Three city blocks were systematically burned to the ground as hundreds of the local police stood by and viewed the violence. They were obeying orders not to harm the arsonists. The National Guard was called, adding more armed watchers. A passive gendarmerie consorting with open rebellion has rarely been seen in American history, until recently.
Voluntaryism. It is an awkward term. Yet that was what political philosopher Auberon Herbert called the only social arrangement that respected people’s self-ownership—mutually voluntary, noncoercive cooperation. Government compulsion, on the other hand, inherently violates it. Herbert saw that preventing violations of others’ self-ownership was
Listen to the Audio Mises Wire version of this article. Racism has, tragically, raised its ugly head throughout history. And American has certainly seen its share. But after all the other things that have been called racist, with everything connected to them bearing guilt by association, it is nonetheless stunning that some are now calling
In our world, there is very little people agree upon. One thing that seems to be an exception is that having an open mind is almost universally well regarded, while having a closed mind is almost universally criticized. However, such rhetoric presumes that what we are open or closed to is the truth. That leads to some problems of understanding,
Covid triggered a massive upswing in government prohibitions in America. Many were prohibited from keeping their firms open. Many were forced to stop working. Many of our normal freedoms of association and travel were eliminated. Many rights—such as access to due process or to contract enforcement—were effectively prohibited. And almost everyone
It is a natural human tendency to focus on our problems, but such a focus has a cost—exaggerating the size of the problems we face relative to the size of the blessings we benefit from. In a sense, that tendency may be more pronounced today among those who advocate for liberty, because they recognize the cornucopia of blessings liberty enables,
With Associate Justice Stephen Breyer’s impending retirement from the Supreme Court, President Biden jumped at the chance to deliver on his 2020 pledge to nominate its first Female Black Justice. And he defended the seeming affirmative action pick by saying “The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character,
February 15 marks the 1887 birth of Frank Chodorov , who Aaron Steelman described as offering an “unwavering defense of individualism” in the “intellectual war against the omnipotent state.” Born Fishel Chodorowsky, Chodorov was a “ lifelong individualist .” Early in his career, he described his position as “unashamedly accepting the doctrine of
Leonard Read was an important leader in the libertarian movement from the time he started the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in 1946 until his death. What primarily put him in that role was his unwavering commitment to liberty. But it was also due to his concern with the fact that not all forms of leadership and education were effective
Changes often induce fear--including the fear that some aspect of our current well-being will be eroded due to changes that could take place in markets. For instance, the invention of a lower cost way of providing a service I now offer could lower what I now earn. The potential that we might be harmed by such changes can make us very risk averse.
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.