Feed on
Posts
Comments

Category Archive for 'Classical Liberalism'

From Frederick Douglass’ Plea for Freedom of Speech in Boston: Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist. That, of all rights, is the dread of tyrants. It is the right which they first of all strike down. They know its power. Thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, […]

Read Full Post »

It is, and always was, a great idea. Here is an excerpt from Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration: he has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it’s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in […]

Read Full Post »

Here is Madison in Federalist #62: “In another point of view, great injury results from an unstable government. The want of confidence in the public councils damps every useful undertaking, the success and profit of which may depend on a continuance of existing arrangements. What prudent merchant will hazard his fortunes in any new branch […]

Read Full Post »

Wherein Cornell tries to put the locomotive back on the tracks. I doubt it will do much, it may be performative too, but at least they are recognizing the cancer. Cornell Policy Statement on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech and Expression Cornell University respects and is committed to fundamental principles of academic freedom and […]

Read Full Post »

Read Full Post »

Frederick Douglass, December 9, 1860. Boston, MA: No right was deemed by the fathers of the Government more sacred than the right of speech. It was in their eyes, as in the eyes of all thoughtful men, the great moral renovator of society and government. Daniel Webster called it a homebred right, a fireside privilege. […]

Read Full Post »

I’d add, “just leave people the hell alone” and our world would be immeasurably better. Here is a bit from Alex Tabarrok’s tribute to Walter Williams: Our colleague, the great Walter Williams, died on Tuesday shortly after teaching his last class–which is exactly how he would have wanted to go. He was 84 and had […]

Read Full Post »

Read Full Post »

Gifts are the original sin of commerce. My theory is that this is why “the gift economy” is so cherished by critics of anonymous, ephemeral, market exchange. Market exchanges allow us to free ourselves from the power that our families and others exercise over us. The wider the extent of market competition, the less we […]

Read Full Post »

I’m getting too used to Twitter, so the idea of a full-length blog post is less attractive today than in the past. On the other hand, a solid blog post probably has a lot more influence today than it did at the height of blogging before social media really kicked into gear. I wanted to […]

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »