This episode features a discussion with economics professor Walter Williams from 2015. Throughout history, personal liberty, free markets, and peaceable, voluntary exchanges have been roundly denounced by tyrants and often greeted with suspicion by the general public. Unfortunately, argues Dr. Williams, Americans have increasingly accepted the tyrannical ideas of reduced private property rights and reduced rights to profits, and have become enamored with restrictions on personal liberty and control by government.
Tag: rights
The Most Dangerous Thing About Marijuana
I’m writing this column as an open letter to my state’s US Senators (Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott). I encourage you to write to yours as well, and if you like any of the language herein, feel free to “steal” it. Dear Senators Rubio and Scott, On December 4, the US House of Representatives … Continue reading The Most Dangerous Thing About Marijuana
Rights Don’t Depend on Politicians
Rights can either be respected or violated. There’s no third option. To regulate, limit, ration, license, or criminalize a right is to violate it. The person who violates a right for any reason is the bad guy, without exception, no matter what excuse they use. Nothing justifies violating human rights.
Life-Years Lost: The Quantity and The Quality
A few weeks ago, the NYT reported that “The Coronavirus Has Claimed 2.5 Million Years of Potential Life.” If you read the original study, you’ll discover one crucial caveat: The authors’s calculations assume that COVID victims would have had the standard life expectancy for Americans of their age. They freely admit that this is unrealistic and inflates their estimate.
Peter Hill: The Not So Wild, Wild West, Property Rights on the Frontier (48m)
This episode features a lecture by economics professor emeritus Peter J. Hill from 2016. Hill looks at the development of property rights across the American West in the 19th century.
Government Has Too Much Power
If government didn’t have the power to force you to close your business because a new cold virus showed up, and punish you if you ignored its demands, the American economy would still be strong. Much tragedy could have been avoided. The pandemic would have most likely run its course and be only a memory by now.
Hey Tough Guy, I Call BS; They Will Take Your Guns from Warm Compliant Hands
For many years I have heard the tired old comments about government agents prying guns from cold dead hands. I recall a man with 300 partners on a mountain pass once said something similar, but he demonstrated through his actions that he actually meant it. I don’t think YOU really mean it. Your contemporary bravado is fine if we accept it for what it is. In truth, are YOU really THAT resolute & tough?
Andrew Napolitano: Nation of Sheep (48m)
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?
Little Difference Between Candidates
After Dec. 14, when the Electoral College votes, someone I don’t like will end up as president. Half of the people will say the election was fraudulent; half of the people will say the voters have spoken.
Make Nice with Your Neighbors
I want people to get along. I would prefer if they focused on real things instead of political things. There are enough real problems in the world without being political and creating problems from nothing.