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Mysterious Magic;
Utopia and
Reality;
Work Ethics;
William Tell;
these articles have their titles and text in this color and are
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Ender's Review of the Web
Web articles of likely interest to individualists found during the week of Mar. 28 -Apr. 3, 2004.
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Political
Liberty
Articles showing a
positive influence of political action on the cause of Liberty.
Operation: Suntan
by The Hunter from The Price of
Liberty
"Most of us are willing to show that
much skin in public on the beach for recreation. We should be
willing to sacrifice a little dignity to fight for our freedom.
Identify yourself as both somebody who is no threat to the other
passengers, and somebody who wants everyone to know they have
utter disdain for the whole farcical proceedings."
Americans Are Polarized for
Good Reason
by J.D. Tuccille from
LewRockwell.com
"If high stakes explain the growing bitterness
between America's
political factions, the solution is clear: lower the stakes.
Get government out of any area of human life where its
presence isn't essential. Why wage electoral campaigns over
the definition of marriage when you can get politicians out of
the marriage business entirely and leave relations between
consenting adults to the people involved?"
Why Did it Have to be ...
Guns?
by L. Neil Smith
from Liberty For All
"If a politician isn't perfectly
comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any
man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware
store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun,
machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one
scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells
you."
Life in
Amerika
Articles depicting
the negative impact of politics on Liberty.
Driving Down Unknown
Roads - The Feminization Of America
by Fred Reed from
FredOnEverything
"Men are capable of malignant
government, whether authoritarian or totalitarian, as witness
North Korea or the Russia of Stalin. I don't know whether
women would behave as badly if they had the power. (I'd guess
not.) But women have their own totalitarian tendencies. They
will if allowed impose a seamless tyranny of suffocating
safety, social control, and political propriety. Men are happy
for men to be men and women to be women; women want us all to
be women."
1660s justice, American-style
by Robyn E. Blumner from St.
Petersburg Times
"The Guantanamo Bay facility
was erected for its location - off American soil - because
the Bush administration believed that this would keep
prisoners held there from having access to the American
court system."
What a Stinking Racket
by Brad Edmonds from
LewRockwell.com
"On the other hand, as
things are today, our strong government is the enemy of
the weakest among us -- those who need medical
attention. Our government tortures and kills them, by
denying medication and treatment and arresting,
defaming, and imprisoning doctors who don't do exactly
and only what government bureaucrats (with no medical
training) tell them they can do."
Ordered Liberty
without the State
Some people
say it's Anarchy, some say it's not possible. It is an
interesting topic.
by Cat Farmer from
Endervidualism
"Yet perhaps
unbeknownst to ourselves, we have all fallen under the sway of a
less secretive and equally mysterious brotherhood. A priesthood
of Law, with unquestionable power to deprive people of life and
liberty, to issue judgments affecting one individual or all, and
to determine matters of right and wrong with far greater
efficacy than a mere papal edict."
"Out
pops the cloven hoof"
by Ronald N. Neff from The Last
Ditch
"Does it ever occur to defenders
of limited government that the reason they make no headway
in their policy forums is that they don't take their own
rhetoric seriously? Or maybe ... just maybe ... they are
making exactly the headway they want to make. It's an idea I
would never have come up with on my own. It only occurs to
me because their concessions to the unlimited state force me
to seek desperate explanations."
Death by Protection
by Catfarmer from The Price
of Liberty
"Politicians who have no
real understanding of what they're doing love to lead
people, and people who like to follow leaders seem
disinclined to question leaders' judgment. Police and
military commanders like to bark orders and cow the
sheep into submission, without taking into account the
dangerous nature of a herd driven into stampeding by
fear."
Spreading Decentralism
Articles
demonstrating an increase in the dispersal of power.
An American Samurai: A Special Forces
Warrior Speaks of War and Peace
by Douglas Herman from Strike
The Root
"Above all I would require that
every public official be required to tell the truth. Any lie
under oath would carry a severe penalty. America must be
given reason to again trust those in government. The US
Marshals and FBI must not lie under oath just to win a case.
Prosecutors must seek true justice and not use the enormity
of the government just to gain guilty verdicts."
Missing the Point on the New Terror
by Alan Bock from
Antiwar.com
"But al Qaida is no such
thing. ... [I]t is more like a private organization
than a state organization, more like a
multi-national corporation than a supranational
state-like outfit. Its initial funding ... came from
a private fortune (insofar as any fortune in Saudi
Arabia is truly private) not a government
appropriation[.]"
The Security of a Free
State
by Aaron Russo from
Keep And Bear Arms
"But
'well-regulated,' at the end of the 18th
century, simply meant 'well-trained.' Military
units, at that time, had to know close order
drill. How to march, how to fire in unison. The
government had an interest in making sure that
they learned these skills -- and no interest at
all in having anyone disarmed. The fact is that
the early US militia laws required every
able-bodied male to own and maintain a musket,
and keep powder and 40 rounds of ammunition on
hand at all times."
The New
World Hegemon
Depictions of the coming Imperial power
The Battle That Wasn't
by William S. Lind from
LewRockwell.com
"The Pakistani Army went
into the Tribal Territories -- something it has long
known is not a good idea -- under American pressure,
as part of the current American 'big push' in
Afghanistan. In effect, the American generals in
command in Afghanistan made the typical German
mistake: they sacrificed the strategic situation to
benefit their operational plan."
Resisting the Occupation ("Liberation")
of Iraq
by Jacob G. Hornberger
from The Future of Freedom Foundation
"Imagine that Chinese
troops have invaded the United States with the
stated goal of liberating the American people from
the grips of the IRS, DEA, BATF, and the many other
departments and agencies that violate the principles
of freedom set forth by our Founding Fathers in the
Declaration of Independence."
Lessons of Fallujah
by Justin Raimondo
from Antiwar.com
"When Noonan vows
'whatever it takes,' she means whatever lies
need to be told, whatever facts need to be
overlooked, whatever lives need to be uselessly
and profligately expended in pursuit of
America's imperial project. Her job is to spin a
story, to mythologize events and reinterpret
them to mean that America is always right...."
Politics by Other Means
War, rumors of war, and politicians fomenting war.
Just Say Mea
Culpa
by Llewellyn H.
Rockwell, Jr. from LewRockwell.com
"Politicians are
trying to account for their votes for the war.
Bureaucrats are offering excuses for staying
silent. Warmongers are elucidating all the
reasons why others foiled their plans. In the
same way that 13 months ago, elites would say
anything to make a case for war, at this point
in a failed war, people are grabbing at
anything to evade responsibility for it."
No Wonder
People Feel Disfranchised
by Sheldon
Richman from The Future of Freedom
Foundation
"Who is set to oppose the
incumbent who ignored warnings about
terrorism and then misled the American
people into war against a country that had
nothing to do with that terrorism? John
Kerry, a senator who voted to give President
Bush a blank check to go to war (in
violation of the Constitution); who voted to
give Attorney John Ashcroft astoundingly
un-American powers to curtail civil
liberties (including habeas corpus); and who
now says his votes don't
mean what they clearly do mean. Or as
Groucho Marx said once, 'Who are you going
to believe, me or your eyes?'"
Dubya: Herbert
Hoover II?
by Joe Blow
from Strike The Root
"All indications
point toward a major stock market
correction, maybe yet this year. If it comes
before the election, Bush's goose will be
cooked and you can forget about a 'chicken
in every pot' and high-speed Internet access
in every home. If it comes after he is
reelected, Bush will still be replaced by a
socialist Democrat, just like Hoover was."
Spontaneous Order
Articles
showing decentralized successes.
by Jacob Sullum from
Reason
"Fairness, a concept
appropriate in resolving schoolyard disputes and adjudicating
legal cases, does not apply to market outcomes, which are not
dictated by a referee or judge but arise spontaneously from the
interactions of myriad individuals engaged in voluntary, mutually
beneficial exchange."
Save The
Trees
by Jeff Langr from Strike The Root
"Discovering libertarianism provided
me with many answers. ... The government has done a poor job of
stewarding its lands. Libertarians believe that private land
owners do a better job of protecting their investment, which
means ensuring that they or others aren't destroying it. ...
Land held privately, at continually improving market values, is
well-kept."
You Can't Eat
Gold!
by Gary North from LewRockwell.com
"I think gold will remain linked
inversely to the dollar. As the dollar falls internationally,
gold will rise. If gold starts rising in relation to other
currencies, too, that will mark a break with the fiat money
world of central banks. I think gold is ultimately tied to oil.
... [I]f you own either oil or gold, you surely will have
caterers lining up to cover your banquet table."
Nonspontaneous Disorder
Articles
showing centrally planned disasters.
How to Battle Corruption
by Kaushik Das
from Strike The Root
"To put it in
very simple words, countries that have a free market policy
are the least corrupt, whereas countries that are dependant
on government are the most corrupt. ... The government is
not the solution for corruption, but it is definitely the
precursor of corruption."
Should Government Censor
Speech on Cable and Satellite TV?
by Adam Thierer from Cato
Institute
"But make no mistake, this fight is no
longer just about a brief flash of flesh during the Super
Bowl or a few dirty words on radio; it's
become about a blatant political effort to gain more
control over cable and satellite television as they
supplant over-the-air broadcasting in America."
The Power to Destroy
by William H. Peterson from
Ludwig von Mises Institute
"Chodorov held the absolute
right of property, the very heart of a free society, was
violated, that income and inheritance taxes imply loss of
the integrity if not the very denial of private
property.... The ability-to-pay doctrine, for example,
breaks with the equality-before-the-law principle; it
spells class warfare between the so-called 'rich' and
'poor'."
War Is The Health Of The State
War is the ultimate State intervention in
society.
Deep Cover
by Chris
Floyd from The St. Petersburg (RU) Times
"But do
let's be fair. The yellow-feathered Washington warriors
aren't only looking out for their own backsides --
they've also included their closest corporate cronies in
the escape plan. In fact, the whole jolly crew intends
to preserve its wonted rank of wealth and privilege even
as its fellow citizens are roasting in nuclear fires or
howling in clouds of gut-chewing microbes...."
Ten Ways to End War
by Douglas Herman from
Strike The Root
"But only by refusing to
be a mind-controlled participant to the immorality of
state-sponsored terror--mistakenly called war--will an
individual declare his status as a free and sovereign
state as God ordained. Of course the consequences may
be fearful, yet only when enough citizens declare the
airspace within themselves as peaceful, free and
sovereign, will war cease."
Being the Government
Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry
by Ivan Eland from
Antiwar.com
"Osama bin Laden, in his
writings and media statements, does not fulminate
against the decadent American culture, high technology
or political and economic freedoms. He is primarily
angry at U.S. support for corrupt dictators in Islamic
nations and U.S. meddling in the Middle East."
Bits of History
The Past seen with a
fresh look.
Peter Ustinov, RIP
by Gary North from LewRockwell.com
"He was
a director, a playwright, and a novelist. It is
always amazing to see gifted artists of his caliber.
He had the great good fortune of being a movie actor
in movies good enough to survive. His work on-screen
will live on to charm and delight audiences yet
unborn. What more could an artist ask for?"
"Bad Money Drives Out
Good"
by Charles Adams from
The Future of Freedom Foundation
"This is what has been
called Gresham's Law. It was formulated by Sir
Thomas Gresham to explain to Queen Elizabeth I what
was happening to the English shilling. Her father,
Henry VIII, had been adulterating the English
shilling, the basic coin of the realm, by replacing
40 percent of the silver in the coin with base
metals...."
The Socialist Calumny
Against the Jews
by Ludwig von Mises
from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"The truth is that
while the Jews are the objects of anti-Semitism,
their conduct and qualities did not play a
decisive role in inciting and spreading its
modern version. That they form everywhere a
minority which can be legally defined in a
precise way makes it tempting, in an age of
interventionism, to discriminate against them."
War and Peace
Articles showing the
nature of War.
Justified and Just War
by John
Schroder from LewRockwell.com
"In
short, war is justified only when waged by
legitimate authority, as a last resort, and with a
reasonable chance for success. It should be waged
only in response to a serious wrong, with a sense of
proportionality, and in a manner that distinguishes
combatants from non-combatants. Finally, peace must
be the end aim of war, and that peace must be just."
by
Adam Young from Ludwig von Mises Institute
"Without another word, William Tell aimed and let
the arrow loose. Walter, hands tied, stood firm
and still. He wasn't afraid. The arrow struck the
apple in the center, carrying it away from him.
Gessler was impressed and infuriated, but as Tell
was turning away, a second arrow that he had
hidden in his coat fell to the ground. Cried
Gessler, 'what mean you with this second arrow?'
Tell proudly replied 'Tyrant, this arrow was meant
for your heart if I had hurt my son'."
The Defector
by Patrick J.
Buchanan from Antiwar.com
"By our old standards
-- America does not attack nations that do not
attack us -- Iraq was not a war of necessity, but
a war of choice. Was it wise? Bush says yes,
Clarke no. The verdict of history is not yet in.
But if Iraq collapses in chaos or civil war to
become a spawning ground of Islamic terror, Bush
will be a failed president and America will need a
new foreign policy."
Great Individuals In History
Some people stand out
from the crowd.
Sociologist -
Franz Oppenheimer : Mar. 30, 1864
by Otto
Juliusburger from School of Cooperative
Individualism
"Oppenheimer, following
Schopenhauer's voluntaristic psychology,
begins naturally, in his 'genealogy,' with
the fundamental concepts of the lack of
energy and of its surplus. Energy here, of
course, is used not in a moral sense but
only in the psycho-physical sense of
Energetics." A link to Oppenheimer's
The State has been added to
the Classics area at the Endervidualism web
site.
Philosopher -
René Descartes : Mar. 31, 1596
from Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy
"During his
lifetime, Descartes was just as famous as
an original physicist, physiologist and
mathematician. But it is as a highly
original philosopher that he is most
frequently read today. He attempted to
restart philosophy in a fresh direction."
Artist -
Francisco Goya : Mar. 30, 1746
from
Island-of-Freedom.com
"The horrors
of warfare were of great concern to Goya,
who observed firsthand the battles between
French soldiers and Spanish citizens
during the bloody years of the Napoleonic
occupation of Spain."
Culcha'
Books, Movies, TV,
Media, Music, poetry, etc.
Mr. Showbiz Goes to
Washington
by Jesse Walker from
Reason
"Most political flicks, even the good
ones, suffer from a seriously distorted concept of
their subject. The most egregious case
-- setting aside Stand Up and Cheer
-- is probably The Contender (2000), another
liberal fantasy."
A Memorial to Mr.
Lincoln
by Anthony Gregory
from Strike The Root
"I
came to DC to see the Declaration Of causes
impelling us to separation, And basing on
liberty a new improved nation
-- But the Archives were closed due to
renovations."
This is an excerpt from the poem.
Freedom Book of the
Month for March, 2004 - "Bioevolution: How
Biotechnology is Changing Our World"
by Michael Fumento reviewed by Sunni Maravillosa
from Free-Market.Net
"Fumento's focus is on the science,
and the capabilities that currently exist as well
as those coming in the near future. Yet the heavy
hand of the regulatory state inevitably makes its
presence known from time to time...."
The lighter side
Humor, satire, cartoons,
parodies, food, popular music
and other things to amuse.
The Governor Is a Harsh
Mistress
by Jonathan David Morris
from Strike The Root
"To make matters worse,
since it looks like we'll end up moving to Pennsylvania
to take advantage of their lower property taxes, my
bride and I will probably just end up swapping the
Garden State's McGreevey for the Keystone State's Ed
Rendell. ... But do I really need him reading over my
shoulder or putting empty orange juice cartons back in
the fridge? No. The answer is no."
Bush Quits Day Job
by Andy Borowitz from
BorowitzReport
"Mr. Bush, who made his
debut last night at the newly opened comedy club
Tikkles of Tikrit, is said to have developed a
slapstick-filled comedy routine reminiscent of the
veteran comedian Gallagher. In his act, Mr. Bush
smashes several large watermelons with a sledgehammer
as he searches in vain inside them for weapons of mass
destruction."
Building the Perfect
Candidate
by Tim Cavanaugh and Nick
Gillespie from Reason
"As devotees of free minds
and free markets, we spend our nights pining for a
major-party politician who not only looks dreamy while
reading a Teleprompter but shows some passion for
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and sex,
drugs, and rock 'n' roll." An analysis of actual
candidates and construction of the "perfect candidate"
in words and pictures.
Deep Thought
Scientific
and scholarly studies, philosophical essays,
in-depth and longer articles.
by Butler Shaffer from
LewRockwell.com
"Those who persist in trying to
breathe life into dead horses
are the real utopians. The
political structuring of society
has long been grounded in
pie-in-the-sky fantasies that
power-hungry men and women can
make us better than we are; that
ever-more sophisticated weapons
of death and destruction can
bring peace to the world; and
that, in the words of Herbert
Spencer, there is a 'political
alchemy by which you can get
golden conduct out of leaden
instincts'."
This Land Is Mine
by Roderick Long from Strike
The Root
"Now the process by which we
acquire external property is
simply an extension of the
process by which we
incorporate material into our
bodies. ... Our relation to
the products of our labour is
simply an extension of our
relation to our bodies;
indeed, our bodies themselves
are to a large extent the
product of our labour ... just
as cultivated land is the
product of our labour.... "
The Awesome Powers of Government
by Murray Weidenbaum from The
Freeman
"Ralph Nader has noted that
business, too, has its power,
and that is true. Actions by
multibillion-dollar
corporations can have strong
positive or negative effects
on a community or an entire
region of a country. Yet the
contrast between government
and business power is
striking. The largest company
cannot tax you; the smallest
unit of government can."
Miscellany
Articles not
easily classified.
Supreme Court Ruling May
Impact Domestic Violence Cases
by Wendy McElroy from
ifeminists.net
"Victims should always have
the final say over whether to prosecute. This control is
especially important in cases that involve intimate
relationships such as husband and wife, parent and
child. A legal system that strips domestic violence
victims of choice is committing an act of violence
against them that may be more damaging than the original
crime."
Miss Fitz' Guide to Guns,
Part III
by Claire Wolfe from
Backwoods Home Magazine
"You want a round that
will perform 100 percent of the time. That means it'll
perform the same way 100 percent of time -- not
hitting high this time and low the next. That means
it'll feed in your particular firearm 100 percent of
the time -- and you know it will because you've tested
it."
Minimum gasoline prices
by Walter E. Williams
from Townhall.com
"In other words, how many gasoline
consumers would be willing to spend their time and
energy fighting to unseat a legislator whose actions
imposed, say, a nickel a gallon additional cost upon
them? It's cheaper just to pay the nickel a gallon
more and forget about it, but that's
not true about gasoline retailers. It is worth their
time and energy to pressure legislators for
minimum-price laws, and politicians know this."
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