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The Goal Is Freedom: Jeffersonianism Interred
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-jeffersonianism-interred
Sheldon Richman | Friday, March 30, 2007For historian Arthur A. Ekirch Jr., the decline of American liberalism tracked the rise of nationalism and the corporate state, the intimate alliance between business and government. He equates liberalism — libertarianism — with economic freedom and property rights for the common citizen, not just for an aristocracy. From the relative, though imperfect, laissez-faire periods of the Jefferson and Jackson presidencies, the United States moved almost unswervingly to become what Albert Jay Nock would call a “Merchant-state” in which the central government heavily intervened on behalf of particular business interests, hampering the independence and progress of upstart competitors as well as workers. For most people, this is what the word “capitalism” would come to denote. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Arthur Ekirch’s The Decline of American Liberalism
fee.org > articles > arthur-ekirchs-the-decline-of-american-liberalism
Sheldon Richman | Friday, March 23, 2007I like revisiting classic, and unfortunately forgotten, works in the (classical) liberal, or libertarian, canon. This pays several dividends. For one, it brings great books to the attention of people who never knew they existed. Moreover, old books often contain insights and information you can find nowhere else. Murray Rothbard was fond of pointing out that, contrary to what people assume, knowledge does not advance inexorably “onward and upward.” Important things can be omitted, overlooked, and forgotten. Consequently, later books on a subject can be less complete than earlier books. So it is wrong to think that the older books need not be consulted because subsequent work incorporates everything of value from the past. More . . .
A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: Arthur Ekirch's The Decline of American Liberalism
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-arthur-ekirchaposs-the-decline-of-american-liberalism
Sheldon Richman |I like revisiting classic, and unfortunately forgotten, works in the (classical) liberal, or libertarian, canon. This pays several dividends. For one, it brings great books to the attention of people who never knew they existed. Moreover, old books often contain insights and information you can find nowhere else. Murray Rothbard was fond of pointing out that, contrary to what people assume, knowledge does not advance inexorably “onward and upward.” Important things can be omitted, overlooked, and forgotten. Consequently, later books on a subject can be less complete than earlier books. So it is wrong to think that the older books need not be consulted because subsequent work incorporates everything of value from the past. More . . .
A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Health Hazard
fee.org > articles > health-hazard
Sheldon Richman | Friday, February 9, 2007Back in the days before America had an income tax (yes, son, I've read there really was such a time), proposals to impose the tax were met with warnings that it would be “inquisitorial.” Opponents apparently didn't also see its potential for manipulating behavior. But what more effective carrot and stick is there than an income tax? More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: “Congressional Generosity” and the Power to Tax
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Sheldon Richman | Friday, January 19, 2007Every now and then we get a glimpse into what government officials really think about our rights to life, liberty, and property. The U.S. Justice Department recently provided such a glimpse in a controversial tax case, Murphy v. IRS.
How revealing it is! Did you know that if the government abstains from taxing all your income, you should be grateful for this “congressional generosity”? More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal is Freedom: The Libertarian Nobel Peace-Prize Winner
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Sheldon Richman | Friday, October 27, 2006Last week, with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, I underscored the historical-philosophical link between freedom of commerce and peace in classical liberalism. What I did not know at the time, and what I have since learned thanks to Auburn University philosopher Roderick T. Long, is that one of the first winners of the Nobel Peace Prize was a man who consciously placed himself in the liberal tradition of Frederic Bastiat and Richard Cobden. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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THE GOAL IS FREEDOMThe Libertarian Nobel Peace-Prize Winner
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedomthe-libertarian-nobel-peace-prize-winner
FEE.org Web Bot |Last week, with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, I underscored the historical-philosophical link between freedom of commerce and peace in classical liberalism. What I did not know at the time, and what I have since learned thanks to Auburn University philosopher Roderick T. Long, is that one of the first winners of the Nobel Peace Prize was a man who consciously placed himself in the liberal tradition of Frederic Bastiat and Richard Cobden. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Don’t Talk Trade, Free it
fee.org > resources > dont-talk-trade-free-it
FEE.org Web Bot | Friday, August 11, 2006The collapse late last month of world trade talks, known as the Doha Round (after the capital of Qatar), was overshadowed by continuing bad news from Iraq and Afghanistan and the outbreak of war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. While the bloodletting there is unlikely to be the golden opportunity some think it is, the breakdown of the WTO talks could be — if we seize it. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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How Much Do the Public Schools Waste?
fee.org > articles > how-much-do-the-public-schools-waste
John T. Wenders | Wednesday, January 1, 2003Public education continues to thrive in market economies, where it has a host from which it can draw sustenance to mask its inefficiencies. -
An Illustration of Why Section 230 Should Be Preserved, Not Scrapped
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Kimberlee Josephson | Saturday, February 4, 2023Do not let the Nanny State solidify its spot as the overbearing chaperone at the party.