Category Archives: Libertarianism

Ron Paul Julie Borowski on Ebola, Drug War and Libertarianism
Julie Borowski, a policy analyst for FreedomWorks and VOL Contributor, joins former Congressman Ron Paul to discuss various topics including Ebola, the drug war, foreign policy, and how she...

By: Voices of Liberty

See more here:
Ron Paul & Julie Borowski on Ebola, Drug War and Libertarianism - Video

Prof. Sachs speaks on poverty and mentions that Libertarianism is vulgar. Speaking on the Smiley and
Prof. Sachs speaks on poverty and mentions that Libertarianism is vulgar. Speaking on the Smiley and West show 1/6/12.

By: david bigandt

Link:
Prof. Sachs speaks on poverty and mentions that Libertarianism is vulgar. Speaking on the Smiley and - Video

Editor's note: Salon has posted numerous critiques of libertarianism. This response was one of several we received offering a different view. (For more of our coverage on the topic, please see here.)

The Koch brothers have marvelous taste in art. That was the first thought that raced across my mind as I strode down the bustling hallway of one of the most secretive and influential buildings in American politics. Slipped against a wall of churning rural winds and rolling wheat fields, Koch Industries the media-christened Death Star of contemporary libertarian insurrection was the last place I ever intended to visit. Six years earlier I was serving time in a West Coast county jail, not defending public choice theory. But trial and error will do strange things to a politically inclined and introspective desperado.

I dont just break the libertarian mold, I napalm it. Im Hispanic. I live below the poverty line. I joined a gang by 15, dropped out of high school by 17, and spent the first half of my 20s playing guitar in a raucous punk band. Yet despite how unconventional my background might seem, it unmistakably epitomizes just how diverse the broader libertarian movement has become over a relatively short burst of time, even as archaic perceptions in the media and public continue to stubbornly linger.

Following my release from jail I enrolled in community college and worked hard to account for misplaced time. Eventually I earned a speech communication scholarship and admittance into a number of highly regarded universities, including my dream school the University of California-Berkeley. It was the moment I had been waiting for. But by the time I procured housing in Oakland, old inclinations began to take hold. I knew that if I remained in California I would either gravitate back toward the violent gang world, or the drug-laden music world, I knew so well.

So I made a drastic decision. At the last minute I instead took up an offer from the most conservative school in the most conservative state in the country Brigham Young University in Utah. The education was superb, but the social setting was difficult. I stood out on campus with all my tattoos. I was irritable because I had agreed to abstain from alcohol and sex. And though students and faculty always treated me with dignity and respect, I sometimes had trouble relating to people.

Eventually I stumbled across a libertarian student group at a separate university across town. From there I attended a number of events, made a few new friends and began perusing literature from prominent free-market philosophers such as Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises all of whom contested everything I thought I knew about Republicans, Democrats and government.

The limited government message appealed to me. I recalled playing in a band and struggling to comply with overbearing tax laws. I remembered serving time with low-level drug offenders convicted under mandatory minimum sentencing laws. I thought back to the Mexican communities I had grown up in and the undocumented immigrants I knew who had been forced into a life of obscurity because of convoluted immigration policies. The assortment of unique experiences I had taken in over time suddenly swiveled full circle.

Within a year I was organizing full time and attending dinners with governors, prominent activists and presidential candidates such as Ron Paul. Eventually I returned to the West Coast to finish school. From there I was introduced to a number of Koch-funded organizations. The opportunities these organizations presented would prove invaluable. As a student, I interned through various summer programs. As a writer, I wrote for various websites and journals. And as a speaker, I spoke to various groups.

The libertarian movement never judged me because of my background. Though I was still rough around the edges, I was embraced and provided with more tools and opportunities to improve myself than I knew what to do with. These organizations not only helped hone my innate abilities, but taught me the value of tolerance and restraint (Im still working on the latter).

Ultimately, libertarianism didnt radicalize me, it moderated me. As a wayward teen I once adored revolutionaries like Che Guevara and took part in violent and destructive protests. I smashed windows of private businesses and helped overturn police cars in my misplaced animosity toward legal constructs and trade. Later I abandoned my progressive leanings and explored conservatism. I supported the war in Iraq and brandished an American flag in a clich spectacle of nationalism and machismo. Like most libertarians, I paddled both ends of the whirling political waters in search of something, anything, that put the puzzle pieces together.

The rest is here:
My unusual libertarian journey: How a former outlaw broke the political mold

The Buzz: A vegetarian alternative to the red meat attack

Shawn Steel

COURTESY OF SHAWN STEEL

Red meat attacks are as old as politics: Wave something in front of voters that creates a visceral reaction, regardless of its factual nutritional value.

But now Shawn Steel, husband of county supervisor candidate Michelle Steel, has debuted the vegan smackdown.

Steel was in prime form when he gave a talk to the Newport Mesa Tea Party on Aug. 14, displaying his trademark blend of erudition, libertarianism and hyperbole.

But when he came to mentioning Democratic state Senate candidate Jose Solorio, Steel delivered a line that was remarkable even by his standards.

I got nothing against Jose Solorio, but hes a vegan. What a freak! Steel said, drawing chuckles. Thats like a fascist. Thats like ISIS.

Steel, a Surfside resident, is one the states three members on the Republican National Committee and is former chairman of the state GOP. He is backing Solorios opponent, Republican Janet Nguyen.

Solorio brushed aside the dietary assault.

View post:
The Buzz: A vegetarian alternative to the red meat attack

By Chris Klimek October 24 at 11:17 AM

Season of the WitchAt the beginning of Season of the Witch, Peter Bebergal sketches an autobiographical scene right out of the movie Almost Famous: Hes 11 years old and his brother has left for the Air Force, leaving behind a superb, previously off-limits collection of rock LPs for him to discover. He sits on the floor of his brothers bedroom, transfixed by the adult mysteries nested within the vinyl grooves and gatefold sleeves of albums such as Led Zeppelins Houses of the Holy and David Bowies Diamond Dogs.

But this isnt a memoir, its a dissertation a weirdly dry one, given its lurid topic on how the occult has informed a half-century or so of popular music. Surveying artists timeless (the Beatles) and now-obscure (the Crazy World of Arthur Brown), with stops at usual Satanic suspects like Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, Bebergal argues that the artists openness to the supernatural made their music more adventurous and imaginative, and that the coalition of parents and politicians who have periodically sounded the alarm about this are hysterical and silly.

Despite the rich material, Bebergal repeatedly drains any sense of urgency from his work. Barely a third of the way through, he says that Jimmy Pages insistence that the maxim Do What Thou Wilt be inscribed in the lacquer of the master recording of Led Zeppelin III serves as a microcosm of the entirety of the influence the occult would have on rock and roll. If the invocation of dark forces is just libertarianism with the occasional bit of blood-drinking, why should we keep reading?

Occasionally, Bebergal rewards the dutiful reader with a zinger, as when he describes the Age of Aquarius as having ended not with a whimper but with a stabbing at the Rolling Stones 1969 concert at the Altamont Speedway. But he doesnt drop nearly enough of those gems to make up for his annoying habits his abuse of groove as a verb, for starters. His halfhearted discussion of Jay Z (At one time his clothing line offered a number of shirts with unambiguous Freemasonry symbols ) feels like a desperate explanation of why his book wasnt published in 1984. Likewise, his evaluation of Madonna via her Super Bowl halftime show in 2012 easily 20 years after her peak.

The musicians whose work Bebergal dissects with the greatest vigor the Beatles, the Stones, Pink Floyd, Bowie, Black Sabbath are dinosaurs, not dragons, no disrespect intended. Meanwhile, the 21st-century popularity of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones has done more to drag the occult into the light than the 30-plus years of heavy-metal albums that preceded them ever did. Bebergal grew up lighting black candles and playing Dungeons & Dragons, he says, but somewhere in the writing of this book, his adolescent enthusiasm got replaced by a deadening academic scrupulousness. Dr. Strange, heal thyself.

Klimek is a freelance writer based in Washington.

Season of the Witch

How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll

by Peter Bebergal

Read the original post:
Book review: Season of the Witch: How the Occult Saved Rock and Roll

Millennials Don #39;t Understand Libertarianism...
Thom Hartmann don #39;t truly understand what it means to be Libertarian. If you liked this clip of The Thom Hartmann Program, please do us a big favor and share it with your friends... and hit...

By: thomhartmann

Go here to see the original:
Millennials Don't Understand Libertarianism... - Video

Tom Woods Champion of Libertarianism
Tom Woods is King in that realm of Philosophy.

By: PolakFury

Read more:
Tom Woods Champion of Libertarianism - Video

Libertarian Senate Candidate discusses social, economic policy by Will Marshall | Oct 02 2014 | 10/02/14 1:52am

Libertarian Virginia Senate candidate Robert Sarvis spoke at a Students for Individual Liberty event at Clark Hall Wednesday, outlining his platform in the upcoming midterm election.

The Annandale native broke into the spotlight when he ran as a third-party candidate in last years Virginia gubernatorial election, defining his brand of libertarianism as a best of both worlds, striking a balance between what he considers the Republican and Democratic parties best policies.

Generally speaking, Sarvis said he identifies with the rights fiscal policies and the lefts social policies.

Sarvis began his political career as a GOP candidate running for state Senate, eventually dropping his Republican affiliation and taking up the Libertarian mantle.

After I ran in 2012 as a libertarian Republican, I learned that the GOP is not a good vehicle for liberty candidates, Sarvis said. They are hypocritical on economic issues and strident on social issues. I feel like the two-party system is broken. I could have run as an independant, but thats not leaving behind something that outlasts you.

Sarvis emphasized what he considers the most urgent issues libertarian candidates need to address the dwelling on the long, costly drug war, which he blames for saddling the nation with excess expenditures in the last 50 years.

Thanks to the drug war, we have millions in prison the highest incarceration rate in the world, Sarvis said. A third of those are for nonviolent crimes, which, a) costs money, and b) is wasted human potential.

Other issues topping his list of priorities included reforming certain entitlement programs and deregulating areas where he believes the free market would be a more effective solution.

Obamacare is a problem but weve also had 100 years of misregulation of the health care system by both major parties, Sarvis said.

See the rest here:
Sarvis addresses students

Jeff Deist: This week were joined by Mises Institute Senior Fellow Dr. David Gordon, the man who Rothbard claimed knows everything about everything. Our topic is the life and times of the late Dr. Murray Rothbard. David Gordon was both his friend and associate and if you are a Rothbard fan, youll really enjoy this weeks show. We discuss Rothbards life from an insiders perspective, touching on his experience founding the Cato Institute, his relationship with Mises and the areas where they disagreed, his time with Ayn Rand and her objectivist followers and much, much more. Stay tuned.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome once again to Mises Weekends. Im Jeff Deist and Im very pleased to be joined this weekend by none other than our own David Gordon who is visiting us from Los Angeles, so hes in the studio here. Im face-to-face with him and David, thank you very much, its great to see you.

David Gordon: Great to see you too, Jeff. Thanks for inviting me.

JD: David, last weekend we spent some time with Guido Hlsmann, going inside the mind of Ludwig von Mises. This week, wed like to talk to you in a similar vein about Murray Rothbard. So tell us first and foremost about your relationship with Murray.

DG: I met Murray in 1979. Id actually read Man, Economy and State when it came out in 62 when I was in junior high and I didnt get to meet any of the major libertarians till 79. I met him in 79 when I attended a conference at the Cato Institute in Eugene, Oregon in June and he and I hit it off right away and I met also his great friends, Ronald Hamowy and Ralph Raico and right after that conference, thanks to Murrays influence, I was offered a job at the Cato Institute and I was there briefly. As you probably knew, Murray split with the Cato Institute and I went with him, but I always got along very well with Murray.

What impressed me the most about him was he had an endlessly curious mind. He was always absorbing new information and he would keep up with the latest books and of course, hes best known for his libertarianism and his work as an economist. He kept up with all sorts of subjects. He knew philosophy, history, trends in art and music, anything you wanted to talk to him about, he would have new ideas and know all the new books on it and he would be very fast in the way he talked and want you to have to keep up with him and sometimes hard to do it. Id always be on the phone with him, sometimes several times a week and I knew him for 17 years.

JD: So, did you ever spend any time in his New York apartment and did you know Joey Rothbard as well?

DG: Oh yes, well I knew Joey very well. She was very protective of Murray. They had met when they were both at Columbia. She was very, very smart, very well read. She knew American history very well.

JD: And of course, she was protective of him and then he ultimately found himself in hot water with the Ayn Rand circle over the fact that Joey was not rational enough for them in the sense that she was religious.

DG: Oh yes, yes. I remember she told me that one of the things they wanted her to do, they didnt want him to divorce her right away because she was religious, but they wanted her to listen to their stuff and they thought if she did, then she would convert to their views. Nathaniel Branden apparently had done a series of tapes on the existence of God and proofs of God and they wanted her to listen to them and she didnt do it. She said something like, why do I need to listen to these tapes? She was a quite devout Presbyterian. She kept up with that all of her life. There was a minister, I think Dr. Reed in the church in New York she thought very highly of.

Go here to see the original:
David Gordon: The Life and Times of Murray Rothbard

Libertarianism and Derk Pereboom. Summer school "Free will and Moral responsibility". Part two

By: Moscow Center for Consciousness Studies

Continued here:
Libertarianism and Derk Pereboom. Summer school "Free will and Moral responsibility". Part two - Video