000827.html

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sun, 27 Aug 2000 12:00:00 GMT

Gene Callahan at the Ludwig von Mises Institute - No Winners in Politics: A nice description, complete with made-up example, of why noone wins when political power is used to rob Peter to pay Paul. [lew]

Notice that many of these goals might be achieved through purely voluntary means. Those who believe in supporting the American farm could, for instance, form a buyers' cooperative to buy American farm products, even if they are more expensive. The problem with this, from the point of view of those who are promoting these agendas, is that then they would have to pay the entire cost for things that they want. They would much rather have you pay at least part of the cost, as well.
When someone says, "An issue as important as this shouldn't be decided on merely economic grounds," the best thing to do is watch your wallet. What they really mean is that they hope you don't think too much about the economics of this issue, because they are preparing to use the threat of state violence to get you to pay for something that they want.
...
Of course, in the long run, the joke is on those who feel they will gain by these tactics. While they may be in the most powerful lobby on one issue, they will surely lose on others. We all wind up employing government to mug each other, again and again, never noticing that it is only the mugger, who keeps pulling a percentage off of the top, who gains in the end.

Jared Taylor at LewRockwell.com - Gun-Haters: Using the Courts To Pass Bad Laws: a good screed on why it is ridiculous to attempt to hold a manufacturer liable for the improper use of a properly designed and manufactured product. In just about any other industry, everyone would agree, but for some reason crazy people think that gun manufacturers are responsible for criminal use of their product. Using the courts to make these decision is underhanded and wrong. [lew]

It is this larger mischief, the mischief of judicial dictatorship, that must be rooted out if power is ever to return to the elected representatives of the people. In the mean time, people like Joshua Horwitz will be working overtime, exploiting this chink in our republican armor in the hope of disarming you.

Steven Yates at LewRockwell.com - South Carolina Entrepreneur Lowers US Flag, Raises SC, Confederate Banners: Maurice Bessinger, the creator of a line of barbecue restaurants in Columbia, South Carolina, has made his own commentary on South Carolina's decision to remove the Confederate flag from the state house. He used to fly large United States flags over his businesses. He has replaced them with South Carolina state and Confederate flags. This is a message to the feds that they have usurped, way usurped, their proper place. I salute you, Mr. Bessinger. [lew]

It is worth noting that his Confederate flag is subordinate to the flag of the State of South Carolina. The former flies beneath the latter: "The state flag is the flag that represents our highest sovereignty. The Confederate flag is to both remind people that Southerners wrote the Constitution and that Southerners continue to be its most loyal defenders, plus the Confederate flag is recognized as the universal symbol of resistance to centralized tyranny."

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Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair