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“House Republicans Slash Food Stamp Funding,” screamed news headlines across the country last Friday. “What [Republicans] are saying is that in America it's OK for people to go hungry,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chair of the Democratic National Committee. Harry Reid called the House bill “hateful, punitive…

In this episode of Reason at Large, Craig Biddle answers a question from Jeff: "What is 'social justice'? Is it a legitimate term? If so, what does it mean? If not, why not?" In answering, Biddle discusses the purpose behind "social justice," defines and concretizes justice, compares and contrasts instances…

The Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups for “special treatment”—this we already know. But newly discovered details about the case show that the IRS’s assault is even more shocking. USA Today reports: Newly uncovered IRS documents [from 2011] show the agency flagged political groups based on the content of their…

Within hours of the September 16 massacre at the Washington Navy Yard, various commentators and politicians were calling for more restrictive gun laws—on the theory that the government should respond to murders committed by a psychotic man by further restricting the liberties of rights-respecting Americans. How absurd. There is a…

The phrase in vogue today with advocates of minimum wage laws—laws forcing employers to pay employees more than they otherwise would—is “living wage.” But, apart from laws mandating a minimum wage, this phrase has no referent in reality. And laws dictating minimum wages are immoral. To get a sense of…

Had the satirical publican The Onion existed during America’s founding era, this is the sort of story it might have run: In New York City, it is a crime to serve dinner in your home for a fee. The “criminals” involved could have their kitchens shut down by the city’s…

Perhaps we should expect no better from the magazine that published a sycophantic tribute to the Boston bombers. Still, it is disappointing to see Rolling Stone smear Alex Epstein, a contributor to The Objective Standard, president of the Center for Industrial Progress, and outspoken defender of the use of fossil…

Denbury Resources has announced the startup of the first oil production project in Montana that uses the “enhanced oil recovery” technique of carbon dioxide (CO2) flooding. In this process, CO2 is pumped underground into an oil-bearing rock formation. The CO2 mixes with the oil, releasing it from the surrounding rock,…

Allan Gotthelf—a philosopher and author best known for his scholarship on Aristotle and Ayn Rand—died August 30, 2013 of cancer at the age of seventy. Gotthelf knew Rand, discussed philosophy with her on multiple occasions, and participated in her workshops on epistemology, transcripts of which were later published. His obituary…

We live in an amazing age, filled with astounding, life-serving technological advances. And, in addition to the material goods involved in these advances, we can gain spiritual fuel from them by explicitly recognizing and celebrating them and the great producers who bring them about. Here are some recent examples: The…

Astonishing as it is that we must argue for the principle that the U.S. military should be deployed exclusively in service of America’s self-interest, we must. As Craig Biddle explained on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many Americans, including our politicians, advocate a foreign policy that sacrifices American…

The National Research Council (NRC) recently published a study concluding that—contrary to claims made by industry opponents—crude oil from the Canadian Oilsands is no more likely than other oil to cause pipeline leaks. Diluted bitumen, the kind of oil that would be transported through the Keystone XL Pipeline if it…

With this week’s DVD release of Star Trek into Darkness, now is a good time to evaluate or reevaluate the oft-stated Star Trek claim, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” (or “the one”). This claim is made in various scenes in the films, including in…

[Published on September 11, 2013; unfortunately still relevant.] Twelve years have passed since September 11, 2001, when Islamic terrorists attacked the United States, murdered nearly three thousand Americans, and tore apart the lives of countless more. During these years, Islamic terrorists have continued plotting, attacking, and killing Americans, not only…

It is unclear whether the Obama administration will proceed with an “unbelievably small” military strike against the Syrian regime or plead with Bashar al-Assad to surrender its chemical weapons. One thing that is clear, however, is that to pursue military action in Syria as a means of stopping Iran’s nuclear…