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I've published hundreds of articles and opinion pieces in numerous publications, ranging from some of the USA’s most influential publications to some of the strangest and most notorious. They include THE NATION, REASON, THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION (South’s largest paper), CREATIVE LOAFING (largest “alternative” weekly in America), THE FREEMAN (from America's first free-market think tank), THE SPLATTER TIMES (“The World’s Most Violent Magazine”), TRASHOLA, GALLERY, Larry Flynt's HUSTLER and CHIC, among many others.

I've been a Finalist in the Mencken Awards, formerly given by the Free Press Association for “Outstanding Journalism in Defense of Liberty.” My winning article, a look at censorship in America, led to the creation of a national anti-censorship trade organization.

I edit THE LIBERATOR ONLINE, the world's largest-circulation libertarian newsletter, which I co-founded a decade ago. Beginning with about 200 readers, it now has over 70,000 subscribers in over 100 countries. It is published by the Advocates for Self-Government, a non-profit educational organization. Subscriptions are free, so get one.

Below is a sample of my articles, from my earliest published stuff in the 1980s to the present. The order is very loose right now. I'll be sorting them better in the days ahead. And I hope to add more articles in the near future as well.

NOTE: Some (not all) of the articles below are pdf files. You'll need the free Adobe pdf reader to read them.

MAGAZINE / FEATURE ARTICLES on POLITICAL ISSUES

American Jihad: Losing Battles in the War on Drugs -- Hustler magazine. The War on Drugs is really a war against the Bill of Rights and liberty.

The More the Merrier: Is World OverPopulation a Myth? -- Hustler magazine. Almost forty years ago Paul Ehrlich argued the world was doomed by overpopulation. He was dead wrong, but the doomsayers keep making the same old arguments and people keep believing them. It's all a lot of hooey.

No Censorship of Cigarette Ads -- from the book American Voices, 1988. Prize-winning essay that argues that cigarette ads are protected by the First Amendment.

FDR: The True Legacy -- Libertarian Forum, May-June, 1983. An early article of mine that rips into arguably the worst U.S. president prior to the Bush regime.

Cross Fire: Anti-Gun Fanatics Blast the Second Amendment -- Hustler.  "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of firearms," wrote Jefferson. But he hadn't met some of the anti-Second Amendment forces described in this article from the mid-1980s.

Third-Parties Out -- The Nation, November 12, 1990. A look at the little-known, nasty and blatantly undemocratic laws the Democrats and Republicans have passed to kill new parties and keep them off the ballot. Surely you really don't believe the U.S. election process is fair and honest? This was reprinted in some university text.

The Mice That Roar: Third Parties in America -- Gallery. In 1984, this article was one of the few in any national publication in American that gave a look at third parties running that year. A lot of the information here is still valid. 

An American Credo for the 1980s -- New Libertarian, June 1985. Idiotic things that most Americans believe. It would have to be much longer today. An update of an classic H.L. Mencken piece.

Thoughts on Being Our Brother's Keeper -- The Freeman. A very early article of mine, in this renowned journal of free-market thought, that explored the possible meanings of the phrase "we are our brother's keeper."

Libertarians Condemn Republicans For Voting Against the Fourth Amendment -- Georgia Congressional Review. You think the war against civil liberties in America started after 9-11? Hardly. In February 1995, the Republican majority in Congress, along with many Democrats, voted overwhelmingly against the entire Fourth Amendment, 303-121. Here's the story, plus 3 other articles.

"I'm a Free Man Resisting Slavery": Paul Jacob's Fight Against the Draft -- Reason Magazine, February 1987. A profile of the heroic draft registration resister. The draft is slavery, and Paul Jacob tells why.

All-American Draft Resister: Interview with Paul Jacob -- Chic, October 1986. Interview with this heroic young draft registration resistor, who went underground rather than submit to the tyranny of draft registration.

Enemy of the State: Interview with Murray Rothbard -- Chic, September 1985. What a privilege and honor to interview the man I believe was the greatest libertarian thinker of the century.

The Decline and Fall of American Statesmanship -- Hustler. My first article for Hustler, an attack on the tyrants and scum who rule us. Twenty-five years later, things are exactly the same, except worse.

The Other Moral Majority -- The Georgia Libertarian. Liberals and leftists rightly laughed at Jerry Falwell's numbskull Moral Majority. But there's a liberal/left Moral Majority, too, and it's just as vicious, close-minded, and tyrannical. One of my earliest articles.

Confessions of a Pornomaniac -- Nomos, May / June 1987. How exposure to pornography doomed me to become a rapist and serial killer. Based on amazingly bogus and moronic arguments from the official Moral Majority newspaper.

Georgia Republicans Organize Against Sex  (unpublished). More true than you might think.

MAGAZINE ARTICLES on NON-POLITICAL TOPICS

ZEN and the $600 '63 Beetle: Diary of a Madman -- VW & Porsche, January / February 1985.
My love affair with a crumbling old Beetle. Reads like fiction, but it is all true. I still love those cars...

Japan's Balloon Bombs -- Skylite, 1985. The amazing, little-known story of Japan's World War II bombing assault on America using the world's first intercontinental weapons-- balloon bombs. And yes, some hit American shores. From an in-flight magazine.

NEWSPAPER COLUMNS, OPINION PIECES, OP-EDS

Why is Marijuana Still Illegal? -- Orange County Register (California), July 13, 2007. Makes both the moral and practical case for ending marijuana prohibition. The Register is one of America's largest newspapers, and for several days this was the most highly rated story in their opinion section. It was reprinted elsewhere online.

"Collateral Damage," Once Again -- Atlanta Press, September 1998. Orwell said it perfectly: "Political language [is] designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable."

End the Violence: Re-Legalize Drugs -- The Georgia Libertarian. A good list of reasons to end the idiotic War on Drugs. I believe 20,000 copies of this article were distributed in the Atlanta area by the Libertarian Party of Georgia.

Public Problem Could Have Private Solution -- Columbus (Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer, 1988. There's nothing worthwhile the government does that the private sector can't do better and cheaper. This op-ed gives some examples of how privatization could save taxpayers huge amounts of money while improving service. Of course, the government ignored it.

MY NOTORIOUS GEORGIA NEWSPAPER COLUMNS

In the mid-1980s I briefly wrote a weekly column on Georgia politics for the Warner Robbins Independent newspaper. I wanted to write something strong and controversial, something worth reading, but I had no idea just how many people I was offending. Finally the publisher, at the insistence of his wife, demanded the editor stop running it. The editor, a fan of my column and enough of a man to resist being pushed around, refused. The publisher fired him. I was horrified. But the story has a happy ending. The paper went into a tailspin, new investors bought it and reinstalled the old editor, and to celebrate he ran a front page story about me and some political event I was involved in. Any writer can shoot his mouth off, but it takes real guts for an editor to publish it and stand by it. These are old columns, but in politics the issues never really change, and I think some of my best writing is scattered among them.

Pull the Plug on Public TV

Gambling Laws Make No Sense

Pot Calling Kettle Black

Smut-sniffers Blew One in Macon Arrest

Seat Belts, Fat Patrols, and Killer Jeans

Ballot Access Law Needs Amending Now

Keep an Eye on the Gang under the Golden Dome

Politics, Highways Wasteful Combination

A Good Lesson in Special-Interest Politics

You've a Right to Be Stupid Too

Tony Suffered the "Public Good"

Trying to Put Out a Fire with Gasoline

Three Cheers for Georgia's Trucking Deregulation

SELECTED ARTICLES from the LIBERATOR ONLINE

Here are a few of my favorite stories from the Liberator Online, which I founded and still edit today. It's published by the Advocates for Self-Government, and is the world's largest-circulation libertarian publication. They are short pieces that generally deal with government idiocy. I'll add some brief description soon.

A Tax on Men

Congress Voted for Draconian New Anti-Terrorist Bill -- Without Reading It

The Latest Ron Paul Fraud

U.S. Congressman: “Honey, We Shrunk the U.S. Government -- to Nothing”

Senator Says Fry Computers That Download Copyrighted Songs

Liberty and Space Travel

Star-Spangled Silliness

Drug Submarine Proves Folly of War on Drugs

Georgia Tea Party

Politicians Propose "Man Tax"

Teen Suspended for Wearing “Inappropriate” T-Shirt


More writing by James W. Harris


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