74.

How to Decontrol

While Leonard Read published a vast array of articles in his efforts to advance liberty, he also gave many speeches. One of those speeches— “How to De-control: Divest Your Mind of Attachments to Power” (Read 1946)—is of particular interest because it was given the year he began the Foundation for Economic Education and because its focus—the question of easing government controls after the end of World War II, is again a major issue in the aftermath of the wide swath of controls imposed in response to covid.

75.

Nuclear Giants and Ethical Infants

It is commonplace to hear about how much more we know than our ancestors. Many have long taken that to imply that we are more advanced than they were or that the accumulation of knowledge will continue to improve (or progress, if you claim to be a progressive) over time. But while that is undeniable in some areas, the opposite might be true in others. We may have regressed in more important ways than we have progressed.

76.

Know-It-All-ness

When people hold differing positions on issues, they should debate using logic and evidence. But many people who attack defenders of liberty try to dismiss their libertarian challenges. They often do so by characterizing libertarians as wild-eyed, antigovernment extremists, whose biases supposedly put them so far from mainstream American life that their arguments can be ignored because they reflect animus rather than reasoned belief.

77.

Wishes and Rights

Any careful observer of American politics must be struck by the expanding roster of things people have asserted they have rights to. But when such claimed rights are seriously considered, there is often little substance beyond a shared desire or wish for something and the supposed implication of a right to it. From there, it is but one more step to the legislative or judicial attempt to create such rights, which are promoted as social improvements guaranteed by government.

78.

Inhibiting Infractions
of the Moral Law,
Not Promoting Them

One of the most seminal questions about government concerns the appropriate limits on government-enacted law.

If we follow the rationale of Locke as well as America’s founders, all citizens, if given the choice, would prefer to have a very limited government. Through the joint defense of everyone’s rights, government can benefit all citizens. But benefiting some at the expense of others does not expand the “general welfare” referred to in our Constitution’s preamble.

79.

Compromise or Surrender?

Compromise is frequently the lubricant of successful social interaction, and its rhetoric is a staple for politicians who want to “get things done.” But political compromises are different from most day-to-day compromises because they often abandon moral principles. For example, there are huge differences between market compromises—flexible, voluntary compromises by all whose rights are affected—and political compromises—arrangements where just over half the participants compromise on an agreement to coerce others.

80.

A Better Way to “Buy American”

Samuel Johnson once wrote that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel” (Boswell 1791). He was wrong: patriotism is the last refuge of many scoundrels.

81.

Why Not Private Mail Delivery?

The US Postal Service has long bathed itself in billions of dollars of red ink. And the slide seems to be worsening. There have been many proposed “reforms,” which Adam Summers described as “higher prices, slower delivery, fewer delivery days, and more junk mail” (Summers 2012). But even efforts intended to create efficiencies, such as closing distribution centers, must navigate a minefield of politicians intent on ensuring that any cuts fall in someone else’s district.

82.

On Thinking for Self

After the 2012 reelection of a president favoring dramatically expanded statism, in a race that many on the other side viewed as a crucial referendum on the future of America, the “losers” fought about what lessons needed to be learned for future success. They reached little apparent agreement beyond the importance of pointing fingers at others.

83.

On That Day Began Lies

Whether we are talking about city councils, state legislatures, the House of Representatives, the Senate, committees and subcommittees, or any group organized and designed to influence these, our lives are more and more dictated by government and less and less by our voluntary choices. The adverse consequences of that shift from self-responsibility to irresponsibility can be seen all around us.