The Debates of Liberty

The Debates of Liberty PDF

Author: Wendy McElroy

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9780739104736

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In her pioneering work, The Debates of Liberty, Wendy McElroy provides a comprehensive examination of one of the most remarkable and influential political phenomena in America: the anarchist periodical Liberty and the circle of radicals who surrounded it. Liberty, which is widely considered to be the premier individualist-anarchist periodical ever issued in the English language, published such items as George Bernard Shaw's first original article to appear in the United States and the first American translated excerpts of Friedrich Nietzsche. Arguably the world's foremost expert on Liberty, Dr. McElroy exposes the reader to the controversy etched in each debate, ranging from radical civil liberties to economic theory, and from children's rights to the basis of rent and interest. While addressing the facts, Dr. McElroy also conveys and captures the individualistic personalities that emerged: Lysander Spooner, Auberon Herbert, Joshua K. Ingalls, John Henry Mackay, Victor Yarros, and Wordsworth Donisthorpe are only a partial listing.

Unlearning Liberty

Unlearning Liberty PDF

Author: Greg Lukianoff

Publisher: Encounter Books

Published: 2014-03-11

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1594037337

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

For over a generation, shocking cases of censorship at America’s colleges and universities have taught students the wrong lessons about living in a free society. Drawing on a decade of experience battling for freedom of speech on campus, First Amendment lawyer Greg Lukianoff reveals how higher education fails to teach students to become critical thinkers: by stifling open debate, our campuses are supercharging ideological divisions, promoting groupthink, and encouraging an unscholarly certainty about complex issues. Lukianoff walks readers through the life of a modern-day college student, from orientation to the end of freshman year. Through this lens, he describes startling violations of free speech rights: a student in Indiana punished for publicly reading a book, a student in Georgia expelled for a pro-environment collage he posted on Facebook, students at Yale banned from putting an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote on a T shirt, and students across the country corralled into tiny “free speech zones” when they wanted to express their views. But Lukianoff goes further, demonstrating how this culture of censorship is bleeding into the larger society. As he explores public controversies involving Juan Williams, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins, Larry Summers—even Dave Barry and Jon Stewart—Lukianoff paints a stark picture of our ability as a nation to discuss important issues rationally. Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate illuminates how intolerance for dissent and debate on today’s campus threatens the freedom of every citizen and makes us all just a little bit dumber.

Freedom and Virtue

Freedom and Virtue PDF

Author: George W. Carey

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2003-07

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 188292696X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"Arguments about the nature of liberty and its relationship to a normative moral tradition lie at the heart of many contemporary political controversies. This is especially true of the spirited exchange between conservatives and libertarians. In Freedom and virtue, George W. Carey has compiled a group of essays that explore what unites and what divides the adherents of these two important American intellectual traditions. The arguments in these essays touch on the most fundamental questions of political philosophy: what is the nature of man? What should be the relative role of reason, tradition, and religion in ordering society and the state? When does individual liberty begin to undermine the moral norms necessary for the maintenance of civil society? Is there an objective moral order to which liberty ought to be subordinated? In examining these and other questions in a provocative and lively manner, Freedom and virtue invites us to speculate on the future of democracy in the United States" -- Publisher's description.

Patrick Henry-Onslaw Debate

Patrick Henry-Onslaw Debate PDF

Author: H. Lee Cheek

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780739120781

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In 1826 Americans witnessed the spectacle of President John Quincy Adams and Vice-President John C. Calhoun taking to the press to debate the nature of power and liberty under the pseudonyms "Patrick Henry" and "Onslow". In the course of this exchange some of the most salient issues within American politics and liberty are debated, including the nature of political order, democracy, and the diffusion of political power.

Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination

Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination PDF

Author: John Corvino

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-04-14

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0190603089

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Virtually everyone supports religious liberty, and virtually everyone opposes discrimination. But how do we handle the hard questions that arise when exercises of religious liberty seem to discriminate unjustly? How do we promote the common good while respecting conscience in a diverse society? This point-counterpoint book brings together leading voices in the culture wars to debate such questions: John Corvino, a longtime LGBT-rights advocate, opposite Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Girgis, prominent young social conservatives. Many such questions have arisen in response to same-sex marriage: How should we treat county clerks who do not wish to authorize such marriages, for example; or bakers, florists, and photographers who do not wish to provide same-sex wedding services? But the conflicts extend well beyond the LGBT rights arena. How should we treat hospitals, schools, and adoption agencies that can't in conscience follow antidiscrimination laws, healthcare mandates, and other regulations? Should corporations ever get exemptions? Should public officials? Should we keep controversial laws like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or pass new ones like the First Amendment Defense Act? Should the law give religion and conscience special protection at all, and if so, why? What counts as discrimination, and when is it unjust? What kinds of material and dignitary harms should the law try to fight-and what is dignitary harm, anyway? Beyond the law, how should we treat religious beliefs and practices we find mistaken or even oppressive? Should we tolerate them or actively discourage them? In point-counterpoint format, Corvino, Anderson and Girgis explore these questions and more. Although their differences run deep, they tackle them with civility, clarity, and flair. Their debate is an essential contribution to contemporary discussions about why religious liberty matters and what respecting it requires.

Power Versus Liberty

Power Versus Liberty PDF

Author: James H. Read

Publisher: University of Virginia Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9780813919126

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Does every increase in the power of government entail a loss of liberty for the people? James H. Read examines how four key Founders--James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, James Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson--wrestled with this question during the first two decades of the American Republic. Power versus Liberty reconstructs a four-way conversation--sometimes respectful, sometimes shrill--that touched on the most important issues facing the new nation: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, federal authority versus states' rights, freedom of the press, the controversial Bank of the United States, the relation between nationalism and democracy, and the elusive meaning of "the consent of the governed." Each of the men whose thought Read considers differed on these key questions. Jefferson believed that every increase in the power of government came at the expense of liberty: energetic governments, he insisted, are always oppressive. Madison believed that this view was too simple, that liberty can be threatened either by too much or too little governmental power. Hamilton and Wilson likewise rejected the Jeffersonian view of power and liberty but disagreed with Madison and with each other. The question of how to reconcile energetic government with the liberty of citizens is as timely today as it was in the first decades of the Republic. It pervades our political discourse and colors our readings of events from the confrontation at Waco to the Oklahoma City bombing to Congressional debate over how to spend the government surplus. While the rhetoric of both major political parties seems to posit a direct relationship between the size of our government and the scope of our political freedoms, the debates of Madison, Hamilton, Wilson, and Jefferson confound such simple dichotomies. As Read concludes, the relation between power and liberty is inherently complex.

Liberty Defined

Liberty Defined PDF

Author: Ron Paul

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Published: 2011-04-19

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1455504432

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In Liberty Defined, congressman and #1 New York Times bestselling author Ron Paul returns with his most provocative, comprehensive, and compelling arguments for personal freedom to date. The term "Liberty" is so commonly used in our country that it has become a mere cliché. But do we know what it means? What it promises? How it factors into our daily lives? And most importantly, can we recognize tyranny when it is sold to us disguised as a form of liberty? Dr. Paul writes that to believe in liberty is not to believe in any particular social and economic outcome. It is to trust in the spontaneous order that emerges when the state does not intervene in human volition and human cooperation. It permits people to work out their problems for themselves, build lives for themselves, take risks and accept responsibility for the results, and make their own decisions. It is the seed of America. This is a comprehensive guide to Dr. Paul's position on fifty of the most important issues of our times, from Abortion to Zionism. Accessible, easy to digest, and fearless in its discussion of controversial topics, LIBERTY DEFINED sheds new light on a word that is losing its shape.

Securing Liberty

Securing Liberty PDF

Author: David Cole

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781617700217

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have challenged the United States' commitment to some of its core values. The threat of another attack led to a vastly expanded security apparatus, a reorganization of the federal government, two wars, laws granting the federal government greater scope for surveillance, aggressive investigatory and prosecutorial practices, and executive initiatives, many adopted in secret, that appeared to contravene international law and constitutional strictures-all done in the name of keeping America safe. Has the United States struck the right balance between security and liberty? Have we remained true to our fundamental values? This book identifies six specific issues that have confronted government officials and civil society in the wake of 9/11. For each issue, it offers a short introduction, articles that reflect competing views on the matter, and a set of study questions. It is intended to facilitate debate on issues that have been with us for a decade and will continue to frame public policy for the rest of our lives. The topics covered are: Profiling The Use of Torture in Exceptional Circumstances Accountability Preventive Detention The Terrorist Surveillance Program and Inherent Executive Power Privacy and Security Book jacket.

Liberty and Coercion

Liberty and Coercion PDF

Author: Gary Gerstle

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2017-10-24

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 0691178216

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

How the conflict between federal and state power has shaped American history American governance is burdened by a paradox. On the one hand, Americans don't want "big government" meddling in their lives; on the other hand, they have repeatedly enlisted governmental help to impose their views regarding marriage, abortion, religion, and schooling on their neighbors. These contradictory stances on the role of public power have paralyzed policymaking and generated rancorous disputes about government’s legitimate scope. How did we reach this political impasse? Historian Gary Gerstle, looking at two hundred years of U.S. history, argues that the roots of the current crisis lie in two contrasting theories of power that the Framers inscribed in the Constitution. One theory shaped the federal government, setting limits on its power in order to protect personal liberty. Another theory molded the states, authorizing them to go to extraordinary lengths, even to the point of violating individual rights, to advance the "good and welfare of the commonwealth." The Framers believed these theories could coexist comfortably, but conflict between the two has largely defined American history. Gerstle shows how national political leaders improvised brilliantly to stretch the power of the federal government beyond where it was meant to go—but at the cost of giving private interests and state governments too much sway over public policy. The states could be innovative, too. More impressive was their staying power. Only in the 1960s did the federal government, impelled by the Cold War and civil rights movement, definitively assert its primacy. But as the power of the central state expanded, its constitutional authority did not keep pace. Conservatives rebelled, making the battle over government’s proper dominion the defining issue of our time. From the Revolution to the Tea Party, and the Bill of Rights to the national security state, Liberty and Coercion is a revelatory account of the making and unmaking of government in America.