Brad Miller

Posts Tagged ‘natural rights’

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Rand, Rush and the Religious Rigtht

In Advocates of Liberty on May 14, 2012 at 10:52 pm

Thomas Jefferson ” I don’t care what my neighbor does as long as he doesn’t pick my pocket or break my leg.” I wish Rush and Rand Paul believed the same thing.

Recently President Obama changed his mind on Gay Marriage. That’s not a big surprise since 1 out of six of his bundlers, those who raise huge amounts of cash for his campaign, are gay. Neither is it a big surprise that Rush Limbaugh and the Religious Right are still against Gay Marriage. What is surprising is that Rand Paul agrees not with those who want more liberty for folks but with those who want some people to have less. I had hoped that Rand Paul would carry the Torch of Liberty into the 2016 presidential race, but I don’t think so after his remarks he made last Friday.

Rand Paul has been an ardent supporter of Liberty in the Senate since being elected. Often times he has been the lone dissenting voice arguing against war in Syria and Iran and the expansion of the Federal Government at home. That is why it shocked me to hear what he said about Obama and the president’s stance on Gay Marriage. Rand Paul said that:

“Obama’s remarks could not get any gayer.”

That is a shocking statement coming from a man who is on record as being a champion of Individual Liberty. Now he did make that remark while speaking in front of the Faith and Freedom Foundation, a part of the Religious Right. So I’m not sure if this is what it takes to win an election in Kentucky, or since he said it in Ames, Iowa he is groundwork for a run for president in 2016. This maybe his ploy to garner votes in the future but it is the wrong way to advance the cause of Liberty today. Unfortunately this is the remark that will be remembered come 2016 and not all of this other statments concerning the 16 trillion-dollar deficit, the massive military industrial complex running rough shod over the world, and the growth of the government regulatory apparatus at home.

Rand Paul would have been a whole lot better off reading from his father’s book “Liberty Defined” at the Faith and Freedom talk. This would have been a better way to talk about gay marriage not as a moral issue but one of Individual Liberty. Ron Paul believes as Rand does that marriage should be between a man and a woman. But in “Liberty Defined” Ron Paul stresses that the reason that this is even a political issue is that it’s the Growth of the meddling government into the private lives of individuals that is the real problem. Whether you personally agree with the choice of who someone marries, it is still their  God-given natural right to choose.

Ron Paul asks the fundamental question in the chapter on Marriage in “Liberty Defined”:

“Why should the government give permission to two individuals who want to call themselves married?”

Even though Ron Paul is not in favor of Gay Marriage for himself, he understands that Liberty is indivisible. Everyone’s Natural Rights are Inalienable.

Ron goes on to argue that he believes gay marriage is actually a First Amendment issue.

“Though there may be a traditional dictionary definition of marriage, the First Amendment should include allowing people to use whatever definition they like as long as force and fraud are excluded.”

Ron Paul also in “Liberty Defined” believes that marriage should be a private contractual matter.

“In a free society…all voluntary and consensual agreements would be recognized. If disputes arose, the courts could be involved as in any other civil dispute.”

Marriage is a partnership between two people who voluntarily agree to share their life and their property. If a religious organization doesn’t approve of the union they should not be forced to perform the wedding. And if a person doesn’t agree with Gay Marriage they have no legal obligation to marry a member of the opposite Sex. There is no need to use the force of Government to prevent people from engaging in peaceful voluntary behavior.

Ron Paul goes on to equate government licensing of marriage to that of any other government licensing, which Rand Paul is usually opposed to.

“In economics, licensing is designed by the special interest groups to suppress competition. Licensing for social reasons reflects the intolerant person’s desire to mold other people’s behavior to their standard. Both depend on the use of illegitimate government force”.

While Rand Paul’s position on gay marriage was a surprise to me, Rush Limbaugh’s is not. He had a discussion with himself on his radio program about how the people in this country do not want Gay Marriage. He made a point to show that what Obama really said was that he was for gay marriage and that the states should decide the issue. Rush said that 32 states had decided that gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed. Why I’m even brining up Rush’s name is that he went on in another segment to talk about how ”Conservatism” was based upon Liberty. I’m sorry Rush you can’t advocate for the use of Government force to limit individual’s ability to choose how they live and call that “Liberty”. Conservatism actually agrees with the fundamental tenets of Collectivism in which the majority has the right to use government force to mold other people’s behavior. I’m sorry to tell Rush and Rand Paul that Liberty is not based upon the will of the Collective.

“Man has inalienable rights which cannot be taken away from him by any other man, nor by any number, group, or collective of men.” Ayn Rand ”Textbook of Americanism”

A lot of Conservatives and members of the Religious Right do not believe that if they vote to prevent two individuals from entering into a voluntary contract of marriage they are expressing authoritarian collectivism. Conservatives, the Religious Right and Obama all believe that Government is not limited but it is “unlimited” according to the will of the masses. I’m not surprised at their agreement in the matter. But I am surprised that Rand Paul is on the opposite side of individual Liberty when it comes to Gay Marriage. Maybe he will come out and clarify his position like his father did in his book ”Liberty Defined” and realize that it is about Individual Liberty and not religious belief.

During his speech in Ames, Iowa Rand Paul further disappointed those who love Liberty when he said “It did bother me though that he (Obama) used the justification for it (his reversal on Gay Marriage) in a biblical reference. “He said the biblical Golden Rule caused him to be for gay marriage. And I’m like what version of the Bible is he reading?”

For me the Bible’s basic tents are  to treat others the way you want to be treated, love yourself and love others, and be self-responsible. Gay marriage in no way violates these basic tenets. Just as Gay Marriage doesn’t violate the basic tenets of the Natural Right to Life, Liberty, Property and the pursuit of happiness of those who oppose it.  It is hard for me to understand how those who claim to “Love thy neighbor as thyself” could be against the right of two people to enter into the most meaningful of human contracts; marriage. When you deny a person or group of person’s their Natural Rights you are in essence dehumanizing them and unfortunately in the past when this has occured it has led to the commiting of horrible attrocities.

Gay folks have been persecuted for centuries if not for millenia. In fact so many gay people were burned alive in the Middle Ages they were called as a disparaging term, by the common word for kindling,; Faggots. During WWII thousands of gay men were killed in concentration camps and through the extermination through work programs. Himmler one of Hitler’s henchmen set up in 1936 “The Reich Central Headquarters for Combating Homosexuality and Abortions.” When you use the force of government to prevent people from getting married it is a form of violence and follows in the horrible tradition of persecuting people for who they love. And once people get used to thinking that someone is “less than” they are  or “sinful” in the eyes of their God its much easier for them to close that gas chamber door or work them to death in concentration camps.

What is encouraging though today is  that Gay People are a lot less likely to be persecuted physically for their biology. But the “us” vs “them” mentality of many Christians and Conservatives who view Gay People as immoral still allows them to justify preventing same sex marriage. Its so easy to forget that we are all just  individuals on this blue and green orb trying to live our lives the best way we know how.  The only real difference that matters between people is not their sexual orientation but  if they use force or fraud to limit the peaceful behavior of others.  Peace and love are always a better way than Hate and War and Freedom is always better than Slavery.

Rand Paul’s Remarks about Gay Marriage and the president hurt the cause of Liberty and not just for those who want to marry a member of the same-sex. When people hear a high-profile ,up until now, defender of Individual Liberty, say something that is totally anti-Liberty it makes all his other positions seem hypocritical or insincere. When politicians pander to the Religious Right or Conservatives who don’t like “people who are different”, it undermines everyone’s liberty. Either government is limited or it is not. Either you have the right to live your life as you see fit and marry who you choose or you do not. This goes the same for those who believe in any form of Collectivism as well, and that is why its a shame Rand Paul missed a great opportunity to further the cause of Liberty last Friday by simply expressing the views of people he admires; Thomas Jefferson, Ron Paul and Ayn Rand.

“The Smallest Minority on Earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities” Ayn Rand

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and the philosophy of Live and let live.

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Pravda – Ten Myths of Capitalism. We will agree to disagree.

In True nature of the State on March 13, 2012 at 5:56 pm

You may have read an article recently on the Russian News site called Pravda,  praising Sheriff Joe Arpaoi’s quest to arrest the “persons of interest” concerning the forging of our current President’s birth certificate. (The sheriff if he’s interested in the biggest counterfeiting scheme ever in human histroy should arrest Bernake and the members of the Federal Reserve Board.)

While I do agree that the current resident of the White House is ineligible to lead it’s not because of his dubious birth. I believe that he is unfit to lead because of the principles he holds dear. He believes in the philosophy of Collectivism. The basic tenet of which is that the “collective”, the “State”, or the “majority” grant rights to individuals, and that no one has any inalienable Natural Right to their life, Liberty, and justly earned property. It is those in power who determines how everyone else should live.

It’s funny how the Collectivists in Russia are trying to get the Collectivist in the White House fired. But that is how it has always been with Collectivists. All Central Planners, those who want to determine how others should live, always believe their system their plan, their brand of collectivism is the best and can not tolerate anyone else who has a different plan.

The most famous split of the Collectivists occurred within Communist Soviet Union between Stalin and Trotsky. Eventually Trotsky was hunted down and eventually killed in Mexico. And the animosity between Hitler and Stalin was not Fascism vs. Communism. No, it was two collectivist central planners who thought their plan for the lives of the world’s inhabitants was the best and couldn’t stand to have anyone stand in the way of realizing their Global Dream of Conquests. We must remember that Lenin wanted Moscow to be the Communist Capital for not only the USSR but for the entire world and Stalin was in lock step with his ideology. And everyone is familiar with Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich in which he wanted to rule the world. These two Central Planners, these two Collectivists differed only on the specifics of how to violate the Natural Rights of Individuals, not in if they should be violated.

An interesting quote from another article was that anything that ” The U.S. wants for Russia is bad for Russia and anything the U.S. is against Russia having is good for Russia. It’s as simple as that. ” To me that sums up Pravda’s ideology.

I by no means am defending the United State Federal Government. And what the quote above expresses may in fact be true. The Federal Government is out of control.  That being said I think the anti-west mentality of a lot of the world wrongly focuses on the concept of freedom, individualism and private property as the problems in the U.S. instead of the massively intrusive increasingly Collectivist Federal Government. Those who ”hate the West” don’t hate the  ideals of Liberty, Private Property and Individuality directly, instead they hate the U.S. Federal Government which they believe is the expression of these values. When in reality the U.S. Federal Government is no longer based upon Individualism, Personal Liberty and your inalienable Natural Rights.

And that is where the Article “Ten Myths of Capitalism” misses the mark. The writer fails to grasp that it is not Free Market Capitalism that exists and causes all the problems in America and the world but it is Crony Capitalism or more accurately stated, Fascism that is causing all the problems.

My take is that Capitalism is just the means of production in private sector vs. publicly held. But that belies the point that in America today we don’t have a Free Market system at all. Private Property is all but a myth because of taxation, regulation and inflation. All levels of Government regulate and tax every transaction, they charge property taxes, they control what is built where and over 30% of the land in the U.S. is owned by the Federal Government. So it is not unfettered Free Market Capitalism that is the issue but the government regulation, taxation and inflation that is destroying that very system.

It all boils down to the fact that  all levels of Government in the U.S. violate on a daily basis the Natural Rights of Individuals and that is what the . Let me be clear that if you are reading my blog for the first time I advocate for a Stateless Society in Which individuals are free to voluntarily exchange with one another without coercion. Until then I advocate for the drastic shrinking of all government especially the Federal Government back down to a strictly night watchman state. That is a government that is only constituted to protect the life and justly earned property of individuals. When the Collectivists of all stripes look at the U.S. they are not seeing a Collectivized State, at least not one that is collectivized enough. And I think that maybe what the author of the Pravda article is trying to accomplish.

The Word Capitalism by the way was first coined by Karl Marx. So it is a loaded word to begin with. We must remember we are all Capitalists and Entrepreneurs. Everyone of us deploys our “Capital” everyday to better our lives by investing in ourselves. Everyday we are entrepreneurs because we sell our labor. So these terms are very loaded and should be scrutinized. The Collectivist like nothing more than to divide and then group all of the “alienated” members of society together in order to wield power to gain the reigns of Government.

This debate boils down to what Rand talked about with the two diametrically opposed systems that Governments can be based upon, either  Individualism or Collectivism. The Pravda article fails to see that the U.S. has for the last 100 years moved away from the Individualistic system to one that is more and more Collectivist everyday.

http://english.pravda.ru/business/companies/15-02-2012/120518-ten_myths_capitalism-0/
Here are the myths and my refutation.

Myth 1#

Myth 1. Under capitalism, anyone who works hard can become rich

The capitalist system will automatically provide wealth to hard-working individuals. Workers unconsciously formed an illusory hope, but if it does not come to fruition, they will be blaming themselves only. In fact, under capitalism, the probability of success, regardless how much you may have worked, is the same as in a lottery. Wealth, with rare exceptions, is not created by hard work, but is a result of fraud and lack of remorse for those who have greater influence and power. It is a myth that success is the result of hard work and, combined with luck and a good dose of faith, depends on the ability to engage in entrepreneurial activity and level of competitiveness. This myth creates the followers of the system who support it. Religion, especially Protestant, works to support this myth as well.

It was only in the last 220 years that man has progressed more than at any other time in the 6000 years of recorded history. It is only because of the mostly free individuals in America and England to a certain respect that the material innovation that the world enjoys is possible. Capital formation in the hands of private individuals pursuing their own self-interest is the best means by which to achieve prosperity. No central planners on Earth can do what free men can do. I agree that influence is used to gain favors from Government. But its Government who has the power of Legalized force behind them. No Amazon or Intel or Apple have police forces. So if hard work, faith, with some luck don’t allow for an individual succeed what does that leave us with? I guess he answers it when he writes that it is only through the result of fraud and lack of remorse for those who have greater influence and power. In the end that is what the Collectivists are always trying to acquire, POWER.

Myth 2. Capitalism creates wealth and prosperity for all

Wealth, accumulated in the hands of a minority, sooner or later will be redistributed among all. The goal is to enable the employer to accumulate wealth without asking questions. At the same time the hope is maintained that sooner or later workers will be rewarded for their work and dedication. In fact, even Marx concluded that the ultimate goal of capitalism is not the distribution of wealth but its accumulation and concentration. The widening gap between the rich and the poor in recent decades, especially after the establishment of the rule of neo-liberalism, has proven the opposite. This myth has been one of the most common during the phase of “social welfare” of the postwar period, and its main task was the destruction of the socialist countries.

The problem again is Not Free Market Capitalism. It is Government intervention and the use of Legalized Force to benefit some and punish others. How can anyone think that Government Regulations, Taxation, and Inflation are mechanisms of a Free Market that is based upon the Natural Rights of Individuals? Only when Individuals are free from the shackles of government coercion can they be free to pursue their definition of happiness, uncover their potential and follow their own uniqueness. You don’t need central planners to do that. You just need to get government out-of-the-way and this always includes eliminating the Federal Reserve.

Myth 3. We are all in the same boat

Capitalist society has no classes, therefore the responsibility for the failures and crises also lies on all and everyone has to pay. The goal is to create a guilt complex for workers, allowing capitalists to increase revenues and pass expenditures onto the people. In fact, the responsibility lies entirely on the elite consisting of billionaires who support the government and are supported by it, and have always enjoyed great privileges in taxation, tenders, financial speculation, offshore, nepotism, etc. This myth is implanted by the elites to avoid responsibility for the plight of the people and oblige them to pay for the elite’s mistakes.

Everyone is responsible for themselves. There is no “plight” of the people. There are only individuals. Only individuals act, only individuals feel, only individuals can think. I do have a problem with Privatizing gains and socializing losses. Again this boils down to the central planners at the Federal Reserve, the White House and the Congress who intervene into every aspect of our lives. If the Federal Government stayed within the enumerated powers and was ran on a shoe string budget it would have no favors to dole out. By the way we are all in the same boat. Every Human on Earth is on the same boat, its called Earth. And the best way for us all to live in Peace and for everyone to have the best chance at prospering is through Free Trade which must have the Right of Private Property as its foundation.  We are all Social and Rational Animals. The best way to prosper is to trade with other humans.

Myth 4. Capitalism means freedom

True freedom is only achieved under capitalism with the help of the so-called “market self-regulation.” The goal is to create something similar to a religion of capitalism, where everything is taken as is, and deny people the right to participate in making macroeconomic decisions. Indeed, the freedom in decision-making is the ultimate freedom, but it is only enjoyed by a narrow circle of powerful individuals, not the people, and not even the government agencies. During summits and forums, in the narrow circles behind closed doors, the heads of large companies, banks and multinational corporations make major financial and economic decisions of strategic nature. The markets, therefore, are not self-regulating, they are being manipulated. This myth has been used to justify interference in the internal affairs of non-capitalist countries, based on the assumption that they have no freedom, but have rules.

The idea that I should have any say over a corporate board is insane. That being said I do believe that the Federal Reserve should be abolished, the Entitlements ended, the income tax ended and fund the Federal Government with a National Lottery. That way no coercion is necessary for the funding of the Federal Government. Free Markets are self-regulating. It is called Spontaneous Order. It happens everyday without the interference of central planners. It is precisely because Central Planners are interfering with the Free Market that distortions are occurring. By the way when anyone talks of regulating the Free Market they are talking about regulating individual behavior. That is because the Free Market is simply individuals voluntarily trading with each other for mutual gain. No one needs to plan these interactions because no one knows what each individual values.  And the Free Market is self-regulating becasue each individual is responsible for their choices and will have to adjust their behavoir to those consequences. In others words individuals will do more that profits them and do less that causes a loss. That is how the pursuit of self-interest is the most efficient means of production and must be done by each individual and not dicatated by central planners.

Myth 5. Capitalism means democracy

Democracy can only exist under capitalism. This myth, which smoothly follows from the previous one, was created in order to prevent the discussion of other models of social order. It is argued that they are all dictatorships. Capitalism is assigned such concepts as freedom and democracy, while their meaning is distorted. In fact, society is divided into classes and the rich, being ultra-minority, dominate over all others. This capitalist “democracy” is nothing but a disguised dictatorship, and “democratic reforms” are processes opposite to progress. As the previous myth, this one also serves as an excuse to criticize and attack non-capitalist countries.

The idea of other models of social order always means coercion and in the previous myths the writer spoke of the “elites” ruling a country. Who does he think will “plan” and “run” these new Social Orders. My only thought is that he thinks he will be one of the one’s at the top. It’s amazing how someone from Russia doesn’t remember the Soviet Days and how those in Power lived like kings while everyone else suffered. Again I’m not excusing the current system in America. It is more of an Empire than anything else. What I am defending is the Ideas of Natural Rights, Spontaneous Order and the idea that human interactions are harmonious if left alone.

Remember what Ayn Rand said “the smallest minority in the world is the individual.”

And where in any collectivist society was the rights of the minority of “one” placed above the needs of the “many”?

Myth 6. Election is a synonym of democracy

Election is synonymous with democracy. The goal is to denigrate or demonize other systems and prevent a discussion of political and electoral systems where leaders are determined through non-bourgeois elections, for example, on the virtue of age, experience, or popularity of candidates. In fact, it is the capitalist system that manipulates and bribes, where a vote is a conditional term, and election is only a formal act. The mere fact that the elections are always won by representatives of the bourgeois minority makes them unrepresentative. The myth that bourgeois elections guarantee presence of democracy is one of the most entrenched, and even some left-wing parties and forces believe it.

Voting is not the answer if there is not a Candidate like a Ron Paul or Gary Johnson. All the other Big Government Collectivists will keep the status quo. But the Answer is not the taking of power by the masses either. the best option  is through individual action and self-improvement will there be any change in the world.

” If a man wants to move the world, he must first move himself.” Socrates.

“Everyone wants to change the world but no one wants to change themselves.”

When we first educate ourselves then others people will naturally be so disgusted with the Collectivists of both parties they will not only vote for them and will demand more and more Liberty minded politicians to limit government down to protecting the lives of individuals and their property from force and fraud. And then people would demand an end to all compulsory taxation as well. Government would then only be funded by voluntary means like a National Lottery system. People would also demand competing currencies and an end to the Government’s monopoly of money.

Myth 7. Alternating parties in office is the same as having an alternative

Bourgeois parties that periodically alternate in power have alternative platforms. The goal is to perpetuate the capitalist system within the dominant class, feeding the myth that democracy is reduced to the election. In fact, it is obvious that two-party or multiparty parliamentary system is a one-party system. These are two or more factions of one political force, they alternate, mimicking the party with an alternative policy. People always choose an agent of the system, being sure that this is not what they are doing. The myth that bourgeois parties have different platforms and are even oppositional, is one of the most important, it is constantly discussed to make the capitalist system work.

Again the author misses the point. It is not the “Capitalist Bourgeois System”, which by the way is impossible to classify, it’s the force of government intervening into the lives of individuals that is the problem. It doesn’t matter who has the reigns of power whether it is the “workers” or “proletariat” or the “ruling elite” it is still legalized force with which it is used to direct, control and plan the peaceful interactions of individuals. That is what is evil, no matter what system it occurs under, or who holds the reigns of power.

Myth 8. The elected politician represents the people and can therefore decide for them

The politician was granted authority by the people, and can rule at will. The purpose of this myth is to feed the people with empty promises and hide the real measures that will be implemented in practice. In fact, the elected leader does not fulfill that promise, or, worse, starts to implement undeclared measures, often conflicting and even contradicting the original Constitution. Often such politicians elected by an active minority in the middle of the mandate reach their minimum popularity. In these cases, the loss of representation does not lead to a change of the politician through constitutional means, but by contrast, leads to the degeneration of capitalist democracy in the real or disguised dictatorship. The systematic practice of falsification of democracy under capitalism is one of the reasons for the increasing number of people who do not go to the elections.

It’s interesting he cites the Constitution. If he means our Constitution then he should know that it was based upon the securing of The Natural RIghts of Individuals in America from Government. It was an imperfect but unique document in the annals of Human history. It stated that the Creator not the State granted the individual his rights and that they were inalienable and included the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Also the right to justly earned property is included as well. So clearly our Federal Government is no longer chained down to these principles and it is more and more implementing and acting upon Collectivist principles.

Myth 9. There is no alternative to capitalism

Capitalism is not perfect, but it is the only possible economic and political system, and therefore the most appropriate one. The goal is to eliminate the study and promotion of other systems and eliminate competition using all possible means, including force. In reality, there are other political and economic systems, and the most known is scientific socialism. Even within the framework of capitalism, there are versions of the South American “democratic socialism” or European “socialist capitalism”. This myth is intended to intimidate people, to prevent the discussion of alternatives to capitalism and ensure unanimity.

The only alternative to all Collectivism is Individualism. That is the only two systems that the author should be talking about. He is in error thinking that in America we do not already have massive amounts of Socialism in our government. How does he explain the concentration of wealth of 3.5 trillion annually into the Federal Government and another 1.5 Trillion or so into State and Local Government? I believe that when individuals are more  free great things are possible. The less government the better. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Federal Reserve, Welfare for individuals and businesses, and the ever-increasing invasions overseas is based upon Collectivist ideology and not upon the philosophy of Individualism.

Myth 10. Savings generate wealth

The economic crisis is caused by the excess of employee benefits. If they are removed, the government will save and the country will become rich. The goal is to shift the liability for capitalist debt payment onto the public sector, including the retirees. Another goal is to make people accept poverty, arguing that it is temporary. It is also intended to facilitate the privatization of the public sector. People are being convinced that savings are the “salvation” without mentioning that it achieved through the privatization of the most profitable sectors whose future earnings will be lost. This policy leads to a decrease in state revenue and reduction of benefits, pensions and benefits.

The dependence on anyone besides yourself is the problem. Think about all the laws today concerning 401ks, IRAs, Social Security and Medicare, The new Health Care Mandate, the EPA, the Energy Dept, Public Education, the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, the Federal Reserve, the Progressive Income Tax, the regulation of the Airwaves and Roads. Think about the police state that is growing everyday. It is becoming more and more like 1984 everyday. And isn’t that the kicker. Everyone is trying to “plan” a new society to tell others how to live and the very act of trying to “plan” the peaceful interactions of individuals leads every one of those Collectivist systems to a future like 1984.

I would love to see an end to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I would love to have 100% of my paycheck which is truly mine. No one else worked for that. I am the only one entitled to the product of my labor. I want an end to all “entitlements”. It violates not only Economic Law but your very Natural Right to your Liberty and your justly earned Property. Collectivist always want to demand more and more from everyone. They are never satisfied until 100% of the productivity is under their “control” through the direct means like in COmmunism or in the indirect means like with Fascism. Either way the individual has no rights except what the Ruling Elite administering the will of the “PEOPLE” grant them. That is Collectivism and we are sliding more and more into that everyday. I wish it was the opposite and we were going towards a more Free Market Society in which everyone’s Natural RIghts were respected and everyone was free to do what they wanted to as long as it didn’t violate the Natural Rights of others.

The Collectivist Governments of the world killed over 170 million of their own citizens instituting their “plans” in the last century. We should all be careful when anyone wants to tell you how to live and at the same time are seeking to acquire the seat of power in Government. Because all too often in history when the worker revolutionaries gained the reigns of power and controlled the Government they unleashed a reign of terror.

Freedom is good. And as Mises put it “Freedom always means freedom from Government” I want to live in a world in which every individual has the courage and confidence  to live their lives as they see fit, to pursue their passion and to do like Leonard Read wrote “anything Peaceful”.

The Pravda article is interesting and gave me a glimpse into the mind of a Collectivist who is focused on Capitalism as the great evil, when in reality it is as always, Government Action that is evil. Taken a step further it is the very Collectivist ideas that the author of the article espouses that has led to the massive Government Intervention we see in this country today and around the world. That is because all Collectivism is based on the notion that the ruling elite administering the will of the people have the moral authority to determine who has what rights. That is scary.

I believe that every individual even the author of the Pravda Article has a God-given Natural RIght to his or her Life, Liberty and Justly acquired Property. Even if the Collectivists of the world don’t believe that.

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Living Life to the Fullest

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2. 3 Billion Revolutions: One Mind at a Time/One Thought at a TIme

In True nature of the State on February 21, 2012 at 8:35 pm

When 2.3 Billion individuals desire to be free the rest of the world will follow!!!

I’ve thought long and hard about why people don’t seem to want to be free. I don’t think its an intelligence problem. I don’t think its a lack of awareness of the Rise of the Totalitarian State. In fact I think a lot of people feel comforted by the increase of the size and power of Government. And the reason they do is the same reason they don’t currently desire to be free and that is they lack the Confidence in themselves to be self-responsible.

Either they don’t believe in their own capacity to take care of themeslves or their families or they don’t want to have to try. But I think its the first. There will always be indivdiuals in society who will not “try”. But like criminals they are alwasy a small segment of society and an entire National Landscape should not be altered because of a few patches of crab grass here and there.

My mission in life is to live as free as possible and help others do the same. To me its amazing anyone would want to live under a Collectivist regime since they always end in famine, firing squads and death camps. But that is not the best way to sell Freedom in my opinion. I’ve framed my argument for too long as an anti argument. Now I want to help those who currently don’t want to be free to develop the confidence and feel the power of what it means to be a Rational Individual with Inalienable Rights who is responsible for and capable of meeting not only his needs and achieving his dreams.

Internal Freedom will lead to External Freedom.

In order to live in a free world individuals need to 1. Know that freedom is an option and 2. Believe that they can survive and thrive in a Free Society.

What is needed is the Personal Confidence to take responsibity to meet one’s individual needs. That is what the whole freedom issue boils down to. Everything else revolves around that.

That is why I’m no longer calling for 100 million personal revolutions in America but for 2.3 billion personal revolutions to take place world-wide. I’m talking about 2.3 billion personal revolutions in which people have the confidence to live their lives as they desire. Once 33% of the world’s population believes this they will start creating external peaceful political revolutions because the freer men think the less government they want.

That is because once people learn what it means to be free  and live their lives as they see fit the only thing they will desire from government is to get out of their way.  Once individuals have eliminated the self-limiting internal shackles and are pursuing their definition of happiness they will naturally want to shed the external shackles of taxation and government regulations that impedes or makes more difficult the achieving of their dreams. My Dream is to see the entire population of Earth Free of all Government Coercion and that no peaceful activity of any individual will ever be regulated or taxed or  outlawed by any Government.

In order to live free of external  limits one must first be free from the limits internally that we impose on ourselves.  That is the idea behind the one mind one/one thought at a time tagline for the 2.3 Billion Revolution Movement. Because that is where everything begins.

The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.  Emerson

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.  Thoreau

So as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. Bible

The Core Concept or spark if you will for Personal Revolution is the belief that Your thoughts create your reality and that you and you alone are in charge of your thoughts. Everything else flows from there.

The Three KEy thoughts to have in order to live as a free man internally and then effect that change externally are:

1. I AM

2. I CAN

3. I WILL

These three statements clarify who you are, what you want, instill a belief in yourself that you can reach your goals, and the determination to do so.

I AM: Simply Means you are you. This  means that you are a unique individual with needs and dreams. You and you alone are responsible for seeing those satisfied and fulfilled. You alone think, act and feel the experience of your life. This also means you have Inalienable Righ, Natural Right to your life, liberty and property you’ve earned. No one has a claim on your thoughts your actions or the product of your labor.

I CAN: Means that you are endowed by God with Reason. That you can achieve what you desire when you objectively view yourself and the world and rationally devise a plan to achieve your goals. This also means that you can do anything that you want as long as it does not violate the Inalienable Rights of others.

I WILL: This is almost a superpower. Everyone of us possesses it.  It means that once you have an overwhelming desire to achieve something nothing on this Earth will stop you from doing that. This is the essence of Confidence, of Self-Assuredness, of Determination, and of Perseverance.

These three statements are a foundation for Confidence that I believe can help anyone spark their Personal Revolutions and help them live their best life possible.

Say these three out loud to yourself and see if you don’t sit up a little straighter. They are powerful. The “I AM”  statement is maybe the most powerful thought man has ever possessed. Think about what that means to you and how you diminish that on a daily basis by not going after what you need and want.

I believe once a third of the world’s population is truly committed to living their life to the fullest, freest way possible, out of these personal revolutions there will be the outward revolutions that those who love Individual Liberty want to see.

Why would someone who depends on Government and doesn’t believe in themselves want to have government reduced? That is the question.

Freedom is good. But freedom is always freedom from Government not responsibility.

I am, I can and I will continue to do what I can to help spark the personal revolution in one individual at a time until a third of the world is living internally free. Then once that occurs they will no longer depend on the Government and instead insist that it be chained down to Defending their Natural Rights and doing no more.

I believe that on the whole man has an innate desire to be free. But in today’s world of public education and popular culture they have forgotten how to think and act as free men. That is what this movement is all about. Getting rid of all the junk, injurious thoughts in your head and replacing them initially with the simple Phrases “I AM, I CAN, and I WILL”.

This will help plant yourself firmly at the center of your Universe.  Your own needs and desires are your priority. I know that is against just about everything you’ve been taught but think about how your life has unfolded by “serving” others and displacing your own needs for others? Its gotten you exactly where you are today. But you have begun your personal revolution. You confidence is growing everyday from here on out. You are figuring out what you want and how to go and get it. And everyday you are taking small efficient actions to accomplish your goals.

Life is short. Don’t let others fill your head with their wants, needs, judgements, prejudices, and desires. Your mind is your sacred temple. Don’t let it be defiled by anything that doesn’t serve the meeting of your needs. Your mind is where you worship yourself. You should sing hymns to yourself. Create your own Personal Anthem and imagine Christina Aguilera singing it. Have a flag made up and fly it in your room with your initials on it or your logo you’ve come up with. I always find it amazing how much college and pro sports team merchandise people buy. Its insane. You are you own team. You should believe in you. You should be rooting for you as hard as you route for your college or pro team. I’ve been blown away by how people are so engrossed in sports teams and their personalities for guys and the “stars” of the reality shows for the girls. You should be the most interested in your OWN LIFE!!!

That is not selfish or self-centered. That is the only rationally way to live. The more you are meeting your own needs the more of the needs of others you can help meet. Stated differently do you want to be around someone who is enthusiastic about their life and passionate about achieving their goals or someone who complains about how everyone is against them and they can’t ever accomplish what they want.
Enthusiasm and Passion are contagious. The world is a better place when you are passionate and enthusiastic about your own life!!!

Our lives our EPIC. You are the hero of your journey. Your story is on the same scale as The Iliad and the Odyssey. You should associate yourself with quality people who also recognize the magnitude of this precious few moments on Earth.

And when it comes to Romantic Love. Don’t worry about the girl who doesnt’ like you. Move one. Improve yourself and the heroine of your story will make her appearance. You will love her for her virtues and values and she will do the same with you. She will be your soul’s counterpart. And you will share how ever long of the journey together. I’m not saying there is only one true love for everyone and it lasts forever. I don’t know. All I believe that if a girl doesn’t want to be with you , you have to focus on your life and meeting your needs which means finding a girl who does care about you, who does ask you questions about your life and what is important to you. And you will do the same with her. I know that’s off track a little but loving another person starts with loving yourself.

THat is what I want for everyone. Too often I’ve focused on the limiting factors that used to hold me back. No longer. The first step is to remove the limits of your own mind and you will soon the external limits will fall away. Now it may take days, weeks, years or even decades but if you have faith of a mustard see you can move mountains.

But if you are to move the world you must move yourself first. Start today rewiring how your brain thinks. Stop the hateful self talk. Stop the wasted purposeless actions that have filled most of your days.
Start by understanding that your thoughts are building blocks of your life. And remember to unlock the potential within you all you need is these three Key Phrases.

I AM. I CAN. I WILL.

Get out there and do something amazingly awesome today. Start it. Don’t worry if your not qualified. You never will be to push beyond your limits and do what you’ve never done before. Reading about exciting lives or watchign reality tv to feel better about your own life isnt living.

Commit to yourself to live every moment not in Fear but in Faith. COmmit to yourself to for a week hit with a club any injurious thoughts that crop up in your head.

You are awesome. You matter. What you think and do matters. The universe needs you. The people on Earth need you. More importanly you need you. Remember God has entrusted you with you. Make the most of it. We only have this life, we only have this moment.  Commit to yourself that you will seek to feel good, strong and calm as much as possible. Commit to yourself that patience as well as fear will be your friend. Embrace the anxiety and live within it. That is how great things happnen. The more you are exposed to the danger of the unknown and live through it the less each time it will affect you.

I want to be free and in order to do that I need others to desire the same thing. What I need to do first is to think as a free man, to trust my own judgement, to follow my own desires and dreams, make plans and act upon them, and never stop going forward. The more everyone else does this the less government  will exist becasue everyone will be self responsible. Today most of Government is caused by individuals granting their liberty over to those who claim to be able to take care of their needs whether it be a job, education or health care. Government can shrink back down to the size of the post revolutionary period or even less. because Free Men don’t need much government becasue they govern themselves.

Once the government is shrunk its funding can be done voluntarily through a national lottery. I think that is an awesome idea. I will not be participating in that but a crap load of people will. Just think if the Lotto Jack Pots were in the 100 of Millions on a weekly basis? And it provides an outlet for people to protest what the Government was doing. If enough people stopped playing its funding would shrink and policies would change.  I think that is an elegant solution to the problem of the taxation as theft problem with all present government.

I am going to start today reaching out to others to find individuals who desire to be free with the Goal of Reaching 2.3 billion individuals in my life time.

Once people are focused on their own lives, meeting their own needs, following their own dreams, producing within their minds only healing supportive thoughts their actions will translate their internal vision into external reality.

Just think what a true free market would look like . When 7 billion individuals freely trade goods and services for mutual benefit there is no limit to the possibilites. Who would have thought a hundred years ago we would have internet and tablet computers. What if instead of one Steve Jobs per generation there were fifty of them? I believe that all progress on Earth including the last two hundred years of primarily American Innovation sill pale in comparison to the unleashed innovative power of 7 billion people free to pursue their rational self interest without Government Intervention. That period when it comes about will see individuals producing inventions that will make Star Trek look like horse and buggy days. The creative power of the human mind when free from internal and external limits is truly capable of anything.

I hope this will spark your personal revolution and get you motivated to unleash the potential that lies within you. Which by the way is unlimited because you can always learn more and accomplish more. You are unlimited if you first unlimit yourself. The outside world will conform to your internal vision. And when 2.3 billion envision a world that’s free what a wonderful place that will be.

Free Your mind and the rest will follow. ( Thanks to en vouge for that) :)
Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty and Personal Revolution

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Natural Rights and Rick Santorum

In True nature of the State on February 20, 2012 at 8:25 pm

Today Rick Santorum is leading in the polls for the Republican Nominee for President. I’ve actually heard from several people that they support Santorum. Whenever I hear that this is what I say to those folks.

Rick Santorum is a big government guy who doesn’t believe in the Natural Rights of the Individual. Stated differently he doesn’t believe in Individualism. He has several quotes where he denigrates Libertarians the “rugged individualism”. Like most Conservatives he wants to bomb people overseas and limit freedoms at home. Instead of working to chain down the Federal Government to the confines of the Constitution he wants to use the expanding powers created by preceding Congresses and Presidents to implement his “vision” for America.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want anyone’s vision for myself. That is because America is made up of individuals. Santorum doesn’t see that. He sees a “nation” of people who should behave in the way he sees fit. To that I say no thank you.

Natural Rights is another way to say that every individual on Earth has an inalienable right to their Life, Liberty, Property and Pursuit of Happiness.

Here’s a real gem from Rick Santorum that I think summarizes what he believes about Individual Liberty:

One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about  before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country…. Many of the  Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not  okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how  things are supposed to be”

Now who is to determine what is supposed to be? This is the same man who said this about individuals who choose to marry another individual of the same-sex (I hate the term gay/middle class/heterosexual…etc):

“Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: that society is based on the future of the society. And that’s what? Children. Monogamous relationships. ”

Society is made up of individuals. Only ten percent of the population is gay. So his assertion if gay people marry somehow there would not be enough people to continue society? That is insane. But the core of the issue is that he believes that if you force people to behave in a certain way according to how he reads the Bible somehow God will “bless the Nation” and all those who use the force of government to keep two people who love each other from marryinig will be especially blessed.

That to me is the definition of Collectivism. You are forcibly making those who disagree with you to behave in a certain way so that you benefit from their action or non action. First of all the whole idea that “God Blesses” or “Damns” a nation is crazy. A nation is a collection of individuals in a geographic area. Society doesn’t act, doesn’t believe, doesn’t ”uphold”. Only individualis think act and are responsible for their actions.

Here’s another one:
“Isn’t that the ultimate homeland security, standing up and defending marriage? ”
With the 16 trillion-dollar debt, the five wars overseas, the drug war, the destruction of individual liberty at home, the  big government big business cartel that strangling the free market he’s talking about how wrong it is for two dudes or two chicks to marry? That is again insane.
He is a collectivist in the worse sense. He cloaks his brand of collectivism a thin veneer of Freedom  to make it go down easier for Conservatives.
Here’s his take on Individual Liberty:
“The idea is that the state doesn’t have rights to limit individuals’ wants and passions. I disagree with that. I think we absolutely have rights because there are consequences to letting people live out whatever wants or passions they desire. “

Rick is clearly has not had his Personal Revolution yet. I’m hoping he will join the 100 million individuals who want to be free. soon. But until that happens I’ll continue to point out his irrational statements.

 This statement is a total denial of an individual’s right to choose how to live his life as he sees fit. Now maybe Santorum is saying that everyone has a right to act as they see fit as long as they don’t violate the Natural Rights of others. But we know that’s not true from his previous quotes about gay marriage.
Now on Iran I’m sure he has a sane approach right. One that will help to bring about peace. Wrong.

“ he would tell Iranian leaders that either they open up those facilities, begin to dismantle them and make them available to inspectors — or the U.S. would attack them.

He doesn’t believe in Individual Rights at home or abroad. Have you looked recently how many U.S. military bases surrounded Iran? It is crazy. I wish Santorum would spend his time telling everyone how the interventionims around the world has helped to cause the problems we have but there is only one candidate who talks that way, I bet you can guess.

Now think for a second what would the State of Texas be doing if China had bases in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Lousiana, and Arkansas and ordered them to give up or stop developing a weapon that they themselves have pointed at Texas? Wouldnt Texas be doing everything they could to defend itself?

I know there are some crazy folks in Iran but they are in government. I would rather put my faith in the decency of ordinary individuals in any country than trust a politician to kill anyone anywhere in the world because their government threatened ours. Unless someone is attacking the shores of the United States of America I don’t believe we should kill individuals in other countries. That’s what I believe. Maybe I’m naive but I’d rather be naive then a murderer.
Because the case could be made that my tax money is going to pay for those bombs that blew up kids in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lybia and I don’t do anything to stop it. So in an extended way you could say I have the blood of the innocents on my hands. That is a scary thought when you take it to its logical conclusion which Rick Santorum I can guarantee you has never done.

By the way which  is the only country that has ever used a Nuclear Bomb? That’s right ; the United States of America, twice. The rhetoric from Russia during the cold war was no less inflammatory than that coming from some folks in Iran, is today and they had thousands of Nukes.

Look this argument could be made against every nation who has ever uttered a bad word about the Federal Government. Every nation has an army and even if they had one gun with one bullet than the logic would hold that we should go in and attack them immediately.

People around the world don’t hate us because of our “freedom”. We don’t have that much left anyway. They hate the U.S. Federal Government becasue of the five wars across the world, the 900 military bases, the rampant devaluing of the U.S. dollar and the arrogance to tell everyone around the world how to live. That is why there is animosity towards the U.S.
Stalin had a quote “ We don’t let our enemies have ideas and they are more powerful than guns, why would we let them have guns”.

I understand that nukes could kill a lot of people. But who has killed the most in the last ten years? It could be argued the wars started  by the United States in the last ten years have killed more people than the Iranians, Chinese or the Russians combined.

If Rick Santorum gets the nod for the GOP it is a vote against your Natural Rights. It is a vote against individualism, it is a vote against Peace, its a vote against the Free Market to America.

There is only one GOP hopeful you could vote for that understands your inalienable right to your life, liberty and property and that’s Ron Paul. Every other candidate including Santorum does not believe that you or anyone else on Earth has a right to live your life as you see fit. They believe that the State is the supreme arbiter of what you can and can’t do.
Who else but Ron Paul ever talks about Natural Rights? The Conservatives don’t because they (for the most part) believe your rights come from those who hold the reigns of power and and not from God and their only hope is to be the one’s holding the reigns.

By the way why do you think they use the phrase “reigns of power”? What do you think those reigns are attached to?

 

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty

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Wanted: 100 Million Indivduals who want to be Free

In Advocates of Liberty, True nature of the State on February 18, 2012 at 10:10 pm

That is all that is needed to assure that Freedom, which always means freedom from Government returns to America. During the time before the Revolution in America only 33% of the population wanted to secede from England, 33% didn’t care, and the other 33% thought it was a bad idea.

What I am calling for ONE HUNDRED MILLION INDIVIDUALS who believe in their God-Given Natural Right to immediately stop voting for anyone who has in the past or plans to in the future use the force of Government to Violate anyone’s right to their Life, Liberty and Property.

Many may wonder how can 100 million people agree on anything? That’s the beauty of Freedom. You don’t have to agree on everything because when Government is out of your life you are the arbiter of what you should and should not do. Again individual volition and responsibility will dictate the behavior of individuals not the edicts from politicians or bureaucrats.

I believe we are entering into the second Enlightenment. How many people do you know understand the ideas of Freedom, of Government tyranny and the importance of Rational Thinking?

I like Leonard Read’s take on Liberty and it’s simply “anything peaceful“. He like Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises were Minarchists meaning they believed in a severely limited state that ony interfered into a person’s life after they initiated force against another.

Ayn Rand believed you could do anything except violate the Natural Rights of Others.

“No man has a right to initiate the use of force against another.”

So those are the parameters of action for Free Men in a Free Society. You can do anything that is peaceful or stated differently you have no right to initiate force against another. That is as simple as it gets. We get all caught up in every minutia that doesn’t matter in life and forget to focus on the big ideas.

I believe that 100 million people in this country would agree to these two principles. I call in O.H.M.I. (one hundred million individuals.)

This is a peaceful revolution of 100 million individuals who believe in Liberty. That’s it. There is nothing more than that.
Think about the Libertarian Test. If you’ve not taken it I urge you to do so.

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz

But I want something even simpler. Most people today don’t realize how important Freedom is to them and their families and what it means to lose that freedom.

The simple quiz would be two questions.

1. Do you believe you have the right to personally  steal someone elses’ property, dictate their peaceful behavior or take their life?

2. Do you believe you can use the force of Government to do so?

As Thomas Jefferson wrote about others “I don’t care what they do as long as they don’t break my leg or pick my pocket”.

Isn’t that what it all boils down to. Do you have the right to steal someone’s property and take their life, and do you believe someone else has the right to do the same to you.

I can see 100 million people getting behind this. All this is a rehashing of the Golden Rule which by the way is the basis of most religions.

These are the only questions that any political debate should be based upon. Because if a politician believes that he or government believes they can steal from you through taxation or kill you or limit your peaceful choices then he should never be voted for.

This will be the litmus test for all politicians going forward. I want to make up shirts and have people wear these to the political rallies and the town hall meetings. And there will be only two questions to ask the politicians who are in power or running for power,
“Do you have the right to steal someone’s property, limit their peaceful behavior or take their life? Do you believe you have the right to use the Government to do this?

For me Government by its existence steals from us, limits our choices and destroys innocent life. But my quest is to be as free as possible as soon as possible and the best way to do this is to reduce the size of the tumor before it can be excised. Its tentacles are so deep that if it were removed the damage would be so great that it would do more harm than good.

I believe that a Second Revolution is coming. I am advocating for a peaceful one.  It begins in the hearts and minds of each us. Our job is to educate as many people as we can and get them on board to becoming one of the O.H.M.I.

Freedom is a good thing. Government is the problem. Liberty is the Solution. When people are free miraculous things happen.

In the upcoming election only two men would say no to the second question and those two men are Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. More than likely Ron Paul will not get the Nod as Republican nominee. But Gary Johnson will still be in the Race as he put it taking up the torch for Ron Paul.

The Ideas of LIberty are simple. They don’t require a huge police state to institute. In fact Liberty diminishes as Government grows.

I’m not a joiner. But I urge everyone to talk to their friends and family about the ideas of Natural Rights and Freedom. If we get only 100 million people on board we can turn the ship around. And the numbers for the world are only 2.3 billion people.

Once we get America back on Track we can start spreading the word everywhere and who knows in a single generation the world could be a completely different place. Can you imagine if there was as much innovation around the world as we have seen in America in the last two hundred years? I want that. That means billions of people are using their full creative powers to create products to satisfy the demands of consumers around the world. I want that. There is not a static pie that is divided up among everyone. There is an ever expanding pie if only government will allow individuals freedom to trade with one another without restrictions. That means repealing the legal tender laws, ending all tariffs, opening the borders, bringing all troops home from overseas and taking all regulations off individual peaceful transactions where both parties voluntarily trade with one another.

I have started visualizing such a world and it is amazing. To be able to wake up everyday and not think at all about Government, because every individual is responsible for “governing” themselves.”. To  wake up and get into my personal flying car (the explosion of innovation will be staggering) and travel anywhere in the world without a passport, to trade with anyone on Earth, to consume whatever I desire and to live exactly as I see fit. That is a world I dream about.  And it’s not too far away. It begins with the thoughts of one hundred million individuals who desire to be free which will hopeful turn into the thoughts of 2.3 billion individuals across the world who want to be free also.

Thoughts proceed from action. My thoughts from now on will be about bringing about this world by maintaining in my own mind the importance of Liberty and helping others to do the same. I can’t wait to live in a free world in which everyone on Earth experiences the freedom to develop their unique personalities and uncover their true potential.

Just think about the unused individual human potential just going to waste on Earth today. If everyone were free the explosion of creative energy of a planet of 7 billion people would be a sight to behold. I can’t wait.

All we need to get started is for one mind with one thought. I don’t believe I have the right to steal from someone else, to tell them how to live or take their life.
Then help them to see that Government doesn’t have the right to do that either and we’ve got ourselves the beginnings of the Next Revolution (peaceful of course). It has already begun. I know my thoughts are nothing like they were three years ago. I’ve gone from a war loving conservative to a peace-loving advocate of liberty. If I can do it others can too.

Remember you are an individual.  The Phrase “I AM” is the most powerful phrase in the history of Human Thought. And followed closely behind are “I CAN” and “I WILL”. I know “ I CAN”  help to bring about the next peaceful revolution and “I Will”. My Natural Rights are my responsibility to defend and so are yours.

Brad Miller

AdvocateofLiberty, and Peaceful Revolution

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Ron Paul’s Stance on the Drug War: END IT NOW

In Advocates of Liberty, Liberty on December 23, 2011 at 1:04 am

Recreational drugs are not the boogie man destroying this country. Out of control government is. Would you rather have Federal Storm Troopers patroling your neighborhood or have a pothead as a neighbor? I know which one I’d choose. That is why I am supporting Ron Paul for President.

Ron Paul is consistent. He bases all of his beliefs on a basic bedrock of principles. These principles are unchanging because they are based upon NATURAL LAW.

Natural Law as it relates to individual states simply that each Individual Due to their existence has a GOD given right to their LIFE, LIBERTY, JUSTLY ACQUIRED PROPERTY, and to their PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

Whether the issue is Foreign Interventionism, ending the Fed, returning the country to sound money, ending the militarized police state in America or ending the failed drug war, Ron Paul believes first and foremost in an individual’s ability to choose for themselves how best to live.

This is why for over twenty years Ron Paul has consistently voted no on all bills that would have raised your taxes or granted authority to the Federal Government not authorized by the COnstitution. Because the Constitution is a document based upon the Principles of Natural Law.

Ron Paul has consistently voted against the costly Drug War the Federal Government continues to wage even though it is a complete and utter failure.  It costs American Taxpayers over 39 billion dollars a year fighting this failed drug war. There are DEA agents all over the world. Can you imagine Chinese Drug Enforcement agents running stings inside of Texas to catch drug dealers? It wouldn’t happen. Why is it okay for the U.S. Federal Government to do so on our behalf? And still the drugs flow. Drug dealers get insanely rich and governments become corrupt as they seek favor to continue their trade.

This year alone 1.65 million people were arrested in this country on drug charges. How many lives are destroyed because of the incarcerations? How many correction officers could be doing more productive work in society? How many less jails would need to be built-in America? We are becoming a prison State and it’s because of the Failed Drug War.

Ron Paul had a crowd clapping moment in one of the early Republican Debates. The question about the drug war came up and the Federal Legalization of Drugs. He was asked if he thinks Heroin should be legalized. He had a great answer: He simply said do I or any of you need the Federal Government to tell you not to use Heroin? The crowd erupted in support.

That’s the point. We don’t need the Federal Government telling us what we can and can’t put into our bodies. Do you believe you own your body? Do you believe anyone has a right to tell you how to live as long as you are not violating the Natural RIghts of Others?

Ron Paul simply believes that the War on Drugs is a war on Individual Liberty. It is a war on choice. It is a war on personal responsiblity and the ability to live your life as you see fit. Now along with the legalization of Drugs Ron Paul also advocate the end of the Welfare State so as to not burden tax payers with people who choose to use and abuse drugs.

When people know they have to work in order to eat and live, they will do so. If they don’t private charities will help them along with churches. Right now the Shriners have 23 hospitals around the country with a budget of 700 million dollars a year which is all donations. Who says that private charity can’t take care of the sick and the indigent. It can and has in the past.

We don’t need bigger government, we dont’ need more police and DEA agents, we don’t need more predator drones flying over America. What we need is more liberty in America and that is exactly what a vote for Ron Paul in 2012 will mean for you and me.

If someone asks you about his stance on Drugs relate it back to the person’s ability to choose how to live. Remind them if someone murders, robs or steals, it doesn’t matter if they are under the influence of drugs are not. They are still violating another person’s Natural Rights and by the way, how many assaults, rapes, murders, and break in occur when people are drunk on alcohol?  It doesn’t matter the same crimes are committed.

I myself am more worried about the police checkpoints, the indefinite detention of Americans labeled as Terrorists, (remember the U.S. Justice Dept has a category of Terrorists called Narco-Terrorists), and the local SWAT team busting in my door because they don’t know how to read a search warrant and coming into my house unannounced and killing me. That later one happens more than you think.

Why do we need Militarized SWAT teams in every community? The one in my county is like a small army, with helicopters and armored vehicles.  They say it’s because of the drug dealers. (Incidentally the DOD claims it needs trillion dollar budget because of Terrorists – see the connection?) Why do the drug dealers have guns and resort to violence? It’s because they can’t go to the police or the court system to settle disputes. So the police create the environment that forces those outside the law to become more and more violent. Then they themselves escalate the violence to end the violence they create. It’s a vicious cycle. Just ask the  Mexican citizens living in the border towns.

The perfect example of this is prohibition in the 1920′s. How well did that work out? Don’t you think Mexico and the U.S. would be much safer if drugs were legalized? I know there are horror stories about mom’s and dad’s using drugs and bad things happening to kids. But that is going to happen anyway. Those are personal choices and not the fault of the drugs. Drugs are plants. That is plain and simple. If you don’t want to use them now you won’t when its legal. You still have to go to work and take care of your family.

Human nature can not be legislated.  The Federal Government when First instituted by the Constitution was meant mainly to deal with foreign nations and make “regular” commerce between the states. That’s it. The Typical tax rate for the colonists and early Americans was close to 1 or 2%. That’s it. The Federal Government was impotent because of its anemic power to tax.

Ron Paul believes in chaining back down the Federal Government once again to its Constitutional Limits. How awesome will it be again to live in the Freest Nation on Earth? How awesome will it be to not have to think about the Federal Government on a day-to-day basis? How awesome will it be to buy pot without having to worry about getting busted? I think pretty damn awesome. And if you do too then there is only one candidate that you can vote for in 2012 who will work tirelessly when he gets to the White House, just like he’s done for the last twenty years, to make that happen.

When you cast your vote for Ron Paul you are casting your vote for Individual Liberty, Prosperity and Peace.

Brad Miller
AdvocateofLiberty

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Are you FED up? If so Vote for Ron Paul

In Advocates of Liberty on December 8, 2011 at 1:43 am

Are you Fed up? Are you Fed up with the taxes, the government spending, and the liberty destroying regulations coming out of Washington? Are you fed up with the Endless wars around the world and the failed drug war at home? Are you fed up with The Federal Reserve’s destruction of the dollars by their printing trillions of new dollars? If you are then the one man who has the best chance to reverse this course if elected to become our 45th president is, Dr. Ron Paul.

Most folks have heard of Ron but do not clearly understand what the implications would be if he became our president. These same folks buy into the chatter on the news and talk radio that paint Ron Paul’s ideology as Isolationist and anarchistic. This is far from the truth. Ron Paul believes simply in chaining down the Federal Government to its enumerated powers clearly specified by the U.S. Constitution; which consequently is still the law of the land.

Ron Paul’s faith in the Constitution is firmly grounded in the Natural Rights tradition that inspired the founding fathers. Paul believes that every human being on Earth by his mere existence as a human being, has a God-given right to his life, his liberty, and to his justly acquired property. He knows first hand fighting in Congress all these years against the descrtucition of our libierties, that the Leviathan,  the Federal Government is the greatest threat to your liberty and to mine. While in Congress Ron voted against hundreds of bills that would have raised taxes or given authority to the Federal Government that exceed its Lawful Constitutional Mandate. Ron Paul correctly believes that as Government Grows individual liberty recedes.

How many here today are Fed up with the Internal Revenue Service? That’s a stupid question.  Everyone here would like to see that engine of theft finally ended. How many here today are Fed up with the Federal Reserve’s inflationary schemes that cause increased prices and punish savers by artificially lowering interest rates? Which consequently, they only do in order to enable the Federal Government to continue its borrowing binge. I don’t even to That is why Ron Paul states without hesitation that his mission is to End the Fed and End the IRS. Let those words sink in a minute and think about that will mean to you. That means more money in your pocket, which more importantly would be sound money.

But in order to do that the out of control spending must be addressed and Ron Paul pledges to veto any unbalanced budget that is sent to him.

Most Americans are fed up with the ever-increasing intrusions by the Feds in the name of safety into their privacy whether it’s in their homes, on their computers or at their place of business. Most Americans are fed up with being groped and their naked bodies revealed to strangers when they want to fly. Most Americans are fed up being treated like a terrorist every time they want to travel. Most Americans are fed up with the failed drug war and the violence that prohibition inevitably creates. Most Americans are fed up with the militarization of the police force. Most Americans are fed up with the no knock warrants and the subsequent killing of innocent individuals by the police who are simply defending their property, when the police serve the warrants at the wrong address. Most Americans are fed up with having to constantly fight for their God-given right to defend themselves against politicians who are always scheming to ban certain firearms, make them harder and more expensive to acquire and eventually eliminate private ownership all together. That is why Ron Paul wants to privatize the TSA, end the Drug War, end all unconstitutional spying by the Federal government on citizens and ensure that your God-given right, stated in the  second amendment  will not be violated.

Most Americans are fed up with the crony capitalism that has grown because of the massive increase in the size and power of the Federal Government.  Most Americans are fed up with the politicians granting private companies the privilege to privatize their gains while socializing their losses on the backs of the taxpayers. Most Americans are fed up with the entrepreneurial crushing regulations coming out of the EPA, FDA, Dept of Energy and the HHS. Most Americans are fed up with the pompous politicians and the baneful bureaucrats who want to institute a Planned Economy in America. Where where are regulated to mere automotons acting not upon our own Free WIll but by the  pernicious prescriptions from politicians that claim to know best. Ron Paul understands that the bureaucracy in Washington and their endless regulations are strangling the ability of individuals to voluntarily exchange goods and services, which is what the economy really boils down to.

Most Americans are fed up with the massive U.S. presence overseas and the trillions of dollars wasted abroad. Most Americans are Fed up with the endless wars that the Feds are prosecuting in at least five countries. Most Americans are fed up with seeing young men killed on battlefields thousands of miles away in a war with no clear enemy and a less clear definition of victory. Most Americans are fed up with seeing young folks who volunteered to serve their country return home from war with missing arms and legs, massive terrible burns and debilitating head injuries. Most Americans are fed up their tax dollars being used to buy bombs, that when dropped on foreign battlefields, inevitably kill innocent men women and children. How would any of us like it if China started dropping bombs on American citizens or placing bases in Montana? That is  exactly what the Federal government does everyday around the world. In addition most Americans are fed up with U.S. citizens being targeted for assassination around the world after being placed on a kill/capture list by secretive opaque intelligence committees. Ron Paul understands this and believes in a strong defense but not the bloated Dept. of Defense budget which prosecutes the endless foreign interventions. That is why Ron Paul pledges to end the wars overseas immediately and bring home all of our soldiers as quickly as possible, while maintaining a strong defense at home.

If you are like most Americans and are fed up with the way the Federal Government and the Federal Reserve destroy your individual liberty on a daily basis then there is a man who would put an immediate stop to the unchecked power of the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington. That man is Ron Paul. I urge everyone to do your research on the other candidates. Then compare their record  to the record of Ron Paul. Compare their actions and the ideas that inform those actions to Ron Paul’s  unflagging committment to fighting for your Natural Right to your life, your liberty and your property. If you vote for  Ron Paul, you are voting for the elimination of the IRS, the Federal Reserve and the reduction of the Federal Government back down to its lawful Constitutional Mandate.

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Collectivism kills Love

In True nature of the State on September 8, 2011 at 4:16 pm

If you do not live free, how can you be free to love?

None of us are immortal. Time is scarce. Resources are scarce. Scarcity is the reality of life.  The question we must all ask ”is how are we to spend our limited time with limited resources? “

I believe the best way to spend my time on Earth is to live free and spend as much time as I can with those that I  love.  Within a Free Market Society that acknowledges everyone’s right to defend their Life, Liberty and Property I believe I have the best shot at doing  this.

In a Collectivist Society, the Masses, more accurately those who speak for the masses determine who lives, how they live and by what means.  In such a world you do not own yourself or any property.  Your “I”, your identity, your will is sacrificed to the  will of the “WE”. In this world your choice of how to spend your time is  deterermined by the will of others. If you are not free to live as you see fit and keep the fruits of your labor how can you love yourself or anyone else?

In Ayn Rand’s “Anthem” she writes about that kind of  society. In the dystopian future of “Anthem”  the  very word “I” has been  outlawed and replaced by “We”.  The main character Equality 7-2521 and the others in Society think of themselves only as “We”.

In this  world it is  forbidden for men and women to even look at each other. The State forbids any contact between the genders except once a year during the Time of Mating. Then the Council of Eugenics decides which women mates with which man. They force the unsuspecting male and female together in the City Palace of Mating to procreate. All actions are devoid of any semblance of Love. The individuals are just cogs in the machine. The hero Equality 7-2521 discovering his individuality and defies “The Will of the Masses” by choosing to love Liberty 5-3000. And with this act he sins, the Sin of Preference.

You might think this sounds like an extreme future with no similarity to the world in which we live. But the reheoric today from politicians who espouse the duty of  individuals to sacrifice more and more of their life, liberty and property to the “greater good” is straight out of the Collectivist hand book.  It is the exact ideology of “Equality Through Force” that Ayn Rand explores in “Anthem”. The difference is not in substance, only in degree.  The Collectivist ideology at its core denies individual preference.  Every time the State power grows and substitutes the “will of the masses” for the choice of individuals it brings us one step closer to the dark dystopian future of “Anthem” where the very word “I” is outlawed.

Most people forget that the Eugenics movement was huge in America and that Eugenics departments were in vogue in many Universities. And it was the Nazis who adopted the ideas and  used the “science” of the west to carry out their particular brand of Collectivism. Do you think love flourished for those who the Nazis deemed unfit to live? Do you think Love floursihed in Paris under Nazis occupation or on the Eastern Front?  Do you think love flourished in the concentration camps? Did Love flourish in Germany as their  Collectivist Utopia crumbled around them?

(If you want to read a cautionary tale about the evils of the partnership between Science and the State read up on Eugenics, it’s frightening stuff.)

Even today this type of  State intervention into the love life of individuals continues. In Communist China they have a one child policy for 40% of the population. The State tells them how many children they can have!!! The planners in America hold up the Chinese model of  ”State Capitalism” as the one that we should emulate. So it should surprise no one that the Collectivist policies of the U.S.  Federal Government help determine the amount of children couples have in America.

A lot of  Americans have up to 60% of their income stolen by the State. The affected parents now must choose between the love for their existing child and the hardships they would  all would have to endure if they brought another child into the world. The resources stolen by the State effectively limit the number of children these folks have. What is even worse the money stolen from them goes to support mothers who are “encouraged’ to have more children by the State, through the “theft/reward” system (AKA TAX CODE).   How does the principle of effecting the reproductive decision of millions through the Force of the State differ from  the ideology that produced the City Palace of Mating and the Board of Eugenics in Rand’s “Anthem”?

When speaking of Love most folks think of interpersonal love, one person caring for another. What does it mean to “care” for someone? Can you care for someone if you are dead? If you are bound by the will of another? If you have no property to “share” with your beloved? How can you love if you are determined by the Collective to be a detriment to the majority and ”they” decide to revoke your permission to live? Tens of millions of people have had their permission to live slips revoked by Collectivist governments in the last 100 years. It’s work for the benefit of the collective or die.

If the Collectivists want to love mankind and work for the Collective’s benefit there is no one stopping them today. They are free to sacrifice themselves upon the Alter of the State.  But how many of these Collectivists have destroyed their concept of “I” and voluntarily given up all the fruits of their labor for the State to redistribute to others?  No one is stopping them. The Collecitivists never lead by example because they want to be the priests and priestess of the State who oversee the the sacrifices of others.

Ony Individuals think. Only Individuals act. Mises stated in his classic Socialism., that Only Indivdiduals think and Only Indivdiduals Act. I would like to add one more to that, “Only Individuals Love”.

The choice of who we love directs the way we dispose of our life and our property. The State claims it is doing “good work” with the money they steal from us. They tell us we should all love one another and they are administering our charity to others on our behalf. Why do I need to have someone else act as my “Charitable Administrator”? If I keep the fruits of my labor I can choose whom I share them with.  The Planners and Politicians gain all the accolades when they use the Force of the State to lavish their chosen one’s with the property of others. How often do you hear someone using a EBT Card turn around and thank the individuals labor he is living off? The receiver of the stolen property of others, the one using the EBT Card, thanks and then rewards the politicians who promise him more stolen loot by voting him back into office when election time rolls around.

No one has a claim to your heart or to your wallet. Both are your property. You are an individual who has the right to choose who you love and who you show love toward. If you want to work 100 hours a week, never get married and spend all your cash on yourself. That is your choice. That is a form of self-love and doesn’t violate anyone’s Natural Rights.  Then it holds true too, that  if someone wants to have ten kids and work to care for them that is their choice. In a Free Market Society individuals are free to pursue their happiness as they see fit and define how and who they love, as long as they don’t violate the right of others to do the same.

Ask yourself this this:

As Government Intervention into our lives, which is all based upon the Collectivist Creed “From Each according to his abilities to Each according to his needs” grows does it create an atmosphere that is more or  less conducive to love?

When someone picks your pocket on the street and steals your money that creates feelings that are the opposite of love. You feel resentment and hatred toward that person. The same principle applies when individuals vote to have the government steal money from you, that action creates the same feelings of animosity.

Frustration, Fear, Dehumanization, Death, and Envy,are the emotions generated when your individual will is supplanted by that of another. Love is a choice. It is not anyone elses’ but your own. Too often when we talk about Individual Liberty we fail to mention the greatest reason on Earth to be free, and that is be FREE To LOVE!!! Property, Liberty and Life are all prerequisites to loving. If you believe you have a Natural Right to Love the Person you choose then you must have the Natural Right to Defend your Life, Liberty and Property which are all prerequisites for expressing that love.

As Liberty dies so does our ability to Love.

If the Right to love whom ever we choose is an innate right then the right to our Life, Liberty and Property is as well, because without the later the Right to Love does not exist.

And that’s my take

Bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

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The Law of Responsibility -Negative and Positive Consequence Particles

In Liberty, True nature of the State on September 1, 2011 at 3:39 pm

Every Action has a Consequence.

That is a simple idea that most people hopefully will agree with. What most people will not agree upon though is who should experience the consequences of their actions.

 Mises wrote  in his opus “Human Action” that  all individuals act in order to eliminate “uneasiness”. They do this in the best way that they know how to in order to replace their current state of being for one they believe will be an improved state.

Rothbard elaborated on the idea of action and stated that individuals act to achieve their highest priority on their scale of value. Both Austrian Legends agreed that only individuals can act and that all action is speculative.

No one can know for certain what result will be obtained with any particular action.  But we do know that the action performed will generate a consequence. This can either be a positive or negative result. I like to think of a hypothetical particle generated by each action that when experienced by the individuals produces a ”good” or “bad” feeling. And these good or bad feelings shape individual’s behavior and induces them to take more efficient actions while achieving their life’s goals. In doing so these particles and the feelings that they generate “hold” Society together through the Law of Responsibility.

This hypothetical particle is what I like to call a “consequence particle“. It has either a positive or negative charge. In Society today individuals try to avoid experiencing the Negative Consequence Particle or NCP by using the State to swap them for the Positive Consequence Particles or PCPs that others have rightly generated through prudent efficient action. But the Law of Responsibility doesn’t allow them who make this unnatural swap to escape experiencing the NCPs that their actions generate for long.

 The Law of Responsibility is a Natural Law that states simply that each individual is responsible for the consequences of his actions. It is an immutable law  just as much as the Law of  Gravity. 

Like gravity it is experienced by everyone but still  a mystery to the mechanism by which it works.

Gravity is a mysterious force that helps to hold the Universe together. Scientists today even the know-it-alls have to admit they are at a loss to explain the exact mechanism through which gravity works. Some believe that an imaginary particle ( a theoretical particle) called a graviton mediates gravity in the universe.

The Law of Responsibility stated differently is the expressed by the ancient admonition that “You Reap what you Sow.” . What you sow you have a God-given right to reap, whether the consequence of that planting (action) is positive or negative.

But today most folks don’t think they should reap the Negative Consequence Particles which make them feel “Bad” and instead they should benefit instead from the Positive Consequence Particles of others in order to feel “Good”.

  The Law of Responsibility is a part of Natural Law and those who do believe that they  are endowed with their Creator with certain inalienable rights among which are the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, should also include that they are endowed with their Creator with the Responsibility to suffer the consequences of all their actions. 

The Law of Responsibility is like the Law of Gravity which both can be experienced firsthand and understood by a two-year old. Watch a two-year old throw a Duplo block into the air. When it falls back down and lands squarely on top of his head he begins to cry. He is lamenting his discovery of both the Law of Responsibility and The Law of Gravity.
What goes up must come down  just as every consequence generated by an action must fall upon the man who initiated it.  

Like the illusive graviton I believe that most folks fail to see the “consequence” particles that link their actions to the subsequent consequences that they cause.

This consequence particle whether Positive or Negative  forces us all to eventually  ”reap what we sow”.  When I talk of action I use the term as Loa Tzu understood it, that non-action is the same as action when it comes to generating consequences.

Since the Law of Responsiblity is as immutable as the Law of Gravity these actions and their “consequence particles” still return to the actor even if he doesn’t realize it.

In this country today everyone wants to be shielded from their “consequence particles” and as a result the State grows because it is the only entity on Earth who can “legally” force “consequence particles” to fall  initially upon others. People who support the Socialist programs do so because they  fail to save, fail to learn how to be more of value to their employers, fail to improve themselves in order that they may take care of themselves later on in life. They don’t alter their actions because they don’t ”feel” the NCPs  initially generated by these actions but over a lifetime of these habitual destructive actions they can not escape the NCPs that they created. 

The politicians and the plunderers transfer the negative for the positive and instead of enjoying the rightfully acquired PCPs the  most productive individuals must suffer with 50%  more NCPs than their actions would naturally produce.  That “bad” feeling generated by the NCPs which they are now subject to have no relationship what so ever to their  actions. These NCPs initially effect the producer and in turn affect his future actions to avoid more of his PCPs from being stolen. This is what helps to worsen economic downturns and explains why Socialism can never work.

In Natural Society the only way to feel the effects of PCPs is by reaching one’s goals while respecting the Natural Rights of others. If you violated those rights you would of course be punished. Like Bastiat said, “Life, Liberty and Property do no exist because men have made laws. On the contrary it is because Life, Liberty and Property beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.”

Through trial and error and the experiencing of both PCPs and NCPs we learn which actions will likely be successful in the future  which will enable us to more efficiently reach our goals. The NCPs are no fun and make us feel “bad”. This bad feeling is absolutely necessary to lead us away from actions which will waste our life in acting in ways contrary to attaining what we desire. 

This is what  Bastiat would call an Unseen consequence of the “bad” feeling caused by NCPs. The Negative Consequence Particles are meant to inflict “pain” on the one whose actions generate them. They are meant to change the behavior of the individual acting. Most people only see the suffering that they cause. But the Statists and Socialists  fail to see how by experiencing NCPs individuals are actually benefited by this “suffering”.

If my goal is to lose weight but continue to each two Snickers Blizzards a day I will have to endure the NCPs generated by this action. When I look into the mirror or try to wear pants that  no longer fit I will feel “bad” because of the NCPs generated by my actions. That ”bad” feeling is my brain registering the Negative Consequence Particles generated because my actions have led me away from my goal of losing weight and looking more attractive.  

These NCPs help me to see my errors . The “pain” forces me upon a new course of action thus resulting  in Positive Consequence Particles being felt instead of negative ones. My clothes fit better, I look more attractive and I feel more confident.  Which then produce the PCPs I crave because I know if I experience that good feeling I know I’m on the right track to reaching whatever goal I am acting to acheive.

I despise the distinction of separating the activities of individuals into, economic, political, religious, personal categories. All Human actions are Human actions no matter what goal they are trying to achieve. When human action is categorized and segregated people tend to forget how all actions they we take are subject to the Law of Responsibility.  It doesn’t matter if it is the action of an individual who is an entrepreneur, politician, or soldier. Human beings are indivisible and their actions are human actions no matter what the goal they are trying to achieve. Rothbard called this profit/loss of all actions as psychic profit.

Each of  us working for someone else is always looking to sell our labor at the highest price. But in order to do this we must continually seek to improve our product (labor) in order to please the shifting tastes of our customers (Employers). If you have a product that no one wants to buy that should generate NCPs. Because only then will you want to improve that product and be able to sell it. But if the State through Force makes others buy your labor at a price they would not voluntarily do so you are escaping the NCPs generated by your non-action in improving your product(at least temporarily) by swapping them for your  employer’s PCPs. By doing this though you lose out in the long run. Without experiencing the NCPs due to your actions of nonimporvement you are missing out on the key impetus that would encourage you through pain to improve your product so employers would pay more for your service.

The labor market is like the t.v. or tennis shoe market. The employers who are buying an individual’s labor, his service, wants to buy the highest quality product at the lowest rate possible, just as you want the clearest biggest HD LCD t.v. at the lowest price you can find.  But prices tend to remain high on products produced when workers don’t improve themselves and the quality of their efforts. This is one way the Law of Responsibility ensures that the temporarily shifted NCPs  always find their way back to the individuals who generated them.

The Law of Responsibility like the Law of Gravity can not be escaped. We can fly temporarily in a helicopter or jump on a pogo stick into the air but everything that goes up must come down. And when we act no matter if we transfer our Negative Consequence Particles initially to others  we can not escape their effects. in the long run. When the delayed “bad” effects of the NCPs finally reach the initiator of them he more often than not fails to link the NCPs to the action that caused them. And even if he is able to determine the action or actions that generated the NCPs in his past he now  finds them to be deeply ingrained and habitual in the present making different types of actions difficult in the future.

The State of the Economy (Society) today is the result of the Negative Consequence Particles  of individual actions being funneled through The State and then spread out over millions of people. This problem is further compounded when these same people act and  expect their NCPs to affect others besides themselves. So you have all this negative reinforcement being filtered and diluted and when the NCPs finally reaches  the culpable individuals they are experienced as a down economy, a world in turmoil, and by extension a quality of life that is on the decline.  Most react by railing against the ”world”  blaming it for keeping them down but they fail to realize that every action they’ve  taken in which the NCPs have been transferred to others whether it’s for their retirement,their power bill, their  food, their  housing, their low-interest rate, their  security, their medical care, have produced the declining standard of living and a regressive Society through which they now experiences the NCPs of their past actions even though long-delayed.

If you want to live Free you  must also Freely accept the Negative Consequence Particles of your actions immediately and not try to shift them to others. But the opposite of the negatively charged consequence particle is the positively charged particle which if you were truly free would be yours to experience fully. That is only  if your  your actions generated them did not  violate the Natural Rights of others. The PCPs make us feel ”good”  and steer us in concert with NCPs into making better decisions and acting more efficiently. The Law of responsibility like the Law of Gravity can be painful. But without it we would never understand why are lives are not improving and we would  continue blaming  others for all our woes.

I believe that when the mechanism by which Gravity  effects matter is discovered it will be a boon to mankind. In the same way the more we are able to understand how The Law of Responsibility holds us accountable for our actions the more we will be able to take advantage of this Law of Nature. This knowledge will be a great benefit to every individual who realizes that the negative consequences of his actions are his God-given responsibility to endure in order that he may improve,  and that the result of those improved more efficient actions will be the generation of PCPs which are by God-given right his to enjoy.

The more we are consciously able to experience the NCPs and PCPs generated by our actions the more we will be able to live the lives that we want.

And that’s my take.

Bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

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A how-to-guide to advance the cause of Liberty

In Advocates of Liberty, Liberty on August 30, 2011 at 3:38 pm

What can an individual do if he wants to Live Free?

If you are reading this you probably are already convinced that you have inalienable rights endowed by your Creator to your Life, Liberty and Property.   In order for the State to stop violating your Natural Rights you’ll need others to stop supporting the Socialistic programs that prey upon us. But the question is how do you convince others of that?

 Voltaire answers that question:

“We must cultivate our own garden. When man was put in the
garden of Eden he was put there so that he should work, which proves that man
was not born to rest. “

The only way to advance the cause of Liberty is by each of us  individually improving our knowledge of the Freedom Philosophy and improving our ability to relay that knowledge to others.

 Leonard Read wrote extensively about how to advance the cause of Liberty. He even devoted and entire book called “Elements of Libertarian Leadership”. In it he echoes Voltaire’s idea that each individual should tend to their own garden first.  If we want Freedom to grow in this country our first task is to give it fertile ground in our own mind.

“”When many of us can expose the fallacies of socialism and explain the principles of freedom with the ease and facility of adding two plus two, that’s when freedom will be an assured way of life!” Leonard Read

Leonard Read throughout his years  at FEE wrote over 20 books. He wanted to explain the Freedom Philosophy in as many different ways as possible because he never knew how someone would come to embrace the ideas of Liberty. There is no way any one can tell what will spark the change in thought which turns a particular Socialist into an  advocate of Liberty. That is why Leonard Read continued throughout his life to deepen his understanding of the Freedom Philosophy through reading, writing and talking about it. In “Elements of Libertarian Leadership” he explains the  importance  of each of us who love Liberty do the same.

 ”No person can do more than attend to his own improvement and thus rise to the position where others will draw on him, call on him, invite him into counsel. This do-it-yourself project is one’s only practical means of becoming valuable to others.” L.R.

If you want others to learn you must teach. To teach you must know. That is the essence of Libertarian leadership.

“No person will knowingly seek light from one who has no light.” L.R.

Each of us should seek to become a Beacon of Liberty for those who are seeking a better understanding of the concepts of Individual Liberty, Free Markets, and Property Rights. You can’t force what knowledge  you have gained upon others  but you can improve how you articulate that information to them once they seek your counsel.

“If we show improvement, all those with an affinity for freedom who are within our range will be attracted to the improved offerings.”  L.R.

In order to show improvement and attract others to the cause of Liberty, Leonard Read stressed the need for Libertarian Leadership. But it’s not the political organized type of Leadership. He explains that only the individuals can effect change and that change must begin with himself.

Leonard Read broke down his take on Libertarian Leadership into Three Levels. The first level is one that takes the least effort and is the minimum action needed by an individual to help stop the rising tide of Socialism.

THE FIRST LEVEL – Achieve that degree of understanding which makes it impossible to join in or support  in any manner whatsoever any socialistic proposal – in short refrain from ideological wrongdoing .
To uphold freedom effectively, one must be able to identify and understand local socialism. L.R.

The First Level one of non action and  non participation in actions that violate the Natural Rights of others. The next two levels require that an individual deepen their understanding of the Freedom Philosophy and improve upon how they articulate that information to others.

THE SECOND LEVEL-Achieve that degree of understanding and exposition required to point out socialistic fallacies and certain principles of freedom to those who come within one’s own personal orbit. L.R.

This stage is about becoming proficient with the ideas of Freedom. At this level an individual is able to without thinking relate the ideas of Freedom to others as easily as reciting the alphabet.

“To really know a subject is to be able to speak or write it as easily as replying ”49″  to the query, “What’s 7 x 7?” L.R.

 During this stage it is important also  not to “inflict” your  new-found information  upon others. This is  where a lot of us including myself have attempted to “teach” others who do not want to be taught.  Have you ever been talking to family and friends and they have this blank look on their face as you rattle off the latest attempt by a Socialist politician to steal more money from taxpayers? If they are not ready and willing to learn you can never force “enlightenment” onto them. Just as no one can force it upon you.

“Indeed, no person can gain access to the mind of another until the other lets him in” L.R.

Once individuals  progress at this level they must be careful not to be fooled into thinking they’ve arrived” because they know everything about the Freedom Philosophy. This arrogance is more akin with the know-it-all-ness of the Central Planners of Socialism than those who advocate for Liberty.

None of us will ever “arrive”. We all are on a life long journey to understand and share what we’ve learned about Freedom. The search for truth never ends. If we stop searching, learning and improving we will never progress to the next level and that is what is truly needed for widespread acceptance of the Freedom Philosophy

 THE THIRD LEVEL-Achieve that degree of excellence in understanding and exposition which will inspire others to seek one out as a tutor of the libertarian philosophy. This is the level attained by the creative thinker, writer, talker, the level at which the power of attraction comes into play. L.R.

A perfect example of someone who attained this level was Ayn Rand. Her epic  ”Atlas Shrugged” has inspired and continues to inspire countless readers to delve deeper into the ideas of Individuality and Liberty.

Once you become someone who others come to for a deeper understanding of Liberty, than they will learn and grow and someone else will in turn come to them to do the same. In this way the amount of folks who embrace the Freedom Philosophy will grow exponentially and as a result  the  politicians elected and the government we live under will reflect this ideological change. 

“I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe—”That government is best which governs not at all”; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have” Thoreau

Our first step for limited or no government  is to prepare ourselves for government that governs least or not at all. This we can only do by improving our understanding of Freedom and improving how we convey that  understanding to others. Each of us can “act upon this rapidly and systematically” because it involves the betterment of no one else but ourselves.

“Every significant movement in history-good or bad-has resulted from influential  ideas held by comparatively few persons.” L.R.

Once a person has reached the Third Level of Libertarian Leadership his opinions and ideas can become influential.   

 ”Here, then, is the key question: What constitutes an influential opinion? In the context of moral, social, economic, and political philosophy, influential opinion stems from or rests upon(1) depth of understanding, (2) strength of conviction, (3) the power of attractive exposition. These are the ingredients of self-perfection as relating to a set of ideas. Persons who thus improve their understanding, dedication and exposition are the leaders of men; the rest of us are followers, including the out-front political personalities.” L.R.

 Just think about the legacy of individuals like Locke and Bastiat, Rothbard and Rand, Read and Mises or all the other individuals you have learned from. They dedicated their lives to improving their understanding of Liberty and improving their ability to articulate that which they learned to others. Their teachings stand the test of time. They reached the third level of Libertarian Leadership and they developed influential ideas opinions which changed the world.

What is needed today are individuals who dedicate themselves to the relentless pursuit of truth and self-improvement like the above mention individuals. Who will be the Rand, Read and Rothbard of this generation? No one knows. But those who love Liberty should take up that challenge and have the attitude that Voltaire did:

“Do well and we will have no need of ancestors”.

Voltaire doesn’t mean to reject the past but he recommends not living upon the past achievements of others. We who love Liberty should recognize that we are the men and women of our time, of the here and now. It is our responsiblity to “do well”  in regards to our understanding of the Freedom Philosophy and  how we convey that knowledge to others. If we ”do well” our “influential opinions” may  inspire the next ideological shift toward Liberty in this country.

In two hundred years from now, who will those who love freedom be quoting? They maybe quoting you along side Locke, Rand and Read. Hopefully by then we will have achieved a True Free Market Society where the Natural Rights of Individuals to their Life, Liberty and Property is sacrosanct and free from any State intervention. Even if you’re not quoted 200 years from now how awesome is it to think that even if you  only achieve the first level of Libertarian Leadership you are  helping that Future of Freedom become reality.

I am far from achieving the Thrid Level of Libertarian Leadership.  I don’t know if I’ll ever make it there. But while I attempt to reach it, I will rely upon “making current, what is excellent”  by mining the past works of the great Libertarian thinkers who have lived before me. It’s hard to go wrong quoting anything from the likes of John Locke, John Stuart Mills, Milton, Jefferson, George Mason, Thomas Paine, James Otis, Frederic Bastiat,  Albert Jay Nock, Franck Chodorov, Henry Hazlitt, Isabella Patterson, Rose Lane Wilder, Henry David Thoreau, Lysander Spooner,  Ayn Rand,  Leonard Read, Ludwig von Mises,  or Murray Rothbard.

If you don’t have time to read Leonard Read’s book “Elements of Libertarian Leadership” you can catch the essence of the book in a lecture he gave back in the 1970′s entitled “How to Advance Liberty” (which I stole for the title of this article) that is now on You Tube.

This lecture helped changed my focus from political action to learning and self-improvement. It’s worth taking a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UE3JeowaaE 

Leonard Read’s 1 hour lecture about advancing the cause of liberty.

“America’s greatest need (the world’s greatest need) is for thousands of creative thinkers, writers, talkers-individuals who can, within their own circle of acquaintance and activity, serve as sources or wellsprings of the libertarian philosophy”  L.R.

 This is the only way an individual can advance the cause of Liberty!!!

And that’s my take

Bastiat1776

AdvocateofLiberty

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