Jeff Riggenbach points out that European civilization in the North American new world was founded by two distinct types of adventurer, the first sought freedom from the old order, while the second sought to impose a new order. We Americans, as a people have been in fundamental conflict ever since.
Tag: consequences
There’s No Way to Know Everything
It’s enough to know when something violates other people’s rights and liberty; to understand I have no right to violate others even if I can’t know with certainty how things would go if no one violates them.
The FDA’s Assault on Tobacco Consumers, Part 2
DeLauro’s bill betrays a fundamental puritanism, which underlies all prohibitionism: since nicotine is a substance that provides pleasure and some people therefore use it habitually, it must be stamped out and its consumers, producers, and merchants demonized.
Addicts Can’t Think Outside Their Box
No part of statism is a given. Any of it can be eliminated; all of it can be eliminated. That one part of it excuses another part doesn’t mean you have to keep either part. Ditch them both. It’s the sensible thing to do.
Many Different “Problems,” Identical “Solution” in Every Case
These are among the many problems that people have perceived as plaguing economically advanced societies during the past century or so. They differ greatly and involve different causes, mechanisms, and consequences. Yet in every case the solution has been widely seen as the same: vastly enlarging the power of government.
The Reformer’s Plight in The Great Idea
I’m a fan of dystopian fiction, but I overlooked Henry Hazlitt’s The Great Idea (subsequently republished as Time Will Run Back) until last December. I feared a long-winded, clunky version of Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson, but I gave it a chance, and my gamble paid off. I read the whole thing (almost 400 pages) on a red-eye flight – feeling wide awake the whole way.
How Hard Would It Be To Enslave You?
Do you believe you’re free? Ask yourself how hard it would be for someone to enslave you – politically, emotionally, financially, physically, relationally, mentally.
Jeptha’s Knob
The Jeptha’s Knob Meteor was just one among myriad causes which went on to generate multitudes of effects. The complexity dwarfs our imaginations. The inexorable advance of change is astounding.
On Economics
Learning economics had the effect on me of shifting my moral outrage from capitalists and entrepreneurs to politicians and bureaucrats. For example, you might think a policy like rent control keep greedy landlords from exploiting poor tenants.
Some Still Waiting Return of Liberty
For decades I’ve had my doubts about whether America is still the land of the free. With rules and enforcers everywhere you look, it doesn’t seem so. I’ve been wrong. Most Americans are free — as free as they want to be.