A short parable for old and young that puts in perspective some of the things that took America to its peak, as well as making it easier to comprehend why we are so far down from that peak - from the man who founded The Foundation for Economic Education 2/3 of a century ago. Posted as a break in the oft disheartening news. Enjoy.

I, Pencil

By Leonard E. Read

I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s all I do.

You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery —more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning. But, sadly, I am taken for granted by those who use me, as if I were a mere incident and without background. This supercilious attitude relegates me to the level of the commonplace. This is a species of the grievous error in which mankind cannot too long persist without peril. For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, “We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.”

Part First. Chapter 1. The Science of Justice.

Section I.

The science of mine and thine – the science of justice – is the science of all human rights; of all a man's rights of person and property; of all his rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is the science which alone can tell any man what he can, and cannot, do; what he can, and cannot, have; what he can, and cannot, say, without infringing the rights of any other person.

It is the science of peace; and the only science of peace; since it is the science which alone can tell us on what conditions mankind can live in peace, or ought to live in peace, with each other.

Bureaucracy, by Ludwig von Mises

In this 120 page book  Von Mises compares free market (profit) management  and management by bureaucracy, describing the effects of each. Download in pdf or html format.

The Legitimacy of Judicial Review - Raoul Berger

The United States Supreme Court has no authority to decide the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of laws or actions. The very fact that it is not something delegated to it in the Constitution means it is forbidden to it.and reserved to the states and the people. This is a completely logical position by any standard. Since the Constitution is a document executed by the states, for the purpose of establishing the federal government and defining its powers, it would be ridiculous for them to want the federal government to be able to declare its powers to be whatever it wanted them to be. It is quite logical for any question about meaning in the Constitution to be answered by the states. This is cogent commentary on the unconstitutional usurpation of a prohibited power on the part of the federal government, a power increasingly used to remove our rights by declaring blatantly unconstitutional legislation constitutional.. It is a chapter from the book, Government by Judiciary: The Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment, Foreword by Forrest McDonald (2nd ed.) (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1997). which may be of interest to those interested in learning more about this topic, and is available here in its entirety. Click on the title to read the entire article.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The Declaration of Independence - Annotated Version

Because the document was written a quarter of a millenium ago and the language may seem strange to some, we were fortunate to find this annotated version for those who would like to clarify some points. Just click on the highlighted portions for an explanation in today's english. http://www.founding.com/the_declaration_of_i/pageID.2417/default.asp

The Constitution of the United States of America

http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm

This is  posted under the category of History, since it is no longer in force.

The United States has operated under two Constitutions: the present constitution and the Articles of Confederation. Many Americans are barely familiar with teh current Constitution, and most are totally unfamiliar with the Articles of Confederation. The change from the Articles of Confederation to the current Constitution greatly increased the power of the government. It was the first major loss of freedom in the United States, and if is possibly to blame for most of the other losses.

The Articles of Confederation

The following chart compares some of the provisions of the Articles of Confederation with those in the Constitution. It's important to note that most commentators see the Articles period (1781-1789) as a weak one in terms of governmental power. Whether that is a positive or negative for the United States depends on one's point of view regarding the size and influence of a national government. Libertarians would view the Articles period as the pinnacle of American freedom, while those favoring a strong central government would see it as a failure.

Please cite this source when appropriate:

Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources"
http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998).

Is Our Government Legitimate?

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Laurence Vance postulates that the United States was under the Articles of Confederation at the time, and would have had to followed those articles to legitimately change their constitution, and they did not. This would mean as was argued at the time by such well known people as Patrick Henry, that the Constitution was not legitimately adopted.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance120.html

Talk about controversial! And thought-provoking!

Mises Daily: Sunday, October 06, 1996 by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.

The modern institution of the presidency is the primary political evil Americans face, and the cause of nearly all our woes. It squanders the national wealth and starts unjust wars against foreign peoples that have never done us any harm. It wrecks our families, tramples on our rights, invades our communities, and spies on our bank accounts. It skews the culture toward decadence and trash. It tells lie after lie. Teachers used to tell school kids that anyone can be president. This is like saying anyone can go to Hell. It's not an inspiration; it's a threat.

Read the Entire Article

Money as Debt II Promises Unleashed

Animated video explores the baffling, fraudulent and destructive arithmetic of the money system that holds us hostage to a forever growing debt and how we might evolve beyond it to a new era. An entertaining, very easy to understand explanation of the mystery of money as it exists today and how it is ruining our lives and will eventually destroy us unless we do something. On Youtube in 8 parts. Try part one. Let your kids see it. They will never find this out in school.

Rather than a lengthy analysis of the good and bad of patriotism, we opper a series of quotations from a wide variety of opinions, each with the essence of its author's feelings on the subject. The first is our favorite:

"To me, it seems a dreadful indignity to have a soul controlled by geography." --- George Santayana

It looks like the first big government coup came ten years after independence. A good look at the struggle to get more power for the government and less for the people in the early years. History buffs will love it. This is an excerpt from Albert Jay Nock's biography of Jefferson.

Liberty vs. the Constitution: The Early Struggle

Mises Daily: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 by Albert Jay Nock

The Constitution looked fairly good on paper, but it was not a popular document; people were suspicious of it, and suspicious of the enabling legislation that was being erected upon it. There was some ground for this. The Constitution had been laid down under unacceptable auspices; its history had been that of a coup d'état.

It had been drafted, in the first place, by men representing special economic interests. Four-fifths of them were public creditors, one-third were land speculators, and one-fifth represented interests in shipping, manufacturing, and merchandising. Most of them were lawyers. Not one of them represented the interest of production — Vilescit origine tali.

Read the Rest of the Article

by Henry Hazlitt

A great little book for getting a quick education in economics from a master of the Austrian School. Download and read the entire book in pdf format, free, here http://mises.org/books/onelesson.pdf