All Posts Tagged With: "government"

Thomas Paine on Society & Government

In connection with today’s TGIF, I reproduce a quotation from Thomas Paine (The Rights of Man), who thought government a “necessary evil.” In it, Paine anticipates work by Bastiat, Lysander Spooner, Benjamin Tucker, Carl Menger, Mises, Hayek, Bruno Leoni, Anthony de Jasay, Elinor Ostrom, Peter Boettke, Peter Leeson, and more. Great part of that order which [...]

16Sep2011 | Sheldon Richman | 7 comments | Continued

Government Is Force

Government is different from anything else in society, the only institution that can legally threaten and initiate violence against nonaggressors.

16Sep2011 | Sheldon Richman | 62 comments | Continued

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 | Continued

Had Enough Yet?

Let’s acknowledge the debt of gratitude due every politician who put us in this predicament. Each spending vote dug the hole deeper and made it harder to get out.

8Apr2011 | Sheldon Richman | 20 comments | Continued

Government’s Air-Traffic Controllers Making More Mistakes

“More than 1,800 errors by air-traffic controllers — including 43 most likely to cause a midair collision between planes — were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration last year. The agency says that points up the need for greater safety steps.” (USA Today) If government control doesn’t work, the obvious solution is more government control. [...]

25Feb2011 | Foundation for Economic Education | 0 comments | Continued

Government Union Protests Spread

“The offensive by Republican governors to tackle the power of public employee unions sparked new clashes Tuesday as protesters descended on Ohio’s capitol and Democratic lawmakers in Indiana fled the state to avoid a vote on anti-union legislation.” (Washington Post) The politicians have dug us a nice hole. FEE Timely Classic “Government Workers Are America’s [...]

23Feb2011 | Foundation for Economic Education | 1 comment | Continued

No Smoking in New York City’s Public Spaces

“Smoking in New York City’s parks, beaches, boardwalks, pedestrian plazas and other public spaces will be banned from May 23 despite complaints about excessive meddling by government in people’s private lives. New Yorkers can smoke on sidewalks, parking lots, streets and in their homes, although most landlords don’t allow it.” (Reuters) These stories are getting [...]

23Feb2011 | Foundation for Economic Education | 0 comments | Continued

There’s Got to Be a Better Way

What’s so remarkable about events in the Middle East is that a significant number of people who had felt powerless looked around at what they’d seen every day of their lives and thought for the first time: “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

18Feb2011 | Sheldon Richman | 18 comments | Continued

The Permanence of Politics

The question I’d like to touch on here is whether, with limited government or even no government at all, politics would become unimportant.

25Jan2011 | Sandy Ikeda | 14 comments | Continued

Speechless

Wisdom from the New York Times editorial board: It was only government power that ended slavery and abolished Jim Crow, neither of which would have been eliminated by a purely free market. Did an intelligent, educated person actually type those words? Did an editor actually approve them for publication? Can anyone in that place think [...]

23May2010 | Sheldon Richman | 1 comment | Continued

Neither Evil Nor Incompetent

Classical liberals should focus on what makes government agencies structurally unable to accomplish the tasks assigned them.

13May2010 | Steven Horwitz | 30 comments | Continued

Where’s the Bipartisanship?

James Fallows had an interesting post yesterday called “Why bipartisanship can’t work.” Since it is a long post I’ll summarize the arguments as I see it: Party discipline is difficult in American Politics because candidates raise their own money and can take the party label without the approval of the party. (Academics call this a [...]

2Feb2010 | Mike Van Winkle | 1 comment | Continued

Government in the Bedroom – and Everywhere Else

Left-liberals, when discussing abortion on demand, often declare: “We don’t want government in the bedroom.” While I am not arguing about abortion rights, I will point out how the left really wants government in our homes.

13Jan2010 | William L. Anderson | 9 comments | Continued

The Unitary Executive: Presidential Power from Washington to Bush

Steven G. Calabresi and Christopher S. Yoo count as founding fathers of the much-debated unitary executive theory (UET), which they named in 1992. In this large book they argue that every American president has subscribed to the theory, and that along with constitutional text and structure, this continuous presidential practice makes the law. Briefly, UET [...]

18Nov2009 | Joseph R. Stromberg | 0 comments | Continued

Ten Reasons Not to Abolish Slavery

Slavery existed for thousands of years, in all sorts of societies and all parts of the world. To imagine human social life without it required an extraordinary effort. Yet, from time to time, eccentrics emerged to oppose it, most of them arguing that slavery is a moral monstrosity and therefore people should get rid of [...]

18Nov2009 | Robert Higgs | 98 comments | Continued

Pelosi Health-Insurance Bill Summarized

Happily,  you need not invest the next few weeks of your life reading the 1,990-page House overhaul of the health-insurance — and by implication, the healthcare — industry.  A convenient summary has been provided, compliments of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, [...]

31Oct2009 | Sheldon Richman | 1 comment | Continued

In Defense of Joe Wilson

I’m a little disappointed that folks seem so offended by Joe Wilson’s shouting “You Lie” at the President last night. The fact that our politics have been so sanitized that there is no forum in which the President must directly confront his critics is far more offensive.Democracy in America sounds like this: The critic says [...]

10Sep2009 | Mike Van Winkle | 6 comments | Continued
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