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George Leef takes on one of the many stupiditiés du jour now raging on college campuses: “sustainability.” [2] A slice:
The sustainability movement isn’t interested in the kind of analysis that scholars bring to controversies. It wants zealots, such as the “eco-reps” now employed on many campuses to push the agenda. Recycling, for instance, is always advanced as an imperative for saving the planet. There are trade-off questions about recycling that have caused many people to conclude that its costs often exceed its benefits, but students are not encouraged to think about them.
George Leef also reviews John Tamny’s new book, [3]Popular Economics [3]. A slice:
Progressive taxes (in England, the United States, and everywhere) are more of an impediment to people who are trying to become wealthy than to those who are already wealthy.
Richard Epstein ponders anti-discrimination legislation [5]. A slice:
It is important, however, to draw the right lesson from the horrific experience of segregation. That lesson is that if competitive market forces are allowed to work, the problem of discrimination will be solved by the entry of new firms who will cater to mass markets, wholly without legal compulsion. That was certainly the case in Indiana before the passage of its Religious Freedom Restoration Act. There were no legal rules that prohibited discrimination in public accommodations against gays and lesbians, and there was no want of service.
I wish that I understood Spanish: Yesterday at a session of the Liberty Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil (which I attended), Gloria Álvarez of Guatemala obviously inspired the liberty-loving crowd – and you can see why from this interview, in English, of her [7]. A slice:
The challenge of classical liberalism is that everyone is free to pursue the lifestyle of their choice, but free choice requires people to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions.
I agree with Richard Rahn: the IRS should be abolished [9].