The history of ancient Rome repeatedly demonstrates the connection between low taxes and prosperity. It also shows the connection between confiscatory taxes and political and social unrest. As the Roman empire expanded, so did the emperors’ appetites for revenue. Taxes reached the point that most people could not meet their tax burdens out of their
READ MOREEvery week it seems I receive three or four letters from people who are establishing new schools or reforming old ones. These letters are most encouraging, and all of the writers, without exception, are dedicated to restoring what is called a “classical” education. Sometimes that implies the study of the true classics, the literature of ancient
READ MORE“The one thing that is never taught by any chance in the atmosphere of public schools,” wrote G. K. Chesterton, “is…that there is a whole truth of things, and that in knowing it and speaking it we are happy.”[1] Such words would be greeted with calculated coldness by the architects of the common core curriculum, who
READ MOREWith declining academics, a tight job market, and continued outsourcing, America is increasingly looking at other countries to see how to get ahead in the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, however, it seems that Americans are ignoring an education method that’s increasingly popular in other nations: apprenticeship. “American businesses typically want someone else …
READ MOREFor nearly five centuries, Res Publica Romana—the Roman Republic—bestowed upon the world a previously unseen degree of respect for individual rights and the rule of law. When the republic expired, the world would not see those wondrous achievements again on a comparable scale for a thousand years. In print and from the podium, I have addressed
READ MORE“If we just get the right guy elected, if we just get the right legislation passed, then things will be better.” We at Intellectual Takeout hear this reasoning a lot. We hear it from both liberals and conservatives. The assumption behind it is that politics and legislation effects real change in society, and that they
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