An exploration of how the idea of individual freedom has shaped not only politics and economics but also the arts—from pop music to poetry, from Star Trek to the blues, and from Western novels to ...

One’s behavior sends signals about oneself. From ancient times, luxury has been used as a signal. Drawing on Adam Smith, Daniel Klein exposits the personal traits that luxury might signal, in ...

This essay explores chapters three and four of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, which discusses the value of human individuality and the threats it faces from the social dominance of custom and ...

Lilah Kimble is an associate editor for Lib er tar i an ism .org, a project of the Cato Institute. For the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Lilah Kimble reflects on the American ...

This essay explores Mill’s discussion of possible tensions between liberty and harm to others, especially in the context of public decency, crime, contractual arrangements, and education. Here the ...

Most people learn that the American Revolution began over taxes. But the real conflict was much deeper: who has the right to rule? Barbara Galletti is the Senior Producer of Lib er tar i an ism .org.

America’s political tradition was not built on radical autonomy, but rather on a freedom rooted in human nature and a robust moral order. Brenda M. Hafera is the assistant director and senior policy ...

Brad Birzer’s new book explores the ideas and events that led Americans to independence in 1776. Bradley J. Birzer holds the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies at Hillsdale College, where he ...

For the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Lilah Kimble reflects on the American Founders’ courage to risk their lives for their commitment to liberty. She asks if, even in less ...