Paul Meany

Zara Yacob was an Ethiopian philosopher whose thought shares many common features with Enlightenment liberalism.

A writer and scholar, Zora Neale Hurston celebrated black culture and defied the left-​right binary.

Enlightenment thinker Mary Wollstonecraft continues to inspire people the world over.

Josiah Wedgwood was an industrialist, abolitionist, inventor, and in many respects the first modern philanthropist.

Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” caused widespread famines. The small village of Xiaogang had suffered enough under communist principles, so residents decided to implement private property—and the results of this experiment changed the whole nation of China.

Turgot, a French statesman, economist, and early advocate of economic liberalism, was one of the first to ponder how we achieve moral and material progress.

Both F.A. Hayek and Václav Havel understood that ideological constructions could insulate individuals from authentic engagement with reality.

The writings of the ancient Roman Cicero inspired countless revolutionaries.

Though more famous as a classical liberal today, Mill was one of the most radical feminists of his day.

How a group of veterans restored democracy to a small town.

Frédéric Bastiat’s The Law is one of the most incisive attacks on socialists and protectionists. Bastiat was one of France’s most passionate classical liberals.

The 17th-​century Englishman John Cooke was one of the tyranny’s greatest enemies, being the first-​ever person to prosecute a head of state for crimes against humanity.

Despite starting out as a communist, Rose Wilder Lane became a staunch advocate of individualism.

For Aristotle private property was about more than economic gains.

John Locke attacked patriarchy in both the political and private sphere and when compared to his contemporaries his views on women were surprisingly progressive.