Walter E. Williams

475 days ago - Edgar K. Browning, professor of economics at Texas A&M University, has a new book aptly titled “Stealing From Each Other.” Its subtitle, “How the Welfare State Robs Americans of Money and Spirit,” goes to the heart of what the book is about. The rise of equalitarian ideology has driven Americans to steal from one another. Browning explains that certain kinds of equality have been a cherished value in America. Equality under the law and, within reason, equality of opportunity is consistent with a free society. Equality of results is an anathema to a free society and within it lie the seeds of tyranny.

482 days ago - Let’s face it. The average individual American has little or no clout with Congress and can be safely ignored. But it’s a different story with groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club and the Nature Conservancy. When they speak, Congress listens. Unlike the average American, they are well organized, loaded with cash and well-positioned to be a disobedient congressman’s worst nightmare. Their political and economic success has been a near disaster for our nation.

489 days ago - "Hard Times at Douglass High” is an HBO documentary that aired last June. It captured much of the 2004-2005 school year at Baltimore’s predominantly black Frederick Douglass High School. The tragedy is that what is seen in the documentary is typical of most predominantly black urban schools.

504 days ago - Despite Congress’ periodic hauling of weak-kneed oil executives before their committees to charge them with collusion and price gouging, subsequent federal investigations turn up no evidence to support the charges. Right now oil company executives are getting a bit of a respite as Congress has turned its attention to crude oil speculators, blaming them for high oil prices and calling for tighter control over commodity futures trading.

511 days ago - Why is it that mankind enjoys cell phones, computers and airplanes today but not when King Louis XIV was alive? The necessary physical resources to make cell phones, computers and airplanes have always been around, even when cavemen walked the Earth. There is only one answer to why we enjoy these goodies today and not yesteryear. It’s the growth in human knowledge, ingenuity along with specialization and trade that led to industrialization, coupled with personal liberty and private property rights.

518 days ago - I have no idea of the number of traffic signals in our country, but whatever the number, how many of my fellow Americans would like the U.S. Congress to be in charge of their operation? Congress, or a committee it authorizes, would determine the length of time red stays red and green stays green and what hours of the day they can be flashing red.

525 days ago - It’s been at least five years since I’ve flown commercial, and for good reason: I don’t wish to be arrested for questioning actions by often arrogant, rude Transportation Security Administration workers. Two years ago, my decision was reinforced by my daughter’s experience when going through airport security with her two lovebirds. Having shown her ticket and ID to security personnel, and walking toward the metal detector, they started shouting to her, “Miss, you’re going to have to take them birds out of the cage.” I watched with incredulity as she approached the metal detectors. Fortunately, a TSA worker took the cages and my daughter followed without further incident. Had it been I traveling with the birds, I might have told the TSA workers something that would have gotten me arrested.

532 days ago - L et’s do a thought experiment asking whether Americans are for or against slavery. You might say, “What are you talking about, Williams? We fought a war that cost more than 600,000 lives to end slavery!” To get started, we might find a description that captures the essence of slavery. A good working description is: Slavery is a set of circumstances whereby one person is forcibly used to serve the purposes of another person and has no legal claim to the fruits of his labor.

539 days ago - What assumptions do congressmen make about the American people? Do they assume that we’re dumb or ill-informed about the energy problems we are experiencing? Every time there has been a huge spike in gasoline prices, Congress hauls oil company executives before their committees to accuse them of greed, obscene profits and price fixing. One federal investigation after another of supposed oil company misconduct turns up nothing to substantiate congressional allegations.

546 days ago - In searching for villains for rising food and oil prices, some commentators have turned to speculators, namely people trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and similar exchanges around the world. A sample of the claims: “Biofuels and droughts can’t fully explain the recent food crisis — hedge funds and small investors bear some responsibility for global hunger.” “The global food crisis is likely to persist if speculative investment by the corporate world is not reined in soon, warned a top expert responsible for reporting to the United Nations on human rights violations.” “Financial speculators reap profits from global hunger.”

553 days ago - Every time there’s a highly publicized shooting, out go the cries for stricter gun control laws, and it was no different with the recent murder of Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, in a letter to the state congressional delegation demanding re-enactment of the federal assault weapon ban, said, “Passing this legislation will go a long way to protecting those who put their lives on the line every day for us. There is no excuse to do otherwise.”

567 days ago - Now that another Earth Day has come and gone, let’s look at some environmentalist predictions they would prefer we forget.