Category : Dr. Mark Pingle’s articles

     If you value freedom, The Law, written in 1850 by Fredric Bastiat, is one of the best books you’ll ever read.  You can pull up its 70 pages on the Internet for free, and once you start reading you likely will not want to quit.    In The Law, Bastiat explains the proper role […]Read More

By Dr. Mark Pingle Of all the words in the Declaration of Independence, the most famous are these: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” When Thomas […]Read More

On December 30, 2012, Georgetown University law professor Louis Seidman published an opinion in the New York Times entitled, “Let’s Give Up on the Constitution.”  No, Mr. Seidman, let’s not. While the mindset of Mr. Seidman is destructive and most of his logic nonsensical, I appreciate the willingness of this thinker to express himself so […]Read More

I had started to write a post on identity and the election, but my end of semester busy-ness kept me from finishing it.  The following, by Norm Robins, provides an understanding of how the concept of identity influences us, and probably did influence the election. How Obama Got Reelected By Norm Robins I like a […]Read More

Check out this article, in which Norm Robbins colorfully highlights some issues related to the fiscal cliff.  Sincerely, Mark Pingle Is There Anyone Out There Who Can Help Me? By Norm Robins   The only Zen Buddhist joke I know goes like this:  A young Zen monk is walking near a cliff reading a book.  […]Read More

Tomorrow, I will cast my vote for Mitt Romney.  There are big reasons and small reasons.  The primary reason is, more so than Barack Obama, Mitt Romney stands for what has brought civilization and prosperity to the masses.   In one of the more interesting books I have read, Bourgeois Dignity, Deirdre McCloskey makes an […]Read More

    One of the most important ideas in economics is the “Tragedy of the Commons” idea.  The name derives from medieval times, and the practice of providing a common grazing area which many herdsmen could freely access.    Because an individual herder receives all the benefit from using the grazing area, while the other users share […]Read More