The regulator and the innovator are two very different people. The regulator enforces standards. The innovator questions standards. The regulator protects the status quo. The innovator challenges the status quo. The regulator erects barriers to innovation and progress. The innovator is the source of innovation and progress. Regulation is about seeking permission. It is about…
Writing is seldom the glamorous activity that many perceive it to be. At times, it can be absolute torture. And this can be particularly true when we experience what Ayn Rand called “the squirms.” (This is better known as writer’s block.) The squirms occur when we become paralyzed in our writing. No matter how clear…
Presenting philosophical ideas to a general audience is a huge challenge. This is particularly true when the ideas that we are presenting challenge the audience’s views and beliefs. One of the most effective ways to do this is to concretize—to present examples that the audience can understand and relate to. It is easy to make…
Last week, Houston City Council passed the controversial Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). The ordinance makes it “unlawful for any place of public accommodation or any employee or agent thereof to discriminate against any person on the basis of any protected characteristic,” such as sexual orientation or gender identification. As is usually the case, debate…
This past week, Arizona lawmakers passed a bill that would allow business owners to refuse service to gays if the owner does so on religious grounds. Critics of the bill argue that it will allow businesses to legally discriminate against gays and will open the door to legalizing other forms of discrimination. As is so…
A City of Houston ordinance bans the sale of alcohol within 300 feet of churches and most private schools, or within 1,000 feet of public schools. Apparently, city leaders believe that the sale of alcohol is a threat to the well-being of children and church goers. However, it would seem that that threat does not…
In its never ending quest to expand government power, the Chronicle calls for Texas legislators to re-regulate the state’s electricity providers. Electrical deregulation, the paper tells us, has not been economically beneficial to consumers: Light bills in areas such as Austin and San Antonio, where service continues to be regulated, are lower. In deregulated areas…
In 1993, during the final months of the last attempt to bring zoning to Houston, I gave a talk to the Houston Property Rights Association titled “Winning the Battle but Losing the War.” In the talk, I warned that without a moral defense of property rights, we might defeat the upcoming referendum, but zoning advocates…
A liberal friend was recently lamenting personnel decisions being made at her workplace. I pointed out that, in a free market, irrational decisions are ultimately punished in the marketplace. But, she replied, most people aren’t rational, and therefore we need regulations to protect individuals from the irrational. While I would agree that her premise—most people…