Last Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Americans permission to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA’s action came three weeks after the company submitted a request for Emergency Use Authorization. During those three weeks, nearly four million new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the United States, and more than 40,000 Americans died from…
Nearly a week after Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine began being used in Great Britain, the vaccine will start being used in America today. The delay was caused because Pfizer had to obtain approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before it could release the vaccine. In the meantime, an unknown number of Americans died from…
Government programs and policies may help some low-income individuals survive, but they do not and cannot lift anyone from poverty. Only the protection of property rights enables individuals to improve their economic status, and this is particularly true of those who have little or no property. The right to property means the freedom to create,…
A Florida attorney says that he is on a crusade for people with disabilities. Since 2018, about 750 lawsuits have been filed against Texas businesses under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Douglas Shapiro has filed about half of those lawsuits. Shapiro and his group of activists have recently been targeting businesses in the Fort…
In 1949, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued the Fairness Doctrine. This policy required broadcasters to present controversial issues of interest to the public, and to present both sides of the issue in a manner that was fair and equitable. The policy was rescinded in 1987, and it ushered in conservative talk radio. Radio station owners…
Imagine for a moment, that a neighbor’s young daughter desperately needs surgery to save her life, but her family can’t afford the medical expenses. If her father broke into homes in the neighborhood and stole money to pay for the surgery, we would recognize his actions as theft. His tragic circumstances do not change the…
Material values must be created. And to create material values, individuals must be virtuous. They must adhere to certain moral principles if they are to successfully create the values that we want and need. Morally, those who create material values are the rightful owners of those values. Those values are their property, to use, trade,…
On September 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order halting residential evictions until the end of the year for the purpose of slowing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. In practical terms, this order will be economically devastating to countless landlords and property owners. In moral terms, it represents an attack on…
For years, Americans watched in horror as Venezuela steadily descended from Latin America’s most prosperous nation to abject poverty. Many wondered, how could this happen? The essential reason is: The Venezuelan government, led first by Hugo Chavez and then by Nicholas Maduro, seized control of the nation’s production and trade. Beginning in 1999, the government…
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently defended the property rights of Williamson County property owner John Yearwood. Yearwood’s property is home to the Bone Cave Harvestman, a spider that lives in only two Texas counties. Because the spider is protected by the Endangered Species Act, Yearwood’s use of his property is severely restricted. Paxton is…
The economic shut down has exposed a fundamental truth that few are willing to acknowledge: Without property rights, flourishing is impossible. This is true of individuals, and it is true of societies. The right to property means the freedom to create, use, keep, trade, and dispose of material values. This is precisely what the shut…
Many critics of opening the economy claim that it means sacrificing the weak. The truth is, not opening the economy means sacrificing the strong–those who can and produce the values that all of us–weak and strong alike–want and need. Regardless of our risk level, we must consume values in order to live. And before values…