Tag: rights
The Declaration of Independence says we have the right to overthrow the government
May 12, 2023 | Post
The right to overthrow a government remains an important principle to uphold, as it serves as a check on government power. It is a reminder that governments exist to serve the people, not the other way around. The possibility of revolution also serves as a deterrent against abuses of power and as a last resort when all other avenues have failed.
Why cosmopolitanism is essential to liberty
November 23, 2022 | Post
Cosmopolitanism is the belief in universal human rights, regardless of time or place. That each of us is a citizen of the world first, country second. It also denotes a law and morality that transcends all, and must be applied to everyone equally. But cosmopolitanism is more than just a recognition of the universal rights of others.
Objectivism: a philosophical defense of liberty
October 22, 2021 | Post
To make a coherent defense of liberty, it is important not to neglect the philosophical and moral considerations that underpin our individual rights.
The king is dead, long live chaos! Why Hobbes was wrong and Burke was right.
May 30, 2017 | Post
Early liberal theorists gave French revolutionaries the tools to overthrow oppressive kings, but also to unleash chaos and violence.
Bryan Caplan: Is immigration a basic human right?
March 31, 2017 | Post
Editors Note: On March 16th George Mason University Professor of Economics Bryan Caplan debated Washington University Professor of Philosophy Christopher Wellman on the topic, “Is Immigration a Basic Human Right?” Below is Professor Caplan’s opening statement. There are many complaints about governments, but the harshest is, “This government grossly violates human rights.” The background assumption is that […]
Emma Watson is right. Feminism is about choice.
March 30, 2017 | Post
Watson offered up a simple truism about feminism that is more powerful than it might sound: “Feminism is about giving women choice.”
Promises and the right to resist injustice
March 26, 2017 | Post
The fact that government agents have promised to obey the government does not excuse them when they obey unjust orders, nor does it relieve them of moral culpability for following those orders.
Entrepreneurs create value for disabled workers.
March 24, 2017 | Post
Any entrepreneur who succeeds in reducing costs faced by a laborer who suffers from a disability can earn a profit.
Remembering the forgotten women, victims of government
March 17, 2017 | Post
in honor of Women’s History Month, I want to highlight three stories of women you probably have never heard of — victims of government.
Market demand is reforming farm ethics
March 10, 2017 | Post
Regardless of one’s position on eating meat, one can still care about not intentionally inflicting pain on animals.
The right to hope for jury nullification
March 2, 2017 | Post
Jae Lee came to the United States legally as a child but never became a citizen. In 2009, he pled guilty to a drug crime after his lawyer assured him that he could not be deported as a result. The lawyer was wrong, because the conviction made Lee subject to mandatory removal. When Lee learned […]
Donald Trump: The avatar of democracy
February 22, 2017 | Post
In his first month as President, Donald Trump has been the epitome of democracy.
The bell curve of anti-slavery
February 19, 2017 | Post
Abolitionism is one of the complex historical topics that is always over-simplified in textbook accounts of history.
Weird election rules: The baseball hall of fame
February 18, 2017 | Post
Any variation in election rules — for president, for student body treasurer, or for anything else — allows us to examine the rules’ impact on voting outcomes.
Was Jeremy Bentham a Classical Liberal at heart?
February 15, 2017 | Post
Jeremy Bentham was born on Feb. 15th, 1748, in Spitalfields, England. One of the main early advocates of utilitarianism — the ethical view that, roughly, an act is right insofar as it promotes happiness, and wrong insofar as it does not — he is best known for his view that “it is the greatest happiness […]
Immanuel Kant: Philosopher of Freedom
February 2, 2017 | Post
Kant was self-consciously an Enlightenment liberal who believed in limited government and maximum freedom.
Not your business: Let restaurant owners make their own decisions
January 18, 2017 | Post
The free-market concept is simple — private property owners should be able to preside over whatever policies they want.
Everybody missed the point of Westworld
January 17, 2017 | Post
Westworld is first and foremost a depiction of the corrosive nature of total power — an illustration of Lord Acton’s quote that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” — as seen through the character of Dr. Robert Ford.
Liberalism reconstructed for a world divided
December 31, 2016 | Post
So 2016 is limping to an end with an assassination of an ambassador, another “inspired” attack on innocents at a Christmas market, and the formal election of a master crony-capitalist to the office of the presidency of the United States.
What makes a person a person?
December 26, 2016 | Post
Personhood is a moral concept, related to the notion of individuality.
Why we should celebrate capitalism and consumerism, at Christmas and all year
December 22, 2016 | Post
Last Christmas, Pope Francis criticized holiday consumerism, saying that ours is “a society often intoxicated by consumerism … wealth and extravagance.”
To understand why this sort of critique is mistaken, and why consumerism and capitalism deserve our love at Christmastime and throughout the year, we need to go back to basics.
The case of post-Soviet Georgia shows us that economic freedom and human dignity are inseparable
December 21, 2016 | Post
I was still a Soviet citizen when I first read some of the international documents on human, economic, and political rights.
11 key facts about Americans’ attitudes toward the Police
December 20, 2016 | Post
The Cato Institute has released Policing in America—an extensive national public opinion report that explores Americans’ attitudes toward the police based on an original Cato Institute/YouGov national survey of 2,000 Americans.
Democracy limits bad government in the long haul.
December 2, 2016 | Post
The following is the fourth installment in a five-part debate between Jason Brennan and Philip Pettit on the legitimacy of democracy as a system of social order.