Nothing happens in a vacuum. It’s easy enough to call the rioters in Baltimore “thugs;” and it’s entirely true. But when they take the actions they do, they are acting on ideas. Personally, they are acting on their own impulses … Continue reading
Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake made a stunning admission Saturday in the aftermath of violent protests over the recent death of Freddie Gray, saying she wanted to give space to those “who wished to destroy.” “I’ve made it very clear that … Continue reading
The society we live in just keeps getting crazier and crazier. Read the following from Slate.com 4/21/15: The Meitiv family of Maryland—scientists Danielle and Alexander, their 10-year-old son, and their 6-year-old daughter—became the national faces of the “free-range parenting” movement … Continue reading
Associated Press is reporting: Prosecutors and lawyers for the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan are disagreeing over what conditions should be imposed if he’s allowed to leave a mental hospital for good and live full-time with his mother in … Continue reading
Should gay and lesbian persons have special anti-discrimination status under the law, just as blacks and other groups do? In other words, should a gay or lesbian person have the right to sue, fine or even jail somebody who (actually … Continue reading
Whenever I argue in favor of individual rights, individual liberty or economic freedom, I often make reference to the right to be free from force. If something is against the law, or if some action is required by law, then … Continue reading
From the HuffingtonPost.com 4/6/15: Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on Monday blamed environmentalists for what she called a “man-made” drought in California, which has led to the state’s first water restrictions. “With different policies over the last 20 years, … Continue reading
It’s taken for granted that everyone has a right to a safety net, and that government must provide it. This unquestioned assumption rests on two ideas. Assumption # 1: We are all each other’s keepers, and the government has a … Continue reading
A reader of mine recently made some very interesting comments, via Facebook: Well, Michael, as I am sure you know, the human brain evolved for survival on the African savannah, a place of extreme scarcity. As a result, we still … Continue reading
Sarah Dieffenbacher is on a debt strike. She’s refusing to make payments on the more than $100,000 in federal and private loans she says she owes for studies at a for-profit college that she now considers so worthless she doesn’t … Continue reading
Whenever a government sets out to deny individual rights in favor of group rights, sooner or later, those denied their individual rights must fight back. One way to fight back? Demand your individual rights. The other way to fight back? … Continue reading
Most people assume that the conflict between Israel and militant Islamic states is religious. Obviously, religion has a whole lot to do with it. But Israel, unlike Iran, is not a religiously totalitarian state. Israel is full of freedom, while … Continue reading