Our friends in the UK Libertarian Party have opened up a new blog for business, and if the first week or so is any indication, it will be a must-read. In Jenkins Nails It, there is a comprehensive (and absolutely correct) discussion of the War on Terror having devolved almost completely into a mechanism for social control. Excerpts: Under the guise of 'security', freedoms and liberties gained over the centuries are being consigned to the dustbin of history in our country. The main political parties, and a complicit mass media (who know that 'fear sells', regardless of how overblown and ridiculous the supposed threat -- avian flu, anyone?) are telling us that there is no alternative, that only by giving up our basic rights to the state will we be safe. But surely we know that the threat is both real and grave? After all, every time that television programmes run a story about Islam or Al-Qaeda, they serve us up some demented Muslim cleric -- undoubtedly pledging death ...

...at least until this guy comes around. Ben Olken who studies graft, corruption and the politics of assassination is one of the most gifted young economists discusses why politics and graft go together like bricks and mortar for some societies. We are no exception, where throughout the 19 th century Jacksonian democracy encouraged a type of nepotistic graft, as well as a type of oligarchy. This was perfectly represented by the infamous William "Boss" Tweed . I think much of what we are seeing today is the same old oligarchy reassert itself to in their own words, "correct the excesses of democracy" which instead of translating into promoting constitutional liberty , as it should have, has translated into reasserting oligarchic control to dominate your life with restrictive orders, laws and rules. Oh joy. "I'm the law around here see...." I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to watch this last link.....

It is unusual that I give kudos to Reason Magazine, with the exception that they got this right. There is a rise of the libertarian left going on. And it will impact and shape social policy in America. The actual mechanics of how that will play out are not known, but the process is underway and it is a productive force. Unlike the Rothbardian "anarchists" and ultra-right "minarchists" left libertarianism is predominantly a movement that see being libertarian as being fiscally conservative and socially liberal to ensure the maximum personal liberty and maximum economic liberty intertwined to serve a larger public good, the health of the overall society. Unlike radical libertarians they do not reject the state outright, rather in this view governments are "secured among men with a utilitarian purpose. That is they are defined in their duties by their foundation." In our case that is the constitution. The progenitor of this movement was none other than Thomas...

....and it gives us the ability to do or say pretty much what we want. For example, if I want to dress in drag and go out in the morning I can. Now that does not mean I will ever get elected to public office, but it does mean, I have a right to do it. There is a difference between having the freedom to do something and bearing the consequences of actually doing it. Responsible citizenship, basically limits what I can or cannot do. For example, I will not do certain things like say smoke a cigarette, talk on my mobile phone and try to eat a sandwich I picked up at a wawa while driving on the freeway at somewhere around 70 miles per hour. You use freedom too creatively and you just may win a Darwin award where people actually thank you for removing yourself from the gene pool. My favorite line : "Alcohol and snowmobiles are a dangerous mix. Then came the rabbit....." Check it out for yourself here.... http://www.darwinawards.com/ In Turkey however, it could happen that if I am ...

....and why I am up to my ears in commentary about why paying my taxes is a good thing- if I lived in Venezuela. The best critical and most rational analysis by far is here at publiez: http://lille.indymedia.org/spip.php?article12176 http://lille.indymedia.org/spip.php?article12067 But that being said, one has to wonder if the author- presumably French- understands the mechanics of social revolution that took place in France at the end of the 18th century. I see a similar process in play in Venezuela and it is a response to and blowback for previous deregulatory policies that did not serve the interests of anyone except a tiny minority of the population. There is much to be said that Bolivar's vision of popular democracy was significantly different from Washington's and Jefferson's vision of a republic. There is also much to be said that Bolivar in his exuberance alienated other South American heroes like De San Martin the liberator of the Andes who did advocate the Jeffer...

Saying the F**** word is taboo in both American pollitics and for public relations specialists in America. As seen here: http://thirdpartywatch.com/2008/03/10/those-effing-libertarian-party-media-guys/ Proving once again that while those who have bad taste may not be perfect, they can be good, and the shame it is they are also the people who are not in control.

These are my discussions with one of the world's most talented phsyicists. I will not tell you who. But you can see he largely agrees with me, Larry Page and others who advocate a kind of freedom and liberty that is pricipled and dignified without being rapacious and bottom line oriented. The sinlge e-mail that is mine, explamifies how I try to convert people to a more libertarian point of view, a 21st century one that combines the best of right and left. At the same time, it does not aboadon, but affirms, what I think of as best in America. For this discussion a prominent neo-conservative told me "you 'Jeffersonians' will drive this country off a cliff." While at the same time he and his neo-conservative buddies over at Heritage are driving us into the gorund. Gives you reason to pause and think that the worlds leading physicist thinks I got the answer right in its basics. Even if we disagree on its design. It makes me think of Einstein discussing issues with thi...

...and why it matters for post-modern people. Otherwise who would care what some Greek said, or some ancient Chinese sage said....and why you should listen to them all. The Ancient Greek Historian Thucydides lays bare for us the mechanisms that occur when a society becomes overpopulated and cruel. In his history of the Peloponnesian War, he takes shot at all the things we think of as normal in human relationships. His premise is "the strong do what they want, the weak suffer what they must." Herodotus on the other hand, from Chapter 1 of his book, proved that this attitude only comes about as a reaction to the material resources and our lack of them our perception that we do not have what we want; Herodotus says people are cruel when they want things. Olive oil, wine, gold, women, land. When people do not want things and think about them in their relation to society they are called philosophers or historians. The philosophers and historian's job, as it was understood was...

Folks, I am sorry, I am still new at this so if the spacing or scope of the document is not correct, I apologize. I am not opposed inter-Americanism or pan-Americanism and I never really have been. I like the idea of an "empire of liberty" that Jefferson said his principles would bring about. I think it is the best and most socially responsible model out there for the development of trade agreements. That being said, that model is opposed to our managed free trade agreements in NAFTA and CAFTA which both 1.) create net job loss in the intended countries are fueling immigration, 2.) create jobs on one end, for one class, in the social scale, but are non-reciprocal agreements that do not promise jobs in this country and 3.) create political tensions in each region they are enacted in. Much like Roman trade agreements that assure stability by protecting the propertied classes, NAFTA and CAFTA fuel the problems of immigration normal North Americans are forced to deal with. I am s...

Over at Thoughts on Freedom, the Australian Libertarian Society Blog , there is a current post on school vouchers that starts by rethinking whether or not they should be means tested. I almost did not click the read more button, but then.... But then it took a turn I wasn't expecting; here's the segment where everything changed: I have traditionally argued that everybody should get an equal voucher, and that the voucher should not be means-tested. I now believe that it would be appropriate to means-test vouchers. My primary argument against a means-test was that by reducing the amount of the voucher for high-income earners this would increase the effective marginal tax rate (EMTR) faced by a person as they earn more income, and therefore contributes to the “poverty trap”. I still think this is true, but I now think it is outweighed by another issue. Everybody in Australia is on welfare. There is no such thing as a “self-reliant” Australian and each of us is both taking from a...

Regular readers are aware that I have been posting a lot on India's automobile industry, which has led me to a lot of interesting places, including the discovery of at least one Indian libertarian (small-L but that's something) leaning blog: Freedom Noodles : "Nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all." Doesn't post as often as you'd like (maybe once a month by a quick scan of the archives), but is interesting when it does. Check out Women and Self Defense : Yet another shocking incident of molestation in Mumbai has been in the news this year. The response and the advise give to women is predictable - curb your own freedom. Don't go out. Don't talk to strangers. Don't wear revealing clothes. I an earlier post, I had talked about why I am against this kind of approach and instead suggested Self Defense as the simple solution. I got comments about it not being a long term approach that does not cut the problem at it's roots. Worth ...

This from the Libertarian Alliance Blog out of Great Britain: "How Much is a Billion?" Upon finding out that the government under Gordon Brown was either spending or borrowing a Billion pounds per day, somebody (apparently in the US) helpfully tried to place the figure billion into perspective: The next time you hear a politician use the word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending YOUR tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases. A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959. B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Old (middle paleolithic) Stone Age. D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. (That’s 2,740,000 years approx - I think the writer is wrong but it’s a moot point still - David Davis) E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and...

Sometimes you get the best perspective from your friends abroad. Thoughts on Freedom, the Australian Libertarian Society Blog has an extensive article bringing Aussie libertarians up to date on the Ron Paul story. Here's their take on the newsletter controversy: About 20 years ago RP allowed his friend Lew Rockwell to publish a newsletter in his name, and he apparently used to write articles for the newsletter relating to foreign policy. In the early 1990s, when RP was out of politics and spending his time travelling & working, the newsletter included a couple of racist comments. The author of these comments isn’t known, but it was probably one of the many writers employed by Lew Rockwell. Ron Paul has strongly repudiated the racist sentiments in the newsletter, but he took responsibility for allowing his name to be linked to such comments and apologised. Over the years he has spoken repeatedly against discrimination against any groups, and he counts Martin Luther King and Gh...

Did you fill out that consent for organ donation on the back of your driver's license? I did. Did you include permission in your will for your organs to be harvested? Eventually I will get around to it. However, if Great Britain's new PM Gordon Brown has his way, our cousins won't have to worry about such niceties. Brown wants to give National Health Service physicians the power to harvest organs from the dead without the necessity of consent. The Libertarian Alliance gives you two ways to look at this. The first, is the organization's restrained, official policy statement: The Libertarian Alliance believes that no organ or bodily part should be taken from any person for any purpose without the explicit prior consent of that person, or, if dead, without the explicit consent of the next of kin. But frankly what I like better is the personal reaction of LA Director Sean Gabb: When the law allows organs to be harvested from the bodies of the dead without the explicit p...

From Thoughts on Freedom, the Australian Libertarian Society Blog comes this Quote of the Da y: Saw this quite wonderful quote on A Western Heart, “Our business model is one of very high risk: We dig a very big hole in the ground, spend three billion dollars to build a factory in it, which takes three years, to produce technology we haven’t invented yet, to run products we haven’t designed yet, for markets which don’t exist. We do that two or three times a year.” Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel It encapsulates everything that is great about the free market - hope, optimism, faith in science, a willingess to take risk, the knowledge that you will be rewarded for this risk, and a total belief in your people to succeed. God bless free enterprise.