Author: Tibor R. Machan

A libertarian opposed to most government programs wrestles with his enjoyment of the programs he likes.

“The gist of public choice theory is that so-called public servants . . . promote goals of their own even as they claim to be serving the public interest.”

The central achievement of the American Revolution was to demote government to the role of a cop on the beat. The citizen became sovereign instead of the monarch. Self-government became an aspiration for all people, not just for rulers. The idea became prominent, at least for a while, that government’s proper role was to secure …

A frequent, though quite unjustified, charge against free markets is that they encourage what Karl Marx called the “cash nexus,” or what is also called “commodification”: treating people like items for sale. The claim is that when people engage in commerce, they are hardhearted, stingy, or (as movie director Oliver Stone and the Occupy Wall …

A big error has haunted humanity for centuries: it’s the equivocation between generosity and altruism. Generosity is a virtue any decent human being will practice: it asks that one reach out to deserving others in times of dire need. Altruism is a policy of devoting oneself to benefiting others above all. The former is admirable; …

During the primaries, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum made an impassioned plea for rejecting the famous doctrine of the separation of church and state. He clarified his position on the ABC-TV program This Week on Sunday, February 26: “I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. The idea …

So what is this atheism that upsets so many people? It is really just the refusal to believe in God because of the absence of sufficient reasons. It is a nonbelief—not something believed to be the case. Thus there can be atheists with a great variety of different outlooks on innumerable topics. They are all …

In “Sen v. Bauer: On What Do Rights Stand?” (FI, June/July 2010), I examined the basis of so-called natural rights under various forms of political economy. Reader Stephen E. Silver responded with a letter in which he commented, in part: . . . Human rights do not stand on anything. These rights, when first promulgated …

It looks like both the postmodern literary theorist Stanley Fish and the German neo-Marxist Jürgen Habermas have concluded that human communities cannot cut it without religion or—at least in Fish’s view—that something is missing from the view that human communities could do quite well without it, that a secular culture can be just fine all …

The debate about what kind of political economy is best for people isn’t carried out only in the domestic arena. To be sure, the health-care insurance controversy has dominated domestic attention of late, and though there seems to be wide consensus on the appropriateness of greater government involvement, not all welcome that consensus. Is there …

Movies made for young people in recent years tend to share a strong moralistic message: “We human beings are the scourge of the universe!” The 1993 Steven Spielberg blockbuster, Jurassic Park, was no exception. Although Michael Crichton, author of the book on which the movie was based, ended his life as a strong skeptic about …

All too often in recent weeks, I have run across efforts by various political thinkers and activists to discredit individualism. Some argue that the idea of the individual is a myth created by our society. Others press the notion that the individual is a solitary being whose life is awful, lonely, and dangerous, and so …

Sometimes, I will go out of my way to visit one of those outlet malls. Not only do they have some pretty good deals, but often I can find clothing that actually fits me—slightly oversized sweaters or short-sleeve shirts seem to get dumped there for the likes of me. I was driving up I-85 in …

Few ideas serve more wicked purposes than “fairness.” In public policy, it is probably the most overused justification for increasing the power of some people over others, for meddling in others’ private lives, and for being guiltlessly resentful. Yes, there is some virtue to fairness, as when teachers grade and parents divide the dessert fairly. …

Western Ways Will Lead To A Better Life Since shortly after September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush has been consistent in claiming that it is not Islam per se that hates Americans and targets us for destruction, but rather some renegade versions of that faith. In time it became an automatic refrain on the …

That freedom is the matrix That required for the growth of moral values—indeed not merely one value among many but the source of all values—is almost self-evident. It is only where the individual has choice, and its inherent responsibility, that he has occasion to affirm existing values, to contribute to their further growth, and then earn …

Many moons ago I encountered Ayn Rand’s ideas, and one of her more contentious ones dealt with selfishness. Rand believed that one ought to be selfish. Now, this seems an odd notion for a serious person to hold, and Rand was nothing if not serious. Say selfish and people think “cruel,” “thoughtless,” “mean,” “uncaring,” and …

Perhaps the most amazing feature of reality we have encountered so far is ourselves. We are perplexing, too, for what else in nature reflects on itself, criticizes and commends, blames and praises its own kind, does good and evil and the whole gamut in-between, creates and destroys to unheard-of degrees, and then debates endlessly whether …