Learning by the Seat of Your Soul

Editor’s Pick. Written by Allen and Laura Ellis. After dark on a summer evening, an 8-year-old boy named Allen and his mother sat on the blacktop driveway, which was still warm from the day’s sun, drawing with chalk. But they weren’t drawing daisies and rainbows and other normal-type pictures–they were doing geometry. Why? Because Allen…

The Faux Slavery Analogy to Voting

Editor’s Pick. Written by Wendy McElroy. I oppose electoral voting on both moral and strategic grounds. In presenting the Voluntaryist case against electoral voting, however, I commonly encounter the slavery analogy as a counterargument in support of defensive voting. A classic formulation of it comes from Walter Block who argues, “Suppose we were slaves, and…

Unschooling and Free Schools

Editor’s Pick. Written by Marike Reid-Gaudet. I’m interested in unschooling because it’s an applied philosophy rather than a teaching method. This philosophy, which I strive to use daily with my son, who is now 16 years old, is also the one used in free schools. For me, this approach to life and to children’s’ development…

Finding Joy

Editor’s Pick. Written by Pam Laricchia. First, what do I mean by the word joy? Certainly it means happiness, pleasure. Most people can find happiness in response to good things that happen to them or around them. Yet when disappointing things happen, they are thrown into despair. It’s tough to be at the mercy of…

Ask A Different Question

Editor’s Pick. Written by Liberty. Libertarians are regularly asked questions about how a libertarian country would solve a certain social problem. That whole idea is a bit ridiculous but there is a quick solution to just about everyone of those questions. Questions that are asked are generally leading towards a statist solution. Despite the poor…