L4K Best of 2009 - Lemonade Stand Chronicles

By far the most popular posts - based on emails - have been the five Lemonade Stand stories. If you missed them the first time, you can read them all here:

http://liberty4kids.blogspot.com/search/label/lemonade%20stand

The Nanny State, Debt and Your Children

Political Paternalism and Tyranny

"Unless those who love liberty stop it, the radical ideological belief in political paternalism and the welfare state may leave nothing but tyranny and poverty for generations to come."

To read Professor Ebeling's article, click here.

Letting Be Video

This video is an entry to The Fraser Institute's Student Video Contest. It asks the question, What is the role of government in the economy?

Hat Tip: Michael Nystrom

Give the Gift of a Libertarian Children's Book

While not an exhaustive list by any measure, these are some of my favorite children books with libertarian themes. I have only included books that I have read.

Please add any recommendations to the comments section.

Pre-school

Little Red Hen

The Three Little Pigs

The Ant and the Grasshopper

The Emperor's New Clothes

Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

Thidwick the Big-hearted Moose by Dr. Seuss

Grades 1 – 3

They can read the above books or read to them the Little House and Narnia books.

An Island Called Liberty by Joseph Specht

Grades 4 – 5

Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House: The Rose Years by Roger Lea MacBride

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

Grades 6 – 8

The Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix (okay for some 4^th and 5^th graders)

High School

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell

Pass the Debt Burden

Terry Paulson writes, "It took nearly 150 years for Congress to pass a resolution apologizing for slavery. We should apologize now to future generations for what we’ve done and are doing to America. Though our generation’s motivation was compassionate, we’re leaving America worse.

. . .

"Unfortunately, since we keep adding more entitlements and refuse to pay as we go, we leave no inheritance of opportunity, just a horrendous, out-of-control debt. Our current deficit is over $12 trillion, but that’s just what politicians will admit. Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker estimates the total “unfunded liabilities” at $56.4 trillion. That’s the bill to pay off the publicly held portion of the national debt and all the benefits already promised through Social Security, Medicare and other welfare programs minus what will be collected for these programs under existing tax laws.

. . .

"Like Boy Scouts who work to leave the wilderness better than they found it, every generation should leave America better for having lived. Leaving future generations the bill for our excesses doesn’t leave a legacy we can be proud of!"

The House That Uncle Sam Built

"The man who parties like there is no tomorrow puts his body through an “up” and a “down” course that looks a lot like the business cycle. At the party, the man freely imbibes. He has a great time before stumbling home at 2:00 a.m., where he crashes on the sofa. A few hours later, he awakens in the grip of the dreaded hangover. He then has a choice to make: get a short-term lift from another drink or sober up. If he chooses the latter and endures a few hours of discomfort, he can recover. In any event, no one would say the hangover is when the harm is done; the harm was done the night before and the hangover is the evidence." - from The House That Uncle Sam Built by Steve Horwitz and Pete Boettke

To read the story of what caused the housing bubble that led to the economic collapse of 2008, go here.

Government Project Management Graphic

HT: LibertarianChristians.com