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Links for 10/19/09

Uganda and Homosexuality: Don't Ask

Visitors to Uganda have rarely been starved of sex if they have wanted it. But there are limitations. The country’s mix of vigorous heterosexuality and religiosity have made it one of Africa’s more homophobic places. Now, say advocates of sexual freedom, a proposed new law against homosexuals will push Uganda back into a grim kind of Victorian age, Africa-style.

Sarah Palin and the Decline of Conservatism

Amid all the tales of savoring the aromas at the state fair and having her wardrobe vetted by snotty campaign staffers, she sets aside space to lay out her vision of what it means to be a "Commonsense Conservative." It takes up all of 11 pages and leans heavily on prefabricated lines like "I am a conservative because I deal with the world as it is" and "If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes."

Ten Reasons Not To Abolish Slavery

Slavery existed for thousands of years, in all sorts of societies and all parts of the world. To imagine human social life without it required an extraordinary effort. Yet, from time to time, eccentrics emerged to oppose it, most of them arguing that slavery is a moral monstrosity and therefore people should get rid of it. Such advocates generally elicited reactions ranging from gentle amusement to harsh scorn and even violent assault.

When people bothered to give reasons for opposing the proposed abolition, they advanced various ideas. Here are ten such ideas I have encountered in my reading.

The Pledge of Allegiance is un-American

Ironically, the Pledge of Allegiance, which today is most fiercely defended by white conservative Southerners whose Confederate ancestors tried to destroy the United States in the 1860s, was written by a Yankee socialist from New York in the 1890s.

Intellectual Property and Libertarianism

Many libertarians abandon minarchy in favor of anarchy when they realize that even a minarchist government is unlibertarian. That was my experience. And it was like this for me also with IP. I came to see that the reason I had been unable to find a way to justify IP was because it is, in fact, unlibertarian. Perhaps this would have been obvious if Congress had not enacted patent and copyright statutes long ago, making them part and parcel of America's "free-market" legal system — and if early libertarians like Rand had not so vigorously championed such rights.

But libertarianism's initial presumption should have been that IP is invalid, not the other way around. After all, we libertarians already realize that "intellectual" rights, such as the right to a reputation protected by defamation law, are illegitimate. Why, then, would we presume that other laws, protecting intangible, intellectual rights, are valid — especially artificial rights that are solely the product of legislation, i.e., decrees of the fake-law-generating wing of a criminal state?

Obama Says Guantánamo Won’t Close by January

President Obama acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday that his administration would miss a self-imposed deadline to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by mid-January, admitting the difficulties of following through on one of his first pledges as president.

Why I am a Libertarian

jk148706@ohio.edu

Political theory has always been a subject of stimulating, challenging and passionate debate. Each competing ideology seeks to answer questions of equality, justice, liberty, government and so on. But these questions cannot be answered without the goals stated, i.e., if two ideologies seek different ends, it is futile to debate the means. A butcher and a member of PETA are obviously going to have different opinions regarding the treatment of animals.

For that reason, it is important to state the ends – or goals – of Libertarianism, before debating means. The goal of Libertarianism, then, is to maximize the liberty of each individual. Liberty is here defined as freedom for one to do as he pleases so long as the action does not hurt the person or property of another. In essence, the Libertarian believes individuals should be free to undertake any voluntary and peaceful act. Coercive acts – whether by an individual, a group of individuals, or a government – are illegitimate and unethical to the Libertarian.

The means to achieve this goal is to eliminate, or minimize, those coercive actors. Presently, there is no bigger aggressor against persons and their private property than the state. It is for this reason that Libertarians are in favor of strictly limited (if not eliminated) government. A smaller government necessarily precipitates less compulsion. Income taxes, minimum wage laws, conscription, regulations, sanctions, and so on would all be minimized or gotten rid of in a Libertarian society. To end these government actions is to end aggressive force and increase liberty.

But why does anyone support getting rid of minimum wage laws, child labor laws, food regulation, increases in Medicare and Medicaid, the IRS, CIA, EPA, etc? Don’t we need this from the government? Why be a Libertarian?

Ah, the magic question: why be a libertarian. Indeed, for those new to the ideology, Libertarianism sounds scary – no government to regulate and make sure everything is OK?! But, when examined, Libertarianism not only produces the most efficient economies and societies; it also is the only consistently ethical philosophy known to man. Libertarianism makes no exceptions for the way law should be applied. Everyone is simply free to act voluntarily and peacefully. When a coercive act is taken, it is punished.

Conservatives like to speak of small government, but they don’t really mean it. Sure, they support less government in the economy, but they have the moral high ground to tell you what you can do with your own body, e.g., the illegality of drugs and abortion.

Liberals don’t like the government to outlaw things like abortion, but think it abhorrent that you should be allowed to decide for yourself to work for less than $7.35 per hour. Why, you shouldn’t work at all before you work at that wage!

And then there’s the Libertarian with a simple message: Government get out of the way. In all aspects of life, Libertarians believe people should be free to engage in any activity they wish, at any pay they wish, so long as it is peaceful and voluntary. It is not for others to tell you how to act or decide what is good for you. You own your own body and property, not the government. Libertarians are the only people who truly believe and follow this truth. And that is why I am a Libertarian.

MUSIC FOR THOSE WHO LOVE LIBERTY
life long musician Tim Armstrong recently put out a reggae album with a song called inner city violence. The song discusses a world consumed by war. It brings up loss of freedom, and abuse of power that comes with it. Granted the whole album isn’t liberty oriented, a lot of the songs are about love and personal struggles, but I think this is a easy listen that most Libertarians will appreciate. Here are some of the lyrics:

No control, street curfew now in play
Violence sustained
Civil liberty's now destroyed
Cursed intimidation brought on by force
Re-generated crime wave
Setting things off course
These days are insane, atrocity's rised
Oppressing systems through the fields now divide
Masses of mankind spewed in God's speech
Can you see in all of this, all the endless deceit?

Is it Fair to Jail the Uninsured?

Dilbert for November 11, 2009

It Ain't Over Til Its Over

by Amy Denson-Beagel

After Michael Steele's claim that the Republican Party would not succumb to "Ron Paul" ideals; after the humiliating defeat of John McCain and Sarah Palin at the hands of a socialist; after millions of Tea Party marchers lined the streets in protest of the Bailouts; after Pelosi forked over time to stitch the Farewell-to-Ted Kennedy healthcare bill; after Harry Reid expedited public money to build the train from Vegas to Disneyland; and after Barney Frank began disgracing mankind with his rude and insensitive call-outs, there was one message. Folks, it ain't over til its over.

Obama owes his career and life to affirmative action policies. His father came to America to learn and teach. His is a story shrouded in the midst of "reforms" that have reversed the freedoms granted to Americans at our nation's founding. Our freedom to associate not only is limited by affirmative action policies, but it has been diminished by the Democratic Party time and again. Democrats rose for popular sovereignty in the Civil War (i.e., they were in favor of allowing states to decide whether to keep slavery or not). Democrats formed the League of Nations after WWI -- wasting the time and energy at establishing an ineffective transnational council of bureaucrats. Democrats crusaded the New Deal and invented the United Nations. Democrats made the Federal Reserve Bank. Democrats plummeted us into the Vietnam War--and shoved Great Society laws down throats of citizenry. Democrats enacted Medicare, Medicaid, and a welfare state bigger than the welfare programs of all Europe combined. And Americans are still unhappy. Why? Because Democrats shovel us the same old shit and call it sugar. They act like they're on board with liberty. They act like they defend the Constitution. But they don't. Liberty is dead to the Democrats.

In Ohio we stand for Liberty. We stand for libertarian principles like efficient courts and better schools because we don't want Democrats Destroying our Dreams. We rose to oppose all three statewide issues in 2009 not because we oppose the "freedoms" they gave people, but because all three issues were unconstitutional. All three issues -- increased spending on veterans (Issue I), the formation of a livestock regulation panel (Issue II), and the invitation for casinos in four cities (Issue III) -- are threats to our liberties as they are threats to our Constitution, our taxpayer money, and our people.

Issue I, now passed, will make veterans more dependent on government spending and will set a precedent for such spending in the future.
Issue II, now passed, destroys a family farming practices to raise animals free of regulation, and allows corporate meat and dairy lobbyists to make laws over thousands of animals every year.
Issue III, now passed, will have families spending money on surprise trips to the casinos and -- as a constitutional amendment like the other issues -- makes an otherwise unconstitutional idea an Ohio law.

Thanks to Ohio's Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Democratic Governor Ted Strickland, and dozens of other Democratic and Republican dead weights, voters approved all three statewide issues on a whim. Libertarians -- we're not over til its over, and its just getting warmed up. The battle for Ohio and the country is being waged here and across the country with thousands joining everyday. We must continue fighting for stronger schools, freer communities, and with an unbridled spirit that demands nothing better than our finest.

Sunday Links

The Man Who Predicted the Depression

With interest rates at zero, monetary engines humming as never before, and a self-proclaimed Keynesian government, we are back again embracing the brave new era of government-sponsored prosperity and debt. And, more than ever, the system is piling uncertainties on top of uncertainties, turning an otherwise resilient economy into a brittle one.

The Bitch is Back

Feeling fisted by the Invisible Hand of the Market lo these past fifteen months? Lost a job lately? Or half the value of your 401(k)? Or a home? All three? Been wondering whence the too-long-ascendant political and economic ideas and forces behind Greenspanism, John Thainism, blind Wall Street plunder, bankruptcy, credit-default swaps, Bernie Madoff, and the ensuing Cannibalism in the Streets? Then you, sir, need to give thanks to Ayn Rand Assholes everywhere—as well as the steely loins from which they sprang.

What's Wrong with Ayn Rand?

By grounding capitalism and economic liberties in the psychic needs of individuals as opposed to, say, GDP growth, Rand avoided the collectivist trap under which individual rights are dependent for their legitimacy on serving some broader social purpose. However, this great virtue of her approach turns into a great vice in the context of her broader message, which seems to regard anything beyond a perfunctory interest in the well-being of others as vaguely illicit.

Can Reason Win the Drug War?

Faced with the fact that all the pillars of the drug war have failed – the focus on interdiction, the mass arrests of people for possessing a drug most Americans have sampled and found harmless, the useless programs like D.A.R.E. that attempt to scare kids away from drugs – anti-drug crusaders tend to talk about "sending the right message," which is what you argue when you have no real arguments left. Or to put their case more succinctly: "Screw you, hippie!"

Party Favors

The triumph of conservative book sales has not coincided with great gains for conservative ideas in politics or the broader culture. Conservatives hold little sway in the Republican Party, and the Republican Party holds little sway in the nation’s capital. We’re the backbench of a minority. More importantly, there’s not much intellectual rigor in the Right’s bestsellers. For all the pages printed, the movement runs short on real ideas.

Why Welfare doesn’t work by Justin Alexander

“Programs that are labeled as being for the poor, for the needy almost always have affects exactly the opposite of those which the well-intended sponsors intended them to have.”
-Milton Friedman

Why is it that the lowest among us stagnate? Have you ever noticed that generations of families continue to live in the projects again and again? Have you ever noticed that those who are below the poverty line must have the thickest resolve if they want to make an honest living? We cannot defend, but certainly we can understand why some in this situation would turn to selling drugs or committing theft to supplement the income that the government steals from them. Government sponsored housing is the biggest scam since the Great Depression and it’s time that it be unmasked for the penny-pinching monster that it is.

In 1964 President Johnson started his infamous War on Poverty and it worked,… temporarily. The Johnson administration saw the impoverished population go from 34million to about 24 million, a modest improvement. It was successful enough that the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations continued different yet similar versions of the policy; however to their dismay the numbers stagnated. Reagan thought that adding lower taxes would help the poor,…it did not, in fact by the end of Reagan’s first term the numbers were right back where they started and by the end of Bush 41’s tenure it was a whopping 40 million! The Census bureau’s said in 2005 that the numbers are around 37 million, but it is expected to be higher in 2010 due to the recession.

So, why didn’t it work? Tens of billions of dollars later, why do we still have all these people on government assistance? The “War on Poverty” is no different than the war in Nam, or the war in Iraq, or a War on drugs. Not only can it never be won through conventional means, but it’s not supposed to be won. No, the truth is it is to be endlessly continued in order to exploit both the poor and the well-to-do while giving the illusion of helping society. The government provides amenities like cable TV, cell phones, and other non-necessities in order to make a life of poverty as comfortable as possible. The amount of aid given to the poor is based on income so for every step forward you take the government pushes back to insure that you will not rise above the fray. If your rich and you are punished for your successes, what do you do? Well, you angrily write a check as you pay more taxes while maintaining your lifestyle, but what if you’re poor and punished for your successes, what then? The only way to keep the government out of your wallet when you’re poor is to go under the table, become a criminal.

“Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another.”-Milton Friedman

OUSFL Launches

By Michael Rankin

In weeks leading up to Ohio University's 2009 Homecoming, president Anthony Hennen secured libertarian legacies by registering OUSFL as an official student organization at Baker University Center. Junior John Kerkhoff launched the organization's first internet domain at the same time, mobilizing a critical tool in the quest to establish a libertarian enclave.

Hennen and Kerhoff's accomplishments come on heels of much planning, thought, and history. Ohio University distance runners Todd Holbrook, Christopher Myers and Hennen founded OUSFL at Alden Library in 2008 after the Ohio Libertarians led by Robert Arnold phased out. Holbrook, who now works in Washington, D.C. began the chapter his senior year with Myers who had attended numerous Ohio Libertarian meetings at the Baker Center his freshman year.

Opening the first meeting at the Athens Civil War Monument in September 2009, five members planned the design of a formidable website worthy of carrying the weight of political, economic, and social ideas concentrated from Ohio University's sole libertarian camp.

In September, Hennen and Myers tapped tenured professor Richard Vedder to advise the organization, suggesting Vedder's outstanding career and expertise in economics would serve OUSFL well.

The Vacation from Idealism

For so long libertarian authors, activists, and leaders have been dancing their way throughout the pages of history -- thin pages that contain only mild accounts of real world instances and facts. But that all changed with the Revolution. Ron Paul led the way to 'libertarianism' becoming a household name. His will pave the way for more activism.

Our vacation from idealism begins now.

The story of real-life people has been the tale of politics forever in America. Barack Obama's hit book about a Kenyan village sold more copies in its first two weeks than the Communist Manifesto has sold in ten years. Why is this worthy of notice? "People don't catch philosophies as often as they catch personalities," exclaims James Moresdon, a specialist in analytic demographic research. "People don't like the 'isms' and 'schisms' that appear so frequently in rhetoric. They hate words like 'socialism' and 'communism,' and so 'democracy' is the common favorite that trumps them."

Thus libertarianism is in desperate need of a face lift. But as Ron Paul followers pointed out, there is no simple answer in real policy decisions. Everything is complex, everyone is pragmatic.

If what libertarians need and want is victory, then the real hope at fulfilling our ideals is through the stories of common people.