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HIDALGO; Legality Is Not Morality;
Confidentially Yours; What
Ever Happened To TV; these articles have their titles and text in
this color and are featured this week in -
Ender's Review of the Web
Web articles of likely interest to individualists found during the week of Feb. 29-Mar. 6, 2004.
Comments and suggestions on the content and structure of this review
are welcome. To accommodate
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subscription information at the bottom intact.
Political
Liberty
Articles showing a
positive influence of political action on the cause of Liberty.
Religion, Culture and Law in Free Societies
by Tibor R. Machan from Strike The Root
"We must persuade and convince, not coerce
them. That is how we acknowledge the humanity of even the most remote
stranger. If we resort to force, if we call in the vice squad or some
other legal officer, we have abandoned the civilized approach to human
relationships."
TLE Interviews Aaron Russo -- Part Two
by L. Neil Smith from The
Libertarian Enterprise
"The whole thing is just running on
its own energy, its own momentum now. It's not about principles,
or protecting the freedom of the individual. It's about
[feeding] the government -- it's got a life of its own, and
that's got to stop."
Offshore Finance
by Richard W. Rahn from Cato
Institute
"The fact is that big offshore
financial centers, such as Cayman and Bermuda, and other big
financial centers, such as Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.,
are all characterized by having honest courts and competent
administrators."
Life in
Amerika
Articles depicting
the negative impact of politics on Liberty.
The Circus Is Back
in Town
by Butler Shaffer from
LewRockwell.com
"But the outcome of the voting is
irrelevant to the interests of the establishment that is
running the circus. Their system owes its existence to the
insight offered by the greatest of all circus masters, P.T.
Barnum: 'there's a sucker born every minute'."
Readin', writin', 'rithmetic, loyalty oath
by Robyn E. Blumner from St.
Petersburg Times
"Let's talk about the Pledge of Allegiance.
How much do you really know about it?
... [M]ost of us recited the pledge at the start of
every school day without knowing much about its
provenance."
What the Martha Stewart Case
Means to You
by Harry Browne from
HarryBrowne.org
"So here we are in modern
America -- a place where anyone can be charged with
anything. And if there's no law against what you've
done, the prosecutor can call it 'conspiracy,'
'obstruction of justice,' or 'lying to investigators'
because you claimed to be innocent."
Ordered Liberty
without the State
Some people
say it's Anarchy, some say it's not possible. It is an
interesting topic.
Law and Liberty
by Sunni Maravillosa from The Price
of Liberty
"Individual responsibility is indeed
a fundamental element of freedom. But laws do not enable
responsibility. Instead, they encourage mental and moral
laziness, and thereby foster irresponsibility."
Why
Johnny Can't Get A Job
by William Stone, III from The
Libertarian Enterprise
"The modern socialist police
state is no more stable than the former Soviet Union, and
the ultimate result will be the same: Some day -- probably
far sooner than any of us imagine -- the Federal Government
and majority of State and Local Governments will collapse of
their own instability."
Tribalism: Child of Diversity
by Joe Blow from
Strike The Root
"This is not anarchy yet
because the next Civil War must be fought first. Anarchy
can only come after the war is over. I can't wait! Are
you prepared to live as a free man?"
Spreading Decentralism
Articles
demonstrating an increase in the dispersal of power.
Thai Women Want You!
by Tim Cavanaugh from Reason
"Up until now, we've been
content with a vast range of marriage-related governmental
intrusions. Gay marriage calls many of them into question."
Guarding Against the Eyes and Ears of Government
by Harry Goslin from
LewRockwell.com
"'Wiretaps, bugs, audio
lasers and the like are all extensions of the
senses...thus thwarting the spirit of the intent
while seemingly not violating the letter of the
law.' Therefore, local police, State police, FBI,
CIA, BATF, FCC, SEC, all should be considered
soldiers in the sense of the Third Amendment."
How One Man Changed My
World
by Tracy Schrader
from The Libertarian Enterprise
"I saw in a TLE post
recently where a man...said that he didn't
believe one person could change the world.
Maybe...though one man has changed mine....
Opening our minds and hearts beyond what we
perceive as our boundaries is sometimes the most
crucial key to personal freedom."
The New
World Hegemon
Depictions of the coming Imperial power
Twilight in the Republic
by Kevin Maley from
MetroWestDailyNews.com
"As our rights fade out,
we accept perpetual war for perpetual peace, the two
parties fuse into one, and the government becomes more
powerful than at any time in our history."
The Smell of Empire
by Steven LaTulippe
from LewRockwell.com
"It appears in the
sneering grin of the airport security guy as he
ransacks my wife's carry-on luggage. It shows up in
those little cameras that are appearing throughout
our major cities, and in the anti-aircraft missiles
next to the Washington Monument."
Haiti: Will We Ever
Learn?
by Marian L. Tupy
from Cato Institute
"Haiti has no
possible strategic significance for the United
States. Yet the president apparently has
embraced the liberal-interventionist agenda,
which claims that the only way to achieve
American safety and prosperity is to remake the
world's trouble spots into America's own image
-- by force if necessary."
Politics by Other Means
War, rumors of war, and politicians fomenting war.
A
Foreign-Born President?
by Justin
Raimondo from Antiwar.com
"The imperial
disease is, in part, an affliction of
gigantism: as the American Empire spreads over
the Middle East and asserts its hegemony on
every continent, it's only natural for
lobbyists the world over to focus their
efforts on the seat of power."
Two Cheers for
Ralph Nader
by Lee
McCracken from Strike The Root
"Libertarians
have perhaps too long assumed that they are
naturally allies of 'the Right.' Nader, a
supposed leftist, is far closer to the
libertarian position than nearly any major
conservative in America today."
Homeland Security Grants
-- A Not So Funny Joke
by Jennifer
Gritt from Antiwar.com
"Next, Wisconsin (or insert
your own state here) receives several
millions under the guise of protecting
Americans against terrorism. Then the state
disburses X amount of dollars to the
separate counties who in turn divvy up the
monies to individual municipalities in true
'each according to their need' fashion. Who
says federalism doesn't
work."
Spontaneous Order
Articles
showing decentralized successes.
The Market Will
Provide a Solution
by Jason C. Ditz from anti-state.com
"However, it seems that even amongst
some market anarchists, the belief that the market will provide a
solution to all is merely a pretense. Indeed, the moment criminal
justice rears its ugly head, the vast majority get cold feet, and
are fully prepared to start behaving in the same manner for which
they so eagerly chastise the state."
Competition in Private Justice
by Per Bylund from Strike The Root
"It is not hard to foresee how
competing police forces, from which one can buy protection
directly or via insurance, could improve the protection services
market, like competition in any other market."
Proud to be a Replacement
Worker
by Ryan Ford from Ludwig von Mises
Institute
"Freedom is the right to make
choices without coercion. Those people with their signs standing
in front of the markets are rejecting freedom. I am not taking
the side of labor or management, I am taking the side of free
and fair trade."
Nonspontaneous Disorder
Articles
showing centrally planned disasters.
Mismanaging the
World
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
from LewRockwell.com
"There are many people who think
that Iraq or Haiti or a hundred other countries benefit from
the presence of the US government telling these countries
what to do. Think about whether you would want the US
military in your hometown telling you what to do, and then
apply the Golden Rule."
Confidentially
Yours:The Difference between Private and Public Snooping
by Declan
McCullagh from Library of Economics and Liberty
"Instead of
focusing on legitimate threats to privacy such as relaxed
laws regulating government wiretapping and police snooping
through databases to which they should not have access,
busybodies are expending their energy in attempts to
outlaw reasonable commercial transactions."
Inflation
Leads to Protectionism
by Stefan Karlsson from
Ludwig von Mises Institute
"We can here see yet another
example of Ludwig von Mises's theory of how
interventionist policies produce unintended problems,
which are then used as an excuse for yet more
interventionism."
War Is The Health Of The State
War is the ultimate State intervention in
society.
They Owe Me!
by Nicholas Strakon from
Strike The Root
"One point worth making along
the way is that even if conscripts could sue their
enslavers, much or most of what they'd get would also be
stolen property. Government depredations cause a net loss;
no redress is possible (except on the Day of the Rope)."
No End to
War
by Patrick J. Buchanan
from The American Conservative
"The murder of innocents
for political ends is evil, but to think we can 'end'
it is absurd. Cruel and amoral men, avaricious for
power and 'immortality,' will always resort to it.
For, all too often, it succeeds."
Power
Corrupts
by Per Bylund from Strike
The Root
"The same is true in our 'civilized'
time; no wars have been started because it is a just
war supported by the people -- it is always the chiefs
of the state making the decision. War has always to do
with an attempt to increase (or somebody's
attempt to reduce or take over) the powers of the
chief...."
Bits of History
The Past seen with a
fresh look.
Are
Current Bill of Rights Erosions Unprecedented?
by Anthony Gregory from
LewRockwell.com
"During the Progressive
Era, the federal government expanded in numerous ways,
regulating trade, adopting an income tax, creating the
Federal Reserve, and imposing new standards on
industry for the production of foods and
pharmaceuticals."
60th
Anniversary Celebration of the Road To Serfdom
from Atlas Economic
Research Foundation
"F. A. Hayek, one of the
greatest classical liberal thinkers of the 20th
century, wrote his classic book, The Road to Serfdom
to warn against the threats of socialism. The book
was published 60 years ago this coming March 10, but
his message remains as important today as it was in
1944."
Haiti: A Case History
by Justin Raimondo from
Antiwar.com
"The great problem with
interventionism abroad is the same one faced by
central planners on the home front: the resulting
disaster always requires more intervention to 'fix'
the problem caused by meddling in the first place."
War and Peace
Articles showing the
nature of War.
US
Soldiers' Boots Follow Footprints From the Past
by Jane Regan from Common
Dreams
"And so the world's first
black republic, the nation considered by slaves and
other oppressed people as a beacon of freedom two
centuries ago, and an example of a people's movement
taking power when ex-priest Aristide won the presidency
in 1991, is also perhaps the hemisphere's most invaded
country."
Getting
Ready to Leave Iraq
by Alan Bock from
Antiwar.com
"Still, leaving troops
in Iraq is less worse than maintaining a
semipermanent civilian occupation. And perhaps the
bloody aftermath of the military aspect of the war
just might have dampened enthusiasm for adventures
Iran, Syrian and beyond."
Reality 1, Neocons 0
by William S. Lind
from LewRockwell.com
"Before we get
ourselves into any more neo-con led follies, we
should apply their thesis to a simple test: send
them to Haiti and see if they can make a go of it,
after the U.S. Marines pull out."
Great Individuals In History
Some people stand out
from the crowd.
Economist - Gustave de Molinari : Mar. 3, 1819
by Joseph R.
Stromberg from Antiwar.com
"In this radical
school of economists Molinari stood out as
the most radical. He appears to have been
the first writer to draw the conclusion that
government could, in effect, be replaced by
competing companies or agencies offering to
provide security and protection."
Actress - Jean Harlow : Mar. 3, 1911
from
JeanHarlow.com
"Before the
days of Madonna and Marilyn Monroe, the
'Original Blonde Bombshell' made her mark
on Hollywood and the world, leaving behind
a new image of the Hollywood sex goddess."
Libertarian - Murray N.
Rothbard : Mar. 2, 1926
by Wendy McElroy from WendyMcElroy.com
"Rothbard was a
system builder. Unsatisfied with past attempts
to present a 'philosophy of freedom,' Rothbard
sought to create an interdisciplinary system
of thought that used the struggle between
Liberty and Power as its integrating theme."
Culcha'
Books, Movies, TV,
Media, Music, poetry, etc.
HIDALGO
by
Roger Ebert from Chicago Sun-Times
Hidalgo
positively portrays horses, American Indians,
adventure, guns, competition, perseverance,
individualism, gallantry and friendship. Directed by
Joe Johnston and starring Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn
of LOTR) it should satisfy. Ebert likes it, even
though his review has minor story points wrong. I
liked it more than he did.
The
Politics of the Christ
by Jonathan David
Morris from Strike The Root
"The fact of the
matter, though, is 'the Jews' did not kill Jesus
Christ. Special interests did. And 'the Romans,'
likewise, did not enable his murder. This honor
belonged to the political expedience that goes
hand-in-hand with putting one's faith in a
government."
What
Ever Happened to TV?
by L.
Neil Smith from The Libertarian Enterprise
"Perhaps the saddest loss of all was Firefly,
created by Joss Whedon, the mind responsible for
Buffy and Angel, but consisting
of hard-nosed nuts-and-bolts science fiction, the
best ever to appear on television."
The lighter side
Humor, satire, cartoons,
parodies, food, popular music
and other things to amuse.
It's all
downhill from here
by Dave Barry from The
Miami Herald
"Gravity is the biggest
drawback to skiing. Without gravity, it would be a
carefree activity: You'd put on your skis, head for the
slopes and just...hover for a while."
Miss Fitz Buys a Gun
by Claire Wolfe from
Backwoods Home Magazine
"Miss Fitz, however, is
the dauntless sort. (Has to be to survive as a ...
schoolmarm.) So she cut through the quadrillions of
pages of magazines and books and the gazillion Web
sites about firearms. She figured out a thing or two."
This has a light style if not subject.
The
9-11 Commission's Administration Awards
by Mark Fiore from The
Village Voice
Flash animated cartoon
Deep Thought
Scientific
and scholarly studies, philosophical essays,
in-depth and longer articles.
Legality Is
Not Morality
by Clay Shonkwiler from
anti-state.com
"So why do people allow the
government to determine their
morality? In large measure, I
contend, because people think of
government as an extension of
themselves."
Lockstep Thinking
by Fred Reed from
FredOnEverything
"If the faithful of evolution
spent as much time examining
their theory as they do
defending it, they might prove
to be right, or partly right,
or discover all manner of
interesting things heretofore
unsuspected."
Forced
Righteousness?
by Susan Callaway from The
Price of Liberty
"Maybe someone would be so
kind as to point out a
commandment to compel
unbelievers to accept the
Bible, Christ or anything
else. We must certainly hate
the sin, but we are commanded
to love the sinner."
Miscellany
Articles not
easily classified.
The Brown
Peril
by Jack Boone from The
Libertarian Enterprise
"So what did I learn as a
young man? That most people want the same things we do,
and will do similar things to get it."
Mean People
Do What?
by Lilly Deville from
Strike The Root
"I'll be damned if
non-smoking fascists haven't beat a path to Hell, and
while I might gamble on heaven having a non-smoking
section, in Hell I'd suspect that smoke comes with the
territory."
Marry
and Let Marry
by Sheldon Richman from
The Future of Freedom Foundation
"There's a way to address
that without distorting the Constitution: remove
marriage from the government arena. As columnist
Michael Kinsley suggested, privatize it. Marriage
originated outside of government. Why is it any of the
government's business now?"
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