Courses

Tom G. Palmer

Executive Vice President, International Programs

Atlas Network

Tom G. Palmer is executive vice president for international programs at the Atlas Network and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and director of the Institute’s educational program, Cato University.

Blog Posts

Dr. Tom G. Palmer on responsibility and freedom

December 12, 2023
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Civil Liberties

Responsibility: For some the word conjures up images of old people lecturing young people about sitting up straight, doing their homework, and writing thank-you notes to elderly aunts. Unsurprisingly, we’re expected to think it’s boring, tedious, a diversion from our enjoyment of our freedom. The goal of freedom, the images suggest, is to escape responsibilities. In fact, embracing responsibility is neither boring, nor tedious, nor a diversion from freedom. Being responsible entails at times doing things that are unpleasant or even great sacrifices, but embracing responsibility provides

Dr. Tom Palmer: We must end the culture war

January 13, 2022
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Democracy and Voting

Do you sometimes feel like you’re being squeezed by ideologues to the left and right, each with an ideology that dictates how you should think, feel, speak, and live? Tired of speech police, morality police, people telling you you’re evil and the enemy of the people when you disagree, or even when you just peacefully go about your own business?  If so, then you’re not alone. Most Americans want no part of the culture war being pushed on us by the extremes. But very loud voices on each side are squeezing the middle, making people choose what should be imposed on others, if only to

The three most pressing threats to liberty

December 15, 2016
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Role of Government

A spectre is haunting the world: the spectre of radical anti-libertarian movements, each grappling with the others like scorpions in a bottle and all competing to see which can dismantle the institutions of liberty the fastest. Some are ensconced in the universities and other elite centers, and some draw their strength from populist anger. The leftist and the rightist versions of the common anti-libertarian cause are, moreover, interconnected, with each fueling the other. All explicitly reject individual liberty, the rule of law, limited government, and freedom of exchange, and they promote instead