On St. Patrick's Day, I wore no buttons that read: "Proud to be Irish." While I'm of Celtic stock, I'm neither proud or ashamed to be Irish, but indifferent to this fact -- as I would be if I were of any other ethnicity or race. Instead, I'm proud to be an...
POLITICS
The Government Vs. Your Doctor: A True Story
Like many doctors in today's medical profession, I am the victim of a violation of individual rights. While I continue to practice medicine, many others do not. Personally, I can testify: the assault on doctors is real, it matters, and it is getting much worse. I...
Water Shortages: Subsidies Are All Wet
For years we have been hearing about a water shortage in the western states. To most people, that might suggest that there just is not enough water for all the people in those states. But, when an economist hears the word "shortage," it has an entirely different...
The U.S. Institute of Peace Stumbles
Last week, I became a whistleblower. (According to Merriam-Webster, a whistleblower is someone "who reveals wrongdoing within an organization to the public or to those in positions of authority.") This is not a role I expected or sought, but I felt compelled to go...
America’s a Safe Bet
Earlier this month marked an anniversary most investors would rather forget. On March 10, 2000, the Nasdaq composite index hit a high of 5049. The high for the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500-stock index came two weeks later at 1527. Despite strong rallies last year,...
The “Counterterrorism Czar”: Born-Again Critic of the Bush Administration
Richard Clarke, President George W. Bush's former "counterterrorism czar," accuses the Bush administration of seeking a tie between Iraq and 9/11, and pushing America into an ill-advised war in Iraq. Clarke claims that Bush attempted to "intimidate him" into finding...
Price Gouging
The Virginia Senate just passed the Virginia Post-Disaster Anti-Price Gouging Act of 2004, which now awaits Gov. Mark Warner's signature. In part, the act says, "During any time of disaster, it shall be unlawful for any supplier to sell, lease, or license, or to offer...
Rattling the Chains of Slavery
The president of Brown University has appointed a committee to look into the history of the connections of that institution to the slave trade. This is to be no academic exercise of scholarly research. There is obviously supposed to be a pot of gold at the end of this...
Outsourcing Foreign Policy and “The International Community”
Spain's decision to turn tail and run, in response to a terrorist bombing, not only tells terrorists how to get their way in the future, it should also tell us about the dangers of outsourcing our foreign policy to our allies or to the United Nations, as so many on...
The Purpose of an Iraqi Constitution
On December 15, 1791, 212 years ago, the American Bill of Rights was ratified. Thus ended a long and difficult process by which the American people first liberated themselves from tyranny and then established the first government in history founded on individual...
Politics Without Mirrors: The Culture War Between the Religious Right and the Secular Left
In a current Supreme Court case, Michael Newdow has challenged the constitutionality of reading the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Newdow, an atheist, argues that the Pledge's reference to America as "one nation, under God," constitutes governmental...
Get Ready for the Vitamin Police
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now seeking to expand its considerable powers into the regulation of vitamins and nutritional supplements. The FDA has evidently discovered that Americans, after centuries of experience doing so, cannot now be counted on to...
Spain Decides to Run Away
The election in Spain that turned the government over to the Socialists sent a clear message to al Qaeda. Their bombing worked. Reportedly, much of the population did not want to join the US-led coalition to impose regime change on Iraq. Now they have decided to sit...
Answers for the “Swing Voter”
A moderate friend -- aka "swing voter" -- recently sent me a letter, in which he raised his objections about President Bush. Moderate Friend: Bush has made no major move to address environmental issues at all. The No. 1 thing a president could do environmentally is...
Why Do the Islamists Hate the West?
The idea that what goes around comes around applies not only to individuals but to nations and whole civilizations. It was just a few centuries ago -- not long, as history is measured -- that China had the highest standard of living in the world and the Dutch were the...
Saddam Hussein’s Weapons
Listening to the political and media rhetoric about the war in Iraq, you'd think that only President Bush thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Here are just a few past statements made by Bush's critics. President Clinton (1998): "One way or the...
The Real Benedict Arnolds
Sen. John Kerry is fond of calling CEOs who employ foreigners "Benedict Arnolds," after the despicable Revolutionary War turncoat. But look at H.J. Heinz & Co., the family business of Kerry and his wife Teresa. Of the 79 factories that the food-processor owns, 57 (a...
“Outsourcing” and “Saving Jobs”
Every political campaign seems to have some buzzword, and this year's buzzword is "outsourcing." Since the economic recovery has not yet reached the stage when new jobs are being created to the extent expected and hoped, the idea that American jobs are being sent...
The Passion of Christ: A Passion Against Man
As The Passion of the Christ plays to near-record crowds, numerous critics and moviegoers report the film to be a transforming experience. Although many find themselves forced to turn away from the violence on screen, they say the blood-soaked depiction of Jesus'...
Slashing Tax Rates in Europe is Progressive
More than 20 years ago, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan triggered a world-wide revolution by dramatically slashing marginal income tax rates. In addition to rejuvenating the U.K. and U.S. economies, these supply-side tax cuts prodded other nations into...
Budget, Deficit, Threatens Economic Freedom
As soon as President Bush released his 2005 budget, critics from both sides of the political aisle were fighting mad. On the left, the budget was pilloried for allegedly catering to the rich while destroying programs such as childcare and housing assistance. On the...
The McGruder Award for the Most Outrageous Statement by a Black Public Figure
Aaron McGruder draws the sometimes-funny daily comic strip "The Boondocks." The strip centers around a black family that moved into a predominantly white neighborhood. In a recent strip, two young black characters considered renaming what they call the "Most...
Educational Ineptitude
What passes for educational enlightenment these days boggles the mind. Matt Gouras, of The Associated Press, writing in the Jan. 5 Seattle Times tells a story about Tennessee schools. The success of some students has made other students feel badly about themselves....
The Global Debate Over Affirmative Action
A recent issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education had the front-page headline: "The Global Debate Over Affirmative Action." Inside, there were five full pages on group quotas in Brazil, India, and Malaysia. While it is unusual for American journalists to recognize...
Subscribe for free.
Read by students, professors, and citizens, Capitalism Magazine provides over 9,000 free to read articles and essays from pro-reason, individual rights perspective.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.