I noticed this poem in a book of poetry by Lizzie Magie, published in 1892. It captures the beauty in selfishness when your happiness is derived from helping others. All, all are selfish. There is not one who does not live himself to please. Life holds for each no other aim or object Than to gratify and satisfy his own ambitions and desires. We call those generous who deny themselves To give to others, But by those same denials They are taking greater pleasures than they give, For no one does or can give to another More happiness than he himself receives. Those are just who claim for others The rights they for themselves exact. Those are generous who would make for others The opportunities they wish themselves. The happiest are those who are to others kindest, And who cause most happiness to all. The great are those who make the world The better by their deeds. ...

In this excellent discussion between Axel Leijonhufvud from UCLA and Friedrich Von Hayek from 1978, we learn about Hayek’s experience at university, moving to America, his social circles, economics and perspectives through his life.

It’s common knowledge that Milton Friedman was able to be interviewed by Phil Donahue, not once, but twice! It’s lesser well-known that Walter Williams was also interviewed by Donahue. Here is the full Donahue episode with Walter Williams from the mid 80s.

Women’s wages continue to be a hot topic. The other day, I heard Desi Lydic mention the over 30% pay gap between men and women. There is a lot of interesting history behind women’s wages, and not all of it follows the narrative of discrimination and exploitation. Let’s talk about how women achieved equal pay with men in the past. This content will be broken up into two parts; pre- and post-World War 2. ...

Legal Persons Recently, the GOP blocked a bill that would protect the rights of people to seek invitro fertilization treatment. If you ask the general public what are the root issues surrounding abortion, IVF treatment, and women’s rights, it comes down to whether or not a fetus or embryo is a “person”. But this is misleading at best and malicious goal-shifting at worst. Let’s explain what fetal or embryonic personhood actually means and looks like within the American legal system. This discussion will not attempt to sway your opinion on abortion or abortion rights. It will simply explore the American legal landscape with fetal and embryonic personhood. ...

The Minimum Wage and Youth Unemployment The minimum wage is a hot topic across our nation in the US. Many left-leaning Americans want to push the minimum wage ever higher, to combat cost of living increases and inflation. Right-leaning Americans often decry the minimum wage, but their reasoning often just boils down to ‘communism’. However, it’s absolutely true that the minimum wage has an impact on our unemployment rates in the US, particularly when it comes to teenagers. ...

Thomas Sowell comments on political leaders.

Christopher Hitchens on Firing Line in 1984 discussing the women’s rights movements.

What are rights in America? We discuss the rights of people in America more than in any other country on Earth, it seems. But this conversation is almost instantly muddied because people use different definitions for what rights are. This leads to people on both sides of the aisle simply talking past each other. In particular, the conversation about what rights people have is doubly-muddied once the American Constitution and Bill of Rights are thrown into the mix. ...

In this clip from CSPAN, Walter Williams discusses the difference between political and economic power.