Speak against the Status Quo

This past week at the Grand Sierra Hotel in Reno, Nevada, the Liberty Political Action Conference (LPAC) was held.  It was a weekend full of great libertarians speaking about what's really going on in America today.

A conference like this is a treat for most libertarians.  As Matt Hawes, Vice President of Campaign for Liberty, put it in his introductory speech for Ron Paul's campaign manager John Tate,  "It's a time of rest and relaxation among like minded people."  And it truly felt that way.  It was a chance for liberty minded people to listen, learn, and speak about topics that matter to them; topics that may often cause uncomfortable opposition from friends, family, mainstream media, and the political class at large. 

There are a few liberty-minded politicians that have the courage and strength to speak about their beliefs, and fight for the rights of the American people everyday.  Whether they are in front of a cheering crowd of supporters, or amidst fellow politicians who often view them as a little off in the head for believing in the Constitution, they are strong and true in the what they believe, and I admire them for that. 

Raw Milk Mania

Thanks to Campaign for Liberty for publishing this article of mine:

The feds recently conducted a year-long sting operation (yes, really.) to arrest an Amish farmer for selling raw milk in DC. Fortunately, raw milk devotees have not allowed this ridiculous law to go unnoticed:

AMERICA, sleep well. After a year of surveillance, an undercover operation, and a pre-dawn raid by gun-toting U.S. marshals, the country is safe from an Amish farmer. Dan Allgyer’s crime? Selling unpasteurized milk to a food co-op in the Washington area.

But raw-milk advocates, the feds are learning, do not go down easily. About 400 people protesting Mr. Allgyer’s arrest arrived on Capitol Hill earlier this month with a cow named Morgan, a milking stool, plastic cups, and plenty of passion. Toasting their favorite drink, they pointed out that the signers of the Constitution also drank raw milk and proclaimed “the right to choose what to eat and drink” without government interference.

Perhaps one of the reasons this story has managed to get some media attention (despite the obvious factor of an Amish man being arrested) is the complete absurdity of legislating milk.

One of my best professors in college was a progressive with whom I disagreed on…a lot, to put it mildly. He was right, however, when he said that it was always important to consider what would actually happen given a certain legislative outcome, as opposed to what our worst fears for the situation might be.

In this case, were raw milk totally legal (as it has been for most of our nation’s history), what would actually happen is that raw milk fans would keep drinking it, and everyone else would keep avoiding it. It’s not like there’s a giant Amish conspiracy to somehow slip unpasteurized whipping cream onto the shelves of your local Giant without you noticing.

Read the whole thing here.

Indiana's Statewide Conference

On Saturday, I attended the Indiana Statewide Young Americans for Liberty/Campaign for Liberty Conference on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.  The event was well attended, well organized, and full of discussion about how to be most effective as a statewide liberty movement.  After some introductory presentations by YAL Indiana State Chair Nathan Murphy and C4L Indiana Assistant State Chair James Werner, we broke up into groups.  There were five Chapter Presidents at the YAL session, and we made plans to reach out to even more campuses to help them with the process of becoming a chapter.  We also discussed having a similar statewide meeting every semester at a different campus.  

When we got back together with the rest of the group, we shared our ideas with each other.  Then, we had an open session where we created a list of action items which were then posted on the internet so we could all have access to them.  We also heard speeches by Fairfield Township Trustee Julie Rousch, 2010 Libertarian US Senate Candidate Rebecca Sink-Burris, and 2008 Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Andrew Horning.  The event was even covered on the local TV news!

I would strongly encourage all YAL and C4L members to work together and hold a statewide conference of your own.  It was a great time and it was extremely valuable to be able to network and strategize with other liberty activists. 

Foreign Policy Debate in DC

Campaign for Liberty recently released its first book, American Empire:  Before the Fall, by Bruce Fein.  Fein has two events in the DC this coming week to promote the book, both of which I'd definitely encourage you to attend.

The first will be at Rí Ra, a restaurant in Arlington, VA.  Fein is speaking at the the Arlington Young Republican Club meeting on Monday, July 19 at 7.00 PM.

The second event is a debate against Jeff Kuhner, a columnist and media commentator at The Washington Times and a host on AM 570 in DC:

Date/Time: Wednesday, July 21, 12:30 PM

Location: 6th floor of Americans for Tax Reform

This will be a discussionof U.S. foreign policy; the title is "The United States: Empire or Republic?"