A Strange Liberty argues persuasively that the faith in democracy as a force for internal peace and dependable constitutional restraints has not worked. Instead, we are left with centralized tyrannies, highly disputable election results, ideologically driven media, and state educational systems that have made war on “traditional” values. The
“Today the tenets of this nineteenth-century philosophy of liberalism are almost forgotten. In the United States “liberal” means today a set of ideas and political postulates that in every regard are the opposite of all that liberalism meant to the preceding generations.” —Ludwig von Mises, 1962 (emphasis added) F.A. Hayek is back in the public
Jeff Deist : Alex Epstein is our special guest this week. He runs the Center for Industrial Progress, was formerly at the Ayn Rand Institute, and has a background in philosophy. He wrote a famous book called The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels , and followed that up with a new book called Fossil Future . Alex, let me say this book is incredible. Thank
[Excerpted from remarks delivered at the Free Private Cities “Liberty in our Lifetime” Conference in Prague on 22 October, 2022] At this conference and others like it, dealing with alternative legal and monetary structures, I’ve noticed in recent years a strong bias in favor of action over argument, for building over persuading, for practice over
Introduction: Division, friction and polarization have been on the rise in the West for at least a decade, but the escalation we saw during the “covid years” was especially worrying. Over the last year, this “worry” has become a truly pressing concern, even a real emergency one might argue, as inflationary pressures and an actual war were added to
“To mount an effective response to the reigning egalitarianism of our age, therefore, it is necessary but scarcely sufficient to demonstrate the absurdity, the anti-scientific nature, the self-contradictory nature, of the egalitarian doctrine, as well as the disastrous consequences of the egalitarian program. All this is well and good. But it
You do not defend a world that is already lost. When was it lost? That you cannot say precisely. It is a point for the revolutionary historian to ponder. We know only that it was surrendered peacefully, without a struggle, almost unawares. There was no day, no hour, no celebration of the event—and yet definitely, the ultimate power of initiative
Should young people go to college? Should parents, grandparents, and teachers urge them to go to college? These are now open questions. Perhaps we should ask whether they “still” should go to college. Not too long ago, the default answer was a resounding yes . College was not only the path to higher earnings, but the gateway to status :
We take a break from economics this week to welcome our old friend Jim Bovard for an unflinching look at the disastrous politicization of everything in America. The nasty fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation is only the latest example of a trend Rothbard identified decades ago, one that intensifies in the Trump era. Can we ever
Allen Mendenhall from Faulkner University Law School joins Jeff Deist to break down the hyper-politicized spectacle of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. How did the Supreme Court become so wildly powerful, even while rubber-stamping the excesses of the executive and legislative branches? How much longer can America survive having deeply
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.