One of the most abused words in English is privilege. Observe how indiscriminately this word is spoken and written. For example, in some quarters, all straight white men -- without exception -- are said to be privileged, which seems absurd. Practically all we hear...
Sheldon Richman
TGIF: Licensing the Fringe
by Sheldon Richman | Feb 18, 2022 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Big Tech's incredible promise to rid its platforms of "misinformation and disinformation" is not only a chimera that will harm the most gullible, but it is also an unwitting grant of power and credibility to some of the dodgiest elements online. That claim might sound...
TGIF: More Voices, Please
by Sheldon Richman | Feb 11, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
If the social media and other high-tech companies, whether under pressure from the state or not, were to lead people to believe that, starting today, only accurate information will get through their gatekeepers, would the public, especially the most gullible, really...
TGIF: Disagreement without Conflict
by Sheldon Richman | Feb 4, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
I'll admit it: I'm a natural-rights guy. I think you can get to individual rights, including the right to property, from within the ancient Greek eudaimonist (virtue ethics) and Spinozist tradition. But here's a separate point: rights-talk may not be the best way to...
TGIF: Anti-Woke Isn’t Necessarily Pro-Liberty
by Sheldon Richman | Jan 28, 2022 | Criminal Justice, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
I had a reminder this week that those who oppose fashionable postmodernist-style attacks on reason and objectivity, such as "critical" race and gender theories, are not necessarily consistent friends of liberty and the free society. That reminder came in a recent...
TGIF: Easy Cases May Make Bad Rules
by Sheldon Richman | Jan 21, 2022 | Featured Articles, Justice, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Hard cases make bad law, an adage apparently coined before 1837 tells us. In other words, "an extreme case is a poor basis for a general law that would cover a wider range of less extreme cases." Not everyone has agreed that this is the case, but we'll let that go. I...
TGIF: Utopianism May Be Hazardous to Your Health
by Sheldon Richman | Jan 14, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Beware those who claim to have a detailed blueprint for the ideal society. If such a person thinks you stand in the way, you may get run over. That's how it is with utopians. They want everything just so, and woe betide those who disagree. The repeated attempts at...
TGIF: National or Enlightenment Liberal Identity?
by Sheldon Richman | Jan 7, 2022 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
I find much to admire about Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali-born Dutch-American scholar, author, and one-time politician who has drawn international attention to the violence against women and girls not only in Muslim-majority countries but also in the West at the hands...