Libertarianism
This holiday is a dichotomy for me. While I plan to celebrate the American ideal, I must also mourn it’s loss by erosion and atrophy. The fact is that too many Americans have abandoned their love of liberty. They either lack the courage to defend it, or know not what they’ve lost and feebly attempt to disguise their apathy or ignorance with claims of overwork and family obligations.
“I just don’t have time.” “We can’t change anything anyway.” or “I voted! What else can I do?”
While somewhat understandable due to the ‘Hate America First’ crowd populating our higher education system, this situation is absolutely unacceptable.
Pay attention, please!
What could possibly be more important than the world you leave to the family you claim to be working for?
This country was founded with the demand that we citizens hold the government accountable and as such it’s our solemn duty to be vigilant and educate ourselves; especially to question every carrot some politician offers for a block of votes.
Part of me wishes the deniers would just be truthful and admit to their selfish apathetic attitude but even then I’ve had enough of their disregard for the outright treason going on in the high halls of our government.
We should be lighting the streets of Washington DC with torches and pitchforks, pushing carts with caldrons of tar and bags of feathers for every Progressive we can lay our hands on!
Instead, most of the hapless, uneducated, indoctrinated sheeple will celebrate their faux freedoms with government approved USDA beef, cooked with EPA tested charcoal and FDA stamped BBQ sauce served on a table illuminated with gov’t mandated, mercury filled light bulbs that require a permit for disposal, powered with electricity delivered through “smart” meters that will soon be limiting the amount of power they are allowed to consume and the happy serfs will never give a moment’s thought to any of it.
“Thank you, Government for the food we are about to receive…” They may as well say.
Need a loaf of FDA approved bread and a twelve pack of pasteurized processed beer to help numb the senses to your lack of liberty? Go right ahead! You’re free to find the nearest convenience store run by immigrants who receive a tax break and subsidy but if you plan on driving that car, you’d better strap on a seat belt for your own safety. We wouldn’t want you killing yourself in an accident making you unable to pay back the insurance companies who apparently rule our lives because we’re too stoopid and incapable to do so ourselves. Not to mention, if a nice helpful revenue assessor officer of the law decides you’ve had one beer too many because the county and state need to fund a few ongoing, never-ending money pits downtown/highway/school beautification or government vote buying entitlement projects (Hey! This one’s got a job!). You’ll likely be forced to give some specimen in a twisted, technological violation of the Fifth or Fourth amendments to be used as evidence against you in a modern-day kangaroo court. (Ever hear of a No Refusal Law?)
Ah Freedom: Wonder what that felt like. You know, I think I once actually thought we were free, and slowly but surely I realized the illusion of liberty was the curtain of OZ and just like the tale, we aren’t supposed to peel that curtain back. Unfortunately, unlike Dorothy with her traveling band of truth seekers, the man behind the curtain isn’t a cute, cuddly, benevolent old man who resembles our kindly uncle. Behind the curtain, is the great and devouring leviathan, its hour come round at last, now slouching towards Bethlehem to be born. (Apologies to Yeats.)
Whatever hides beyond the veil you can be assured it has no designs for your safety or security except as a ruse to steal more of your freedoms.
Remember the phrase: “It’s for the children.”? Well guess what, we are “the children”. Get used to it. Your body is no longer your property, let alone your land, your vehicle or your actual children. The state now lays claim to them all in more ways I care to count. It takes a village alright. A village of idiots to swallow the lies we’re continually asked to believe.
Enjoy your Fourth of July, comrades.
The “transformation” is almost complete.
‘bot
Note: If this seems unreasonable to you, then I emplore you to get off your ass and DO SOMETHING about it. Donate your time and money to conservative candidates, then STAY involved. We will not turn it around in one election any more than it took one election to get us here. It’s past time to be what the founders intended us to be: Educated, Informed and Involved.
A friend caught me the other day making a simple but profound mistake. While bemoaning the recent SCOTUS decision on ObamacareTax, I brought up the wrongness of striking down the Stolen Valor Act, which made it illegal to claim to be a war hero.
“Why do we need a law against that?” He asked. “We’ve already got laws on the books against fraud. We don’t need to pass another law every time someone gets their panties in a wad about some hot-button issue, especially when there’s usually a law already on the books to address a particular infraction.”
Much as I hate to be wrong, I was. I let my respect for our veterans cloud my judgement. I was reminded yet again to be wary of issuing laws at the whim of what seems expedient which, like my friend pointed out, usually serve to be just another tightening of the clamp around our freedoms.
Don’t let your emotional response to an issue cloud your reasoning. Of course it’s despicable to imitate a war hero or veteran, but it’s not a crime until that person uses the deception for monetary or personal gain. So in this case, the SCOTUS ruled correctly.
We must maintain vigilance over our own righteous outrages in order to be true to the real cause of liberty, even and especially if it’s speech we don’t agree with, because that is one thing distinguishing us from those that would silence our opinions just because we express dissent.
I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it. ~ Voltaire
The right to free speech is one of the many things our heroes fight for. We would do them a grave disservice by diminishing that right in the slightest, especially with some attempt to defend their honor which can never, ever be stolen by anyone.
After campaigning for nearly 5 months, we took a break last Friday evening and jammed-out to the masterful tunes of Mr. Phil Pritchett and The Full Band. Without knowing the political leanings of P2, I gathered some strong libertarian concepts in the lyrics of his songs.
Here’s a couple of shaky video examples. Enjoy:
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Trog has a great idea about who to include on that list before he’ll agree to submit to such a test.
But let’s think about this for a moment.
The libertarian in me says we need less intrusion, not more, but I understand the premise: people on the government dole should be held to the same standard as their benefactors.
We tax payers are the 53% so by default we are their (the people on welfare and or food stamps) employers. It’s a shame their job description is so undemanding, really. It’s actually non-existent if you think about it, aside from a set-up appointment and a few phone calls the monetary benefits far out-way the miniscule effort/reward ratio. And really, who can resist government cheese? Certainly not the entire class of people the left has trained to suckle the government teat over the last 50 years. So, I’m in agreement, in principle.
But as long as we’re tossing around ideas…
Let’s require drug tests for Congress and all public employees
by randomly chosen, non-union labs,
or no tests at all.
For anyone
except by the requirements of their employer and even then they should be performance driven.
The point is, Congress should be subject to every condition and requirement for employment they legislate upon the people they supposedly serve. That goes for public employees as well.
That’s not asking too much, is it?
From The Classic Liberal, we get a reminder of what it means to be Libertarian.
Recently a member of my family labeled me an extremist for my political activism so, this quote became my instant favorite:
“I have need to be all on fire, for I have mountains of ice about me to melt.” It is this spirit that must mark the man truly dedicated to the cause of liberty.
The article also posits a question: “Would you push the button?”
My answer: In a heartbeat.
How about you?
UPDATE: Richard McEnroe of Three Beers Later posts a Serious Libertarian Quiz in which he ponders the limits of property rights in a purely libertarian society.
And Wyblog’s Chris Wysocki questions the academic vs. real world applications of Rothbard’s button.
Be sure to join in the lively discussion after both of these pieces.