The Myth of War Prosperity

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 07 Mar 2003 13:00:00 GMT

Mark Fiore - The Saddam Seminar - Flash animation advising wannabe dictators how to be as successful as Hussein. Hehe. [rrnd]

The Misanthropic Bitch - Tokin' for Osama - good put-down of the war on some drugs. Much more intellectual than I'm used to seeing from the bitch. Is she growing up? [kimdutoit]

Operation Pipe Dreams, a nationwide sweep of stores, both online and brick & mortar, that sell multi-use drug paraphenalia -- no, sir, I do use it to smoke tobacco -- could provide for a maximum total sentence of three years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, with respect to each count a person faces. The stores are being forced to turn over customer records, including credit card information, which will be used to track down those who gave their moms a gas-mask bong for Christmas. It's a novelty item, officer.

Billions of dollars spent to prop up the prison industry and ruin the lives of largely harmless people, and it should come as no surprise that terrorists follow the bitter scent emanating from prisons.

Lifting Prohibition did what the government couldn't: It took the violent criminal element out of alcohol production and distribution. The negative effects of making alcohol consumption illegal far outweighed the hoped societal benefits, and the problems the government had to fight were the ones it had created. Illegal acts attract a criminal element because it takes a certain kind of person to engage in risky behavior, and terrorists, who have nothing to lose, naturally gravitate toward an illegal market with huge profits.

New Channel 13 via MSNBC - Protestors gather at Crossgates Mall - the straight poop on the protest I heard about on the radio on Wednesday. Mall management has asked the police to drop the trespassing charge. Bad for business, eh? [rrnd]

Mark Morford at The San Francisco Chronicle - Peace Takes A Bullet: In which the Bush Doctrine means never having to say, sorry about all the warheads and death -

It cannot be overstated: Shrub's war marks a momentous shift in our society, a huge political and philosophical sea change, as we move from a unified coherent defensive posture to an aggressive, roguish, preemptive-strike attitude, kill first and ask questions never.

It is called the Bush Doctrine, a.k.a. Shut the Hell Up You Durn Foreigners and Eat Our Might, and it is in flagrant defiance of not just the U.N. charter and international law but also every moral and philosophical tenet America itself was founded on.

...

Here are the words you will never hear from Dubya: We have won the war on terror. Never will you hear this, because the battle is, by definition, unwinnable; you can't win a war on terror any more than you can win the war against racism, or ignorance, or drugs, or cutesy boy bands or sunlight. Terrorism is as much a concept as a force, an idea as a scattered, well-organized, global network we can't possibly pinpoint.

It is ongoing. It is never-ending. This is the Dubya plan. Perpetual war, perpetual fear, perpetual massive profits for a large handful of high-powered Bush-friendly CEOs and military contractors and petrochemical execs, long after Saddam is gone, especially after Saddam is gone. Who's next on the hit list?

They don't really care. War is at hand. America is about to turn a corner, sharp to the right. These are the last days of peace in America as you know it. And we will never be the same.

National Center for Public Policy Abuse - New Book, Shattered Dreams: 100 Stories of Government Abuse, Chronicles Suffering from Extreme Laws and Regulations - A PDF copy is available for download from this page. [trt-ny]

"Egregious and sometimes arbitrary implementation of rules and regulations can destroy people's lives," said Chris Burger, program coordinator for the John P. McGovern, M.D. Center for Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, who helped compile Shattered Dreams. "Often, no one is held accountable. We hope that putting a human face on these problems will help bring about reform."

The publication includes situations related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, building codes, civil asset forfeiture, the Department of Labor, education policy, eminent domain, the Endangered Species Act, the Food and Drug Administration, free speech infringement, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Indian affairs, the IRS, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, property rights, public lands, rails-to-trails programs, small business, smart growth, water issues, wetlands and zoning.

Fred on Everything - Monolith Looms Over Harvard - commentary on the hubub ensuing over a phillic snow sculpture on the grounds of what MIT folk used to call "that little liberal arts college up the river".

Ron Paul in The House of Representatives via LewRockwell.com - The Myth of War Prosperity - a speech Dr. Paul gave on the House floor on Tuesday, March 4. Contrary to popular belief, war does not create prosperity. Exactly the opposite. [lew]

Robert Uhlig at The Telegraph - Jojoba 'just as good as diesel but cleaner' - the nut oil that you often read on the label of shampoos, can power diesel engines. No mention of its relative price. [smith2004]

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Libertarian Party: Warmongers Not Welcome
War - Tool of Oppression
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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