America and the Value of 'Earned Success'

I learned to appreciate the American free enterprise system by quitting a job in Spain.

At age 19, I dropped out of school to pursue a career as a French horn player. After a few twists and turns, I wound up in the Barcelona Symphony, which was a Spanish government job.

Even as a foreigner, I had the same lifetime work status as a clerk at the water department. Nobody ever left these jobs, except with lavish disability packages. (One colleague who injured his lips moonlighting at a dance-hall gig ended up spending the next 20 years collecting a full salary to stay home.)

I loved music—but the life of a government functionary wasn't my cup of tea. And so my Spanish wife and I decided to pull up stakes and start over in America. Neither of us had a college degree, and my wife's English was limited. Arthur C. Brooks - Wall Street Journal - Click To Read More

Mr. Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute and author of "The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise," published this week by Basic Books.

How Important Is Religious Freedom to You?

In 1790, George Washington exchanged letters with Moses Seixas, the warden of the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, R.I. Seixas praised the newly formed United States for "affording to All liberty of conscience, and immunities of citizenship." People who knew all too well what it meant to be deprived of the "invaluable rights of free Citizens" held religious liberty and freedom of conscience most dear.

In reply, Washington wrote that U.S. citizens had a "right to applaud themselves" for setting an example of "an enlarged and liberal policy" that enshrined freedom of conscience. He added that the ability of members of one faith to seek the benefit of all Americans is the foundation of America's civic strength. Donald Wuerl, Charles Colson and Meir Y. Soloverichik writing for the Wall Street Journal. - Click To Read More...

Cardinal Wuerl is the archbishop of Washington, D.C. Mr. Colson is the founder of Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Rabbi Soloveichik is director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University and associate rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan

Wether it's TSA, the mandate in the Affordable Care Act or requiring employers to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception, your rights under the Constitution are being taken away. You do not have to be Jewish, Catholic or Protestant to be outraged.

The Obama administration is forcing you as a citizen of this country to take a stand. If you do not you loose. If you do not consider the basic tenant of liberty for all, you are lost to a runaway government that will continue to force your hand. - DSMW

Channeling Herman Cain's Declaration

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator, (not a man, not an administration) with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government... Herman Cain quoting the Declaration of Independence

This was the best part of Herman Cain's speeches. He always started them this way and the crowds went wild. Like he was quoting something new, giving permission in a way to a ballroom full of humanity thirsting for the consent of the governed, knowing in their hearts that their government has become destructive.

Standing there listening to Cain recite the Declaration I was reminded of these forgotten words and it was thrilling. I somehow felt I was breaking some law, listening and thinking about the possibility of standing up for my rights. To hear the words that Governments are instuted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed was something I had forgotten. To know that I could, along with everyone at the Hyatt, alter or abolish the government if it became destructive of my liberty. This was a secret power I wanted to think about and turn over in my mind. It was empowering. It was a way out.

Herman Cain reminded me that the current administration, the EPA, the Czars, TSA, the courts, did not have the final say about my freedom and liberty, I did. It was mine and I could change it I if it became destructive of these ends.

No matter what happens to Herman Cain he will be a hard act to follow, just ask Rick Santorum. When he had to follow one of Cain's Declaration speeches in Orlando he quipped he was going to fire his campaign manager. Cain's message that day will not be forgotten. It rang loud and clear. You have the final say as a country. You are in charge.

Common Sense: The Future of the Republic Depends on It

Jason Cannata

Most people today do not really think about how far our country has strayed from the original Foundation that was set over 200 years ago. In fact, too many do not even think about why America was formed in the first place. However, it is clear that one thing from the 1770s must be preserved in order for this nation to prosper again, and sadly, that is also what we are sorely lacking.

Back when the Founders created a set of laws based on freedom and individual rights, there was no question that everything had to make sense for the country and its people. For example, selecting George Washington as the first President of the recently United States ensured that a person with no affiliation to any political party would launch the Republic, and the well being of all citizens would be the focus. Washington refused compensation for his work as president and a number of historians argue that he was the best leader who ever held the office.

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Egyptian Emotions Run High While Iran Brace for Protest

"This is the first time I've felt joy like this," "I've spent 17 days and nights in Tahrir, and I feel like I just woke up out of a nightmare that was Mubarak's reign. The Egyptian people have pride, and we've realized our potential. We're not the negative people everyone said we are. The youth aren't simple-minded like they thought we were."  said Egyptian Khaled Younes, 21 

Around Cairo, people hugged and kissed the soldiers who had come into the street two weeks earlier and allowed the demonstrations that the police had tried to suppress. The soldiers, who will have to shepherd any transition to democracy, were swept up as well. "Congratulations sir," one soldier told an old man. "God willing, we'll have an Egypt that will make you proud." 

It's easy to throw stones but it's not easy to chart a new course. Our hard work begins tomorrow vows Ibrahim Haridy, an Egyptian accountant. Egyptians feel that they are living life at "half speed and now will live their lives at full speed."

In Iran things are different. The Iranian government has taken extradonary measures since the uprisings have sweep across the Middle East last month to suppress dissent. It has executed one person every nine hours since Jan. 1, breaking the per capita world record. In January alone 87 people were executed.

Freedom of Inquiry

The only societies in which true science has ever thrived are those established on the principles of classical liberalism. Where government is limited, science can flourish because it is only under such conditions that free inquiry, on which science depends, is protected.

Alan Pell Crawford quotes Timothy Ferris' in his new book "The Science of Liberty"