# [ ](/free-society) Fall 2026 ![Free Society - Fall 2026 - Censored Text 16x9](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_3x/public/2026-11/Free%20Society%20-%20Censored%20Text%2016x9.jpg?itok=ZB8rbU4c) Creating free, open, and civil societies founded on libertarian principles. ### [Cato in the News](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/news-fall-2026) Noteworthy op-eds, TV appearances, and media highlights. ### [Cato Quarterly](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/cato-quarterly) Events, publications, and studies. ![](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/aside_mobile/public/2024-03/peter-goettler-portrait.png?itok=5uvrGnxs) ## [ A Letter from the President, Peter Goettler ](/free-society/fall-2026/letter-president-peter-goettler) I am optimistic about the triumph of liberty in the very long term. [Read the Letter](/free-society/fall-2026/letter-president-peter-goettler) #### Features [![A man stands in shadow at the base of the SEC headquarters, below the agency’s seal.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-sec-hero.jpg?itok=TW4hpoTS)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/once-silenced-sec-now-free-speak) Free Society ### [Once Silenced by the SEC, Now Free to Speak](/free-society/fall-2026/once-silenced-sec-now-free-speak) By [Clark Neily](https://www.cato.org/people/clark-neily) For more than 50 years, the SEC made silence a nonnegotiable condition of settlement, muzzling the very people best positioned to criticize the agency. Now that the SEC has rescinded its gag order policy, many of those people are eager to tell their stories. [![Collage illustration of paper silhouettes, the US Capitol dome, and write-in ballot lines in red, blue, and cream.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-liberty-generation-hero.jpg?itok=h-aD3vvp)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/liberty-generation) Free Society ### [The Liberty Generation?](/free-society/fall-2026/liberty-generation) By [Rikki Schlott](https://www.cato.org/people/rikki-schlott) Distrustful of government and disillusioned with both parties, many young Americans are searching for a political home. Those finding their way to libertarianism offer clues to reaching others in their generation. [![Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a podium in front of a “Billionaire Tax Now” banner.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-taxing-wealth-hero.jpg?itok=ChYvy4S4)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/high-costs-taxing-wealth) Free Society ### [The High Costs of Taxing Wealth](/free-society/fall-2026/high-costs-taxing-wealth) By [Adam N. Michel](https://www.cato.org/people/adam-n-michel) Gov. Gavin Newsom fears that a wealth tax will chase away California’s billionaires. But capital flight is only the most visible consequence, and taking the wealth tax national would result in reduced investment, less innovation, and slower wage growth to the detriment of everyone. [![Illustration of a man opening a door in a gray, cloudy landscape onto a bright scene with a sun and a green path.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-good-news-hero.jpg?itok=NtNyMiZt)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/good-news-libertarians-liberty-still-advances) Free Society ### [The Good News for Libertarians: Liberty Still Advances](/free-society/fall-2026/good-news-libertarians-liberty-still-advances) By [Michael Chapman](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-chapman) Pro-liberty victories, large and small, were won in the courts, in Congress, in the administration, and abroad—despite the economic nationalism of President Trump’s Republican Party and the collectivist politics of the left. [![Psychologist Adam Omary stands in an office in front of framed diplomas and a bookshelf.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-infinite-scroll-hero.jpg?itok=xwHaG3Vy)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/infinite-scroll-psychologist-adam-omary-screens-mental-health-moral-panic) Free Society ### [Infinite Scroll: Psychologist Adam Omary on Screens, Mental Health, and Moral Panic](/free-society/fall-2026/infinite-scroll-psychologist-adam-omary-screens-mental-health-moral-panic) By [Rikki Schlott](https://www.cato.org/people/rikki-schlott) High schools are banning phones from classrooms, college professors say their students can’t read whole books, and some countries are barring kids from social media altogether. But is this worldwide panic over the ubiquity of screens outrunning the evidence? [![A tethered Customs and Border Protection surveillance aerostat floats against a blue sky over Nogales, Arizona.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-surveillance-hero-wide.jpg?itok=CZtR1x71)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/surveillance-creep-nogales-pawtucket) Free Society ### [Surveillance Creep, from Nogales to Pawtucket](/free-society/fall-2026/surveillance-creep-nogales-pawtucket) By [Paul Best](https://www.cato.org/people/paul-best) As the backlash against Flock Safety cameras grows, Americans are challenging surveillance powers long familiar to border communities. Some of the dissent is coming from inside law enforcement. [![The handwritten words “We the People” from the US Constitution on a dark red background.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-thunderclaps-hero.jpg?itok=A6VtWp4Z)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/series-constitutional-thunderclaps) Free Society ### [A Series of Constitutional Thunderclaps](/free-society/fall-2026/series-constitutional-thunderclaps) By [Josh Hardman](https://www.cato.org/people/josh-hardman) How Cato’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies went from a napkin sketch to a crucial independent voice in America’s courtrooms. [![Peyton Wilson, wearing a blue fleece vest, smiles against a dark background.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-long-bet-hero.jpg?itok=RxVtoxcw)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/long-bet) Free Society ### [The LONG Bet](/free-society/fall-2026/long-bet) By [Audrey Grayson](https://www.cato.org/people/audrey-grayson) A 26-year-old market risk manager on rule of law, reaching younger generations, and why he’s already named Cato a beneficiary of his retirement account. [![Illustrated portrait of Paul Meany in red and pink tones on a teal background.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser/public/2026-11/fs-fall-2026-last-word-hero.jpg?itok=6jreJSee)](https://www.cato.org/free-society/fall-2026/last-word-catos-300-year-old-guide-election-season) Free Society ### [Last Word: Cato’s 300-Year-Old Guide to Election Season](/free-society/fall-2026/last-word-catos-300-year-old-guide-election-season) By [Paul Meany](https://www.cato.org/people/paul-meany) The important question is not how a candidate behaves while asking for power, but how that person is likely to behave once the need for your vote passes: ‘These humble creatures, who now bow down before you, will soon look down upon you.’ ### Never miss a beat. [ ](/free-society) Sign up for our email newsletter now to get the latest digital *Free Society* issues delivered straight to your inbox. [text](#) “ All civil virtue and happiness, every moral excellency, all politeness, all good arts and sciences, are produced by liberty. ” Cato’s Letter, no. 63 1723 John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon