November 18, 2011 8:57AM # This Week at Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org By [Aaron Ross Powell](https://www.cato.org/people/aaron-ross-powell) --- SHARE This week at Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org, - George H. Smith published another in his *[Excursions](http://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/excursions)* series of original essays, this time looking at the question of [whether Thomas Jefferson was a plagiarist.](http://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/excursions/was-thomas-jefferson-plagiarist) - John Samples [wrote about equality and political speech](http://www.libertarianism.org/blog/shouting-louder-equality-campaign-finance), particularly attempts to increase the former by restricting the latter. “Tax financing of campaigns is a lot like establishing a religion: citizens are forced to act contrary to their deepest convictions in service to some alleged greater good,” Samples wrote. “I assume that such compulsion has no place in a liberal society.” - Jason Kuznicki blogged about [NPR’s recent story on Ayn Rand](http://www.libertarianism.org/blog/which-npr-does-our-work-us), writing, “If you don’t like what you hear about Ayn Rand in this story, you probably won’t like her, either. If you do like what you hear, or if you just find it intriguing, then you should definitely read further.” - Miles Pope continued his [careful analysis of Jan Narveson’s social contract defense of a free society, *The Libertarian Idea*.](http://www.libertarianism.org/blog/libertarian-idea-part-one-part-one) ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).