The Liberty Movement's Biggest Obstacle

Stefan Molyneux of Freedomain Radio shows us the biggest obstacle to the liberty movement and why people are having difficulties with the libertarian movement in a highly insightful video.

He shows us that libertarians can often be mean and petty, and that they can sometimes turn off others who don't know about libertarianism by their own personal behaviors.

Not only does Molyneux defend the libertarian cause, he shows how libertarians can apply libertarian principles and live them out in their own personal lives (not libertine, Adam Kokesh-type values, by the way).

And I will add in several of my comments: what if we could be pleasant to be around without being politically correct and whining "racist," "sexist," "misogynist," and whatever left-wing term is concocted when even the slightest of political incorrectness is expressed? What if we could fully advocate for the legalization of drugs, prostitution, same-sex and nontraditional "marriages," and other vices without actually condoning them? What if we could adopt wholesome values without going too much into political conservatism, which is in total contradiction to libertarianism (not cultural conservatism, mind you)? What if there were more Christians in the libertarian movement?

I would answer that the liberty movement would benefit greatly and become the radical force that it once was in the late eighteenth century and most of the nineteenth century.

Here is the video. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Ron Paul!

Happy Birthday Ron Paul!!!

Thank you, Ron, for standing up for your views, even when others mocked you.

Thank you, Ron, for having the guts to stand up to Giuliani and the Republican establishment even when it seemed unlikely.

Thank you for being the anti-politician.

Thank you for using the means you were given to spread the message of liberty, Austrian economics, noninterventionism, and much more.

Thank you for having the courage to hold to your views, even when you were attacked by the left-liberal and neoconservative media.

Thank you for galvanizing the liberty movement to action.

Thank you for saving it from the divisions it faced during the Bush administration and the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Thank you for bringing back the libertarian ideas of ages past back to light. Thank you for introducing the Mises Institute and the works of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard, two of the 20th century's greatest libertarian minds, to those who might have never heard about it were it not for you.

As Tom Woods said on his Facebook, "Thank you for caring about justice and truth, and not caring what the Washington Post or Sean Hannity think of you."

Thank you for not missing the corrupt political scene you once were in.

Thank you for using your post-Congressional life and putting it to good use. God has blessed you with speaking opportunities, interviews, and the resources to pull of your curriculum and your channel, even though you couldn't get to own RonPaul.com, due to that controversy between you and your grassroots supporters.

Even when I might disagree with you on certain issues, I will still support you, as you have proven yourself to us fans as a principled, courageous libertarian.

You may not have gotten to sit in Air Force One, but you won the hearts and minds of thousands (and maybe even in the millions) during your revolution.

I haven't got to your books yet, but eventually I will do so. However, from what I have read from you, it is a rich experience of reading.

You are most definitely not the Messiah, but you are a man of honor.

Thank you, Ron Paul. You are a true American hero. You are, in the words of Murray Rothbard, "an unusual politician because he doesn't simply pay lip service to moral principles."

Letter of Liberty News Edition (8-20-2013)

Here is Tuesday's news edition for Letter of Liberty. I will add more articles throughout the day as I read.

PolicyMic gives 78 reasons for every American to wish Ron Paul a happy birthday.

Christian libertarian columnist and antiwar writer Laurence Vance gives us some tips on what he would do as pastor. 

Paul Cantor's interview with the Mises Institute for today's Mises Daily on his new book The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture, movies and TV, libertarianism and the technocratic elite.

Fred Reed on why parlor warhawks just don't get it.

Jeffrey Tucker on the empire in panic. It's ultimately all part of the saga that is known as "the empire strikes back." (The term taken from the title of the classic sci-fi epic movie Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)

Will Grigg on why our country is a communist country.

On this week's Mondays with Murray, Marc Clair explores what Rothbard's view was on who qualified as a libertarian, and who doesn't.

Lions of Liberty's Marc Clair gives us Part 1 of what apparently appears to be an exploration of the issue of the Ron Paul Channel and on intellectual property. Clair defends intellectual property from an anarcho-capitalist libertarian perspective, though there are anarchists who oppose intellectual property, such as Stephan Kinsella, famous for his controversial monograph Against Intellectual Property. Others such as Robert Wenzel and Paul Cwik support intellectual property, holding that it is compatible with libertarian politics. I haven't decided my views on the issue, though there is indeed room for debate on this issue in libertarian circles.

Paul Craig Roberts on growing up in America. He had the experience of fast and elegant cars, which the now fascist America is coming to hate. He shows how government regulations are taking away from the beauty of the cars of yesteryear and how there might be never anything like the Jaguar E-Type again. It is also a poetic symbol of the optimism that permeated America of the 1950s, before the Kennedy assassination and the period of chaos and war that we are in now.

John Whitehead on the abyss from which there is no return.

Walter Williams to white liberals: stop patronizing blacks.

Sheldon Richman says: "Delete the Fed"

Jacob Hornberger on Chile's gun-control lessons for America, and how it relates to America's national-security state.

Paul Rosenberg on the new era of surveillance. He gives several articles as proof of this surveillance. I especially liked his question on whether Jesus would approve of this.

Joseph Diedrich on the "flaws" of capitalism. It turns out that the so-called flaws of capitalism are really just things that people hate about it.

Tom Mullen on why libertarians are not shills for big business. While I disagree with Mullen's assertion that corporations are creations of the state (I consider them to be voluntary, free-market organizations), I do agree with him that big business does have the tendency to be statist (usually). And I do agree with him that ultimately libertarians are pro-market rather than pro-business.

Apparently libertarian Catholic historian, economist and scholar Thomas E. Woods (one of my favorite writers) is going to have a new podcast, starting September 16. When it does come, please subscribe to it, which I will be doing.

Daniel Dignan at the Ron Paul Curriculum website on the video game nation.

Gary North on how nagging equals training children to fail.

Glenn Jacobs (also known as the wrestler "Kane") on the FDA's war on compounding pharmacies.

"Kane" on compromising principles.

Ron Paul on why the 2,700 NSA violations are ultimately no big deal in comparison to the gigantic surveillance state.

The Guardian's editorial on how David Miranda's detention was a betrayal of trust and principle.

Glenn Greenwald on how Miranda's detention was a failed attempt at intimidation.

Is liberty a dangerous, esoteric idea as Chris Christie claimed? No, says Kane.

Alan Rushbridger on David Miranda, schedule 7 and the danger reporters now face.

Tom Woods says Happy Birthday to Ron Paul.

Tom Tomorrow's comic on the NSA's coming clean.

Guantanamo Bay through the eyes of an artist.

Conor Friedersdorf shows us the corrosiveness of the surveillance state in the case of Pamela Jones.

Catholic writer Andrew J. Bacevich on whether Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are patriots.

A war on the border is coming, warns Todd Miller at the New York Times op-ed section.

Eric Peters gives some politically incorrect tips for teenage drivers when they get a car.

Justin Raimondo on how the enemies of liberty are going after Glenn Greenwald.

It seems that two Colorado counties will debate over whether to secede (via EPJ).

Robert Wenzel gives us something to keep in mind when the new Fed chairman is named.

It seems that Rand Paul isn't very sympathetic to Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden, says Robert Wenzel.

James Altucher's ultimate cheat sheet on starting a business (don't worry, there is nothing criminal in here).

Mac Slavo on the new Common Core standards for math: 4 x 3 = 11!

It seems that there is a special beer that you can enjoy freely without any hangover, reports the Daily Mail.

Scott Lazarowitz on freedom of speech and its connection with the Sandy Hook investigations.

Brian McWilliams, co-founder of Lions of Liberty, explores why Rand Paul may be hurting the cause of liberty more than helping it.

Jeff Tucker on the thin line between service and the threat of force.

The Onion's Brilliant Satire of Nationalism

The Onion has given us a fine satire of nationalism, written by Curtis Stalbank, on how he will give his life not only for his country but other countries also.

Says Stalbank:

As a true patriot, I would gladly die in battle defending my homeland. I love my country more than my own life. But I would also be more than willing to give my last breath in the name of, say, Mexico, Panama, Japan, or the Czech Republic. The most honorable thing a man can do is lay down his life for his country. Or another country. The important thing is that it's a country.

Like those heroes who spilled their blood  fighting for independence against the British Empire, I, too, would forfeit everything to win for my countrymen the right to be governed by politicians in our own capital instead of in a capital located further away. Nothing is more profound or more sacred than to die for one's country, an adjacent country, or some other, foreign country.

Read the rest of the funny satire here. Enjoy.

Does Pop Culture Really Ruin Your Brain?

Here is an interview done by the Mises Institute with adjunct scholar Paul Cantor, who defends popular culture from a libertarian perspective while discussing his new book The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture.

I recommend it for his insightful comments, even though I myself don't watch a lot of the shows he mentions (like The X-Flies).

I loved this insightful statement from Cantor: "Many people who condemn pop culture and dismiss it as artistically worthless dwell on the fact that films and television shows are almost never the products of a single artist working on his own. It is therefore important to show that many of the great works of high culture grew out of a collaborative process too. There is nothing about cooperation in artistic creation that precludes high quality. Too many cooks may spoil the broth, but they may also each add a distinctive flavor and work together to bring the recipe to perfection. The processes of synergy and feedback work in popular culture just the way they do in other areas of human endeavor."

My perspective is that while there may be un-Christian elements in many of the television shows today (as our society is tainted with anti-Christian, non-Christian ideas), there is hidden within these shows and movies wonderful messages that resonate with us today and forever.

Read the rest of the interview. Enjoy.