beyond-liberty-blog

[beyond-liberty-blog]

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPzm-VQ-xKo

What separates the classical liberal from other philosophical ideologies is the love for the freedom and dignity of other human beings. We devote ourselves to the equal rights of each person to have a life to live, a life of his or her own choosing. We recognize that liberty is secular and welcomed by all who wish to pursue it. Liberty has no borders and shall never be restricted to a particular sector, group or entity. By your very nature as a living, breathing and thinking human being, you are entitled to the equality of the individual and mutual recognition of individual liberty. When we are brought together to pursue our common interests and respect others' right to do the same, we truly make the world a better place. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. This goes to say that liberty does not come in pieces, for your freedom is MY freedom. Joaquim Nabuco, a Brazilian abolitionist, said, "educate yourselves in the love for the freedom of others, for only in this way will your own freedom not be a gracious gift from fate. You will be aware of its worth and have the courage to defend it." Noam Chomsky once stated, "If we don't believe in the freedom of expression for people we despite, then we don't believe in it at all." Let us not forget that despite our disagreements, despite our differences, despite our backgrounds, despite our professions, despite our relationships . . . we can all come together to recognize the opportunity and passion liberty brings to us all. We only need to open our minds, hearts and arms to appreciate the dreams and desires of other people. Life is about the people we meet and the opportunities we seize to assist them in reaching their dreams. Hope, love and peace are perfectly achievable. It is an ideal worth having. The sovereignty of every, and all, individuals through mutual cooperation and voluntary exchange is the only legitimate action necessary to secure the blessing of a free and prosperous society.

[beyond-liberty-blog]

The result of the systematic wickedness and stupidity of power is spurred by the irrational and emotional fear of demented men and women whose sole action in life is to control and subvert those they disagree with. We as classical liberals must remember that liberty is the moral high ground. Liberty is the path of natural order.

[beyond-liberty-blog]

Stefan Molyneux rebuts the deliciously sophistic "Libertarians Are the New Communists" article by Nick Hanauer and Eric Liu, which was recently published by Bloomberg. Stefan reads the article and hilarity ensues.  Original Article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09... Freedomain Radio is 100% funded by viewers like you. Please support the show by signing up for a monthly subscription or making a one time donation at: http://www.fdrurl.com/donate Bitcoin Address: 1Fd8RuZqJNG4v56rPD1v6rgYptwnHeJRWs Litecoin Address: LL76SbNek3dT8bv2APZNhWgNv3nHEzAgKT Get more from Stefan Molyneux and Freedomain Radio including books, podcasts and other info at: http://www.freedomainradio.com Amazon US Affiliate Link: www.fdrurl.com/AmazonUS Amazon Canada Affiliate Link: www.fdrurl.com/AmazonCanada Amazon UK Affiliate Link: www.fdrurl.com/AmazonUK Freedomain Radio Facebook: http://www.fdrurl.com/fb Freedomain Radio Twitter: https://twitter.com/freedomainradio Freedomain Radio Google+: http://www.fdrurl.com/google Freedomain Radio LinkedIn: http://www.fdrurl.com/LinkedIn

[beyond-liberty-blog]

Josh, 23: “I am a libertarian because it is more selfish to use force to take one’s property than to allow individuals to keep the fruits of their labor.”

[beyond-liberty-blog]

"I, Smartphone" is a video based on the essay "I, Pencil" penned by Leonard Read in 1958. "I Pencil" has had a lasting impact on how we think about the market process. Why would the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics care about how a smartphone is made, and why would we want you to care? Because God has given us the market process as the most powerful tool we have in a fallen world to serve each other by using our gifts.  Yes, that's right.  Smartphones allow thousands of dispersed people from across the globe to bring their gifts to serve people they don't even know, and most likely never will know. 

[beyond-liberty-blog]

[beyond-liberty-blog]

This is an excellent example of how even in states that preserve the common law right to resist an unlawful arrest, the victims still get charged with assault for defending themselves.  If you watch the video, the reporter says that the police saw the boys flash them a “grim expression,” and were being unruly.  The video disproves the latter.  The former is not a source of probable cause, since shooting “grim expressions” at police is hardly evidence of criminal activity.  

These cops literally had no idea what they were looking for.  They were just out to pick a fight, and they got one.

[beyond-liberty-blog]

[beyond-liberty-blog]

[beyond-liberty-blog]

How would Martin Luther King feel if he were still alive today? Barack Obama may be President, but for millions of black Americans life is shockingly deprived: a black man today is more likely to be imprisoned than in apartheid South Africa.

The mass imprisonment of black people in America today has been described as “The New Jim Crow”. Blacks account for 13 per cent of drug users, but 37 per cent of defendants. They receive sentences that are 20 per cent longer than white men for identical crimes. And, while there is little medical difference in the effects of crack and powder cocaine, crack, traditionally associated with black people, has a federal penalty 18 times greater. So it’s little surprise that one in every three black men go to prison over their lifetimes. And punishment doesn’t end at the prison gates, as former felons lose access to housing and other benefits of citizenship upon their release.

[beyond-liberty-blog]

[beyond-liberty-blog]

[beyond-liberty-blog]

I don't understand how you think minimum wage is a bad thing, without it people would be making a whole lot less the $7.25...

Anytime a price is artificially set in the market (labor in this instance though it applies across markets), you generally get a myriad of negative factors generally affecting those you were trying to help.There are two main reasons I oppose the minimum wage and third other one.

The first is it takes away bargaining power from the individual and therefore creates a barrier to entry for low- or un-skilled workers to get a foot in the door of the labor market. By artificially setting the price of labor at 7.25 you guarantee two things: 1) That only those who provide at least $7.25 in labor will be hired and anyone willing to bargain for a lower rate will not. 2.)You ostensibly have sawed off the bottom two rungs of the ladder and made it that much harder to enter. In fact the original history of the minimum wage is because white union workers did not want black workers taking their jobs because they were willing to work for much less.

Secondly setting a minimum wage across the board does not take into account the various differences of scale across the board. While a giant corporation like Walmart honest doesn’t really care about a bump in minimum wage (though you will definitely see less greeters) that mom and pop hardware store which is struggling as is to compete with Home Depot and Walmart sure does.Finally when you set an artificial floor everything gets propped up on it and that floor becomes the new baseline or lowest common denominator if you will. So if minimum wage is raised to lets say 10 dollars, you will see the prices of thing rise as well. Suddenly that 10 dollars an hours will buy you a lot less than even before. Minimum wage laws have done more to keep people poor than help raise them out of poverty.Thanks for asking!

[beyond-liberty-blog]

The Republican-led Missouri Legislature is expected to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill that would expand gun rights and make federal gun regulations unenforceable — even as similar laws adopted in other states to buck federal gun rules face legal challenges.

Several of Nixon’s fellow Democrats told The Associated Press that they would vote to override his veto when lawmakers convene in September, even while agreeing with the governor that the bill couldn’t survive a court challenge. Many of them noted that in some parts of Missouri, a “no” vote on gun legislation could be career ending.

[beyond-liberty-blog]

but then I remembered that people who really need it, like White uppermiddleclass liberals, are now able to stay on their well-off parents’ cushy insurance plans until they’re 26.

I’ll just keep the crying over not being able to afford my medication because my insurance, which I have to buy...

[beyond-liberty-blog]

[beyond-liberty-blog]

Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

Epicurus