Sheldon Richman | The Libertarian Institute

TGIF: National Conservatism’s Ominous Economics

by Sheldon Richman | Sep 2, 2022 | Featured Articles, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

National conservatism is objectionable on many counts -- the name in itself tells you that -- but it does pay tribute to free enterprise. A closer look, however, may cause one to doubt its commitment. The movement's official Statement of Principles includes Principle 6, which begins encouragingly, though predictably tradition-bound: We believe that an economy based on private property and free enterprise is best suited to promoting the prosperity of the nation and accords with traditions of individual liberty that are central to the Anglo-American political tradition. We reject the socialist...

TGIF: Jefferson on Not Trusting the State

by Sheldon Richman | Aug 26, 2022 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Regardless of written constitutions and the laws on the books, individual liberty is always at risk. And as liberty goes, so goes our capacity to live well, to achieve the good life as rational, virtuous social beings. The danger comes from left and right, both of which aspire to have a body of elders impose narrow cultural and moral norms on everyone, overriding our right to think for ourselves. (Progressives and National Conservatives have a lot in common in that regard, even if they differ on what is to be imposed.) This point about the fragility of liberty was well understood by the...

TGIF: The Coming New and Improved IRS

by Sheldon Richman | Aug 19, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

The brilliant people in the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have decided that one thing America really needs is an Internal Revenue Service (!) fortified by 87,000 more employees and 80 billion more dollars so it can help reduce the inflation that currently menaces us. You don't believe it? Oh, ye of little faith! How is that to be accomplished? By auditing rich individuals and corporations, of course, thereby harvesting tons of hitherto uncollected revenue and forcing the shirkers to pay their "fair share." (No one ever says how we know they aren't already paying it.) The law's...

TGIF: About Those January 6 Committee Extravaganzas

by Sheldon Richman | Aug 5, 2022 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

I admit it: I watched nearly every moment of the House committee extravaganzas on the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. I did more than that. I was transfixed. I couldn't even multitask. Were the mislabeled "hearings" beyond all criticism? Of course not. They were choreographed, but only mildly so; the production effort lent an orderliness that I appreciated. I accept the point that the presentations had nothing to say about FBI-informant intrigue if it took place. Such mischief has occurred in the past, and if credible allegations exist, they should be pursued vigorously. Of course, it...

TGIF: The Limits of Ideology

by Sheldon Richman | Jul 29, 2022 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

I have defended the idea of ideology per se and have disparaged the idea that anyone can operate without an ideology. The self-proclaimed non-ideological person is really one who has an implicit and therefore unexamined or underexamined ideology. No one really judges everything case by case as if nothing were related to anything else. We all have principles of some sort. I have never implied, however, that ideology cannot be abused or pushed too far. It most certainly can be. One way to do this is to imagine that an ideology can be squeezed to produce complete answers to empirical, including...

TGIF: Complete Liberalism

by Sheldon Richman | Jul 22, 2022 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Many people formerly of the left, who have bid good riddance to their former political home, believe they can retain the mantle of authentic liberalism while ignoring its free-market component. They don't want socialism, and they appropriately dislike the right-wing. But they also can't abide the libertarian commitment to free markets either. So they declare themselves centrists void of ideology. The problem with this approach is that the commitment to market freedom lies at the heart of authentic, classical liberalism, or libertarianism. Liberalism and pro-market enthusiasm go hand in hand....

TGIF: Social Order through Liberty

by Sheldon Richman | Jul 15, 2022 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Human beings are self-actualizing social animals. We need to cooperate with others to flourish fully and (but?) we also need the freedom to make of ourselves the persons we wish to be; we need autonomy. Can we do both liberty and social order? The answer is yes, and that is where rights come into play. I'll go with Ayn Rand's definition: "A 'right' is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a man’s freedom of action in a social context." Also, "Rights are conditions of existence required by man’s nature for his proper survival." Although rights theory is fraught with the potential for...