Often the left mocks someone to the degree of his effectiveness in showing the irrationality of the left. Clint Eastwood is their latest target, indicating that his speech at the Republican Convention found its mark. No, Eastwood’s talk was not very substantive—after all, this was a movie star speaking at…

In a hilarious (but tragic) new video, Mark Matson skewers President Obama’s line, “You didn’t build that.” (I wrote about the same line back in July.) In the video, a young student shows her parents her model of the Washington Monument, built with popsicle sticks, which accompanied her written report…

At the Republican convention, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, and others, directly challenged President Obama’s infamous “You didn’t build that” speech. Rice was particularly eloquent: [T]he essence of America, what really unites us, is not nationality or ethnicity or religion. It is an idea. And what an idea it…

Why does Paul Ryan simultaneously advocate the individual’s right to think for himself, decide for himself, and define happiness for himself—and advocate a massive and growing entitlement state that abrogates those rights by forcibly redistributing an individual’s wealth? The answer is that Ryan advocates the morality of altruism, the notion…

At times, Paul Ryan says things that would make the Founders proud, as with the following comments from his convention speech: When I was waiting tables, washing dishes, or mowing lawns for money, I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own…

A brilliant new video from the Charles Koch Institute shows with heartbreaking clarity how government controls of the economy discourage productiveness and encourage cronyism. The video begins, “Our children used to have big dreams.” Various children say things like, “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor!” and…

The pattern is the same everywhere government takes control of medicine: Patients rush to receive “free” (or highly subsidized) care with little regard for need or cost, while government controls drive many of the best doctors from the field, leading to reduced quality, waiting lines, or outright rationing. Consequently, those…

Those who denigrate and demonize profit-seeking businesses should pause to reflect on the fact that production and profit-seeking are requirements of human survival and happiness. In so doing, they might observe some of the countless ways in which businesses improve, extend, and protect our lives. The results are all around…

I approach recreational poker as entertainment, not gambling. I enjoy playing, even though I’m a novice and often lose. As a game, poker offers some meaningful lessons. 1. Act on reason, not emotions. Praying, hoping really hard, or performing some superstitious ritual will not change the sequence of cards. The…

According to a recent WIN-Gallup International poll, the number of Americans saying they are “religious” has declined since 2005 from 73 percent of the population to 60 percent. In that same period, the number of “convinced atheists” has risen from 1 to 5 percent of the population. In the 39…

Although historian Jennifer Burns gets a lot wrong about Ayn Rand, she makes some good points in a recent op-ed for the New York Times. Burns discusses Rand’s ideas in relation to those of Paul Ryan, the GOP’s vice-presidential candidate who has credited Rand for inspiring him to enter politics.…

Anti-abortion Republicans need to knock off their dogma-driven nonsense. The zealotry to outlaw abortion is morally wrong and politically suicidal. Consider the latest controversy. Todd Akin, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri, had the following exchange August 19 with Charles Jaco: Jaco: Are there any circumstances in your…

How long can liberty in America last when newspapers publish calls for censorship? Today, the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by Sarah Chayes, former special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, condemning the film widely blamed for the current wave of Islamist violence across much…

Ari Armstrong reviews The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure: Why Pure Capitalism is the World Economy’s Only Hope, by John Allison.

Ari Armstrong reviews Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government, by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins.