Tag: libertarian

The Anti-Jerk Law

Bryan Caplan

You’ve probably had a boss who was a jerk.  Indeed, you may be working under a jerk of a boss right now.  Question: Would it be a good idea to pass an Anti-Jerk Law to protect workers from these jerky employers?  Like existing employment discrimination laws, the Anti-Jerk Law would allow aggrieved employees to sue their employer for jerkiness – and received handsome compensation if they prove their charge in a court of law. I doubt many people would endorse this Anti-Jerk Law.  On what basis, though, would they object?

Thankful, 2020 Edition

Thomas L. Knapp

This year, the words of President Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation ring especially true: “I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to [God] for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged …” It’s been a rough year, hasn’t it?

Mask Mandates: COVID-19 and the Law of the Instrument

Thomas L. Knapp

“One day after the state reported a record 92 COVID-19-related deaths,” the Wisconsin State Journal‘s Mitchell Schmidt reports, “Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday he plans to extend the state’s emergency declaration and accompanying mask mandate through mid-January. … The current mask mandate was issued in July and extended by Evers in September.” The first two mask mandates didn’t achieve the desired result! Something must be done! Hey, I’ve got an idea! How about another mask mandate?

Andrew Napolitano: Nation of Sheep (48m)

Skyler J. Collins (Editor)

This episode features a talk by by former Federal judge and libertarian Andrew Napolitano from 2008. He discusses how the federal government has circumvented the Constitution and is systematically dismantling the rights and freedoms that are the foundation of American democracy. He challenges Americans to recognize that they are being led down a very dangerous path and that the cost of following without challenge is the loss of the basic freedoms that facilitate our pursuit of happiness and that define us as a nation. He asks the simple question, which are you, a sheep or a wolf? Do you blindly follow behind where you are led, or do you challenge the government at every pass, forcing it to make decisions that will protect our freedoms?

Section 230 Doesn’t Need “Reform”

Thomas L. Knapp

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is under attack — disguised as a cry for “reform” — from politicians on both sides of the “major party” aisle. To what purpose? Well, let’s look at Section 230’s key provision: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

Fried Chicken in a Hardware Store

Alex R. Knight III

Or, horror fiction on a libertarian website, if you prefer (see my bio below). Most of us have heard this expression, but for the uninitiated, it means attempting to market a product, service, or idea to the wrong or inappropriate audience or demographic. Thing is, I recall a hardware store in New Hampshire about 20 years ago that did sell fried chicken – and it was delicious.