By MamaLiberty
What a great story! My father was born in 1886, worked on the family ranch in the Dakota Territory, then was a hunter bringing in game to feed the crews who built much of the railroad lines across northern America. He loved Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour, so I grew up reading “westerns.”
Summer of the Eagles is a tale set in the early days of Wyoming, about people who have honor and integrity amid strife and injustice, stitched together with friendship and love thought impossible. There are parts that had me shaking the pages shouting “NO,” and sections that brought me to tears of joy.
We read about bigotry and racism in our modern world, but I don’t think most people have much idea what it really means, or the incredible damage it can do to everyone involved. Probably no person alive in America today has ever experienced even a little of the prejudice and injustice suffered by the hero of this story – and so many others throughout history. It would be good to read this story if you took nothing more away from it than understanding your own good fortune, whatever your situation, and perhaps a clearer understanding of your own prejudices. Continue reading →
Libertarian News & Commentary #15-20B, 21 May 2015: Government Dictates and Stupidity
By Nathan A. Barton
The hubris of government is awesome indeed: the dictates of the state are usually foolish and based on myths and warped perception of reality. Consider this: The Guardian reports that Los Angeles is the largest US city to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour, to be done in steps through July 2020. The City Council ignored decades of data showing that the minimum wage damages the well-being of marginal workers and the very people it is “supposed” to help. Sadly, even relatively conservative jurisdictions have bought into this garbage, creating problems for their own people. South Dakota voters, for example, last year approved an increase, part of which the legislature ameliorated with a law establishing a lower minimum wage for minors, which otherwise would have been priced out of the essential summertime tourist industry jobs with which hundreds of thousands of South Dakotans have started their working lives. Expect more of this sort of nonsense, which together with ever more demanding regulations will further damage American businesses and the economies of cities, regions, and states. Continue reading →