Individual Liberty

February 02, 2016

Do you feel a Draft?: Freedom, Virtue, and Military Conscription

Last December Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced he would lift the military’s ban on women serving in combat, a move that allows hundreds of thousands of women to serve in front-line positions during wartime. Continue Reading...

January 28, 2016

Are You Unknowingly Breaking the Law?

The weekend forecast calls for sunny skies, so you decide to have a picnic in a national park with your family. After finishing your meal you throw away your trash. Your son, however, isn’t so careful — he leaves behind a few leftover items. Continue Reading...

January 26, 2016

Downton Abbey’s Dowager Countess vs. Big Government

Defenses of limited government are rare in pop culture. You won’t find many characters in movies or TV that say that what is needed is for the state to be less intrusive and less centralized. Continue Reading...

January 12, 2016

Federal Government Restores Some Freedom to Free Range Parents

My parents should have been jailed for child neglect. At least that’s what would be their fate if I were growing up today. Fortunately for them (and for me), I was a child during the 1970s, a time when kids were (mostly) free to explore the world. Continue Reading...

November 19, 2015

Ruggles in America: Charles Laughton Recites the Gettsyburg Address

Today marks the 152nd anniversary of the Gettsyburg Address, the speech given by Abraham Lincoln after the battle which left 7,000 American soldiers dead and 40,000 wounded. Given its power and permanence, it may seem strange to memorialize it by pointing to an obscure comedy film from the 1930s. Continue Reading...

November 16, 2015

Report: Largest North Korean prison camp has expanded

Do Google Earth satellite images point to more grim news from inside North Korea? According to an article from United Press International (UPI), Curtis Melvin of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University noticed a substantial difference in satellite images of a North Korean prison camp from 2013 to some taken last month: [A]erial snapshots from Oct. Continue Reading...

November 13, 2015

Arthur C. Clarke’s Inhuman Trade-Off in ‘Childhood’s End’

The fears of the past resonate in the present, and it’s no wonder humanity sometimes grasps desperately for answers in response to a frightening and unknowable future. Sometimes these answers come to us through literature and film which may allow us to dispense with the worst of them, given enough time. Continue Reading...

October 12, 2015

Why Donald Trump is Wrong About Property Rights

The duty to respect individual property rights has been a part of the law since the Decalogue included the commandment, “Thou Shalt Not Steal.” But for just as long, governments have included an exception for the state in the form of “eminent domain.” Continue Reading...

September 30, 2015

Pope Francis Met With Kim Davis in a Secret Meeting

On the papal plane back to the Rome, Pope Francis said that government officials have a “human right” to refuse to discharge a duty if they feel it violates their conscience. Continue Reading...

September 28, 2015

Pope Francis Says Even Government Officials Have ‘Human Right’ to Conscientious Objections

When Pope Francis gave addresses at the White House, Congress, and the UN, he mentioned the importance of religious freedom. But many people (including me) were rather disappointed that he didn’t speak more specifically about what sorts of religious liberties are under threat. Continue Reading...

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