Written by Michael McConkey for The Libertarian Standard. As illegitimate as the involuntary nature of the state is, many people consider a wide range of what the state does to be thoroughly necessary. Some people value Pareto optimal outcomes, some don’t; some are willing to absorb more transaction costs than others; some worry about free…
Category: Editor’s Picks
Does the Santa Legend Endanger Trust?
Written by Jan Hunt for NaturalChild.org. A close friend and I had an interesting discussion recently about the Santa Question. Is it OK to tell a child that Santa Claus is real? Is this a harmless “white lie”, an innocent and loving attempt to give a child the pleasure of make-believe, and the reassurance of…
The First Christmas – A Libertarian Event, Too
Written by Skyler J. Collins in 2009. Christmastime is arguably the best time of the year. We all know the reasons why, though many forget. My intention with this short essay is not to examine those, the most important parts. Rather, what I thought I’d share here are the details that make the Christmas story…
The Christmas Story’s Hidden Capitalism
Written by Jeffrey Tucker for Laissez Faire Today. People talk like capitalism is some strange foreign invader, a mechanical system that was imposed on the world a couple hundred years ago, fueled by burning coal and emitting smoke, and certainly not anything organic to the social order. This is preposterous. The Christmas story that surrounds…
Politics Makes Us Worse
Written by Aaron Ross Powell & Trevor Burrus for The Libertarian Library. Even if we try to ignore it, politics influences much of our world. For those who do pay attention, politics invariably leads in newspapers and on TV news and gets discussed, or shouted about, everywhere people gather. Politics can weigh heavily in forging…
Love, Liberty, and the State
Written by Robert Higgs for The Beacon. Love takes many forms—in personal relations, in work and other creative endeavors, in charity toward the needy, in spiritual commitments that give deeper meaning to life amid its inevitable challenges and losses. Love gives us a reason to continue despite discouragements and difficulties, to keep trying to make…
Will the Police Protect You?
Written by Wendy McElroy for Laissez Faire Today. For years, I have declared a preference for taking my chances with criminals rather than with the police. Criminals usually want my property, not to control my life or to cage me like an animal. With criminals, I can pull a gun in self-defense. Until lately, however,…
A Short History of Liberty
Written by Dean Russell for The Freeman in 1955. From biblical times onward, the history of liberty and progress among various peoples seems to have followed a remarkably similar pattern. There are exceptions, of course—and the time element varies widely—but the pattern may be generally described by ten key ideas in sequence:1. Bondage. At some…
Religion and Politics: The Case for Their Divorce
Written by Gerard Casey for LewRockwell.com. Since the heyday of the Enlightenment, there have been concerted efforts in many parts of the West to get religion out of politics, presumably on the grounds that religion is bad for politics. Whatever the merits of these efforts, and to whatever extent they may be justifiable, what has…
But Wouldn’t Robots Take Over?
Written by Wheylous for The Voluntaryist Reader. Economists agree that the accumulation of labor-saving capital is responsible for the great growth of wealth experienced in recent centuries. It has allowed the productivity of the public to soar, which has in turn improved wages and working conditions. Yet parallel to the phenomenal betterment of the life…