Free Republic

Are there parallels between the anti-war, hippies of the 1960s and today’s social justice warriors? Are there valuable lessons we can learn from the past, both cultural and spiritual, that will give us insight for today? Growing up in the 60s (I was born in 1955), I lived through the anti-war movement. But for me, being a few years younger than the activists, that era was all about rock music and drugs. Giving the “peace” sign was just something we hippies did. “Peace, man,” we would say while holding up two fingers. Our mantra was, “Make love not war.” As...

Would a Fair Tax petition form letter for interested people to print out, sign and mail to their representatives be a good idea?

Extraordinary advances of democracy have occurred in recent months: elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and Palestine; local elections in Saudi Arabia; Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon; the opening of the presidential election in Egypt; and upheavals against entrenched authoritarians in Kyrgyzstan. Rarely have conditions seemed so fluid and the environment so malleable. This welcome trend was partly triggered by President Bush's Middle East policy and accelerated by his second inaugural address, which elevated the progress of freedom in the world to the defining objective of American foreign policy. Pundits have interpreted these events as a victory of "idealists" over "realists"...

More than 1,300 college students will meet at University of California, Berkeley this weekend for a national conference for students involved in service, activism, politics and socially responsible work. The COOL Idealist National Conference is the largest national meeting of college students involved in activism. The event includes a dozen daylong forums and 165 workshops, as well as an opportunities fair and an awards conference. The conference is all day Friday through Sunday at various locations on campus. Visit www.idealist.org/ioc/conference for more information. Event highlights include an opportunities fair from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Friday and 12:30 to 2 p.m....

The American flag stands for more than our power and our interests. Our Founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity - the rights of every person and the possibilities of every life. This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men. - - - One-third of the way through his speech, the President turned to the issue on everyone's minds. How did he begin his call for action against Saddam Hussein? With a bellicose assertion of American might? With a wounded declaration of American...