If people individually own themselves and have a right to be free of aggressive force, then they have a right to change their location in ways consistent with other people's rights. Whether you call this moving around relocating, emigrating, or immigrating, doesn't...
Economics
TGIF: Beware Elitists in Populist Clothing
by Sheldon Richman | Dec 22, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles, History, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
We're led to believe that today's political struggles are largely a contest between populists and elitists. But something besides libertarians is missing from that simple tale: the elitists in populist clothing, or elitist populists. We have no better example than a...
TGIF: Arms Sales and Democracy
by Sheldon Richman | Nov 24, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
The U.S. government's role as the world's premier arms donor and dealer is now under renewed scrutiny. I can't imagine why. But seriously... We may legitimately ask if this role fulfills democracy's promise of, in Lincoln's words, "government of the people, by the...
TGIF: Bigotry versus Social Cooperation
by Sheldon Richman | Nov 17, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
We who value individualism, freedom, and social cooperation as essential to flourishing should be distressed by the hostile bigotry that has lately reared its ugly head, to some uncertain extent, on the streets and campuses of America and abroad. This is not new. In...
TGIF: The Glorious Bourgeois Peace Movement
by Sheldon Richman | Nov 3, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, History, Justice, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Those of us whose pro-peace/antiwar principles are of the bourgeois classical-liberal variety need reminding now and again that we have a glorious tradition going back hundreds of years. We need not get lost in the dominant rhetoric that opposes war, empire, and its...
Yes, Capitalism Did Reduce Extreme Poverty
by Trenton Hale | Oct 30, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles
One of the best arguments in support of free market capitalism is how much capitalism has reduced extreme poverty. Between 1820 and 2015, extreme poverty plummeted from 90% to 10% globally in that span. This statistic is one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind...
TGIF: Extend Tolerance to Commerce
by Sheldon Richman | Oct 20, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Perhaps you've noticed that we live in intolerant times. Many people claim to be endangered by the mere spoken or written expression of views on a range of issues. This has led to direct action to disrupt speakers on college campuses and elsewhere and to indirect...
No, We Cannot Fund Yet Another War
by Connor O'Keeffe | Oct 19, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy
In a 60 Minutes interview over the weekend, host Scott Pelley asked President Joe Biden, “Are the wars in Israel and Ukraine more than the United States can take on at the same time?” The president answered, “We can take care of both of these and still maintain our...