Five Libertarian Ideas #30 - The Democrat Party is dying, and more

People's Bank of China Headquarters in Beijing

Central banking in China

This week's The Economist calls for the Chinese central bank to cut interest rates and end its policy of silence. Let us be warned: America's economy can still become a victim of central banking from abroad, especially when foreign central banks cause booms or busts for American firms with foreign holdings. -11/24

50+ Democrat Senators voted to renew the PATRIOT Act in 2014

[The Democrat Party] only cares about civil liberties when a white man attacks a black man. That party represents the working class only enough to keep them impoverished and subservient to Party and State. -11/19

Liberal Democrats are beginning to support Rand Paul

I'm crying tears of joy! We have here an influential liberal Democrat journalist who's been sold by Senator Paul's opposition to unconstitutional war and the Leviathan state. The message of liberty is migrating across the political spectrum and the results are marvelous to behold. -11/17

A message to Rand Paul after the 2014 midterm elections

Mr. Senator, I'm ridiculously steamed that the GOP won control of both houses of Congress, especially since most of these red blanket babies will oppose you. However, I urge you to reintroduce Audit the Fed in the Senate, reminding your [Republican] colleagues that the Dems so vehemently opposed it. Let's get the Fed audited so we may soon expose its economic crimes to the general public. Let's get the ball rolling and set in motion a chain of events by which we can end the Fed. -11/15

Regarding an article about a married couple that chooses not to live together

I don't agree with it. I can see how they'd want it, but it's not for me. I'm just too old fashioned in cherishing the idea of waking up next to her. But society should accept this couple's decision for 3 reasons:

1) It's no one else's damn business.

2) Just because they do it, doesn't mean the rest of society needs to imitate.

3) This arrangement strengthens their marriage, especially in a time when marriage is reduced to lawsuits and fairy tales.

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PBC HQ photo by "Yongxinge" and used via CC BY-SA 3.0 license. Rand Paul photo by Gage Skidmore and used via CC BY-SA 3.0 license.  Both images obtained from Wikipedia.

Break ups, Evil relatives, and Partying in Big Bear (The Boredom—Week 1, Part 2)

Thank you for reading about my continuing exploits on my quest.  I’m trying to fill my holiday season with actions that are productive and/or meaningful to me before I go back to working at the job I love.

Catch up with Dispatch 1 and Dispatch 2.

Wednesday—Day Five of The Boredom—started out with the major downer of making the phone call to break it off with a brief fling who blatantly got my hopes up and led me on.  She never responded with even a single written word, but it still had to be done.  I kept my side of the street clean and I wash my hands of it.

The next thing I did was make a donation to my favorite ministry and charity, the Voice of the Martyrs.  I specified for the donation be directed to the Iraqi Christians Relief Fund.  VOTM needs all the help they can get, with the devastation of ISIS’ genocidal war of expansion.

By late morning I heard back from my friend who’d made an ass out of us both in Lake Arrowhead.  He had the money he owed me from the night before but arrogantly played down his behavior.  I was not impressed, and am still disappointed to see this type of behavior in someone I so highly regard.

The Rail Side Cafe

I pushed all the drama out of my head with a relaxing lunch at the Rail Side Café in San Dimas, CA.  I’m in love with this new mom-and-pop eatery.  They balance the minimalist motif of a hip coffee shop with the nostalgia for the heyday of trains—ultimately the reason my hometown grew from a 19^th century work camp.  I ate one of the best damn Paninis I’ve ever had while I read a few chapters from Empire State.

Overall, the day was remarkably productive.  I wrote a lot that day, got some important things done at home, and also significantly grew my social media following.  This is all good prep work to benefit me when I launch the American Liberty Library, my independent publishing house.

Day Six was Thanksgiving Day.  In the late morning I drove to my sister’s house on the other side of town and helped her prepare two turkeys and some pecan pies for Thanksgiving dessert.  I’d already busted a mission with my nephew to the crowded supermarket and helped my sister make pumpkin pies the night before.

Thanksgiving dinner went well overall.  It was remarkably pleasing to have the big family together for the holiday feast.  This included my parents, my oldest sister and her three kids, my aunt (mother’s sister), and another family member who prattled with endless tacky sarcasm the whole evening, as if she knew what she was talking about or anyone remotely took her seriously.  (You really don’t get to choose your relatives).

The dinner was mouth-watering.  We had two full-sized turkeys, breaded green beans, stuffing, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and a number of other entrees. For dessert we had our choice of multiple pecan pies, pumpkin pies, and cheese cakes.  I washed everything down with pint-mugs of non-alcoholic beer (I’ll explain in Week Six why I don’t drink).  Days later, I still feel bloated from the feast suitable for Roman senators.  Whatever, it was worth it!

On Day 7, Friday, I spent a good chunk of time updating the look and feel of my blog.  Since it’s grown in quality, content, and audience, I wanted a look to it that’s more professional yet edgy than the cookie-cutter dark gray theme I previously used.  I also spent a few hours working on restoring manuscripts for some excellent books on liberty, especially freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Midshipman and his Russian rifle

Friday night I was actively trying to avoid the Black Friday rush, so I swung by my friend’s house—we’ll call him Midshipman.  We talked of business and pleasure while he calibrated his hunting gun—a 1938 Mosin Nagant, still bearing Red Army insignia—and we had way too much tobacco.

Day 8, Saturday, was a remarkably good day.  I headed over to the San Dimas Barber Shop located in downtown—the name of the city escapes me.  I’ve been getting my hair cut here for nearly a year and it’s a place I truly enjoy being at.  For me, the haircut is the main objective, but it’s only part of the whole experience.

I prefer to be a patron of a barber who’s personable and can carry a good conversation, not just small talk.  I also look for a good ambiance.  The barbers need to show both skill and a willingness to work with a blade, not just relying on clippers.  Finally, the barber shop needs some kind of gimmick that can’t be found in most other places.

Brent being a smart ass while I'm trying to take a photo.

The San Dimas shop is decked out on the inside with a vintage late 1950s-early 60s theme; red leather seats, black and white checkerboard tile floor, and the walls are adorned with 45 rpm records, pictures of time period celebrities, diners, movie posters, artifacts, etc.  Those who know me vouch for my love of everything rockabilly.  The barbers there—Steve, Jerry, and Brent—are all great guys, very personable, and easy to get to know.  I always have a blast trading friendly insults and updates on life with them.  Better yet, they’re all talented barbers.

However, what that really sells it for me is my main guy, Brent, offers an old-fashioned straight razor shave.  This includes treatment with hot and cold towels, warm face lathers, the super-close shave itself, astringent, and aftershave.  In Brent’s own words, “This is how gentlemen pamper themselves.”

Add to that the doo wop and surf rock always playing in the shop, and in the back corner is a vintage county fair-style popcorn machine.  That means every time I go to the barber shop, I get to kick back, hear the music I love most, and munch on tasty butter popcorn while I wait to get my hair cut.

After the barbershop, I headed home to throw some cold weather clothes and key supplies in my small duffel bag.  Midshipman and I were going camping for a night!  He picked me up in his mammoth white 1982 Ford F250 and we rumbled up to Big Bear Lake at 55 mph.

Upon reaching the lake on Route 330, we hooked a northbound left.  Our objective was Holcomb Valley, the next valley over from Big Bear.  We drove (and bounced) up a rough dirt road for 6 miles until we found our campsite.  The sunset was exquisite, but we needed to eat.

We had pizza at a decent sports bar and pizzeria and shared our big table with another party.  To our good fortune, we were sitting with a pair of bail bondsmen, and we spent dinner discussing the juicy details of various white collar criminals, gang members, and murderers running around Hemet on high bails.

After dinner we parked the truck and waded through the traffic in Big Bear Village—we completely forgot it was Saturday night in a resort town on a holiday weekend.  That just made things even better!

The HiFi Academy

Midshipman and I ended up at Whiskey Dave’s, a classy fusion between sports bar/grill and dive bar, with pool tables, a dance floor, and a dining area.  We were lucky to see a live performance by the Los Angeles-based HiFi Acedemy.  These guys played some of the best classic rock covers I’ve ever heard.  I’m talking about AC/DC, Guns ‘N Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard, you name it!  The HiFi Academy played their asses off, and I rocked out to their sets for hours.

Not only were all the band members really cool and down-to-earth folks, the keyboardist Melissa was really cute and definitely stole my heart during the show.  What man with a brain wouldn’t appreciate a pretty woman who can rock like Angus Young in his heyday?

In between sets, I met and talked with at least 20 cool and interesting people with unique stories and backgrounds.  There were also a lot of marines there; I learned that Pendleton marines are the dickheads and 29 Palms marines are cool as hell.  (I think part of it is their sunburned co-existence in the Mojave Desert with the Army.)  I danced with a lot of beautiful ladies, shot pool with some genuinely kind and fun-loving guys and girls—one of them was a Catalonian from Barcelona, and we discussed the rumors of Barcelona’s independence from Madrid.

Hanging out with new friends

At 1 in the morning, Midshipman and I walked back through the beautifully lit, empty streets of the village.  Save for the occasional taxi, we were the only souls walking the streets.  We got to the truck and drove back to Holcomb Valley.  Before putting down our bedding and wrapping up in thermals, we took a moment to stop and stare in wonder at the night sky.

There were thousands of stars above the clearing in the pine trees.  I hadn’t seen Orion the Hunter, or the stars glittering inside his outline, shine so brightly in at least ten years.  The whole panoramic picture in my eyes reminded me of these verses:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4

As a thick cover of clouds quickly rolled in over us, we bedded down in the F250 and went to sleep.

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Rail Side Cafe photo courtesy of the Rail Side Cafe.  All other photos are my own. Copyright lawyers buzz off.

DON JON (a libertarian take on sex addiction and the media)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an amazingly talented actor.  He did such an excellent job writing, directing, and starring in Don Jon (2013) that I had to say a few things about it, even after all this time.

The premise of the movie is an eligible young bachelor, Jon (played by Gordon-Levitt), who is a notorious Casanova.  Throughout the movie he reiterates a list of things that are important to him: “my body, my pad, my ride, my family, my church, my boys, my girls, my porn.”

Jon is also addicted to porn to the point where he’s no longer satisfied with actual sex.  Jon meets Barbara (played by Scarlett Johansson), a beautiful young woman from an upper class family who falls in love with Jon.  Both want their relationship to work out, but both have a problem.

Jon’s porn addiction and constant viewing becomes a major thorn in Barbara’s side.  At the same time, Barbara is enamored with romance movies with predictable Hollywood happy endings.  Both partners’ consumption of their preferred media has given them severely unrealistic ideals on love and relationships.  Barbara wants the working-class Jon to be her Prince Charming while Jon wants the uptight Barbara to be his super-whore in the bedroom.

Needless to say, this is a recipe for disaster.

The ill-fated lovers’ breakup gives Jon the time and motivation he needs for some serious soul searching.  In meeting and eventually dating a widow named Esther (played by Julianne Moore), Jon comes to grip with his addiction and realizes he needs a lifestyle change to be free from his addiction and raise his quality of life.

This is a movie that hits home for a lot of people.  There are tens of millions of teenage boys and adult men looking at pornography at any moment of the day.  Like any other addictions, porn addiction can consume people and change their lives.  Yes, porn actors and actresses are typically voluntary agents utilizing their bodies to make a living in creating a product that men and women around the world voluntarily consume.  However, continuously watching porn objectifies men and women alike as sex objects.  It’s voluntarily produced and consumed, so it’s ultimately none of our business, but let’s just be real about these false images our primal subconscious would have us believe.

As we see in Don Jon, porn distorts men’s ideals on women, sex, and relationships.  It’s not only prevalent in porn, but in popular culture.  Think of all the music videos with scantily-clad women shaking their chests and asses.  Think of popular movies like American Pie, which give young boys ludicrous ideas of how amazing high school will be.  (Frankly, I’m still terribly disappointed that high school did not offer me the chance to get naked with a foreign exchange student, have guaranteed sex on prom night, or to hook up with a friend’s attractive mother.  I want my four years back!)

The same applies to media consumed by women.  While many women do reject the iconic image of the sexually empowered female in pop culture, they do often tend to cling to images depicted in The Notebook or 27 Dresses.  I can’t tell you how many women I’ve dated with whom it didn’t work out, all because they seriously expected me to come riding up on a white horse to take them to a million dollar house with two cars. On the flip side, I've lost count of how many relationships could have blossomed if the woman wasn't scarred by some jerk who treated her only as a sex object.

These unrealistic images on our electronic screens of the ideal man or woman are marketed and sold to people because those images are entertaining.  However, it’s always been up to We the People to figure out that fiction—a pretend series of events in an author-controlled environment—is not to be mistaken for reality. What so many people never realize is that life really does imitate art.  Art itself embellishes life, and people who consume one or another form of media often fail to realize that a true happy ending takes a hell of a lot of work, compromise, and self-improvement.

In my opinion, the healthiest way to approach to any relationship is for both partners to openly discuss and be on the same page about where they are in life, where they’re going, and where they want to be, both as individuals and as a couple.

What I especially love about this movie is the way it portrays human action.  We might not think of the romances depicted in the movie as economics, but economics is ultimately the study of human action.  Dr. Ninos Malek, lecturer of Learn Liberty’s “Sexonomics” seminar, would agree.

Economics plays a major part in dating and relationships.  When a woman expects a man to provide her with a home and a certain standard of living, she’s setting a major economic standard for the success of their relationship.  Likewise, when a man expects a woman to support him—or to be a stay-at-home wife and tend to his every whim—he sets a major economic standard for the success of their relationship.  In the latter scenario, the stay-at-home wife’s education or career becomes the opportunity cost for his happiness.  For Jon in the movie, his romantic and sexual relationships become the opportunity cost for his happiness—porn.

By the time Jon and Barbara break up, their relationship is a sunk cost.  However, this is where market self-regulation plays in.  This break up is a very difficult sunk cost for Jon to bear.  He made a bad investment and a series of bad decisions.  He’s faced with a choice to repeat those failures, or to correct his behavior in order to never go through that kind of heartache—or sexual dissatisfaction—again.

Jon chooses to renew his mind and change his lifestyle.  He breaks his porn addiction and leaves porn behind.  He continues taking his night college courses not because his (now ex-) girlfriend will put out, but because he chooses to create more opportunities for himself.  Instead of club hopping and bringing random women home for sex, Jon chooses to be in a relationship with the widow Esther, who’s older and from whom he can learn a lot.

Best of all, the nanny state is in no way involved in Jon’s transformation!  It was never necessary to "fine" or "tax" or jail the pornographer or the porn addict.  This isn’t entirely different from someone kicking their drug habit.

While many people may get court-ordered to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, the ranks of those support groups are dominated by everyday people who made their own decision to get clean and voluntarily participate in the program.  They’re tired of letting people down, they know their lifestyle will be lethal if left ongoing, and they’re ready to try to rebuild their lives.

Like a recovering addict, Jon’s changes in behavior all result from social consequences.  His actions cost him a relationship.  He has to deal with the public scorn of women he hooked up with and then discarded.  He identified that these events are indicative of failure, and he wants to experience success.  Don Jon is about personal responsibility—a concept we libertarians hold in the highest esteem.

Being aware of economics as human action made this movie even more enjoyable to me because I was able to see economics happening and unfolding right before my eyes.  It doesn’t simply include money and graphs.  Economics is all around us, not only in the way we spend our money, but in the way we spend our time and in the company we keep.

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Don Jon movie promotional images courtesy of DonJonMovie.tumblr.com

Books, Heartbreak, and Alcohol Drama (The Boredom—Week 1, Part 1)

Thank you for reading more about my quest to do meaningful, productive things while I kill time before returning to my amazing job that I love.

Day 3.  Sunday had a productive start.  Not only did I open both eyes, but I even managed to crawl out of bed and slide into some clothes that were probably clean.  I decided to press my winning streak by writing some more—the more I write, the more I can publish and share with the world.

I sat down for a good minute and I wrote a libertarian review of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.  The review primarily focuses on guerrilla warfare in Mockingjay and ties that imagery into Murray Rothbard’s writings on guerrilla warfare in the American Revolutionary War (Rothbard, Conceived in Liberty, Vol. IV, ch. 3).  This one has been one of my more highly trafficked articles of late, so I’m pleased at the exposure it’s getting.

I burst out of my creative trance, hightailed it through the shower and picked up both of my teenage nephews at noon.  I like to spend as much time with those boys as possible, especially since their old man took off years ago.  It’s good bonding time, plus I get to talk to them about things that matter.

My nephews and I enjoy seeing movies together.  I took them both to see the awful Red Dawn remake, and the younger one accompanied me to Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein on the big screen.  This time, I took the boys to see Fury before it’s out of theaters.  They really wanted to see it, I certainly didn’t mind seeing it again, and I figured this is a good way to round of the last two WW2 movies I’d showed them: Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.

I don’t know what it is about this generation of kids, but they’re way too fond of Holocaust jokes and Call of Duty has made them all think they know what war is.  Basically these intense, gut-wrenching, realistic movies have given them an idea of what violence and suffering really look like.  They’re great teaching aides and Fury was a great finishing touch, with its depiction of Allied misconduct in the war while it still praises the overall heroism and courage of the Greatest Generation.

The boys enjoyed the movie and got something out of it.

Sunday night I got together with some good friends for a backyard bonfire.  Not gonna lie, I take great pride in the fact that I can build a fire in this age of technology.  I figure if some natural disaster happens and the power grid goes out, a lot of people are going to suffer needlessly.  Other than that, knowing how to build a fire is super nice for relaxing outside in cold weather.

Day 4, Monday, was largely uneventful.  I wrote a bit before working on manuscripts for near-future publications.

In 2015 I plan on launching an independent publishing house.  This won’t be like Political Spectrum Publishing.  I’m very proud of PSP and the amazing book it produced—VOICES OF REVOLUTION: Americans Speak Out for Ron Paul.  However, after the Voices book was released and it became increasingly clear Ron Paul wouldn’t be the Republican nominee, the whole train lost steam.  Also, real-life commitments got in the way (such as other campaigns I worked, my job, a toxic relationship, and of course, finishing college).

PSP was a great learning experience, but that was the worst time in my life to have tried—or half-assed—to start a business.

Realistically, a startup business is more like a newborn baby than a Giga Pet—if you don’t know what those are, thanks for making me feel old!

Therefore, my new publishing house is going to be something I can show my own father, look him in the eye, and be proud.  Hey, if I’m not proud to present something to the man I respect most, what business do I have presenting it to the world and even asking for their money?

I’m tentatively calling it The American Liberty Library (ALL). The name is catchy yet meaningful—the focus will be both fiction and nonfiction books that simultaneously entertain or engage and promote libertarian ideas.  Other than forming my business model and plan, I’ve actually been preparing product, hence my working on manuscripts.

Of course the American Liberty Library will be my preferred method of publishing my own books—almost done with #3!—but that won’t be all.  It’ll include some essential classics like Tocqueville’s Democracy in America and the writings of Bastiat, but I’ve also been doing hours of searching for dormant manuscripts.  There are many remarkable books on liberty and in sync with libertarian ideas, but they’ve been lost to time and are in the public domain.  I think it’s time some of these forgotten classics made a comeback!

Tuesday, Day 5 of the Boredom, was an interesting day to say the least!

Ever since we saw each other Friday night, the special gal from Rancho was been acting very strange toward me.  Tuesday morning I found out what I needed to know.  I wish she had just been honest with me instead of getting my hopes up, but it’s better to know anyhow.  Now I don’t have to wonder.

I went to the gym and had a great workout to get my mind off of things.  Then I swung by In ‘N’ Out for a protein-style Double-Double and animal-style fries, washing it all down with a cold Dr. Pepper.  It was a feast fit for kings!

I finished digitally restoring the manuscript for Harold Frederic’s 1893 novel, The Copperhead.  Some of you may be familiar with the novel’s movie adaptation, Copperhead, by Gettysburg director Ronald F. Maxwell.  It’s a well-written novel and has a totally different ending than its film adaptation, so this is good!

That evening, I picked up some friends for what was to be an amazing night out.  For months, whenever I’m in town, I’ve headed up to the Saddleback Inn at Lake Arrowhead, California for karaoke and fun times.  The people there are always really cool and there’s never drama, only people trying to enjoy themselves.

Unfortunately, it was dead that night.  I’ve never seen this normally-cracking place so entirely dismally dead.  Therefore, one of my friends decided it wasn’t going to be a good night.  He got ridiculously drunk—we hadn’t even been there an hour before he was smashed—and he ended up getting belligerent and talking a ton of trash to the bartenders.

Needless to say, the owner of the establishment personally asked us to get him the hell out of there.  Basically, I’d driven everyone there for a solid one-hour each way drive, for us to be home by 11.  That night was a loss.  I was really disappointed that one of my closest friends could make such an ass of himself in public and embarrass me in front of people I respect at one of my favorite hangout spots.  They were all cool about it, they knew he was drunk, etc., but the company you keep is the name you carry, and they’re going to remember that I brought that guy.

Day 6, Wednesday, I woke up a little later than planned.  I emailed a client regarding a side job, and then did what was unpleasant, but necessary.  I called the girl from Rancho to give the breakup talk.  She didn’t answer; I didn’t expect her to.  So I left a long voice mail balancing a list of grievances with respect and the promise that I would neither cause her any drama nor stand in the way of her happiness.

So here I am.  Now, I’m off to go do something useful.  Check back in a few days for another update on The Boredom.

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Mockingjay Part 1 art is the property of Lionsgate films and other respective owners and stakeholders, used here according to Fair Use laws for the promotion of the movie. Copperhead movie poster is the property of Swordspoint Productions, Brainstorm Media, and other respective owners and stakeholders, used here according to Fair Use laws.