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…
Tag: faith
A Way Out – Victory Without Violence
Written by Carl Watner for The Voluntaryist, June 1989. Marshall Fritz of the Advocates for Self-Government recently loaned me a copy of John Yoder’s book, titled What Would You Do: If a Violent Person Threatened to Harm a Loved One… At dinner one evening, we were discussing the question of what I would do if an…
Difficult Challenges and Self Control
Send him mail. “One Improved Unit” is an original bi-weekly column appearing every other Monday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OIU-only RSS feed available here. The last year has been, and continues to be, my greatest challenge. Increasing activity in my church, learning economics,…
Jay Gunther
“Toward Freedom” is an Everything-Voluntary.com series sharing personal stories about the journey toward freedom. Archived stories can be found here. Submit your story to the editor. I was born and raised in a very strong Christian, very strong Republican family. I remember at age seven when the race was between Barry Goldwater (R) and Lyndon…
What is Political “Extremism”?
Guest post by Laird Wilcox. Originally published in The Voluntaryist, August 1987. Roger Scruton, in the Dictionary Of Political Thought (1982) defines “extremism” as: “A vague term, which can mean: 1. Taking a political idea to its limits, regardless of ‘unfortunate’ repercussions, impracticalities, arguments and feelings to the contrary, and with the intention not only to…
Button Pushing or Abdication: Which?
Guest post by Carl Watner. Originally published in The Voluntaryist, August 1985. For an earlier article on this topic, with a different perspective, at Everything-Voluntary.com, see this post. In Detroit on April 29,1946, Leonard Read gave a speech to the Midwestern Conference of the Controllers Institute of America. The address, which was titled “I’d Push…
Individualism, Collectivism, and Other Murky Labels
Imagine the following person. He believes all individuals should be free to do anything that’s peaceful and therefore favors private property, free global markets, freedom of contract, civil liberties, and all the related ideas that come under the label libertarianism (or liberalism). Obviously he is not a statist. But is he an individualist and a capitalist or a socialist and a collectivist?
I, Smartphone
Guest post by FaithWorkEcon.
When Does Law Become Criminal?
Post by Skyler J. Collins. Originally written August 2011. If you’ve ever criticized taxation in front of an average statist, be them liberal or conservative, you know that it quickly turns awkward. They insist that taxation is necessary for certain services and that they’re happy to pay it. They sometimes even assume you’re advocating not…
A Man of Few Words
Guest post by Nicole, Unschoolers.org. My husband Ted did not come to the unschooling life as quickly or as easily as I did. It was kind of a long road for him, with some serious doubts and struggles along the way. So it’s been very cool to watch as he has become increasingly confident in…