The recent public fight between Apple and the FBI as well as the controversy over the Edward Snowden leaks make it seem as though government spying on American people is a recent phenomenon. In fact, government surveillance of U.S. citizens goes back over 100 years. Martin Luther King, for instance, was spied on extensively for […]
Watching footage of recent domestic protests, police are so armed to the teeth you’d think you were looking at a war zone. The sight of police officers riding in tanks, wearing combat gear, and using military-grade weapons to respond to civil unrest, has become increasingly common on American streets. Professor Abby Blanco of Tampa University […]
Is government surveillance of private citizens ever justified? Abby Hall Blanco from the University of Tampa explains the history of spying by the American government on its own and foreign citizens. How can lessons from the past inform our policies today?
The recent and ongoing protests in major American cities like Dallas, Phoenix, Baton Rouge, and St. Paul have brought disheartening images to our TVs. While we mourn the death of five police officers in Dallas, it is noteworthy that the assailant was killed by a robot manufactured by Northrup Grumman, a war manufacturer. Though the […]
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, […]
Is it possible to own another human’s individual rights? In the show ‘Game of Thrones’, armies of men were created to sacrifice their lives to their owners. How would you feel if your liberty and individual rights were taken away? What if you weren’t given the option in the first place?
April Fools! Learn Liberty is back in charge, and everything the Department of Careful Communications (DCC) said about censoring and redacting our content is moot. The DCC targeted us because it was worried that some of our communications might offend or misrepresent some people—or lead to confusion or disorder. Specifically, the DCC criticized: Our Speak […]
April Fools! Learn Liberty is back in charge, and everything the Department of Careful Communications (DCC) said about censoring and redacting our content is moot. Learn Liberty believes that the most effective way to challenge assumptions and refine ideas in a free society is to engage in respectful but frank dialogue—conversations in which we are […]
Gun control is a topic which never fails to inspire heated debate. In addition to the vehement passion of groups which support or oppose gun control, conversations about restrictions on gun ownership are further complicated by a lack of agreement and understanding of gun vocabulary. Dan Bier at the Foundation for Economic Education explains: “But […]
The world was deeply saddened by recent attacks on Paris. France has responded by declaring a state of emergency at home, and has increased its bombing of ISIS-held territory abroad.
What do equal dignity and equal inventiveness mean for the trans community? Professor Deirdre McCloskey joins us for the last episode of Trans Talks.
What is the solution to transgender violence? Do we try and change the way the state approaches trans people? Do we try to have more cultural understanding? Professor Deirde McCloskey joins us to discuss what changes need to be made and changing our hearts for the transgender community. Click here to watch Episode 1, and […]
What does it mean to be transgender, and why is it so important for individuals in a free society to be able to express themselves as they are? Professor Deirdre McCloskey joins us to discuss the role trans people can play in turning hearts and minds toward freedom. This is the first episode of our […]
Why is it important in a free society to allow people to explore their gender identity? In Learn Liberty’s three-part Trans Talks series, we interviewed award-winning economist Professor Deirdre McCloskey. Stay tuned for the first video of the series, to be released November 12th, 2015.
This quote is taken from Lysander Spooner’s, “An Essay on the Trial by Jury,” published in 1852. Jury nullification, according to Spooner, was a final bulwark against encroachments from the state on individual liberty. Spooner argued in this essay that the role of the jury is not only to rule on the facts of the […]
This post originally appeared on FEE.org on July 8th, 2015. Below is an excerpt. In the early days, the Internet was thoroughly insecure; its governmental and academic users trusted each other, and the occasional student prank couldn’t cause much damage. As it started becoming available to everyone in the early ‘90s, people saw the huge […]
Learn Liberty On Demand offers you a series of videos on new and exciting topics in the world of policy and ideas that you can watch any time, anywhere, on your schedule. Have you ever wondered if Free Speech has its limits? Well, this is the place for you. You’ve got freedom of speech, but […]
Venezuela’s condition continues to deteriorate, with opposition leaders imprisoned and elections allegedly rigged, the situation looks like it will not change anytime soon. This brings up the question, when are societies justified to rise up in a violent manner against government? Check out this short Learn Liberty video and let us know what you think […]
A “Second Snowden” leaked a cache of secret documents that has put the CIA’s and United States military’s use of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) back into the spotlight. Drones have been used post-9/11 to carry out lethal strikes on those deemed enemies of the United States – even if the strikes take place outside of […]
Few people will say they are anti-liberty, so what makes the libertarian commitment to liberty stand out from the crowd? We teamed up with Students For Liberty to explain the basics of libertarian philosophy, law, and economics in our new On Demand program, Liberty 101. Check out the first video below. For more videos just […]
This excellent post by Bryan Caplan, professor of economics at George Mason University, was originally featured at OpenBorders in January of 2013. Below is an excerpt. I changed my mind about proper immigration policy in my senior year of high school. The impetus, as usual for me, was not first-hand experience, but abstract argument. After […]
Increasingly, the expectation of rigorous debate and discussion on controversial topics has diminished on college campuses across the nation. Students are now more content or even encouraged to coast through higher education without having to encounter beliefs or opinions that offend their preconceived notions about the world. Students are treating the college experience as less […]