From the Archives

15 Years Ago November 2003

"In a way, the conservatives who lament the removal of the Ten Commandments from the courthouse have fallen into a classic 'liberal' trap: the assumption that anything worth having is entitled to support from the government."
Cathy Young
"Roy Moore's Monument"

"Getting back to the standards of the Fourth Amendment is a good idea, not just for securing privacy but for making law enforcement and intelligence agencies more focused and effective at stopping criminals and catching terrorists."
John Berlau
"Show Us Your Money"

"Junk e-mail is like seasickness: If you don't get it, you don't really understand how bad it is."
Wendy Grossman
"The Spam Wars"

25 Years Ago November 1993

"Government is all stick and no carrot. It is very good at beating people with regulations, taxes, quotas, and fines, but very bad at inspiring its citizens to lead just and decent lives."
Martin Morse Wooster
"Faith, Hope, and Welfare"

"At a friendly dinner bash some months back, a woman reflected upon how her schooling had affected her upbringing. 'I went to Catholic school,' she said, 'and I suppose that's why I hate the Church.' This prompted a similar introspection among her dinner guests and hurled a revelation at me. 'You know, I went to public schools,' I pointed out, 'and that's why I hate the government.'"
Thomas W. Hazlett
"Pro-Choice?"

30 Years Ago November 1988

"Success for an ideological third-party candidate is measured by criteria other than mere victory or defeat. The point is to convince an increasing number of people that there's a different way to think about politics."
Alan W. Bock
"Ron Paul, Libertarian Candidate—Radical Views, Conservative Style"

"One reason it is difficult for third-party candidates to succeed is the tendency for people to think a vote for such candidates is 'wasted.' Even though they prefer some third-party ideology, some people aren't willing to 'throw their vote away.' They know Ron Paul can't win, for example, so they vote for Bush because he's better than Dukakis (or vice versa). This is illogical, since it's based on the false premise that they can make a difference in the election; but even worse, it's sleazy. People who vote this way sacrifice their principles and honor for the billion-to-one chance of being rewarded.…Not even the most corrupt Pentagon bribe-taker would compromise his integrity on such cheap odds."
Craig M. Collins
"Why Vote?"

40 Years Ago November 1978

"Tax substitution…is simply a means of demonopolizing these services and giving individuals the choice of substituting their own education, police, charity, etc., instead of being forced to pay for and use inefficient, unresponsive, and corrupted government programs."
Fred E. Foldvary
"Public to Private"

"Justices who are more concerned about the power of government than the freedom of the individual have relinquished their mission under the Constitution. Justices are not government agents, promoting interests of the executive and legislative branches."
Bernard Siegan
"One Step Forward, Two Steps Back"

"The primary reason why we believe that the tax-limitation amendment ought to be added to the Constitution is much the same reason as for any other amendment—certain features of the government should not be subject to decisionmaking by the body of elected representatives."
"Interview: William Niskanen"

45 Years Ago November 1973

"Anthem, in both its imagery and structure which project the Promethean vision of man's self-liberation from the bodily and spiritual bondage of altruism and collectivism, demonstrates the equally Promethean craft and creativity of its authoress. Its clear, complex structure, moving poetic language, economy of artistic means to achieve its intellectual-emotive ends, and its contents (containing several themes that will recur elsewhere in Rand's writings: e.g. rational egoism, importance of productive work and romantic values, and the ethics of non-aggression) anticipate Rand's later novels and reveal her creative imagination."
John Cody
"Ayn Rand's Promethean Heroes"