Learn Liberty Blog
Featured Learn Liberty Blog Posts
Civil Liberties
Foreign Agents Bill in Georgia: What to Know and Why It Matters
I was wearing sandals. I was wearing sandals … and I was scared. That’s why, when I had the chance to protest in front of the Georgian parliament one night in Tbilisi, I didn’t go. Because … What if I had to run? Now, I’m regretting it. I think. On Tuesday, May 14, 2024, 84 members of Georgia’s parliament voted to pass a bill that will require organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from foreign sources to declare themselves as such. Only 30 members voted against it. The terminology is a tell: As I learned from the safety of a hotel bar about a mile from
Civil Liberties
Who’s Running for President in 2024?
The Lesser-known Presidential Candidates and Parties November 2024 will see the American electorate picking a new head of state. Despite low levels
Civil Liberties
My Experience with Campus Climate at a Liberal Arts College
William F. Buckley famously authored God and Man at Yale in 1951. In it, he decried his alma mater’s overt efforts to undermine what he called good,
All Learn Liberty Blog Posts
Gov't Debt & Spending
Government Goes into Debt to Help the Poor, Ends up Stealing from Them Instead
We all know government debt is bad for the young. But it’s also bad for the poor. Hurting the Kids to Help the Elderly The well-known political philosopher Loren Lomasky recently reminded us of why debt is bad for the young. We might be able to justify spending now, and borrowing to finance the spending, […]
Poverty & Inequality
Venezuela, Socialism, and The Unlearned Lessons of Political Economy
The news from Venezuela just keeps getting worse: runaway inflation, rolling electricity blackouts, shortages of even the most basic goods, people dying in hospitals waiting for care that just doesn’t ever arrive. The world looks on, appalled at the spreading miseries, and asks: “Why is this happening?” And, “What can be done about it?” These […]
Uncategorized
The Chilling Parallels Between The Paris and Orlando Shootings
Over the weekend, 49 people were killed and many more injured in a terrorist attack at an Orlando nightclub. ISIS claimed responsibility. The attack is similar to last November’s ISIS attack on a Paris nightclub, where 130 people were killed. In both instances, the attacks were partially justified as a response to the supposed anti-religious […]
Basic Economics
Raising the Minimum Wage Cannot Benefit the Economy
In the current debate about the minimum wage, some argue that higher minimum wages boost the economy overall. If workers receive higher wages, the reasoning goes, then they will have more money to spend, and their increased spending will boost business all around. In this news video, for example, an activist in the citizen action […]
Civil Liberties
Three Years After the Snowden Leaks: What We’ve Learned
Three years ago, Edward Snowden began leaking National Security Agency documents that detailed widespread and systemic U.S. government spying on American people. Among the surveillance programs Snowden revealed were “PRISM,” which mass collects the e-mail, voice, text, and video chats from tech companies, “XKeyscore,” which allows government analysts to search through massive databases of emails, […]
History
Don Quixote is First Anti Race-Based Slavery Novel
For almost as long as slavery has existed, there have been books opposing it. Perhaps the first was The Golden Ass, written in the Second Century A.D., whose plot follows a man turned into an ass, who can only turn back into a human when he empathizes with the plight of slaves. Then there is the great […]
Voting
Your "Right to Vote" Includes a Right That Most People Don't Think About
There are many reasons to vote—or to decide not to vote. As we inch closer to November’s election, you might hear some of the common arguments in favor of voting: It’s your civic duty to vote Other people don’t have the right to vote, so you should exercise your right to vote People fought and died […]
Lobbying & Special Interests
Government Neglects Public Parks, Raises Taxes, to Subsidize Private Stadium
A county in Georgia is raising taxes in order to pay for public parks, even as it spends $400 million to fund a new stadium for the Atlanta Braves. Further, while citizens of Cobb County voted in favor of funding public parks, they weren’t given a say about building the stadium. As Reason reports: …in […]
History
72 Years After D-Day, One Professor Asks What It Would Take for You to Fight for Your Liberty
Seventy-two years ago on June 6, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy to push back the fascist occupiers of Europe. Termed “D-Day,” the operation was the largest seaborne invasion in history. Despite more than 10,000 casualties, the mission was considered a military success. Within a year, Allied forces would reach Berlin, where Hitler had […]
Healthcare
Ohio Legalizes Medicinal Marijauna, Providing a Happy Ending to One Girl's Story
With the stroke of a pen, governor John Kasich made Ohio the 25th state to legalize medicinal marijuana. Once the rules take effect later this year, Ohioans will be able to obtain marijuana for medical use to treat certain ailments like Alzheimer’s, chronic pain, epilepsy and other seizure disorders. While recreational use is still banned, […]
Uncategorized
A Dysfunctional TSA Shows Exactly What’s Wrong with Our Government
The start of summer means that many of us are planning far-flung summer vacations. But the excitement of such vacations is always just a little dulled by the insanely long lines at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Stories of three-hour wait times and hundreds of missed flights because of slow security lines have become unfortunately […]
Role of Government
The Dark, Dystopian Novel That Should Be at the Top of Your 2016 Reading List
On April 25, 2016, organizers of MidAmericon II/The 74th World Science Fiction Convention announced the finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards, one of the most prestigious accolades in the global science fiction community.Also announced were the finalists for the 1941 Retro Hugo Awards which will honor works that should have been recognized in 1941 but […]
Role of Government
Privatize the TSA!
Editor’s note: This blog post by Gary Leff was originally posted at the travel blog View From the Wing. The TSA has failed to meaningfully detect dangerous items going through the checkpoint for years. Their 95 percent failure rate is hardly new, ten years ago it was a 91% failure rate. That’s unacceptable. We don’t need […]
Democracy and Voting
A Little White Lie I Told as a Camp Counselor Explains Political Strategy Perfectly
It would not be remarkable to observe that politicians lie. Many people lie. What is remarkable is that politicians keep telling the same lies over and over again. Few people do this. (Donald Trump, who tells a new lie almost every time he opens his mouth, is not a counterexample to this observation because he […]
History
Civil Disobedience: One Lone Man and the Tanks of Tiananmen
On this date, June 5th, 1989. Approximately a decade following the Tiananmen Square massacre I had the pleasure of being invited to dinner by a gentleman who claimed to know a great Chinese restaurant. Over appetizers he popped the question of what it would take for me to accept China. My academic advisor at that […]
Free Speech
J.K. Rowling: Trump’s Freedom to Speak Protects My Right to Call Him a Bigot
Disagreeing with what someone has to say but defending his or her right to say it is the foundational defense of free speech. English writer Evelyn Beatrice Hall sums it up well when she says: I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”] This view […]
History
The surprising, radical message of Don Quixote
Given the relatively few examples of true liberty from real life, some of the best expressions of liberty have often come from novels. These literary works not only captivate our minds but also inspire us to envision a future where the individual, rather than the government and its agents, holds the reins of human action. […]
Uncategorized
These 1970s Court Cases Give Police Your Location Data With No Warrant
An appeals court ruled recently that police don’t need a warrant to access your cell phone’s location data. Several cases challenging law enforcement’s warrantless access to location data have come up in recent years as cell phones technology advanced. The recent ruling, despite dealing with new technology, is based on a precedent set by court […]
History
How One Image Showed the World What Heroism Really Means
The collective thought it could use military force to conquer individuality. It took unknown individual to prove otherwise.
Uncategorized
The FBI Still Wants to Read Your Email
Despite recent setbacks, the FBI is still trying to expand its power to access citizens’ communications. This time, it wants to read your emails. Not long ago, the FBI dropped its suit against Apple. The intelligence agency was demanding that Apple devise a backdoor into an iPhone—had the FBI won, it could have set a […]
Uncategorized
You Keep Using the Word Capitalism…
We do not think it means what you think it means. There are a lot of polls about what millennials think about capitalism and socialism. According to these polls, millennials like socialism, but not capitalism. But what do they mean by capitalism and socialism? For reference, here are the definitions of capitalism and socialism according […]
History
Atomic Atrocities, Absent Apologies
Seventy-one years after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, killing about 140,000 people and ending World War II, Barack Obama last week became the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, to commemorate what everyone (regardless of whether he or she thinks it was justified) can agree was a devastating tragedy. And […]
Basic Economics
All I Wanted Was Some Skittles
You know, some Skittles would be really good about now. Lunch was over and I wanted something sweet, Skittles specifically, as I’ve rediscovered a taste for them during my daughter’s last few “go to work with dad” days. I grabbed a dollar and walked over to the bookstore. The Skittles rang up…$1.04. The last few […]
Uncategorized
A Seemingly Harmless Policy Debate Could Mean the Difference Between Life and Death for Our Armed Forces
No matter what our views on U.S. foreign policy, Memorial Day is traditionally a time where we put aside our differences and remember those who sacrificed their lives while in service to our country. But as we honor them, we cannot forget that it’s also our responsibility to prevent as many future deaths in our […]