Can we do without government?

Posted on 2018-04-28 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

Modern advertising, as we know it today, did not exist until sometime in the 1700s, well after the invention of printing.  Today, in print and electronic media, it is pervasive – and invasive.  We cannot do anything without seeing advertising of some sort.

The advertising wants us to DO something – especially to BUY something.  It reminds us of the benefits (real or imagined) of doing or using or owning something. Sometimes it is negative: it warns us of the problems because we do NOT do or use or own something.

Of course, the majority of the advertising we think of (and perhaps have) today is commercial in nature: products and services. They are trying to get us to voluntarily buy something that we cannot do without.

In the past, the world did have advertising, but of a much different sort. In an era where most products were made and most services provided at home, there were no big commercial enterprises – private or public – trying to sell the goods and services that they provided. Continue reading →

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Rebellion? Revolution?

Posted on 2018-04-23 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

I am hearing more and more signs of rebellion in many parts of the West – especially the rural farming and ranching areas.

People are sick of being told what to do in the minutest detail by the people in their State Capitols.  Add this to resentment of the Federal Congress and bureaucracy and THEIR micromanagement (directly through the alphabet agencies and indirectly through state government agencies), and the anger grows.

Usually, the mandates result in making life more costly, as well as more miserable.  People know that they are breaking numerous laws and innumerable regulations.  It is not that they don’t care.  They were once law-abiding citizens, and proud of that nature.  Even when it didn’t make sense to them.  But now, not only do the laws and regulations make less sense, not only do they cost a fabulous amount of money and time, they are also impossible in many cases to comply with.  This is not a “War on the West” as during the Reagan era.  It is a war against rural people, societies, and institutions.  Against not just farmers and ranchers, but against businesses and institutions. Continue reading →

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Gaming and government

Posted on 2018-04-19 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

As the final episodes of Game of Thrones are being anticipated, it is fun to look at the way gaming has impacted our view of government today.  (And by gaming, I do not use it in the South Dakota manner of “gambling” at all the little “casinos” which dot the state (the places in Deadwood are “gambling houses”) and bring in all kinds of money – that is a subject for another commentary.)

War games and role-playing games long predate our current computer and internet based gaming. Indeed, some of the earliest are beloved family games: Monopoly, Risk, and The Game of Life come to mind. But the complexity and elaborate nature exploded in the 1970s and 1980s.

They became “popular” (at least to geeks and a small community of interesting people) back in the 1970s: Strategic Simulations Inc. and Avalon Hill for wargaming, and Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) for Dungeons and Dragons, the first well-known role playing game.  Continue reading →

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We ARE all crazy – the economy is the most insane part of our lives

Posted on 2018-04-17 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

This picture appeared today in Laissez Faire , labeled as a “Silicon Valley Fixer-Upper” with an asking price of a mere $800,000 (or, to put it another way, 598 ounces of gold (ozAu), which at the old $20/ounce rate (1787-1935) is a “mere” $12,000.

This is, of course, nuts.

Shack

I mean, seriously, folks! Continue reading →

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Do we care?

Posted on 2018-04-10 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

The news these days is a constant drumbeat of just a few things: the evil actions of the FedGov and especially POTUS (“evil” as defined by the mainstream media), shootings (mostly in/around schools), movies (what is doing well, what is not), and of course, celebrities (pontificating on evils of guns and POTUS and the FedGov and their latest divorce and other critical moments).

The talk shows these days are a constant stream of “countering” leftist views of whatever the political and shooting/killing news of the day is. And getting people to calm down.

The newspapers: daily or weekly, they get thinner and thinner, with more and more “fluff” news about baby chicks and the celebs and how Ms. Smith’s third-grade class went out and picked up litter in the school yard for a “public service” project.

But listen to the advertisements that go along with that news and those talk shows and those newspapers.  More and more it fits into three categories: sponsorship “promotion” of the latest fads whether it is automobile repair insurance or blinds or holiday-related gifts; political adverts for various causes (usually in line with the show’s political leaning); and public service announcements (PSAs).  (Most of which are government generated or sponsored.) Sometimes it seems like the PSAs are taking over. (Newspapers also have “official notices” published by governments.) Continue reading →

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The Second Amendment

Posted on 2018-04-07 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty

The hysterical media hype of the “progressive” marching children has faded some the last week, though the anti-gun – anti liberty – crowd continues to make the news daily. Some important counter measures have been publicized as well, for a wonder, and how it will all come out in the wash is anyone’s guess.

But most “people of the gun” continue to talk about and rely on the second amendment to the constitution, and worry that their rights will be eliminated by those in control of government.

Too bad they’ve been misinformed. It is not possible for anyone – or even a super majority – to eliminate the natural right of all living things to defend themselves. The natural right to defend our lives, family and property needs no words on a strip of parchment to make it so. That requires only the will and action of the individual. Continue reading →

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Do We REALLY Need The Second Amendment?

Posted on 2018-04-07 by MamaLiberty

By L. Reichard White

Newspapers and other publications keep what they call “stylebooks” to let the folks who write for them know what’s acceptable to the publication and what isn’t. Many factors determine the rules that are included in a stylebook, many, but not all of them, economic.

What these stylebooks reveal, however, is much more than just preferences and economics. What is a “terrorist” for example – – –

For the record, here’s the [Minnesota] Star Tribune style entry, word for word: “The Star Tribune permits the use of the word ‘terrorist’ to describe nongovernmental groups that carry out attacks on civilians. Other words –‘gunmen,’ ‘separatist,’ ‘rebel’ and ‘suicide bomber,’ for example –usually are more precise and therefore are generally preferred. In the case of Al-Qaida, the use of ‘terrorist network’ or similar terms is permitted. Also, referring to the Sept. 11 attacks as ‘terrorist attacks’ is permitted.” –from Minnesota startribune

So, “In the case of Al-Qaida, the use of ‘terrorist network’ or similar terms is permitted.” But, in the case of governments, apparently, the use of “terrorist,” etc. isn’t permitted.

It seems that if a “governmental group/network” does exactly what a non-governmental “terrorist group/network” does — “carrying out attacks on civilians,” etc. — it isn’t called “terrorist.”

Can you think of any “governmental group/network” currently carrying out attacks on civilians?

Thought so. Me too. Continue reading →

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Book Review: Basics of Resistance

Posted on 2018-04-05 by MamaLiberty

Review by MamaLiberty

Basics of Resistance: The Practical Freedomista, Book I
By Claire Wolfe and Kit Perez

Have you ever dreamed of (or indulged in) resistance to the growing and destructive control of the non-voluntary government? Did you ever wish you could tap into the knowledge and experience of those who have done so?

Well, here’s your golden opportunity.

Don’t expect to find absolute recipes you can simply slip into like good shoes, however. The key points are solidly presented so that you can find what works for you, and help you organize (or not) in ways that increase your effectiveness and safety while you resist.

This book is so packed with good things that it’s not going to be possible to even mention most of them, but I came away with some gems that apply to almost everything we do in life, especially those who wish to tweak the noses of our would-be overlords in the involuntary government. Continue reading →

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Socialism – some thoughts from a free-market view

Posted on 2018-04-05 by TPOL Nathan

By Nathan Barton

The subject of just what constitutes socialism, and just what about socialism violates both personal liberty for secular people and personal liberty and loving God for followers of Christ Jesus, came up recently in a family discussion.

What IS socialism?  There are, a quick check on the internet will show you, dozens of definitions.  Lots of other words are thrown about with great abandon: collective, public control, government… whoa! Government?

There seems to be a fairly common theme that socialism can be either merely “collective” (or public) control OR government control.

Gee, I’ll have to come up with my own general definition.  Let me see…

Socialism is a system in which the means of production and distribution of goods and services are shared (both ownership AND management) by a group, a collection of people.  Sometimes, governments claim to be that collection, or to represent them.

Okay (now that I’ve set up my strawman), can socialism be “good” for us? For a society, part of a society, families, individuals, etc.? What is “good” – I mean moral: having liberty, peace, and prosperity, or at least the potential to readily have these things. Continue reading →

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StrawMann Graphic

Posted on 2018-04-03 by MamaLiberty

By MamaLiberty


Found this at Watts Up With That this morning.  Just love the image.

Then, from Dictionary.com:

straw man

1. a mass of straw formed to resemble a man, as for a doll or scarecrow.
2. a person whose importance or function is only nominal, as to cover another’s activities; front.
3. a fabricated or conveniently weak or innocuous person, object, matter, etc., used as a seeming adversary or argument

And then there are outright lies. Not seeing a whole lot of difference myself.

What are some of the examples of “strawman” arguments you see in the news today? Or are they just plain lies? Some of each? What do you think?

And, maybe more important, what can “we” do about it?

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