Displaying items by tag: freedom

We labor today under the weight of countless tyrannies, large and small, carried out in the so-called name of the national good by an elite class of governmental and corporate officials who are largely insulated from the ill effects of their actions.

When debating immigration policy with people who have deluded themselves into believing that it's any of their business where other people choose to live or work, I run into a lot of bad arguments. Of all those arguments, probably the silliest is "but they don't speak English."

“Vaccine passports” are the latest in a long line of unusual terms we’ve all become familiar with over the past year.

Spring is an excellent time to remember North Carolina’s history, culture, and individual liberty. Most North Carolina history students know the Halifax Resolves’ significance, signed April 12, 1776, to make us the first colony to direct its members of the Continental Congress to vote for independence. Some know the significance of May 20, 1775, and the passing of the Mecklenburg Declaration. However, most people skip over April 6 and that day’s importance in our state and nation’s foundations.

In 1943, as collectivist policies were ascendant, an extraordinary thing happened. Three women published three books that year that would jolt Americans from their socialist stupor and remind them of the fundamental American values of individual liberty, limited government, free-market capitalism, and entrepreneurship. This Women’s History Month is an ideal time to reflect on how Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand helped to catalyze the 20th century libertarian movement.

Feb. 8 marks the silver anniversary of an iconic early manifesto defending the Internet as a space where personal liberties and social cooperation might flourish free of political control ... just in time. John Perry Barlow emailed "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" from the World Economic Forum the day Bill Clinton signed into law restraints on free expression via the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Over the years, I've written many columns concerning the war on internet freedom. My usual targets are the politicians and government agencies who serve as shock troops for the Dark Side across fronts ranging from encryption to sex worker advertisements to darknet marketplaces.

Thanks in large part to COVID lockdowns, this year has left vast wreckage in its wake, with ten million jobs lost, more than 100,000 businesses and dozens of national chains bankrupted or closed. Up to 40 million people could face eviction in the coming months for failing to pay rent, and Americans report that their mental health is at record low levels. But the casualty list for 2020 must also include many of the political myths that shape Americans’ lives. 

With the 2020 presidential election less than a month away, my TV screen and snail and email boxes are awash in, and my phone is ringing off the hook with, reminders of how very, very important it is that I vote. Pleas from the candidates and their proxies, of course, but also the generic "no matter who you vote for, vote."

While election scandals, national issues, and candidate announcements for 2019 and 2020 races have dominated the political headlines, North Carolina is continuing to head in the direction of greater freedom. That’s welcome.