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Insurance-Industry Subsidy Extended by House
fee.org > resources > insurance-industry-subsidy-extended-by-house
FEE.org Web Bot | Thursday, September 20, 2007“The House on Wednesday passed a 15-year extension of a program to aid the insurance industry in the event of a terrorist attack.” (USA Today, Thursday)
Another bailout for big business.
FEE Timely Classic
“The Rent-Seeking Habit” by Sheldon Richman -
The Nation as an Object of Service
fee.org > articles > the-nation-as-an-object-of-service
Sheldon Richman | Friday, September 7, 2007What distinguishes the libertarian (liberal) spirit from its alternative is the conviction that free individuals who respect one another's sovereignty will generate and sustain a benevolent prosperous social order without direction from a central bureaucratic authority. Atomistic individualism never had anything to do with genuine liberalism, which is a social philosophy that looks to the cooperation inherent in the division of labor and free exchange to deliver its material and nonmaterial benefits. “The market” — the realm of consent, contract, and mutual accommodation — always was thought to include nonpecuniary relationships. Those who see heavy-handed government as the indispensable antidote for atomistic individualism have long beat up on that pathetic straw man. But atomistic individualism is something more than a straw man useful in the attempt to discredit liberalism. The critics of liberalism seem sincerely to believe that without a strong central authority, society would degenerate and dissolve, as though mere people — as opposed to “leaders” — are too benighted to “fend for themselves.” In this alternative worldview, centralized power is the glue that binds us together. For the liberal, no such glue was needed. The advantages of individualism embedded in social cooperation — call it molecular individualism — are too obvious to be overlooked. (Children spontaneously discover the gains from trade at an early age.) That shows how great the chasm is between real liberalism and all forms of illiberalism. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Counterfeit Rights, Cold Bureaucracies
fee.org > articles > counterfeit-rights-cold-bureaucracies
Sheldon Richman | Friday, August 31, 2007If you were reading with only one eye open or only two hours' sleep you might have thought Paul Krugman had finally stumbled onto the truth. In his Monday New York Times op-ed, “A Socialist Plot,” he wrote: “[L]et's end this un-American system and make education what it should be — a matter of individual responsibility and private enterprise. Oh, and we shouldn't have any government mandates that force children to get educated, either…. The truth is that there's no difference in principle between saying that every American child is entitled to an education and saying that every American child is entitled to adequate health care.” More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: Counterfeit Rights, Cold Bureaucracies
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-counterfeit-rights-cold-bureaucracies
Sheldon Richman |If you were reading with only one eye open or only two hours' sleep you might have thought Paul Krugman had finally stumbled onto the truth. In his Monday New York Times op-ed, “A Socialist Plot,” he wrote: “[L]et's end this un-American system and make education what it should be — a matter of individual responsibility and private enterprise. Oh, and we shouldn't have any government mandates that force children to get educated, either…. The truth is that there's no difference in principle between saying that every American child is entitled to an education and saying that every American child is entitled to adequate health care.” More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Labor, Business Oppose Workplace Raids
fee.org > resources > labor-business-oppose-workplace-raids
FEE.org Web Bot | Thursday, August 30, 2007“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO this week separately assailed a new White House-backed crackdown on illegal immigration, warning of massive disruptions to the economy and headaches for U.S. citizens if the proposal goes ahead as planned in the coming days.” (Washington Post, Thursday)
Strange bedfellows in a good cause.
FEE Timely Classic
“Free to Migrate” by Sheldon Richman -
The Goal Is Freedom: Bad Policy Drives Out Good
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-bad-policy-drives-out-good
Sheldon Richman | Friday, August 24, 2007All public policies are related. Okay, that may be a slight overstatement, but there's a point here. A politician's credibility on one public issue — and thus the disposition of that issue — will often be determined by his or her position on other issues. People will look at a politician's full program as a way of judging good faith. Case in point: the Bush administration's announcement that it will limit the states' ability to extend medical coverage through the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to families that do not qualify for poverty programs because they make too much money. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Court Backs Guantanamo Detainees' Bid for Evidence
fee.org > resources > court-backs-guantanamo-detaineesapos-bid-for-evidence
FEE.org Web Bot | Monday, July 23, 2007“When Guantanamo Bay detainees challenge their status as 'enemy combatants,' judges must review all the evidence, not just what the military chooses, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.” (USA Today, Friday)
A small win for the rights of suspects.
FEE Timely Classic
“Habeas Corpus's Fork in the Road” by Sheldon Richman -
The Common Sense of “Common Sense”
fee.org > articles > the-common-sense-of-common-sense
Sheldon Richman | Friday, July 20, 2007In January 1776, less than a year into the American War for Independence, Thomas Paine published “Common Sense.” In John Adams, historian David McCullough writes, “In little time more than 100,000 copies were in circulation.” In proportion to today's U.S. population, that's equivalent to 12 million copies, which puts the pamphlet in Harry Potter's league. I leave it to the reader to contemplate what this says about the literacy of a people so cruelly deprived of “public” schools. That eighteenth-century Americans would demand so many copies of a sophisticated piece of writing might be of interest to those working overtime to solve our society's national reading crisis. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: The Common Sense of “Common Sense”
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-the-common-sense-of-common-sense
Sheldon Richman |In January 1776, less than a year into the American War for Independence, Thomas Paine published “Common Sense.” In John Adams, historian David McCullough writes, “In little time more than 100,000 copies were in circulation.” In proportion to today's U.S. population, that's equivalent to 12 million copies, which puts the pamphlet in Harry Potter's league. I leave it to the reader to contemplate what this says about the literacy of a people so cruelly deprived of “public” schools. That eighteenth-century Americans would demand so many copies of a sophisticated piece of writing might be of interest to those working overtime to solve our society's national reading crisis. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Class Struggle Rightly Conceived
fee.org > resources > class-struggle-rightly-conceived
Sheldon Richman | Friday, July 13, 2007Karl Marx is famous for drawing attention to the idea of class struggle. Yet remarkably in 1852, historian David Hart recounts, Marx wrote, “[A]s far as I am concerned, the credit for having discovered the existence and the conflict of classes in modern society does not belong to me. Bourgeois historians presented the historical development of this class struggle, and the economists showed its economic anatomy long before I did.” By “bourgeois historians” and “economists” Marx meant laissez-faire liberals such as Charles Comte, Charles Dunoyer, and early nineteenth-century French writers. In light of Marx's words, it's worth exploring “the historical development of class struggle” as seen from the perspective of the classical liberals.