By Matthew Spalding* Liberty is the essential idea that is America. It is at once our greatest inheritance, our greatest achievement, and our greatest bequest to posterity. The Declaration of Independence asserts unalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and the Constitution is meant to “secure the blessings of liberty.” In his [...]
Tag Archives: Western Civilization
The Role of Private Property in a Free Society
By Peter Boettke, Ph.D. “The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management.” –Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816. Few concepts have been more important for human survival, yet maligned as unjust by intellectuals, as the concept of private property rights. Since [...]
Posted in Economics 101, Private Property Also tagged Adam Smith, American Revolutionaries, Aristotle, Classical Economists, David Hume, Entrepreneurial, F. A. Hayek, George Washington, James Madison, Ludwig von Mises, Peter J. Boettke, Private Property, Private Property Rights, Scottish Enlightenment, Socialism, Thomas Jefferson, Wealth of Nations 2 Comments
Three Cardinal Ideas of Western Politics
by Russell Kirk Now in the political beliefs of what we call “Christian civilization” or “Western civilization” – of which American civilization is a part – there are three cardinal ideas: the idea of justice, the idea of order, and the idea of freedom. These three great concepts are the cement of American society. These [...]
Posted in Freedom Philosophy Also tagged Christian Civilization, Freedom, Greeks, Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Justice, Order, Romans, Russell Kirk 1 Comment
