Now is the time to defend the liberty that makes possible a global civilization that enables friendship, family, cooperation, trade, mutual benefit, science, wisdom — in a word, life — and to challenge the modern anti-libertarian triumvirate and reveal the emptiness at its heart.
So here it is — halfway through December already! That friendship you started at last year’s ISFLC, FEE seminar, or IHS conference has miraculously lasted. You are happy, and maybe even in love. And now you need a gift for your liberty-loving partner.
In 1950, a British dry cleaner refused to show his papers and brought down the whole system of national identity registration.
If you missed Antony Davies’ Reddit AMA last week, fear not! We’ve taken the liberty of compiling some of the highlights for your viewing pleasure.
Classical liberals all agree that government should be limited, but they disagree about how they get to that conclusion.
Is tyranny of the majority still a threat? Alexis de Tocqueville would say so.
Truly virtuous behavior cannot be compelled. Demonstrating virtue and consequently inspiring people to be virtuous is a fundamental and necessary component of a free society.
Imposing the values of secularism on “oppressed” Muslim women who wish to buy burkinis merely replaces one form of religious oppression with another.
Another day, another hilariously awful straw man argument against libertarianism.
In association with Learn Liberty, Professor Steve Horwitz will be addressing Reddit for an AMA to talk about the success of his recent article for FEE.org, “There is No Such Thing as Trickle-Down Economics,” the gender wage gap controversy, and more! Professor Horwitz is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics at St. Lawrence University […]
To answer this question we must first learn the distinction between contemporary conceptions of freedom and “The Freedom of the Ancients.”
Mao Zedong, glorified creator of the PRC slaughterhouse, is considered responsible for the death of over 70 million fellow Chinese citizens during his reign. The carnage was for various reasons: state-enforced relocation, implementation of various socialist schemes, mass pogroms against citizens possessing counter-revolutionary tendencies and, sadly, the worst famine in human history.
“Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.” – Alexis de Tocqueville
Editor’s note: This piece was originally posted at Libertarianism.org on August 28th, 2013. Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered “I Have a Dream,” one of the most stirring and memorable speeches in American history. In the five decades since he laid out his dream at the March on Washington for Jobs […]
On the Fourth of July, we are celebrating 240 years of American independence. In light of that anniversary, we should take a few moments and reflect on the meaning of that day and the idea of America. The idea of America was a consensus around the belief in individual liberty and a government by the […]
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 […]
If you’re a fan of Learn Liberty, you’re already used to asking tough questions about the world we live in and pondering the foundations of free markets and free societies. But did you know you could learn even more over the summer, straight from some of the same professors from Learn Liberty videos? Independent Institute’s […]
What are thought experiments? They are the consideration of particular—usually practical—issues that encompass broader, philosophical ideas. For example, the practical decision about whether to keep our dog in a crate or loose in the backyard can be viewed as a thought experiment about the nature of life and the trade-offs between freedom and danger and […]
What if I told you that some people were better than others? I don’t mean better at tennis or better at singing or better at math. I mean a better breed of person, entitled by nature to exercise authority over you. I’m guessing you would reject that claim, possibly even find it insulting. I would join […]
You’ve heard the phrase but what exactly does it mean to be “libertarian” or “classical liberal”? Ah, the question of the sages, like Locke and Smith. (Not to mention newer sages like Hayek, Friedman, Rothbard and Nozick!) Now hear it best from one of Learn Liberty’s own classical liberal sages – Dr. Nigel Ashford. Join him in […]
Game of Thrones returns for its sixth season this month and fans are eagerly awaiting a resolution to the numerous unfinished story lines. And while the specific storylines are no doubt interesting, many fans also appreciate the deeper philosophical themes of series. One of these recurring themes is the tension between individualism and collectivism. Many […]
Liberty lovers have another bracket to fill out and obsess over this March. The Institute for Humane Studies is hosting its own version of March Madness, featuring the top thinkers of the liberty movement. The competitors represent four quadrants of liberty thought: Nobel Prize winners, classical thinkers, Austrian Economists, and radical thinkers. Vote for your […]
A lot of people – especially the kind of people who read blogs like this! – have very strong views about politics. This is especially true when our political views are based on moral views. If we think that universal health care is a good idea because we think it’s likely to result in more […]
According to a recent Reason-Rupe poll, 58 percent of Americans ages 18-24 view socialism favorably. But according to the same poll, young Americans strongly favor a “free-market” economy versus a government-controlled system by a margin of 32 percentage points. How is that possible? A Concerning Trend Many young Americans view “socialism” in terms of free […]