With the Declaration [of Independence], Americans ceased claiming the rights of aggrieved Englishmen and began asserting rights that are universal because they are natural, meaning necessary for the flourishing of human nature. The Constitution is America’s fundamental law but not its first law. The Declaration appears on Page 1 of Volume 1 of the U.S. Statutes at Large and it is at the head of the United States Code under the caption “The Organic Laws of the United States.”
All in all, Cato’s Ilya Shapiro believes that Neil Gorsuch would make a fine Justice.
Here’s Ross Kaminsky on trade. And here’s John Tamny correcting an error in Ross’s otherwise superb essay. A slice from Tamny’s article:
If you’re reading this post, you’re a major beneficiary of free trade. That’s true even if you disagree. Indeed, a solitary individual could never create a computer by himself, let alone one with the internal capabilities that enable global conversation, along with the ability to buy goods and services produced everywhere. Absent free trade, our existence would be gruesomely primitive, and almost certainly defined by constant hunger.
Have you, the reader, ever crossed town, or crossed state lines, to get a better deal on an appliance, or in search of better food? Of course you have. Thanks to technology and transportation advances, the range of individuals and businesses fighting to serve our needs has expanded in ways that have made all of us better off. In short, if you’ve ever bargain shopped, or turned up your nose to a local restaurant with lousy service, food or both, then you’re an ardent free trader.
The problem with communitarianism is that many communitarians make for bad community members. Many of them are “society first, individual second!” to the point of being anti-social. They aren’t the kind of people you’d want to live near.
Abby Hall Blanco wonders how many Americans have been killed by refugees. A slice:
Yes, you are more likely to be killed by a gun-wielding toddler than a terrorist.
Here are Alan Reynolds’s second doubts about the GOP’s proposed border-adjustable tax scheme.
