Traffic in our major cities is grinding to a halt. This is especially true during morning and evening “rush” hours (scare quotes around this word since no one is rushing around anywhere, apart from bicyclists and roller skaters, who are just about the fastest movers in this system). All too often, however, this period stretches from 7 am to 7 pm,
All major problems can be fairly laid at the door of the government, particularly on the woke philosophy that energizes all too much of its behavior. They take half the GDP away from us. Most of these funds are spent in wasteful ways: paying people not to work; welfare, which breaks up the family; subsidies to all and sundry. Worse, an awful lot
From the Journal of Libertarian Studies , edited by David Gordon. ABSTRACT: Is it possible to “steal” from a thief? Rothbard (1969) and Block (2018a, 2018b) maintain this to be an utter impossibility. In their view, one can only “liberate” the ill-gotten gains of the robber. In contrast, one can indeed steal, but only from the rightful owner of
Admittedly, this idea sounds bad. Both “sell out” and “selling out” have a bad odor to them. Rather, we should “stand firm!” And there is nothing like perking up that patriotic spirit that compares to bashing supposed foreign enemies. However, there are deep and dire problems with this attempt at demagoguery. First of all, there is simply no
Rent control sounds like a good, humanitarian idea. Certainly, few if any tenants would quarrel with this policy. Nor would any person of good will, given the recent skyrocketing of rents. Landlords? Ok, they may be excused for not saluting at this particular flagpole, but even the decent ones (are there any such?) cannot but at least be cognizant
It is cultural appropriation if a black person listens to Mozart; this dead white male composer is simply not part of that person’s culture. It is cultural appropriation whenever an Oriental person tunes in to rap music; those songs are simply not part of that person’s culture. It is cultural appropriation every time a Jew eats pork; not only is
“If Chairman Wu were in power when Henry Ford was ruining the blacksmith, horse training and saddle making industries, she would have taxed the latter and subsidized the former. How about when computers took out the typewriter, carbon paper, and correction fluid (Wite-Out) industries?” Madame Chairman Michelle Wu, Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts,
It is now the year 2525. Equality has finally been attained. Yes, it took quite a while to attain this goal. Why? This is because as we approached it, as we became closer and closer to this ideal, as people became more and more identical, there were fewer and fewer people of genius to do the heavy lifting. And those few who still remained were not
Libertarian Autobiographies , edited by Jo Ann Cavallo and Walter Block, delves into the trials, tribulations, intellectual formation, and accomplishments of 80 libertarians from around the world—in their own words! The following is an amended excerpt from the introduction written by the co-editors: It is our fervent belief that libertarianism is
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.