Articles - Center for Individualism

Articles

Politicians Spend Profligately Today, And Stick Our Children And Grandchildren With The Bill.

July 18, 2019

In effect, debt financing allows government to spend money today while foisting the tab on future taxpayers – many of whom, literally, aren’t yet born. Politicians eager to win votes are thus prone to borrow and spend excessively because borrowing allows the current generation to free-ride on the incomes of future generations.

It’s Not About Climate. It’s About Control – Of Everything You Do, Including Washing Dishes.

July 17, 2019

It’s always about control and the left thinks they should control all the levers. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ chief of staff admitted it this week, telling a crowd: “The interesting thing about the Green New Deal, is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all. We really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing.”

Entrepreneurship Brings Innovation And Betterment For All. Government Regulation Throttles It.

July 16, 2019

A periodic “spring cleaning for the regulatory state” is essential if we hope to address regulatory accumulation. For starters, we need to get rid of the problem of over-licensing and over-permitting. “Permissionless innovation” should be the default.

Democracy Is Not Correlated With Economic Growth, And May Slow It Down.

July 15, 2019

The literature on democracy and growth implies that there is no reason to reject an alternative history in which the world’s leading industrial economy was a nondemocracy. Nor why we could not see some very rich nondemocracies in the future.

We Should Be Happy That China Is Stealing Our Intellectual Property. It’s A Positive Sign Of American Vibrancy

July 14, 2019

The U.S. is the most prosperous nation on earth. That it is explains why entrepreneurs from around the world (including China) want to “steal” or imitate the clever doings of creative minds in the U.S. Pundits view this as a threat, but the much bigger worry would be if the creative found nothing worth emulating.

It Remains Possible For Cryptocurrencies To Replace State Monopoly Currency, Bringing The Competition Hayek Imagined.

July 13, 2019

The idea of Bitcoin inevitability does not mix well with the logic of markets. We need markets and competition precisely because as human beings we have nowhere near the information or capacity necessary to make deterministic statements about the future. The future of money will likely look nothing like any of the possibilities we currently imagine.

Clever Marketing And Repositioning Has Made Socialism A Popular Product For Kids.

July 12, 2019

When today's democratic socialists are asked to explain their ideology, they tend to skimp on the substantial structural questions and lean on paeans to dignity, generosity, and equality. Ocasio-Cortez defines it as "democratic participation in our economic dignity."

The Anti-Federalists Turned Out To be Right – But No-One Reads Them Any More.

July 11, 2019

Polarization has accelerated the growth of the administrative state. With the elected branches divided, more power has fallen to the bureaucracy. The Anti-Federalists foresaw this. They worried that a large country would be too divided to govern effectively.

How the Gig Economy Can Save a Generation Drowning in Student Debt⁠—If We Let It

July 10, 2019

Legislators should not be too hasty in altering the employment status of gig economy workers unless they want to bear the responsibility of rendering the sector completely nonexistent in the process.

How To Expose The Intentional Distortion And Mendacity In Leftist Politicians’ Income Inequality Claims.

July 9, 2019

Income inequality stirs up emotions in many people, but sadly the first casualty to the passions is the truth. It is vital to factually evaluate inequality data, failure to do so will continue to enable the growth of the federal leviathan.

Social Justice Claims Based On Envy Bring On A Siege Mentality.

July 8, 2019

Our complaints about the outcome of the market as unjust do not really assert that somebody has been unjust, and there is no answer to the question of who has been unjust.

Equality: All Individuals Should Be Judged As Themselves, On The Basis Of Their Actions.

July 7, 2019

All jobs if well done are virtuous and bring dignity to those performing them, no matter how menial or trivial they may appear to be. All ways of making a living are of equal moral value.

About The Center For Individualism

The Center for Individualism exists to revive individualism in America. We seek to be a catalyst for cultural change and a hub for all who aspire to live a self-reliant life. We produce content, curate resources, provide services, and facilitate relationships that empower people to achieve their personal and economic ambitions. Our purpose is to support individuals in building a better life for themselves – and in so doing, to build a better society for all.

Principles History Mission and Vision Initiatives

Raushan Gross: Socialism Cannot Work, Not Even in an AI-Driven Economy

The Right to Repair: Shouldn’t Americans Have the Right to Fix Their Own Stuff?