Category Archives: Libertarianism

President Joe Biden gave his second State of the Union Address last night. It was, above all, a testament to the ridiculous breadth of issues we expect our executive branch to be involved in and the absurd reach of the federal government into all aspects of American life.

Biden delved into everything from the price of insulin to protecting Roe v. Wade, safeguarding kids from social media ads, lowering consumer prices, getting more Americans mental health services, ensuring better patient treatment at nursing homes, raising the minimum wage, subsidizing childcare, stopping drug trafficking, helping young transgender people reach their potential, creating manufacturing jobs, combating cancer, and more. (You can read the whole thing here.)

One of the most notableand libertarian-friendlysections of the speech related to COVID-19 and the pandemic, with Biden (in a test of new Democratic messaging on the issue?) promising a return to normalcy. "COVID-19 need no longer control our lives," he declared, while still touting the efficacy of vaccines, the importance of testing, and the need to stay vigilant about new variants.

"Most Americans in most of the country can now be mask free," said Biden, pointing to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. He also commented: "Our schools are open. Let's keep it that way."

But Biden's State of the Union hit way too many notes that would've been right at home in an address from former President Donald Trump. He called for more police funding, talked about the need to strengthen our southern border, and went on at length about America-first trade policies and buying American.

"This is more a populist than a left-wing speech: trade protection, business subsidies, transfer payments, more money for police, secure the border," commented Cato Institute's Executive Vice President David Boaz.

Here's more State of the Union analysis from Reason writers:

"Criminal Justice Campaign Promises Absent From Biden's State of the Union Speech"

"Biden Says No Troops to Ukraine, Is Silent on Ukrainian and Russian Refugees"

"Biden's State of the Union Offers More Useless Solutions to Gun Violence"

"If COVID-19 Is Over for Congress, It Should Be Over for School Children Too"

"Biden Praises Ukrainian 'Iron Will', Refuses To Use Ukrainian Iron in Infrastructure Projects"

"Biden Tries To Twist His Domestic Agenda Into a Form Joe Manchin Will Support"

Politician can block people on personal Facebook pages. A federal appeals court ruled that it doesn't violate the First Amendment for a New Mexico politician to block someone on his personal Facebook page. The case involves Otero County Commissioner (and Cowboys for Trump co-founder) Couy Griffin and whether his personal Facebook page counted as a public forum for free speech purposes.

"Three judges from the appeals court ruled unanimously that plaintiff Jeff Swanson, chairman of the Otero County Democratic Party, failed to show that the law has determined when a personal social media profile becomes a public forum, with 1st Amendment protections," reports the Associated Press. Swanson had argued that "elected leaders should not be able to shut out the electorate from political conversations on social media," after being blocked from Griffin's personal Facebook profile after criticizing the commissioner.

Getting cryptocurrency wrong. In which Sen. Elizabeth Warren (DMass.) and The New York Times get everything about cryptocurrency and Ukraine/Russia exactly backward:

Cryptocurrencies are much more likely to help out ordinary Russians and Ukrainians than "Putin and his cronies."

"Crypto is a lifeline for ordinary people in countries like Venezuela and Russia, not a means to evade sanctions," comments the Niskanen Center's Samuel Hammond. "On the contrary. Russia is trying to minimize the cost of sanctions through draconian capital controls. Access to crypto markets *hurts* Russia more than it helps."

Andas Hammonds and many others have pointed outcryptocurrency transactions come with a record. "An immutable ledger is simply not a smart way for nation states or large corporations to evade sanctions," comments Hammond. "There are two sides to every transaction. You really think Volkswagen could just illegally export vehicles to Russia and it not be noticed just because they paid in Bitcoin?"

Russia's attacks on major Ukrainian cities "accelerated on Wednesday, with the Russian military claiming that its forces were fully in control of Kherson, a port near the Black Sea," The New York Times reports, adding that "Ukrainian officials disputed Russia's claim." Russian forces also bombed a government building in Kharkiv yesterday, surrounded the port city of Mariupol, and continued advancing on Kyiv.

"Don't pour your Russian vodka down the drain," writes Jack Shafer in Politico, and don't kick Russian students out of the U.S.

Why a no-fly zone over Ukraine is a bad move.

A new poll finds Democrats more supportive than Republicans of U.S. intervention in Ukraine:

How Texas abortion restrictions are putting women's health at risk.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing over a Texas directive that sex reassignment surgery, puberty blockers, or hormone treatments for minors should be considered child abuse.

The Washington Post looks at different visions for the American right, as embodied by three conservative conferences that took place last weekend.

"Is libertarianism a specifically political philosophy whose only legitimate concern is the role of the state and its use of force vis a vis the people it rules? Or does libertarianism, properly understood, also entail a variety of cultural commitments that range far beyond arguments over the size, scope, and spending of government?" Reason's Nick Gillespie and Stephanie Slade discuss.

Professor and writer Paul Cantorauthor of The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV and an occasional contributor to Reasonhas died.

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Biden's State of the Union Highlights Absurd Reach of Federal Government - Reason

Nicole Fuentes

After filing a Freedom of Information request with the Suffolk County Board of Elections, enrollment numbers based on party lines in our area was found:

Numbers were rounded to the whole for clarity.

BROOKHAVEN TOWN

With over 334,000 registered voters, Brookhaven Town has a total of 106,767 Democratic voters and 106,838 Republican voters. It also has just over 7,000 conservatives, 1,400-plus working party, 41 green party, 14,000 independent and 20 and 2 libertarian and SAM voters.

ISLIP TOWN

With over 212,000 voters, Islip Town has just nearly 77,000 Democratic voters and 63,500 Republican voters. It also has 4,000 conservative, 770 working party, 300 green, 7,770 independent, 350 libertarian and 14 SAM.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 1

Congressional District 1, which will see an open seat this year due to Rep. Lee Zeldins announcement in running for Governor, has a total of 164,500 Democratic voters to their 166,000 Republican voters, 11,350 conservative, and 21,900 independent voters.

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2

Congressional District 2 has 130,450 Democratic voters, 96,950 Republican voters, 12,000 independent voters and 6,200 conservative voters.

SENATE DISTRICT 3

Senate District 3 has 69,900 Democratic voters, 57,250 Republican voters, 7,450 independent voters and 4,000 conservative voters.

SENATE DISTRICT 4

Senate District 4 has 75,000 Democratic voters, 64,250 Republican voters, 7,700 independent voters and 4,000 conservative voters.

ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 3

Assembly District 3 has 27,700 Democratic voters, 25,500 Republican voters, 3,450 independent voters and 1,850 conservative voters.

ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 7

Assembly District 7 has 27,300 Democratic voters, 34,000 Republican voters, 4,050 independent voters and 2,400 conservative voters.

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 3

Legislative District 3 has 17,000 Democratic voters, 15,100 Republican voters, 2,100 independent voters and 1,100 conservative voters.

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 7

Legislative District 7 has 17,700 Democratic voters, 15,100 Republican voters, 2,250 independent voters and 1,150 conservative voters.

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 8

Legislative District 8 has 17,000 Democratic voters, 22,750 Republican voters, 2,600 independent voters and 1,450 conservative voters.

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 10

Legislative District 10 has 17,300 Democratic voters, 19,990 Republican voters, 4,050 independent voters and 2,180 conservative voters.

LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 11

Legislative District 11 has 18,000 Democratic voters, 19,700 Republican voters, 2,300 independent voters and 1,150 conservative voters.

2021 November election assessment:

Suffolk County Republicans came out in full force, taking control of the Suffolk County Legislature, unseating the Democratic majority leader Rob Calarco and taking control of the 18-seat body.

Republican candidate Dominick Thorne unseated Suffolk County presiding officer Rob Calarco with 54 percent with 6,611 votes, to Calarcos 45 percent of the vote, 5,627 votes, for District 7. This would have been Calarcos final term as legislator after serving a total of 10 years in the seat.

Also, special election incumbent Republican James Mazzarella took the win for Suffolk Countys 3rd district against former Legis. Kate Browning with 66 percent of the vote and 7,525 votes to her 32 percent of the vote, and 3,708 votes.

Trish Bergin, a former councilwoman for Town of Islip, won in a wide margin against Carla Simpson in former legislator Tom Cilmis term-limited seat in the 10th Legislative District. Bergin had gained 7,260 votes, or 67.07 percent, compared to Fidelias 3,559, or 32.88 percent.

According to Suffolk County Board of Elections data, residents who just recently enrolled to vote include a total of 810 new Democratic voters and 166 new Republican voters in Brookhaven Town, and 121 new Democratic voters and 48 new Republican voters in Islip Town. Legislative District 7, which saw an upset, had a total of 31 new Democratic voters and 10 new Republican voters. The 3rd Legislative District saw an almost equal number of new voters at 24 and 17, respectively, and the 10th Legislative District had 25 and 19 new voters as well.

VOTER TURNOUT

Taking an overall look at some of the 2021 voting numbers, voter turnout was extremely low.

There were barely 11,000 voters in the 10th Legislative District compared to the over 56,500 registered votes. Legislative District 7 had over 12,000 voters with over 51,500 registered voters, and the 3rd Legislative District had over 11,000 votes with over 51,100 registered voters.

Go here to read the rest:
Insight into last year's voting enrollment - The Suffolk County News

Heres the final list of candidates for races on ballots in Lincoln County for the May 10 primary election. An (I) denotes an incumbent.

If a recognized Nebraska political party doesnt appear within this list in partisan races, it means no candidate filed for that partys primary by the deadline.

All local races are shown here, but only school board and North Platte City Council races with more than two candidates per open seat will appear on the primary ballot. Candidates otherwise will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

U.S. House, 3rd District Republican: Adrian Smith, Gering (I). Democratic: David J. Else, rural Overton; Daniel M. Wik, Norfolk. Legal Marijuana NOW: Mark Elworth Jr., Omaha.

Governor Republican: Donna Nicole Carpenter, Lincoln; Michael Connely, York; Charles W. Herbster, rural Falls City; Brett Lindstrom, Omaha; Lela McNinch, Lincoln; Jim Pillen, Columbus; Breland Ridenour, Omaha; Theresa Thibodeau, Omaha; Troy Wentz, rural Sterling. Democratic: Carol Blood, Bellevue; Roy Harris, Linwood. Libertarian: Scott Zimmerman, Omaha.

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Secretary of State Republican: Bob Evnen (I), Lincoln; Rex Schroder, Palmyra; Robert Borer, Lincoln.

State Treasurer Republican: John Murante (I), Omaha; Paul Anderson, Omaha. Libertarian: Katrina Tomsen, Upland.

Attorney General Republican: Jennifer Hicks, Peru; Mike Hilgers, Lincoln. Legal Marijuana NOW: Larry Bolinger, Alliance.

Auditor of Public Accounts Republican: Larry Anderson, Lincoln; Mike Foley, Lincoln. Libertarian: Gene Sladek, Omaha. Legal Marijuana NOW: L. Leroy Lopez, rural Cortland.

Legislature District 42: Mike Jacobson (I), North Platte; Chris Bruns, rural North Platte; Brenda Fourtner, North Platte.

State Board of Education District 7: Robin Stevens (I), Gothenburg; Pat Moore, Litchfield; Elizabeth Tegtmeier, North Platte.

University of Nebraska Board of Regents District 7: Nolan Gurnsey, rural Sutherland; Matt Williams, Gothenburg; Kathy Wilmot, rural Beaver City.

Public Service Commission District 5: Mary Ridder (I), rural Callaway; Dakota Delka, Red Cloud; Kevin Stocker, rural Scottsbluff.

Mid-Plains Community College Board of Governors District 4: Ben Lashley (I), rural North Platte. District 5: Tricia Schaffer, rural North Platte.

Middle Republican Natural Resources District board Subdistrict 5: Daniel Nelsen (I, Subdistrict 1), rural Stockville; Dan Estermann (I, Subdistrict 2), rural Wellfleet.

Twin Platte Natural Resources District board Subdistrict 1: Jon Walz, rural Stapleton. Subdistrict 2: Joe Wahlgren, rural Brady (I). Subdistrict 3: Jake Tiedeman, North Platte (I). Subdistrict 4: David Colvin, rural North Platte (I). At-large: Eric Brown, rural Hershey (I).

Nebraska Public Power District board Subdistrict 4: Larry Linstrom, North Platte; Bill Hoyt (I), rural McCook; David Gale, North Platte.

County Commissioner, District 2 Republican: Kent Weems (I), rural Stapleton; Todd Roe, Brady; David P. Huebner, rural North Platte. District 3 Republican: Micaela Wuehler (I), rural North Platte.

County Clerk Republican: Becky Rossell (I), North Platte.

Register of Deeds Republican: Lois Block (I), North Platte.

Clerk of the District Court Republican: Deb McCarthy (I), North Platte.

County Treasurer Republican: Alex Gurciullo (I), North Platte.

County Sheriff Republican: Jerome Kramer (I), rural Stapleton.

County Attorney Republican: Rebecca Harling (I), rural North Platte.

Public Defender Democratic: Bob Lindemeier (I).

County Surveyor Republican: Boni Edwards (I), rural North Platte.

County Assessor Republican: Julie Stenger (I), rural North Platte.

City Council Ward 1: Jim Nisley (I), 802 Russian Olive Road. Ward 2: Ty Lucas (I), 3510 Tyler Court; Kelle Dikeman, 2502 Cedarberry Lane. Ward 3: Jim Carman (I), 1401 West A St.; Brian Flanders, 3301 Maplewood Drive. Ward 4: Ed Rieker (I), 916 N. Emory Ave.; Tracy Martinez, 1003 W. Ninth St.

North Platte Airport Authority: Randy Billingsley, 520 E. Ninth St.; Corban Heinis, 716 E. 10th St.; Daren Wilkinson, 1920 W. Leota St.

North Platte Ward 1: Marcy Hunter, 237 S. Maloney Drive; Anna Junker, 202 Prairie Road; Cynthia OConnor, 1131 Tomahawk Road. Ward 2: Jo Ann Lundgreen (I), 2108 Burlington Blvd.; Thomas Hagert II, 1115 W. Fifth St. Ward 3: Mark Nicholson (I), 2204 W. First St.; Suzanne Donnally, 2820 Wright Ave.; Emily Garrick, 1118 W. Fifth St.; Mitch Wagner, 3404 West A St.

Brady: Ryan Stearns (I), DeAnn Vaughn (I), Sara Gentry, Necole Miller, Kathy Welte.

Maxwell: Monica Breinig (I), Todd McKeeman (I), Shaun Pagel (I), Justin Falcon, Levi Gosnell.

Hershey: Jason Bode (I), Jodi Seamann (I), Amy Wolfskill (I).

Sutherland: Janet Mueller (I), Eric Peterka (I), Tom Kelly.

Wallace: Joshua Friesen (I), Seth Hasenauer (I), Heather Strawder.

Gothenburg: Ryan T. OHare, Cozad; Blake Ristine, Gothenburg.

Sutherland: Janie Rasby, Harry Stewart.

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Wondering who will be on the ballot? Here's the final list of candidates for the May 10 primary - North Platte Telegraph

More stable than their currencies

Whatever the human toll of the war in Ukraine, the ugly reality is that conflicts between nation states are won or lost as much in the monetary realm as on the battlefield.

Keeping the machinery of war raging forward will leave even the wealthiest of countries in dire financial straits. Many will resort to currency debasement, capital restrictions and unsustainable foreign debt to fund their violence. Superpowers who control the global financial architecture will often deploy sanctions to strangle lesser economies, wiping out entire business sectors and goading impoverished citizens to overthrow their leaders.

One way or another: once the money runs dry, the guns soon fall silent.

Russias unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine will be no exception. Neither side can afford a war with no end. Yet the emergence of a new form of sovereign digital money is distinguishing this conflict from all that came before it.

Never before has the ability to finance a war and to shield oneself from monetary attack rested in the hands of individual citizens wielding smartphones and making personal choices without scrutiny from their government, bank or law enforcement agency. The financial libertarianism that bitcoin unlocks for the world has no parallel in history. Whether it will be written about as a force for good or for evil by historians will depend not on the underlying technology which is apolitical and incorruptible but on the scruples with which society collectively deploys it.

Ukraines government fired the opening salvo on this front on February 26th, when deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov appealed directly to global citizens not their political representatives to donate money for his countrys war effort in bitcoin and two other cryptocurrencies.

Fedorov did not ask his audience to lobby their governments for military aid. He did not solicit donations through the cumbersome, inefficient, state-supervised infrastructure that allows bank-account holders in Seattle, Sierra Leone and Shanghai to send money to Kiev. Instead, he posted a 34-character bitcoin address in a single tweet. Anyone on the planet who copied that address and pasted it into their digital wallet was then able to teleport a donation instantly, at the click of a button, for virtually no cost, and without needing the help or permission of an intermediary.

Its easy for Westerners living in democracies to downplay the significance of this technological feat. Westerners are accustomed to opening banking apps on our phones and swiping away our globally accepted dollars or euros. Those living in poorer countries, less so. Westerners are not accustomed to being bundled into the back of a police van because our latest bank statement included a payment to a disagreeable party. Those living in autocratic countries, more so.

Bitcoin is the first genuinely peer-to-peer monetary network the world has ever known. The individual freedom it enshrines is now helping a friendly government protect its people from a hostile one: at the time of writing, 220 bitcoin worth $9.6m had been donated to Ukraine. Crucially, as a borderless and permissionless network its also protecting benefactors many Russians among them, no doubt from persecution at home.

And yet with the good, comes the bad.

Just as an army can both liberate or annihilate a population, so bitcoin can both set people free or empower their tyrants.

Western efforts to punish Russia economically through wide-ranging sanctions and exclusion from the international payment system Swift expose the dark side of monetary freedom. Vladimir Putin and the oligarchs in his pocket will likely try to use bitcoin to circumvent restrictions. According to Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), this ability to defang Western policy underlines the need for regulation in cryptocurrency markets. According to Ukraines Fedorov, the risk is so great that all Russians should be banned from cryptocurrency exchanges.

Lagardes stance needs serious caveats. Regulation, in principle, is acceptable to all but the most radical libertarians. But the devil is in the detail. The fully transparent, open-ledger transaction history on which bitcoin is built already helps law enforcement track illicit funds. Credible exchanges already block dirty bitcoin that is known to be the proceeds of crime. They already comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) anti-money laundering legislation. These protocols can, should and will be used to target sanctioned Russians, more or less trapping their ill-gotten gains within the cryptosphere. But regulation must not become a smokescreen for attacking bitcoin and blocking law-abiding citizens from taking custody of their wealth an ulterior motive that Lagarde clearly harbors, believing its the ECBs god-given right to bind Europeans to a monetary system that dissolves the value of their savings through negative real interest rates.

Fedorovs proposal, meanwhile, should be dismissed out of hand.

Russian citizens are not the enemy. They are not responsible for Putins actions; they certainly never voted him into office, and theyre now paying dearly for his madness. Binance, one of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchanges, struck the correct tone in response to his appeal: We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users accounts, it told CNBC. Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe.

Its important to recognize than bitcoin will help ordinary Russians as much as and very likely more so than their Ukrainian counterparts. Russian inflation had already surpassed 8% by the end of last year. It will now, inevitably, skyrocket as supply chains collapse, energy prices surge, and panic takes hold in financial markets.

Bitcoins fixed supply and seizure-resistant, non-physical design are attractive traits for civilians on both sides of the border who need to protect their assets from inflation and government overreach. Whether they take up arms or not, civilians rarely escape the cost of war. Those who survive the bombs are left to pay for them. If theyre lucky, their government will secure a debt repayment plan while rolling out tax hikes that saddle an entire generation with the cost of its military adventurism. If theyre unlucky, they face total financial destruction through hyperinflation. Thats what happened in Hungary in the aftermath of WWII, when former currency the peng was losing 90% of its value every four days. Its replacement, the forint, lopped 29 zeros off the nominal value of the old notes.

The consequences for Hungarians who had stored their life savings in peng does not need elaborating.

On February 28th, following a weekend of deteriorating fortunes for Russias military, the ruble lost nearly a quarter of its value in a single day. It continues to depreciate rapidly. Moscow has responded by banning foreigners from exiting local investments and doubling the interest rate to 20%. Russian citizens will be targeted next. These are the agonized contortions of an economy that is burning from the inside out. The ruble need not go the way of the peng for Russians to have their wealth erased with the stroke of a pen.

Bitcoin, as the ECBs Lagarde eloquently but unintentionally put it last year, is the solution. If there is an escape, she said, that escape will be used. Her remarks were meant to convince democratic governments that bitcoin is a threat to the established financial order. Instead, they show undemocratic ones that global citizens can no longer be robbed and abused with impunity.

The rest is here:
Bitcoin Earns Its Stripes In The War In Ukraine - Forbes

The Beacon is still looking for my replacement. But until one is found, I have the great honor of being allowed to fill in the blank spots for the time being. Ill be cleaning up topics I want to flog one final time. Dont like it? You can do better? Then start typing.

Northwest Montana has trended into a pretty conservative place politically, enough so that most of our elected Republican officials feel comfortable in actually acting like Republicans voters expect, or at least hope. That goes double for Flathead County, which pretty much ranks with Billings in terms of concentrated and unified GOP influence.

Well, one thing good conservatives, classical liberals, AND libertarians expect from those they elect is respect for property rights, as in no person shall be deprived [of] property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Our Republican legislators and county commissioners clearly take property rights seriously. But in nonpartisan elected positions, where progressives can still win, or become judges, property rights are conditional on political whimsy.

One new, shining example of this whimsy, or hypocrisy if you will, is the screaming in Whitefish about Mountain Gateway. Mark Jones, of course, has the resources to defend his property rights on his 126,000-acre instant ranch, but when it comes to others, he threatens to withdraw his charitable affordable housing largesse? Now, thats whimsy. Im not optimistic at all about the future of our historic public use and enjoyment of his holdings in southern Flathead County.

Longer term, theres the Dockstader Island mess. Has anyone considered that, prior to construction of Kerr Dam, which raised Flathead Lake 10 feet, Dockstader Island was a peninsula? Montana Cadastral shows how now-mostly drowned lakeshore properties legally run a considerable distance into the lake, including theres a cherrystemmed-but-drowned beach lot in front of the Dockstader rock.

So why the hullabaloo? Well, thanks mostly to my scrumming around in the dark money cesspool, Ive made it my practice to Google nonprofit or political legal domiciles. Its a great way to determine if a group is real, or just an Astroturf pop-up with a UPS Store box as world headquarters, or run out of a law or public-relations office under contract.

Last fall I was going through some documents on other issues and found a legal filing from an environmental group, Headwaters Montana. So, with Google Earth available, including street views, I just couldnt resist popping Headwaters Montana. No, its actually a real place the home of the professional environmentalist/community organizer who runs Headwaters.

Where is it? Across Holt Road, with a lovely (and Im sure, quite marketable) view of the lake and formerly pristine Dockstader Island. His investment is safe at last, or will be as soon as the owners dig out the bridge. Thing is, the family that bought his view, and had a right to their dream, is apparently fiscally broken, crushed under the legal weight of an organized community. Worse, the lady who owned the parcel is dead. Gosh, isnt that enough? You could buy lawyers, kids, so how about hiring a removal crew yourselves?

Shameful.

Then theres the Montana Artesian fiasco. I crunched the numbers for you in 2017. Heres some more. Yes, it was a new water right, but it was from the deep aquifer, a literal 30-by-10 mile underground lake, with inflows of 213,000 acre feet (AF) a year, current pumping about 23,500 AF, with 190,000 AF yet unappropriated (available for beneficial use).

Objectively, there was really no reason to deny the permit. The neighbors just didnt want water trucks on their roads and/or their views messed up by Mr. Weaver using his property as he saw fit. So they formed a nonprofit in order to be able to take a tax deduction for their legal fees, and away we went. Eventually, the right judges were found (in another county, and later, here).

For me, the biggest disappointment was the ballot initiative, which retroactively spot-zoned the bottling plant. Clearly, too many Flathead voters have a double standard, falling to whimsy when they should be standing on principle.

Go here to see the original:
Property Wrongs - Flathead Beacon

To the editor:

I am a 72-year-old man who already has one foot in the grave, but I am really worried about what the future will be like in our society.

Since 1980 Ive watched the growth of a cold-hearted, survival-of-the-fittest, social Darwinist mentality among many conservative Republicans in the conservative news media, on conservative talk shows, in conservative think tanks and policy institutes and especially in the U.S. Congress.

More and more of these people want to abolish every single federal government social program that helps the middle classes and lower classes. I dont think that most Americans are aware of this.

These people are now much more conservative than are our Republican voters.

What also scares the dickens out of me is the growth of an over-the-top and extreme hyper-individualism and libertarianism in which so many of us believe that we have no responsibilities to each other and that we only have a concern with me-me-me and what I want to do.

And we smugly and defiantly call this selfish and self-absorbed narcissism personal choice.

Stewart B. EpsteinRochester, N.Y.

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Letter to the editor: Selfish, anti-social conservatives worry reader - theperrynews.com

Filing ended today for the May 24 party primaries and non-partisan elections for prosecuting attorneys and judgeships.

No major surprises on the final day.

You can view all the candidates here. The Republican Party had more than twice the number of candidates as Democrats with more than 200 filing for state offices. The Republicans also said there was a surge of Republican filings at the county level. Not in Pulaski County, however. A Republican filed for only one countywide office sheriff. Republicans are vying for nine of the 15 Quorum Court seats, where they currently hold five. Four of the five are unopposed and Doug Reed, whos been challenging the county mask mandate, is not seeking re-election.

Five Democrats, two Republicans a Libertarian and four write-ins filed for governor.

Democrats did field candidates in all four congressional races and the race for U.S. Senate as well as all the statewide offices.

Among judicial contests, incumbent Justice Rhonda Wood, despite facing an ethics complaint over her embarrassing involvement in matters related to dubious fund-raising exposed in the Gilbert Baker bribery trial (he also raised money from the same sources for her), drew no opponent.

Two other incumbents face challengers. Justice Robin Wynne has two opponents, state agency lawyer David Sterling and Circuit District Judge Chris Carnahan, both running for the non-partisan race while touting Republican credentials. Justice Karen Baker is faced by another Republican-branded opponent, former state Senator Gunner DeLay.

Three Democrats, four Republicans, a Libertarian and two write-ins were joined by Stuart Shirrell of Little Rock, an independent, in the race for John Boozmans Senate seat.

Get ready for millions in ads for Republicans running for governor and Senate, all vying to be the most Trumpian in their races. Good time to turn off the TV. The six-Republican race for the meaningless office of lieutenant governor remains one of the most interesting from the loony Chris Bequette to the bombastic bully of Bigelow, Jason Rapert, with the attorney general, a former Republican state chair, a county judge and the surgeon general in between.

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Election filing closes. Get ready for the TV deluge - Arkansas Times

Cheers, Beer Nerd!I just wanted to proclaim my appreciation of Mike Riedel and the Beer Nerd column. My father, mother and various brothers all eagerly await it as a weekly delightpulling it out, pinning it up and discussing with an eager eye toward sampling these new beverages so kindly placed on our culinary horizons.JACOB WILKSDraper

American IgnoranceToday, America conducts democracy by opinion polling. What do the people think about Ukraine? Let's be guided by that.

But what if the people are not thinking straight? What if they are burdened by emotional distress, debilitating physical ailments, unhappy employment?

What if they did not pay attention in school and did not get a college education? What if they did get a degree, but after college they have not cracked a serious book about public policy in years?

What if they blindly parrot what self-interested political party leaders beg them to believe? What if the average citizen polled on a given day has never read an actual book of American history, or any other history?

How good is our bright, shiny, breaking-news poll then? It becomes a measure of our ignorance, not our wisdom. Democracy requires knowledge and participation, not polls.KIMBALL SHINKOSKEYWoods Cross

"'Diplomacy' Is the Problem," Feb. 24 Soap BoxAfter reading Thomas Knapp's op-ed in City Weekly, I see that he and Tucker Carlson both have a very skewed view of the situation in Eastern Europe.

Does it matter that the vast majority of Belarussians and Ukrainians want nothing to do with an autocratic Russia? Does it matter that Putin is directly responsible for undermining democracy in both those countries and others? Does it matter that Putin is so afraid of the truth that he has been willing to countenance numerous deaths of journalists reporting on his regime over the years?

Does it matter that he locks up his political competitors like dogs purely for their opposition? Does it matter that he has recklessly endangered the lives of foreign nationals in order to poison dissidents living abroad? Does it matter that he has invented a fake history of Ukrainian-Russian relations to justify plunging Europe into barbarism simply to exercise control over a neighboring sovereign country?

I think Knapp's blind spots can largely be explained by his blind adherence to an Ayn Randian philosophy that has little to do with reality. Libertarianism sounds great on the surface. Dig a little deeper, though, and you see that it's really all about justifying excess at the expense of others. This is exactly what plutocrats like Putin base their ugly behavior on. The only thing that matters to him is himself and his co-conspirators. The little people need to just stay out of the way and, if they intervene in any way, they shouldn't expect any more than a bullet between the eyes.

It's true that America has a lot to answer for with its many misadventures abroad over the years. But it is Putin that's on the wrong side of history this time around.DAVID HARRISSalt Lake City

Care to sound off on a feature in our pages or about a local concern? Write to comments@cityweekly.net or post your thoughts on our social media. We want to hear from you!

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Feedback from February 24 and Beyond - Salt Lake City Weekly

Not to be confused with Liberalism. Libertarianism"DON'T TREAD ON ME!!!"

Libertarianism, or more simply Right-Libertarianism or Libertarian Capitalism, is a civically libertarian, laissez-faire capitalist and culturally variable ideology. He inhabits the libertarian right quadrant of the political compass, generally being in the middle of it unless specified.

He believes in a very limited government and the individual's natural self evident rights of life, liberty, and property. He likes the use of militias to watch them.

He technically believes in the same principles of classical liberalism of equality before the law and the basic rights to life, liberty, and property, along with most librights, although some people debate most libertarians are only libertarians because of the precise ideology and not the principles of it.

A narrative often held up by Left-wing Libertarians is that the term "Libertarian" was originally a socialist term, which was later appropriated by the right. This conception is a half truth.

There are two origins of the term.

The term "Libertarian" was originally coined in the enlightenment to describe supporters of free will (as opposed to determinism) and with it generally free action. With the first recorded usage of the term being in 1789 in reference to metaphysics. While the first political usage belongs to the libertarian communist, Joseph Djacque, who used the French word libertaire in a letter to Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Djacque also started employing the term Anarchism at a similar time to Proudhon, but conceded it to him, calling Proudhon a " center right anarchist, liberal and not libertarian (...) you want free trade for cotton and the candle...", in favor of identifying as a "Libertarian" only.

Djacque, from 1858 to 1861, ran a paper titled The Libertarian, but it wasnt very successful, and only lasted around 3 years.After that, from 1861 to 1884, the term was rarely used, before being revived by Benjamin Tucker to refer to individualist anarchists, alongside of course the term anarchism. The term thus gained more popularity, during these times, in the United States than in Europe.The term libertarian communism was also used at some French regional conferences in the 1880s but it was popularized by Benjamin Tucker before it was reclaimed by anarcho-communists.

After this resurgence of the term Libertarian brought about by Tucker, the term once again started to be popularly used as an euphemism for anarcho-communism and other radical left-wing ideologies, half a century before it became widely used within right-wing circles.

The term "Libertarianism" only acquired its present meaning at the split from liberalism before the 30s. Put simply, what was originally Liberalism split into what we now know as classical liberalism and social liberalism.The term Liberalism had been associated with the Democratic party ever since Grover Cleveland became president. However, during the campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt the term started to be associated with the social liberalism.This, in turn, created two definitions of the term liberalism, the American definition, by which Liberalism was associated to the modern Democratic Party, and the definition in the rest of the world, where Liberalism kept its meaning being about the same thing as modern day libertarianism.Later, with the radicalization of the classical liberal circles in the later 20th century, and taking inspiration from some already radical classical liberal thinkers of the 19th century, some of them prefered to stop being called classical liberals and adopted the term "Libertarian" completely. Classical liberalism thus started to be associated to Chicago economics and the free-market wing of Neoclassical economics, while Libertarianism became closer to the Austrian School of Economics.The western definition is also closely tied to anarcho-capitalism as the radical wing that sought to split itself from more moderate classical liberals was predominantly made up of Rothbardians.

While Libertarian ideals could be considered to be rooted in history since antiquity (with examples being the 6th century B.C. Chinese Philosophers Lao-Tzu and Chuang-tzu), the modern incarnation of them can be traced to the radicalisation of Classical Liberal principles that occurred through the later half of the 19th century and through the 20th.

The most influential of these 19th century movements is generally considered to be French Liberal School, of Frederic Bastiat and Gustave de Molinari fame. With the former being known for positing that law becomes unjust and corrupted when it punishes the right of self-defence of one individual in favour of other individuals' plunder and the latter for being originator of ideas that were essentially Voluntaryist.

Libertarianism's design is based on the Gadsden Flag.

For more detail add "DONT TREAD ON ME" or the simpler "NO STEP" under the rattlesnake.

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Libertarianism - Polcompball Wiki

Many might say that the intimate group that I am going to be addressing is just a bit larger than the African American membership in the Klu Klux Klan, or maybe the number of Black people in the White Citizens Council in the 1960s in the South, or such.

You get the picture. For some reason, there are not many of us.

But many of you who are reading this at this moment, although not of African roots, could be or might indeed be a political or a philosophical libertarian, or both. And if so, you might be inclined to recruit and support more Afro American participation in a political movement of the future that is not attached to the special-interest gravy train. I submit that the latter thought conveys what is responsible for so much of the failure of prosperity and harmony in our nation today.

So, lets begin with who is a libertarian, since so-called blackness is pretty apparent?

Many define a libertarian as a person who calls themselves one, or loves liberty, or some abstract definition, all the way to the opposite more thoughtful definition: A libertarian is a person who believes that no individual has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force, fraud, or coercion against another, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Thus, those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim, in the words of my esteemed libertarian author friend, L. Neil Smith.

So, who are the prominent Black or African American (or Afro American) libertarians in this nation today?

Larry Sharpe, in the Big Apple, comes to mind first, with his podcast and his announcement he is once again running for governor of New York. Sharpe is a businessman with the gift of gab and an ability to translate the complexity of libertarian principles in easy-to-understand language. I would love to have a society that is based only on volunteer associations. That would be amazing. I dont think Ill see that in my lifetime, so the closest I can get to that thats what I want, Sharpe once said.

Dr. Anne Wortham was the Black presence and one of the few female voices in the Libertarian Party and movement prior to my activism that began in 1983. Her academic prowess took precedence over her political involvement up until her retirement as an esteemed professor at Illinois State University a few years ago.

The harmony and stability of the collectivist society envisioned by Rousseau and Durkheim depends on people viewing the constraints of society and the sovereign will of the state as the natural order of things, she wrote in a 2012 critique of President Barack Obama. They must also transfer to civil society the commitment they had traditionally held for the sacred, and schools must teach children the importance of the political communitys claim to their loyalty and of their commitment to the morality of the collective.

Libertarians, with Wortham, understand well the dangers of such collectivistic societies.

Duke University grad, scientist and marathon runner Wilton Alston became a significant Black libertarian voice as a prolific writer for the past two to three decades or so, while yours truly spoke, wrote, appeared on radio and television, and ran for public office as a Libertarian for many years.

In May 2020, Alston bravely spoke out against the lockdowns. Not only does remaining in lockdown hurt the economically vulnerable, it could hurt the entire population going forward. It seems clear that the damage done because of the lockdown has far outstripped even the imagined benefit from flattening the curve, he wrote in a commentary for the Libertarian Institute.

Then theres radio host Brian Thomas in New Bedford, Massachusetts, former LP National Committee member Joseph Brennan, previously of Brooklyn, now in London, for many years.

Considering the vast size and diversity of our nation, changes are that there are others who have recently joined LP groups throughout the country, and will soon be heard from, when one considers the times and the entrenched policies of the Bi-Partisan Party throughout.

I am also aware of a few almost and former Libertarians of Color (couldnt resist that): Maj Toure of Black Guns Matter from Philadelphia, who promotes and defends lawful gun ownership in the Black community. And oh yes, theres Larry Elder, who claimed to be one of us for a while, but in the early 2000s appeared to excuse and become an apologist for the non-libertarian U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East in Iraq and other interventions.

I bet you have questioned why, having read this far, two of the most famous Black libertarians ever have not been mentioned. I wanted to see if you were paying attention. Who are they? Of course none other than the economists Thomas Sowell, and the late, great Walter E. Williams, who left us in December 2020.

Both of these intellectual giants generally downplayed the libertarian label, but if you actually understand the philosophy of liberty upon which this nation was founded hundreds of years ago, along with the additional understanding and mastery of non-Keynesian economics, they qualify quite clearly as libertarian.

I used to joke that there were only three Afro American or Black libertarians on earth: Williams, Sowell and me, and that we made a pact to never fly on the same plane at the same time, for fear of losing all Black libertarians in one accident.

Grasping basic economic concepts tends to enhance ones understanding of the real world, and most Americans dont even begin to comprehend anything economic, not to mention my ethnic counterparts, who are still trying to gain parity in the basics of life, no less trying to comprehend even basic economics.

Historically, Black Americans were mostly Republicans from that partys inception. However, FDRs promises under the New Deal shifted almost all Black voters to the Democrats from the 1930s on. I submit that neither group has freed us, and the latter seem to take Black people for granted these days, or treat us more like pets than free people. We Afro Americans happen to be, just as all citizens are, separate and distinct individuals, not a voting block, tribe or such. Republican or Democrat, name your poison. The heavy hand of the state under both parties has failed us all.

And in my almost four decades of activism in the Libertarian Party at all levels as well as the freedom and liberty movement, I can say the Libertarian Party has always stood for true freedom. That very freedom that has eluded us and that so many have been seeking and dying for for centuries, is what libertarian principles are all about. The Founders understood that, and so can you, not just Black folks, if you actually think about it.

The Black national anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, in its very first stanza speaks of liberty, not equality, two very different things. When my African American culture finally recognizes that, then the long struggle can finally end. Early 20th century Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist William Allen White so eloquently reminded us: Liberty is the only thing that you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others.

Finally I must say that the most important African American libertarian to ever grace this planet was one Frederick Douglass, my mentor, muse and exemplar. Douglass not only courageously fought against the represensible institution of slavery, but did so while always strongly defending classical liberalism.

If you are so moved after reading about the few of us, join us, Black, White, Blue or Green.

Richard Boddie is a member of the Southern California News Groups editorial board.

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Why arent there more Black libertarians? - San Bernardino County Sun