All Posts Tagged With: "freedom of speech"
Fear-Mongering and Servitude
In his 1776 essay, “Thoughts on Government,” John Adams observed, “Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.” The [...]
22Jun2011 | James Bovard | 33 comments | ContinuedLeviathan: The Growth of Local Government and the Erosion of Liberty
Does government have too much power? Certainly—just think of all the freedom Americans have lost on account of the income tax, Social Security, Department of Labor regulations, the threat of antitrust prosecution, and so on. Note that in my short list of examples, each one is due to action by the federal government. In Leviathan, [...]
12Jul2010 | George C. Leef | 0 comments | ContinuedA Manifesto for Media Freedom
Americans are blessed with access to an unprecedented variety of media–not to mention ways in which information can be stored and the points of view and ownership interests represented. As documented in the brisk book A Manifesto for Media Freedom, this cornucopia of media options has led not to celebration of the marvelous diversity that [...]
23Sep2009 | Brian Doherty | 0 comments | ContinuedTherapeutic Censorship
Freedom of speech is one of the most distinctly American political values. In many European democracies people take for granted that their freedom requires criminal sanctions against the expression of certain odious ideas, exemplified by the denial of the Holocaust. In the United States, that would be a clear violation of the First Amendment. To [...]
1May2007 | Thomas Szasz | 0 comments | ContinuedPolitics Corrupts Money
In September the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the heated battle over campaign finance reform legislation—the so-called Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, or BCRA. That law, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2002, has been challenged by a wide array of parties, including such strange bedfellows as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce [...]
1Jan2004 | George C. Leef | 0 comments | ContinuedBook Reviews – June 2003
Dependent on D.C.: The Rise of Federal Control Over the Lives of Ordinary Americans by Charlotte Twight St. Martin’s Press/Palgrave • 2002 • 512 pages • $26.95 hardcover; $17.95 paperback Reviewed by James Bovard Charlotte Twight has written an excellent book to help Americans understand how the federal government is insidiously seizing control of their lives, year by year, edict [...]
1Jun2003 | FEE Admin | 0 comments | ContinuedNeutrality Agreements: Bid for Union Power
David Denholm is the president of the Public Service Research Foundation (www.psrf.org), an independent research and education organization that studies unionism and union influence on public policy. All across the land organized labor is using political influence to push for public policies that facilitate imposing unionism on employees. One such policy requires employers doing business [...]
1Apr2003 | David Denholm | 2 comments | ContinuedWho Is a Liberal?
Liberals have it tough. I mean the real liberals. Not the modern watered-down socialists who call themselves liberals, but real, honest classical liberals. There is so much confusion over the term “liberal,” and real ones have allowed fake ones to get away with this subtle destruction of the language. Recently I was reading two different [...]
1May2002 | James Peron | 2 comments | ContinuedThe Post Office as a Violation of Constitutional Rights
In September 2000, the United States Postal Service (USPS) launched a $12 million campaign to advertise a new Internet service, eBillPay, through which customers could pay their bills electronically. EBillPay is one of several new e-services designed to woo back the growing army of Americans who would rather click a mouse than lick a stamp [...]
1May2001 | Wendy McElroy | 3 comments | ContinuedThe Ideals of Tyranny
Socialism, along with other movements founded on egalitarianism, has often been held up as a moral ideal. Many people consider the drive for “equality” to be laudable. It is frequently claimed, however, that socialism, although based on a moral principle, failed because it used immoral means to obtain its ends.
1Mar2001 | James Peron | 1 comment | ContinuedFreedom of the Price
Last month I explained why our liberties will be steadily eroded without a genuine commitment to liberty in general. Fortunately some liberties are widely recognized as crucial and have influential interests protecting them from political violation. An interesting example is freedom of speech—freedom against government censorship. Recent examples of the censorship of politically incorrect speech [...]
1May2000 | Dwight R. Lee | 2 comments | ContinuedThe Encryption Scramble
Claude Morgan writes on culture and technology from his home in Portland, Maine. When law professor Peter Junger penned a small computer program for his computer-law class at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, he never dreamed he’d be battling the U.S. Commerce Department for the right to post it on his Web site. [...]
1Oct1999 | Claude V. Z. Morgan | 1 comment | ContinuedFlags, Flames, and Property
Andrew Cohen teaches philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. A constitutional amendment that would forbid the desecration of American flags is again percolating in the nation’s capital. As of this writing, the immediate prospects for passage look bleak. But this amendment has a way of never fully going away. Many opponents of the [...]
1Jan1999 | Andrew I. Cohen | 1 comment | ContinuedFor the Children
Russell Madden teaches at Mt. Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Most parents love their children and seek only the best for them. Indeed, the notion that the next generation should have better and easier lives is best illustrated by the countless immigrant parents who suffer backbreaking labor, long hours, and economic deprivation. That motivation [...]
1Jul1998 | Russell Madden | 0 comments | ContinuedAnne Robert Jacques Turgot, Who First Put Laissez-Faire Principles into Action
By the mid-eighteenth century, a number of authors had expressed the liberating vision that came to be known as laissez faire. Anne Robert Jacques Turgot put it into action.
1Aug1997 | Jim Powell | 4 comments | ContinuedAmerican Labor Law–Bad and Still Getting Worse
One of the great blunders of American history was the New Deal decision to institute a legal framework for labor relations that did away with the older common law rules of contract, property, and tort that applied equally to all parties, replacing them with a highly coercive, asymmetrical scheme intended to help labor union leaders [...]
1May1997 | George C. Leef | 3 comments | Continued-
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