Sam Seder vs. Libertarian Prof. Walter Block: Resolve Theft With Private Courts and Private Armies!
Libertarian Professor Walter Block returns to the Majority Report for a brand new debate with Sam Seder! In this Part 2 of 4 clip, Walter Block and Sam Seder debate non-aggression and property...
By: Sam Seder
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Sam Seder vs. Libertarian Prof. Walter Block: How Are Property Rights Established?
Libertarian Professor Walter Block returns to the Majority Report for a brand new debate with Sam Seder! In this Part 3 of 4 clip, Walter Block and Sam Seder...
By: Sam Seder
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Sam Seder vs. Libertarian Prof. Walter Block: How Are Property Rights Established? - Video
The two senators were key attractions at a conference in Washington hosted by LincolnLabs, a group of entrepreneurs and digital operatives that hosted a similar event in Silicon Valley last year.
"I love tech," Cruz said, kicking off his speech to the crowd and not-so subtly mentioning that both of his parents were computer programmers.
READ: Huckabee heads to Holy Land
The 2008 presidential election saw an infusion of tech with politics, and President Barack Obama's savvy operation has widely been referenced as the precedent for harnessing data and digital models for political campaigns. Many of Silicon Valley's biggest names -- and their wallets -- are considered potentially big power players in the 2016 presidential election.
Bush, whose last campaign took place in 2002 -- long before the political world got smart on tech -- has attempted to show that he's still ahead in the digital realm.
"I was digital before digital was cool I guess," he said in December, noting his prolific use of email as governor of Florida from 1999-2007.
His Blackberry can be seen in his official portrait.
But two incidents this week revealed Bush might not have caught up with modern times.
In an effort this week to show his transparency and accessibility, Bush released 250,000 emails to the public, but the dump included some personal information like names, emails and even Social Security numbers -- a huge no-no for online documents. The error was first reported by the tech blog, The Verge.
Bush's digital efforts were also in the spotlight after his team was forced to let go of their chief technology officer one day after announcing the hire. The aide resigned after it was made public that he deleted part of his online footprint, including tweets that referred to women as "sluts" and commented on gay men at the gym.
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Tips for a homeless weekend traveler?
So begins a thread on Reddits Washington D.C. subreddit today.
Im flying in for a conference this weekend, from Friday through Sunday afternoon, read the post from strangelycutlemon. I was given enough money to cover travel expenses but not hotel expenses. Any ideas for a place I could lie down and/or charge my phone for the night? Or if I end up walking around all night, whats a good place to visit? Thanks.
The first response was not exactly what the intrepid traveler was hoping for:
Maybe DCs hypothermia shelters? The predicted lows this weekend are 18F(Friday), 7F and maybe snowing (Saturday), and 10F (Sunday). Walking around is not going to be a smart option.
Another poster, Dcgrump, suggested that the visitor walk around the monuments to kill time or look for a cheap hostel to sleep in. Kzanomics suggested the Hotel Tonight app.
No dice, said the traveler: He had less than $15 to spend on a place to stay. He had tried Airbnb, but the host he met backed out on him.
[Inside the libertarian version of Burning Man: Guns, booze and bitcoin]
So who is this guy, and what kind of conference was he going to? It took the Reddit audience exactly one guess to figure out the latter.
Homeless, here for the weekend, that can mean only one thing. . . hello Students for Liberty conference attendee!
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Hey, can somebody let a nice young Libertarian crash on their couch?
Over his 33 years at Cato and through his earlier activities in the libertarian policy sphere, Catos Executive Vice PresidentDavid Boazhas played a key role in the development of both the Cato Institute and the libertarian movement at large; he even wrote the the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on libertarianism!
On Tuesday, in conjunction with the release of his new book, The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom (which, incidentally, sold out on Amazon within hours), Boaz took to Reddits iAMA forum to discuss libertarianism, his book, and the burgoening libertarian moment,inviting Redditors of all ilks to ask him anything.
During the hour long Q&A session, Boaz tackled a wide-array of questions, weighing in on everything from the drug warandabortionto effective strategies for social change and the efficacy of libertarian governance.Each one of his responses ignitedimpassioned debates amongst the forums diverse audience as commenters from all sides of the political spectrum hashed out the ideas of liberty.
The resulting discussion is a fascinating one, very much worth your attention. Check out the Reddit discussion and Boazs book, and then continue the conversation on Twitter using #LibertarianMind.
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You asked Cato EVP David Boaz anything. Heres what happened.
Some people think libertarians only care about taxes and regulations. But I was asked not long ago, whats the most important libertarian accomplishment in history? I said, the abolition of slavery.
The greatest libertarian crusade in history was the effort to abolish chattel slavery, culminating in the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement and the heroic Underground Railroad. Its no accident that abolitionism emerged out of the ferment of the Industrial Revolution and the American Revolution.
How could Americans proclaim that all men are created equal endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, without noticing that they themselves were holding other men and women in bondage? They could not, of course. The ideas of the American Revolution individualism, natural rights and free markets led logically to agitation for the extension of civil and political rights to those who had been excluded from liberty, as they were from power notably slaves, serfs and women. As the great English scholar Samuel Johnsonwrote in 1775, How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?
The worlds first antislavery society was founded in Philadelphia that same year. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, yet he included a passionate condemnation of slavery in his draft of the Declaration of Independence the following year: [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him. The Continental Congress deleted that passage, but Americans lived uneasily with the obvious contradiction between their commitment to individual rights and the institution of slavery.
Racism is an age-old problem, but it clearly clashes with the universal ethics of libertarianism and the equal natural rights of all men and women.
As the idea of liberty spread, slavery and serfdom came under attack throughout the Western world. During the British debate over the idea of compensating slaveholders for the loss of their property, the libertarian Benjamin Pearsonrepliedthat he had thought it was the slaves who should have been compensated.
In the United States, the abolitionist movement was naturally led by libertarians. Leading abolitionists called slavery man stealing, in that it sought to deny self-ownership and steal a mans very self. Their arguments paralleled those of John Locke and the libertarian agitators known as the Levellers. William Lloyd Garrison wrote that his goal was not just the abolition of slavery but the emancipation of our whole race from the dominion of man, from the thraldom of self, from the government of brute force.
Frederick Douglass likewise made his arguments for abolitionin the terms of classical liberalism and libertarianism: self-ownership and natural rights. After the Civil War, he continued his fight for equal freedom, campaigning against Southern states efforts to avoid following the new constitutional amendments. And he applied his belief in liberty and equal rights universally: He backed womens suffrage, saying we hold woman to be justly entitled to all we claim for man. He defended Chinese immigrants, pointing out that there are no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity. In Great Britain he joined campaigns for free trade and Irish freedom.
Just as a better understanding of natural rights was developed during the American struggle against specific injustices suffered by the colonies, the feminist and abolitionist Angelina Grimknoted in an 1837 letter, I have found the Anti-Slavery cause to be the high school of morals in our land the school in which human rights are more fully investigated, and better understood and taught, than in any other.
Racism is an age-old problem, but it clearly clashes with the universal ethics of libertarianism and the equal natural rights of all men and women. As Ayn Rand pointed out in her 1963 essay Racism,
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A Short Introduction to Libertarianism: The Libertarian Mind with David Boaz
Libertarianismthe philosophy of personal and economic freedomhas deep roots in Western civilization and in American history, and it #39;s growing stronger. Two long wars, chronic deficits,...
By: Libertarianism.org
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A Short Introduction to Libertarianism: The Libertarian Mind with David Boaz - Video
The Libertarian Angle: American Sniper Revisited
Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and FFF vice president Sheldon Richman discuss the hot topics of the day. This week: the debate continues over the ...
By: The Future of Freedom Foundation
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Ep. 335 How I Became a Libertarian -- Tom Woods
New York Times bestselling author Tom Woods discusses his journey to libertarianism. Subscribe to the Tom Woods Show: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the...
By: TomWoodsTV
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Im delighted to announce that my new book, The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom, goes on sale today. Published by Simon & Schuster, it should be available at all fine bookstores and online book services.
Ive tried to write a book for several audiences: for libertarians who want to deepen their understanding of libertarian ideas; for people who want to give friends and family a comprehensive but readable introduction; and for the millions of Americanswho hold fiscally responsible, socially tolerant views and are looking for a political perspective that makes sense.
The Libertarian Mind covers the intellectual history of classical liberal and libertarian ideas, along with such key themes as individualism, individual rights, pluralism, spontaneous order, law, civil society, and the market process. Theres a chapter of applied public choice (What Big Government Is All About), and a chapter on contemporary policy issues. I write about restoring economic growth, inequality, poverty, health care, entitlements, education, the environment, foreign policy, and civil liberties, along with such current hot topics aslibertarian views of Bush and Obama; Americas libertarian heritage as described by leading political scientists; American distrust of government; overcriminalization; and cronyism, lobbying, the parasite economy, and the wealth of Washington.
The publisher is delighted to have this blurb from Senator Rand Paul:
They say the libertarian moment has arrived. If you want to understand and be part of that moment, read David Boazs The Libertarian Mind where youll be drawn into the eternal struggle of liberty vs. power, where youll learn that libertarianism presumes that you were born free and not a subject of the state. The Libertarian Mind belongs on every freedom-lovers bookshelf.
I am just as happy to have high praise from legal scholar Richard Epstein:
In an age in which the end of big government is used by politicians as a pretext for bigger, and worse, government, it is refreshing to find a readable and informative account of the basic principles of libertarian thought written by someone steeped in all aspects of the tradition. David Boazs Libertarian Mind unites history, philosophy, economics and lawspiced with just the right anecdotesto bring alive a vital tradition of American political thought that deserves to be honored today in deed as well as in word.
Find more endorsements here from such distinguished folks as Nobel laureate Vernon Smith, John Stossel, Peter Thiel, P. J. ORourke, Whole Foods founder John Mackey, and author Jonathan Rauch. And please: buy the book. Thenlike it on Facebook, retweet it fromhttps://twitter.com/David_Boaz, blog it, buy more copies for your friends.
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(Below was orignally published on rare.us)
Country-metal-rock-rap legend Kid Rockpreviewedhis new single Aint Enough Whiskey exclusively on RareSunday.
Here are some of thelyrics (emphasis added):
Talk aboutfreedom, talk aboutfaith They talking bouttaking my guns away
They talk about the greedy, talk about the poor They talking boutsending my daughter to war Talk about spending, talk about pay, theytalk about defending the NSA
TheNew York Timesasked Rock this month,Ive seen you say that youre not in bed with anybody (politically); youre more of a libertarian than anything else.
Rock responded:
"Fiscally, Im Republican. But the social issues kill me gay marriage and abortion. Its like, Come on, man, get off it. Theres so many big problems we got that we really need to address in this country."
Rock toldThe Guardianin January:
"I dont smoke much weed, it makes me dumb. But they should legalise and tax everything: pot, cocaine, heroin. Has it not been proven that people will always find a way to get what they want?"
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Is Kid Rock conservative? Libertarian? Or just all-American?
Story highlights Rand Paul kicks off his first event in Iowa this year with events that appeal to libertarian-minded voters Effort builds on the foundation that his father established in the state during his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns
In his first trip to Iowa this year, just under a year before the caucuses, the Kentucky Republican and potential presidential candidate ventured into familiar territory, rallying young voters and libertarian-minded supporters who turned out big for his father's presidential campaigns.
Paul found friendly audiences at the end of a stormy week filled with negative headlines over comments he made about vaccinations and swirling controversy involving one of his advisers in Iowa.
The crowds this weekend were a marked contrast to the social conservative audience that packed a Des Moines theater two weeks ago to hear 10 hours of speeches from a hoard of other potential candidates at the Iowa Freedom Summit.
The Federal Reserve was hardly mentioned at that event, and the rhetoric on war and the fight against ISIS was more forceful and hawkish that the positions Paul took this weekend.
'One loud voice'
Last fall, the senator struggled to communicate his stance on the war against terror. At first he urged restraint against ISIS, but after American journalists were beheaded by the group, Paul began supporting limited action.
He eventually, in a committee vote, voted "no" to authorizing war against ISIS, saying he felt the bill was too open-ended, and it was a vote he stood proudly by this weekend as he used it to separate himself from his potential competitors.
"You're going to get a choice on who the nominee is for the Republican Party. You're going to have nine, 10, 15, 20 who are eager to go and want troops on the ground," he said at the "Audit the Fed" rally Friday, which took place at a winery in Des Moines. "They want 100,000 troops on the ground. Right now. In all the countries."
"I can tell you there will be one loud voice in our party saying, think of the unintended consequence. Think about what we're going to accomplish and whether it will work before we go to war.' I promise you that will always be something I take very, very seriously."
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AMES, IowaIn a tour this weekend across central Iowa, Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) delivered a trio of wide-ranging speeches heavy on the themes of personal liberty, smaller government, tighter monetary policy and a less bellicose role on the world stage.
It was, in other words, a return to his libertarian roots.
Mr. Paul spoke to three receptive crowds in Des Moines, Marshalltown and Ames, delivering speeches heavy on the libertarian themes that helped propel his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, into the national spotlight during his two presidential runs.
Though Iowa is known more for the power of traditional conservative activists concerned about family values and social policy, Mr. Paul called for a more thoughtful American foreign policy, praised the Obama administration for efforts to reduce the penalties for nonviolent drug users and called formajor new changes to the Federal Reserves banking practices.
In his approach to the state, Mr. Paul is hoping to improve on his fathers two disappointing showings in the first-in-the-nation presidential contest. In 2008, the elder Mr. Paul finished fifth in the caucuses and failed to crack 10% of the vote. In 2012, he improved to third, drawing about 21% of the vote. Social conservative darlings Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, who campaigned on family values,won in 2008 and 2012, respectively.
Mr. Paul has long walked a tightrope between staying true to many of the libertarian principles and ideas that made his father a thorn in the side of the GOP establishment, while trying to grow that coalition to include young people, minorities and other voters typically not inclined to support Republican candidates.
Theres a great opportunity for us to reach out to new people who havent been interested in the Republican message if we are the party that believes in justice; we are the party that believes you are innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Paul told a group of college students at Iowa State, during a speech in which he criticized National Security Agency wiretapping and free-speech zones on college campuses, and hit a variety of other privacy themes.
This weekends trip was on Mr. Pauls terms. He was noticeably absent from the Iowa Freedom Summit last month where nearly two dozen other party leaders, including many potential presidential candidates, showed up to speak to conservative activists. Instead, he came to the state two weeks later, without having to jostle with any other GOP candidates for press coverage, stage time or voter attention.
The Kentucky Republican arrived in Iowa after a challenging week in Washington where he found himself on the defensive over his stance on the safety of vaccinations and whether such inoculations should be mandatory.Mr. Pauls view is that most childhood vaccines should be voluntary, a view that thrilled some libertarian conservatives.He used the trip to further fire up his fathers longtime supporters.
Hes more likely to describe himself as a constitutional conservative than a libertarian, but on Friday he tossed red meat to a constituency near and dear to his fathers heart: the voters who want to bring more transparency to the Federal Reserve. In remarks to an older crowd at a Des Moines winery, Mr. Paul raised concerns about the state of the U.S. currency and pinned the blame on the Fed.
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Glenn Jacobs: The Libertarian Superstar of Professional Wrestling
Glenn Jacobs, also known as WWE superstar "Kane", is our guest this week. He #39;s not only a tremendous performer and athlete, but also tremendous intellectual,...
By: misesmedia
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Glenn Jacobs: The Libertarian Superstar of Professional Wrestling - Video
Story highlights Rand Paul kicks off his first event in Iowa this year with events that appeal to libertarian-minded voters Effort builds on the foundation that his father established in the state during his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns
In his first trip to Iowa this year, just under a year before the caucuses, the Kentucky Republican and potential presidential candidate ventured into familiar territory, rallying young voters and libertarian-minded supporters who turned out big for his father's presidential campaigns.
Paul found friendly audiences at the end of a stormy week filled with negative headlines over comments he made about vaccinations and swirling controversy involving one of his advisers in Iowa.
The crowds this weekend were a marked contrast to the social conservative audience that packed a Des Moines theater two weeks ago to hear 10 hours of speeches from a hoard of other potential candidates at the Iowa Freedom Summit.
The Federal Reserve was hardly mentioned at that event, and the rhetoric on war and the fight against ISIS was more forceful and hawkish that the positions Paul took this weekend.
'One loud voice'
Last fall, the senator struggled to communicate his stance on the war against terror. At first he urged restraint against ISIS, but after American journalists were beheaded by the group, Paul began supporting limited action.
He eventually, in a committee vote, voted "no" to authorizing war against ISIS, saying he felt the bill was too open-ended, and it was a vote he stood proudly by this weekend as he used it to separate himself from his potential competitors.
"You're going to get a choice on who the nominee is for the Republican Party. You're going to have nine, 10, 15, 20 who are eager to go and want troops on the ground," he said at the "Audit the Fed" rally Friday, which took place at a winery in Des Moines. "They want 100,000 troops on the ground. Right now. In all the countries."
"I can tell you there will be one loud voice in our party saying, think of the unintended consequence. Think about what we're going to accomplish and whether it will work before we go to war.' I promise you that will always be something I take very, very seriously."
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Story highlights Rand Paul makes first 2015 trip to Iowa, home of first presidential caucuses He's trying to build a broad coalition of voters, but says he hasn't strayed far from his roots
"You're going to get a choice on who the nominee is for the Republican Party. You're going to have 9, 10, 15, 20 who are eager to go and want troops on the ground," he said, talking about the war against Islamic extremism. "They want 100,000 troops on the ground. Right now. In all the countries."
The Kentucky Republican had a rough week but found a friendly audience Friday night headlining an "Audit the Fed" rally at Jasper Winery in Des Moines, an event packed with many of his father's supporters and hosted by a group called Liberty Iowa.
It was a curious strategy for a man who's trying to build a broad coalition of voters behind him, but he assured supporters that he hasn't strayed far from his roots.
"Some of you may remember I sued the President," he said, pointing to a lawsuit he launched last year against the National Security Agency over its bulk metadata collection effort.
He didn't, however, mention that the lawsuit has been put on hold, or that he voted against a reform package in Congress last year because he felt it didn't go far enough in tweaking the agency.
Paul, who faced criticism this week over comments expressing doubt about the effectiveness of vaccinations and took heat over drama involving one of his advisers, is in Iowa on a quick two-day swing that puts him in front of familiar audiences.
Following the "Audit the Fed" rally Friday night, he attends the Iowa State University men's basketball game Saturday, as well as a watch party with young voters and a meet-and-greet with freshman Rep. Rod Blum.
Paul is one of many Republicans who will barnstorm the state in the coming months, seeking support ahead of Iowa's first-in-the-nation presidential nominating contest a year from now. While it's his first time in the state this year, Paul visited Iowa five times last cycle, and has indicated he plans to make the state a big part of his 2016 strategy.
His father, ex-Texas Rep. Ron Paul, built a solid foundation of supporters in Iowa during his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, a base that Paul is trying to court while also making inroads with the mainstream and socially conservative Republicans in the state.
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Rand Paul invokes libertarian roots with Iowa kick-off event
DES MOINES | Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul laid the groundwork for a possible 2016 Republican presidential bid Friday by offering a message he believes will appeal to the party's conservative base while attracting young and independent-minded Iowans fed up with a federal government over-reaching into their lives.
"I would be someone who is conservative with a little bit of libertarian-ish flavor," said Paul, 52, a member of the U.S. Senate since 2011 and son of former GOP presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
He said he would decide his own presidential intentions sometime in March or April.
Paul held an "audit the fed" rally at a local winery that drew more than 200 supporters. They cheered his call for bringing more transparency to the Federal Reserve Bank and its lending practices, easing harsh drug penalties, defeating Loretta Lynch as President Obama's U.S. attorney general nominee and taking a go-slow approach to international military intervention.
The Kentucky senator said he has not been afraid to challenge the current administration by suing the president over NSA spying and he plans to lead the charge in building public pressure to allow the General Accounting Agency to do an independent audit of federal banking and lending practices that put trillions of taxpayer dollars at risk.
"I think we need some sunshine," he declared.
Paul expressed concern that Obama has tilted the separation of governmental power by using executive orders to write law. He pledged to restore balance among the competing branches and not overstep foreign policy boundaries by making U.S. military commitments without congressional approval.
"You're going to get a choice on who the nominee is for the Republican Party. You're going to have nine, 10, 15, 20 who are eager to go and want troops on the ground. They want 100,000 troops on the ground right now," Paul told the Iowa crowd. "If there's one true thing I can tell you that I think they cannot object to that the facts clearly demonstrate every time we have toppled a secular dictator, we've gotten chaos and we've gotten a rise in radical Islam and we've been less safe.
"I can tell you if things move forward, whether I'm in the Senate or I do run for the nomination, I can tell there will be one loud voice in our party saying think of the unintended consequences," he said.
Paul said Iowans appear to be evenly split on the deployment of U.S. troops in international conflicts and he sees his position as an asset among the developing 2016 GOP presidential field because he believes in a strong national defense but is not eager to be involved in foreign wars unless there is an American interest at stake.
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The Libertarian Angle: American Sniper
The Libertarian Angle: American Sniper.
By: The Future of Freedom Foundation
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The Libertarian Experiment Unraveling in Honduras
If you liked this clip of The Thom Hartmann Program, please do us a big favor and share it with your friends... and hit that "like" button! http://www.thomhartmann.com Follow Us on Twitter:...
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The Most Libertarian Act Of Civil Disobedience
Bitcoin donations would be hugely appreciated: 1L12nu1zCvq2rgnsV3TT21gkNDCM6RSxUH The Critical G #39;s Blog: http://www.thecriticalg.blogspot.com The Critical G on Facebook: ...
By: The Critical G
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