The Pinocchio Effect: More Rights and Less Liberty in the 21st Century

What is the most important, yet least discussed issue in America? Here's a hint; it's at the heart of our country's most contentious and divisive debates. It is the basic question in disagreements over abortion rights, gun control, censorship, drug prohibition, prostitution and a hundred other issues. It is also the rallying cry of every fringe group from both the extreme left and the far right of the political spectrum. As you probably have guessed, the answer is liberty.

In order to curb the activities we oppose, Americans have pushed for and approved of new laws and novel "crime fighting tools" that gut many of the freedoms that men like Jefferson and Madison considered a birthright.

The Pinocchio Effect outlines which freedoms have been eroded and how the process of restricting rights actually operates. It looks at the various forces and interests involved, and traces the reasons they act as they do. From the insurance industry to the legal system, from big business to crusading special interest groups, The Pinocchio Effect examines how they interact in ways that limit liberty, and then suggests ways we might reverse these trends and still achieve the reforms Americans want.