Public Opinion

Essays on Political Economy by Frédéric Bastiat.Bastiat asserted that the only purpose of government is to defend the right of an individual to life, liberty, and property. From this definition, Bastiat concluded that the law cannot defend life, liberty and property if it promotes socialist policies inherently opposed to these very things. In this way, he says, the law is perverted and turned against the thing it is supposed to defend.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

Trial of Susan B. Anthony.In 1872, after the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, the women’s suffrage movement in the United States adopted a new strategy. Arguing that the right to vote was one of the “privileges and immunities” guaranteed to every citizen by that amendment, the women were inspired to put this interpretation to the test in practice by attempting to register and vote in the November election. In Rochester, NY, fourteen women, including Susan B. Anthony, were successful. Within days after having cast their votes, however, they were arrested, as were the three election inspectors who had received their votes. Suspecting that a Rochester jury might be sympathetic to Miss Anthony, the prosecution requested a change of venue to the nearby city of Canandaigua, where trials were held in June 1873.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

Humorous Readings and Recitations by Leopold Wagner.Before radio, television, and electronic mass media, lectures, recitations, public readings, and other public performances were important ways of sharing new works with the public or attracting public attention to issues and authors of the time. Public performance was, in a sense, the internet of its day, as people sought to learn of the world around them, as well as entertain themselves. This anthology of short humorous pieces was intended as a ready reference of material of all sorts to those who participated in public performance, whether professionally, or as part of a school or community program. The pieces themselves were intended to be read aloud, shared with, and appreciated by, an audience.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

Free Press by Hilaire Belloc.I propose to discuss in what follows the evil of the great modern Capitalist Press, its function in vitiating and misinforming opinion and in putting power into ignoble hands; its correction by the formation of small independent organs, and the probably increasing effect of these last.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

Reviews by Oscar Wilde.Wilde’s literary reputation has survived so much that I think it proof against any exhumation of articles which he or his admirers would have preferred to forget. As a matter of fact, I believe this volume will prove of unusual interest; some of the reviews are curiously prophetic; some are, of course, biassed by prejudice hostile or friendly; others are conceived in the author’s wittiest and happiest vein; only a few are colourless. And if, according to Lord Beaconsfield, the verdict of a continental nation may be regarded as that of posterity, Wilde is a much greater force in our literature than even friendly contemporaries ever supposed he would become.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

Reviews by Oscar Wilde.Wilde’s literary reputation has survived so much that I think it proof against any exhumation of articles which he or his admirers would have preferred to forget. As a matter of fact, I believe this volume will prove of unusual interest; some of the reviews are curiously prophetic; some are, of course, biassed by prejudice hostile or friendly; others are conceived in the author’s wittiest and happiest vein; only a few are colourless. And if, according to Lord Beaconsfield, the verdict of a continental nation may be regarded as that of posterity, Wilde is a much greater force in our literature than even friendly contemporaries ever supposed he would become.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

Armenian Crisis in Turkey by Frederick Davis Greene.Frederick Greene shows in this book that the case of the subject races in the Ottoman Empire is desperate, that there is no hope of reform from within, and that relief vimust therefore come through the interference of the powers of Europe. Their action depends largely on the support of the public. “Public opinion,” therefore, “must be brought to bear upon this case,” as Mr. Gladstone said in the House of Commons six years ago. Since then there has been added a new chapter of horrors, and the demand for decisive action in the name of our common humanity has become more urgent. The facts furnished by this book ought to arouse such public opinion as will justify and compel prompt and efficient action on the part of the Powers. The United States need not depart from its long-established foreign policy, but is bound to protect its own honor and the lives and property of its citizens.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

On Liberty (Version 2) by John Stuart Mill.On Liberty by John Stuart Mill is an essay about individual freedom and its limits. Mill argues that people should be free to think, speak, and act as they wish, as long as they don’t harm others. He believes this freedom leads to progress and happiness. Governments and society shouldn’t control people’s choices unless those choices hurt someone else. On Liberty is pertinent to contemporary debates about free speech, personal rights, and social control and so retains its relevance, perhaps more urgently than ever. Mill’s work is key to a proper understanding of the balance between freedom and responsibility, in a world where the exercise of power and the use of new technologies threaten liberty around the world.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

Propaganda by Edward Bernays."Propaganda" incorporates psychological manipulation and social sciences to examine ways of manipulating masses of people. Bernays believed that increasing complexities of civilization created a need for invisible government, and the technical means through propaganda were the most effective way that public opinion and mass consent could be engineered artificially. As such, it led Bernays to believe that Democracy could be administered by an intelligent minority who were strategically placed to regiment and guide the masses.Featured on Public Opinion.Public-domain recording courtesy of LibriVox (librivox.org).This episode includes AI-generated content.

The Great Controversy.This episode includes AI-generated content.