Excuse Me, Professor, my 2014 book, appeared in January 2019 in its new Portuguese edition (retitled Desculpe-Me, Socialista or Excuse Me, Socialist). You can order the Portuguese edition online from either Saraiva (https://bit.ly/2R6nQZi) or Amazon (https://amzn.to/2R1YNXz).
Read MoreThe North Korean Constitution Makes Me Craugh →
In North Korea, if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Because ultimately, you have no choice. The place is “governed” by pointless tripe cruelly mislabeled a constitution. The rule of law and a functioning judiciary are virtually nonexistent in this totalitarian nightmare.
Read MoreFranklin Pierce and the Insane →
More than a few nations in history have flushed themselves down the fiscal toilet with profligate, publicly financed and politicized “compassion.” It starts small, but politicians have a way of thinking up new constituencies to throw money at and buy votes from.
Read MoreWhat Is Money? Steve Forbes helps us understand →
Titled "In Money We Trust?," a new public television documentary is based on a book by Steve Forbes and Elizabeth Ames. Check it out!
Read MoreRights and Non-Rights: A Simple Way To Distinguish the Two →
Is a right the same thing as a wish? Why or why not? Or if you need something, does that mean you have a right to it? If I require a kidney, do I have a right to one of yours? Is a right something that can or should be granted or denied by majority vote?
Read MoreMaxwell Anderson and "The Guaranteed Life" →
Maxwell Anderson is an example of an American who was well-known and highly-regarded in his day but forgotten and unappreciated a couple generations later. He deserves to be dusted off and presented anew, especially by FEE because we had a connection to him, as I’ll explain in a moment.
Read MoreWhat's in the Glass? →
I’m looking into a taste bud transplant. My poor palate doesn’t pick up a fraction of what today’s wine descriptions say it should.
Read MoreThe First State of the Union Address: Short and Sweet →
“I shall derive great satisfaction from a co-operation with you, in the pleasing though arduous task of ensuring to our fellow citizens the blessings, which they have a right to expect, from a free, efficient and equal Government” — George Washington, 8 January 1790.
Read MoreA Congressman Who Never Gave In →
John Ashbrook of Ohio always cared far more for country and principle than for election or party.
Read MoreResolutions for the New Year →
Just imagine how much better life would be if we all worked on these 11 simple things. Can you think of any good reason not to?
Read MoreLeonard Read, the Man →
The secrets to Leonard Read’s effectiveness—the reasons he is celebrated 35 years after his passing—lie in the magnetism of his character. He was the happiest of happy warriors.
Read MoreThe Transformative Power of Forgiveness →
Thirty-five years ago today—on December 27, 1983—the world witnessed a most extraordinary act of forgiveness. Maybe adopting a more forgiving spirit—thinking of forgiveness first as an option when we’re wronged instead of last—would make an excellent New Year’s resolution, if we really mean it and do it.
Read MoreThe Meaning of Christmas →
One of the best American presidents, Calvin Coolidge, advised the country, “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.”
Read MoreC. S. Lewis Warned Us About Substituting Government for God →
Lewis’s worldview was internally consistent. He couldn’t bring himself to look upon government as God, a substitute for God, or a reasonable facsimile of God. Government was composed of imperfect mortals, period. That means it contains all the flaws and foibles of mortals. So a free people must confine it, restrain it, and keep a wary eye on it.
Read MoreRemembering a Musical Icon and the Lessons of His Story →
To all the numerous reasons to support the philosophy of liberty, add this one: It is the most inclusive political philosophy imaginable. It starts with the foundation of each person’s unique and precious individuality. It respects human rights that are universal, owned at birth by each and every one of us. It encourages us to judge individuals not by some collectivist irrelevance or group assignment but by, as Dr. Martin Luther King put it, “the content of their character.” You can’t be a racist or a homophobe or a xenophobe or an anti-Semite or any other fill-in-the-blank, hate-them-for-the-group-God-put-them-in Neanderthal and a consistent defender of liberty.
Read MoreA Tribute to Dogs →
When I take my rat terriers Clarkson and Wilber (pictured here) for an unleashed hike through the woods, their excitement and boundless energy remind me how important freedom is, even to our intelligent four-legged friends.
Read More"I, Pencil" and Faith in Free People →
Faith in free people is rooted in our best understanding of basic human nature: Men and women act to improve their well-being. They do so by creating wealth and offering it to others in trade. They respond to incentives and disincentives. The great majority derive satisfaction not only from the utility provided by goods and services but from the joy that comes from the act of wealth creation. Unleash their creative energies and they put them to work! — A tribute to “I, Pencil” on its 60th anniversary.
Read MoreGiving Thanks for More Than a Decade of Progress at FEE →
I’m thankful for more than anybody has time to read about, but right now I am spending a lot of time appreciating the wonderful opportunity I’ve had to lead FEE for more than ten years as its president.
Read MoreNo Such Thing as "His Truth" or "Her Truth" →
Perverting the truth into a partial truth or an outright lie is a sure sign of rottenness of character. It’s a common tool of the rotten, who by definition are people who seek to harm, deceive, and control for their own self-aggrandizement. Run from anyone who fears the truth or opposes the truth, for they can do you no good.
Read MoreHow Socialism Works →
OK, here's how this works: Socialists buy votes with promises of free stuff. Gullible people who can't think further than next week, don't care about the math, or can't muster the personal character to avoid being accomplices to theft, support it. They're egged on by envy and vilification of the productive. Socialists then concentrate power and money in the hands of the State. When the economy crumbles, socialists then use the crisis they created as an excuse to control virtually every aspect of life. And now, in the latter stages of this in Venezuela, the State issues a compulsory "fatherland card." Big Brother has arrived. Meantime, socialists in Hollywood, Congress and American academia say nothing. You won't find them demonstrating in front of the Venezuelan embassy. Socialism's millions of victims in Venezuela will get no voice or sympathy from these state-worshipers. What an attractive philosophy this socialism is! NOT.
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