Five Libertarian Ideas #25 - War, Economics, Freedom

Free market abundance

My 14 year old nephew tells me he and his buddies went into Sam's Club and ate a full lunch just from being offered free samples. This speaks volumes about the abundance created by profit-seeking ingenuity, when groups of people at a time get a free feast from an advertising campaign. -9/2

Seceding from the Confederacy

Jones County, Mississippi is an interesting historical case. During the War Between the States, Jones County became a haven for Confederate Army deserters. These deserters fought a sporadic guerrilla war against state militia and Confederate Army troops, vigorously defending their status and free and individually self-governed people. -9/5

Fast food minimum wage

Fast food workers in Southern California are protesting for a $15 an hour wage. Truly, minimum wage is a job killer. It wouldn't be "necessary" if government didn't tax the working class back into poverty, nor inflate their hard-earned dollars til the value is next to nothing, nor strangled private sector job growth by picking winners and losers via "bailouts" and subsidized loans. -9/5

Libertarian role models

It's safe to say my role models are Jesus of Nazareth, Ethan Allen, and Bart Simpson. I'm a believer, a fighter, and I won't be told how to live my life. -9/8

Nazis and Commies in Ukraine

Ukraine's Azov Batallion is an openly white supremacist militia, while the Russians are nostalgic for communism and Stalin. God help us all, history is repeating itself. Socialists and fascists are slugging it out over whose way is right, and people are dying. The ONLY right way is maximum individual LIBERTY. Oh, by the way, the Russians violated the ceasefire today. -9/8

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Sam's Club logo is the property of Wal-Mart and used here in accordance with Fair Use law. Azov Battalion is an element of the Ukrainian government. Both images were obtained from Wikipedia.

Five Libertarian Ideas #24 - People, War, and Austrian Economics

On the Libertarian Party

I used to think the Libertarian Party was a waste of time before I eventually joined. Now I know that a winning political strategy for us is to support libertarian Republicans like Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and Art Alas for state and federal races, while supporting LP candidates for local races.

But when there are no libertarians on the Republican ticket, the red blanket babies can forget it. I WILL NOT SETTLE for "Team R" when I can vote for a candidate who represents my beliefs. -8/14

Non-intervention and blowback

Non-intervention is excellent for preventing FUTURE blowback, but doesn't do anything about the anti-American blowback that currently exists and is still percolating. This is why the liberty movement needs to start forming strategies for national defense AND fighting terrorism at home in ways that remain in harmony with libertarian principles. -8/26

Cathy Reisenwitz

Cathy Reisenwitz

I just saw Cathy Reisenwitz's "resignation" announcement and it makes me sad to see such a great pioneer of liberty for our generation is temporarily "leaving" the movement. In reality, she's not leaving, per se; she's taking an important step out of the realm of talking politics/theory and into that of the market economy (i.e. the REAL world). The folks where she's going need her, and her libertarian influence, a lot more than we do. -8/29

Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Russia, Ukraine, and Iraq

President Obama finally admitted that "Russia is responsible for the violence in eastern Ukraine." Ironically, this was right after addressing US military operations against the Islamic State (in Iraq and Syria). -8/29

Happy Birthday Hans-Hermann Hoppe!

Hans-Hermann Hoppe turned 65 today (Happy Birthday Hans!!!).  He is credited with advancing the field of knowledge trail blazed by Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard.  Perhaps the most important theme to take away from reading his works is that any deviation from the free market (i.e. government) is socialism, and that the more government, the more socialism, and so the descent into authoritarianism and tyranny begins. -9/2

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Libertarian Party banner from LP.org; Cathy Reisenwitz photo from CathyReisenwitz.com; Hans-Hermann Hoppe photo from Mises.org.

Five Libertarian Ideas #21 - War in Gaza, War in Ukraine, Personal responsibility

Israeli soldiers shield a child during a rocket attack

Arguing over Gaza

Since Jews and Muslims, liberals and conservatives are BACK into hysterical arguing over whether Israel or Palestine has the moral high ground in Gaza, I would like to formally protest the U.S. government's illegal conquest and occupation of my two ethnic motherlands, northern Mexico and the Confederate States of America. ‪#‎lol‬ -7/12

Alcoholism and personal responsibility

Dealing with alcoholic family members brings me in touch with my inner Ayn Rand. No, I don't want to help you. Your poor choices do not amount to my emergency. You had every opportunity under the sun to get your act together. Stop blaming other people for your problems. Others may enable your parasitic behavior but I refuse to participate. -7/13

PTSD from gang violence in LA

Every day this summer I've worked with teenage boys who have PTSD from gang violence in LA. They have thousand yard stares and can recount in graphic detail their friends and neighbors being shot, and them being attacked for refusing to join a gang.

Every day these boys make the decision to risk their lives going to school and to Scout meetings, and they're working towards becoming Eagle Scouts and making plans to afford college.

Then you've got people here in the suburbs who were handed everything on a silver platter, who make every excuse for not having their act together. It makes me sick. -7/18

Anti-Russian mentality

Julie Borowski did well to pose this question: Is there an anti-Russian mentality in the US? I think there is, and it's remained after the Cold War, and that mentality bothers me. I'm in no way anti-Russian, but rather anti-Kremlin. The thuggish actions of Comrade Putin and his merry band of ex-KGB officers and former Party apparatchiks do not represent the vast majority of Russians who manage to live their lives without invading neighboring countries, promoting Communism, or praising Stalin. -7/21

Civilian casualties in the War in Ukraine

Between the Russian government covertly shooting down the airliner and the Ukrainian government carrying out multiple air-to-ground strikes, more and more civilians are being killed in the crossfire. This is unacceptable! Civilians will inevitably be caught in the crossfire of wars but if risk of civilian casualties can be minimized, it should be minimized immediately. It's better for both sides to risk soldiers (all of whom are volunteers in this war) on ground operations than to carry out air operations that kill more civilians. -7/22

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Photo by the IDF

Five Libertarian Ideas #19 - Ron Swanson, Troops for Ron Paul

Technology and the free market

Last night I was reading a kickass novel on my tablet via the Kindle app. Now I'm out and about reading the same book on my phone, and the Kindle app on my phone brought me to where I left off on the tablet. Incredible!

Better yet, I got the tablet for FREE as a special promo for buying ANY Android phone. Now I'm having a blast with two new devices that allow me to run a side business, do homework, and be entertained on-the-go. This is a beautiful example of the wealth and abundance created by the free market.

Today is a wonderful day to be libertarian. -5/14

Ron Swanson libertarian or Kim Jong Un communist?

SFL asked if I was a Ron Swanson libertarian or a Kim Jong-un communist. Frankly, I was sorely tempted to go with the commies. They may have their collective head up their collective ass, but they know what pageantry is! We libertarians are on point about a whole lot of things, but the Reds have style! (Thus endeth the jest.) -5/15

Troops for Ron Paul

I was walking around on post today, wearing my Youth for Paul T-shirt, when a soldier passing me says "Hell yeah, bro, Ron Paul!" Made…. my... day!  Though many in the liberty movement arrogantly scorn these "servants of the state," those who have to cash with blood the checks written by civilian leaders are among the MOST receptive to a humble libertarian foreign policy. -5/19

Civil war in Ukraine

Civil war is already upon Ukraine. With the army having failed, Ukrainian patriots have assembled pro-Kiev militias and clashed with separatists in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. Ukraine is a prime example of the new kind of non-state warfare. Wars between governments are a thing of the past. Wars between private groups are the new wave. Mexico is another prime example of this. -5/21

Enter the Ukrainian National Guard

According to Simon Ostrovsky (formerly detained and beaten by Russian separatists), the entire First Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard are volunteers who were peaceful protestors at Euro Maidan in Kiev. They stood up to a corrupt regime because it oppressed and repressed peaceful dissent. Now they're in combat in Eastern Ukraine because they oppose the Kremlin invading via Spetsnaz and installing breakaway puppet states like the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. They're an all-volunteer force.

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Smart phone photo by the UK Ministry of Defense, via Open Government License 1.0; Ukraine image by Mstyslav Chernov, via CC BY-SA 3.0 license.

Five Libertarian Ideas #18 - Nazis in Ukraine and UFOs in Afghanistan

Russia on Nazis in Ukraine

The Russian army secretly invaded Ukraine and annexed whole chunks in order to "protect Russian speakers." Russian militias and mobs are dragging people out of their homes, severely beating them, and arresting them on the sole basis of disagreeing with "the revolution." It's funny how the Russians call Ukrainians "Nazis" and "fascists" yet themselves are doing exactly what the Nazis did in the 1930s. -5/6

Russian Soviet socialism… again

In the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic," the Russian separatists are shutting down entire banks to punish specific Ukrainian government officials who have holdings at those banks. What the separatists will undoubtedly cause is a bank run and fleeing business capital, both of which will cause economic depression in the area... just like the Soviet days. -5/6

Gay and straight Eagle Scouts

[Regarding the new twin Eagle Scouts, one gay and one straight:] I'm an Eagle Scout and it's none of my damn business what orientation a fellow scout is (nor your business either), as long as he keeps his hands to himself. End of story.  -5/7

UFO in Afghanistan conspiracy

Conspiratarians, don't get excited about the UFO in Afghanistan video that's going viral. It's definitely a drone in the video, and drones that can hover while shooting have been around at the latest since 2009. Sorry to burst your bubble but our intergalactic neighbors aren't interesting in picking sides in a tiny civil war. -5/9

Navy SEALs and libertarian foreign policy

The more I read Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior series (he founded SEAL Team Six), the more I realize it is, and has been for years, quite possible to deal with terrorism in a manner that neither violates the nonaggression principle nor requires the US government to start multiple wars and occupations abroad. -5/12

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Crimean militia photo by Voice of America and in the public domain. Rogue Warrior cover art is the property of Pocket Books, used via  tommytoy dot typepad dot com according to Fair Use Law.

Five Libertarian Ideas #17 - Civil Air Patrol, Boy Scouts, Activism, Cold War

Air Force and Coast Guard Auxiliaries

I've seen conspiratarian blog posts making the Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard Auxiliary out to look like the Waffen-SS. That couldn't be further from the truth!

Both CAP and CGA are consistent with the non-aggression principle. Though they wear military uniforms and carry out missions on behalf of the military, both organizations are privately funded, relying mostly on member dues and charitable gifts.

Furthermore, they engage not in armed campaigns but in search and rescue operations, disaster relief, local community service, and education. Both organizations are the most benevolent manifestation of the organized militia. -4/27

Boy Scouts of America

Almost time to continue teaching Citizenship in the Community merit badge tonight. The Boy Scouts in my troop will get OUR worldview on civil rights and the true role of government. It's not just about activism; education is just as important. If the fight for liberty takes 20 years, we'll need new, young voters already on our side. -4/30

War in Ukraine

38 people are dead in an arson fire in a trade union building in Odessa in south-central Ukraine. The fire is believed to have been caused by Right Sector radicals but so far that's only speculation. It looks to me as if a greater emergency is being manufactured, and the Russians will use this to justify a full-scale invasion. -5/2

The embargo on Cuba

Wealthy joy riders in Havana; modern cars are rare in Cuba

The embargo on Cuba is damning proof of the futility of sanctions, since Fidel Castro still lives a life of wealth at the expense of the common people. I want to end Communism in Cuba by ending the embargo. I WANT Cuba to be flooded with American capitalism. I want the average Cuban who lives on $15 a month to be overwhelmed by drunk FSU students with fistfuls of money to spend, and realize in one day that Castro bamboozled Cuba for 55 years. -5/4

Liberty Letdowns and Pickups

It's been a privilege being a part of the liberty movement. Some people have chosen to be my brothers and sisters while others in the movement chose to remove me from their lives. They let me down, but the staggering amount of patriots who surround me with warm acceptance is always medicine for the soul. -5/6 

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Civil Air Patrol logo courtesy of CAP and in the public domain. Havana photo by "russavia", used via CC BY 2.0 license and obtained from Wikimedia Commons.