MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'individual rights'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:49:11 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4984426&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fil0p9jN4s5w%2F This article is still being edited — it won’t appear in the John Marshall Law Review till the fall – so comments are welcome.  Thanks to Eugene Volokh for making suggestions on an earlier version. Update: Larry Solum has “recommended” our article on the Legal Theory Blog.  Thanks! So What If Corporations Aren’t People? is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4984426 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:19:41 +0100 4984426 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952790&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4jUNFKyD_os%2F By Aaron Ross PowellStephen Metcalf’s prolix takedown of Robert Nozick demands response, not because Metcalf has advanced a novel and Rawls-esque so-interesting-and-powerful-it-must-be-addressed argument, but because he precisely has not. Nozick is, justifiably, a hero of libertarianism (and liberty), and his terrific book, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, as well as libertarianism in general, deserve better than Metcalf’s excoriation. My colleague Jason Kuznicki started things off admirably. At the risk of beating what ought to be a dead horse, I’d like to add a word or two of my own. I’ll avoid what Jason’s already covered. Let’s start with Metcalf’s very odd characterization of Nozick’s view of liberty as the primary value. He writes, “Nozick is arguing that liberty is the ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952790 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:26:25 +0100 4952790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3625482&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Ftm7cso7dmCk%2F By David BoazWhat is it with modern American liberals and taxes? Apparently they don’t just see taxes as a necessary evil, they actually like ‘em; they think, as Gail Collins puts it in the New York Times, that in a better world “little kids would dream of growing up to be really big taxpayers.” But you really see liberals’ taxophilia coming out when you read the reviews of the new movie Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe. If liberals don’t love taxes, they sure do hate tax protesters. Carlo Rotella, director of American Studies at Boston College, writes in the Boston Globe that this Robin Hood is “A big angry baby [who] fights back against taxes” and that the movie is “hamstrung by a shrill political agenda — endless fake-populist ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3625482 Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:07:47 +0100 3625482 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3607483&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJZDMtZXK4H8%2F By David BoazMichael Crowley, late of the New Republic and now with Time magazine, writes thoughtfully about Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and libertarianism. Crowley notes that Rand Paul, “more politically flexible than his father,” has plenty of unlibertarian positions. But both of them are tapping into a real strain in contemporary politics: But he, like his father, also knows well that a genuine libertarian impulse is astir in America…. polls show an uptick in both social permissiveness and skepticism of government intervention….[Ron Paul] has already waited a long time — and it appears the country is moving his way. This is a current trend, but it’s also deeply rooted in the American political culture. As David Kirby and I wrote in “The Libertarian Vote&#... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3607483 Thu, 27 May 2010 16:17:29 +0100 3607483 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3599357&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fmd1iOWl__-E%2F By David BoazI’m delighted to report that just this week I have received copies of Libertarianism: A Primer published in Italian and Korean, the latter delivered to me personally by the president of the Korea Economic Research Institute. I now count the following translations: Japanese Russian Czech Polish Serbian Bulgarian Cambodian Mongolian Kurdish Persian Spanish Korean Italian Chinese and of course audio and Kindle. You might notice a couple of things about that list. First, it includes a lot of communist or ex-communist countries, where perhaps they are especially attuned to the conflict between freedom and statism. And second, it has not yet been translated into of the languages of Northwest Europe — German, French, Dutch, Scandinavian languages. Perhaps those countr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3599357 Tue, 25 May 2010 21:13:30 +0100 3599357 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3599359&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fasg8hAKKiiM%2F By Walter OlsonThe California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has agreed to stop investigating citizens on the theory that their political expression in and of itself constitutes a potential violation of laws against housing discrimination. The concession came in a settlement with Julie Waltz, whom it had dragged through an investigation for publicly opposing the placement of subsidized group homes in and near her Norco, Calif. residence. A news release from the Center for Individual Rights: During the year-long investigation, state investigators told Waltz that her speech violated state fair housing laws, requested that she refrain from her speech activities, and threatened her with prosecution. An investigator also told her that the investigation would end if she removed signs ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3599359 Tue, 25 May 2010 19:12:24 +0100 3599359 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3499055&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3GnUg6nJ_qE%2F By David BoazRecently I wrote an article arguing that there never was a golden age of liberty and that in particular libertarians should not hail 19th-century America as a small-government paradise, at least not without grappling with the massive problem of slavery. Jacob Hornberger, author of an article that I criticized, responded in Reason, and I then responded here. Meanwhile, an interesting discussion took place on a email list of libertarian scholars, and I’m pleased to have gotten the permission of several participants to include some of that discussion here: Aeon J. Skoble: The ideals of freedom which led to the tangible improvements [Boaz] mentions – I’m concerned that those ideals are eroding/have eroded.  Example: say you have a robust theory of rights, but your soci... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3499055 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 20:05:32 +0100 3499055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171876&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbUl0GoKWReI%2F By David BoazFormer secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright writes in Parade magazine that 20 years after the Berlin Wall, “We Must Keep Freedom Alive.” A commendable sentiment, but the article is a bit confused, notably in that it seems to use “freedom” and “democracy” interchangeably. But as Fareed Zakaria and Tom Palmer, among others, have demonstrated, they’re not the same thing. Freedom is the right and ability of individuals to make the important decisions about their lives. Democracy — especially constitutional democracy, with separation of powers, the rule of law, and constraints on government — can be the most effective way to protect liberty. But democracy isn’t liberty, and we shouldn’t confuse the relationship... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171876 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:15:10 +0100 3171876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2939274&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmHspvR8s3dw%2F Last night I spoke at “The Little Idea,” a mini-lecture series launched in New York by Ari Melber of The Nation and now starting up here in D.C., on the incredibly civilized premise that, instead of some interminable panel that culminates in a series of audience monologues-disguised-as-questions, it’s much more appealing to have a speaker give a ten-minute spiel, sort of as a prompt for discussion, and then chat with the crowd over drinks. I’d sketched out a rather longer version of my remarks in advance just to make sure I had my main ideas clear, and so I’ll post them here, as a sort of preview of a rather longer and more formal paper on 21st century surveillance and privacy that I’m working on. Since ten-minute talks don’t accommodate footnotes ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2939274 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:07:10 +0100 2939274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570388&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiHTeD6j99fg%2F Facing mounting international pressure to reinstall a would-be despot, the provisional government of Honduras is taking a very wrong turn by asking the National Assembly to temporarily extend curfew powers and limit basic individual liberties. The government claims that the measures, which will be in place for 72 hours, are justified to prevent any civil unrest given the imminent return of former president Manuel Zelaya to the country.  However, the provisional authorities are actually undermining the rule of law and constitutional liberties that they claimed to be protecting when removing Zelaya from power last Sunday. The individual rights and liberties that would be affected: the inviolability of homes, the right to protest peacefully, the guarantee against being held for more than 24 ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570388 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:50:54 +0100 2570388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2522836&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1lvUfpxccEg%2F A thorough new study of 30 nations from the Institut Constant de Rebecque in Switzerland reveals serious shortcomings in America’s tax system. The report, entitled “Tax burden and individual rights in the OECD: An International Comparison,” creates a Tax Oppression Index based on three key variables: the overall tax burden, public governance, and taxpayer rights. The good news is that the United States has a comparatively low aggregate tax burden, though America’s score on this measure would be much better in the absence of a punitively high corporate tax rate. The bad news is that corruption and inefficiency in Washington drag down America’s score for public governance. The ugly news is that America has a very low rating for protecting taxpayer rights — l... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2522836 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:44:36 +0100 2522836 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2380727&cid=t_113024_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FtQKHZWLi1As%2F This article is certainly very old, but I came across it yesterday and thought the argument would be of interest to political theorists and classical liberals: …local businesspeople find it easier to do business in a country where there is no government. “There is no need to obtain licences and, in contrast with many other parts of Africa, there is no state-run monopoly that prevents new competitors setting up. Keeping price low is helped by the absence of any need to pay taxes.” Of course, the absence of a stable and legitimate political and judicial system, compounded by unyielding internecine violence, means individual and private property rights can never be fully protected and we aren’t likely to see foreign businesses flocking to this chaotic country in the... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2380727 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:12:43 +0100 2380727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1057441&cid=t_113024_85_f&fid=36195&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealth.tesstermulo.com%2F%3Fp%3D394 Photo from Advocatehealth It’s already widely accepted that smoking tobacco causes damage to our lungs.  What is still debated at this point is that if exposure to environmental tobacco smoke do really inflict as much damage to the lungs as smoking tobacco yourself. There are studies that conclude that there is as much as 24% increased risk for lung cancer caused by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (the analysis noted, though, that there could be publication bias in the studies reviewed).  A study even claimed that the effects of even brief (minutes to hours) passive smoking are often nearly as large (averaging 80% to 90%) as chronic active smoking.  And children also aren’t spared as that a study claims that environmental tobacco smoke exposure can induce early damag... Prudence, M.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1057441 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 14:44:06 +0100 1057441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=687724&cid=t_113024_133_f&fid=35452&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graphictruth.com%2F2007%2F06%2Fattenion-ron-paul-i-present-no-stupid.html I am a libertarian and a constitutionalist - in that order. Ron Paul seems to reverse that order, but I may be wrong. In order to clarify that matter, I wonder what Ron might have to say about this Constitutional Amendment, which I cleverly title The No Stupid Rules Amendment. It's intended to forestall legislative and executive abuses of power and common infringements of individual liberties.There's more...The No Stupid Rules Amendment Congress shall pass no law, nor shall courts uphold any existing law which has the overriding effect or intent of financially benefiting one group of citizens or corporate entity over another. Congress shall pass no law, nor shall courts uphold any existing law which has the overriding effect or intent of advantaging or penalizing ethnic custom, matters of... Graphictruth blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=687724 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:00:00 +0100 687724