Category:History

February 28, 2022 | Post

When we think of terms such as capitalism, individualism, or selfishness, one name comes to mind: Ayn Rand. But what makes Rand so significant?

February 2, 2022 | Post

Modernity is unthinkable without capitalism, yet Ayn Rand defined capitalism as an unknown ideal, one whose benefits people did not understand

January 9, 2022 | Post

One thing everyone seemingly can agree on is that Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and other pharmaceutical companies developed their Covid-19 vaccines in world-record time. Less than a year passed from the outbreak of the virus in January 2020 until a British woman received the first dose in December 2020. (And they could have been […]

November 18, 2021 | Post

As we witnessed during the 2020 election season, and as we are sure to witness during the upcoming holiday season, the United States Postal Service doesn’t exactly instill confidence.

October 10, 2021 | Post

Since its publication in 1957, Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged continues to have a lasting impact and remains a cornerstone of pro-liberty literature

April 28, 2021 | Video

COVID-19 has upended life as we know it. Now more than ever, the world can feel confusing and chaotic. We wanted to cut through the noise and hear real stories from real people all around the world, so we decided to interview 12 people, in 6 countries. The only stipulation was that they had to be willing to speak openly and honestly about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We realized that despite the polarization around this topic, and intensity of opinions being shared, no one person really knows what’s going on. To move forward we need intellectual humility and empathy –– with a focus on our shared humanity –– especially at a time like this. T

his documentary shares a diversity of COVID-related stories and perspectives to highlight the importance of embracing our individuality and maintaining intellectual openness through this time.

#GlobalPandemic #SharedHumanity #Lockdown

April 28, 2021 | Video

Since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the Vietnamese immigrant population in the United States has grown significantly, from about 231,000 in 1980, to nearly 1.3 million in 2012. The surge happened mostly during the 1980s and 1990s.

Hear from Vietnamese refugee, Viet Tran, who talks about his past struggles with fleeing his country in search for a better life. We go back to 1980.

“People will escape no matter what, as long as the government is harsh on their people.” – Viet Tran

This video answers the following questions:

How does government impact the lives of the ones they govern?
How do borders impact the people that they divide?
What does a life without freedom, justice, and democracy really look like?

April 28, 2021 | Video

War Sucks, What is it Good For? As the song goes, ‘absolutely nothing.’ Wars have historically failed to achieve the desired outcome of stabilization, all the while wasting taxpayers’ money, and causing sustained misery in the regions affected by conflict and resulting in tragically high levels of casualties, both military and civilian.

Conflict should be avoided as much as possible, with the only exception being as a last resort in defense of liberty. Learn Liberty believes that this can be achieved by promoting global interdependence through diplomacy, cooperation, and free trade. Alongside its obvious casualties, war invariably impedes trade, hinders economic development, and results in a loss of individual liberty.

December 14, 2017 | Post

I have tried to avoid saying much about the “Confederate statues” kerfuffle. That’s partly because the issue is more complicated than it’s often made out to be.

September 6, 2017 | Post

As a believer in small government, I usually favor anything that reduces taxes. But this tax break has wreaked havoc on American health care.

July 4, 2017 | Post

The luck of the Spanish turned out to be their misfortune, and the curse of the English turned out to be a blessing.

July 3, 2017 | Video

Taxes, protests, massacre, and revolution — this is our full America’s Founding series in one glorious video. For more US history, watch 

June 16, 2017 | Post

The following is a lightly edited, slightly condensed transcript of the talk “Adam Darwin: Emergent Order in Biology and Economics,” presented by Matt Ridley at the Adam Smith Institute in 2012. I’ve called my lecture “Adam Darwin” to stress how congruent the philosophies of Adam Smith and Charles Darwin are. The common theme, of course, […]

June 1, 2017 | Video

The US became a global economy, but also struggled with stagflation and trade conflicts. Video created with the Bill of Rights Institute to help students ace their exams. This is the final video in our series with Professor Brian Domitrovic, which aims to be a resource for students studying for US History exams, and to […]

May 25, 2017 | Video

The American economy boomed in the years after World War II. Video created with the Bill of Rights Institute to help students ace their exams. This is the eighth video in a series of nine with Professor Brian Domitrovic, which aim to be a resource for students studying for US History exams, and to provide […]

May 19, 2017 | Post

Did you miss our recent Reddit AMA with Professor Sarah Burns of RIT’s political science department? You can find the whole conversation here, or check out some of the highlights below. Dr. Burns is a regular contributor to the Learn Liberty Blog, and starred in our series on America’s Founding.   Adama82 Hi, thanks for […]

May 18, 2017 | Video

Video created with the Bill of Rights Institute to help students ace their exams. This is the seventh video in a series of nine with Professor Brian Domitrovic, which aim to be a resource for students studying for US History exams, and to provide a survey of different (and sometimes opposing) viewpoints on key episodes […]

May 11, 2017 | Video

In the Progressive and New Deal eras, government intervened heavily in the economy. Video created with the Bill of Rights Institute to help students ace their exams. This is the sixth video in a series of nine with Professor Brian Domitrovic, which aim to be a resource for students studying for US History exams, and […]

May 8, 2017 | Post

Each of his separate bodies of work would constitute a monumental achievement. Hayek did it all over the course of a single career that established him as one of the most important social thinkers of the 20th century.

May 5, 2017 | Post

Sarah Burns is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  Her research examines the intersection of political liberalization and American constitutional development with an eye toward policy implications for democratization across the globe.  Professor Burns was featured in Learn Liberty’s America’s Founding series. She has also written on American history (1), American foreign policy (2,3), elections (4,5), […]

May 4, 2017 | Video

In the Gilded Age (the 1870s and 1880s), the US economy grew faster than ever. Video created with the Bill of Rights Institute to help students ace their exams. This is the fifth video in a series of nine with Professor Brian Domitrovic, which aim to be a  resource for students studying for US History […]

April 20, 2017 | Post

When you’re a historian, people expect you to write history. So, twelve years ago, when I told people I was writing a dissertation about music piracy, the typical response was, “But… that’s not history.” I couldn’t blame them. The dirt was still fresh on Napster’s grave at the time, and challenges to online services such […]

April 20, 2017 | Video

Does a national bank make the US economy more stable or more chaotic? Video created with the Bill of Rights Institute to help students ace their exams. This is the third video in a series of nine with Professor Brian Domitrovic, which aim to be a resource for students studying for US History exams and […]

April 17, 2017 | Video

Does history repeat itself? Dan Carlin, the “political Martian,” says history can’t teach us what to do next, but it can teach us who we are. Watch the full interview here.