The Original Source of my Libertarian Beliefs

My eldest son is reading Eichmann and the Holocaust by Hannah Urendt for his history class. Seeing the book brought back the first sickening memories I had, when introduced to the horrors of the those events as a teenager. Like many young people, I wanted the world's problems solved by a government that implemented solutions, so that we could get on with the historical march to utopia that was my birthright. Reading about the utter fear that the Nazis inflicted upon both the German and conquered peoples got me wondering about the roots of their evil. I read Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer about this time (along with Atlas Shrugged, a nice lengthy summertime read.) I saw that Hitler rose to power promising to solve the real problems facing Germany in the late 1920s and early 30s. But his "solutions" only resulted in the perpetration of hideous atrocities on people. It disturbed me because I realized that my grand ideas to solve the world's problems might result in horrible evil as well. I had no way of knowing in advance.

Simultaneously, I was introduced to Murray Rothbard and other libertarians, as well as Ayn Rand. I realized that the foundation of good government is in fact the vision that our founding fathers had for our government. It is essential that government be dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals than in solving any particular problem. All other political philosophies are dedicated to an end that is seen as greater than individual liberty. They all result in mass graves of innocent victims when the thugs take over from the philosophers to wield the power of the state.

People forget that national socialism, i.e. Nazism was a socialist philosophy, intending to harness the power of the state over the corporation to protect the working class and achieve national greatness. Sound familiar? Socialism and communism, were by contrast internationalist movements intending to harness the power of the state on behalf of the workers. However, no fewer innocent victims were slaughtered due to their internationalist beliefs. The philosophy of Al Qaeda, as much as their is one, is to subordinate any individual liberty to Islam. Indeed democracy is seen as an evil, because people could sin by voting against the party of Allah. This is also the philosophy behind the mullahs thinking in Iran. The resulting horror of innocent blood inevitably follows.

Our response to those who seek to expand the role of government into areas that infringe on personal freedom shouldn't be only to argue that it will not work. We should also argue that from a moral and constitutional perspective it is wrong to interfere with the rights of citizens to conduct their own affairs. The same impulse to control others that gives rise Nazi Germany is behind the desire to tell me what manner of health care plan I should be allowed to purchase. The disease of leftism remains the same, and needs to be combated in matters large and small.

Question of the Day

The Tea Party worked hard to purge racists from its ranks. So why it is acceptable for the left to include the Communist Party in their weekend "One Nation" rally? There was a time in this country when labor unions purged communists from their ranks.



BTW, Left Coast Rebel, Temple of Mut, and Shane Atwell have some great coverage contrasting the One Nation Rally with Glenn Beck's August event.

As If We Needed More Proof

80,000 tons of rotting food are in state run warehouses in Venezuela, more proof of the awesomeness of Marxist social theory. From CNBC:

Much of the wasted food, including powdered milk and meat, was found last month in the buildup to legislative elections in September. The scandal is humiliating for Chavez, who accuses wealthy elites of fueling inflation and causing shortages of products such as meat, sugar and milk by hoarding food.
....
A string of expropriations and buyouts of companies during the last couple of years means the government now controls between 20 percent and 30 percent of the distribution of staple foods.

Hugo Chavez of course, blames elites and hoarders. Go figure. The government seizes the food industry, and seeks to buy votes by supplying its supporters with cheap food. Enterprising individuals in the government see an opportunity and start holding back the supply with the hopes of making some money. Who could have foreseen such a set of circumstances? Certainly not the Marxist stooge running Venezuela. And to think that Charlie Rangle warned George W. Bush in 2002 not to mess with the would-be dictator.

So That's Why the Left's Agenda is Stalled

Broken windows at Fisher auto plant in Flint, MI,1937.

If nothing else good comes from drawing out the health care debate and Democrat Congresscritters tanking poll numbers, it is that the rest of the left's political agenda is pretty much in the toilet. But now the real reason their agenda has not gone anywhere has been revealed Harold Meyerson in the WaPo, an insufficiently violent and lawless mob movement to further the "progressive" agenda. I could not believe some of what I read in his article:

But if there's a common feature to the political landscapes in which Carter, Clinton and now Obama were compelled to work, it's the absence of a vibrant left movement. The America over which FDR presided was home to mass organizations of the unemployed; farmers' groups that blocked foreclosures, sometimes at gunpoint; general strikes that shut down entire cities, and militant new unions that seized factories. Both communists and democratic socialists were enough of a presence in America to help shape these movements, generating so much street heat in so many congressional districts that Democrats were compelled to look leftward as they crafted their response to the Depression.

So the cat's out of the bag, the left can't make significant progress without violent communist protests simmering in the streets. By contrast, notice how the libertarians and conservatives have already made huge strides with the very peaceful tea parties.

And consider this gem:

The right has had great success over the past year in building a movement that isn't really for anything but that has channeled anew the fears and loathings of millions of Americans.

Doesn't stand for anything? The Tea Party movement doesn't stand for anything except the preservation and restoration of freedom and liberty which has been under assault since Obama took office. It's the power of no. No, I don't want some bureaucrat regulating my doctor's visit. No, I don't want more of my take home pay to go to the government. No, I don't want to wreck the economy because of debatable scientific hypothesis. No, I don't want my grandchildren saddled with debt.

Not so Golden Memories

...but far more faulty to be sure.

Dean here. Hey gang, guess who turns 50 this year? Think history and specifically Western Hemisphere geopolitics. If you guessed the Left’s and the West’s favorite communist revolution that took place in Cuba 50 years ago this week you would be absolutely correct. And just like the inevitable march of time tends to gloss over some of the finer details of the past, you will find no greater example of convenient forgetfulness than that of Castro’s Cuba.

In fact, the extent to which rationalizations are tortured and facts twisted, you would think the many useful idiots living here on the right side of history would find themselves in the hospital. No such luck though as the shameless whitewashing of the dire consequences of totalitarianism basks in its golden anniversary.

From the get-go a mass grave of more than a hundred men and boys that had been machine-gunned on orders of brother Raoul and which was being bull-dozed a day after Castro promised the nation he would “solve all of Cuba’s problems without spilling a drop of blood” was certainly the cue for the U.K. Observer to note: "Mr Castro's bearded, youthful figure has become a symbol of Latin America's rejection of brutality and lying. Every sign is that he will reject personal rule and violence."

Ah, Fidel. Ever the revolutionary and symbol of social justice for .edu-guy and middle class mall rats across the nation.

It stands as monument to idiocy and callousness that despite the intervention of facts (the dramatic rise in infant mortality post-Revolution despite Cuba’s current universal health care, the rise in prostitution on the island post-Revolution despite Havanna breaking free from the decadent West, the highest abortion rate of the Western Hemisphere as well as the highest suicide rate in the W.H. which is also 3 times what it was during the dreadfully corrupt Batista regime), Fidel, Raoul and of course Che’ are held in such high regard by people who should absolutely know better.

It is our sincere hope that the people of Cuba will live to see the demise of this dehumanizing and spirit-crushing system of governance that will be moved ever more swiftly along by an also hoped-for speedy demise of their leader and his brother.

H/T: American Thinker