We are constantly presented with some “crisis,” some issue that the media, activists, and politicians claim requires immediate attention and action. They focus on some problem, whether real or imagined, and argue that we must do something. Today. But after today comes tomorrow. Certainly, there are times in life when immediate action is necessary to…
In America today, humility is widely regarded as a virtue. In connotation and denotation, humility is viewed as having a low view of one’s importance. In contrast, pride is widely regard as a vice. Indeed, in Christian morality, pride is the worst of sins. But pride means “a becoming or dignified sense of what is…
Every violation of property rights, from zoning to eminent domain, from minimum wage to occupational licensing, ultimately stems from a disagreement regarding the creation, use, or trade of material values. And the solution proposed by the advocates of every violation of property rights is essentially the same: Use government to force those with whom they…
We are frequently confronted with claims that LGBT rights are under attack by conservatives. There is a problem with this claim, and the problem is: There is no such thing as LGBT rights. There are only individual rights, and they apply to all individuals, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and heterosexuals. The problem with any…
For decades, we have been told that individuals have a “right” to certain values, such as an education, a “living wage,” and health care. Such claims ignore the meaning of the concept right. Rights pertain to action–the freedom to take the actions one deems appropriate. The right to free speech means the freedom to express…
Socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders recently attempted to distinguish democratic socialism from the socialism being practiced in Venezuela. During the recent debate in Houston, Sanders called Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro a “vicious tyrant.” He went on to call for “for free elections in Venezuela so that the people of that country can make, can create…
Regressives (they call themselves “Progressives”) have long opposed the system of limited government established by the drafters of the Constitution. As one example, the Seventeenth Amendment, which established direct elections of United States Senators, was ratified in 1913 at the height of the first “Progressive” movement. Prior to that time, Senators were selected by each…
When Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill legalizing the growing of hemp in Texas, he created problems for law enforcement agencies. Federal law defines hemp as having less than .3 percent THC (the active ingredient in marijuana). While the tests currently used by law enforcement in Texas can detect the presence of THC, those tests…
For most Americans, July 4th is a time to celebrate the nation’s independence from Great Britain. Certainly, that was the prominent aspect of the Declaration of Independence. But more fundamentally, the Founding Fathers declared the independence of the individual from the State. Through human history, and even in most of the world today, the individual…
Virtually every social conflict can be solved with a proper understanding of property rights. As an example, consider the frequent claims that a business has engaged in discriminatory practices. The right to property means the freedom to create, attain, use, keep, trade, and dispose of material values. It means that the owner of a parcel…
If we examine nearly any political issue, from health care to housing, from jobs to wages, we will find claims of conflicting “rights.” Individuals claim that they have a right to decent housing, while landlords claim that they have a right to choose their tenants. Employees claim that they have a right to a “living…
Former Arlington mayor Richard Greene isn’t happy with the state legislature. He decries the state’s efforts to restrict what local governments can do, and laments the fact that state legislators are thinking about shutting down the Texas Municipal League. That organization, he claims, works “to protect individual rights to develop the communities where they live…