Just after President Washington’s birthday celebration, the Wall Street Journal reported that the protests beginning in Wisconsin had spread to a dozen other states including Montana. I find this a fitting tribute to the wisdom of America’s founders—and to Wisconsin, often a harbinger of political reform. First, consider the Founding Fathers. They well understood the […]
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We’re celebrating a happy birthday with dear friends. Not every culture celebrates these mile markers of life’s journey, but Americans have traditionally done so. This, I suspect, is related to optimistic expectations about our future. Some birthdays demarcate an important change in life status. The twelfth birthday is associated with Christian confirmation and the thirteenth […]
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Here is a story well known, but worth reviewing and appreciating. It’s one to share as environmental concerns grow. Its implications are increasingly important. Essentially, in ecology as in economics, many actions and beliefs are interdependent. It’s difficult to do one thing that doesn’t affect others. This has major ethical as well as environmental implications. […]
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Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of Christ, is indeed a joyous time. Ironically, it began as an exercise in political extortion. The Roman rulers of the time are best understood as sedentary bandits. They provided order and some security from roving bandits in exchange for taxes levied and collected. A census was required to […]
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I find a persistent myth among many of those who consider themselves well informed about economics. Specifically, many believe that governmental agencies are by their nature inefficient, unresponsive, officious, and insensitive to citizens’ legitimate demands and expectations. The U.S. Postal Service and state driver’s license bureaus are standard examples. This criticism is silly and often […]
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The Thanksgiving holiday has traditionally been one of America’s biggest family travel days. This year the price of air travel has gone up. This suggests that people’s willingness to fly to be with loved ones and friends will be tested. The reason is simple; as prices for something rise, demand falls. This is the social […]
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We went to North Carolina’s Research Triangle the day after the election to participate in the “Spirit of Inquiry” award program sponsored by the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. The awards are offered to foster “a spirit of open-minded exploration within the guidelines of an academic discipline.” Students nominated 59 courses from […]
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E.O. Wilson of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology is America’s best-known biologist and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. He makes an annual pilgrimage to Bozeman for the American Computer Museum’s award dinner held in cooperation with MSU and Yellowstone Park. He was here on October 7th and reminded us that MSU is the “University of […]
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America’s experiences with Indian tribes should alert us to consequences of changes in rights, especially when imposed from higher authority. When rights to land or valuable resources that flow from it are unclear and changing, conflict naturally follows. A sense of ownership can come from traditional uses that engender psychological entitlement. Leigh Anderson and Dick […]
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Working with undergraduate honor students is a great pleasure. FREE’s summer interns are from this set. They are normally headed on to graduate or professional school and not yet distracted by looming job prospects. Hence, they focus on ideas and ideals. I delight in sharing a few “life lessons” with them. Last year’s interns, Steph […]
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