| |
| 11/21/08 | |||||||||||||
|
Current
Editorials The October, 2003 issue of Discover contains one of the saddest letters I've ever read. Gil Bell, of Duluth, Georgia, writes " ... one would have to conclude that travel out of our solar system is impossible. The fusion, fission, and antimatter engines require too much fuel ... The laser sail is doomed by the fact that building a 6,600-mile-wide collecting mirror is simply not feasible, and ... a 600-mile-wide sail would be torn apart by cosmic debris on a daily basis. And why build a fusion ramjet when there's no fuel in space to run it, and its design would not allow it to attain the speed it needs? "The fusion or fission engine concepts would be useful in getting around out own solar system, but what's the use in traveling to other planets in our neighborhood? Venus will never be inhabitable and neither will Mars or any of the Jovian planets or their moons, and changing the environment on another planet will never be within our capabilities. It is fun to speculate on way that humans might accomplish interstellar travel, but in the end it is just more science fiction." There are lot of unsupported assertions in Mr. Bell's letter, and a great many factual errors (most of them, I'm afraid, based on an incredible ignorance of history), but the saddest thing about it is its spirit of defeat. As I said in a recent essay, Americans seem to have given up on the future. This letter from Discover is typical and symptomatic.
In public, the Republicans talking heads are jumping for joy this week following the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Governorship of California. In private, the talking heads and the Republican leadership are quaking in their collective boots. They know that, given the situation, the likelihood is that the Party is going to end up with egg on their collective faces. The basic problem with the California economy (and by extension, almost every other state in the Union) is very, very simple: A century of rampant, unchecked socialism. (Read the rest here)
Spring is traditionally the time for new beginnings. This year, however, it's the autumn that brings new beginnings, at least for those who wish to plant and nurture the seeds of liberty. On October 1, the results of a vote of the more than 5,000 members of the Free State Project were announced. The Free State Project is the embodiment of an idea suggesting that a sufficient number of political activists could work within the existing system to repeal unconstitutional laws and return us to a Constitutional republic, at least within a certain geographic area. Ten states with sufficiently low populations that 20,000 activists could make a measurable difference were considered. Of them all, the top vote-getter was New Hampshire (Read the rest here)
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America (Declaration of Independence) states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." This "Declaration of Independence" was the 13 Colonies justification to the world as to why they were no longer under the lawful authority of England. That being the case, and the statement that "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, how then is that consent obtained from each individual in this country today? Have you given your consent? Join the discussion in the forum by clicking here!
Guest
Editorials
External Links to Liberty Information Who
Is Ludwig von Mises?
|
| |||||||||||
