Individualists should rejoice! We have been thoroughly trashed by The New York Times Magazine (Sunday, October 17, 1999) in which over a dozen articles blast the ‘Me Millennium.’ Reporting on a poll taken by The New York Times , Andrew J. Cherlin’s article “I’m O.K., You’re Selfish” laments, “to judge by new evidence, the cycle [of society] has
In commenting on the World Trade Organizations (WTO) riots in Seattle, “The Economist” asked, “Why were there no anarchists among all those ‘anarchists?’” Actually, there were, but the ones drawing attention were the sort who give overthrowing the State a bad name. Salon (almost alone among the media) was more accurate in stating: “Most reports
When NASA’s Polar Lander--scheduled to arrive on Mars on December 3rd--disappeared, there was reason for hope. Perhaps the incompetence of state-funded science would finally become obvious. After all, the fiasco followed NASA’s loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter less than three months before. To paraphrase the comment made by one of Oscar Wilde’s
A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government by Pulitzer Prize winning Garry Wills is a book with a mission. Wills contends that a charming Yankee trait--an ornery suspicion of all things political--is based upon an intricate misunderstanding. He claims that historians have mistakenly concluded that the Founding Fathers and
One of the most dismaying aspects of the recent IMF/World Bank protest in Washington D.C. is the politically unsophisticated analysis offered by the mainstream media. Conservative analysis is even worse. The event cries out for a balanced and weighed assessment of one of the most significant political debut of the 21st century: namely, the
Wendy McElroy, author and lecturer, is one of the most visible and prolific libertarian intellectuals working in the Austro-Rothbardian tradition. She is the author of Freedom, Feminism, and the State , which is now in its third edition, The Reasonable Woman: A Guide to Intellectual Survival , among many other works (see bottom on page for
[Talk delivered at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, November 20, 2000.] I want to take a very basic look at one of the traditions that underlies modern libertarianism — namely, 19th-century individualist anarchism in America. Before doing so, however, I want to define what I mean by modern libertarianism. Namely, the body of political thought that
The European Union cannot achieve its stated goals of prosperity and social harmony. In an attempt to explain why, I want to touch more specifically upon one of the issues that obstructs these goals -- namely, feminism--or, in the term that is used in Europe, “gender mainstreaming.” In 1996, the European Commission issued a document entitled
“You want your invention to yourself? Then keep it to yourself.” – Benjamin R. Tucker [From the book The Debates of Liberty ] Intellectual property — as embodied in copyright and patent — was the subject of intense debate within Liberty . Benjamin Tucker flatly rejected the idea that legal copyright was compatible with anarchism. The strength of
[image] The Sydney Morning Herald declares , “Greed Is Bad in a New Era of Frugality.” The Philadelphia Inquirer explains , “How We Bucked the Urge to Consume.” The Calgary Herald advises readers on “Learning to Love Life with Less.” Frugality: It is spreading as a new ethos through the Western world. It is a natural and healthy reaction to a
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.