Foundation for Economic Education

[[File:Foundation for Economic Education.svg|thumb|165px|Like any good libertarian, you have to pay a FEE for freedom.]]
{{Economics}}
The '''Foundation for Economic Education''' (or '''FEE''') is the one of the oldest [[libertarian]] [[think tank]]s in the [[United States]]. It was founded in 1946 by an American economic journalist influenced by the [[Austrian school]], Henry Hazlitt, Leonard Read of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and David Goodrich of B.F. Goodrich.  [[John Birch Society]] founder Robert Welch was also a member of its board of trustees.  Leonard Read headed FEE until his 1983 death.  They are most known for their print and online magazines, ''The Freeman'' and ''The Freeman Online''.

Originally they were funded by large business interests, whose profits had been fattened by [[World War II]], as a way to provide intellectual justifications for their preferred policies, complementing their official lobbying group activities, and are credited with founding the libertarian ideology.<ref name="nswfcorp">Mark Ames (November 16, 2012): [https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/milton-friedman/ "When Congress Busted Milton Friedman (and Libertarianism Was Created By Big Business Lobbyists)"], ''NSFWCORP''.</ref> They were revealed in 1950 by the Congressional Buchanan Commission on illegal [[lobby]]ing as nothing but a [[front group]] for business; the Commission highlighted a deal between the FEE and a real estate lobbying group by which the latter paid the former so that it would publish a [[Milton Friedman]]-authored anti-[[rent control]] pamphlet, distributing 500,000 copies through realtor waiting halls.<ref name="nswfcorp"/>

Like most libertarian think tanks, they occasionally run interesting articles on [[civil liberties]]<ref>https://fee.org/articles/the-decline-in-civil-liberties/</ref> and influential libertarian thinkers and philosophers, but churn out the usual tripe about [[anti-environmentalism]] (e.g., [[DDT]] is awesome, [[Global warming|global warming is a vast scientific-environmentalist-socialist conspiracy]]<ref>[http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/environmental-protection-the-new-socialism/ Environmental Protection: The New Socialism!] (So let's move to [[China]], then?)</ref><ref>[http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/global-warming-hot-problem-or-hot-air/ Global Warming: Hot Problem or Hot Air]</ref>) and how we ought to be freed from the tyranny of regulatory agencies like the [[FDA]].<ref>[http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/abolishing-the-fda/ Abolishing the FDA]</ref> Speaking of [[fundamentalism]], FEE has also published works by proponents of [[Christian economics]] including [[R.J. Rushdoony]] and [[Gary North]].

There also seems to be a somewhat [[incest]]uous relationship between FEE and the [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]], which should come as no surprise, although the Mises Institute is largely [[anarcho-capitalist]] while FEE has long taken a [[Small government|minimal-government]] position. Under Leonard Read's watch, FEE was an early promoter of both [[Ayn Rand]] and [[Murray Rothbard]], but he was taken aback by both Rand's [[atheism]]<ref group=note>Read was a devout member of the Congregational Church, today the [[United Church of Christ]], and many early FEE publications were of the '[[free market]] outreach to mainline [[Protestant]]s' sort.</ref> and by the [[anarchism]] of Rothbard and others as early as the 1950s. His 1954 book ''Government &mdash; An Ideal Concept'' was a rebuttal against [[anarcho-capitalism]]. More recently FEE's invitation of [[Rudy Giuliani]] to be their keynote speaker at their annual 2002 banquet led to a revolt by FEE's trustees against then-president [[W._Cleon_Skousen#Family|Mark Skousen]] who was asked to resign by trustees not pleased with the choice of Giuliani.

FEE is headquartered in a sizable mansion in Irvington-on-Hudson, [[New York]] and used to be known for sending free and low-cost books on request. Their most widely circulated books include an [[English]] translation of Frederic Bastiat's 1850 book ''The Law'', Henry Weaver's 1947 ''The Mainspring of Human Progress'', and Leonard Read's essay ''I, Pencil''. The latter describes in great detail how the manufacture of the lowly pencil is the result of many different sources that can only work in synergy under a free market.

==''The Freeman''==
Some people who wrote for ''The Freeman'' or had work published in it.
*[[Gary North]]
*[[R.J. Rushdoony]]
*Mark Skousen, nephew of [[W. Cleon Skousen]]
*[[Thomas Szasz]] (responsible for many of their screeds on [[mental illness denial]] and related [[quack]]ery)

==''From the archives''==
FEE has been spouting insanity (some clearly not very libertarian) since the 1940s, which can be found in their [http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/archive#axzz2uvT8x7AD archives]. Here are some highlights:

* Founding president Leonard E. Read's compares [[African Americans]] to wild animals:

:''There would be no tigers in zoos if they remained as ferocious as when first captured There never would have been any Negro [[slavery]] in the United States had the Negroes remained as intractable as when first taken from their African habitat. But, like the tigers, most of them soon lost consciousness of a [[freedom]] greater than the enslavement into which they were plunged. They became accustomed to their lot and, for the most part, accepted it.''<ref>[http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/why-is-slavery-possible#axzz2ut4MA5yq Why is Slavery Possible?]</ref>

* Writing in favor of racial [[segregation]] in [[public schools]]:

:''Is not this opinion clearly discriminatory against the Negro race? It is, beyond question, based on the idea that the exclusive company of Negroes in school is somehow lacking in educational opportunity.''<ref>[http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/a-decree-of-racial-inferiority#axzz2ut4MA5yq  A Decree Of Racial Inferiority]</ref>

* An article against [[LGBT rights]], including [[Same-sex marriage|marriage]]:

:''There is something about encountering homosexuality in its militant and pugnacious form that touches a deep, almost reflexive anger, even among most heterosexual liberals. That is why attempts at “mainstreaming” gay culture, even when holding an olive branch, are bound to fail.''<ref>[http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/homosexualitys-legal-revolution#axzz2ut4MA5yq Homosexuality's Legal Revolution]</ref>

* They are still against [[Feminism|women's lib]], but their older articles are funnier than newer ones.

:''Given the opportunity of serving under a woman holding a B.A. or a man holding a B.A., most women, I think it is safe to say, would choose the man (assuming similar personalities and competence of the competing candidates). If the men of a corporation had the choice, an even larger percentage would be likely to prefer mascu­line superiors. This is a fact of life, unlikely to change in the near future.''<ref>[http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/the-feminine-mistake-the-economics-of-womens-liberation#ixzz2uvCBnu14 The Feminine Mistake]</ref>

* FEE believed that protesting against the [[Vietnam War]] was equal to violence.

:''Violence is too common for mention. One need only glance at the newspaper head­lines to realize that the seeds of [[revolution]] are being sown through­out the country today. The assault on a single day last April of 185,­000 demonstrators against the Vietnam War with displays of hatred for our country and con­tempt for its laws and institutions is example enough.''<ref>[http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/leaving-the-problem-to-others#ixzz2uvINW2MP Leaving the Problem to Others]</ref>

==YouTube==
They now operate a [[YouTube]] channel<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCialsmUlTRABKPw31VDx1eQ Official Youtube channel]</ref> with videos regarding economics, and have hired Seamus Coughlin from FreedomToons (another libertarian) to animate their videos.<ref>[https://fee.org/people/seamus-coughlin/ Seamus Coughlin]</ref> These videos are complete libertarian nonsense and shouldn't be watched for anything but a laugh.
==See also==
*[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]]
*[[Health freedom]], because it wouldn't be a free market without unrestricted [[quackery]]
*https://www.youtube.com/user/Cartanimation

==External links==
*[http://www.fee.org/ FEE Homepage]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Austrian school]]
[[Category:Denialist organizations]]
[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoting organizations]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Sexism]]
[[Category:Think tanks]]
[[Category:YouTube]]

Categories: Austrian school, Denialist organizations, Economics, Homophobia, Libertarianism, Misnomers, Pseudoscience promoting organizations, Racism, Sexism, Think tanks, YouTube