April 16, 2002 -- Every job has its downside: Multimillionaire CEOs spend a bazillion hours at the office, famous actresses are mobbed by obsessive fans everywhere they go, even international beer writer Michael Jackson (no, not the pop star), who travels around the world and drinks beer for a living, has to—OK, maybe not all jobs have a downside—but being U.S. Secretary of State certainly does. Colin Powell is on the Secretary’s obligatory semi-annual “Futile Mid-East Peace Junket.” I think it’s actually in the Constitution somewhere: “The President shall have the power to make treaties…and send the Secretary of State on a Futile Middle-Eastern Peace Junket.” Powell can’t be having any fun at all. Powell has about as much chance of stopping the conflict as Albright or Kissinger did—which is to say, not much. Conflict has been raging in the land of Canaan since before Jehovah made that infamous bargain with Abraham, and Colin Powell won’t stop it.
May 18, 2006 -- The revelation that the Bush administration has secured records of millions of phone calls from three telecom companies should shock every American who is concerned about freedom. Apparently it does not. A poll the day after the disclosure found that two-thirds of Americans have no apparent problem with this practice. Perhaps those opinions will change as more details are revealed. But in any case, for the sake of our freedom, Americans would do well to do what most politicians refuse to do: think in terms of principles. The proper purpose of government is to protect the lives, liberty, and property of citizens. Preventing terrorist attacks certainly falls under this principle. Administration defenders argue that its open-ended approach to tracking phone calls is simply part of that effort.
September 21, 2001 -- The question before us is how to respond to the atrocities of September 11. First, obviously, the government must visit heavy retribution on those directly responsible for the attack and on those states and organizations that aided them. That is a matter of justice. Secondly, Washington (by bringing unbearable pressure on state sponsors of terrorism) must smash Islamic fundamentalism's global terrorist network in order to deter future attacks. That follows from the government's obligation to minimize the number of attacks on its citizens' rights. Thirdly, the government must put in place defensive mechanisms and the means to cope with the consequences of large-scale terror attacks if they should recur. That is a matter of the government's obligation to thwart attempted attacks on rights or at least to minimize the extent of damage from such attacks. How can these tasks be carried out?
February 1, 2001 -- "There is no right to do wrong." So Alan Keyes used to say during his presidential campaign. Apparently, he either did not grasp or did not care that freedom implies the right to do wrong, inasmuch as a person permitted only to walk the straight and narrow does not walk this path freely. Of course, libertarians know well the truth of that observation, but today it demands a rider: Freedom exists only when the right to do wrong is more than nominal. With public funds, administrative regulations, and liability law seeping into every corner of our lives, true freedom exists only if the right to do wrong is not abrogated by the oblique controls these tools allow.
November 8, 2006 -- [In my article on "The Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party" in the Fall 2006 issue of The New Individualist magazine, I analyzed the likely results of a GOP turning more and more to big-government, interventionist policies. In that issue, TNI editor Robert Bidinotto's piece called "Back to the Future?" looked at the philosophical degeneration of the Republican Party. The results of the party's direction were seen at the polls in the 2006 elections.] Months of prognostication about the pitiful performance at the polls predicted for Republicans has now given way to prescriptions about the direction of the party. Should the GOP move to the center, the right, or the left? Truth be told, Republicans right now are just going around in circles. The party's own confusion and incoherence about what it stands for will ensure that it continues to wander in the political wilderness; it must once again take up as its guide the principles of liberty and limited government.
March 28, 2002 -- Summer ended last year on September 11th with a bitter blast to our souls. But we were warmed by the heroism of police...
June 28, 2003 -- On July 4th, we celebrate the establishment of the United States of America by our Founding Fathers. Since 1776, America
January 1, 2001 -- The classics, academic freedom, and justice often seem all but dead on college campuses today. Routinely, colleges and
As he departed for a tour of Africa, President George W. Bush said the United States rejects "the paternalist notion that treats African
Many Americans understandably are concerned about the Bush administration's proposed Terrorist Information Prevention System, a program to
The holiday season is a time for spiritual reflection, celebration, and frenzied commerce. These activities might seem incompatible. They
April 5, 2003 -- I am trained as an economist, and so it especially irks me when ignorant journalists attempt to comment on the economy...
September 8, 2005 -- Another example of how Europeans and Americans are drifting apart culturally and politically can be seen in the film
The Astronomical League, the world's largest federation of amateur astronomers, has declared May 10th to be this year's Astro
February 6, 2004 -- Today is the birthday of a great man who, tragically, doesn’t know it. Ronald Reagan is 93 years old, but Alzheimer’s...
June 11, 2003 -- One Republican is finally making moral arguments to support his tax policies. Unfortunately, they’re the wrong arguments
On September 11, the metaphor of the war of ideas between rational civilization and tribalist barbarism became literal description...
October 3, 2003 -- A group of Southern Methodist University students recently taught a lesson in practical philosophy better than those they
Whether one favors the war against Iraq or not, one's attitude towards the United Nations' role is a revealing Rorschach test; those with
January 17, 2009 -- January 2009 finds the issue of race front-and-center with the celebration of black civil rights leader Martin Luther...
April 16, 2002 -- Every job has its downside: Multimillionaire CEOs spend a bazillion hours at the office, famous actresses are mobbed by obsessive fans everywhere they go, even international beer writer Michael Jackson (no, not the pop star), who travels around the world and drinks beer for a living, has to—OK, maybe not all jobs have a downside—but being U.S. Secretary of State certainly does. Colin Powell is on the Secretary’s obligatory semi-annual “Futile Mid-East Peace Junket.” I think it’s actually in the Constitution somewhere: “The President shall have the power to make treaties…and send the Secretary of State on a Futile Middle-Eastern Peace Junket.” Powell can’t be having any fun at all. Powell has about as much chance of stopping the conflict as Albright or Kissinger did—which is to say, not much. Conflict has been raging in the land of Canaan since before Jehovah made that infamous bargain with Abraham, and Colin Powell won’t stop it.
May 18, 2006 -- The revelation that the Bush administration has secured records of millions of phone calls from three telecom companies should shock every American who is concerned about freedom. Apparently it does not. A poll the day after the disclosure found that two-thirds of Americans have no apparent problem with this practice. Perhaps those opinions will change as more details are revealed. But in any case, for the sake of our freedom, Americans would do well to do what most politicians refuse to do: think in terms of principles. The proper purpose of government is to protect the lives, liberty, and property of citizens. Preventing terrorist attacks certainly falls under this principle. Administration defenders argue that its open-ended approach to tracking phone calls is simply part of that effort.
September 21, 2001 -- The question before us is how to respond to the atrocities of September 11. First, obviously, the government must visit heavy retribution on those directly responsible for the attack and on those states and organizations that aided them. That is a matter of justice. Secondly, Washington (by bringing unbearable pressure on state sponsors of terrorism) must smash Islamic fundamentalism's global terrorist network in order to deter future attacks. That follows from the government's obligation to minimize the number of attacks on its citizens' rights. Thirdly, the government must put in place defensive mechanisms and the means to cope with the consequences of large-scale terror attacks if they should recur. That is a matter of the government's obligation to thwart attempted attacks on rights or at least to minimize the extent of damage from such attacks. How can these tasks be carried out?
February 1, 2001 -- "There is no right to do wrong." So Alan Keyes used to say during his presidential campaign. Apparently, he either did not grasp or did not care that freedom implies the right to do wrong, inasmuch as a person permitted only to walk the straight and narrow does not walk this path freely. Of course, libertarians know well the truth of that observation, but today it demands a rider: Freedom exists only when the right to do wrong is more than nominal. With public funds, administrative regulations, and liability law seeping into every corner of our lives, true freedom exists only if the right to do wrong is not abrogated by the oblique controls these tools allow.
November 8, 2006 -- [In my article on "The Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party" in the Fall 2006 issue of The New Individualist magazine, I analyzed the likely results of a GOP turning more and more to big-government, interventionist policies. In that issue, TNI editor Robert Bidinotto's piece called "Back to the Future?" looked at the philosophical degeneration of the Republican Party. The results of the party's direction were seen at the polls in the 2006 elections.] Months of prognostication about the pitiful performance at the polls predicted for Republicans has now given way to prescriptions about the direction of the party. Should the GOP move to the center, the right, or the left? Truth be told, Republicans right now are just going around in circles. The party's own confusion and incoherence about what it stands for will ensure that it continues to wander in the political wilderness; it must once again take up as its guide the principles of liberty and limited government.
March 28, 2002 -- Summer ended last year on September 11th with a bitter blast to our souls. But we were warmed by the heroism of police...
June 28, 2003 -- On July 4th, we celebrate the establishment of the United States of America by our Founding Fathers. Since 1776, America
January 1, 2001 -- The classics, academic freedom, and justice often seem all but dead on college campuses today. Routinely, colleges and
As he departed for a tour of Africa, President George W. Bush said the United States rejects "the paternalist notion that treats African
Many Americans understandably are concerned about the Bush administration's proposed Terrorist Information Prevention System, a program to
The holiday season is a time for spiritual reflection, celebration, and frenzied commerce. These activities might seem incompatible. They
April 5, 2003 -- I am trained as an economist, and so it especially irks me when ignorant journalists attempt to comment on the economy...
September 8, 2005 -- Another example of how Europeans and Americans are drifting apart culturally and politically can be seen in the film
The Astronomical League, the world's largest federation of amateur astronomers, has declared May 10th to be this year's Astro
February 6, 2004 -- Today is the birthday of a great man who, tragically, doesn’t know it. Ronald Reagan is 93 years old, but Alzheimer’s...
June 11, 2003 -- One Republican is finally making moral arguments to support his tax policies. Unfortunately, they’re the wrong arguments
On September 11, the metaphor of the war of ideas between rational civilization and tribalist barbarism became literal description...
October 3, 2003 -- A group of Southern Methodist University students recently taught a lesson in practical philosophy better than those they
Whether one favors the war against Iraq or not, one's attitude towards the United Nations' role is a revealing Rorschach test; those with
January 17, 2009 -- January 2009 finds the issue of race front-and-center with the celebration of black civil rights leader Martin Luther...