To demonstrate the symbiotic relationship between the modern political classes and journalism, one has only to see the current "revolving door" in Washington, D.C. From Chris Matthews to George Stephanopolous, the gaggle of former government staffers working as "journalists" demonstrates beyond a doubt what is happening in journalism today.
Richard Ebeling writes: The rejection of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes around the world has represented a rebirth of the ideal of the democratic order. It is important to remember, however, that "self-government" can mean and has meant two different, but complementary ideals.
Germany today, argues Frank Vogelgesang, is a country marked by often suffocating regulation, a social security system that lies like a wet blanket over the private sector, and a labor market in desperate need of breathing room. This goes against the kind of market economy envisioned by Ludwig Erhard after World War II, based largely on ideas of the Freiburg School with its intellectual roots in the Austrian School.
For those who have seen A Beautiful Mind, be assured that the strategizing--in which Russell Crowe instructs his friends that the only way to success is for them all to ignore the pretty girl and focus instead on her plainer friends--does not constitute a true Nash equilibrium. Even if all the boys would be better off if they all ignored the pretty blonde, there would still be an incentive for each one to deviate from the pact and approach her.
By the 1890s, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Frick, Harriman, and many others amassed spectacular fortunes. To progressives and other redistributionists, their wealth, and the income inequality it implied, was unacceptable. An income tax, its advocates argued, was the fix.
Why is there so much religious passion in the tone of the Microsoft critics? Why is it so difficult to understand that the marketplace is a far better evaluator of Microsoft's product than a federal judge who tries to synthesize, express, and enforce the whims of 20 million consumers whom he's never talked to?
Since people are self-interested, it is essential that no one person, firm, or state be allowed to set the terms under which competition takes place, whether the competition is in the marketplace or the sports arena. To allow otherwise would be to allow the reappearance of mercantilism.
The Lord of the Rings is the epic journey to destroy the One Ring, which symbolizes power. More precisely, the book aligns itself against power--not "economic power" or "social power," but specifically political power. This is also the central theme of the classical liberal political tradition.
John Walker Lindh has pleaded not guilty to the charge that he conspired to kill Americans. It does seem like this religious pilgrim was caught at the wrong place, on the wrong side, at the wrong time. He was drawn to Islamic fundamentalism. For him it was the radical alternative to what he came to regard as the corrupt materialism of the West. He was there when the U.S. troops came, and now he faces life in prison.
Americans are discussing whether the president can just take on the powers of a Caesar, claiming more and more power because of the demands of war. But for those advocates of an imperial presidency, there are the words of Justice Davis: "No doctrine, involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than that its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government."
