WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN DOCUMENTARIES An examination of the global history of gun control laws reveals their dark side, how they have been commonly used to disarm targeted groups in advance of organized genocide, and to victimize women and minorities. [ Innocents Betrayed credits: Dir: Aaron Zelman/ 58 min/ Documentary/ Democide, Second Amendment] Note: the full … [Read more...]
The Lottery | Film Review
Five NYC students enter a lottery for acceptance to a local charter school, their only hope of escaping a government school system otherwise fully in the self-serving grip of the teachers union…but not all will win their ticket out of the education-industrial complex. [ The Lottery credits: Dir: Madeleine Sackler/ 81 min/ Documentary/ Government schools, Incompetent government/ … [Read more...]
Work & Happiness: The Human Cost Of Welfare | Film Review
An examination of the US welfare system reveals that whatever good it does in terms of providing subsistence, it does so at a terrible cost in human happiness. [ Work & Happiness: The Human Cost of Welfare credits: Dir: Erin Mae Miller/ Narrator: Johan Norberg/ 60 min/ Documentary/ Anti-Socialism/ 2017] The US spends about a trillion dollars a year on its … [Read more...]
Sweden: Lessons for America? | Film Review
Sweden’s “socialist” success story is closely examined, only to reveal that it’s actually a capitalist success story. [ Sweden: Lessons for America credits: Dir: James Tusty, Maureen Castle Tusty / Narrator: Johan Norberg/ 60 min/ Documentary/ Econ 101, Anti-Socialism, Pro-Capitalism/ 2018] What if Sweden isn’t an argument for socialism – but an argument for capitalism? … [Read more...]
How Jack Became Black | Film Review
A father forced by the public school system to categorize his multiracial children by "primary race" explores the silliness of racial identity. [ How Jack Became Black credits: Dir: Eli Steele/ 96 min/ Documentary/ Equality & Law, Individualism/ 2018] The centuries-old concept of race (or tribe, or caste, etc.) was always intended, from the outset, to divide people. … [Read more...]
Poverty, Inc. | Film Review
WINNER: ANTHEM FILM FESTIVAL, GRAND PRIZE WINNER: TEMPLETON FREEDOM AWARD Poverty Inc. examines the unintended consequences of efforts by the West to alleviate poverty in less-developed countries, suggesting that free markets would do more good than charity. [ Dir: Michael Matheson Miller/ 94 min/ Documentary/ Econ 101, Pro-capitalism/ 2014] Institutions inescapably … [Read more...]
The Price of Peace | Film Review
A documentary examination of how best to avoid war reveals that maintaining a strong defense, costly though it may be, is inescapably the price of peace. Credits: [Dir: Kip Perry, Elan Bentov/ Johan Norberg/ 60 min/ Documentary/ Anti-war/ 2018] War is indeed the health of the State -- pretty much every war ends up stimulating a permanent expansion of government. So … [Read more...]
What Happened in Vegas | Film Review
GRAND PRIZE WINNER: ANTHEM FILM FESTIVAL Filmmaker Ramsey Denison investigates the Las Vegas police department for corruption -- and finds plenty. [ What Happened in Vegas credits: Dir: Ramsey Denison/ 90 min/ Documentary/ Abuse of power, Corrupt government/ 2017] In 2013, Ramsey Denison was vacationing in Las Vegas when he witnessed police abusing a handcuffed suspect. … [Read more...]
Citizen Jane: Battle for the City | Film Review
A journalist discovers spontaneous order in city development -- and takes on City Hall to fight its vision of a bulldozed, centrally-planned urban landscape. [ Citizen Jane: Battle for the City credits: Dir: Matt Tyrnauer/ 92 min/ Documentary/ Eminent Domain, Libertarian Heroes/ 2017] “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and … [Read more...]
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail | Film Review
Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a family-owned community bank, suffers the full wrath of regulatory authorities as it (curiously) becomes the only financial institution to face criminal charges related to the subprime mortgage crisis. [ Abacus: Small Enough to Jail credits: Dir: Steve James/ 88 min/ Documentary/ Anti-Regulation, Creator-As-Hero/ 2017] Out of nearly 7,000 … [Read more...]