United States Declaration of Independence "... to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ... whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Articles
An Unstimulating Idea, by Sheldon Richman, 25 Jan 2008 Related Topics: The Free Market, No Free Lunch Examines the economic "stimulus" proposals being made by candidates and incumbent politicians "The most objectionable side of the stimulus frenzy is the assumption that government can and should run the economy. ... Most people still believe the economy is a vehicle and the government the driver, precisely adjusting the gas pedal and brake as needed. But really there is no 'economy.' There are only people pursuing ends and the property they use and exchange in the process. If the government tries to 'run the economy' it has to run us."
Are Government Failures the Result of the Wrong People Running It?, by Michael Cloud, The Liberator Online, 11 May 2006 Related Topic: Ludwig von Mises "... Big Government programs repeatedly fail. Why? Their defenders respond: ... because the wrong people are in charge. ... What if it's the nature of government itself that causes the problems? What if it's a design characteristic of government itself that causes the problems -- and makes them unavoidable and unfixable?"
Emergencies: The Breeding Ground of Tyranny, by William L. Anderson, Freedom Daily, Nov 2006 Related Topics: Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson "... the function of 'emergency' powers is not to protect the people of a nation but rather to enlarge the power of government. ... as has been the clear case since governments came into existence, the presence of so-called emergencies in the long run inevitably results in governments' permanently gaining more powers at the expense of citizens."
Finding the Flaws, by Joseph Sobran, 25 Mar 1997 Related Topics: Constitution of the United States, Democracy "Governments are made to be bribed. The bigger they get, the more surely they will become corrupt. Power has a market value, and concentrating power increases the pressure, usually through the medium of money, on any leak. Nature finds the human flaws in any system."
Government, by James Mill, Encyclopedia Britannica, 1820 "This is, no doubt, the primary cause of government; for, if nature had produced spontaneously all the objects which we desire, and in sufficient abundance for the desires of all, there would have been no source of dispute or of injury among men; nor would any man have possessed the means of ever acquiring authority over another."
Government Failure, by Sheldon Richman, 5 Oct 2007 Examines the validity of the concept of "market failures" as an argument for government intervention "... it is fallacy to assert that any time the market is expected to generate suboptimal results, government should step in. Why is that a fallacy? Because it assumes that the results of government preemption would be superior to whatever results the market would have produced. But that cannot be assumed. It has to be proved. And it has not been."
Government Keeps People Poor, by Sheldon Richman, 28 Jun 2006 "... low-income people pay various taxes ... government does many things that make the cost of living higher ... government occupational licensing is a devastating one-two punch against low-income people ... government has steadily eroded the value of the dollar ... minimum-wage prices low-skilled workers out of the labor market ..."
Government in Business, by Murray N. Rothbard, The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, Sep 1956 Related Topic: Business "Is there anything special about water or schooling that creates insoluble problems? How does it happen that there are no fierce arguments over what kind of steel or autos to produce ...? The answer: There is something special—for the Problems of schooling and water supply are examples of what happens when government, instead of private enterprise, operates a business."
Government the Exploiter, Not Protector, by Sheldon Richman, 14 Jul 2006 Related Topic: September 11, 2001 "None of the governments we are familiar with was established primarily to protect the general population. Rather, they were set up to enable a privileged class to extract wealth from the general population. They taxed the people to provide subsidies and restricted trade to create monopoly advantage."
Hidden Government, by Sheldon Richman, 1 Sep 2006 Related Topics: George W. Bush, Lebanon "Were the American people informed that 'their' government was playing this role? Were they asked for their consent? Would they have approved? That the questions sound absurd demonstrates how far removed government is from the people who are supposedly sovereign in the American system."
Lies and Leviathan, by James Bovard, Freedom Daily, Aug 2006 Related Topic: Social Security Tax "Big government requires big lies — and not just on wars but across the board. The more powerful government becomes, the more abuses it commits and the more lies it must tell. Interventions beget debacles that require cover-ups and denials. The more the government screws up, the more evidence the government is obliged to bury or deny."
Obesity Not a Government Problem, by Charley Reese, 19 Jun 2006 "Anybody who doubts that many Americans have a problem with obesity need only visit an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant. Most of the customers fill their chairs and then some. Nevertheless, it is not a government problem. Freedom means you can have a lot to lose if you want to, and it's nobody's beeswax."
Stiglitz is Wrong on Government, by Michael Rozeff, Mises.org Daily Article, 6 Sep 2006 "Real government is not an ongoing type of firm created and managed by the private sector to iron out certain problems. If it were, it would not be marked by the extensive power that it has to impose measures. ... It would hardly be the destroyer of money or of wealth or the inefficient manager of every activity that it touches."
The Snare of Government Subsidies, by Gary North, Mises.org Daily Article, 31 Aug 2006 Related Topic: Business "... those within the government possess an extremely potent device for expanding political power. By a comprehensive program of direct political intervention into the market, government officials can steadily reduce the opposition of businessmen to the transformation of the market into a bureaucratic, regulated, and even centrally-directed organization."
The State in the Dock, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 26 May 2006 Related Topic: Iraq "The essence of government is the right to obey a different set of laws from that which prevails in the rest of society. What we call the rule of law is really the rule of two laws: one for the state and one for everyone else. Theft is illegal but taxation is not. ... Counterfeiting is illegal but inflating the money supply is not."
Why Limited Representative Government Fails, by Michael S. Rozeff, 17 Apr 2008 Related Topics: Limited Government, The State, Voting Presents a four-element theory of why limited representative government fails "When we the people accept the premise of representative government, we are making a fateful decision. We are accepting a method of pseudo-cooperation, pseudo-freedom, and pseudo-welfare improvement. Representative government does not deliver freedom, welfare improvement, or cooperation. To achieve these, we need a different premise. We need self-government."
And now, a word from our founder: Freedom patriarch R.C. Hoiles explained his editorial policies, by R. C. Hoiles, The Orange County Register, 29 May 2006 Related Topics: Non-aggression Principle, Taxation Written in the 1960s by Freedom Communications, Inc. founder "... the Declaration of Independence ... says 'governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.' Since no man can give another's consent, then if we believe in this principle, governments should be supported on a voluntary basis. If a man does not consent to voluntarily paying, he should not be compelled to pay."
Do Elections Guarantee Freedom?, by James Bovard, Freedom Daily, Nov 2007 Related Topics: Voting, George W. Bush, Constitution of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald W. Reagan Discusses whether democratic elections achieve the purported objective of "will of the people" controlling the government "The current system of government is structured so that voters effectively have to vest near-absolute power in someone. This is simply how the rulers and the establishment have fixed the game. Any choice that would deny nearly boundless power to the rulers is kept out of the sunlight by the powers that be."
Don't Believe Those Inflation Numbers, by Mark Brandly, Mises.org Daily Article, 1 Sep 2006 Related Topics: Inflation, Taxation "Government officials always tell us that the older CPI basket overestimates inflation. They admit that their estimates are off, but they never admit that they have been measuring inflation too low and adjust things upward. ... Government officials have the incentive and the ability to manipulate economic statistics. The lesson is: don't be fooled by government statistics."
Don't Do It, Google, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 2 May 2006 Related Topics: Free Markets, Property Rights "A government big enough to punch out Google's competitors is big enough to punch out Google too. ... The software industry is filled with rivalries of the most intense variety. ... what all these companies need to agree upon is that they have a common enemy, The State. It is not the friend of rivalrous competition but its enemy."
Freedom in Transactions, by Claude Frederic Bastiat, 1848 Related Topics: The Free Market Contrasts how freedom of exchange causes vast numbers of provisions to arrive in Paris on a daily basis with what would happen if government were to direct these transactions "Truly, there may be much suffering within the walls of Paris—poverty, despair, perhaps starvation, causing more tears to flow than ardent charity is able to dry up; but I affirm that it is probable, nay, that it is certain, that the arbitrary intervention of government would multiply infinitely those sufferings, and spread over all our fellow-citizens those evils which at present affect only a small number of them."
Is There A Federal Deficit?, by Walter E. Williams, 19 Apr 2006 Related Topics: Taxation, Inflation "The founders of our nation would be horrified by today's level of American servitude to their government. From 1787 to the Roaring '20s, federal government spending, as a percentage of GDP, never exceeded 4 percent, except in wartime, compared to today's 20 percent. ... This situation differs only in degree, but not in kind, from slavery."
Lysander Spooner, Part 2, by Wendy McElroy, Freedom Daily, Nov 2005 Related Topics: Lysander Spooner, Magna Carta, Right to Trial by Jury "Government by consent means that every person who pays taxes or provides a service to the state must render his consent in order for the exchange to be just. Without such consent, the 'exchange' is actually brute force ... Or, as Spooner phrased it, government becomes 'a mere conspiracy of the strong against the weak.'"
On Equality and Inequality, by Ludwig von Mises, Modern Age, 1961 Related Topics: Rights, Capitalism, Compulsory Education, Entrepreneurship, Labor, Socialism "... every system of government is minority rule and as such can last only as long as it is supported by the belief of those ruled that it is better for themselves to be loyal to the men in office than to try to supplant them by others ... Government by the people, i.e., by elected representatives, makes peaceful change possible."
Self-Deception about Medical Care, by Sheldon Richman, 15 Feb 2006 Related Topics: Health Care "This may be why such people can't see government for what it is: a massive transfer machine. ... Whether you think that's right or wrong, let's at least agree on what it does. Government takes from A to give to B, and it uses the threat of physical force (such as incarceration) to ensure that A will surrender whatever is demanded of him."
Socialized Medicine in a Wealthy Country, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., Mises.org Daily Article, 2 Dec 2006 Related Topics: Health Care, Capitalism, Life Extension, Socialism "The welfare state actually succeeded in driving people to adapt their life conditions to the make themselves eligible. I'm quite sure that if the government were to institute a Good Samaritan Office, we would find the streets strewn with people who had been beaten and robbed. It is the nature of a government program to multiply the problem rather than solve anything."
Stop Worrying about the Election, by Isaac M. Morehouse, Mises.org Daily Article, 3 Oct 2008 Related Topics: Individual Liberty, Poland Illustrates individual freedom using The Shawshank Redemption and events in communist Poland "Remember this when you see government expanding its reach into your life. Rather than looking to political leaders to protect or expand our freedom we should cultivate the seeds of freedom in our own spirits, and inspire others to do the same. Nothing government can do can take away our freedom; and if we are a people who are truly free, the government will have to follow."
Tax Day, by Murray N. Rothbard, The Libertarian, 15 Apr 1969 Related Topics: Taxation "... if taxation is robbery, then it follows as the night the day that those people who engage in, and live off, robbery are a gang of thieves. Hence the government is a group of thieves, and deserves, morally, aesthetically, and philosophically, to be treated exactly as a group of less socially respectable ruffians would be treated."
The 9/11 Servility Reflex, by James Bovard, Freedom Daily, Dec 2007 Related Topics: September 11, 2001, George W. Bush Discusses how the general American public reacted after the 9/11 attacks and how the 9/11 Commission and the mainstream media helped reinforce that reaction "The 9/11 attacks produced many such summonses to elevate and glorify government. Yet it was U.S. government foreign policies that stirred up the hornets' nest, breeding hatred that led to the attacks themselves. After two skyscrapers collapse and the Pentagon is in flames, the government is hailed for failing to protect Americans from the enemies its policies helped create."
The Democrats Are Doomed, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 9 Feb 2007 Related Topics: Democratic Party, Socialism "(One reason that Democrats make better presidents: they actually believe in government, dummies that they are. And so they tend to want to make it work better and more efficiently on behalf of their voters, who are tightly connected to the public sector. The Republicans, in contrast, don't believe in government and so they are happy to steal everything in sight, wreck the budget, detonate the bombs, etc.)"
The Federal Ripoff, by George C. Leef, Freedom Daily, Nov 2006 Related Topics: Business, Eminent Domain Protections, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Review of The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money by Timothy P. Carney "At the root of most of our problems in the United States is this fact: the people don't understand what is going on with the government. Obscured by political mythology, the truth that big government and big business dance together at the expense of our liberty and property weighs on few minds."
The Idea of a Private Law Society, by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Mises.org Daily Article, 28 Jul 2006 Related Topics: Private Property, Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Democracy, Law, The State, Taxation "Government is not just like any other monopoly such as a milk or a car monopoly that produces low quality products at high prices. Government is unique among all other agencies in that it produces not only goods but also bads. Indeed, it must produce bads in order to produce anything that might be considered a good."
The Ultimate Tax Cut, by Jacob G. Hornberger, Freedom Daily, Dec 2007 Related Topics: Taxation, Inflation Explains how tax cuts promised by political candidates are fraudulent, since the government expenditures still have to be paid somehow, either by taxation or monetary inflation "... Americans must ask themselves a fundamentally important question: What should be the role of government in a free society? Should its role include taking money from one group of people by force (i.e., taxation) in order to give it to another group of people (i.e., provide welfare)? Should its role include the maintenance of an enormous military-industrial empire that serves as an international policeman and welfare-provider for the world?"
Washington Logic, by Sheldon Richman, 22 Sep 2006 Related Topics: Washington, DC, Politics, Taxation "The Post story will probably set off the next spasm of campaign-finance reform. Some crusader for good government will wave the clipping as he implores Congress to further restrict political donations and spending lest more tariff suspensions be purchased in smoke-filled rooms. Once again the point will be missed: special interests would have nothing to buy if government had nothing to sell."
What Exactly Did Gerald Ford Heal?, by Sheldon Richman, 5 Jan 2007 Related Topics: Gerald Ford, Richard M. Nixon "... government today is an exploitation machine that milks the taxpayers for the benefit of favored interests, especially military contractors and other big well-connected businesses. A superficial party rivalry obscures the great, overarching common interest both parties have in keeping the machine running smoothly — which requires that people not catch on that they are being milked for the privileges of others."
