Whenever you walk from the free world onto a government-supported college campus, you are entering a world where products and services are more expensive and where your freedoms are decreased. Everything at most modern government-supported colleges is more expensive than off-campus. In Bozeman, Montana, for example, parking is free everywhere. Except in one location: the …
August 2015 archive
Aug 13
Poll: Americans are largely ignorant of the country’s tax structure
For years, politicians have won elections by claiming a desire to tax “the rich” at higher rates. This incessant messaging has even percolated into the debate over campaign finance, where activists routinely claim that “the rich” are controlling American politics by their political spending. But the actual tax distribution of the United States shows that …
Aug 13
Upcoming Courses for August 2015
Lysander Spooner University will be offering a one-day course on “How Government Harms the Poor” at the Manhattan, Montana Potato Festival on Saturday, August 15. Tuition is free; the exam is $5. Find us at the Libertarian Party table at the Festival. Every government measure aimed at helping the poor actually harms the poor. Consider …
Aug 10
New U.S. Army Manuel Says Journalists may be Treated as “Unprivileged Belligerents”
For centuries, governments have sought to suppress open debate about their wars and violent aggression. Now the new U.S. Law of War Manual contains passages indicating that the Pentagon considers some journalists to be “belligerents.” A belligerent is the same broad category that includes guerrillas or members of al-Qaeda. The U.S. government (like all governments) …
Aug 09
Venezuelans resort to pet medications to survive
Socialism is a curse that one should wish only on a hated enemy. To adopt it is to set a course toward gradual poverty, sickness, weakness, pollution and disease. The only question is when. Venezuelans have voted for hard-line socialist politicians (such as the enigmatic Hugo Chavez) for decades. Venezuela has adopted “single-payer” (slave plantation) …
Aug 05
It begins: Thousands of Americans have been secretly arrested, tortured and/or interrogated without lawyers in a Chicago facility
Every government that ever existed ultimately came for all property, all freedom, all money, and to kill all who resist. The average person in the world is several times more likely to be killed by his own government than by any other source. This is why governments are always the greatest source of danger for …
Aug 04
Democrats push for higher taxes while Republicans do not appear to be pushing for lower taxes
The two major American “political parties” are largely two sides of the same coin: they both trust and support expansive and intrusive government. Polling has consistently shown that American voters–often by supermajorities–view their own taxes as too high. See here. The average American, when asked, states that the U.S. government wastes 51 cents of every …
Aug 04
Obamacare Penalty for “Cadillac” Insurance Policies will Kick in by 2018; Taxes will Increase Substantially while Benefits will Decline
Socialism is a curse that should be wished only on a hated enemy. Any society that embraces it will inevitably become sick and weak. The “Affordable Care Act” a.k.a. “Obamacare,” was some 2,000 pages in length when passed. Additional tens of thousands of pages of regs will ultimately accompany it. Among the Act’s vast provisions …
Aug 03
Today’s college students pay more than 1,000 percent more for textbooks than their predecessors, almost entirely due to the Government’s student loan program
Today’s incoming college freshmen will be paying 1,041 percent more for their textbooks than their peers did in 1977. This is while the actual value and costs of books have been declining for years. The free market has been making books cheaper; yet college students are forced to pay ever-more. Why? Because of the Federal …
Aug 03
Puerto Rico outvoted government-cutting governor and enthroned an advocate of expansive government; Now Puerto Rico is Defaulting.
Today, August 3, 2015, Puerto Rico failed to make a $58 million dollar payment on its debt. See here. The defaulting commonwealth is some $70 BILLION in debt. But just a few years ago, Puerto Rico was on a path to economic growth and dynamism. Puerto Rican voters elected Luiz Fortuno as their governor in …
