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Suppose your city were on fire, buildings were ablaze, people were stuck in the buildings, and time was running out. And suppose the firefighters got busy—not manning fire trucks, fire hoses, and ladders—but inconclusively debating whether such tools exist. This, in effect, is what libertarians are doing as the Land…

Recently actor Matthew McConaughey, speaking of his desire to “evolve” as an actor and make more interesting films, shared his perspective on selfishness with GQ: I got much more selfish. I'm a fan of the word selfish. Self. Ish. When I say I have gotten a lot more self-ish, I…

Just as Barack Obama expected health insurance companies to continue offering policies that ObamaCare made impossible to offer, he now expects these companies to magically renew already-cancelled policies—but only for a year. The Washington Post summarizes his November 14 speech: Obama said insurance companies could continue for another year to…

A pair of leftist nonprofits in Colorado have funded a series of advertisements promoting ObamaCare among young professionals. One ad, for example, touts the benefits of having insurance if you happen to fall off a beer keg and injure yourself. (Really.) Another ad plays up the fact that ObamaCare forces…

UPI reports one of the bizarre aspects of U.S. farm policy: Fifty billionaires on the Forbes list of the U.S. richest have received $11.3 million in federal farm subsidies [between 1995 and 2012], the Environmental Working Group [EWG] said Thursday. Recipients of the subsidies include Paul Allen (cofounder of Microsoft),…

My grandparents ate Crisco—a product notoriously high in “trans” (hydrogenated) fats—daily for years, and that practice may have contributed to their heart disease (they both suffered heart attacks). I personally seek to minimize the trans fats in my diet; I eat a tiny amount a few times per year at…

Here’s to all the U.S. veterans who have fought or are fighting to defend freedom and civilized society.

Last Tuesday, New Jersey voters "overwhelmingly approved" a state constitutional amendment raising the minimum wage and automatically increasing it in the future based on the consumer price index or the federal minimum wage rate, whichever is higher. Echoing a widespread sentiment, one proponent of the measure said, "New Jersey’s voters…

It’s as though Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro turned to the villains of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged for inspiration. “Maduro seized control of a nationwide chain of appliance stores Friday,” accused the store managers of “usury,” and vowed to unload the merchandise at cut-rate prices, the Associated Press reports. “Leave nothing…

Although I loved my previous doctor, I had a difficult time scheduling a timely appointment with her. When I last called, I was told I’d have to wait three months to schedule a routine physical. Such delays are not unusual; many Americans—including many of my friends—are having trouble getting in…

That Cass Sunstein has no idea (or chooses to misrepresent) what Ayn Rand wrote, believed, and advocated is obvious from his recent, concerted smear of Rand. Among other absurdities: Sunstein claims that Rand believed that “people’s happiness” has nothing do with “anything spiritual,” when in fact Rand recognized that happiness…

In his latest op-ed for PJ Media, radiologist Paul Hsieh deciphers the left’s Newspeak regarding ObamaCare. Whereas Obama promised that, under ObamaCare, “If you like your insurance, you can keep it,” now defenders of the law effectively claim, “Losing your insurance is good!” Whereas defenders of ObamaCare once claimed, “You’ll…

America is becoming a society of “mutual plunder among citizens,” as described by Frédéric Bastiat, and, if we don’t change course, things will get much worse. Consider a recent editorial from Investors Business Daily (based on a news report from CNSNews.com): At the end of 2011, the last year for…

[caption id="attachment_9808" align="alignright" width="300"] Image: Randstad Canada[/caption] ABC’s reality show Shark Tank offers a rare showcase of the character and abilities that entrepreneurs and investors cultivate to create and build businesses. The show features entrepreneurs who pitch their ideas to five investor “sharks” and seek to negotiate financing. On past…

I’m delighted to announce the contents of the Winter issue of The Objective Standard, which goes to press this Tuesday and will be mailed and posted in mid November. The issue includes the following. My essay, “Libertarianism vs. Radical Capitalism,” examines libertarianism in the spirit of Frédéric Bastiat, taking into…