Politics & Rights

It is absurd to suggest that opening one’s business to the general public somehow obligates one to serve every individual who walks through the doors, regardless of context. Must a cake baker bake a “God Hates Fags” cake for the bigoted Westboro Baptist Church, or a swastika cake for a neo-Nazi group?

The so-called Civil Rights Commission did not rule that “the baker was wrong” (he was in fact wrong); rather, it ruled that government will punish the baker if he does not bake cakes for gay couples. There is a world of difference between a private individual condemning some action as immoral, and the government punishing that action.

An increasing number of companies founded in the United States are leaving the country because of high corporate tax rates, and some Americans are blaming the businesses. But such critics, not the companies in question, are being unpatriotic—as judged by the standards of America’s founding document, the Declaration of Independence.

The modern left is so ideologically bankrupt that its representatives will blame a mass murder—even one perpetrated by an explicit and thoroughgoing collectivist—on individualism, and call for more collectivism as the “solution” to the problem. The murderer in question was an anti-individualist in every essential way.

I just returned from a four-day, sixty-student conference on “Liberty, Free Markets, and Moral Character,” co-sponsored by the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism (CISC) and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), and I want to report on the immense value of this event.

Free, rights-respecting, self-interested, rational men and nations go to war only when they are attacked or threatened with aggression—and then only to defend their freedom so that they can return to peaceful, normal, prosperous living. On Memorial Day, rather than just bow our heads in silence, let’s also raise our heads and speak these vital truths.

Egalitarianism encourages people to express envy toward the most successful producers and to seek to publicly shame them. A rational morality treats producers at whatever level, to the degree they pursue rationally selfish goals to the best of their ability, as moral heroes deserving admiration and praise.

Discusses the essential purpose of the Constitution, the crucial role of the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence in understanding that purpose, and related matters.

Addresses various claims of Lincoln-bashing libertarians and conservatives; presents crucial and oft-ignored facts about Lincoln, about the Founders he revered, about the state of the Union during his time, and about the Civil War; and provides the context necessary to judge Lincoln and his actions objectively.

[caption id="attachment_26356" align="alignright" width="300"] Image: Tesla Motors[/caption] Relying on so-called franchise laws, representatives of car dealerships in several states have been fighting with some success to legally stop Tesla Motors from selling its cars to consumers directly, rather than through franchised dealerships. As Fox news reports, Arizona, Maryland, New Jersey,…