The term "nanny state" actually dates to the 1960s, and that's not surprising. It was about this time that government ran out of ideas for improving society -- it didn't really improve us, but it claimed to -- and turned its attention to hectoring us about all the things we do to ourselves that it wants us not to do. That turns out to be just about everything.
The phrase "nanny state" captures the spirit of this push to regulate our consumption in all areas of life. But the phrase... (more)
What is the difference between a leader and master? These are two different terms which imply two different types of relationships that exist between human beings. The key element that separates these two types of people is the element of force; masters will use force and intimidation on others so their commands will be obeyed, while leaders will naturally gain admiration from their peers for contributions that they have made to the community. Leaders have no interest in obedience and have no ... (more)
With Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech attempting to justify the president’s omnipotent power to assassinate Americans, we are seeing, once again, the consequences of having permitted U.S. officials with getting away with the sham of converting a criminal offense, terrorism, into an “act of war.” In his speech at Northwestern University, Holder claimed that when the president’s forces kill Americans or anyone else, it’s not assassination at all. Instead, he said, it’s just part of “war.” Aft... (more)
One of the common assumptions in the copyright debate is that artists are special, and that they have a right to make money from their works repeatedly, in ways not granted to "ordinary" workers like plumbers or train drivers, thanks to copyright's reach through time and space. Of course, when modern copyright was devised in the early 18th century, artists were special in the sense they were scarce; offering them special monopoly privileges "for the encouragement of learning" as the 1710 Statute... (more)
Is the USA still #1? Well, there are many things that America is still the best in the world at, but unfortunately a lot of those categories are nothing to be proud of. Once upon a time the United States was the greatest nation on earth, but now we are a nation that is in a horrific state of decline. Just consider a few of the embarrassing things that America leads the world in: obesity, crime, divorce, teen pregnancy, child abuse deaths and government debt. The statistics that you are about... (more)
One of the most pervasive misconceptions in our culture is the idea that “government” has anything to do with the structure or organization that we see in our society. This is one of the primary reasons why people have such a difficult time considering the very real possibility of a world without the organization known as “government.” When someone suggests that we simply do away with this unjust and unnecessary organization, they are typically met with some very negative knee-jerk reactions fro... (more)
Three years ago, I wrote an article in which I made some very specific predictions about the incoming Obama administration. I wrote the piece in the form of a letter to my pro-Obama friends and said that by the end of his term, Obama’s administration would not look very different from that of George W. Bush. I told them that if I was wrong about my predictions, I would re-think all of my beliefs about our political system... (more)
When I mention that I believe that it is not the proper role of government to subsidize research in space technology, the looks I receive from my fellow aerospace engineering classmates seem to suggest that they want to send me to the dark side of the moon (on the taxpayers' dime).
If there's one libertarian position that is exceedingly difficult to argue, it is the notion that scientific research should not be the concern of the state. This essay will focus on outlining two possi... (more)
President Obama yesterday joined virtually every U.S. political leader in both parties in making the obligatory, annual pilgrimage and oath-taking to AIPAC: a bizarre ritual if you think about it. During his speech, he repeatedly emphasized that he “has Israel’s back,” rightfully noting that his actions in office prove this (“At every crucial juncture – at every fork in the ro... (more)
Is there any valid reason or excuse to violate the rights of a nonviolent person? That is the primary question that separates the two political philosophies of collectivism and individualism. I’m sure that this was not a question that was raised in your college political science class, but nonetheless this is the fundamental question that determines whether a society is collectivist or individualist. While it may be true that there is a lot of grey area because these terms are defined so many... (more)
If you are willing to look past mainstream media coverage of American politics, you can actually find exciting and interesting activities taking place that rise above lobbying, voting, graft and corruption.
Consider the Free State Project. It is an attempt, and a surprisingly successful one, to inspire a political migration by lovers to liberty to New Hampshire. It is not about lobbying, forming a political party, populating a real estate... (more)
Throughout most of the world people are taught to look at reality in a very polarized way. When certain issues are presented to us through mainstream circles they are usually oversimplified to the point where all concepts are either black or white, and all people are either good or bad, with no in between.
The reality of the situation is that things are much more complicated than that; there are usually many different ways of looking at things and many different sides to the stor... (more)
You have probably seen Peter Schiff on television, not once, but many times. Among the legions of indistinguishable talking heads out there, he stands out. He makes sense. He draws attention to reality. He is disregarding of the opinions and conventions that prevail on the financial news networks and just comes right out and says what few others are willing to say.
He gets away with it because he makes sense, is super articulate and is aggressive in getting his message out. Even i... (more)
I've been looking at getting Irish citizenship the last few days, if your grandfather was an Irish citizen, it seems like it's rather easy, supposedly it is similar for Italians. I'm still looking into the implications, IE do you have to do jury service, is there any taxes involved if you live out of state, etc. Also, they say you need your grandfather's birth certificate, hopefully they have it on record because I do not. Supposedly Irish/Italian citizenship through descent is the holy grail of citizenship, in that it only costs a few hundred bucks vs thousands and costly 'proof of residency' requirements elsewhere. - Chris, InfoLib
The Revolution is rapping on my door. And, in response, I garden.
I live down a gravel road on a 40 acre farm in Canada...and the Revolution still finds me. It is everywhere. Blogs. Forums. Twitter. Conversations overheard in the grocery store. The rebellion against governments is all-present even though the most important front may not be obvious to some. The deepest Revolution in North America is the quiet and largely invisible withdrawal of people from dependency on 'the syste... (more)
It used to be a word that carried a lot of weight. Not just morally but also – and critically – legally. You could say no to cop and, provided he didn’t have a warrant issued by a judge – or at the least, some specific probable cause that would stand up before a judge – he had no choice, legally speaking, but to back off. If he did not – if he say forced his way into your house or forced you out of your car or forced you onto the g... (more)
I--and most other people, I assume--grew up being taught that the end doesn't justify the means. Basically, this is an injunction not to rationalize one's behavior while using other people as mere means to one's ends.
Most people apply that principle day to day. If you want at an item on a supermarket shelf and someone is standing in the way, few of us would think it right to shove that person aside. Why not? It won't do to say that the person might fight back. Would things change... (more)
All the buzz over possible war with Iraq brings us a déjà vu feeling, given that U.S. officials prepared Americans with similar pre-war hype in the run up to their war on Iraq. WMDs. Mushroom clouds over American cities. An insane dictator. Threats to national security. Etcetera.
Keep in mind that Iran, like Iraq, has never attacked the United States. If President Obama gives his military and his CIA orders to attack Iran, the United States will once again be the aggressor natio... (more)
Republican presidential candidates and officials in the U.S. government from the president on down have turned up the rhetoric against Iran.
In his State of the Union address, Barack Obama stated, “America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.”
Politics is a form of violence. In a society where everyone has been brainwashed to worship democracy, this fact is intentionally disguised, but an objective assessment leads to this undeniable truth. The truth is Americans are just as base, violent, and oppressive as humanity has ever been. Democracy has not fixed this; it has only masked it with false language, artful systems, and an illusion of choice.
In democracy, theft by government is “taxation.” Murder by government overse... (more)
Mike Kennedy, police chief of Sunriver, Oregon, was fired on February 16, receiving a reported severance package of $100,000. That sum, representing the balance of Kennedy's 2012 salary and accrued vacation time, seems more than a little extravagant, given that his position was little more than a glorified sinecure.
"This is not about Mike being a bad guy, or anything of that nature," Ron Angell, chairman of SSD's Managing Board, told the Bend Bulletin. Angell described the se... (more)
According to Prof. Aeon Skoble, smoking bans are on the rise in America. At first glance, this trend seems to stage a battle of rights. The smoker claims to have the right to smoke, while the nonsmoker claims the right to clean air in "public" places such as restaurants and bars.
In an important way, however, restaurants and bars are private places. The... (more)
