RSS Feed items

Allentown, PA Rally For Photography and Pamphleting Rights Earns Local TV Coverage

On June 4th of this year, 30 upstanding individuals rallied for photography and pamphleting rights in solidarity with me. These good folks achieved coverage not only by the independent TV station WFMZ but also by a local Spanish-language newspaper. This goes to show that if the cause is worthy and you exert the effort, noteworthy results, such as the above, will happen! I challenge you to replicate their work locally for a worthy cause that’s pertinent to your community. I know you can do it. Post here if you need help.

What are you, a Communist? Well, Yes. And a Socialist. And a Capitalist.

Well, yes, I am a communist. And a socialist, capitalist and everything in between – as long as it’s not also authoritarian. I’m for everything that’s libertarian, but nothing that’s authoritarian. In other words, I’m for free market capitalism and free market socialism. But I’m not for state socialism or state capitalism. There is a huge difference and it’s important to be cognizant of it.

Are you Sure you Legally Owe Taxes? This Video Will Surprise You.

This video is very revealing, in a legal way. It’s from Marc Stevens, radio show host and dedicated legal researcher. He dissects the law in a very foundational way, without assumptions and without any undue reverence for it. Are you, as various governments claim, a taxpayer? Can the government legally prove this? You aren’t going to concede that point, are you?

No, the government can’t prove you’re a taxpayer, Stevens claims. Not unless you admit it, I suppose. And in this video he shows a California bureaucrat tickled pink by the idea that he needs evidence. Evidence to prove someone is a taxpayer? That’s ridiculous. Check out the above video and more over at Stevens’ website. Marc even has a fascinating book about his escapades researching the law in the courtroom called Adventures in Legal Land.

Market Restitution Services Beat State Prison System on Fairness and Humaneness

Over at C4SS’ Stateless U in ATP 101 we’re reading The Market for Liberty. Here are my comments on one of the discussion questions.

“Is restitution preferable to retribution? Why or why not?”

Is Prison the New Slavery? Some Libertarian Thoughts.

This is a great interview. It sheds light on why prisons are such a prominent feature of modern American culture. The fact that 1% of the US population is in prison and that they’re used as slaver labor is not well-known. And that’s why this interview also makes me sick. I didn’t want to watch it, but I did. The truth is too terrible not to be aware of it, no matter how much it hurts. Awareness is, after all, the first step towards change.

Prison is an anachronism. It solves nothing. It doesn’t help victims, it doesn’t improve society and it definitely doesn’t assist offenders in becoming peaceful members of society. In fact, today it is used to punish peaceful members of society as much or more so than the violent ones. Please come back tomorrow for more detailed thoughts on the advantages of restitution over punishment.

Can Insurance Companies Function as Sources of Defense and Justice?

Over at C4SS’ Stateless U in ATP 101 we’re reading The Market for Liberty. Here are my comments on one of the discussion questions.

“In what way or ways would it be most difficult for insurance companies to function successfully as sources of justice and defense against aggression?”

I don’t think insurance companies can function as sources of justice and defense. At most they can offer people pooled risk services. They can insure contracts, pay out instant restitution and collect damage payments from the insurance companies of losers in arbitration.

Libertarians Should Find More Love, Less Hate, for Statists

I found this video, and some further thoughts, over at The Peaceable Kingdom. Libertarians expend a lot of energy hating the state and its aggressive agents, but how often do we try to love them? Remember, we’re not going to win this with violence. We’ll win this with self-improvement, education, empathy and counter-economics, among other things. Let’s start with finding things to love about statists. We can build on that.

Roderick Long Rebuts Locke and Rand on Anarchy, Navigates Shrewd Path Thru Voluntaryist-Partyarch Debate

Over at C4SS’ Stateless U in ATP 102, I watched and critiqued Roderick Long’s talk “Foundations of Libertarian Ethics.” [See above.]

In “Foundations of Libertarian Ethics,” Roderick Long deftly refutes Lockean and Randian critiques of anarchy, using these same critiques against themselves in support of market anarchy. Long also evaluates strategies for achieving the stateless society, convincingly arguing the Spoonerite position that voting and running for office are not immoral. He also makes a convincing case that voting is not irrational.

Free Marc Emery, Agorist and Marijuana Entrepreneur, in a Federal Cage for 5 Years

Marc Emery is a Canadian man who is now in (US) federal prison for 5 years over his business of selling cannabis seeds to the public. It breaks my heart to see this man in prison. He has harmed no one. There is no victim for the crime he is accused of. In Canada, his offenses are punishable by fines. So how did he end up across the border in a cage for five years? Watch this short video from Liberty on Tour to find out.

Is Government Tyranny Built on Your Voluntary Consent? A Look at Sovereignty Theory.

Have you heard about the sovereignty movement? This is what I call the people who rally around the ideas expressed very briefly in this video. There are many lines of thought present in the movement. Some think that all unconstitutional government tyranny arises from our voluntary consent. Others think there is a second, secret constitution. I have heard the idea that there are two governments, one based on the constitution and one borne from the federal governance of Washington, DC. Some argue that the 14th amendment, instead of freeing the slaves, enslaved us all, morphing us from sovereigns to citizens. Others look for hidden meanings in words, and tend to take symbolism literally.

Thomas Jefferson Quote of the Day

"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden."

There are currently 276 members signed up on RealLibertyMedia.com