How does the left get away with describing right-wing thought as Talibanish, especially when compared to the left-wing agenda of speech codes, economic regulation, and authoritarian intervention in every aspect of American private life?
In uncertain times such as today, it is too easy to look the other way when the federal government expands its power and curtails our freedoms. In a fit of rhetorical frenzy, the attorney general himself told a Senate panel that those who scare "peace-loving people" with "phantoms of lost liberty" are themselves aiding terrorists.
The poor security of U.S. airlines is a predictable outcome of government regulations and subsidies. Only through complete privatization of the industry will consumers be able to fly cheaply and safely.
The idea that political freedom can be preserved in the absence of economic freedom, and vice versa, is an illusion. Political freedom is the corollary of economic freedom. It is no accident that the age of capitalism became also the age of government by the people.
Patriotism and nationalism are powerful forces weighing on the public conscience in the aftermath of the attacks. It makes it very unpopular to ask certain questions and to wonder certain things.
Once again, we are back to trusting the government to protect us, even at a time when property owners are begging for the right to provide their own protection.
President Bush claims that the war on terror "will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated." Does that include the ELF?
The recent World Trade Center disaster may provide some economic opportunities for small, select groups, but the vast majority of people—including most New Yorkers—will be left worse off than before.
In a usual wartime situation, the government massively expands and then falls back only partially after it is over. The present circumstances, however, are even worse than wartime.
