Posts in "Libertarian"

Dustin Reid's picture
By Dustin Reid at 6:42AM
Jan 5, 2010

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey Speaking Out Again

wholefoods

Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey, is speaking up again. He is one of many prominent libertarian-minded voices that has decided to enter the spotlight and open himself up for criticism. This time it's on the subject of government involvement in climate change and Mackey's disapproval of current proposals.  This comes despite his Whole Foods stores' notoriety of being proactive in the environmental movement. However, according to Mackey, the climate change hype is not supported by sound science. 

An article by an independent blogger was published on the Huffington Post yesterday admonishes Mackey's nerve to take issue with climate change science. He notes how he's often fought for Mackey in defense of Whole Foods, but after Mackey's lashing out against universal health care and now climate change, he's lost all patience. 

Read the article here.

I chose to engage with a few commenters at the Huffington Post. Read a few of my comments after the jump. Will others follow John Mackey's lead? I hope so. 


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Rachel Kania's picture
By Rachel Kania at 6:27PM
Nov 25, 2009

Antiwar.com on Young Americans for Liberty

Antiwar.com reports on Obama's next step in Afghanistan. To close the article gives hope by stating...

The premier libertarian youth organization, Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), is the fastest-growing political group on campus, these days, and no task would suit them better than assuming the leadership of the moribund, leftist-dominated antiwar movement. As Obama’s zombie-like cult follows him down the road to war – a war on a scale the much-reviled Bush administration never dared attempt – YAL can fill the vacuum, swell its own ranks, and, more importantly, dramatize the moral and political bankruptcy of the current administration, while drawing a clear and very dramatic line of demarcation between libertarians and Sean Hannity-type conservatives..

Read more below the jump.


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Seth Man's picture
By Seth Man at 11:15AM
Nov 7, 2009

Ron and Rand Paul, Schiff, Stossel, Napolitano on Glenn Beck Show

Judge Napolitano was filling in for Glenn Beck on Friday's show and had Ron and Rand Paul as guests as well as Peter Schiff and John Stossel.  Enjoy:


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Matt Cockerill's picture
By Matt Cockerill at 9:36PM
Oct 29, 2009

Nightly Roundup 10/29/2009

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Creighton Harrington's picture
By Creighton Harrington at 5:59AM
Oct 23, 2009

We must be Romantics.

From For A New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto (this excerpt is, itself, a quote of H. L. Mencken):

All [that government] can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives. The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.

Now, obviously, it is well known that the state fears original thinking.  Why shouldn't it?  As Rothbard states in his essay "The Anatomy of the State" it is the populace's adherance to state rule that allows the state to survive.  Even if it is the Third Reich, the people under the rule of said regime must, at least a majority must, believe the state necessary and in their best interest (the Third Reich was even voted for democratically) to exist.


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Matt Cockerill's picture
By Matt Cockerill at 6:06AM
Sep 2, 2009

Attention libertarians/paleocons: You are NEEDED at CPAC 2010!

From C4L's Timothy Shoemaker:

Greetings!

It's time to start thinking about CPAC again - February will be here before we know it!  CPAC 2009 was a great success, and we are planning to have an even bigger presence in 2010!!  This year our goal is to have 300 volunteers, a substantial increase from our 148 volunteers last year.  I am writing to inquire if you would like to be the lead contact for volunteers from your state.  If you are interested in taking a leadership role in making sure that your state is well represented, please send me an email at timothy.shoemaker@campaignforliberty.com and copy allison@campaignforliberty.com.

Thanks,
Timothy Shoemaker
Hope to meet (or reunite with) all of you liberty activists in February! In the meantime, be sure to join the YAL/C4L, CPAC 2010 Facebook group!

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Matt Cockerill's picture
By Matt Cockerill at 5:41PM
Sep 1, 2009

Converting a generation to libertarianism

How do you guys go about persuading the throngs of statist and/or apathetic students about the merits of liberty? Personally, I don't like to directly bring up politics and/or libertarianism to random people, but have trouble shutting my yapper if someone seeks to engage me on the philosophy behind all those weird Facebook statuses.

In terms of actual communication, I strive to be unapologetically radical in message yet polite and nonconfrontational in delivery. I think a powerful question one can pose rather easily is:  "why don't private ethics, particularily in war, apply to the state?"

Anyway, does anyone (especially older activists with a lot more seasoning than I) have any advice or success stories they'd be willing to share with the rest of us?

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Matt Cockerill's picture
By Matt Cockerill at 9:06AM
Aug 10, 2009

Heroic piece in Slate on secession

I was thrilled to see today on LewRockwell.com that a MSM outlet has written a piece giving the idea of secession a fair hearing. Though the term "secession" undoubtedly sounds inflammatory due to the indoctrination we've received from public schools and the government-connected media, I think the practical case for it is quite strong. Indeed, the nationalistic assumptions that cause us to react so venemously to the prospect tend to wither upon logical examination.

While short-term economic troubles would be inevitable, I can't imagine why any libertarian opponent of bureaucracy, militarism, protectionism, and state-worship would oppose secession in the long-run. Especially from such a monstrous, overgrown government like the gang in D.C.

I wrote a "thank you" to Slate and Mr. Levin for this article, and I hope you guys do to!

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Kelse Moen's picture
By Kelse Moen at 4:21AM
May 21, 2009

Why I Am a Conservative

In The American Conservative, Bill Kauffman has a typically engaging piece, along the lines of Hayek's "Why I Am Not a Conservative." Unfortunately, you have to be a subscriber to read it, but here is the heart of his argument:
[F]or half a century, “conservative” has been a synonym of — a slave to — militarism, profligacy, the invasion of other nations, contempt for personal liberties, and an ignorance of and hostility toward provincial Am

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Zachary Kurtz's picture
By Zachary Kurtz at 10:21PM
Dec 17, 2008

Liberty vs. the collectivist mindset

This is something I've been thinking about for a while, inspired of course by FA Hayek's Road to Serfdom. A liberal friend told me, in a discussion about liberty and freedom, that the type of liberty she is most interesting in is preserving women's rights... understandable given her gender.  However, the typical justification of the progressive liberal (increasing the role of government to improve "social equality") is backwards to the very ideals that they are trying to promote. My counterargument is that any type of racism, sexism or other biases which lingers on through the generations is most probability institutional in origin.  From the Jim Crow laws, Nazi Germany's treatment of Jews, anti-Gay legislation... you name the civil rights abuse, and it all stems from a history of institutionalized, government-supported bigotry, usually to trick a disenfranchised, frustrated populace into giving up their freedoms, and handing power to an elite class, which blames a scapegoat under the guise of national unity and patriotism.
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