Sheldon Richman | The Libertarian Institute

Liberty in America During the Great War

by Sheldon Richman | Nov 11, 2018 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Sheldon Richman

There’s always plenty for libertarians to complain about in our troubled world, but in many respects, things could be much worse. I’m thinking particularly of how the U.S. government punished dissent before, during, and even after America’s participation in World War I. Although it will be a few years before we observe the centenary of Woodrow Wilson’s idiotic decision in 1917 to plunge the country into the Great War, this seems like as good a time as any to review his administration’s, Congress’s, and the courts’ shameful conduct. My source here is David M. Kennedy’s Over Here: The First...

TGIF: My Most Excellent Election Day Experience

by Sheldon Richman | Nov 9, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Last Tuesday, special day that it was, I awoke early and prepared to go out. By 7 a.m., I was where I always go on this special day, eager to do my duty and exercise my sacred right to choose. Entering the warm, brightly lit building, I was greeted by friendly folks who make me feel welcome. Not many others were there yet. I got down business and made quick work of it. Systematically, I scanned my alternatives in the various categories, now and then consulting the list on my mobile phone that I had earlier drawn up so I wouldn’t forget my game plan. Everything was just as I expected it to...

TGIF: Birthright Citizenship – Just and Justified

by Sheldon Richman | Nov 2, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." So says section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With the impeccable timing we’re accustomed to, Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order to nullify this constitutional provision by denying citizenship (which today includes the right to make a living among other important things) to persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof if their parents were in the country without...

TGIF: Let’s Stop the Merchants of Death

by Sheldon Richman | Oct 26, 2018 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Imagine that back in the day, the U.S. government had contracted postal services out to a private company rather than setting up its own “public” agency. Today the U.S. Postal Corp. would have officers, directors, and employees who were not on the government payroll. They would be paid from the money raised by selling its services to the public and the government. Would things be essentially different from how they are today? I think not. Regardless of appearances, the U.S. Postal Corp. would be a de facto government agency. The government could use various methods to guarantee its...

TGIF: The Insidious Wiles of Foreign Influence: Trump, Bin Salman, and Netanyahu

by Sheldon Richman | Oct 19, 2018 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Even if the Saudi monarchy or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in particular did not murder journalist Jamal Khashoggi, that regime is an especially evil one in both its domestic and international conduct. To see that, one need only consider the horrendous Saudi war against the people of Yemen, which has been backed by the U.S. government since Barack Obama was in office. That war, with its merciless killing of defenseless thousands, spread of disease, and inevitable benefits to al-Qaeda, is just the latest in a series Saudi atrocities. Predictably, Donald Trump wants it all ways. He’s made...

TGIF: Trump’s Middle East Delusions Persist

by Sheldon Richman | Oct 12, 2018 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Justice, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Jason Greenblatt, Donald Trump’s No. 2 special envoy to the Middle East behind son-in-law Jared Kushner, assures us that his boss’s plan to settle the Palestine-Israel “conflict” once and for all is still in the works and is going to be great. (It’s a conflict in the same way that a confrontation between a car owner and a car thief is a conflict.) In an interview with the Times of Israel, Greenblatt said the plan “will include a resolution to all of the core issues, including the refugee issue, and will also focus on Israel’s security concerns.” It will, he continued as if the reporter...

TGIF: Anarchism and Kavanaugh

by Sheldon Richman | Oct 5, 2018 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Regarding Brett Kavanaugh, I’ve been wondering how I can blame the state for what we've endured these past weeks. I can safely say that without the state, we would have been spared the Kavanaugh episode. Natural-law, pro-market anarchists are not utopians. To paraphrase the old hit: we beg your pardon; we never promised you a rose garden. Anarchism refers to a set of means -- persuasion, consent, and voluntary cooperation -- and not an end. It permits the emergence of solutions through a range of cooperative activities as opposed to the state’s imposition of one-size-fits-all alleged...

TGIF: Spinoza – A Man for Our Troubled Times

by Sheldon Richman | Sep 28, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Sheldon Richman, TGIF, Will Grigg Radio

In these interesting times, we all need someone to admire. I have found such a one in Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677), the 17th-century rationalist liberal philosopher who advocated freedom of thought and expression, toleration, and simple kindness. Spinoza lived in what at the time was the most liberal place on earth, the Dutch Republic, his Jewish Portuguese family having moved there after Portugal expelled its Jewish population in 1497. He seems to have been a free thinker at an early age, and it apparently got him into trouble with the Jewish community of Amsterdam. In 1656, at the...

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Next Entries »

Liberty in America During the Great War

TGIF: My Most Excellent Election Day Experience

TGIF: Birthright Citizenship – Just and Justified

TGIF: Let’s Stop the Merchants of Death

TGIF: The Insidious Wiles of Foreign Influence: Trump, Bin Salman, and Netanyahu

TGIF: Trump’s Middle East Delusions Persist

TGIF: Anarchism and Kavanaugh

TGIF: Spinoza – A Man for Our Troubled Times

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