Issue CXXXIV - December 15-18, 2007
Historical AnalysisThe New Deal and the Emergence of the Old Right:
Murray N. Rothbard
December 16, 2007
How did thinkers like H. L. Mencken and Albert Jay Nock become known as "conservatives," when, during the 1920s, they were thought of as leading intellectuals of the Left? Murray Rothbard explains the effect of the New Deal in changing the political landscape around the thinkers who would become the vanguard of the Old Right - even though these thinkers themselves had not changed one bit in their convictions.
Politics
F. A. Hayek and the Concept of Coercion:
Murray N. Rothbard
December 15, 2007
In his monumental work The Constitution of Liberty, F.A. Hayek attempts to establish a systematic political philosophy on behalf of individual liberty. He begins very well, by defining freedom as the absence of coercion, thus upholding "negative liberty" more cogently than does Isaiah Berlin . Unfortunately, writes Murray Rothbard, the fundamental and grievous flaw in Hayek's system appears when he proceeds to define "coercion." For instead of defining coercion as the invasive use of physical violence or the threat thereof against someone else's person or (just) property, Hayek defines coercion far more fuzzily and inchoately: e.g., as "control of the environment or circumstances of a person by another (so) that, in order to avoid greater evil, he is forced to act not according to a coherent plan of his own but to serve the ends of another"; and again: "Coercion occurs when one man's actions are made to serve another man's will, not for his own but for the other's purpose."
Ron Paul on the Issues: Taxes on Tips, Privacy, and Home Schooling:
Ron Paul
December 16, 2007
Ron Paul discusses his plans to protect individual liberty and to restrict government's attempts to destroy liberty in a multitude of areas. Dr. Paul wishes to abolish taxes on tips, governmental intrusions against personal privacy, and government obstacles to home schooling.
Saying "No" When Everyone Else is Saying "Yes":
Alan Caruba
December 16, 2007
Alan Caruba has been witness to the complete subversion of science in the service of an utterly corrupt new religion called environmentalism.
Victims on Trial: The Everyday Business of Courts:
Jeffrey Tucker
December 17, 2007
It is inherently implausible, if you think about it, that the state could be an effective administrator of justice, for which there is a supply and demand like any other good. Shortages, inefficiencies, arbitrariness, and high costs will be main features of such a system. And because we are dealing here with the meting out of coercion, we can add the presence of inhumane treatment and outright cruelty. Jeffrey Tucker shares his personal experiences with the way government administers justice.
The Humanitarian With the Guillotine:
Isabel Paterson
December 17, 2007
Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends. Isabel Paterson explains how the humanitarian impulse, combined with political means, results in the most horrendous calamities imaginable.
Al Gore Opens Mouth, Increases Carbon Footprint:
Selwyn Duke
December 17, 2007
Speaking today to COOL-IT (Communists for Only Onerous and Lofty Industrial Taxation) in Nome, Alaska, former vice-president Al Gore criticized the United States’ failure to adequately address climate change. Mr. Gore warned of future consequences of inaction while emphasizing that we have already felt the effects of a lamentably low suicide rate. Thus begins Selwyn Duke's satire of Al Gore's truly bizarre climate change alarmism.
Who Are These Kooks?:
Chuck Baldwin
December 18, 2007
According to the Associated Press, "Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul's supporters raised over $6 million Sunday to boost the 10-term congressman's campaign for the White House." The AP report also said, "The [Paul] campaign's previous fundraiser brought in $4.2 million." And yet the mainstream media foolishly persists in characterizing Ron Paul and his supporters as "kooks." Dr. Chuck Baldwin explores the question, "Who is Ron Paul, who are his supporters, and why are they giving him so much money?" Read on, and you might find yourself to be a "kook" as well.
How Can You Oppose Health Care for Children?:
Gary Galles
December 18, 2007
Those favoring expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) trumpet their compassion for children and attack opponents as inexcusably mean. But the Scrooge-versus-Tiny-Tim imagery is neither accurate nor complete. Instead, writes Gary M. Galles, it crowds out rational consideration of an extremely questionable policy, especially when combined with urgent "we must act now" rhetoric. And if the strongest arguments supporters can make for it require both substantial misrepresentation and high pressure, they have a poor case.
Why is Public Education Failing?:
Tom DeWeese
December 18, 2007
It's a fact. Most of today's school children can barely read or write. They can't perform math problems without a calculator. They barely know who the Founding Fathers were and know even less of their achievements. Most can't tell you the name of the President of the United States. It's pure and simple; today's children aren't coming out of school with an academic education. Instead, writes Tom DeWeese, they are being taught to conform to a political agenda of egalitarianism, environmentalism, and global governance.
"The biggest threat to your privacy is the government. We must drastically limit the ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens’ personal matters."
~ Ron Paul