It's always important not to miss the forest for the trees. U.S. government announcements, such as its report of the turnover to the Afghan government of the seventh and last military base in Afghanistan, Bagram, should lead no one to think that U.S. foreign policy...
Sheldon Richman
TGIF: Defend the Enlightenment!
by Sheldon Richman | Jul 2, 2021 | Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
The libertarian philosophy is embedded in Enlightenment liberalism. This is clearly seen in its commitment to free inquiry (reason) and free speech, the full realization of which, I argue, requires complete respect for individual rights, including property rights....

TGIF: Liberty as a Problem-Solving Process
by Sheldon Richman | Jun 25, 2021 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Strictly speaking, liberty isn't the solution to problems. It's what creates the framework in which solutions can be discovered. That is an important distinction because it reminds us that advocates of full-blown liberty do not offer the world a problem-free society...

TGIF: Is “Free Election” an Oxymoron?
by Sheldon Richman | Jun 18, 2021 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
American leaders and their loyal media pundits love to sit in judgment of other countries' election, declaring them fair or rigged according to their seemingly meticulous standards. In fact, the real standard is that the regimes "we" like hold free and fair (enough)...

TGIF: VP Harris Tells Guatemalans to Stay in Their Place
by Sheldon Richman | Jun 11, 2021 | Economics, Foreign Policy, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Shame on Vice President Kamala Harris. On her recent trip to Guatemala she said, "I want to be clear to folks in the region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: Do not come. Do not come. I believe if you come to our...
TGIF: What the State Really Is
by Sheldon Richman | Jun 4, 2021 | Economics, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
To better understand the nature of government, one can think of it as an agency that sells or, more precisely, rents power to others. The greater the power and the wider its scope, the more opportunities the state's agents will have to sell access to it in return for...
TGIF: About that “Real Estate Dispute” in Sheikh Jarrah
by Sheldon Richman | May 28, 2021 | Foreign Policy, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
When the Israeli government describes the conflict over the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem as just a "real-estate dispute," it has a point. Palestinian families are at risk of eviction (and some have already been evicted) from homes they've lived in for...
TGIF: Biden Labor Department Undermines Gig Economy
by Sheldon Richman | May 21, 2021 | Economics, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Why should government at any level have the power to overrule how workers and companies define their relationships? This question has become more important than previously with the rise of the gig economy, in which workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers are regarded by...