Monica

Please Don’t Feed Me Neo-Con & Tell Me That It’s Liberty (Part 2)

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This post is part two of a three-post series.  Click here for part one and here for part three.

The Republican establishment, and to some extent the Democrats as well, are labeling Paul Ryan “a conservative of the libertarian kind.” I reject this characterization in its entirety. Libertarianism has three basic positions: strict adherence to free markets; strict protection of civil liberties; and strict defense of property rights (which strongly correlates with non-intervention in foreign affairs). Paul Ryan has affirmed in word and deed his desire to limit civil liberties, legislate morality and spread around the world his version of Americanism by use of force. Ryan, therefore, has denied two of the three tenets of libertarianism right out of the gate, but he does not renounce the third: he claims to support free markets and tries to continue to lay claim to the label of fiscal conservative. The question is, what kind of conservative is Paul Ryan really?

Monica

Please Don't Feed Me Neo-Con & Tell Me That It's Liberty (Part 1)

Posted on by Monica

Everyone is abuzz with Romney’s “bold choice” of running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan. Every bobble head with a press badge is telling us that the Tea Party and Ron Paul supporters should be psyched because, to borrow a phrase from Harry Reid: “The word is out!” Ryan’s a libertarian!
What else could he be? Ryan quotes Austrian economists and loves Ayn Rand – he must be a libertarian! And anyway, everyone says he is: Forbes calls Ryan “Ron Paul-esque,” the Financial Times calls him “a conservative of the libertarian kind,” and New York Magazine calls him “Your Annoying Libertarian Ex-Boyfriend.” He even has a libertarian-sounding name for crying out loud: Ron Paul, Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan…it just flows! As a matter of fact, someone said to me yesterday that Ron Paul was Romney’s running mate—true story! I mean those two are practically interchangeable!
What was that? You’re not so sure? Oh come now, don’t be such a purist, and don’t you dare let those nagging doubts about Ryan’s voting record bubble up to the top of your brain. And of all things, please don’t fall for it when Democratic operatives say things like, “while he may be a devotee of Ayn Rand, he has voted more like a Republican hack than a revolutionary,” or “Paul Ryan Record Shows He Could Be Running Mate of Obama.” Libertarians really do need to be more pragmatic.
Sure, Ryan denies being a libertarian

Monica

Paul Ryan Is Not a Libertarian, He's the Neo-Con Messiah!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LBHLK9pQcU

Monica

The Great Chicken Wars: A Victory for Statism

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Given that I’m neither very religious nor gay, I do not take an emotional stand for or against gay marriage.  As an extreme libertarian, I don’t think marriage of any kind should be sanctioned or certified by the State, nor should any privileges accrue to encourage one social choice over another.  As an anarcho-capitalist (the most extreme kind of libertarian), I don’t even recognize the legitimacy of the State much less wish the State to recognize the legitimacy of my marriage.
Nevertheless, I have been trying to get at what exactly is fueling the pro-Chick-fil-A demonstrations.  I got a tweet during the last show saying it was homophobia plain and simple, but I don’t buy that.  If Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy had said Chick-fil-A will no longer serve or hire gays, I doubt he would have experienced an upwelling of support.  On the contrary, it is my experience that the vast majority of Americans are appalled at discrimination and would not have wanted to be associated with a purely bigoted policy.  A minority might have supported him, but not for long–I suspect the company would have been out of business with a policy like that, legal or illegal.
Was Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day a wild success because people wanted to show their support for the First Amendment like many claim?  I don’t think so.  It’s true that Rahm Emanuel, the Mayor of Chicago, and Tom Menino, the Mayor of Boston, want to control Cathy’s speech by using the force of the State to punish him economically, but I did not get the sense that the crowds in Atlanta were focused on these northern mayors.
Are Chick-fil-A appreciators coming out in droves to show their disapproval of gay marriage in particular and homosexuality in general?  I’m sad to conclude there is an element of that in all of this, but it’s not the driving force.
I believe that the overwhelming driving force behind the record-breaking success of Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day is

Monica

I Couldn't Find My American Flag, but I Did Find This One! Video Preview of This Week's Show…

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This week was the Fourth of July and I made a scary discovery: I don’t own an American flag! But I did find another flag while I was looking for Old Glory….Also, I came upon a very serious list of Top Ten Global Risks for the next year – holy cow there is some scary (more…)

Monica

Must See Stefan Molyneux Video: The Story of Your Enslavement

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I always enjoy listening to Stefan Molyneux, fellow voluntarist, and when my sister Booie sent me this video I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed it tremendously. I find this kind of thing particularly exhilarating if you have already begun to notice the underlying truths being revealed, but this video also serves as a great introduction (more…)

Monica

Join Me This Saturday, May 26, at Liberty Jam at Matilda's in Alpharetta!

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Liberty Jam is a fundraiser for Ron PaulStock which will kick off Ron Paul’s delegates as they head to Tampa in August. It’s $25 for admittance and lots of great bands will be there. It’s this Saturday, May 26, from 12-6pm at Matilda’s in Alpharetta and I’ll be speaking at 12:40pm and hanging out afterwards. (more…)

Monica

If One More Person Says "JP Morgan Is Too-Big-To-Manage" I'll Scream!

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Does social power mismanage banking-practice in this-or-that special instance–then let the State, which never has shown itself able to keep its own finances from sinking promptly into the slough of misfeasance, wastefulness and corruption, intervene to “supervise” or “regulate” the whole body of banking-practice, or even take it over entire.-Albert Jay Nock, 1935

Nothing irritates me more than a government-created problem that prompts cries for more government action. A great example of this is the horrible crises, fiscal and monetary, caused in Europe by socialism and central banking, respectively. George Soros and so many others respond to the European Debt Crisis with cries for greater political union and more central government control in Europe. Historical examples of government growth in the wake of government injustice include the response to bans on unionization with laws unfairly favoring unions, or the response to government-mandated segregation with laws that infringe on private property rights under the false guise of pursuing racial justice. (Want racial justice? End the Drug War.)
The latest example of this maddening phenomenon is, generally speaking, the constant demand for more regulation of the financial sector, and specifically, calls for more regulation of trading in the wake of JP Morgan’s recent losses. The fact is, like coal mining, oil drilling and nuclear power, the financial sector is one of the most highly regulated industries in the history of humanity, yet calamities that bring us to the brink of physical, financial and planetary destruction seem to be occurring in these fields at an accelerating pace.