64.

Willing or Unwilling?

George Orwell, in his 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language,” writes that “in our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible” (Orwell 1946). But perhaps even more insightful is his statement that “the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.”

65.

Are Businesses Entitled to a Fair Profit?

In my experience of public-policy discussions, one of the weasel words most frequently played as a trump card is “fair.”

Like “need,” which plays a similar role, fairness does not have a clear meaning and thereby provides a lot of room for equivocation, which is almost always used to justify forcing some Americans to pay for what someone else wants.

66.

The Coming Renaissance

67.

The Love of Liberty and the
Limitation of Government

Can you defend what you do not understand? Sometimes. For instance, to do his job, a soldier does not need to completely understand why his side is fighting. But when it comes to liberty, understanding it is a prerequisite for effectively protecting it. Leonard Read makes that case in “The Love of Liberty,” from his 1975 book of the same name (Read 1975b).

68.

The Case against Name-Calling

John Miltimore (2018) writes, “There are a great many logical fallacies we see in modern discourse. But of all fallacies, the ad hominem is king (and probably always will be).” Further, “the ad hominem has found particular prominence in the current age, which combines plummeting intelligence with instantaneous, character-limited communication. (A toxic mixture, indeed.)”

69.

Worrycrats

70.

Common Justice, Not Equality

Most people agree that “equality” is a good thing because it is the socially acceptable thing to say. But to think that equality is always good and worth pursuing is to ignore important issues.

71.

The Bloom Preexists in the Seed

History reveals an almost endless supply of people who want to remake society into their own imagined utopia. But in the monomaniacal focus on forcing people into a mold, the essential shortcomings of these reform attempts are ignored. The result cannot match the vision, and the means of achieving it must be unjust and undermine individual potential, the source of any true social advance.

72.

Reflections on America’s
Founding Documents

Politicians and opinion makers frequently refer to America’s founding documents and what they mean today; however, the abyss between the policies their interpretations favor and those favored by the documents themselves demonstrates an incredible ability to miss the essential things that are there and to see what isn’t there.

73.

Progress Depends on Freedom

People often claim various sorts of freedom, asserting them as rights, but they may not think through the meaning of freedom with as much care as the topic deserves. In conducting a serious examination of freedom, we may discover that we have been deceiving ourselves.

Leonard Read considers freedom with a care that others might not invest. If we wish to think as carefully as he does, we should consider what he had to say in “Progress Depends on Freedom,” from his 1971 book Then Truth Will Out (Read 1971a).