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Reason was founded in 1968 as a mimeographed monthly magazine and has since evolved into a multimedia juggernaut that includes this website; a policy think tank that champions public pension reform, school choice, infrastructure innovation, and privatization; our pioneering online video platform; and a slate of increasingly popular podcasts.
Beyond a commitment to libertarian principles of "free minds and free markets," we've always focused on the future, on what should come next to make the world more fair, more fun, and more filled with literal and figurative wealth. Regardless of their stated ideology, most intellectual journals and opinion magazines look backward and either want to return to a previous golden age or to control, regulate, and direct the present and the future.
Not us. We were among the first commentary magazines to push ideas, policies, and mindsets that seemed crazy at the time but are now taken for granted: deregulating the airline industry and interstate trucking, legalizing pot and other "illicit" drugs, marriage equality for gays and lesbians, and school choice (especially for poor kids). During the financial crisis, we were virtually alone even among market-friendly outlets in denouncing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the useless stimulus spending that started under George W. Bush and continued under Barack Obama. We weren't mesmerized or disgusted by Donald Trump's characteristically bombastic and bullshit-filled rhetoric and instead focused on the actual effects (some good, some bad) of his policies.
While most "think" magazines clutch their pearls at the mere thought of someone else using new technology, we launched our website in the early 1990s, published the very first mass-personalized edition of a consumer magazine in 2004, and, with the help of Drew Carey, embraced online video back in 2007. We've consistently said no to wars of choice, to vaccine mandates, to lunatic plans to command and control the economy and the culture in the name of some greater good (read: a particular person's preference).
Reason staffers fan out across other publications, cable news channels, podcasts, radio shows, and social media, acting as your voice in national debates over economic, political, and cultural freedom. Always and everywhere, we're arguing in favor of perennial values such as individual rights and pluralism while also defending such innovations as the internet, the sharing economy, and cryptocurrency. Screw the "Great Reset," we want the "Great Escape."
We bet on the future because we believe that you should be in charge of your life as much as possible. Please bet on us and our journalism to help make the future better.
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