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Editor's ChoiceCurrent choices can be found in our Liberator OnLine Archive.
Freedom is the foundation of American society and is viewed as a constitutional right. But when it comes to choosing health care, the individual's freedom has been limited by burdensome regulations.
The Institute for Health Freedom was established to bring the issues of personal health freedom to the forefront of America's health policy debate. Their mission is to present the ethical and economic case for strengthening personal health freedom.
Visit the IHF web site at http://www.ihf-healthfreedom.org for news, research papers, and quick links to research resources. They provide you with information about health freedom, and you decide what to do with it! Enjoy.
Do you want to hear or see interviews by and about some of the greatest thinkers of our times? Then visit the Idea Channel at http://www.ideachannel.com/ and, with the aid of RealPlayer 5.0, listen and watch samples of Milton Friedman, Friedrich von Hayek, Walter Williams, and more. They have classic tape sets including Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose". The Idea Channel is the only site on the Net dedicated to intellectual interviews.
When you stop by, be sure to sign up for their free membership. They have a monthly drawing for a choice of any of their Videos along with other membership benefits.
L. Neil Smith's Webley Page was an easy choice for this issue's award. Smith has twice won the Prometheus Award, given by the Libertarian Futurist Society for outstanding science fiction with libertarian themes. His Prometheus Award-winning novels were The Probability Broach (1982) and Pallas (1994).
The Probability Broach was his first novel. It pictures a parallel libertarian earth, and wonderfully combines humor, action, suspense and libertarian ideology. The libertarian society in the book, and some of its characters, are further explored in sequels.
Smith has written around twenty science fiction novels, many explicitly libertarian. He served on the Platform Committee of the Libertarian Party in the mid-70's, and in 1978 ran for state legislator as a Libertarian Party candidate, gaining 15% of the vote with a total expenditure of $44.00.
L. Neil Smith is also an outspoken gun rights activist. He is founder and International Coordinator of the Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus, and is an NRA Life Member.
Visit his web site at: http://www.webleyweb.com/lneil/index.html read his articles and speeches, and even order his books.
Here is a fun site. This free site offers cash prizes to players that compete head to head in a real futures market. You start with an account with 100,000 Fantasy Futures Dollars and directly access their trading floor. They maintain your account, just like a brokerage firm. You can see your positions, check your orders, and study the markets.
And those of you who are interested in Clinton's chances of impeachment, can see what value traders have for shares in William Jefferson Clinton being President on January 1, 1999. Current bookie odds are 4.319 to 1 that he will *not* remain President through the end of the year. Visit their site at: http://www.fantasyfutures.com/ and click on the Political Market to find out the current odds.
This site is not only entertaining, it is educational and informational. The values of futures may be more accurate than any poll. And you can have fun while you learn more about the stock market.
Here is a great resource for lists of electronic magazines. From the obscure to the well known, this comprehensive list of eZines is both useful and entertaining. They are conveniently categorized by subject, or you can do a search for a topic. Their site also has the top 100 eZines and reviews of the eZines.
The review section is new. So, many of the eZines have not been reviewed. Here is your chance to review the "Liberator OnLine". Go to their website:
and click on the "Politics" category. Find the "Liberator OnLine" and click on the check for the review. You will be able to submit a review of our magazine. Also, while you are there, be sure visit our web archive and rate it. We want to know what you think.
ReconsiDer began in Syracuse, New York in 1992. They are a non-partisan, grassroots membership organization. They believe that the war on drugs has failed, and their fundamental purposes are to effect substantial change in United States drug policy, to promote, support, and engage in open discussion of alternatives to the War on Drugs, including the legalization of some or all of the drugs presently criminalized; to form numerous chapters that challenge citizens and local political leaders to rethink drug policies; and to help enact pragmatic legislation that reduces harm and preserves liberties.
Their web page:
is of more interest to New York residents, because -- since they are so young -- they only have chapters in that state. But they want to grow and start chapters across the country. The example of their accomplishments at a local level should inspire and motivate people to get involved.
Laissez Faire offers the world's largest selection of books and tapes on liberty. They carry hundreds of titles, and sell to individuals in over 90 countries. For almost 25 years they have published a monthly "snail-mail" bulletin, which now goes out to tens of thousands of people.
Their selection covers the whole range of libertarian thought and interest, from Ludwig von Mises to Milton Friedman, from Christian libertarianism to free thought, from Ayn Rand to Nathaniel Branden, from Thomas Sowell to Thomas Szasz, and much more. You can browse their selection by starting with any of the options on their homepage:
If you are overwhelmed by the selection, the late Roy Childs wrote an essay on Reading the Literature of Liberty. It's a useful guide to the classics on freedom, whether you're already familiar with these ideas, or just beginning to explore. You can read this essay at the following URL:
http://www.lfb.org/reading.html
We are excited to announce our newest sponsor -- FlickPicks. They have given a generous donation to the Advocates. But, best of all, they have a fun, new movie site.
FlickPicks gives you unbiased information to help you decide for yourself whether it's worth shelling out hard-earned cash to see a movie. They're not affiliated with any studio or distributor. The ratings and comments you see there are from real people -- moviegoers like yourself who paid to see the movies they rated.
Visit the site at:
http://www.flickpicks.com/advo.htm
Be sure to bookmark this site and visit often. The more you visit, the sooner they will send another donation. You can help us spread the message of liberty and have fun doing it!
Full Context is an internationally-distributed monthly newsletter that presents the politics, the principles, and the people behind the recent explosion of interest in Objectivist thought, and of the Renaissance of individualism surrounding it. Regular features include revealing, personal interviews with many of the leading personalities in the Objectivist and free-market movements from the academics to the artists, to the political pundits.
And the January interview is a must read. It is with 20/20's John Stossel, the Emmy Award winning investigative journalist. You can find out what he thinks about Ayn Rand, Rush Limbaugh, and David Kelley. He also tells who may be a big influence on Hugh Downs who recently made some positive remarks about libertarians.
Visit the site at:
to find out more about this excellent Objectivist publication.
The Liberty Journal is a very well designed and enjoyable site. It has some good historical information, like works by Bastiat, Jefferson, and other historical figures in the quest for liberty. They also will be bringing contemporary ideas in the form of a monthly journal.
But the most interesting aspect of this site is the interactive design. Gary M. Shoemaker, your host at Liberty Journal, has a vision of a meeting place where people can gather and discuss liberty and how to be have influence on society today. To this end, the site has a forum section which allows discussion of many topics of concern today. It also has a chat room for live discussions with other lovers of liberty.
This site is new, so the monthly journal archives and forums are pretty bare. The Chat room was empty when I visited. I expect this all to change as people start discovering this site and stop in for a visit.
Visit the site at:
and be sure to sign their guest book.
His 1971 book The Machinery of Freedom makes the case for this in a witty, entertaining, highly readable and rigorously intellectual fashion. The Machinery of Freedom is considered by many to be one of the most important works of libertarian theory, filled with clever, persuasive and original arguments for most of the basic libertarian positions, regardless of whether one believes that the state can or should be abolished. A second, expanded and revised edition, was published in 1989.
And David Friedman has his own web site at http://www.best.com/~ddfr/ which features not only some of his writing and thinking, but his pesonal side. There are many articles and excerpts from his libertarian works to keep you reading for hours. There are also pictures of his family, showing his personal side. If you want to see who this outspoken champion of liberty is, surf by his web site.
One of the voluntary solutions to access is from the Recreational Software Advisory Council on the Internet (RSACi). This independent, non-profit organization empowers the public, especially parents to make informed decisions about electronic media by means of an open, objective content advisory system. Visit their site at:
Their system is totally voluntary, and each provider does a self evaluation of their site. The web site owner is liable if they commit fraud by giving incorrect information about their site. This takes the council out of the loop in deciding ratings so that it could not become an agency of censorship.
With this and other methods that are already provided in the free market,
government involvement is not needed. Even if it were, it would be
totally undesirable. We don't want a government that could control
what we read. Our web page "Crackdown in China"
http://www.self-gov.org/freeman/8909zhen.htm,
is something that the Chinese government doesn't want its citizens
to read. Let's hope we never see this censorship used in the free world.
You are probably already familiar with D.A.R.E. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program in public schools is the most prominent and visible attempt to educate young people to resist drug abuse. It reaches over 60% of elementary school children in the United States, and is far and away the most prevalent drug education program in use today.
But some question the effects of D.A.R.E. This site:
http://www.drcnet.org/DARE/
looks at DARE critically on both the effectiveness of the program and tactics used to suppress criticism of D.A.R.E.
Criticism of D.A.R.E. started when the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) announced preliminary results of their study in 1993 that D.A.R.E. was ineffective. Oddly, though, the National Institute of Justice, who funded the study, refused to publish the results. A link on this site directs you to an article in "The New Republic" which chronicles the suppression of criticism of D.A.R.E. Make this one of your stops.
This site, brought to you by the Drug Reform Coordination Network (http://www.drcnet.org) offers a more balanced assessment of D.A.R.E. than some of the more antagonistic sites. One site pointed to from these pages, registered the domain name http://www.dare.org, and is a strong anti-D.A.R.E. site. "Internet World" Magazine (9/96) wonders if D.A.R.E. will take legal action against this site like it did against sellers of a T-shirt with a D.A.R.E. logo that read "I turned in my parents and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
Hold your nose, and then enter http://www.house.gov, the web page for the House of Representatives. Although the contents may not be fun to read, this site is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in politics.
What you can find on these pages, and links to other pages, would have been unimaginable ten years ago. You can learn more about the workings of D.C. in a half hour of web surfing than you could by visiting the Nation's Capital. Technology has made it possible to closely watch those in D.C.
This web site has up-to-the-hour information of what is going on in Congress and each committee. It has each week's schedule, and the annual schedule. You can get information about every bill or resolution that is being considered by congress. One important link on this page is to THOMAS, the Library of Congress's records of legislation with easy-to-use searching.
And if you are a real glutton for punishment, you can visit the House's Internet Law Library. You can search the full text of the U.S. Code containing the text of current public laws enacted by Congress.
So check out this site. Find out what bills your representative has sponsored. You can end your visit by clicking on the link to "Write Your Representative". Tell them to take the "World's Smallest Political Quiz" on the web at http://www.self-gov.org/quiz.html.
Do you want to keep up on today's political news? CNN/Time's AllPolitics (http://allpolitics.com) has it. Although they claim to be an unbiased news source, they seem to have the same liberal media bias that you would expect from CNN/Time.
Even with their bias they still are a great resource of political news. They have the current news, analysis of current political events, and in-depth analysis. You can also participate in their reader polls, and see the results.
So, visit and bookmark AllPolitics, but beware of the bias.
Are you tired of politicians trying the same old failed solutions to today's problems? The Independent Institute is one organization dedicated to looking for REAL solutions using the highest standards of independent inquiry regardless of prevailing political or social biases and conventions.
Their web site (http://www.independent.org) is a great source of information on public policy issues. They also have books available with extensive reviews. You can also subscribe to their publication "The Independent Review" and read selected articles from past issues.
The Independent Institute is a nonprofit, non-partisan, scholarly research and educational organization that sponsors comprehensive studies on the political economy of critical public issues.
Affirmative Action is one of the hottest issues in today's politics. Sites that feature the different views on this issue are very popular. One such site is "Views on Affirmative Action" created by Maarten de Wit at Slippery Rock University.
They have selected links to differing views -- not too many, so you don't feel overwhelmed. It is worth reading the different views to know how others see this issue. Visit this popular page at: http://www.sru.edu/depts/cisba/comm/awalters/smgr/maarten/maxhpfro.htm
The right to own property is one of the most basic principles in our form of government. The United States Constitution speaks of "life, liberty and property" all in one breath. The Fifth Amendment states that no citizen shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation." The Fourth Amendment protects "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. . ."
Unfortunately, these familiar phrases from the Constitution do not mean what they seem to mean when "civil forfeiture" rears its ugly head -- or so says the Supreme Court. Relying on forfeiture's ancient "legal fiction" that it is the property that is on trial -- not the property owner -- the courts have interpreted away most due process protections in forfeiture cases, on the theory that property does not have rights.
That is why FEAR exists.
Forfeiture Endangers American Rights (FEAR) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reform of federal and state asset forfeiture laws to restore due process and protect property rights in the forfeiture process. Their website can be viewed at http://www.fear.org.
FEAR advocates criminal due process safeguards for all forfeitures, and enhanced protections for innocent owners and third parties. We seek an end to the practices of letting the seizing agencies benefit from the proceeds of property seized, and of letting federal agencies adopt state seizures.
The membership in F.E.A.R. Inc. is comprised of concerned citizens, forfeiture victims, and lawyers. The concerned citizens active in our cause include doctors, writers, social scientists, professors, businessmen, and other professionals. A former U. S. Congressman serves on our Board of Directors. Individual lawyer/members have represented forfeiture victims in a wide range of constitutional issues regarding forfeiture law.
The Advocates is a non-partisan organization. We would like to see our ideals adopted by every political party. Therefore, today's award will be shared by three sites.
The Libertarian Party has a website ( http://www.lp.org) that many readers may already be familiar with. [Our records show that around one-third of those taking our quiz came from this site.] For those that haven't, you should spend a few minutes and visit it today. They have extensive information about the party, affiliate organizations, history, and platform. You can also find out how to become a member.
The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) ( http://www.rlc.org) is for libertarians in the Republican Party. They claim to be the "cutting-edge" of the Party. The site is attractive and has extensive information for the libertarian Republican.
The Democratic Freedom Caucus (DFC) is a progressive libertarian caucus in the Democratic Party. The purpose of the DFC is to promote individual liberty, limited government, and social responsibility. Their website ( http://www.progress.org/dfc) has information about their principles, heroes, platform, and how to get involved.
Give each site a visit. If you want to be politically involved, you have plenty of choices.
Neal Boortz, libertarian radio talk show host, is on the web. (http:\\www.boortz.com) Boortz is one of the top radio talk show hosts in the Atlanta area. He updates his web page daily and is a wealth of great information.
Not only does this page have information and links of interest to libertarians, but it is humorous: Check out the logo for the "Boortz Institute of Insensitivity Training"; Or find out how to E-mail your compliments, complaints, or spelling corrections to Boortz. This is a fun and informative site to visit. Make sure to stop by today.
Their website (http://www.mises.org/) has information about educational opportunities, an extensive free market book catalog, and back issues of their monthly newsletter. Visit this leading site that teaches about the free market and Austrian economics.
Be sure to check up on the Daily Outrage! But, be careful not to let it spoil your day.
Can one person make a difference? With the Web, some good ideas, and imagination anyone can make a valuable website.
The Liberty Round Table (http://home.lrt.org) is one such site. Don Tiggre has done an excellent job with graphics and content.
You can find out more about the essay contest "Fighting Involuntary Servitude for Students" as mentioned previously in this issue. Also find out about the "Green Ribbon Campaign."
This site is unique among the Liberty oriented sites. Make sure to make this one of your destinations the next time you are surfing.
Founded in 1989, The Future of Freedom Foundation is a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, educational foundation that presents an uncompromising moral, philosophical, and economic case for individual freedom, private property, and limited government. FFF aims to influence the course of thinking so that individuals abandon a commitment to the philosophy of socialism, the welfare state, and the managed economy and move toward the philosophy of freedom.
The FFF's Web site (http://www.fff.org/freedom/info/fff.html) is worth visiting to find out more about this organization. Make sure to check out articles from their monthly publication Freedom Daily. One must read article is "The White Rose: A Lesson in Dissent" from the January 1996 issue. Here is how it starts:
"The date was February 22, 1943. Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, along with their best friend, Christoph Probst, were scheduled to be executed by Nazi officials that afternoon. [...] This is the story of The White Rose. It is a lesson in dissent. It is a tale of courage --of principle-- of honor."
This story is a great inspiration to all who love liberty. Make sure you visit this site and find out why.
How much will you personally pay for specific federal programs such as NASA and defense?
With April 15th just just behind us, this service was created to help answer questions like those above. After first offering a rough estimate of federal tax burden, this service (at http://www.libertyconnections.com/tax) shows you how that tax revenue is spent and then helps you calculate your tax freedom day.
What is a Tax Freedom Day?
A tax freedom day is the day of the year that you stop working to pay taxes and begin working to earn money for yourself. If, for example, you paid 50% of your income in taxes, then you would spend half the year working to earn money for taxes. Your tax freedom day would be six months into the year, or July 1st. (Of course, this method assumes you work to pay taxes before working for personal income.)
The ATR website also includes the list of Congressmen that have taken the taxpayer protection pledge. Is your congressman on this list? Find out by visiting the site at: http://www.atr.org/.
His beliefs? "Government ownership of all business, industry, banks, farms and schools... Government provides job placement for all its citizens... Government seizure of all firearms... The Government will establish a state church." Plus more.
Is Jeff being serious? Visit his homepage and decide for yourself.
The Central Banking Resource Center includes:
The site has won praise from economists, central bankers, financial journalists and government officials.
If you haven't already bought the book, here is a great way to preview it. The website includes a table of contents and several paragraph descriptions for each chapter. This book may prove to be very popular and instrumental in bring Libertarianism into the mainstream. Check it out, and if you like what you see, order your own copy.
One of the most interesting aspects of their site is "Ask the Economist". Each week they feature an on-line economist to answer your questions about economic principles and their real-world implementation. Their "faculty" is comprised of university professors, professional economists, and policy specialists who recognize the importance of sound economics, and want to help you learn. So check out the page for information of to get expert help within 48-hours.
This site has some good reading about the ideas of Voluntaryists. They have short excerpts from books and articles written by Carl Watner, Lysander Spooner, and John Perry Barlow, along with many others. The ideas are given in short articles which is perfect for this media. There are many thought provoking ideas on these pages. Make sure to surf to http://users.aol.com/vlntryst/ in the near future.
They also have a good list of links to other libertarian sites. The layout and color scheme are very attractive. Mike Hihn, the webmaster did a great job of designing these pages. Visit these pages at http://libertyissues.com.
The amount of free advertising you receive from the ILE is directly proportional to the amount you give to others. Their system will automatically display your banner on their growing network of over seventy thousand web pages. In addition to giving you instant access to free banner advertising, they also provide you with up-to-the-minute statistics.
Our latest statistics:
Cumulative Since Joining
May 11 1996 17:15
The Internet Link exchange can be found at http://www.linkexchange.com/.
Their website is frames based so it is easy to navigate. One of the best parts of the site is the Virtual Phone Book. This phone book has people listed in organizations around the world and websites for freedom oriented organizations. It is the most complete that I have seen.
Their website is http://www.atlas-fdn.org/.
ONSALE is a new type of interactive retailing. It recreates in electronic form the fun and thrill of bidding at an auction, where prices and availability change in response to customers' actions.
ONSALE exploits the unique advantages of the online medium to create a new retailing format. By focusing on limited quantity goods, and offering them in a series of fast-action sales formats where prices and availability vary instantly in response to demand, ONSALE creates an entertaining and exciting experience.
The "Separation Alliance" is a grass-roots non-profit organization dedicated to rediscovering the original American public education system -- privately operated, open to the public. Their mission is to inform Americans how education can be improved, especially for the poor, by the full separation of school and state. Full separation means putting a stop to government compelled attendance, financing, curriculum, testing, credentialing, and accreditation.
Visit their website at http://www.sepschool.org. Be sure to read the Proclamation and -- if you agree -- add your signature to the list.
PoliticsNow is online to connect you with complete coverage of politics, elections and government. Their site (http://politicsnow.com) is attractive and informative. They have news, analysis on the races, the issues, the states and the candidates.
In addition to all the news and information, there are enormous opportunities to make your voice heard, to talk with others about issues that concern you and to reach out and communicate directly with the decision-makers in politics and government. The many rooms of the Caucus, the Congress Alert and Petition make it possible for you to speak out and reach out.
This site is a must see for any political junkie.
Founded in 1977, the Cato Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Cato Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of more options that are consistent with the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, and peace.
Cato's website (www.cato.org) is a great place to find policy reports, articles, and past Cato forums available in Real Audio.
Be sure to check out their site today if you are interested in their "Future of the Internet" Forum. This will be cybercast in Real Audio tomorrow morning -- live! Visit their pages to find out how you can participate.
This week's choice is the Competitive Enterprise Institute Website. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a pro-market, public policy group committed to advancing the principles of free enterprise and limited government. Founded in 1984 by Fred L. Smith, Jr., CEI emphasizes the marketing and implementation of classical liberal ideals.
The CEI is very interested in environmental concerns. It is hard to find the free market perspective on these issues. The CEI has many articles covering a variety of topics in their Public Policy section. This site is not only attractive and easy to navigate, but has a great wealth of useful information.
Visit the site at http://www.cei.org.
A starting point for liberty on the Internet, http://free-market.com has plenty of links, information, and even give-aways. These highly attractive pages also list upcoming events, links to partner organizations, a liberty library, and a weekly review of noteworthy sites.
The liberty library on this site is worth checking out. It contains dozens of links to classic writings from authors like Locke, Paine, and Mills. If you visit the site for no other reason, visit it to sign up for the free lottery. This month's give-away is for over $100 worth of merchandise from the Acton Institute. What a deal!
Last Modified, Jun 03, 1998