Each year at this time somebody in the right-libertarian world, reenacting an obligatory Thanksgiving ritual, drags out the old chestnut about the Pilgrims at Plymouth almost starving from “communism” until private property rights and capitalism saved them. This year John Stossel (“We Should Be Thankful for Private Property,” Reason, Nov. 27) gets the honors. In…

Advocating liberty means opposing the use of force to restrain peaceful, voluntary exchange. But it doesn’t have to mean calling a system of peaceful, voluntary exchange “capitalism.” Some people, of course, think this is obviously what “capitalism” means. And I can’t prove they’re wrong, because the word means different things to different people. I’m confident, though, that…

La última vez que estuve en mi Caracas natal, hace unos años, me impresionó lo común que se había convertido la cirugía cosmética entre las mujeres. Desde entonces he estado pensando sobre lo que podría haber originado esa tendencia, y cuando leí el artículo que William Neuman escribió al respecto para el New York Times,…

O modelo convencional de “objetividade” do jornalismo profissional (também conhecido como “ele disse, ela disse” e “estenografia”), como praticado em nosso jornalismo impresso, remonta a Walter Lippman. Como descreveu Christopher Lasch em seu livro A Rebelião das Elites, a visão de Lippman da sociedade e do governo em geral era a de que [a]s questões importantes…

Sweden is often depicted in the international media as a bastion of pluralism, tolerance and progress. This image stands in stark contrast to the lived realities of marginalized people in Sweden who face an increasingly violent and desperate state. Reports of inner border controls in the Stockholm public transportation system have caused anger, fear and…

The most controversial and celebrated artist this year is, without a doubt, Miley Cyrus. Miley has quickly and flawlessly altered her image from 2000’s bubblegum sensation to corporate-sponsored rebel. Miley has captivated audiences with what many consider to be shocking performances that embrace hedonism and the mocking of puritan values. While many might consider her…

Recentemente assisti a uma apresentação por Mark Hendrickson da Faculdade da Cidade do Pomar acerca do livre mercado e da Walmart. Na apresentação Hendrickson cobre em sucinto, mas informativo detalhe, como funcionam os mecanismos do livre mercado. Firmas que oferecem melhores preços no mercado subtraem clientes de outras firmas, e o resultado final é que novas empresas…

There are many tools out there that allow you to communicate privately with varying levels of security. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), specifically the OpenPGP standard, is a well tested and solid method of encrypting emails and messages, before transmission, to ensure that the only person who can read them is the intended recipient. I need…

À medida que ficamos sabendo de cada vez mais detalhes acerca da espionagem do governo, parece cada vez mais temerário confiar nossa segurança a terceiros empresariais. O estado requer que a informação acerca de seus súditos seja útil para os resultados desejados. Desde o primeiro censo no Egito, há mais de 5.000 anos, os estados…

Acabo de ler que pais de estudante autista do ensino médio detido em operação de cilada de drogas em Temecula, Califórnia, em dezembro último, moveram processo contra o distrito escolar. Os pais estavam “inicialmente satisfeitos com seu filho ter feito seu primeiro e único amigo no ano passado na escola,” mas ficaram desconfiados quando o…

I recently watched a short presentation by Mark Hendrickson from Grove City College about the free market and Walmart. In the presentation Hendrickson covers in short, but informative detail, how free market mechanisms work. Firms that offer better prices in the market draw away customers from other firms, and the end result is that new…

“Propriedade é roubo!”, era o grito de guerra de um proeminente anarquista francês do século XIX. “Au, contraire, mon frère”, retrucara outro, “Propriedade é liberdade!”. “Vocês dois estão errados”, disse um outro, “Propriedade é impossível!”. Como essas pessoas conseguiram lidar entre si foi impressionante. Ainda mais que foi o mesmo homem, Pierre Proudhon, que disse…

A new book (Double Down: Game Change 2012, by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann) claims that  US president Barack Obama told his aides during his last election that he’s “really good at killing people.” He’s right. For example, last Friday a drone strike targeting Hakimullah Mehsud of the Tehreek-e- Taliban Pakistan (TTP) reportedly ended his…

I just read that the parents of an autistic high school student arrested in a drug sting operation in Temecula, California last December have filed suit against the school district. The parents were “initially happy their son had made his first and only friend last year at school,” but became suspicious when his “school friend”…

In Washington, D.C., Fully Informed Jury Association activist James Babb has placed informative billboards at Metro stations near the courts. These billboards tell passersby about jury nullification, the ancient right of jurors to judge both the facts and the law. The doctrine has a long and venerable history; the right of juries to ignore the law…

Os disparos, na Colina do Capitólio, contra Miriam Carey, mulher desarmada que desobedeceu a comando de policiais para que parasse o carro, foi situação bem conhecida para qualquer veterano da Guerra do Iraque, com importante diferença — em vez de moverem-se numa escalada progressiva de força para neutralizar a situação, os policiais da Colina do…

<< TERUG NAAR VEELGESTELDE VRAGEN Dat hangt af van wat men bedoelt met het woord ‘kapitalisme’. Sommige markt-anarchisten bestempelen hun standpunten als ‘anarcho-kapitalistisch’, terwijl anderen zich liever identificeren met ‘anti-kapitalisme’ of ‘libertair-socialisme’. Weer anderen verwerpen beide labels omdat deze hopeloos vervrongen zijn in het publieke bewustzijn en dus niet op een zinvolle manier gebruikt kunnen…

As we learn more and more details regarding government spying, it seems more and more foolhardy to trust our security to third party businesses. The state requires information on its subjects to be effective. From the first census in Egypt more than 5000 years ago, states have sought personal information on their citizens, especially in…

La Familia: ¿Amiga o Enemiga? La familia es uno de los temas que divide a liberales de conservadores. En general, los conservadores tienden a ver a las asociaciones privadas – la familia, la iglesia, la corporación – como baluartes de libertad contra el estado. Pocos conservadores cuestionan la necesidad de un aparato estatal poderoso, pero…

On Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California, two of that city’s “finest” cowered behind a car door and gunned down a thirteen-year-old boy carrying a toy rifle. This little boy, Andy Lopez Cruz, was walking down the street with a fake plastic rifle when the two “heroes” boldly got out of their police cruiser, hid behind the…