“The State shall make no law with respect to the establishment of education.” – Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich
In the past week, we have witnessed a wave of antisemitism and support for terrorism spreading in American universities. But why is this the case?
In the debate about school choice, one argument pops up again and again from those who oppose it: that school choice primarily benefits more affluent families, leaving working-class and lower-income families behind. But this argument neglects the advantages that school choice offers to those who need it most. Here are seven ways school choice benefits poorer students…
David Friedman, now 50 years on from publishing The Machinery of Freedom: A Guide to a Radical Capitalism, remains an innovative anarcho-capitalist and leading figure of the broader liberty movement. Learn Liberty spoke with him for a wide-ranging interview about everything from his love of poetry to his biggest influences (other than his father, Milton), […]
In a recent legal development that has ignited debates about the intersection of freedom of expression and professional obligations, former University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson’s court appeal has been denied. What does this development tell us about freedom of expression in Canada?
The topic of school choice policies continues to be a subject of ongoing debate, with varying perspectives on how best to approach the issue. Aside from the opposition of groups invested in the status quo, pro-school choice reformers disagree about how to design choice policies and the role of the federal government. Any policy that […]
Somehow, the USSR still has its supporters — and they likely believe one or more myths about Soviet Russia. In this video, we debunk 8 myths that linger about the Soviet Union, even now, more than 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Also cited are these videos: NIMBYism vs. Gentrification: The Truth […]
The law of supply and demand is often misunderstood and misconstrued, and it has downstream effects for our understanding of economics. In this video, Learn Liberty Basics establishes supply and demand as ever-changing RELATIONSHIPS, not constants. We also lay out some of the early history of our idea of supply and demand. CHAPTERS 0:00 […]
Ever since Benjamin Franklin used the rattlesnake to represent the 13 Colonies, its meaning has been debated, most notably as part of the Gadsden Flag, which includes those four iconic words: Don’t Tread on Me. But what was its original intent? Who used it first, and what were they seeking to portray? We tried to […]
As Nicolas Cage famously demonstrated, the Declaration of Independence has long been shrouded in mystery. On the steps of the National Archives, home of the Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, we spoke with Trevor Burrus of the Cato Institute. He touched on the history of the Declaration of Independence, including the REAL date John […]
I am one of the few public school teachers who wishes to see the government out of our classrooms. We need libertarian solutions in education.
Proponents of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill claim it’s about protecting students and families, yet it’s merely a pretext for limiting freedom.
Ask any Millennial who liked sports growing up: EA Sports video games were a big part of our fandom. On PlayStation 2s, for hours on end, we could manage our own virtual teams, simulating seasons deep into the 2030s and beyond. Even now, hearing the games’ soundtracks and seeing the games’ covers is a hit […]
$15 trillion dollars. That’s $15,000,000,000,000. It’s an unfathomable amount of money. As Professor of Economics Antony Davies says in our final installment of the COVID DISRUPTION SERIES, it’s enough money to buy everything in Spain.
And yet that’s how much the Congressional Budgeting Office estimates Covid-19 measures will cost the U.S. government over the next five years. In light of such an abuse of power from the federal government, it’s worth revisiting one of Covid’s enduring lessons: that small, local governments are quicker, more precise, and more efficient than large, national ones.
Fantasy novels and films often depict the heroes fighting for freedom against an oppressive regime. This happens in Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and many other universes. But what do they all have in common? The younger generation might not understand how oppression and lack of freedom happened in the real world but might relate to fiction, to grasp what it means to live in societies like Germans under the Nazis or Soviets under Stalin.
Have you ever questioned what science fiction films and books can teach us about politics? We asked Csaba Tóth, a prominent political scientist and sociologist, at an event hosted by Students For Liberty.
The discussion focused on the fictional universes of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Game of Thrones, among others. Csaba shared his thoughts on the different political structures, as well as their merits from a pro-liberty point of view.
What is the point of going to college in a pandemic? Students went home, classes are now online, and there seems to be no return to campus life happening in the near future.
In this video, we asked Bryan Caplan, the author of the Case Against Education, and Professor of Economics at George Mason University: “Will there be anything left from higher education after Covid-19?”
We started from the history of higher education in the US through to present day, and we’ve explored options for the future of higher education. (Spoiler: there are many of them.)
“Title IX” was never intended to regulate romantic relationships on campus. So how did we get here? Robert Shibley, Executive Director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, explains.
Do “Title IX” rules on campus protect women or restrict them? Watch the Unsafe Space Tour panel discussion with Tom Slater and Ella Whelan of Spiked Magazine, Robert Shibley of FIRE, and Elizabeth Nolan Brown of Reason. Special thanks to Reason for helping us relocate the panel discussion on very short notice.
Professor Mark Lilla of Columbia University makes the case that when people become too wrapped up in identity politics, they can lose sight of how to affect the change they want to see in society.
Does Identity politics cut us off from important conversations on issues that affect us all? Watch the Unsafe Space Tour panel discussion at Rutgers University featuring Kmele Foster, Sarah Haider, Bryan Stascavage, and Mark Lilla. Moderated by Tom Slater (of Spiked Magazine).
We treat those we believe to be ill-motivated as adversaries to be defeated, and we frequently have no compunction about excluding them from our “disinterested pursuit of truth.”
Student loans skyrocketed from the 1980s to the 2007 recession. Dr. Domitrovic says this is a bubble that needs to pop. For notifications of new Learn Liberty videos, click the bell above.
“One of the big problems at the moment with education is that the role of the teacher has become so confused with the role of the parents.”