Category Archives: Libertarianism

An Introduction to Libertarianism with Marshall Fritz
HN: United States Political System Noam Chomsky - The Political system in the USA. US Elections -- How do they work? Chalasani Srinivas on A.P politics with NRIs - Varadhi - USA - Tv9 New York...

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An Introduction to Libertarianism with Marshall Fritz - Video

David Boaz Introduces Libertarianism: A Primer and The Libertarian Reader
HN: United States Political System Noam Chomsky - The Political system in the USA. US Elections -- How do they work? Chalasani Srinivas on A.P politics with ...

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David Boaz Introduces Libertarianism: A Primer and The Libertarian Reader - Video

Book Review | Libertarianism: A Primer By David Boaz
BOOK REVIEW OF YOUR FAVORITE BOOK =--- Where to buy this book? ISBN: 9781470888596 Book Review of Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz If you want to add where to buy this...

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Book Review | Libertarianism: A Primer By David Boaz - Video

There is so much thats horrifying about whats now simply called the torture report, the redacted summary of the Senate Intelligence Committees investigation into years of unforgivable CIA abuse post-9/11. But one thing that recurs disturbingly often is anal rape imagery: examples of rectal feeding, of rectal exams that used excessive force, and at least one instance, according to the report, of threatened sodomy with a broomstick.

Am I the only one who thought about Abner Louima, the Haitian immigrant who was not just threatened but actually sodomized with a broomstick by the New York Police Departments Justin Volpe in 1997? The torture reports release, in the wake of grand juries failing to indict police officers who killed unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and right here in New York, where Louima was tortured, reminds us of the danger of unaccountable state power.

Yet an undercurrent of authoritarianism in American culture and a particular American deference to authority figures who are supposed to protect us threatens to let it go unchecked.

To be fair, many Americans are horrified by the torture reports revelations. And many Americans believe police officers should be held accountable when they use excessive force and harm or kill Americans, of any race. But theres a disturbing impulse evident lately, to excuse abuses of power on the part of those who are charged with protecting us, whether cops or the post-9/11 CIA. I dont care what we did! former Bush flack Nicolle Wallace shrieked on Morning Joe Monday. And she spoke for too many Americans. (Though not for her former boss Sen. John McCain.)

I watched the debate over the torture report unfurl all day Tuesday, online, in print and on television. All the coverage focused on a few questions: whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein is right that torture didnt work; whether the report might produce blowback by our enemies; whether the CIA is being scapegoated for Bush administration decisions. There was shockingly little emphasis on the fact that torture is illegal and a war crime, banned by the Geneva Conventions, a U.N. Convention against torture ratified under a supportive Ronald Reagan, and by Title 18, Part I, Chapter 113C of theU.S.Code.

So much in the torture report should appall Americans, above and beyond the many details of depravity. CIA officials lied about who they had in custody. They lied about what they were doing. They destroyed evidence. They tortured two of their own informants. At least 20 percent of the people they detained, as examined by investigators, were held wrongfully. They paid $81 million to two psychologists who knew nothing about al-Qaida, terrorism or the war against them. They didnt fully brief President Bush until April 2006, after 38 of 39 detainees had already been interrogated.

This should be an issue that unites civil libertarians on the left and the right as should excessive force by police but the authoritarian impulse is stronger on the right. Libertarianism also seems overwhelmed by the prevailing resentment of President Obama, and the changing America that he represents. Still, its amazing: Even as wingnuts deride Obama as a fascist and a tyrant, they applaud excessive force by police officers and CIA officials.

Its also amazing that its taken two years to get a redacted executive summary of the torture report released. Lets remember that were merely talking about sharing information about the Senates investigation into torture, not about indicting or punishing anyone. At least grand juries considered whether to indict Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo in the killings of Mike Brown and Eric Garner. There has been no such process regarding CIA torturers.

Which is not to say the grand jury process in Ferguson or Staten Island delivered justice to those mens families. Nor have the families of John Crawford and 12-year-old Tamir Rice, African-Americans killed by police while holding toy guns, even gotten a fair and clear accounting of how their sons died. Young black men are 21 times more likely to be shot by police than white men, yetwhite peoples confidence in police fairness, and doubts about cops racial bias, have never been higher, while African-Americans is understandably at a record low.

Thankfully Abner Louimas attackers were punished; Volpe is serving 30 years in prison, and Louima won a settlement of $8.7 million the largest police brutality settlement in New York history at the time. The Louima rape happened to take place under Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has emerged as the chief defender of cops who kill in the last two weeks. Giulianis career is an example of how the authoritarian impulse in American politics often prevails.

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Authority crisis roils America: Police abuse, torture and authoritarianism run amok

EB56 Daniel Krawisz: Nakamoto Institute, Bitcoin Libertarianism, The Problem with Appcoins
We are joined by Daniel Krawisz, the Director of Research at the Satoshi Nakamoto Institute. Daniel co-founded that organization last year with Michael Goldstein and Pierre Rochard to educate...

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EB56 Daniel Krawisz: Nakamoto Institute, Bitcoin & Libertarianism, The Problem with Appcoins - Video

Conversation with John Tomasi - Free Market Fairness and Libertarianism (Skyperadio Ep. 9)
Prof. John Tomasi (Brown University), the author of "Free Market Fairness", in conversation with Otto Lehto. Is social justice compatible with free market id...

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Conversation with John Tomasi - Free Market Fairness and Libertarianism (Skyperadio Ep. 9) - Video

Milton Friedman - Libertarianism and Humility
On August 14, 1990, at the International Society for Individual Liberty #39;s 5th World Libertarian Conference, Milton Friedman took a step back from the details...

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Milton Friedman - Libertarianism and Humility - Video

Ep. 10: What Is Libertarianism? (with David Boaz)
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Ep. 10: What Is Libertarianism? (with David Boaz) - Video

This interview with Mises Institute President Jeff Deist is reprinted from the October 2014 issue of the Lara-Murphy Report.

Lara-Murphy Report: How did you become interested in Austrian economics?

Jeff Deist: I definitely discovered libertarianism first, which then led me to Austrian economics. I was a hardcore libertarian fairly early in life, going to see Ron Paul at a 1988 Libertarian Party campaign event when I was in college. A few years later my close friend Joe Becker enrolled at UNLV for the express purpose of studying under Professor Murray Rothbard in the graduate economics department, and I was able to sit in on a few of Murrays classes. I knew nothing about the Austrian School at the time, but it became clear I needed a more comprehensive intellectual foundation antipathy for the state and a belief that free markets worked better was not enough. Reading Rothbard was my start. This is how most young people today first hear about Mises, Rothbard, or Hayek they already have an interest in libertarian political theory.

They hear references to these great names from their friends, from libertarian think tanks or organizations, from a huge variety of libertarian websites, and from social media, and they begin the process of educating themselves.

The Ron Paul 2012 campaign was a great example of this: people instinctively knew they favored property rights, markets, and peace. They knew they opposed cronyism and the banking cartel. But when Ron mentioned Murray or Mises or Austrian economics or the Fed in a speech, people wanted to go out and find the original sources for themselves. Of course those of us from Generation X remember when vast amounts of free Austrian literature were not just a click away, to put it mildly. If you were lucky your local mall bookstore might have Milton Friedmans Free to Choose and maybe Hayeks Road to Serfdom right next to John Kenneth Galbraiths The Affluent Society. Mises and Rothbard certainly werent available at local libraries or university libraries. All that has changed today.

But obviously the Austrian School predates the modern libertarian movement. Thats why for much of the twentieth century many people read Austrian economics before arriving at philosophical or political libertarianism. The direction was reversed. Smart individuals were absorbing giants like Leonard Read, Henry Hazlitt, and Mises, but they saw themselves as liberals in the classical European tradition of the word. Murray Rothbard deserves much of the credit for building a modern libertarian framework using Austrian economics as the foundation, and creating a bridge for true liberals after the term was hijacked.

LMR: You worked for Ron Paul in his congressional office for several years. I suppose unlike most people in that type of a job, you didnt have to lie every day at work! Is there any story you can share to illustrate the culture of DC and how you were the oddballs?

JD: My favorite anecdote involves other members of Congress asking us to have Ron sign books, photos, etc., for their constituents. This no doubt galled them, because Ron was a celebrity of sorts while they were unknown. But trust me, the average member of Congress deserves to be forgotten. They are a venal, mean, petty, and self-important bunch, despite the fact that maybe 1 in 20 of their constituents knows their names.

Working for Dr. Paul was a great experience. We (as a staff) never had to worry about Ron being tempted to sell out or cast a safe vote due to political pressure. Rons office was far and away the most intellectual and philosophical office on Capitol Hill; the other members of Congress were purely political animals focused either on consolidation of power or self-preservation, depending.

By contrast, we were busy quoting Mises, Rothbard, Bastiat, Tom Woods, Lew Rockwell, Lysander Spooner, you name it, in Rons speeches, statements, press releases, and weekly columns. Virtually everyone on staff was at least familiar with Austrian thought, and we used mises.org as a frequent resource.

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Antipathy for the State Is Not Enough

A national organization advocating marijuana policy reform will recognize Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman's support of decriminalization in Maryland in an awards ceremony Friday.

The award is a gesture of thanks from the Marijuana Policy Project, the largest organization of its kind according to its website, to several of the state's Republican lawmakers who supported decriminalization in Annapolis last session.

The presentation will take place as part of the Maryland GOP Fall Convention Eve Party, held at Turf Valley Hotel and Conference Center in Ellicott City.

Kittleman, who has built his political success on a philosophy of fiscal conservatism and social libertarianism, was a co-sponsor, along with Democratic Sen. Bobby Zirkin, of a bill to decriminalize marijuana that successfully passed the General Assembly earlier this year.

Former Del. Don Murphy, a Republican who represented District 12 which incorporates parts of Howard and Baltimore counties for a decade, will be presenting Kittleman's award. Other GOP members who supported the bill will also be honored.

""We are pleased to present this award to Executive Kittleman and the other Republican lawmakers who helped bring about these much-needed reforms," Murphy said in a statement. "Ending our failed marijuana prohibition policies makes sense regardless of what side of the political spectrum you're on. It is refreshing to see that the GOP in Maryland and across the country is beginning to show leadership on this important issue."

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Kittleman to receive award for decriminalization support