Thich Nhat Hanh notes in Peace Is Every Step that “It is difficult to explain to children in the ‘overdeveloped’ nations that not all children in the world have such beautiful and nourishing food…. [How can we] … assist those who need our help so much?” The material wealth of America’s average citizen astounds those […]
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What is it about rising gasoline prices that causes IQs and body temperatures to converge? Or are our national politicians just behaving as usual, i.e., cravenly and cowardly? Democrats favor higher gasoline taxes and higher gasoline prices — except when gasoline prices are high. While claiming concern about rising levels of CO2, they demand gasoline […]
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Many people don’t understand my opposition to government subsidies for “green” energy and question my belief that the market process is likely to generate environmentally and ethically superior results. Since both government mandates and markets will produce errors, it’s reasonable to ask: Which is more likely to correct them quickly? Government should provide funds for […]
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If you drive, chances are you have damaged a car. Maybe, through no fault of your own, a fender was damaged or, as happened to me, a violent hailstorm dimpled your car like a large golf ball. What’s next? You make an insurance claim, cash the settlement check, and make a decision to fix or […]
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Here’s a great and beneficial irony: exploiting poverty helps the poor. Many argue that increasing globalization enables wealthy countries to consume the world’s resources while exploiting poor countries’ cheap labor and trashing their environments. Well, here’s a resource we should be trying our utmost to deplete: poverty. Yes, poverty is a resource, and one that […]
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Charles Murray is a courageous, tough-love analyst of social policy. His new book by AEI Press, In Our Hands, is the most radical I’ve read. Ever. Charles has worked to counter poverty since in the Peace Corps four decades ago. With a Harvard B.A. and MIT Ph.D. in political science, he is one of America’s […]
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Who but misanthropes and exploiters of cheap labor would oppose the goal of increasing Montana’s minimum wage by one dollar to $6.15 per hour? Only a committed ascetic who inherited a home can enjoy a wholesome, healthy, independent life here on $12,000 per year. Clearly, the proposed increase falls far below a “living wage.” Fifteen […]
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Jerry Johnson’s column last week reminds us of those in our community struggling to makes ends meet. Bozeman is an organic community. It’s very different from many other Rocky Mountain towns, for example Sun Valley, created out of thin air by Averell Harriman, the railroad and banking magnate. And unlike Sun Valley or Aspen, Bozeman […]
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My wife and I are taking our honeymoon in February. Since we’ll be gone for three weeks but still want to travel light, I was in the market for a new suitcase. The last time I actually bought a piece of luggage was probably 20 years ago — an internal-frame backpack with shoulder straps and […]
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I recently met with a Bozeman writer about my opposition to subsidies for alternative fuels. Am I opposed to all subsidies, including those for fossil fuels, or just for wind, solar, and synfuels? Of course, I responded, I’m opposed to all commodity subsidies on ethical and environmental grounds. But I support federal investments in basic […]
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