Editor’s Pick. Written by Jordan Vaughn Neal. Note: This is not meant to be a definitive proof of anything, only something designed to make one question and think. It is a fact that the measured global average temperature has been rising. It is also a fact that a higher carbon concentrate in an atmosphere, all…
Category: Editor’s Picks
Rethinking “Evil”
If you watch the news (not recommended) you see people committing despicable acts of violence, and the general consensus is that these people who do evil… are evil. Ironically, when you have decided that someone is evil, bad, or wrong, it’s easy to justify doing evil things to them. “An eye for an eye” makes everyone blind. All this evildoing perpetuates the false belief that humans are inherently evil and would behave badly if not for our prohibitive laws and the constant threat of punishment.
Abstain Altogether
Editor’s Pick. Written by Connor Boyack. I fault nobody who abstains from voting. Voting is largely a corrupt process whereby people hope to be in a majority that can impose their will on the minority. As Lysander Spooner once observed, defensive voting is justified as a way to minimize the burden placed upon the individual:…
Whether You Know It or Not, You Are a Tax Slave
In the antebellum South, it was not uncommon for slaves to rent themselves from their masters. As a young man, Frederick Douglass did so, for example. His owner gave him leave to go out on his own, to find employment where he could, and to pocket the pay he received for such work, except that each month he had to pay his master a fixed sum for his freedom.
New Zealand’s Remarkable Economic Transformation
When writing a few days ago about the newly updated numbers from Economic Freedom of the World, I mentioned in passing that New Zealand deserves praise “for big reforms in the right direction.” And when I say big reforms, this isn’t exaggeration or puffery.
The Anti-Helicopter Parent’s Plea: Let Kids Play!
It was a Friday afternoon at Mike Lanza’s house in Menlo Park, Calif., and the boys were going crazy. There were boys playing ball in the street, while in the backyard, boys were skittering along the top of the fence while others were wrestling on the trampoline.
What Teaching in China Taught Me About Freedom and Individuality in the World
Working in education gave me unique insight into the parts of culture normally hidden from outsiders and casual tourists. It also gave me a deep resentment for those who maintain their culture at the cost of corrupting young minds. To see children be made into vessels for arbitrary cultural values on a massive scale would be the fire that would consume me.
How Politics Is Like a Nigerian Email Scam
The typical politician seeks the confidence of many strangers in order to secure their votes so that that politician wins power and office. The typical politician seeks this confidence by promising the strangers something for nothing – manna from the capital city or from City Hall – if only the strangers will put their trust in him or her. He wins, they lose.
The Elemental Case for Free Trade
The positive economic case for free trade is straightforward. Here I distill it into ten – well, as you’ll see, really eleven – elemental points.
How to Be a Good Unschooler
Editor’s Pick. Written by Pam Sorooshian. 1. Give your love generously and criticism sparingly. Be your children’s partner. Support them and respect them. Never belittle them or their interests, no matter how superficial, unimportant, or even misguided their interests may seem to you. Be a guide, not a dictator. Shine a light ahead for them,…