar who emerged as one of the world’s great prophets. More than a century and a half ago, when most people were ruled by kings, he declared that the future belonged to democracy. He explained what was needed for democracy to work and how it could help protect human liberty. At the same time, he warned that a welfare state could seduce people into servitude. He saw why socialism must lead to slavery.
1Jul1996 | Jim Powell | 0 comments | ContinuedLord Acton-Political Power Corrupts
Mr. Powell is editor of Laissez Faire Books and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, American Heritage, and more than three dozen other publications. Copyright © 1996 by Jim Powell.
Few recognized the dangers of political power as clearly as Lord [...]
Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand: Three Women Who Inspired the Modern Libertarian Movement
Mr. Powell is editor of Laissez-Faire Books and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, American Heritage, and more than three dozen other publications. Copyright © 1996 by Jim Powell.
Liberty was in full retreat in the early 1940s. Tyrants oppressed or [...]
Mary Wollstonecraft-Equal Rights for Women
Mr. Powell is editor of Laissez Faire Books and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, American Heritage, and more than three dozen other publications. Copyright © 1996 by Jim Powell.
In Western Europe during the late eighteenth century, single women had [...]
James Madison-Checks and Balances to Limit Government Power
James Madison didn’t originate the idea of checks and balances for limiting government power, but he helped push it farther than anyone else before or since. Previous political thinkers, citing British experience, had talked about checks and balances with a monarch in the mix, but Madison helped apply the principle to a republic. Contrary to such respected thinkers as Baron de Montesquieu, Madison insisted checks and balances could help protect liberty in a large republic.
1Mar1996 | Jim Powell | 2 comments | ContinuedVictor Hugo Liberty and Justice For All
Literary lion Victor Hugo inspired an outpouring of generous sympathy for wretched people oppressed by government. He chronicled the evils of police power. He spoke out against capital punishment. He denounced taxes and tyrants. He opposed war. He expressed confidence in the ability of free people to achieve unlimited progress.
1Feb1996 | Jim Powell | 1 comment | ContinuedThomas Paine-Passionate Pamphleteer for Liberty
As nobody before, Thomas Paine stirred ordinary people to defend their liberty. He wrote the three top-selling literary works of the eighteenth century, which inspired the American Revolution, issued a historic battle cry for individual rights and challenged the corrupt power of government churches. His radical vision and dramatic, plainspoken style connected with artisans, servants, soldiers, merchants, farmers, and laborers alike. Paine’s work breathes fire to this day.
1Jan1996 | Jim Powell | 1 comment | ContinuedLudwig van Beethoven’s Joyous Affirmation of Human Freedom
Mr. Powell is editor of Laissez-Faire Books and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He has written for The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, American Heritage, and more than three dozen other publications. Copyright © 1995 by Jim Powell.
Ludwig van Beethoven inspired the world with his titanic liberating spirit. “His emotions [...]
Maverick Mark Twain’s Exhilarating American Individualism
This might seem surprising to those who think of him only as the author of children’s classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. But adults going back to the books are soon reminded how they passionately affirm the moral worth of individual human beings.
1Nov1995 | Jim Powell | 0 comments | ContinuedWilliam Penn: America’s First Great Champion for Liberty and Peace
William Penn was the first great hero of American liberty. During the late seventeenth century, when Protestants persecuted Catholics, Catholics persecuted Protestants, and both persecuted Quakers and Jews, Penn established an American sanctuary which protected freedom of conscience.
Penn decided to challenge the Conventicle Act by holding a public meeting on August 14, 1670. The Lord Mayor of London arrested him and his fellow Quakers as soon as he began expressing his nonconformist religious views.
1Oct1995 | Jim Powell | 0 comments | ContinuedH. L. Mencken, America’s Wittiest Defender of Liberty
During the first half of the twentieth century, H. L. Mencken was the most outspoken defender of liberty in America. He spent thousands of dollars challenging restrictions on freedom of the press. He boldly denounced President Woodrow Wilson for whipping up patriotic fervor to enter World War I, which cost his job as a newspaper columnist.
1Sep1995 | Jim Powell | 0 comments | ContinuedMaria Montessori, Who Gave Children Everywhere Freedom to Achieve Independence
Despite sharp differences on political issues, people of every major culture and religion appreciate how Montessori schools set children free to learn. There are Montessori schools throughout Europe and the Americas. Montessori schools are well established in India.
1Aug1995 | Jim Powell | 2 comments | ContinuedThomas Jefferson’s Sophisticated, Radical Vision of Liberty
Jefferson expressed a sophisticated, radical vision of liberty with awesome grace and eloquence. He affirmed that all people are entitled to liberty, regardless what laws might say. If laws don’t protect liberty, he declared, then the laws are illegitimate, and people may rebel. While Jefferson didn’t originate this idea, he put it in a way that set afire the imagination of people around the world, Moreover, he developed a doctrine for strictly limiting the power of government, the most dangerous threat to liberty everywhere.
1Jul1995 | Jim Powell | 0 comments | ContinuedRichard Cobden’s Triumphant Crusade for Free Trade and Peace
Mr. Powell is editor of Laissez-Faire Books and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, American Heritage, and more than three dozen other publications.
The nineteenth century was the most peaceful period in modern history. There weren’t any general wars between the fall [...]
John Stuart Mill’s Immortal Case for Toleration
Mr. Powell is editor of Laissez-Faire Books and Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute. He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, American Heritage, and more than three dozen other publications.
John Stuart Mill’s essay On Liberty (1859) is the most famous work about toleration in the English language. It [...]
Herbert Spencer: Liberty and Unlimited Human Progress
Fabled steel entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie hungered to know the secret of human progress. During the early 1880s, he found out after he joined a Manhattan discussion group. There he heard about British philosopher Herbert Spencer, who had written volumes on the subject. Liberty, Spencer explained, is the key as free marketswithout government intervention-provide powerful incentives for people to continuously improve life.
1Apr1995 | Jim Powell | 0 comments | Continued-
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Book Reviews
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The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy–If We Let it Happen
By Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous
