| No human being has the right -- under any circumstances -- to initiate force against another human being, nor to threaten or delegate its initiation. The Zero Aggression Principle |
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Looking for Freedom?
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January
15, 2007 People who ask "what should we, as a society, do" about a given problem always conclude that we need more laws, policies and programs as if we did not have enough already. America has more social programs than any other country on the planet. Insanity is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. We drive ourselves crazy enacting more and more laws, policies and programs while the problems we attempt to solve get worse and worse. Here are just a few suggestions: (Read the rest here)
Some Truth About Narcotics and "Addiction" By
Susan Callaway (RN Ret.), Editor
To paraphrase what I'm told is an old American Indian saying: Don't judge someone unless you've walked a mile in their shoes. I've walked in those shoes. Both as a nurse and as a chronic pain patient, I've seen this thing from both sides. I've worked with "addicts" who were dying of AIDS, and many others. I took high doses of prescribed narcotic analgesia for years, and gratefully got rid of it when I learned how to eliminate my pain. There was no "addiction," and the physical dependence was easily overcome with a logical program of tapering off. It was not always completely comfortable, but it was manageable because I understood what was going on and was in control of both my body and mind. Ignorance and fear make the process painful and frightening, not the drug. (Read the rest here)
Escalation
is Hardly the Answer Mr. Speaker, A military victory in Iraq is unattainable, just as it was in the Vietnam war. At the close of the Vietnam war in 1975, a telling conversation took place between an NVA Colonel named Tu and an American Colonel named Harry Summers. Colonel Summers reportedly said, “You never beat us on the battlefield.” Tu replied, “That may be so, but it is also irrelevant.” It is likewise irrelevant to seek military victory in Iraq. As conditions deteriorate in Iraq, the American people are told more blood must be spilled to achieve just such a military victory. 20,000 additional troops and another $100 billion are needed for a “surge.” Yet the people remain rightfully skeptical. (Read the rest here)
Had
Enough? Since 1994, the pirates of government have stolen $850.7 billion from your supplemental retirement program, Social Security. And that’s just the period where I’ve been following this theft. They took this money and blew it. Both republicans and democrats spent this “off budget” money on whatever they fancied, including wars, invasions, and pork barrel projects they could not otherwise afford. Even worse, pretending that they merely “borrowed” or “invested” this cash, the Beltway Bandits put “special” nonmarketable Treasury bonds in debit black hole accounts they labeled “trust funds” even though these have little or no resemblance to real trusts. (Read the rest here)
Nancy
Pelosi, Queen of Hubris The women's libbers have been saying for years that once the Matriarchy came into power, the maternal instinct would prevail and we would become beneficiaries of a kinder, gentler society. With the naming of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives, we can now put that claim to the test. The reconvening of Congress is generally a low-key affair held on a dreary Washington winter afternoon. But last week the Democrats decided to take advantage of the occasion to shed Pelosi's dowdy image as San Fran Nan, reestablish her moral authority as a mother, and re-invent her as a political celebrity. (Read the rest here)
The
Future of Freedom Foundation One of our smartest political philosophers, Will Rogers, had it right: "Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for." I think of that whenever I hear politicians and commentators praise bipartisanship. I also think of this saying: "Be careful what you wish for. You might get it." Where did all the wise heads get the idea that Americans voted for bipartisan cooperation last November? After six years of full Republican control, it looked to me as though the voters wanted divided government -- blessed gridlock -- do-no-harm government. Hear, hear! (Read the rest here)
The
Independent Institute CARTAGENA DE INDIAS, Colombia—I imagined I would be able to find cocaine in Cartagena, Colombia’s famous Caribbean seaport. I just didn’t know how quickly, and how cheap it would be. It took me a five-minute evening drive from the Walled City to the Calle de la Media Luna, where dealers offer “perico” at every corner. The price? Twenty-thousand pesos ($8) for one gram. “Too pink for my taste,” I said, trying to appear dignified as I walked away. I had the information I needed for this column: Cocaine is abundant and cheap. (Read the rest here)
Individual
Liberty - 101 Our
Techno-Utopian Future: Fallacies and Predictions What's the ultimate destiny of our civilization? Are we destined to become "living batteries" a la Matrix, refugees in a post-apocalyptic radioactive desert landscape, or peons of a totalitarian surveillance state? Or, can we look forward to a luxurious but boring utopia, with robot servants and automated factories to meet our every whim, but nothing to do? I often debate and debunk such scenarios as the organizer of a philosophy discussion group. I offer no mystical powers of foresight, but I can use some insights into history and human nature to predict which possibilities seem more likely than others. Certain themes and fallacies are especially common, so here are some predictions of the future that I consider more or less likely to occur. (Read the rest here)
From
The Archives (04/03/03) Invariably, when I write something advocating unfettered freedom, someone writes to chide me, or to correct my "misguided" thinking. Generally, these comments advocate for some kind of laws; the argument goes that without laws, society wouldn't exist. Freedom would be lost without laws. Oh, really? Let's look at how well laws protect freedom. In the U.S., a person is completely free to live his or her life ... as long as he or she doesn't mind:
External
Articles A
Strange Way to Promote Freedom Many people around the world, actually most people, have been convinced for some time that the US is being run by a power-mad lunatic. The video of the Saddam killing, which crystallized the extent to which extremist Shiites have taken over the country, has galvanized millions and confirmed the worst suspicions about what is going on in Iraq. How can anyone doubt it when the pre-occupation president is lynched by an angry mob shouting "Go to Hell" along with the name Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric? Theocracy in Iraq, here we come, courtesy of US taxpayers. The US enabled not freedom but a coup by crazies. (Read the rest here)
The
Mailbag
Well, after last week, things had to look up, and maybe they are! There is one news item that I am going to discuss up front. Readers may have noticed that I have NOT breathlessly reported each new piece of garbage that has announced, threatened to announce, or have hinted about announcing that they are running for POTUSA (President) in November 2008. My own little form of protest, because it is too blamed early to start on that, and I’m still recovering (as is the country) from the madness of the 2006 elections. But I am trying to comment on news of interest to fellow lovers and advocates for liberty, and so I do have to provide at least some comment about Dr. Ron Paul’s action in “signing up” for running for Head Massa in 2008. I really hate to see him waste his time doing this, although I realize that he surely has a realistic expectation of his chances and is viewing it as an educational effort in a troubling time. But it also jeopardizes his role as the conscience of the Congress, a role no one is likely to fill. And it makes him the target of all kinds of statist, anti-liberty types. I wish him the best, but fear the worst. Mama's Note: This was my reaction exactly, before I read this. I'm really sorry to see Ron Paul do this, but wish him well. (Read the rest here. Two full pages.)
From The Libertarian Enterprise
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