In the 1940s, the government imposed a price and wage freeze. The logic was that the shortage of employees (the men who left as soldiers) would cause businesses to raise wages to entice workers and consequently prices would go up to cover the new, increased cost of...
POLITICS
The basic and crucial political issue of our age is: capitalism versus socialism, or freedom versus statism. For decades, this issue has been silenced, suppressed, evaded, and hidden under the foggy, undefined rubber-terms of “conservatism” and “liberalism” which had lost their original meaning and could be stretched to mean all things to all men. – AYN RAND
The Forgotten Man
Trades-unions adopt various devices for raising wages, and those who give their time to philanthropy are interested in these devices, and wish them success. They fix their minds entirely on the workmen for the time being in the trade, and do not take note of any other...
Advertising In One Lesson: Specifics Beats Superlatives Every Time
"The Washington Post cordially invites you to the 15th annual National Council of Caucasian Women's White Family Reunion Celebration." Can you imagine the uproar if one of the nation's largest newspapers issued invitations to a cultural gathering designed to enhance...
Advertising In One Lesson: Specifics Beats Superlatives Every Time
Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave not impression whatever. To say, "Beat in the world," "Lowest price in existence," etc. are at best simply claiming the expected. But superlatives of that sort are usually...
The Forgotten Man, Part 2
There is an almost invincible prejudice that a man who gives a dollar to a beggar is generous and kind-hearted, but that a man who refuses the beggar and puts the dollar in a savings bank is stingy and mean. The former is putting capital where it is very sure to be...
The Medical Savings Account: The Solution to Today’s Health Care Crisis, Part 2
With an MSA, patients are free to consult doctors and specialists of their choice. They can negotiate their own cash discounts, with or without the assistance of an MSA administrator. Doctors are paid at the time of service, without costly administration. Patients...
Vampire Governments Feast on the Discoveries of the Telecommunications Industry
In early 2000, companies capable of building and operating third generation (3G) wireless networks were among the hottest stocks around. Using the radio frequency spectrum in a new way, 3G wireless networks promise to achieve revolutionary performance, combining the...
Is a “Right to Prescription Drugs” Good Medicine?
Al Gore promised to provide prescription drugs "coverage for all" American senior citizens if elected president. Republicans, afraid of not jumping on the bandwagon and missing out on the next elections, joined the Democrats, and committed to a plan that also makes...
Bank of Japan Interest Rate Hike is a Canard
On August 11th, Japan's central bank, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), announced its first interest rate hike in ten years. For seventeen months, the BOJ had lent money overnight to the banking system at a rate of zero; that is, no interest. Now, with the hike, it will charge...
The Medical Savings Account: The Solution to Today’s Health Care Crisis (Part 1)
Edited from a speech delivered by AFCM President, Dr. Art Astorino, Costa Mesa CA on December 11, 1993Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen:The Medical Savings Account (MSA) is the future for health care financing. It is the best option available today for returning...
The Forgotten Man (Part 1)
The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in...
The “Crony” in Russian “Capitalism” is Socialism
Doesn’t unrestrained capitalism lead to kleptocracy, cronyism, and anarchy?
The Antidote for Zoning: The “Coming to the Nuisance” Doctrine (Part 4)
The Coming to the Nuisance Doctrine is the only objective means of determining who has the right to continue using his property in the event of a nuisance. If zoning is to be replaced, therefore, it must be replaced with the Coming to the Nuisance doctrine. Since it...
Demonizing Private Doctors to Advance Socialism in Medicine
Last December [1999], the National Academy of Sciences has called for the establishment of a federal "Center for Patient Safety," operating under the auspices of Public Health Service at a projected annual cost of $100 million. The "disinterested" NAS claims its...
Malaise in Malaysia
Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's former deputy prime minister and former finance minister, was recently sentenced to nine years in jail after he was found guilty of sodomy. The verdict, which has been condemned by government leaders and human rights groups around the world,...
The Antidote for Zoning: Bringing Objectivity to the Land Development Process (Part 3)
"Coming to the Nuisance" means exactly what it sounds like: if a property owner is using his property so as to cause a nuisance to another property owner, then the property owner who was the earlier to start his particular use is the one who has the right to continue...
Modern Day Benthamites Herald An Era of More Power to the Government!
The Supreme Court has struck down an Indianapolis law that allowed police to use roadblocks as a means of searching for drugs. The Court said that the war on drugs was not more important than the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits generalized searches and seizures of...
Is Hong Kong’s Superstar Internet IPO “Tom.Com” Made of Smoke and Mirrors?
People in Hong Kong occasionally get a little over-enthusiastic when trying to buy hard-to-get items. When a real estate property is hot, for instance, both homebuyers and gangsters swamp agents with offers to buy. A few years ago, kids, parents, and their maids...
John McCain’s Deadly Moral Code
John McCain is not shy about expressing his moral vision for America. When he officially announced his candidacy, he said, "I run for president because I want the next generation of Americans to know the sense of pride and purpose of serving a cause greater than...
A Green Dictatorship: Ralph Nader’s Vision for America
Green Party presidential candidate and "consumer advocate" Ralph Nader wants to "reform" America. In the past Nader has called for "free" education, advocated "free", and "universal" healthcare, and attacked corporations. Evaluating Nader's proposed "reform" of...
Isn’t Zoning Necessary to Prevent Nuisances? (Part 2)
The proponents of zoning claim that such initiation of force is necessary against developers to prevent the occurrence of nuisances.A "nuisance" is defined as the effect from an activity on others which unreasonably interferes with another's lawful use of property, or...
The Evils of Zoning: Subjecting Landowners to Arbitrary Whim
Real estate developers have good reason to feel cannibalized when they attempt to develop something today.Building permits for their projects are often exceedingly difficult to secure, requiring thousands of dollars in architect's and attorney's fees, and months (if...
Colin Powell: A Future Speaker for the Democratic Convention?
On Monday night on the last day of July 2000, Colin Powell gave a truly awful speech at the Republican convention. It appears that he intends to move the Republican party even further away from individual rights and freedom and closer towards collectivism and...
The Republican Convention Will Spotlight Statism
“What these individual agendas show is the same utter contempt both men have for freedom and the individual,” said Bernstein.
Freedom is the Solution for Quality in Education
Despite the tragic results of public education, American parents have yet to realize that to properly educate their children, they must entirely reject the current state-controlled system. They must demand that government give them back their taxed money so they can...
The IMF in Asia: Please Hold Your Applause
Last week I noticed two important articles in the press regarding the Asian recovery. "Fortune" magazine, representing the new "establishment" view, ran an article celebrating the Asian economic recovery, giving the IMF credit for the improvements. In sharp contrast,...
Animal’s “Rights” Versus Man’s Rights: Animal “Rights” Activists Want to Sacrifice Man’s Rights
Human life versus animal life. This fundamental conflict of values was dramatized on June 23 in Washington D.C., when an animal rights march was opposed by AIDS victims marching in support of research on animals. It is an indisputable fact that many thousands of lives...
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home
When I began to write this review, I hemmed and hawed about where to begin. Flipping through the meaty 764 pages, I was amused to note that the authors began the section entitled, "Using The Well-Trained Mind Without Losing Your Own" with the upfront statement, "This...
Book Review of The Prime Movers: Traits of The Great Wealth Creators
Over the last 250 years, the quality of life throughout the world has been transformed. Life expectancy has increased from nineteen years in 1750 to seventy years today, and practically everyone today lives better than a king in the 1700s. There has been more progress...
The “Third Way” Moves Two Ways In Europe
In recent years, the leftist parties of England and Germany returned to power by promising voters that they had turned their back on command and control, tax and spend, economic policies. Instead they promised to "transcend" the old right and left by pursuing an...
Sex and Beer Versus The Government: The Disease of Bureaucracy
Some months ago MSNBC.com reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate raising the state tax on a six-pack of beer by 20 cents could reduce the nation's gonorrhea rate by almost 9 percent.1How are beer and a sexually transmitted disease...
The Perils of Gun Ownership?
1. Ted Kennedy, Rosie O'Donnell, Charles Schumer, and Barbara Boxer strongly denounce private gun ownership. However, their bodyguards carry:A. Toy guns with trigger locks B. A tape recorded message that says "Boo!" C. CandyD. Slingshots E. Very heavy purses2. You and...
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