All Posts Tagged With: "freedom"
Commonwealth
Some two decades after the collapse of communism, socialist intellectuals still scramble to rehabilitate Marx and collectivist social theory in general, with Duke University professor Michael Hardt and Italian sociologist Antonio Negri leading the bunch. Academics are attracted to their radical critique of existing capitalist institutions. Non-academics and educated laypersons on the left are attracted [...]
23Mar2011 | David L. Prychitko | 1 comment | ContinuedIs Freedom a Radical Idea?
The good old days are not behind us but rather lie ahead.
29Oct2010 | Sheldon Richman | 22 comments | ContinuedThe Power of Freedom
WARNING: After reading this column, many of you will want to send me emails condemning me for my apostasy or telling me why I am mistaken. I welcome your feedback as I beg your indulgence. So, here goes: I don’t believe that the welfare state, or the regulatory state, inevitably leads to widespread poverty or [...]
22Oct2010 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 29 comments | ContinuedSecure in Freedom
Language is indispensable to civilization. But because we rely on language so heavily—because it is our chief means of communicating with each other as well as a tool for forming and storing our thoughts—if used carelessly it can misshape our thoughts. Careless language (or, even worse, verbal legerdemain) often turns words or phrases with positive [...]
25Aug2010 | Donald J. Boudreaux | 14 comments | ContinuedRace & Liberty in America: The Essential Reader / Dred Scott’s Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America
Two recent books criticize racial discrimination from a classical-liberal perspective. The first, Race & Liberty in America, is an anthology edited by Jonathan Bean, a professor of history at Southern Illinois University. It includes dozens of selections, from 1776 to today, arguing eloquently for colorblind equality before the law and against slavery, Jim Crow, and [...]
20May2010 | Roger Clegg | 3 comments | ContinuedThe Moral Consequences of Economic Growth
Benjamin Friedman is a professor of political economy and a former chairman of the economics department at Harvard University. He is also an unswerving advocate of the interventionist welfare state. His recent book, The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, is meant to demonstrate what is necessary to assure that the majority of the people will [...]
18May2010 | Richard M. Ebeling | 1 comment | ContinuedImmigration, the Tea Parties, and Big Government
The Arizona law enabling police to ask for immigration papers or proof of citizenship of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally has fanned the flames of an already hot debate over immigration.
29Apr2010 | Steven Horwitz | 62 comments | ContinuedForgotten Lines
In the January 23, 2010, Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle, one of the clues was “Sassy reply to criticism.” The answer: “It’s a free country.” Why do I find this so striking? For two reasons. First, when I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, not many people around me considered that a sassy reply. [...]
20Apr2010 | David R. Henderson | 4 comments | ContinuedThe Sound of Freedom
When I have the chance, I often pose this question to people who have become advocates for liberty: “What was it that first turned you on to these ideas?” It’s an important question that always produces revealing answers and sometimes some fascinating stories. Liberty, keep in mind, is not automatic or guaranteed. Few people who [...]
18Nov2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 3 comments | ContinuedTwo Decades Since the Fall
From “Perspective,” The Freeman, November 2009: On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall effectively ceased to exist. Remember the sequence: Communist Hungary started letting people pass into Austria and to freedom. Captives of the Soviet bloc left in droves. East Germans, too—thousands of them. The Hungarian government tried to stanch the flow, but the dam [...]
8Nov2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedCalifornia Medical Pot Shops Booming
From the Washington Times: SEBASTOPOL, Calif. | The medical marijuana dispensary in this California wine country town is in a former auto dealership and has more registered patients than the town has residents. Los Angeles has more pot shops than Starbucks or schools.The surge in medical marijuana in California has left many communities scrambling to [...]
6Nov2009 | Mike Van Winkle | 0 comments | ContinuedGive Up? Are You Kidding?
We should not squander a second feeling bad for ourselves. This is a moment when our true character, the stuff we’re really made of, will show itself. If we retreat, that would tell me we were never really worthy of the battle in the first place. But if we resolve to let these tough times build character and rally our dispirited friends to new levels of dedication, we will look back on this occasion someday with pride at how we handled it.
17Jun2009 | Lawrence W. Reed | 13 comments | ContinuedSay It Ain't So, Jackie!
From the Guardian: Speaking at the Boao Economic Forum on the southern Chinese island of Hainan on Saturday, [actor Jackie] Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, cited the territory as an example of the negative aspects of relaxed controls. “I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” the 55-year-old action superstar [...]
20Apr2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedTGIF: Government Bias
Anyone discussing social and economic problems with a hardcore free-market advocate hears a string of indictments against the government. At some point the nonlibertarian interlocutor will think he’s figured things out: “I get it. You are biased against government.” This is a charge to which I have to plead guilty. The latest TGIF is here.
17Apr2009 | Sheldon Richman | 0 comments | ContinuedHarry Reid – “Taxation Is Not Coercive”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirms in this interview what some of us have long suspected–namely that politicians are mostly those individuals too out of touch with reality to be capable of finding employment anywhere else!
11Dec2008 | Mason Drake | 0 comments | ContinuedFreedom Is Not the Issue? It Just Ain’t So!
James Bovard is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy, Terrorism and Tyranny, Lost Rights, and other books. The Friends of Leviathan are once again encouraging people to forget about freedom. In a May op-ed piece in the New York Times, columnist David Brooks announced, “The central political debate of the 20th century was over the [...]
1Sep2008 | James Bovard | 0 comments | ContinuedBook Reviews – September 2008
- The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy Reviewed by George C. Leef
- The Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History Since 1900 by David Edgerton Reviewed by David K. Levine
- Illiberal Justice: John Rawls vs. the American Political Tradition by David Lewis Schaefer Reviewed by Tibor R. Machan
- Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws by Kimberly A. Strassel, Celeste Colgan, and John C. Goodman Reviewed by Karen Y. Palasek
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