1. Libertarian

Category Archives: Libertarian

Are You a Libertarian? Take This Quiz

Posted on by

Somewhere between 30 and 40 million Americans hold libertarian views. Are you one of them?Takethis quiz excerpted fromDavid Boazs new bookThe Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedomand find out just how libertarian you really are!

The quiz launched just over a week ago and almost 30,000 people have already taken it. Have you?Use #LibertarianMind to share yourresults on social media, tag your friends, and see how they measure up!

Of course, the quiz represents a very simplified version of libertarian principles andvery few people will have perfect scores in any one direction, but its a great way to open up a discussion with friends and family. If that discussion leads to more curiosityabout libertarianism and its principles, point them in our directionor give them a their very own copy ofThe Libertarian Mind!

Havent had a chance to readThe Libertarian Mindyet?We have a limited number of copiesto give away.Take the quizto learn the details! You can also follow The Libertarian Mind on Facebook for news on the book, media appearances, and more.

Read the original:

Are You a Libertarian? Take This Quiz

J. Neil Schulmans Alongside Night is at the forefront of libertarian cinema

Posted on by

Search Events:

[ { "timestamp": "1425024000000", "date": "2015-02-27 20:00:00", "type": "Theater", "title": "Stage Kiss @ Art Square", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/24125/" }, { "timestamp": "1425024000000", "date": "2015-02-27 :", "type": "Nightclub", "title": "Tao Fridays @ Tao", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/23883/" }, { "timestamp": "1425024000000", "date": "2015-02-27 22:00:00", "type": "Rock", "title": "Metal Shop @ South Point Hotel-Casino-Spa", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/24262/" }, { "timestamp": "1425110400000", "date": "2015-02-28 :", "type": "Country", "title": "Rascal Flatts Vegas Riot @ The Joint", "description": "", "url": "/events/2015/feb/28/38953/" }, { "timestamp": "1425110400000", "date": "2015-02-28 13:00:00", "type": "Jazz", "title": "Jazz Conversations Big Band Series @ Viva Las Vegas Event Center", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/23298/" }, { "timestamp": "1425110400000", "date": "2015-02-28 20:00:00", "type": "Theater", "title": "Stage Kiss @ Art Square", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/24125/" }, { "timestamp": "1425196800000", "date": "2015-03-01 20:00:00", "type": "Theater", "title": "Stage Kiss @ Art Square", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/24125/" }, { "timestamp": "1425196800000", "date": "2015-03-01 :", "type": "Concert", "title": "Ozomatli @ Brooklyn Bowl", "description": "", "url": "/events/2015/mar/01/39527/" }, { "timestamp": "1425196800000", "date": "2015-03-01 10:00:00", "type": "Musical", "title": "Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues @ House of Blues ", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/1127/" }, { "timestamp": "1425283200000", "date": "2015-03-02 19:00:00", "type": "Music Concert", "title": "Human Experience at The Beat @ Beat Coffeehouse", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/11652/" }, { "timestamp": "1425283200000", "date": "2015-03-02 20:00:00", "type": "Bar", "title": "Moonshine Mondays @ The Linq", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/24128/" }, { "timestamp": "1425283200000", "date": "2015-03-02 20:30:00", "type": "The Strip", "title": "Zombie Burlesque @ V Theater inside Miracle Mile Shops", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/21156/" }, { "timestamp": "1425369600000", "date": "2015-03-03 19:00:00", "type": "Activities- Parties", "title": "Pub Quiz @ Shakespeare's Grille & Pub", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/18914/" }, { "timestamp": "1425369600000", "date": "2015-03-03 19:00:00", "type": "Downtown", "title": "Vegas Blues Dance @ Artifice", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/22242/" }, { "timestamp": "1425369600000", "date": "2015-03-03 21:00:00", "type": "Music | Indie", "title": "Nickel Beer Night @ Beauty Bar", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/19640/" }, { "timestamp": "1425456000000", "date": "2015-03-04 :", "type": "Country", "title": "Rascal Flatts Vegas Riot @ The Joint", "description": "", "url": "/events/2015/mar/04/38954/" }, { "timestamp": "1425456000000", "date": "2015-03-04 :", "type": "Bar", "title": "Hump Day Happy Hour Scavenger Hunt @ Artisan Hotel", "description": "", "url": "/events/2015/mar/04/39518/" }, { "timestamp": "1425456000000", "date": "2015-03-04 :", "type": "Sports-UNLV", "title": "UNLV Runnin Rebels v. San Diego State Aztecs @ Thomas & Mack Center", "description": "", "url": "/events/2015/mar/04/39556/" }, { "timestamp": "1425542400000", "date": "2015-03-05 20:00:00", "type": "Theater", "title": "Stage Kiss @ Art Square", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/24125/" }, { "timestamp": "1425542400000", "date": "2015-03-05 :", "type": "Clubbing", "title": "Throwback Thursdays @ Body English", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/22791/" }, { "timestamp": "1425542400000", "date": "2015-03-05 21:00:00", "type": "Bar", "title": "Two-Cent Beer Night @ Dive Bar", "description": "", "url": "/events/ongoing/23055/" } ]

More:

J. Neil Schulmans Alongside Night is at the forefront of libertarian cinema

adrian wyllie Libertarian gubernatorial candidate argues against Real ID Act in florida – Video

Posted on by


adrian wyllie Libertarian gubernatorial candidate argues against Real ID Act in florida
adrian wyllie Libertarian gubernatorial candidate argues against Real ID Act in florida CHARLOTTE COUNTY FLORIDA SHERIFF CORRUPTION https://www.facebook.com/...

By: charlottecountyflcopwatch2

Continued here:

adrian wyllie Libertarian gubernatorial candidate argues against Real ID Act in florida - Video

Volokh Conspiracy: More on The Mainstreaming of Libertarian Constitutionalism

Posted on by

At the National Review website, conservative commentator Carl Eric Scott has some interesting thoughts on The Mainstreaming of Libertarian Constitutionalism, a recent article I coauthored with David Bernstein. Scott is extremely generous in his praise of the article, for which I am very grateful. But he also offers some criticisms, particularly the following:

Over and over, the paper stresses libertarian influence upon, commonalities with, and hopes for eventual agreement on certain issues with, the liberal jurist mainstream. By contrast it says little or nothing of libertarian influence upon, commonalities with, or potential agreement points with originalists, and with conservatives generally. Is that simply a matter of rhetorical presentation for one paper? Of smart academic politics? Or, is that a sign of a deeper desire to explore and establish liberal-tarian common ground? Of a desire that goes deeper than the libertarians greater case-by-case tendency to wind up on the same side as the originalists?

This argument misinterprets the paper. It is true we focus extensively on commonalities between libertarian and mainstream liberal approaches to constitutional law in the first half of the paper. But Parts V and VI, which focus on federalism and property rights, emphasize that these are crucial areas where libertarian ideas have entered the mainstream primarily by being taken up by conservative (and often originalist) judges. I have addressed these areas of convergence between libertarian and conservative legal thought more fully in other work, including articles coauthored with conservative originalist legal scholar John McGinnis, and my forthcoming book on the Kelo case and public use. In the Conclusion of the book, and in this earlier article, I stress the (in my view lamentable) reality that the issue of judicial protection for property rights tends to divide federal judges along right-left lines.

This particular article, however, focuses primarily on analyzing the influence of libertarian legal thought on the constitutional mainstream, which we defined as the dominant views in legal academia and the federal courts. Because academics are overwhelmingly liberal, it is the left that tends to define the mainstream in the former arena. In the latter, conservatives have a much stronger presence, and our paper focuses on several areas where libertarian ideas have had an influence in the judiciary primarily through the agency of conservative judges. But at the very heart of the judicial mainstream of the last twenty to thirty years have such moderate-conservative swing vote justices as Sandra Day OConnor and Anthony Kennedy, which is why much of our discussion focuses on areas where they seem to have at least partially adopted ideas associated with libertarians. We also wanted to particularly emphasize similarities with left-wing constitutional thought in some parts of the paper because overlaps between recent libertarian and conservative legal thought are already well-known, and much-commented upon in previous academic work.

All of this analysis is primarily empirical rather than normative. We have many disagreements with both the dominant currents of opinion in legal academia, and (to a lesser degree) moderate Supreme Court justices such as OConnor and Kennedy. In my view, mainstream is not a synonym for admirable or correct, though I recognize that others often use the term that way. Unlike some of our other work, this article does not attempt to defend libertarian legal thought, but merely describe its influence.

I also disagree with two broader points raised by Scott that go far beyond the scope of our article. First, he seems to treat libertarian and originalist approaches to constitutionalism as two distinct and mutually exclusive schools of thought. In reality, most (though certainly not all) prominent libertarian constitutional theorists are themselves originalists. They differ from conservative and liberal originalists primarily in being more skeptical of judicial deference to the legislative and executive branches of government. Indeed, the work of libertarian originalist scholars is one of the factors that has led other originalists to confront the tension that often arises between enforcing the original meaning and deferring to the political process a tension that was often overlooked in earlier conservative originalist thought, such as the work of Judge Robert Bork.

Second, Scott assigns substantive due process a much more central role in libertarian constitutional thought than is actually the case. While many libertarians are indeed sympathetic to the revival of Due Process Clause protections for economic liberties, this is just one of many parts of the Constitution that libertarians argue has been underenforced by the courts, at least until very recently. Other examples include the Contracts Clause, the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Public Use Clause of the Fifth Amendment (the focus of much of my own work). Libertarians argue that each of these provisions should get the same treatment as other constitutional rights that the courts have been willing to take more seriously. That does not mean that the rights they protect are unlimited or that the proper exercise of judicial review would limit government to the powers enjoyed by a Lockean minimal state. Just as serious judicial enforcement of the First Amendment does not lead to absolute rights of speech and religion, so serious enforcement of the Contracts Clause and the Public Use Clause would not lead to completely unfettered rights to property and contract. It does mean that a wide range of important constitutional rights would gradually emerge from the near-oblivion to which they had, for a long time, been consigned.

Scotts National Review post was followed by one by political theorist Peter Lawler. As Lawler notes, many of the issues he raises were previously discussed in a more detailed post he wrote in December. I responded to that post here.

Libertarians, liberals, and conservatives will probably continue to disagree on a number of major constitutional issues. No sweeping libertarian constitutional revolution is likely to occur anytime soon. But, as our article suggests, libertarian legal thought has made important incremental progress in recent years. At the very least, both liberals and conservatives have had to take libertarian views on constitutional law more seriously than was usually the case in the past.

Ilya Somin is Professor of Law at George Mason University. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, and popular political participation. He is the author of "The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain" (forthcoming) and "Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter."

See the article here:

Volokh Conspiracy: More on The Mainstreaming of Libertarian Constitutionalism

Libertarian candidate hopeful for 2015

Posted on by

The official Libertarian candidate for the upcoming federal election in the riding of Lakeland has no illusions about his chances.

Allen Kenneth Paley was born and raised in the Lakeland area. Born in Pierceland, Saskatchewan, Paley lived outside Bonnyville for most of his early life, later going to school in Red Deer until Grade 10, when he came back to Elk Point and finished his high school career. With the exception of a year spent in Vancouver, Paley has been living and working in the Lakeland area ever since. He now works with SAGD technology in the oil patch.

Paleys political awareness became a part of his life after the death of his father in Bonnyville. After his passing, Paley inherited his fathers guns, and began to read up on the legal framework regarding firearms in Canada. He soon grew frustrated with rules that he saw as draconian, and became a supporter of the Conservative Party. However, he later distanced himself from the party in 2013.

As time went on, I discovered they were perhaps not all that they presented themselves to be, said Paley. It seemed to me that they were merely giving lip service to the firearms community. Once I took off those rose coloured glasses, it became clear to me that it wasnt the right fit for me.

Fresh off the dissatisfaction of the Conservative Party, Paley found an online community of podcasts and Internet radio that proposed ideas that sounded more appealing than what he had been hearing. Paley read up on the Libertarian movement, and agreed with the idea of a more limited government.

Some of the hardliners will say that taxation is theft, and there are arguments to support that, said Paley. However were not trying to seize the levers of government to abolish it on our first day. We are stepping into the arena to make improvements to things.

Paley is now getting ready to submit papers and enter the political arena. It will be his first time running for office, and he said that he hopes to find support within the Lakeland riding. A clear policy platform is not yet down on paper, but privacy is one thing Paley plans to focus on, with the controversial Bill-C51 making its way through Ottawa.

Were opposed to the C-51 bill, said Paley. We can look back a decade, and our neighbour to the south rolled out this kind of policy, and look where its gotten them.

Tax reform is also a key talking point for Paley, with the proposal of a 15 per cent flat tax across the country replacing the current tax system, and the raising of the personal tax exemption to $17,000 from $12,000, and the ending of corporate welfare.

As for the success of the party in Lakeland, Paley said that he has no illusions about what will happen in the election.

Read the original post:

Libertarian candidate hopeful for 2015


  1. Libertarian