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Liberty and Power

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  • May 10, 2013 12:38 am

    The Subversive Implications of the Fugitive

    by David T. Beito

    I have been enjoying episodes from "The Fugitive" on ME TV from the 1960s starring the great, but vastly underrated, David Janssen. The show communicates a highly subversive message and reveals some interesting contrasts between the 1960s and today. The main character, Richard Kimball, a respected physician in his community, has been convicted of first-degree murder by a jury of his peers but escapes on his way to the death house.

    Throughout the run of the series, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people brazenly lie to the police and otherwise commit potential felonies to protect him. They make most "extreme" anti-government folks of 2013 look like wimps by comparison in their willingness to defy authority in the service of a higher moral cause.

    Revealingly, Kimball, for his part, is able find a wide range of jobs without, apparently, once being asked to provide his social security number! Federal law enforcement authorities are almost completely absent and Kimball's pursuit seems to be completely a matter for local police departments.

  • May 5, 2013 1:11 pm

    The Continuing Relevance of Philip K. Dick

    by Amy H. Sturgis

    From J.R. Dunn: Philip K. Dick and Our Predicament

     

    What is this but a Philip K. Dick universe?

    Dick, it seems, was a far superior prophet than the colleagues who disdained him, because, unlike many of them, he had a line on human nature, which never changes.

    So what does Dick have to say about surviving and prevailing in this world?

  • Apr 30, 2013 11:44 pm

    The Koch Brothers

    by Keith Halderman

    I have great admiration for the Koch brothers who seem to be arch villains to the academic and news media elite who spend their time relentlessly spewing out disingenuous and ultimately destructive propaganda supporting the idea that organizing principle of our society should be the use of force and coercion, the methodology of government and the condition of slavery, rather than cooperation for mutual benefit, the methodology of the free market and the condition of free men.

  • Apr 20, 2013 9:55 pm

    The Stooges v. Japanese Internment Escapees

    by David T. Beito

    Viewing this is quite an experience. Larry, Moe, and Curly capture several menacing men who "escaped" from a Japanese "relocation camp" during World War II. The actors, who are all Asian, wear false buck teeth. They are dressed like convicts, thus better fitting the private comment of Franklin D. Roosevelt (the Teflon president in nearly every history department) that his executive order would create "concentration" rather than "internment" camps.


    Three Stooges - The Yoke's On Me by XxChevellexX

  • Apr 19, 2013 11:25 pm

    Demagogy of Machin-Toomey

    by Sheldon Richman

     

    The Manchin-Toomey expansion of background checks to private gun sales was reasonable legislation, its advocates insist, because it would have forbidden the creation of a federal registry and exempted transfers of guns between family members and between friends.

    Those features appear to be in the bill, but why should that matter? The champions of Manchin-Toomey would have us believe that once the bill passed, no more gun laws would ever be proposed again. That is, they’re either naïve or dishonest. I don’t think they’re naïve.

    MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a former member of the House and self-styled Second Amendment man who supported Manchin-Toomey, is an egregious example of this dishonesty. He spent weeks mocking opponents for not being mollified by the bill’s compromises. Can he be unfamiliar with the legislative tactic of gradualism? Start a program small to minimize opposition, then expand it in later years when people have become inured.

  • Apr 13, 2013 9:39 pm

    Panarchical Panegyric

    by Roderick T. Long

    It’s often been speculated that Paul-Émile de Puydt’s 1860 essay Panarchy might have been influenced by his fellow Belgian Gustave de Molinari’s similar ideas about competitive security services in his 1849 works The Production of Security and Soirées on the Rue Saint-Lazare.

    Well, I don’t have new light on that question, exactly, but I have discovered that De Puydt’s essay received a highly favourable review in a journal edited by Molinari. I’ve just translated and posted the review, here. 

  • Apr 8, 2013 11:05 am

    Finalists Announced for the Prometheus Awards (Pro-Liberty!)

    by Amy H. Sturgis

    The Libertarian Futurist Society will present its Prometheus Awards ceremony Labor Day weekend at the World Science Fiction Convention. Winners for Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) will be presented in San Antonio, Texas at LoneStarCon3, the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention to be held from August 29th through September 2, 2013.
  • Mar 19, 2013 10:16 pm

    Get the Name Right

    by Sheldon Richman

    NBC chief diplomatic stenographer Andrea Mitchell noted yesterday that President Obama embarks today on his visit to Israel and the West Bank. This is incorrect. Obama will visit Israel and Israeli-occupied Palestine. The state of Palestine declared independence almost 25 years ago and has since been recognized by 131 of the UN's 193 member states. That the U.S. government doesn't recognize Palestine is part of its long-standing policy of enabling Israel's oppression of the Palestinians.

  • Mar 12, 2013 4:47 pm

    Is Marijuana Medicine?

    by Keith Halderman

    That question has received a very thoughtful and l think positive reply (http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2013/03/02/is-marijuana-a-medicine/?singlepage=true on the conservative website PJ Media and I see this as a very good sign.. Historically the notion of drug prohibition including medicines such as opium has been in the program of the Progressives while Libertarians and even some Conservatives have opposed it.. Perhaps the most eloquent and effective person on the subject was William F. Buckley
     

  • Mar 4, 2013 3:16 pm

    Only Places Have Rights?

    by Wendy McElroy

    A new article of mine entitled "Only Places Have Rights?" has just been posted at the Daily Anarchist. You are most cordially invited to leave comments or questions at the end of the article. I will answer as time permits. Click here to access.

    Excerpt: Geography is a peculiar way to think about rights. But the rights that people can exercise are being increasingly defined by the square foot of earth they happen to stand on. These ‘rights’ can change in the course of a two-minute walk. I am not referring to the fact that various nations recognize rights in widely different ways. Nor do I refer to the rules of conduct laid down by property owners for anyone who wants to enter their homes or businesses. I mean the steady curtailing of the legal and Constitutionally-protected rights that peaceful people are allowed to exercise in public places. From free-speech zones at universities to the “cages” into which protesters are frequently forced, the ability to exercise fundamental rights in public places (and sometimes private ones) is being narrowed down geographically.

    Britain seems to be leading the way for America.

  • Feb 24, 2013 10:14 pm

    The Real Reason for the Drug War

    by Keith Halderman

    Various sources of information such as the United States Congress, the British public, and the Mayor of New York are indicating this week that we are finally understanding that when he had employee Winifred Black write in her 1932 book Dope the Story of the Living Dead, “The man who smokes hashish runs through the streets hacking and killing everyone he meets”, William Randolph Hearst was not trying to help or protect people, he was just trying to sell newspapers. 

  • Feb 18, 2013 2:45 pm

    Saul Alinsky's Rules

    by Lester Hunt

          I don't know why people think this is a good thing. Just look at rules 4 and 5 and think about them in terms of the rules of rational discourse. This is the next step down into Civility Hell.
  • Feb 17, 2013 9:40 pm

    Saul Alinsky's Rules

    by Lester Hunt

     I don't know why people think this is a good thing. Just look at rules 4 and 5 and think about them in terms of the rules of rational discourse. This is the next step down into Civility Hell.  Three and a half years ago, I blogged about "the book" and I don't think I can improve on what I said then about why it is evil and will do this nation harm.  (Note that it doesn't matter who is following these rules -- it is the rules themselves that are unjust and irrational.)  Here is what I  said:
  • Feb 17, 2013 9:36 pm

    Saul Alinsky's Rules

    by Lester Hunt

     I don't know why people think this is a good thing. Just look at rules 4 and 5 and think about them in terms of the rules of rational discourse. This is the next step down into Civility Hell.  Three and a half years ago, I blogged about "the book" and I don't think I can improve on what I said then about why it is evil and will do this nation harm.  (Note that it doesn't matter who is following these rules -- it is the rules themselves that are unjust and irrational.)  Here is what I  said:
  • Feb 15, 2013 9:30 pm

    The Only Opposition Response

    by Keith Halderman

    Since the Republican Party establishment will accept and secretly welcome Barack Obama's proposals for increasing the size and scope of government this speech by Rand Paul is the only legitimate answer to our President’s State of the Union attempt to grab even more power.

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