“Socialism, or the reliance on the state for help, stands in antagonism to self-help, or the activity of the individual.”
Richard M. Ebeling
Dr. Richard M. Ebeling is the recently appointed BB&T Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Free Enterprise Leadership at The Citadel. He was formerly professor of Economics at Northwood University, president of The Foundation for Economic Education (2003–2008), was the Ludwig von Mises Professor of Economics at Hillsdale College (1988–2003) in Hillsdale, Michigan, and served as vice president of academic affairs for The Future of Freedom Foundation (1989–2003).
Global Corruption and the Role of Government
The corruption of government officials seems to be as old as recorded history.
Society Is Not a Family, Government Is Not a Parent
The fact is, “society” is ultimately made up of individuals who, over centuries of slow and truly enlightened thought and controversy, have come to be considered to possess certain inherent and unalienable rights to life, liberty, and honestly acquired property under an appropriate system of an impartial and unbiased rule of law.
The Inca Elite and the “Communism” of the Common People
The Inca rulers imposed on almost all in society a compulsory equalitarianism in virtually all things.
A Declaration of Independence from Bad Government
Never before in history had a people declared and then established a government based on the principles of the individual’s right to his life, liberty, and property.
Government Monopoly Money vs. Personal Choice in Currency
Greater monetary freedom would not only give every citizen a legal right to protect and secure his income, wealth and market transactions from abusive mismanagement of the government’s monopoly monetary printing press. It could also serve as a check on the degree of such government abuse.
Karl Marx’s Ideas and Errors About Capitalism and Communism, Part Two
The task is not to be on some mythical “right side of history,” but to make history reflect the triumph and success of the idea and ideals of human liberty.
Karl Marx’s Ideas and Errors About Capitalism and Markets, Part One
Marx saw himself as the sociological and economic analyst of the capitalist epoch through which he was living.
Economic Ideas: Frédéric Bastiat on the Law of Liberty and Free Markets
Almost 170 years have passed since Frédéric Bastiat’s death, but there are few writers on economic topics that remain as readable or relevant to the issues of our own day.
Politicians are in “Crisis,” Not the Ordinary American
Outside the Washington Beltway, Life Goes on Very Normally
Political Planning Requires Coercion; Market Planning Requires Cooperation
The essential element in government planning is the threat or use of force to make all the others in society conform to political planner’s purposes and intentions.
Trade Deficits Are Only Dangerous When Caused By Government
Governments have sold their bonds to fund vote-buying welfare state spending, or expanding bureaucracies with loyal supporters of power-hungry politicians, or on delusional dreams of military power, or colossal public works projects hailing the greatness of the dictatorial or democratically elected leader.
The Anti-Capitalist Counter-Revolution On College Campuses
The intellectual intolerance and resort to physical force to prevent speakers from addressing students represents a dangerous totalitarian streak among so-called “progressives.”
What Is a Government Worker Worth Without a Free Market?
Where are you more likely to earn a better salaried income, in the private sector or working for the government?
The New Left’s False History of Laissez-Faire Capitalism
This “inconvenient history” of how individualism and capitalism changed the course of human events from its thousands-of-years of slavery to near universal human liberty, has been practically eliminated from college courses.
Trump’s Anti-Capitalist Economic Trade Policies
Economic warfare threatens a downward spiral with reduced trade among nations, and declining standards of living from following this wealth-destroying path.
The Consumer Price Index: A False Indicator of Our Individual Costs-of-Living
A false guide for central bank monetary policy.
Trump Preliminary Budget Shifts Spending While Retaining America’s Welfare State
Neither the total amount of government spending nor the likely budget deficit is threatened with meaningful reduction.
The National Debt Limit Equals a Balanced Budget
A balanced budget for the government means having to prioritize what it can afford to spend, and on what – just like you and me.
Socialism: Marking a Century of Death and Destruction
Everything the Marxists said about capitalism – exploitation of the many by a privileged few; a gross inequality of wealth and opportunity simply due to an artificial arrangement of control over the means of production; a manipulation of reality to make slavery seem as if it meant freedom – was, in fact, the nature and essence, of Soviet socialism.
Economic Ideas: Karl Marx’s Misconceptions about Man and Markets
Though it may seem strange, Karl Marx was not always a communist. As late as 1842, when Marx was in his mid-20s, he actually said he opposed any attempt to establish a communist system. In October 1842, he became editor of the Rheinische Zeitung [the Rhineland Times],...
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