Volume 12, Number 22 | November 29, 2007
The Liberator Online
Contents
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, UNBELIEVABLE NEWS
PERSUASION POWER POINT
#239
ASK DR. RUWART
PRODUCT REVIEW
Dear friends, Mark your calendars! A very important U.S. civic holiday is coming up -- one that far too many Americans are not aware of. Perhaps you can help bring it to their attention. It's never been more important than today. December 15 is "Bill of Rights Day" -- a day to celebrate, honor and renew support for our precious Bill of Rights. It was on December 15, 1791 that the Bill of Rights --
the first ten amendments to the United States
One hundred and fifty years later, in 1941, "Bill of Rights Day" was officially recognized as a national civic holiday. The Bill of Rights is, of course, the great protector of American liberties. It boldly declares that people have certain inalienable rights that government cannot abridge -- fundamental rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, and more. It also provides procedures for defending those rights -- such as fair trials and limits on federal power. The Bill of Rights doesn't just belong to America. It has inspired freedom fighters around the world. The Founders viewed their Revolution as the first blow in a struggle to win liberty for *all* the people of the world. So the Bill of Rights is truly a document for everyone. That's why I hope libertarians and other freedom lovers will use this upcoming Bill of Rights Day as an opportunity to teach their families, friends, neighbors and others about our precious heritage. It's a *great* time for a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, discussing the vital importance of our Bill of Rights freedoms and calling for reflection on our heritage -- and urging citizens to speak out against current calls to sacrifice liberty for (alleged) security. With our fundamental Bill of Rights freedom under unprecedented assault in recent years, this has never been more important. To help with that, here's a short summary of the Bill of Rights, prepared by students at Liberty Middle School in Ashley, Virginia. (I've added just a few words.) While this condensed version doesn't have the majesty, depth and detail of the entire document, it is short and easy to understand, and may be useful to you in discussions and letters: THE BILL OF RIGHTS: First Ten Amendments to the Constitution 1. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of
the press, right to assemble peaceably, right to petition the government
about grievances. All Americans should be familiar with their Bill of Rights freedoms. Sadly, numerous surveys indicate most are not. A 1991 poll commissioned by the American Bar Association found that only 33% of Americans surveyed even knew what the Bill of Rights was! Those of us who love liberty should do our best to correct that. Happy Bill of Rights Day! (For more on Bill of Rights day, and some suggested
activities, see the Web site of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms
Ownership: * * * 10% OFF FREE-STATE LIBERTARIAN CONFERENCE! As noted in our "What's Happening With The Advocates"
section below, I'll be joining a group of outstanding speakers at the
2008 New Hampshire Liberty Forum: sponsored by the world-famous Free
State Project,
During the convention, libertarian activists will hear about the political action methods already being effectively employed in New Hampshire. There will be multiple program "tracks" from which attendees can choose from, based on their interest. Interactive panel discussions include Broadcast, Print and Web Media, Education, 2nd Amendment, and Taxpayer Activism. The conference sponsors have generously offered Liberator Online readers a special 10% discount! To get 10% off, just use
promotional code "2008AD" when signing up at the conference
here: Hope to see you there! * * * Welcome to 174 new Liberator Online subscribers this issue. Thanks for joining our subscription "family" of over 69,000 liberty-loving readers in more than 100 countries! To learn more about the Advocates and our work for
liberty: To learn more about libertarianism: -- Sharon Harris, President | Email: sharon@TheAdvocates.org PS: Holiday special! 15% off ALL MERCHANDISE in our online catalog! Books, CDs, DVDs, T-shirts, Quiz cards, OPH kits... EVERYTHING! (The only exceptions are shipping, applicable taxes, seminars, and magazine subscriptions, whose price we do not control.) You can browse the catalog and place your order from
here: (PLEASE NOTE: The prices you'll see at our catalog are our *regular* prices. Before we charge your credit card, we will subtract 15% off your total.) If you prefer to order by phone or mail, please see "Product Review" at the end of this issue. This is a great chance to get gifts for your
libertarian friends -- or for your well-deserving libertarian self! Your order helps support the vital work of the Advocates. Thank you! ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
What's Happening With The Advocates * 2008 New Hampshire Liberty Forum: "Moving Liberty Forward" is the theme of this event, sponsored by the world-famous Free State Project. Advocates President Sharon Harris will be speaking Friday January 3rd as kickoff speaker. Featured: a bevy of outstanding freedom movement speakers and activists, including Advocates Board Vice Chair Jim Lark and leading drug law reformer Ethan Nadelman. Thursday January 3 to Sunday January 6, 2008 in Nashua, New Hampshire. SPECIAL TEN PERCENT DISCOUNT FOR LIBERATOR ONLINE
READERS: To get 10% off the regular conference cost, just enter
promotional code "2008AD" when signing up at the conference here: * Heartland Libertarian Conference: Sharon Harris will be the dinner speaker, and joins a great list of speakers at this Kansas City, Missouri event, including former U.S. Congressman Bob Barr; Libertarian Party Executive Director Shane Cory; and 2004 Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik. Also featured: a debate between 2008 Libertarian Presidential candidates. Co-sponsored by the Kansas Libertarian Party, the Missouri Libertarian Party, and the Cass County Libertarian Party. April 4-5, 2008. http://www.lpmo.org/heartland2008/ * Freedom Cruise: Announcing the Eleventh Annual
"Freedom Cruise" -- a glorious 12 day cruise through the Mediterranean,
focused on Italy and the Greek islands: Venice; Dubrovnic; Corfu;
Argostoli; Santorini; Catania; Naples; Rome; Florence; and Barcelona.
The event is organized by Ken Bisson of Freedom Cruises. Great food, an
amazing itinerary, and fine company! (This isn't an Advocates event, but
Ken is on our Board of Directors, and libertarians who have been on past
cruises rave about them.) For more details, visit: ******
by James W. Harris Appearing a few weeks ago on the Tonight Show, libertarian Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul told host Jay Leno that his plan to abolish the hated federal income tax would still leave government funding at year 2000 levels. Wrong! False! cried the ever-vigilant Washington Post.
Oh, no! Not that! How could America get by with only the tiny, minuscule federal government of the Clinton years? Please don't throw us in that briar patch! Actually, we don't recall many people in 1995 saying the federal government wasn't big enough. In fact, we remember those radical anti-government activists Bill Clinton and Al Gore attacking the federal government as being bloated, and declaring "the era of Big Government is over." (Alas, it turns out they were a tad over-optimistic.) So, yeah, we could live with abolishing the income tax even if Dr. Paul's estimates are off by a few years. The Republic would survive. But are Paul's figures really off, even by the Post's absurdly nit-picking standard? The Cato Institute's Daniel J. Mitchell checked it out: "The Post's criticism is akin to condemning a book because the typesetting was not centered on a few pages. The real issue is whether America would be a stronger and more prosperous nation if government was reduced to the levels envisioned by the Founding Fathers. ... The Post also fixates on whether the Paul campaign has identified $1.1 trillion of savings to match the forgone revenue from eliminating the income tax. "In attempting to figure out where the $1.1 trillion in *annual* savings is going to come from in a Paul administration, I talked yesterday afternoon to the candidate's policy director, Joseph Becker. He pointed out that Paul has promised to bring troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, eliminate foreign aid, eliminate agriculture subsidies, and get rid of the U.S. Education Department... "The candidate almost certainly would favor the elimination (or transfer to the states) of the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Labor, Commerce, and Health and Human Services... "Indeed, because he also would gradually turn entitlement programs into systems based on personal accounts (and shift welfare components back to the state and local levels), the long-term savings would significantly exceed the amount of money collected by the personal income tax." (Source: Cato Institute blog: * * * Massachusetts: Abolish the Income Tax Initiative Is Back Massachusetts is often derided as "Taxachusetts" because of its notorious tax-and-spend government. In 2002, some Massachusetts libertarians and small government activists decided to tackle that -- head on. The Committee for Small Government managed to put an initiative on the state ballot that gave voters the chance to abolish the state income altogether. The Massachusetts mainstream media ignored the initiative at first. When they did bother to cover it, they denounced it. Ridiculous, they said. Reckless. No chance of passing. It won a whopping 45.3 percent of the 2002 vote. The media and the political establishment were shocked and stunned. And now it is back. The Committee for Small Government -- led by Carla Howell and Liberator Online columnist Michael Cloud -- has just completed the impressive feat of collecting about 100,000 signatures to put the initiative on the 2008 ballot. Michael Cloud predicts passage for the initiative this time around. Last year the group spent $90,000 on ads. This year they want to raise and spend $500,000. Further, a new world of online activism allows supporters to get the word out, bypassing the traditional mainstream media gatekeepers. The initiative would chop the state budget from about $28 billion to $17 billion. That's actually not as radical as it might seem, Cloud points out. It's about the size of the state's 1995 budget. But... it's certainly a nice start. No tax on wages. No tax on interest or dividends. No tax on capital gains. And no income tax. Cloud says the average household's savings would be about $3,600 a year. The Committee estimate the cuts would ignite a tremendous economic boom, raising wages and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. "With less government and no income tax, Massachusetts will become a magnet to private, productive businesses and individuals," Howell says. Also, the state government would be compelled to end worthless and wasteful programs. And if the government feels that $17 billion dollars is not enough to make ends meet? "If the legislators feel like they need more money, they can make their case to the people," Michael told the Boston Globe. Should the effort succeed, it will provide a blueprint for other states to follow. And if it can succeed in Taxachusetts... the possibilities would seem endless. (Sources: Committee for Small Government The Occupational Licensing Racket "Do you want to be a fortune teller in Maryland? Your future better include a license from the state," warns a study from the libertarian Reason Foundation that examines the tyranny of state-mandated occupational licensing. How about becoming a hair braider in Mississippi? You'll need 300 to 1,500 hours of training -- and government permission. Want to sell flowers in Louisiana? Sorry. Only licensed florists can do that. Even moving furniture requires a license in almost every state in America. Other fields restricted by some states include
auctioneering, beekeeping, chimney sweeping, and --
The worst state for this nonsense is California, where fully 177 different jobs require a special license or credential. But many states are almost as restrictive, and all are pretty awful. Not so long ago in America, all you needed to go into business and earn a living for yourself and your family was the ability to do a job, the necessary tools, and good business sense. You certainly didn't need the consent of the government. Today, however, in the alleged land of the free, over a thousand occupations -- making up an incredible 20 percent of the American workforce -- now require would-be practitioners to beg permission from the government, fork over expensive fees, sit through outrageously time-consuming and arbitrary training, and meet other unnecessary and tyrannical requirements so demanding they keep many qualified people from seeking to earn a living in their chosen fields. Advocates of state licensing argue that it protects consumers from unscrupulous, incompetent, or dangerous practitioners. However, that's just hogwash, says Reason. In fact, numerous studies show these laws actually *reduce* consumer protection and public safety. "Most of these licensing requirements are completely arbitrary," says Adam B. Summers, author of the report. "You see that clearly when examining neighboring states. California has 177 job categories licensed. But if you take one step across the state line into Arizona just 72 careers are licensed. In North Carolina you need a license to do 107 jobs. Next door in South Carolina, only 60 jobs require certification." So what's behind the drive for licensing in so many fields? Liberator Online readers have probably already figured it out. "These laws are created under the guise of 'helping' consumers," Summers says. "In reality, the laws are helping existing businesses keep out competition, restricting consumer choice, destroying entrepreneurship, and driving up prices." It's yet another example of how the government restricts opportunity, perpetuates poverty, squashes dreams, stifles innovation, and protects fat-cat established businesses from honest competition. There's lots more on this in the Reason study and in the summary of the study, both of which can be found at the URL below. The study and summary also do an excellent job of answering questions about how a free society would protect consumers from the dangers of ill-prepared practitioners -- without the tyranny and the inefficiency of occupational licensing. (Source: Reason Foundation
* * * BETTING ON FREEDOM: "If the government is going
to ban every activity that can lead to harmful compulsion, the
government is going to have to ban nearly every activity. Shopping, day
trading, sex, (eating) chocolate, even drinking water -- these and
myriad other activities, most of which are part of everyday life, have
been linked to harmful compulsions." -- professional poker player Annie
Duke, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee about online
gambling, November 14, 2007. THE MELTING POT IN ACTION: "Immigrants
contribute nearly one-fourth of the economic output of New York State,
and outside of New York City, they are overrepresented in some of the
most critical occupations, including higher education and health care,
according to a study to be released today. In the suburbs north and east
of the city, about 4 of every 10 doctors and more than one-fourth of
college professors were foreign-born, the study by the private Fiscal
Policy Institute found. In upstate New York, where just 5 percent of
residents are foreign-born, immigrants accounted for about one-fifth of
the professors and more than one-third of the doctors, according to the
study. The study, conducted over the past year, concluded that the
contributions of people born outside the country have spread far beyond
the low-wage, low-skill work often associated with immigrants." --
"Immigrants Pull Weight in Economy, Study Finds," New York Times,
November 26. * * * * * * * *
What are You Trying to Accomplish in this Conversation? by Michael Cloud Most political conversations begin accidentally. Without a conscious purpose. One person reads about a current event, or someone's comment on a current event, and says something about it. Another person responds to the first person's comments, and a conversation begins. Or a person sees political or economic news, and expresses an opinion about it. Another person reacts to the first person's opinion, and a discussion begins. A chance exposure to an event or piece of information. A spontaneous reaction by one person. A reaction by another person. Then a conversation. Is it any wonder that so few of these conversations change people's minds? Would you like a way to make these kinds of conversations pay off? When you find yourself in one of these situations, briefly pause, and ask yourself two questions: 1. What do I want to accomplish in this conversation? 2. What can I do to make it happen? Do you want to raise libertarian questions in the other person's mind? Do you want to offer him a different way of looking at the issue? Which way? Do you want to draw him out, to hear what he knows or doesn't know about the issue? Or hear which remedies he's considered or hasn't considered? What can you do to raise libertarian questions in his
mind? Ask them? State them?
What can you do to give him a different perspective on the issue? Use metaphors? Use the feel, felt, found technique? How can you draw him out on the subject? Use the "Ah," "Oh," "Um" technique? Ask stimulating questions? In a world of spontaneous political conversations and unplanned economic discussions, the person with a purpose and plan will run the conversation. Why not you? Why not a purpose and plan for the conversation that leads to liberty? What will you try to accomplish in your next political conversation? * * * * * * * * In 2000, Michael was honored with the Thomas Paine Award as the Most
Persuasive Libertarian Communicator in America.
BUILDING THE CASE FOR LIBERTY
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Dr. Mary Ruwart is a leading expert in libertarian communication. In this column she offers short answers to real questions about libertarianism. To submit questions to Dr. Ruwart, see end of column. * * * Writes Dr. Sowell: "Many, if not most, municipal transit systems were privately owned in the 19th century and the private owners of these systems had no incentive to segregate the races. "These owners may have been racists themselves but they were in business to make a profit -- and you don't make a profit by alienating a lot of your customers. There was not enough market demand for Jim Crow seating on municipal transit to bring it about. "... Private owners of streetcar, bus, and railroad companies in the South lobbied against the Jim Crow laws while these laws were being written, challenged them in the courts after the laws were passed, and then dragged their feet in enforcing those laws after they were upheld by the courts. "These tactics delayed the enforcement of Jim Crow seating laws for years in some places. Then company employees began to be arrested for not enforcing such laws and at least one president of a streetcar company was threatened with jail if he didn't comply. (Source: http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4457 ) (Dr. Sowell discusses this in greater detail in his book Preferential Policies, An International Perspective, 1990, pp.20-21.] This is not to say that these transportation company owners were not racists, or were champions of black freedom. They simply wanted to make money. And free markets make racial discrimination extraordinarily, even prohibitively, expensive. Because of such government-mandated discrimination, the modern Civil Rights movement was pioneered by individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, who practiced peaceful civil disobedience. Without the courageous sacrifices of such people, it's unlikely that Congress would have been inspired (shamed?) into action. * * * * * * * * Due to volume, Dr. Ruwart can't personally acknowledge all emails. But we'll run the best questions and answers in upcoming issues. Dr. Ruwart's previous Liberator Online answers are archived in searchable form at: http://www.TheAdvocates.org/ruwart/categories_list.php Dr. Ruwart's outstanding books "Healing Our World" and "Short Answers
to the Tough Questions" are available from the Advocates:
http://www.TheAdvocates.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv
The Power of Repetition by Sharon Harris, Advocates President While speaking for liberty, have you ever worried that you might sound like a broken record -- saying the same things over and over again? It's a common concern of many people who have the opportunity to speak out for liberty -- whether it's for a candidate, for an initiative or referendum, against a tax increase or stadium bond, or appearing before the city council. We might think that we always need fresh material, new things to say. In fact, it's best to say the same old thing! (That
is, if your "same old thing" is a tried and true soundbite for liberty.
Learn how to develop your soundbites here: Once you're comfortable with your soundbite and able to deliver it persuasively and with conviction, the key is to say it over and over and over again. There are two reasons to do this: 1. People are listening who have never heard it before. If you've gotten your point down to your best shot, you want as many people as possible to hear it. 2. For those who've already heard it, the repetition
reinforces the messages and makes it more likely that the listeners will
remember it. People may even start quoting you!
The late great Harry Browne was an expert at this. Some libertarians complained "I've heard him say that same sentence before," but those critics didn't realize the two points above. Harry was able to greatly multiply the effectiveness of his well-developed points by repeating them to as many people as possible. If you follow the Ron Paul campaign, you'll notice that Congressman Paul does the same thing -- driving home his key points, time and time again. So, go ahead -- sound like a broken record. It's sweet music to liberty-loving ears! See more One-Minute Liberty Tips! •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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Constitution -- went into
effect. 
Thursday January 3 to Sunday January 6, 2008 in Nashua,
New Hampshire. 
After careful study, the Post declared that, in
reality, if Ron Paul ended the personal income tax and replaced it with
nothing, federal revenues would fall to... 1995 levels. 
yes -- interior
decorating. And the list goes on and on. 
Tell a story? Use several of the techniques
from Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion? (Available from the Advocates:
