By Nathan Barton
With yet another state legalizing cannabis for recreation as well as medicine, the inevitable backlash is gathering momentum. There are, sadly, people who still want the state’s racket, the war on drugs or something else, to continue.
By Nathan Barton
A belated Hanukkah greeting to all. Although a Jewist feast and holiday, the Festival of Lights is a reminder to ALL of us, that even when liberty and freedom are lost, they CAN be regained. But always at great cost.
On a historical note, it is of interest that the Seven Lamp sigil was far more common a symbol of Israel as a people and nation, for centuries, than the now-common Star of David. Although the events of the Rededication of the Temple in 165 BC were centuries after the reign of David, the Seven Lamps are a far better representation of both nationhood and liberty than the Star. Although David’s reign was relatively benign (following as it did the reign of Saul), it is still a consequence of the people of Israel (the Hebrews) rejecting the liberty given to them by God. They wanted to “become like all the nations around us,” and have a king (other than God). Despite God warning them through the prophet Samuel, the people chose servitude and “security.”
Can we learn from them? I pray so.
Also my apologies.
Work and family events caused a brief and unplanned delay in publishing The Price of Liberty for several weeks, as Debby and I worked 18- to 20-hour days (and long drives) to make major changes to our lives. I started a half-dozen commentaries but did not get any finished and posted.
We hope that matters will now return to normal, as resume writing about liberty and current events. We are sorry that we’ve not gotten things out promptly: especially to people who post comments to commentary here.
We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are looking forward to a great Christmas/Holiday period, as we are well into Hanukkah.
By Nathan Barton
For the next twenty-five days, the flags of the Fifty States will fly at half-staff, for yet another fallen leader and veteran. With the huge state funeral coming on Wednesday the 5th, we will again hear all the usual words and sayings and honors.
But we should look for more.
By Nathan Barton
On Saturday the 10th, tragedy struck Moab, Utah.
At the Intrepid Potash Mine (seen above, from Google Maps), down the Colorado River from the popular tourist town, three men were removing a pump. The equipment touched a sagging overhead live powerline. Instantly, two men died, electrocuted. The third jumped out of the equipment he was operating, to try to assist them. His legs and an arm were blown off by the electrical current jumping through his body. He died in a Salt Lake City Hospital two days later. (If he had stayed in the vehicle, he would have lived.)
By Nathan Barton
My apologies to readers and friends, that I overlooked the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the Pogromnacht of 09 November 1938, just two days shy of 20 years after the end of the Great War, and one of the incidents in Germany leading up to the Second World War.
The Night of the Broken Glass, 09 November 1938.
The shock of this event is remembered to this day. Back in the 1980s, and still today, streets that had been the scene of vandalism and looting (seen above in an unknown city) were still recognizable, though no longer housing shops owned and operated by Jews, who are virtually nonexistent in Germany today.
GelderStrasse im Rheinberg, site of formerly Jewish businesses
According to Hitler’s regime, the attacks were not official or organized or supported by government – but government just “stood aside” from the righteous anger of the German folk. The excuse for what was probably a long-planned nationwide assault was the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris by a Jewish teenager from Poland!
(This sounds very much like the excuse claimed for the attack on an American consulate in Benghazi, which was blamed on some strange little movie.)
However, the importance of the events and actions of Kristallnacht for us today (and especially as lovers of liberty), cannot be denied. We can and should learn from them.
What can we learn? Some are obvious, but some may not be so clear.
Less obvious?
I am sure our readers can add many more, but think a bit about these.
The entire 1930s era is now 80 years behind us, but we can all find similarities. I think that most people (at least in the Fifty States and much of Europe and the Commonwealth) think that such behavior is long behind us and only a matter of historical interest. But as events in the Balkans in the 1990s and in Libya and Syria in the last decade should remind us, people are people.
It CAN happen here. Are you prepared?
By Nathan Barton
A century ago, a small space in time, the guns fell silent on the Western Front: The Reich had agreed to a ceasefire which amounted to abject surrender with occupation of much of the nation, loss of many lands which had been German in society and customs for centuries, and a prelude to more and more conflict and violence.
Continue reading
By Nathan Barton
Following the 2018 general elections, the LP headquarters sent out this missive:
Libertarian candidates move Republicans and Democrats in a Libertarian direction
“Opposition in an election affects far more than just vote totals. Candidates react to each other and their messaging changes to capture voter interest. Over and over, electoral races that include a strong Libertarian campaign have proven to move the rhetoric of both Democratic and Republican candidates in a more Libertarian direction. As Republicans worry that a Libertarian candidate will siphon away fiscally responsible votes, Democrats also worry that a Libertarian candidate will attract socially tolerant and accepting votes. Both sides tend to claim that Libertarians are ‘spoilers,’ especially when their vote total exceeds the margin of difference between the others. ‘Do I intend to spoil the election for them?’ asked Lucy Brenton, the Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. Senate from Indiana. ‘Absolutely, and here’s why: something doesn’t spoil unless it’s rotten.’”
While I certain agree with Lucy, can I agree with the LP “staff” on this?
Definitely not. Certainly not the headline, for the press release itself explains the reason.
The presence of a “strong Libertarian campaign” “move[s] the rehetoric of both Dem.. and Rep… candidates in a more Libertarian direction.”
The candidates play lip service to libertarian principles IN THEIR CAMPAIGN. They don’t actually DO anything to address issues in a way that promotes freedom, except by accident. And I have no doubt that this year will be no different than past years. The winning candidates that take office will NOT in any meaningful way take principled positions and actions which support restoration of liberty, and more freedom.
Indeed, those who came closest to losing because a Libertarian candidate “spoiled” the election will double down on ways to neuter the LP (and any other parties except the two old ones).
In other words, the more effect a Libertarian or Constitutional or Natural Law candidate has on an election race, the greater the negative impact on the potential to actually elect such a candidate to office in the future. Especially in today’s climate. When the two old parties are constantly ramping up their rhetoric against each other, becoming less civil by the day, they want to clear the potential battlefield of anyone they can. And if you are not with them, then you are against them. Whatever the issue, whomever the candidate.
Does this mean we lovers of liberty need to get out of electoral politics? It is a difficult decision, but I am more and more convinced. The answer is yes. We need to stop squandering precious hours and dollars on running races that cannot be won and which actually harm the cause of liberty more.
We need to put that time and effort into reaching people one on one and teaching them, and learning with them, to be free. To isolate NOT lovers of liberty, but lovers of government and control.
Hearts and minds, souls and bodies, are not won by laboriously gathering petition signatures and then fighting to get into debates and fori to advocate libertarian positions. They are won by discussing, with both reason AND emotion, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness one on one and in small groups around a living room or a McDonalds’ table.
By Nathan Barton
It’s only been three days, so we are all still digesting the election results.
But it is clear, whomever and whatever measures DID win. In the 2018 national and local elections, generally, liberty lost.
I understand that the LP and others are spinning otherwise, but…
There were a few contrary-wise results. I know cannabis won in three states, including (somewhat to the surprise of many) Utah. But in everyone of those, the way it “won” was by giving government MORE control, and more money. But the most libertarian measure, in North Dakota, would have made cannabis about as government free as soda or coffee. And it went down.
In South Dakota, a really nasty “anti-corruption” bill that would have established an awful control regime for citizen lobbyists and another politically-appointed board with super-powers to find and punish “corruption” was killed by citizen votes. As was a tax increase on tobacco. And a political ally of Bernie Sanders and the Minnesota accused woman-abusing Muslim Keith Ellison was kept out of Pierre. (Because he is handicapped physically as well as mentally, no doubt there is mourning of his defeat by some.)
Again, we are blessed (as a nation and many individually) that the effective outlawing of oil and gas drilling also was defeated in Colorado. Ending oilfield development in Colorado would have been bad for the economy and for tens of thousands of people: those working in the industry and those buying its products. And Coloradoans defeated tax increases and more debt. But the election still leaves a now-progressive-dominated State government in Denver to come up with more ways to “protect the environment” and crippling the industry – just not as baldly. Colorado is increasingly becoming another California.
Perhaps the best news from Tuesday is that we may “enjoy” two years of gridlock in Congress. Without having to have our stolen money used to finance a reality show called “Impeach the President.” There will no doubt be a lot of nasty legislation that does NOT get passed because of the intense hatred and loathing so many Democrats (and not a few Republicans) have for Trump. (And Trump’s disgust for the new Speaker of the House, the wicked witch of the west coast, Pelosi, will no doubt also be a factor.
There is a downside to gridlock, of course. First off, there is (now and then) some legislation that is useful – especially legislation to roll back government mandates and cut spending. I know, it is a forlorn hope, but you can be sure that the House under Demo domination, will keep it from happening. Second, the gridlock will be a major issue to whip up the fervor of their partisans for the 2020 elections. (Which campaign, I suppose, started on Wednesday.)
But those are barely the glimmer of a half-dozen fireflies in a 40-acre field.
Scant consolation for all the states that continue to elect people that want to steal more money and more liberty, and want to get more and more power as they do so.
But that is the way of elections.
The cynic remembers a quote that supposedly came from Mark Twain:
“If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.”
(Snopes, by the way, for what IT is worth, claims he didn’t write it. Or say it.)
But the real danger of “democracy” is that people can vote themselves “security.” No, not physical security, although too many of us trust in government forces to protect us, our families, and our property from “bad people.” Even though bad people include many law enforcement types and even more bureaucrats.
I’m referring to financial security: individual welfare benefits, government contracts which are corporate welfare, massive government spending that amounts to subsidizing companies and workers, professional monopolies and restraint on trade by government licensing and more mandates by government. And more: government-mandated (and funded) insurance for banking institutions, government-controlled interest rates for savings and much, much more. Voting their pocketbooks NOT to keep from being taxed, but to keep the “free government goodies” coming.
People can vote themselves big bucks from government, which either steals money from taxpayers today, or from future taxpayers (by borrowing). It is voting in your own “self-interest” but it is a very unenlightened self-interest. Call it the grasshopper mentality: everything now.
It is the alliance of the parasites with the controllers. Again (as expected) to dominate our land for the next two years.
To finish, let me quote Mark Twain a couple more times. Think about this, next time you talk to someone religious, whether they are a conservative or a liberal:
By Nathan Barton
As this commentary is posted, “election day” is just hours away. That is increasingly meaningless, as more and more people use early and absentee voting procedures to cast their vote. And as hacking methods improve to “massage the vote” as those in power (whichever the wing of the “boot on your neck” party) want.
Still here are a few things to think about as we get ready to pay attention to see who is going to be the shills for Massa and the ruling class from 2019-2021.
The Price of Liberty 
It’s about the children – get rid of gravel trucks!
By Nathan Barton
As part of my environmental work, I subscribe to Aggregates Manager, whose daily newsletter carried an article this morning about a fatality in Texas. A gravel truck tee-boned a vehicle with four people, injuring three and killing outright a 13-year-old girl.
Above is the accident scene, from Google (the yellow line gives that away). The 35-year-old truck driver was not harmed (of course). Aggregates Manager claims the investigation is on-going but that someone must have run a traffic light.
But that means that they are ignoring the real cause: the American addiction to “build-build-build” that requires millions and millions of tons of gravel (and just as bad, sand and crushed rock and concrete and asphalt) be hauled on the same roads and highways as our precious children. Usually in huge, multi-unit trucks. These trucks carry 30,000 to 50,000 to 90,000 pounds of rock at a time, hurtling down our highways barely under control of the truck drivers. They use 10- to 18- (or more) wheels to drive down the roads on: huge whiles, with tires 18, 20, even 25 inches in diameter and often a foot wide or more!
Have you ever seen what a SmartCar or a Kia looks like after it has been driven over by 5 to 9 tires supporting those huge quantities of rock? Tires not much smaller than the eco-friendly little cars that they can compact down to only a few inches high, little different than the road-killed deer and cattle that these monster trucks also kill with abandon on our highways?
Worse, the gravel and such they haul is a non-sustainable resource, produced by raping the earth: stripping it of its soil and then penetrating it with other huge machines: even shafting it and pushing explosives in and blowing them (and the earth) up with abandon. And this material is consumed as it is used and not replaceable except by going out and stripping and destroying still more land. (Yes, a tiny bit is “recycled” but that is mostly sham recycling, since the material “recycled” is just used to build more roads and buildings and such.)
And governments DO recognize this is dangerous and a threat to public safety. For example, they don’t allow anyone under the age of 21 to drive these things. And require special licensing, limit how many hours they can drive a day and week, and have many other rules. But still, children get killed.
Folks, this is just wrong. Nobody – absolutely NObody – should need more than a couple thousand pounds of rock or sand at a time, enough to build a wheelchair ramp or a back porch for granny. And nobody should need to deliver that material (if they really need it) tens of thousands of pounds at a time. We need some common sense laws to control this menace. It isn’t just children that are killed by mining and hauling this fossil resource: every year as many as twenty miners die and hundreds or thousands more or injured. Accidents between these huge trucks and smaller, vulnerable vehicles carrying children, mothers, fathers and pets are a daily occurrence.
Where are our priorities? Building new roads and buildings to generate profit for big capitalists and corporations? Or protecting our children and families?
So it is proposed:
I realize this would cost billions, but what is this poor 13-year-old girl’s life worth? And those of dozens of other children each year? Supposedly, there are many benefits of having these monsters on the same roads as our children, day in and day out, all hours, carrying billions of pounds of rock and sand all over the nation, but can any of these really compare to saving a single child’s life?
(Yes, folks, I’m trying to be satirical.)