leftlibertarian.org

Logan Ferree makes a strong case that the Constitution is not a libertarian document, and that libertarianism is new, and not the same as classical liberalism.

Because of its anarchist implications, it is virtually impossible to design a "libertarian" government or Constitution. And the Constitution shouldn't be viewed as sacred by libertarians or anyone else. But there are good reasons to appeal to it, defend it, and frame public policy around it.

1. It is what we have already. Calling a convention to try something new will likely result in an even more statist constitution than the current one.
2. When leaders ignore or violate even an imperfect constitution, and even for a just cause, they set the precedent for future leaders to abuse their power and endanger our liberty.
3. Despite some of its flaws and statist assumptions, the Constitution does limit the federal government and so a return to Constitutional limits will set the nation in a libertarian direction.
4. The number of "Constitutionalists" is greater than the number of hard-core libertarians, and are committed to the same goals of economic freedom, individual liberty (at least vis-a-vis the federal government) and non-intervention. A coalition of the two can be more influential in steering the country in the direction of liberty than working separately.
5. The Constitution can serve as a "gateway" to libertarianism. I was personally drawn to the Libertarian Party seven years ago not because I thought I was a libertarian, but because it was the only party that would restrain the federal government to Constitutional limits. The type of mind that is persuaded of the necessity of checking tyranny by adhering to the text of the Constitution is the type of mind open to libertarian ideas.

Do President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have no idea of what made the founding of this country unique? It was the people’s deeply held belief that arbitrary rule by the state is an evil to be resisted at all costs. Even early America’s conservative elements, who hoped to remain in the British Empire, finally went over to the revolutionists’ side when King George III accelerated his arbitrary decrees governing the American people. Nothing indicts Bush-Cheney as profoundly as their displayed contempt for habeas corpus. I have no doubt that if they thought they could get away with it, they’d suspend it for citizens too.

Note well: the Constitution does not distinguish citizens from noncitizens. If the gang-run-amok in the White House can suspend habeas corpus for aliens, it can do so for the rest of us.

The threat to Americans from terrorism is minuscule compared with the threat from these megalomaniacs.

Read the rest of this week's op-ed, "Stop Them!" at The Future of Freedom website.

Cross-posted at Liberty & Power.

A year or so back, a Starbucks acquaintance told me that George Orwell’s 1984 was “failed prophecy.” To his way of thinking, the year 1984 had passed two decades ago, “and none of that stuff has happened yet.” Oh, puh-leeze!

War is peace, freedom is slavery — do only radical libertarians understand that we’re already living in the Orwellian dystopia? Anyway, it’s come to my attention that a wonderful old NBC University Theater radio production of Orwell’s classic is available online. Originally aired on August 27, 1949, this is the very first adaptation of any sort of 1984, and it stars old Phileas Fogg himself, the late David Niven. Listen to it, or download it, right here.

Thanks to those who have found their way to my new digs, The Liberator Reloaded. I am a former Blogger denizen, converted to Wordpress (I adore it!), and now at my spiffy new domain name (www.thomasvanwyk.com) and on my “own” shared server through GoDaddy.

Those familiar with my old blog, The Liberator, know how this new blog will probably function: mostly anarchist rants or musings on society, pervaded with occasional thoughts on Linux, Linux distros (especially my current weapon of choice, Ubuntu) and open source software in general (that part is more recent - if you’re wondering, “COLT” is one of the features I will likely continue here), and general observations on random cultural, musical, and literary stuff that I feel like commenting on or ranting inchoately about.

The purpose of this blog, to be sure, is largely for my own benefit, so I should explain that right out. To quote myself:

I blog for me - specifically, to help distill my thoughts into something coherent. For a job? No, not really. For me.

Granted, some people are no doubt put off by the fact that my thoughts on here are probably not always consistent, but what’s going on in front of your very eyes is the incubation of an entire belief system - the slow natural selection of traits that will be built into a superior worldview…

So, that’s it, really.

(more…)

Like a magnetic dipole, a coin flip, and sex, sometimes beautiful subtlety needs a polar opposite to be possible or fully appreciated.  The thought came to me while descending into the Beaver River Valley headed westbound on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  The sun had set just moments earlier behind the hills on the other side of [...]

Too often, the debate surrounding the Iraq War revolve aroud only parts of the issue, such as the absence of WMD's, or Bush's incompetence. What's disappointing about this is that it assumes a "given," that the USA has a right to overthrow governments that do develop WMD's. This is not the case. Here are some valid reasons for having opposed the War on Iraq four years ago. The WMD question is just a small part of it. I was not blogging four years ago, but let's pretend I'm writing this in early March, 2003:

1. Even if Saddam is developing WMD's, it is preposterous to assert that this secular dictator would hand them over to jihadists to detonate on the U.S. mainland.

2. Even if Saddam is developing WMD's, the only "threat" that poses is to Israel - but not to its security, only to its hegemony. And Israel has its own nuclear deterrent. Israel is a big boy and can take care of himself.

3. If Iraq does have WMD's, so what? Does a country not have the right to defend itself through deterrence? What's a greater deterrent than nuclear weapons? If we have them, why can't other countries?

4. Alas, there is no evidence that Saddam has WMD's anyway.

5. Saddam is already severely handicapped and contained by harsh sanctions, an enforced "no-fly zone" and a ten-year bombing campaign. He is certainly not an "imminent threat" or a "clear and present danger" to the U.S. Even if the U.S. won't establish normal relations with Iraq, it is certainly safer and easier to maintain the status quo and wait him out. That's what we do with Castro.

6. Despite Iraq's weakened condition, Saddam keeps order. How was it in America's interests to destabilize this situation?

7. Saddam may be judged harshly for slaughtering political opponents and separatist groups, but this is by no means unusual for dictators of ethnically and religiously diverse countries. As the Somalia headache goes to show, holding a country together and maintain a functioning government is preferable to anarchy - at least in the eyes of the international community.

8. Despite Iraq's weakened condition, Saddam's presence maintained a balance of power in the region that checks Iran.

9. Iraq isn't a threat to the United States. It is thousands of miles away and its armed forces were very weak.

10. The best policy to guarantee low oil prices is peace, not war.

11. Even if this isn't the case, oil interests shouldn't dictate American policy. If the Middle East devolved into chaos and leading to higher oil prices, the market would adjust with greater incentives for conservation and alternative fuels - which can only be a good thing.

12. According to the Constitution, Congress must declare war before a President can execute it; it can not merely "authorize" the President to start a war at his discretion.

13. It is obvious that in terms of Bush's intent, Iraq has nothing to do with the "War on Terror."

14. And Saddam has no terror ties anyway.

15. It is foolhardy at best to expect to establish a liberal democracy in a country with neither liberal nor democratic traditions.

16. To impose liberal democracy by force is a contradiction of liberal democratic ideals. Ideological crusades are even less justifiable than religious crusades.

17. It makes no sense to enforce the UN's resolutions without the UN's consent or will.

Several, not all, of these arguments can be used today to a) withdraw from Iraq immediately and b) oppose a war on Iran.

No, it’s not the technological state of the art — that’s not the point. The point is for a Libertarian presidential candidate to take up the tradition of the “weekly radio address” that’s been a staple of American politics since FDR’s “fireside chat” days, and to do so in a very accessible way.

So, no bumper music or cheap sound effects — just Steve Kubby, calling in from wherever he happens to be to chat with America.

It’s also not long — 3-5 minutes is what we’re shooting for. We want dialup users to be able to listen in conveniently.

You can listen to it right here, or at the campaign web site, or at the Gcast site. You can subscribe to it via iTunes, Yahoo!, Google, MSN, newsgator or your preferred RSS client. Oh, yeah — feel free to embed it on your blog too if you like. Gcast offers a variety of styles and sizes, and it’s maintenance-free. Once you’ve put the code in, updates for new episodes take care of themselves.

Enjoy.

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I have discovered a new theme that I like quite well but need to fiddle around with it a bit more to see if it’ll entirely work out. It has a very pretty yellow flower but I can’t discover a way to put a tag line in it just yet. If only I had better HTML skills! Or some Wordpress themes don’t simply support tag lines.

Two things to unschool myself in ( : ( :

One new post to highlight is one pertaining to the gulags — and see an earlier writing that was also penned for English class on Iran by clicking on this link — maintained by the United States government.

Also, I show my appreciation for the Whores Not Wars! slogan in my latest post.

Just a Short Listing of Links This Time

Here are some links I collected this week in my Digest Materials favorite folder.

The Propaganda Machine’s Lies About Saddam Live on (I hadn’t thought about these particular lies in some time but this article helped refresh my memory)

Why the Republicans are Doomed (If only the Democrats would suffer a similar fate)

Get Off my Lawn (Afghan war questioning is important)

No Dancing in NYC Bars (Downright ridiculous!)

Mr.Contractor, Tear Down This Wall! (One wall fell in 1991 but still some more to go says The Onion)

Enjoy!

Many times when people set out to accomplish something their actions generate an outcome that was neither foreseen nor desired. The problem might take a long time to manifest itself like in the case of wildlife management. By eliminating or relocating all of the non-human predators of deer over the course of [...]

Kudos to the Sex Workers Outreach Project for the slogan of Whores Not Wars!

It gave me a real smile when I read it in the following email message sent out on the SWOP-USA mailing list.

Half of the proceeds for this event will benefit Food Not Bombs and The International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers as well as other SWOP-AZ programs!

111 West Congress Avenue
Across from The Grill
Tucson, Arizona
Saturday, November 18, 2006
8:00 p.m.

The Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP-AZ) will host a WHORES NOT WARS PARTY featuring provocative live performance art, whore stories, lap dances, sexy soldiers, and anti-war, pro-whore activities on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2006.

Prepare to be titillated, disturbed, outraged, pleasured, stimulated, and shocked!

Bastardized military gear, pro-peace costumes encouraged!
$5/door.
Cocktail Bar/Donations
8:00pm - until the war ends!
COMMIT WHORE CRIMES NOT WAR CRIMES!

Free table opportunities available for non-profit anti-war organizations, women’s rights organizations, LBGTQ organizations adult entertainment estabishments and
other organizations that see a need for more pleasure and less war in our world. (For-profit corporations just $50!)

Set up 6pm. Break down Midnight, unless you wish to leave earlier. Please bring your own table and chairs if you want them.

The event is located at 111 E Congress St.

For more information, email: swopaz@gmail.com
Or Call: 520-661-5884

I regretted not being able to attend but I am thinking about whether I could make the Sex Workers Art Show or San Francisco Sex Worker Festival in the future. I imagine you could meet some very interesting and eccentric individuals at events like this. A writer needs such life experiences to draw from in coming up with original material. I’ve got an interest in writing some pieces detailing colorful experiences in my life. Writing about a good time I had at a sex worker event would certainly be intriguing.