I'm Zach Foster and I'm blessed to be a man of many hats. This is the one room where you can look into all the different windows of my mind. Read on if you're ready to think outside the box! "Call it a character flaw -- when under attack, I counter attack. Always." --Richard Marcinko, Rogue Warrior
In honor of Ted Jotte inviting me onto The Dennis Ford Show tonight, I'm releasing to all our listeners the FREE ebook of the 2012 book VOICES OF REVOLUTION: Americans Speak Out for Ron Paul. Though the book was targeted to Democrat and Republican voters during the 2012 election cycle, this book still stands as a testimony to the character of Dr. Ron Paul, the hope he inspired in countless patriot activists, and the book stands as a document for future generations to catch a detailed glimpse at an exciting time during a dark period of American history.
Ron Paul had a dream for a brighter future, and so did the many patriots who contributed their writings to this book, including Zach Foster, Ted Jotte, Jeffrey Tucker, and Senator Rand Paul. Now the world can enjoy the book that won California State Polytechnic University's Golden Leaves Award.
Download the PDF to print or read on your computer!
If you have formatting problems with the EPUB file, download it for FREE from the Lulu Bookstore!
* * *
This eBook is yours for FREE. However, if you'd like to show your support for this project or this ongoing liberty blog, feel free to donate any amount you choose!
I came across the June 2013 issue of The American Conservative features a brief,
yet insightful editorial, “Localism’s Green Shoots,” pointing to trends
occurring spontaneously across America. Political scientists call this phenomenon localism.The introductory paragraph acknowledges America’s
high unemployment numbers, the wars in Afghanistan and Syria, and civil
society’s struggle against the Surveillance State following the revelations by NSA
whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The editorial’s main body discusses the
impact of those issues here at home: the economy is still in deep recession;
more government spending, both at home and abroad, exacerbates the economic situation
by inflating the money supply to fund government programs, consequently
lowering people’s purchasing power and making it more difficult to save and
invest; the War on Terror and unconstitutional surveillance cause the political
situation to crumble as more Americans are convinced “government of the people,
by the people, and for the people” has perished from the earth.
The editors point to several interesting
nationwide trends, first of which is the expansion of farmers’ markets, accompanied
by the growth of the “food rights” movement and public opposition to
genetically modified foods (GMOs).I
have to agree with those choosing to purchase locally-grown non-GMO foods from
farmers’ markets.Part of this is
because I dislike the idea of GMO producers receiving government subsidies[1] to
grow food containing hormones and other chemicals harmful through human
consumption.When these companies
receive taxpayer money to produce more, larger, unhealthy foods, they’re given
an unfair advantage over other producers, especially small and independent
farmers.It remains unseen (in Bastiat’s
terminology) that the government chooses winners and creates losers through
marketplace interference.
Before I learned about GMO foods, I used
to regularly partake in that chemically-altered variety of fruits, vegetables, and
processed foods, but now I generally try to avoid GMOs.My mother has several blooming fruit trees
and a comparison of the natural, unadulterated fruits with much larger GMO
fruits just plain creeped me out!The
fact that farmers’ markets thrive isn’t due to government intervention in agribusiness,
but rather in spite of it.This trend
represents a protest against interventionist policies, not least against those
intruding on farming and food production.
Another trend the magazine editors identified
is the increased patronization of local, primarily non-corporate small
businesses.I don’t know exactly which
of the thousands of consumer industry corporations received Stimulus or TARP
funding from the federal government.What I do know is that,
whenever possible, I’ve participated in voting for local farmers and small
businesses with my dollars.In no way is
this a revolt against the free market or against mass production of cheaper,
more widely available goods and services; instead, it’s a tiny market signal that yet another
consumer has chosen locally produced, higher quality goods and more personable
service than one would typically find in a mega-store chain.It shows a fluctuation of preferences in an
arena in which the consumer is theoretically sovereign.
There are cases where locally sold or produced
goods are slightly more expensive than those mass produced by large
entities.These cases add credibility to
Ludwig von Mises’ subjective theory of value,[2]
stating that the value of goods or services is determined not by the amount of
labor or production cost, but by the independent value judgment placed on it by
individuals.In my case, the subjective
theory explains why I’d prefer to spend 5% or 10% more at the community
hardware store than at one of the large department stores.I find better, speedier service from workers
at the community hardware store, and some of those workers are people I know
personally.
Another of Mises’ theories that surfaces
around localism is that of the necessity of saving money.He writes in The Anti-Capitalist Mentality,[3] “Capital
is not a free gift of God or of nature. It is the outcome of a provident
restriction of consumption on the part of man. It is created and increased by
saving and maintained by the abstention from dissaving.” If I’m to spend a little
more at preferred small businesses, I need to save more by spending less money
on other things.I make subjective value judgments and then
purchase whatever goods or services I think I need.
Some market theorists would argue that
this brand of localism is a revolt against laissez-faire
markets, but the truth is quite the contrary. Through buying from smaller businesses, I’m
feeding their growth with the intended outcome that they’ll one day compete
evenly with large chains and influence the battle to mass produce goods and
services that are cheaper and better.
The editors also made several allusions
to a rebirth of scholarship in conservative ideas at the grass roots
level.These references point not to the
big-government conservatism—neoconservatism—that characterized the latest Bush presidency;
they refer instead to the paleoconservatism of a bygone era, in which
self-styled conservatives—largely libertarian in their ideology—opposed
undeclared wars, government intervention in markets, and the federal government
overstepping the legal limits to its powers specifically illustrated in the
Constitution.Murray Rothbard elaborates
on this topic at length in The Betrayal
of the American Right.
The reborn paleoconservative/libertarian
ideologies serve as a series of signals in the “marketplace of ideas” (as
phrased by John Stuart Mill) that the preferences of “consumers” are shifting
in favor of a freer market economy and less government presence in the whole
economy and civil society.Furthermore,
localism is giving communities a deeply personal, interactive lesson in
economics as human action: people helping people improve society.
[2] The subjective theory of value
is a major theme in Mises’ book Human Action, and adds weight to the thesis that
economics isn’t about numbers, theorems, or formulas, but about individual
people making choices on spending or acquiring resources.
[3] Von Mises, Ludwig.The
Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, p. 84 via The
Quotable Mises, p. 215.
Before being interviewed on David Welch's Blog Talk Radio show "Books and Politics," Mr. Welch sat me down for a written interview (reprinted here with permission).
It took nearly six months but I’ve
finally booked a first ‘political commentator’ on my blog radio show. On the
August 5th Books and Politics show I will interview Zach Foster who
writes the popular and informative “Zach Foster Rants” blog and who is a highly
respected political operative and commentator. The live interview is nearly a
month away and I just couldn’t wait to find out what Zach has to say on some
important issues so I persuaded him to do a ‘written interview’ in advance of
his more comprehensive live interview on August 5th.
After reviewing his answers to my
questions I’m glad I did and I’m quite sure everyone who reads the following
will be thrilled to have a bit of advance notice of what to expect on the Books
and Politics Show the first week of August. I hope you will all listen in the
evening of August 5th at 7 p.m. California time for what will be a
really great interview. And I hope you will be ready to call in with questions
for a bright and uniquely experienced young man. The address for the Books and
Politics Show is http://www.blogtalkradio.com/angelsandwarriors/2013/08/06/books-and-politics
. Don’t miss it! Meanwhile please enjoy the following interview:
1.Zach,
you are the first ‘political commentator’ I’ve had an opportunity to interview
so could you tell the listeners a little about yourself, your background, and
what you’ve done to qualify as a political commentator?
My political experience started when I
was very young. I was a “guerrilla activist” supporting my local Congressman,
David Dreier, and through volunteering for him later I got my first taste of
campaigning. I’ve worked on numerous campaigns—from city council-level to the
federal level—and am involved with several political organizations. My greatest
privilege was working in the Ron Paul 2012 campaign. I’ve also majored in
Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona and Social Sciences at Citrus College.
Between my education and field work, I have a pretty good idea of what I’m
talking about.
2.
I’ve read a number of your blogs and find them quite interesting. In fact I’m
going to ask specific questions about a few but could you tell listeners where
they can find your blogs, or if you prefer, rants?
3.
Zach, you have a pretty strong opinion as to why we should not go to war with
Iran. Could you explain why you feel this way?
Absolutely. While the Iranian Islamic
Republic’s leadership delivers martial anti-Western rhetoric on a daily basis,
by no means is this new to America. Our country dealt with this coming from the
Soviet Union for seventy years. We’re better off letting Iranian people reach a
boiling point and overthrow their leadership just like they overthrew the Shah
in 1979.
4.
Why not help them overthrow the Ayatollah like we overthrew Saddam Hussein in
Iraq?
The Iranian leadership is already highly
unpopular with its own people—we saw the massive protests in 2009—but if we
attack them, it will make true the government’s propaganda painting us as the
aggressors. Furthermore, we saw in the Iran-Iraq War how teenagers were
routinely conscripted into the national militia to serve as bullet catchers on
the front lines. This will certainly be the case in another war, and it will be
a long, devastating war that was—and is—preventable.
Furthermore, I consider myself a
Bible-believing Christian.Jesus tells
us to go around the world and teach the gospels.We have missionaries working in secret in
Iran but if there’s a war, they’ll have to leave, or they’ll be more persecuted
than they already are.Even worse, there’s
no saving someone’s soul if they died in the war before they got to hear the
Gospel.
5.
While we are in the Middle East, so to speak, what did we do wrong in Iraq?
Several things, actually. While our
troops certainly served with courage, distinction, and honor, I believe the
Bush and Obama administrations have a lot of blood on their hands. I don’t
think that war should have happened in the first place. We’ve learned that
Saddam’s regime was actually keeping the radical Islamists in check, and the
toppling of the Ba’ath party-state gave groups like the Mahdi Army and Al Qaeda
in Iraq the opportunity to flourish and wreak havoc. Even worse, Paul Bremer
was an idiot to disband the Iraqi army and police, essentially stripping the
country of any law and order while feeding disgruntled, unemployed, armed young
men into a growing insurgency. The list goes on.
6.
One last Middle East question. What, if anything should we do about Syria? And
before you answer let me tell you I think John McCain is an idiot suggesting we
arm the rebels.
Nothing. There is no way our government
can get involved in the Syrian civil war without being accomplice to murder.
Assad’s regime has slaughtered tens of thousands of civilians, while the
non-centralized rebel armies are saturated with jihadists who commit their own
brand of atrocities. Helping the regime means helping a murderous dictator.
Helping the rebels means helping Al Qaeda sympathizers. We see civil war
continuing in Libya because the rebels were never centralized and the country
is rampant with independent radical militias. This will also happen in Syria,
where the war has been longer, deadlier, and nastier.
7.
OK, enough Middle East for one interview. My next question concerns your
February 2013 blog or rant, where you used the term 21st Century
Libertarian. As you know I refer to myself as a 21st Century Libertarian and
thought I coined the phrase only to discover you have also used it. What do you
mean by the term?
It refers specifically to a
libertarian—new or seasoned—who sees a unique situation and opportunity in our
country. We see the problems of the twentieth century—war, economic
depressions, social problems—being magnified, and we see the best solutions in
libertarian ideas which can be practically applied through public policy. In
some cases the government should take a libertarian approach; in other cases,
it should take no approach at all.
8.
In my book, Stop the Insanity Target 2014, which I believe you have read, I
present an idea that could cut the cost of a four year college degree by up to
40%. Could you comment on that idea from a Libertarian standpoint and let me
know what you personally think of it?
I like most of what you pitched there.
EDX and Coursera are great learning tools. So is Liberty Classroom for civics
and political science, Mises Academy for economics and banking, and the
International Webmasters Association for web design and software engineering. I
certainly like the idea of trading the certification for accreditation. What I
don’t like is the idea of the federal government getting involved. The feds
will not only have to create more bureaucracy to run this program, but are also
likely to impose a one-size-fits all curriculum nationwide. I think such a
program is better left to the individual states to manage, offering diversity
tailored to the needs of a particular state’s population.
Note:
I have a good answer for this concern but will save it for the radio interview.
Be sure and listen!
9.
Another subject discussed in my book is Social Security. Like it or not this
has become a staple of American life and would be almost impossible to
eliminate. Can Libertarians come to grips with the existence of this massive
government program?
We’ve already come to grips with it
because we see it for what it really is: a Ponzi scheme. The current retirees
are being paid by the current generation of workers. The money those retirees
paid into Social Security has long been spent on other programs. We younger
libertarians would love to just opt out—keep our money and be completely
responsible for our own retirements—because with government spending ever on
the rise, we know we’ll never see a single Social Security check by the time
we’re retired.
10.
Ok, my last question. We both know Ron Paul is a dedicated Libertarian yet he
chose to run for Congress, and most recently for President, as a Republican. My
question is if you, Zach Foster, were to run for Congress would you run as a
Libertarian, a Republican, or as I would prefer, as an Independent? And WHY?
I’d run as a Republican with a
libertarian platform. We need to remember the difference between small-l and
capital-L libertarians. One represents a worldview, the other represents a
political party. I respect the Libertarian Party, but they rarely accomplish
major goals because their party is rife with infighting. Besides, the system
isn’t built to accommodate third parties. If there’s going to be major change,
it needs to be brought from a major party.
Oops,
I guess I told a little lie. I do have another question. I understand you have
a book coming out in the not too distant future. Would you care to tell us
about it?
I have two coming out, actually. One is
a book all about the whole “Republitarian” movement, and I’m still working out a
publishing deal. The other is a collection of my best articles and
rants—working title Don’t Piss Me Off
(with “don’t piss me off” graffitied over “don’t tread on me”)—which I’m
self-publishing and making available for the lowest price possible.
Ok, not only a great interview but an
advance notice of not one but two new books that will be available soon. Glad
they are not out yet so my claim that Zach is my first non-politician,
non-author, genuine political commentator is still true. On the radio interview
I will find out more about when they will be available and how
readers/listeners can get a copy! Zach, I really appreciate you taking the time
to help with this written interview in advance of our live radio interview on
August 5th. I’m sure a lot of people who read this will be sure to
tune in. Meanwhile I’m really looking forward to the radio show.
