For decades, Americans have been burdened with historic expansions in government control, including in areas earlier generations could not even imagine as possible. Such dictates violate Americans’ inalienable self-ownership. That is why Lysander Spooner, born January 19, deserves renewed attention. Spooner laid out why our natural right of
January 6 marked the anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt’s famous 1941 “Four Freedoms” speech, and January 11 marked the anniversary of his 1944 State of the Union address, where he expanded on what he saw as its meaning. That makes this an appropriate time to recognize the cognitive dissonance in FDR’s view of freedom, cited to this day as
As the partial government shutdown has continued to its record-breaking length, more and more people have found themselves discomfited, inconvenienced or harmed in some way by the consequences. That has led to a rising chorus of complaints against our current form of gridlock. With it has come an interesting form of optimism from the political
The golden rule—“Do to others as you would have them do to you” being the most common variant I have heard--may be the most common ethical touchstone for human interactions. After all, Simon Blackburn wrote in his 2001 book, Ethics , that the Golden Rule is “found in some form in almost every ethical tradition.” I doubt there is anyone I know who
March 3 marked the bicentennial of Belgian-born philosopher/economist Gustave de Molinari’s birth. Based on self-ownership and the private property derived from it, he forcefully defended every form of liberty. No wonder Frederic Bastiat named Molinari his successor. Remembering Molinari’s across-the-board defense of liberty is particularly
On January 30, Rep. John Larson and 200 Democratic co-sponsors introduced the Social Security 2100 Act. Portrayed as giving retirees long-overdue benefit increases, it would actually add another step to Social Security’s long-running Ponzi scheme. Despite Democrats’ history of rejecting that term for Social Security, it has been the biggest series
Resentment is a toxic reagent that directly undermines harmony and social cooperation, and can lead to support for policies that will make such problems even worse. Unfortunately, most of the attention given to resentment seems to be harnessing it to enact somebody’s political agenda into law, and very little seeks to understand it with an eye to
With all the “turn that over to the government, too, so someone else will have to provide it for you” proposals that have come from Democrat Presidential hopefuls already, candidates are actually being asked if they are a “socialist” or a “capitalist.” Bernie Sanders, who has called for “economic rights” guarantees to be treated as Constitutional
Suppose someone wanted to misrepresent a public policy to you. How could they do so most effectively? And who can help you resist? It’s certainly a believable hypothetical. With two major parties who seem to disagree on everything, multiple intra-party fault-lines, and a plethora of interests who wish to turn laws and regulations in their favor,
It has often been stated, and even more frequently implied, that we should choose to cooperate rather than compete in society. For instance, FDR said “Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.” Bertrand Russell
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.