My family recently traveled to Texas to relax and camp. I returned with a few observations. Because They Can Camping? Alright, we pull a travel trailer, with hot water, A/C, etc. We’re not roughing it, but our SUV is relatively cramped when you consider the empty space being towed behind us. One of my daughters asked, “Why did the state make it
Today was a wonderful day to break another world record. The conditions — the temperature, humidity, and wind speed — were ideal. I could not have asked for better. A world record is an astounding feat to be sure. Moreover, as this was my 100th world record, it was special indeed — one that I will treasure the rest of my life. Which record did I
While watching the Olympics, we tend to cheer participants along national lines. We root for our country’s athletes over those from the rest of the world. While there is nothing wrong with this fun diversion, the concept of the individual must never be lost amid the ideal of the collective — the belief that the members of the collective (the
Imagine that you and a friend are sitting on a bench across the street from a construction site. In quick succession, two trucks arrive and dump a pile of sand, one pile next to the other. Moments later, a bulldozer appears and pushes the two piles together. After some thought, your friend has an “a-ha” moment. “Interesting,” he notes, channeling
Before the renewed discussions and debates over socialized healthcare begin in earnest, I want to make my preference known to all: I desire low-quality healthcare. All right, to be straightforward, I do not actually desire low-quality healthcare; I simply do not desire high-quality healthcare — at least not “high-quality healthcare” as defined by
It had to be the time of year. How else can I explain it? Regardless, there I sat in an inner-city recreation center, enjoying a children’s holiday program when this thought disturbed the performance: I do not mind my tax dollars paying for this . Wow. I grabbed that thought and began to analyze it. Yes, it is true: I do not mind that my tax
One of my favorite websites is the Marxists Internet Archive ( marxists.org). The folks there maintain a huge volume of Marxist writings. In addition, they provide online books and articles that are essential to the well-read Marxist -- as well as the free market Misesian looking to do some research. One of those books is from none other than
While on an evening bike ride with my oldest son, we reminisced about one of the first government meetings we attended together — an annexation hearing before our county commissioners. Looking back, we agreed that the meeting turned out to be an invaluable opportunity to witness government in action. At the hearing, the attorney for the petitioner
Whether the middle schoolers in your life are educated at home or elsewhere, the best way to introduce the economics of Liberty is Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? This is the book that introduced me – at age 38 – to Austrian Economics. I read the book after my homeschooling wife bought it as an economics text for my oldest son. Penny Candy shook
It’s that time of year here in Ohio: time to make a list and check it twice. Christmas gift list? Not in this instance. It’s time for county auditors throughout the state to cause the publication of their annual lists of delinquent real property taxes. Is the intent to shame the naughty into paying their fair share? To a point. However, I believe
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.