U.S. History
“Immigration Symposium,” by Ralph Raico
Most libertarians have in recent years favored "open borders," but this indispensable collection of articles throws that view into serious question.
Live Free or Separate
November and December mark the bicentennial of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolves. Penned by Jefferson and Madison, the Resolves are peerless for their brief but masterful explication of the Constitution. Though there will be no parades or celebrations of the Resolves 200th birthday, the subjects—formerly citizens—of our great welfare-warfare state need to reacquaint themselves with the Resolves principles. Like no other document, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolves mark the path to a return to constitutional government.
Private Ryan
An essay by Paul Fussell explains the meaning of Spielberg's new film on war.
A History of the American People, by Paul Johnson
Johnson, a world-renowned journalist and popular historian, adopts a thoroughly Rothbardian account of the onset of the Depression. Like Rothbard, he finds the source of the collapse in irresponsible credit expansion.
Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in 20th-Century America, by Richard Rorty
Richard Rorty is a distinguished analytic philosopher, but you would never know it from this vulgar screed. Our author makes clear the basic assumptions of "infantile leftism," in Lenin's phrase, in a way that hardly stops short of self-parody.Richard Rorty is a distinguished analytic philosopher, but you would never know it from this vulgar screed. Our author makes clear the basic assumptions of "infantile leftism," in Lenin's phrase, in a way that hardly stops short of self-parody.
The Ordeal of Integration: Progress and Resentment in America’s “Racial” Crisis, by Orlando Patterson
Orlando Patterson, a Jamaican sociologist now teaching at Harvard, does not like being termed a conservative for his views on black-white relations in the United States.
Genesis of Welfare, The
Far from having been reformed, much less abolished, welfare continues to grow. The most recent example is the attempt by the Clinton administration to convince Americans that there is a "child care crisis," which can only be "solved" through expansion of government. The welfare state has become a deeply destructive but sadly unavoidable fact of life in modern society.
Drawn With the Sword, by James McPherson
As usual, let us begin with a paradox. James McPherson, a leading historian of the Civil War, ardently supports the Union cause and views Abraham Lincoln as an outstanding champion of "positive liberalism."
Vindicating the Founders, by Thomas West
Vindicating the Founders is better than I thought it would be. The author proceeds from an excellent idea. The framers have of late come under attack by leftists of various sorts.