Abolish Amtrak
Why should the federal government run a transportation corporation?
December 2024
Abolish Everything
In the Abolish Everything issue, Reason writers make the case for ending the Fed, the Army, Social Security, and everything else.
Features
Abolish Antitrust Law
Having a large market share may just mean that a company is really good at what it does.
Abolish the Army
"Standing armies are dangerous to liberty," Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 29.
Abolish Borders
If government-drawn lines within your country don't possess some sort of moral magic that voids your rights, why would government-drawn lines between countries?
Abolish the DEA
The DEA's attempts to enforce the nation's drug laws have been a resounding failure by pretty much any measure.
Abolish the Department of Education
The federal government furnishes a relatively tiny amount of K-12 funding—but the feds need relatively little money to exert power.
Abolish the Department of Transportation
When money comes down from the DOT, it has copious strings attached to it—strings that make infrastructure more expensive and less useful.
Abolish the EPA
Climate change is a serious environmental concern, but it is not clear how the EPA helps.
Abolish the FCC
Let the invisible hand regulate the invisible resource.
Abolish the FDA
Many seriously ill people die waiting for the FDA to approve drugs that regulators in other advanced countries have already approved.
Abolish the Fed
A central bank is not essential to a functioning economy.
Abolish the Federal Minimum Wage
There is a "virtual consensus" among economists that the minimum wage puts people out of work.
Abolish Federal Student Loans
Easily accessible student loans give colleges an incentive to raise tuition.
Abolish FOIA
FOIA has no teeth and bureaucrats abuse its exemptions. Just redact and release every federal workers' emails instead.
Abolish ICE
The federal immigration agency disrupts communities and families, for no good.
Abolish the IRS—and the Income Tax Too
Americans spent an estimated $133 billion and 6.5 billion hours filing their tax returns in 2024.
Abolish the National Park Service
Revising how America's most beautiful public lands are protected would create more ways for Americans to interact with some of the best parts of the country.
Abolish the NSA and CIA
Ending these unaccountable agencies would safeguard civil liberties and improve intelligence gathering.
Abolish Obamacare
The Affordable Care Act has become a broken welfare program for people who don't need it.
Abolish the Small Business Administration
Like all government perks, SBA lending creates unseen victims.
Abolish Social Security
Stop robbing poor, hard-working Peter to pay well-off, retired Paul.
Abolish the TSA
The agency has not made air travel safer but it has made it costlier and more time-consuming to fly.
Abolish the Federal Alcohol Tax and Regulation System
The states already overregulate alcohol. There's no need for a federal layer of red tape.
Editor's Note
Abolish FEMA
FEMA has given Americans every reason to believe it is highly politicized, a poor steward of federal resources, bad at establishing priorities, and often unable to communicate clearly to people in distress.
Topics
Photo: The First Commercial Spacewalk
Civilian astronauts on a SpaceX mission traveled more than 800 miles away from Earth.
What Is the 'Working Class'?
When even most upper-income Republicans say they're working class, the term has become meaningless.
A Psychedelic Ban Would Disrupt Important Research
Making DOI and DOC Schedule I drugs would interfere with psychiatric research.
Modern Crafters Rediscover an Old Sweater
Knitting's evolution from necessity to leisure activity is a testament to economic progress.
Citizen Journalism Is Under Attack. This Texas Woman Is Fighting to Save It.
After being arrested for doing journalism, Priscilla Villarreal has taken her fight to the courts.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Has Fueled a Surge in Campus Censorship
The portion of college students who say it's OK to shout down campus speakers is rising, according to a new survey.
Is Being a Mom Bad for Your Career?
A recent study showed women experience a short-term "motherhood penalty" but their earnings rebound within a decade.
Map: Pearl Clutchers in Hot Spring County
A rural Arkansas county files more than twice as many FCC complaints per resident than anywhere else in the United States.
Courts Are Coming for Digital Libraries
A federal court recently said the Internet Archive is not protected by fair use doctrine.
Infographics
Infographic: How Republicans and Democrats View Federal Agencies
Democrats tend to view the feds favorably but many agencies are under water among Republicans.
Culture
The Backpage.com Trial Finally Ended—With a Suicide and a Prison Sentence
By prosecuting the website's founders, the government chilled free speech online and ruined lives.
Books
Blaming Bill Buckley for Racism, January 6, and More
Historian David Austin Walsh tries and fails to rebut Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism thesis.
Are Humans Abandoning the Physical World in Favor of Smartphones?
The Extinction of Experience condemns digital technology but the book is full of contradictions and cherry-picked examples.
Reviews
Review: An Action Movie About Civil Asset Forfeiture
Netflix's Rebel Ridge is a thrilling tale about an ordinary man wronged by an unjust system.
Review: A New York Times Reporter Explores Psychedelic Therapy
Trippy author Ernesto Londoño points out that supposedly ancient psychedelic rituals don't always lead to great outcomes.
Review: Evil on Trial Seeks To Reach A Younger Audience
WWII correspondent William L. Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich comes to life in this Netflix docuseries.
Review: Like Friday Night Lights, But For High School Mariachi
A documentary on Netflix follows a team of young musicians vying for competition wins in Texas.
Review: A True Crime Podcast About a Massacre in Iraq
Season three of the In the Dark podcast divulges new details about U.S. Marines' killings of 24 Iraqis in 2005.
Review: Are Teen Girls Suffering From Hysteria?
A new podcast explores a mysterious case of teens developing Tourette syndrome–like tics and other cases of suspected mass psychogenic illness.
Crossword
Abolish Everything: December 2024 Puzzle
"Phrase a dishonest politician rarely says out loud"
ETC.
Jane Coaston on Democrats, Republicans, and Freedom
"It is very smart to be the people who are like, 'We are normal moms and dads who love football, freedom, and faith, and we want to keep your freedoms intact,' " the New York Times contributor tells Reason.
Brickbats: December 2024
News of politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly from around the world.
Archives: December 2024
Excerpts from Reason's vaults
Lists
2024: The Year of the Driverless Car
Waymo is expanding its autonomous taxi fleet that can carry passengers on public roads, no human driver required.
