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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, American values such as faith, capitalism, and individualism. Today, I assert that institutions of higher schooling everywhere undermine — or fail to instill — other crucial values; values that underpin the very idea of higher education. In particular: appreciation for freedom of speech, academic freedom, open debate, and fearless, intellectual rigor. For more on freedom of speech, see Prof. Peter Jaworski’s Learn Liberty Video, The
History
Debunking Putin’s Alternative “History”
On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin commenced a brutal, full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Two years on from this calamity, let’s examine
Democracy and Voting
The Soviet Union’s terrible legacy on democracy and minority rights
From the series: Debunking Myths about the Soviet Union Since they first seized power, Soviet leaders have claimed their “democracy” to be
All Learn Liberty Blog Posts
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Don Boudreaux: Middle Class Rising
The following post appeared on Don Boudreaux’s blog, Cafe Hayek, on December 20th, 2015. There’s been a lot of reporting recently about a new Pew Research Center report misleadingly titled “The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground” and even more misleadingly subtitled “No longer the majority and falling behind financially.” But here’s a picture of Pew’s […]
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The Death Star: Building It, Not Destroying It, Was the Catastrophe
You might have come across this recent article which argues that destroying the Death Star in Star Wars would have economically crippled the galaxy. There are a number of problems with the article, as Janet Neilson at the Foundation for Economic Education points out. The three major causes for concern are: Mistaking the cost of […]
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Quote of the Day: Hayek on Money
F.A. Hayek was highly critical of central banking and of government’s proclaimed interest in holding a monopoly on the issuance of money. Hayek eventually turned his opinions on money and free banking into an economic treatise in the book “The Denationalization of Money“. Some even say Hayek predicted the emergence of Bitcoin nearly three decades […]
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Will Taxing the Rich Fix the Deficit?
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have never met a tax they didn’t like. They argue that it will balance the budget and act as though it was a silver bullet to the U.S. government’s fiscal woes. But will taxing the rich really fix the budget deficit? Professor Antony Davies tackles that question in this Learn […]
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Learn Liberty Staff Profile: Eric Andreasen
Learn Liberty: First, when did you join the Learn Liberty team and what is your role? Eric Andreasen: I joined the Learn Liberty team as a marketing intern in 2013. In addition to my duties as Marketing Coordinator, I manage the organization’s social media accounts. LL: How did you find your way to the philosophy […]
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Wait: Why Would a Liquor Store Want to be Forced to Close on Sundays?
Alcohol laws are some of the most headache-inducing rules on the planet. Recently, AL.com ran an article about Sunday alcohol sales in Alabama with notes about how you can buy alcohol in some places on Sundays, but only (say) for on-premises consumption. Or only if you’re a restaurant or a hotel. Or only for off-premises […]
War on Drugs
Featured On Demand Program of the Week: Vice City
In this new On Demand series professors Peter Jaworski, Aeon Skoble and Daniel D’Amico will take you on a journey into the world of government regulation of all things vices. You’ll explore how government deregulation of craft beers has helped reshape the entire industry and how alcohol laws in Virginia actually do the opposite of […]
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Wealth and Exploitation
The following is an excerpt from Don Boudreaux on his blog, Cafe Hayek. Be sure to click through and read the whole post. Deirdre [McCloskey] acknowledges that a great deal of exploitation has occurred throughout history – exploitation that enriched some people and impoverished others. (Indeed, such exploitation continues to occur in various forms and degrees.) […]
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Discussion Question: Thalidomide
Thalidomide was a drug marketed in the 1950s in West Germany for the treatment of morning sickness and other nausea in pregnant women. However, thousands of women who took thalidomide had babies who were born with limb deformities, and many of those children also died shortly after birth. Can the government justifiably keep thalidomide out […]
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Remy Explains Democracy to Dictatorship through Star Wars
Star Wars, whose next installment opens this week, includes many important themes. One of the most relevant today is that a democratic republic is precious thing. If it is not guarded, it can quickly turn into a dictatorship. People often forget that pre-Nazi Germany was a constitutional democracy and that Hitler came to power by […]
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Star Wars’s Timely Message on the Rise of Dictatorships
The next installment of Star Wars premieres Friday. The Star Wars franchise tells the story of a republic that falls into a dictatorship because its citizens desire safety and are willing to sacrifice civil liberties in response to fear. Sound familiar? Western countries, including the U.S., have sacrificed hard won civil liberties as a way […]
Education
Announcing Institute for Humane Studies at the International Students For Liberty Conference 2016
Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) has a few breakout sessions at ISFLC 2016 you wont want to miss. Be sure to register for ISFLC before the new year when prices jump! Looking for another reason to attend the 9th International Students For Liberty Conference? I’ve got three: David Friedman, Bryan Caplan, and Antony Davies. The […]
Education
Microaggressions and Professor Speech on Campus
The fall semester at many universities is coming to an end. That means course evaluations – one of the few opportunities students have to provide feedback on their professors. Constructive criticism is often taken into account in decisions about promotions and tenure. But now there is a movement to expand course evaluations to include feedback […]
Uncategorized
Minimum Wage and Employment: Debunking the Oft-Cited 1994 Study
Preston Cooper over at Economics 21 has written an excellent piece about minimum wage’s effects on employment. Economics teaches us that when you raise the price of a good, the amount of that good which is demanded goes down. This is true whether the thing for sale is ketchup or labor. Supporters of the minimum […]
War on Drugs
Blurred Lines: Police and Military
Dozens of innocent people are terrorized, shot, or killed each year because of botched SWAT team drug raids on wrong houses. Dozens more are killed each year because of botched SWAT team drug raids on the correct houses. This needless suffering and death is largely a result of the massive increase in police militarization in […]
Education
Trivia: Did you know this about Rose Wilder Lane?
Did you know? Rose Wilder Lane, daughter of Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder, was sympathetic to communism until a Red Cross mission to Russia, that would later influence her to become a libertarian? This article from the Foundation for Economic Education explains her disillusionment with communism: “Lane visited the Soviet Union […]
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Check Out Learn Liberty This Week On Periscope
If you haven’t checked us out on Periscope make sure to stay tuned this week, to discuss our new video releases and help us choose our next video! This week Learn Liberty will be streaming live on Periscope on: Wednesday, December 16th @ 2pm EST – Learn Liberty Video Pitch Meeting (Help us choose choose […]
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Get paid for your internship this summer.
Want to intern at an organization that’s working to advance the principles of freedom this summer? Want to get paid to do it? Consider applying to the Koch Internship Program. Not only will the program pay for your internship at a liberty-advancing organization, you’ll learn valuable skills for your professional development through projects, reading groups, […]
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The Hunger Games as a Political Allegory
Over at the Foundation for Economic Education, Jeffrey Tucker has broken down the political allegories of the Hunger Games. With the long-awaited finale of the Hunger Games series just recently released, it’s a great time to consider the political implications of the story, especially considering the series’ popularity with young people. Tucker touches on many […]
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Staff Profile: Daniel Contreras
Learn Liberty: First, when did you join the Learn Liberty team and what is your role? Daniel Contreras: I came on board in June 2014, I am an Online Education Assistant working on the programs team. LL: How did you find your way to the philosophy of liberty? Are there any thinkers in particular that […]
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Great Myths on the Great Depression
You most likely grew up thinking FDR’s New Deal played a pivotal role in ending the Great Depression, however as professor Stephen Davies points out in this video, there are many myths surrounding the Great Depression were the numbers don’t add up: Top 3 myths about the great depression? Are there any other “myths” you […]
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Quote of the Day
This quote was taken from Ludwig von Mises’s work Planning for Freedom: Let the Market System Work, which is a collection of essays and addresses on inflation and government intervention in the economy. In this work, as in others, von Mises maintains that government interventions in monetary and commercial affairs are destructive to the economy, regardless […]
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Discrimination, Freedom of Association, and “True Capitalism”
In order to label a country “capitalist” there must be complete freedom of association and private property. There is a limited government in place, but the government would be a referee, not a player. It would be outrageous to watch ESPN and hear, “The ref had a great game! He sacked the quarterback twice and […]
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Featured On Demand Program of the Week: Personal Finance
Have you ever wondered how to save for retirement and avoid debt? Well, this is the place for you. If you’re drowning in debt (and who isn’t, right?), unfortunately doing bank heists and selling crystal meth are out as solutions. So how do you get out? Join economist Art Carden of Samford University as he […]