As Barack Obama announces the beginning of troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a far bigger issue – one that goes to the heart of American history and government – remains unaddressed. “That the President has the right to start a war
Stephen Cox sat down with Reason.tv to talk about libertarian literature and why prisons are the best example of a failure in planning societies. Cox is a professor of literature at the University of California, San Diego, as well as
Note: This video contains graphic images of violence and mature language. Viewer discretion is advised. “No Knock Raid,” written and performed by Toronto-based musician Lindy, is a searing indictment of one of the most aggressive, ubiquitous, and mistaken tactics in
Swedish economist Johan Norberg is the host of the new documentary Free or Equal, which retraces and updates the 1980 classic Free to Choose, featuring Milton and Rose Friedman. Like the Friedmans, Norberg travels the globe to look at the
Welcome to Ask a Libertarian with Reason’s Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. They are the authors of the new book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America. Go to http://declaration2011.com to purchase, read reviews,
Welcome to Ask a Libertarian with Reason’s Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. They are the authors of the new book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong With America. Go to http://declaration2011.com to purchase, read reviews,
About 15 years ago, Grant McCracken went to a shopping mall to interview teenagers about their identities. He found that the old rigid categories of “preppie,” “jock,” and “nerd,” had given way to a much longer list: There were surfer/skater
A few weeks back, Hollywood movie stars and groups such as the Creative Coalition stormed Washington, D.C. to lobby for increased taxpayer funding of the arts. Most memorably, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey told Hardball‘s Chris Matthew that Abraham Lincoln was
MSNBC is taking a hard line against Sarah Palin for using the American flag to move merchandise and line her pockets. The “Lean Forward” network claims that Palin’s use of the flag in various circumstances “runs afoul” of the federal
May’s biggest busybodies are taking it to poker players and teen tanners, but the nation’s top nag has lovers of pink-in-the-middle burgers seeing red. In a stunning blow to all that is juicy and delicious, the Tar Heel state actually
Who will watch the watchers? In a world of ubiquitous, hand-held digital cameras, that’s not an abstract philosophical question. Police everywhere are cracking down on citizens using cameras to capture breaking news and law enforcement in action. In 2009, police
Teachers unions say California must not roll back annual increases in public school spending. And they’re not too careful about facts when they make that case. Teachers frequently claim, for example, that California is in either 49th or 50th place
The Transportation Security Administration – with a little help from Reason.tv and international web sensation Remy – have produced an instructional video outlining proper airport screening measures. “Do the TSA Pokey Pokey” is the second of a series of collaborations
What’s the real definition of socialism? How is it distinct from regulation and a social welfare state? Why are intellectuals still enamored of a system that brought us Stalin, Hitler, and more recently Hugo Chavez and Kim Jong-Il? And what
Federal spending will top $3.6 trillion this year, but what’s your share? The Government Cost Calculator is a new online tool that can be found at MyGovCost.org. A project of the California-based Independent Institute, it allows you to plug in
In the 1930s, John Maynard Keynes, the most influential economist of the last century, and future Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek engaged in a legendary battle of ideas about the role of the government in ending and causing economic downturns. Last
Even before Osama Bin Laden was killed by U.S. soldiers, his brand of anti-modern, anti-pleasure Islam was under attack by Bollywood, India’s pop culture juggernaut that boasts a global audience of 3 billion people. As Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha
As the federal government rapidly approaches the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, 96 percent of Americans say it is important to reduce the national debt, according to a new Reason Foundation-Rupe poll. Of those surveyed, 69 percent believe reducing the national
This month’s slate of busybodies includes the FDA whose agents embarked on a year-long sting operation to bust an Amish company for selling raw milk. And then there are the killjoys at New York’s Department of Health who were poised
Retail giant Walmart is planning to open its first stores in New York City and Washington, D.C. That’s got local politicians and activists up in arms. “Walmart, keep your plantation because there are no more slaves,” says New York City
Who likes the sound of a school bell? Sheldon Richman certainly doesn’t. “Schools, by their structure, are preparing kids for some sort of authoritarian lifestyle,” he says. Richman is critical of the school choice movement, saying that even in charter
Released April 15, 2011, Atlas Shrugged Part I has been predictably panned by reviewers and wildly embraced by audiences. At the movie-review site Rotten Tomatoes, just 8 percent of critics give a thumbs up, compared to 85 percent of moviegoers.
Released April 15, 2011, Atlas Shrugged Part I has been predictably panned by reviewers and wildly embraced by audiences. At the movie-review site Rotten Tomatoes, just 8 percent of critics give a thumbs up, compared to 85 percent of moviegoers.
Since 2004, Gustavo Arellano has written the wildly popular – and wildly politically incorrect – Ask a Mexican! column in the OC Weekly. In each installment, the California-born Arellano answers reader queries about Mexican-American mores that rarely come up in
The “Internal Revenue Service” is such a bland name for an agency that stirs so much passion. With Tax Day just around the corner, the time is right to figure out what the initials “IRS” really stand for. WARNING: Immature
