Don’t Cry For Me, Cry For Argentina

One of my favorite cities in the world is Buenos Aires. Or at least it was…the last time I was there was in the late nineties. Since then, Argentina has suffered a complete economic meltdown, followed by a mild recovery.
But why settle for a mild recovery when government can deliver a total catastrophe instead? That’s [...]

Ryan’s Law

CNN recently ran a story about Lorri Unumb, the mother of an autistic boy in South Carolina who, in true David vs. Goliath fashion, took on the evil health insurance industry and won. When her son was diagnosed with autism, she learned that most policies don’t cover the kind of therapy that was required. Although [...]

Running for Intellectual Cover

Let’s say you’re a politician who really wants to make a mark on history. You know the world would be a much better place if everyone simply did what you told them to do, but your focus group research indicates that the campaign slogan “Do what I say or I’ll throw you in jail” [...]

The Essential Feature of Government

“It is important to remember that government interference always means either violent action or the threat of such action. The funds that a government spends for whatever purposes are levied by taxation. And taxes are paid because the taxpayers are afraid of offering resistance to the tax gatherers. They know that any disobedience or [...]

The Needs of the Many

With the election cycle underway, the talk around the office has turned political. I’ve had a number of interesting conversations recently with one particular co-worker who believes himself to be a small-government fiscal conservative. Like most people, he’s accustomed to discussing politics “by the book” – primary results, potential nominees, odds of winning, [...]

The Social(ist) Contract

“You libertarians and your obsession with the individual! What you don’t seem to understand is there’s this little thing called the social contract…” Ah, yes. The social contract. I’m familiar with it, and it’s quite a piece of work. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau states in his introduction to The Social Contract, Or Principles of Political Right,
“This [...]

The Green-Eyed Monster

Cameron Diaz made $10 million for her voice work on Shrek 2. Tony Romo just signed a 6-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys worth $64 million. David Beckham scored $250 million over 5 years with Major League Soccer. The cumulative pay of the top 10 highest paid CEOs in the past 15 years totaled $11.7 [...]

I’m the Philosopher-King of the World!

In The Republic, the Greek philosopher Plato laid the intellectual foundation for a strong central government and even socialism itself. After seeing his predecessor Socrates condemned to death by the democratic Athenians, he had become very distrustful of the common folk and their ability to distinguish right from wrong. This traumatic experience led him to [...]

What’s So Great About Liberty?

Liberty. Freedom. Property rights. Capitalism. Blah, blah, blah! I sound like a broken record, railing against the most basic government services that just about everyone else takes for granted. Sure, liberty is great and all, but why should it be held in such high esteem? There’s more to [...]

For or Against?

New Hampshire libertarian Gardner Goldsmith, author of Live Free or Die, hosts a daily radio program called “Against the Grain.” It’s a great show, and I recommend it to anyone interested in an eloquent and civil discussion of the issues from a principled, libertarian perspective. At the end of yesterday’s show, a caller [...]