People employ state power when moral persuasion fails. Politically legitimized coercion and constraint can generate hugely beneficial reform. The Voting Rights Act of 1964 is one example; environmental laws provide other examples. In contrast, America’s Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol for consumers’ pleasure, was a huge failure. Industrial alcohol remained legal […]
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On July 3rd, Independence Eve, FREE celebrated its 20th anniversary. While we always enjoy Fourth of July celebrations, we wanted more than food, fireworks, friends, and frivolity. An important part of FREE’s mission is to harmonize responsible liberty with environmental quality. Hence we designed a special program to recognize our glorious, though imperfect, nation. We […]
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Two years ago my cousin Antonio Glassberg lost a battle to cancer. He was 21. Although my uncle lost his only child at an unbearably young age, the most horrific part of his passing was not his youth, but the circumstances surrounding his death. Antonio’s intensive chemotherapy treatment caused endless pain. He often couldn’t sleep […]
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Some of the best observers of America were not born here. Alexis de Tocqueville is the classic example. His 1832 book, Democracy in America, is considered one of the most insightful accounts ever written about American society and our political institutions. Fareed Zakaria, born in India with degrees from Yale and Harvard, is in this […]
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Here is the key to America. If born here, it’s as though you’ve won the lottery. You’ve had the opportunity to be part of the most successful large-scale social experiment ever. Then what? Two things. First, act legally and ethically to make the best of your circumstances. Second, work to preserve this undeserved blessing. This […]
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On June 24, Bozeman, my hometown, was declared an All-American “Top Ten” city. Mayor Youngman proudly announced that the award was due to our “unusually effective ways of working together to solve problems”. I feel proud to be part of a community that works together to solve problems. However, I now wonder if we truly […]
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I recently returned from New York. At a dinner party I was introduced as a guy who lives on a ranch near Manhattan–Manhattan, Montana that is. Chuckling, a man to my left said, “Montana, I hear that’s a wild and woolly place. You must have a lot of car jackings”. “Car jackings?” “You know,” he […]
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It’s time to consider the causes which lead to Clinton’s temporary victories and ultimate failures. These causes are clear and have one compelling implication. If we are to have honorable politicians we must sharply limit the role of government. There is a highly constructive role for government but it is constrained by financial and behavioral […]
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“Don’t Gore us with new taxes”, picketters in Miami shouted last week. They opposed Vice President Gore’s plan to “tax” the sugar industry in Florida. A sugar “tax” would be used by the federal government to purchase Everglades land for ecosystem restoration. In addition to the penny-per-pound “tax”, Gore announced a $1.5 billion environmental cleanup […]
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On April 22 we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Earth Day. This is also the last time I will teach the environmental policy course I began teaching in 1970 at Indiana University. When I began teaching environmental courses, many of my colleagues looked toward two reforms for ecological salvation: an environmental ethic to regulate […]
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