Liberty Matters

The OLL brings people together to debate and discuss important texts and big ideas about liberty.

Why Read the Ancients Today? (November/December 2022)

By: Roosevelt Montás, Anika Prather, Aeon J. Skoble, and Jennifer A. Frey

Why have ancient texts fallen out of favor today? Once read widely- both in homes and schools- texts by "dead white men" are looked upon today with disfavor. Yet some scholars- and readers- insist upon their enduring significance,…

Systemic Racism in Education and Healthcare (October 2022)

By: Ramon P. DeGennaro

At best, healthcare and education in the United States are suboptimal. At worst, they are a national disgrace. Any disagreements over how best to improve each institution concern more narrowly focused issues, such as racial…

Perspectives on Mises' Socialism After 100 Years (August 2022)

By: Virgil Henry Storr, Alberto Mingardi, Yana Chernyak, and Clemens Schneider

In 1922 Ludwig von Mises published his third book, Die Gemeinwirtschaft: Untersuchungen über den Sozialismus, translated into English in 1936 under the title Socialism. The LibertyClassics edition was published in 1981. It seems…

The Constitutional Convention and the Peculiar Institution (July 2022)

By: Dennis C. Rasmussen

It is easy to envision the Constitution as a document that has been so hallowed by history and by the passage of time that it can barely be discussed. It simply exists, and always has. But in recent years, the academic debates of…

Is Machiavelli Friend or Foe to Liberty? (May 2022)

By: Edward Harpham

Niccolo Machiavelli remains one of the most contested figures in the history of liberalism. Was he an advocate of republican government, or an adviser to tyrants? Did he preach a politics of fear or a politics of civility? We asked…

Why History Matters for 21st Century Liberty (April 2022)

By: John C. Hulsman

We invited John Hulsman to write this month’s Liberty Matters essay, “Why History Matters for 21st Century Liberty” because we had been following his coverage of the war in Ukraine. The coverage was insightful and accurate, but we…

Remember the Ladies: The Fight for Equality among the Genders (March 2022)

By: Elizabeth Amato

Women's History Month (formerly Women's History Week) seems a fitting time for us to "Remember the Ladies," as Abigail Adams exhorted her husband, at Liberty Matters. In this month's series, we've invited scholars to reflect on…

What Does Liberty Have to Say to Black History? (February 2022)

By: Susan Love Brown

Black History Month began in 1926 when Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History declared the second week of February to be Negro History Week. In 1969, Black History Month was declared first…

The Legacy of Walter Williams (January 2022)

By: Harold A. Black

In December of 2020, the world lost a leading light in modern economics, Walter Williams. Williams was that rare breed of economist who can also rightly be considered a public intellectual. Through his syndicated columns, talk radio…