Volume 13, Number 15 | September 16, 2008
The Liberator Online
Contents
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, UNBELIEVABLE NEWS
PERSUASION POWER POINT
#254
ASK DR. RUWART
PRODUCT REVIEW
Dear friend, How do journalists react when they encounter the World's Smallest Political Quiz? At first, many are skeptical. That's natural enough. After all, that's part of their job description. But when they look closer, they often end up impressed with the Quiz's results. Kyra Gottesman writes a weekly column for the Oroville Mercury-Register newspaper, which serves the towns of Chico & Oroville, California. She recently bumped into the Quiz online. She was at first suspicious that it was just libertarian propaganda, but she pursued it further. Here's what she wrote on August 15: "Skeptical that this quiz was designed to make people
more aware of libertarian issues,
"Hmmm, I became even more skeptical. But I took the quiz multiple times, giving different answers (based on my personal viewpoints as well as known viewpoints of 'the left,' 'the right' and libertarian parties) and on each occasion found that my placement on the quiz's political spectrum did change. "Curious, I did some more research and discovered that this quiz has been used by several noted political research firms, including Rasmussen Research, as a valid measure of likely voters' political leanings. "I found the results of my quiz, as did some of my
friends and family, interesting especially in light of the upcoming
presidential elections. I may not be as closely affiliated to my current
party as I thought I was." This is just one more example of how journalists, educators and other prominent opinion-shapers, after careful examination, find that the Quiz provides honest, useful and reliable political insights. And that, in turn, encourages them to spread the word about the Quiz -- and the Quiz's key message that libertarians are a distinctive and important part of the political spectrum. Because of this, every day thousands of people encounter the World's Smallest Political Quiz. And when they do, they learn more about politics -- and libertarianism. It's one important way the Advocates is helping move the world towards understanding, and eventually embracing, the ideas of liberty. * * * Welcome to 24 new Liberator Online subscribers this issue. Thanks for joining our subscription "family" of over 69,000 liberty-loving readers in more than 100 countries! Learn more about the Advocates
and our work for liberty. -- Sharon Harris, President | Email: sharon@TheAdvocates.org PS: EXCITING NEWS! As we go to press, over 20,000 people have taken the Quiz -- in just the past 24 hours! That's great news for liberty! And it brings me to mention again.... THE ELECTION SEASON PARADOX. This is a presidential election season, and so there's more demand than ever for our services. But paradoxically, cash flow is critically low for us, as many libertarian funds flow into campaigns this time of year. Worries about the economy are slowing donations, too. So we're in a financial crunch right now. We need your support now so we can keep providing the
great services YOU expect of us! We have some great "Thank you!" gifts for your donation of any size at this critical time. Please read more at: THANK YOU!
What's Happening With The Advocates * ADVOCATES PRESIDENT QUOTED: Sharon Harris was quoted
in an article in Health Care News, the highly influential pro-market
newspaper published by the Heartland Institute. The article, "Landmark
Georgia Reform Under Attack by Activist Group," concerns attempts to
undermine market-oriented health care insurance reform in Georgia.
Sharon defended the reform, arguing that it was "good for consumers and
taxpayers, because [it] put money back in the pockets of individuals,
giving them the power to make choices about how they spend or save it." * THE TWELFTH ANNUAL FREEDOM CRUISE: Imagine awakening
to a warm sun reflecting off a turquoise ocean on a
* MARSHALL FRITZ HEALTH UPDATE: Marshall Fritz -- the
legendary and beloved founder of the Advocates for Self-Government, t Doctors give him 6-20 months to live, with a 50-50 chance of living one year. Marshall is facing this challenge with his characteristic courage and good spirits. You can read Marshall's thoughts and send him a message at: www.MarshallFritz.com * DISCOVER LIBERTY OUTREACH TABLOID: "Discover
Liberty" is a high quality, full-color, eye-catching 8-page tabloid.
It's attractive and friendly, designed for OPH booth volunteers to hand
out to the public.
******
by James W. Harris Okay, we just can't resist a good "cops bust lemonade stand" story. In this case, it's a fruit and vegetable stand, but... same principle. This summer eleven-year-old Katie and three-year-old Sabrina Lewis set up a tiny roadside stand in their hometown of Clayton, California (pop. 11,000). On Saturdays the girls sold melons, radishes, and squash from the family's home garden. Katie saved $500 for her college fund from the proceeds. Then the police showed up. Busted! Why? "They said traffic was being stopped, and then they came up with we can't have a roadside stand, and then they said it was a commercial enterprise," said Katie. Clayton Mayor Gregg Manning strongly defended the action. "They may start out with a little card-table and
selling a couple of things, but then who is to say what else they have?"
the mayor warned. "Is all the produce made there, do they grow it
themselves? Are they going to have eggs and chickens for sale next?" "Lemonade stands are technically illegal, but they
don't last long enough to do anything about," Manning said.
The mayor finds the criticism he's receiving annoying and unfair. "It's not like we're the Gestapo going out and closing down fruit stands," he said. No, Mayor, it's nothing like that at all. We're happy to report that the girls and their father are fighting back, circulating a petition to let the girls reopen their stand. The story is receiving national attention, and of course most decent and sensible people are on the side of the kids. But few of these same people will bother to think about the fuller implications of the story. How many *adults* see their business plans and entrepreneurial dreams burdened or destroyed by red tape and bureaucratic control -- by occupational licensing laws, zoning laws, permit requirements and countless other authoritarian measures? There's seldom a word written about these tragedies, which occur constantly nowadays -- an outrage in a country founded on the ideals of entrepreneurship and free enterprise. (Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=6339365 ) * * * You Need Government Permission To Be An Interior Designer Should you need the government's permission to become an interior designer? Amazingly, in much of America you do, according to a
new study by the libertarian Institute for Justice. The study is
entitled "Designing Cartels: How Industry Insiders Cut Out Competition." Fully twenty-two states and the District of Columbia regulate interior designers through various kinds of "titling" laws -- laws that require designers to get government permission to legally call themselves "interior designers," "certified interior designers," or "registered interior designers." Under titling laws, designers may still practice, but
they must get permission from the government to use the regulated titles
in advertisements, websites, contracts and other communications. This,
of course, makes it
Even worse, four of those states and the District of Columbia also require designers to secure a government license to practice at all. Is this intended to somehow protect consumers -- maybe from color-blind designers who would choose sofa pillows that don't match? Of course not. Not only is their no evidence of such a need, the study shows that the regulations that do exist have no demonstrable impact on the quality of decorating services offered. So why do these laws exist? Liberator Online readers will not be surprised to learn that the push for such laws comes exclusively from established industry leaders, such as the American Society of Interior Designers. These organizations, quite simply, want to keep out competition and thus enrich themselves. And they're succeeding. According to the free-market Foundation for Economic Education, these laws have already put thousands of would-be interior designers, mainly middle-aged and elderly women, out of work. The Institute for Justice study further argues that organizations like the American Society of Interior Designers are using titling laws as a first step toward far more restrictive licensing laws. In fact, of the four states with licensure, three began with titling laws that, after industry pressure, evolved into licensing. By the way, it's not just interior decorating that's being turned into a profession requiring government certification. Today, an incredible one in five Americans must secure the government's permission to pursue their occupation -- a figure that has risen from about one in 20 in the 1950s. (Source: Institute for Justice study: * * * Survey: Kids Can Easily Buy Marijuana Frequently the War on Marijuana is defended as necessary to keep drugs out of the hands of young people. But judged by that standard, the War on Pot is a farce
and an extraordinary failure.
This month, the pro-Drug War National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) released a new study that shows that marijuana is more available than ever before to junior high and high school kids. CASA surveyed 1,002 youths ages 12 to 17, between April and June. The results: 23 percent of teens find marijuana easier to buy than beer (compared to 15 percent who find beer easiest to buy). Fully forty-two percent of 12- to 17-year olds say they can buy marijuana in a day or less; 23 percent say they can purchase pot in an hour or less. Half of 16- and 17-year olds say that among their age group smoking marijuana is more common than smoking cigarettes. This is nothing new. The federally funded "Monitoring the Future" annual survey reports that approximately 85 percent of high school seniors describe marijuana as "easy to get." That number has remained virtually unchanged since the survey began in 1975. Could anything be more damning of the idiotic War on Pot? Marijuana has been illegal since the mid-1930s, when Congress was bamboozled into outlawing it by a lurid, racist propaganda campaign of nonsense and lies. Now, after 70-plus years of brutal, violent marijuana prohibition -- costing billions of dollars and gutting fundamental Bill of Rights freedoms -- we see the fruits: easier access than ever for kids. Way to go, government. (Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse (CASA) * * * Government School Teachers Support Education Tax Credits A recent survey by the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University has some stunning news: 46 percent of government (public) school teachers support education tax credits -- and just 41 percent oppose them. Yes, that's right: more government school teachers support education tax credits than oppose them. The survey asked: "A proposal has been made to offer a
tax credit for educational expenses ( Eighteen percent of public school teachers chose "Completely favor" as their answer; 28 percent chose "Somewhat favor"; 12 percent chose "Neither favor nor oppose"; 15 percent chose "Somewhat oppose"; and 26 percent chose "Completely oppose." This reflects the strong and growing support for education tax credits among the general public. According to the report, among the general public, 54 percent support tax credits and only 28 percent oppose them. Tax credits would open up a world of educational options and alternatives for kids now stuck in dead-end, failing government schools. In addition, tax credits would save states billions of dollars. When government school teachers support the idea in such large numbers, there is great hope for genuine education reform. (Source: Program on Education Policy and Governance at
Harvard University * * * * * QUICK SHOTS... * THE DRUG WAR SCAM: "I think what was truly depressing about my time [as Director of the United Kingdom Anti-Drug Co-ordination Unit, which led the U.K.'s War on Drugs] was that the overwhelming majority of professionals I met, including those from the police, the health service, government and voluntary sectors held the same view: the illegality of drugs causes far more problems for society and the individual than it solves. Yet publicly, all those intelligent, knowledgeable people were forced to repeat the nonsensical mantra that the Government would be 'tough on drugs', even though they all knew that the Government's policy was actually causing harm." -- Julian Critchley, former director of the U.K.
Cabinet Office anti-drugs unit. * ALL THOSE "SATISFACTORY" GOV'T SCHOOL TEACHERS:
"David Whitman, in his book 'Sweating the Small Stuff: Inner-City
Schools and the New Paternalism,' reports that in Chicago from 2003
through 2006, just three of every 1,000 teachers received an
'unsatisfactory' rating in annual evaluations; of 87 failing schools --
with below-average and declining test scores -- 67 had no teachers rated
unsatisfactory; in all of Chicago, just nine teachers received more than
one unsatisfactory rating, and none of them was dismissed." * FRAUD IN POLITICS: "If you took all the fraud out of
politics, there might not be a lot left." -- libertarian economist and
syndicated columnist Thomas Sowell.
* * * * * * * *
A Tax Cut Is a Pay Raise * Which excites you more: a tax cut or a pay raise? If you're like most people, it's the pay raise.
Why? Every year, politicians promise you tax cuts. Every year, they promise targeted tax cuts for families like yours. Every year, they promise you relief from high taxes. And every year, your taxes are the same as last year -- or higher. Which do you dread more: a tax hike or a pay cut? For most of us, it's the pay cut. Why? Tax increases happen all the time. Sometimes they're big. Usually they're small. Sometimes they happen right away. Usually they happen slowly. Sometimes they hit you hard. Usually they hit you, but it's not as bad as you expected. "Tax cuts" and "tax hikes" don't push most people's buttons the way they used to. They don't light us up or shut us down. The emotional charge is gone. But "pay raises" and "pay cuts" get their pulses pounding, and their passions surging. People love pay raises. And hate pay cuts. To bring back the love for tax cuts and the loathing for tax hikes, we need to re-phrase and re-frame the issue. We need to link them and marry them to pay raises and pay cuts. While every pay raise is not a tax cut, every tax cut IS a pay raise. While every pay cut is not a tax hike, every tax hike IS a pay cut. So our job is simple. Tell people the truth. As simple as a bumper sticker. A tax cut is a pay raise. A tax hike is a pay cut. You can make it more specific. Here's how we are using this concept with our Ballot Question 1 to END the Income Tax in Massachusetts. "A $3,700 Income Tax Cut is a $3,700 Pay Raise for
3,400,000 Massachusetts Or: "This tax cut is a pay raise for your family." Or: "Tax Cuts = Pay Raises." You can say it many ways. But keep it simple. Try it. Test it. And look at your results. It's not just what you say -- it's how you say it. It's not just what you propose -- it's how you propose it. That's why it pays to say: A tax cut is a pay raise. A tax hike is a pay cut.
-------------------------------------------------------- * * * * * * * * In 2000, Michael was honored with the Thomas Paine Award as the Most Persuasive Libertarian Communicator in America. * * * * * * * * In 2000, Michael was honored with the Thomas Paine Award as the Most
Persuasive Libertarian Communicator in America.
HARD EVIDENCE 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. * * * Who Owns My Land? QUESTION: I own 8.93 acres. In the past it has been used for growing crops. Now I want to put a few horses and a small shed on it, but the county won't allow me. Who owns my land? Where are my rights? MY SHORT ANSWER: You have a conflict between
what you want to do with your land and wh Today, while you own your own land -- in theory -- in practice, it can be taken from you and given to another private party through eminent domain, if the local government believes it will receive more taxes that way. The local zoning board can tell you what you may or may not do on your land. Even if you own the land "free and clear," the government can take it from you if you don't pay property taxes. And property taxes amount to, in practice, a kind of "rent" you have to pay the government each year to be allowed to keep living on your own property! In a libertarian society, government couldn't take your land by eminent domain. There would be no zoning boards. Deed restrictions, which you would be aware of when you bought the property, would be the only limitations on what you did with your property. Deed restrictions would protect your property rights, and also protect your neighbor's property rights, far more fairly and effectively than zoning laws. Finally, a truly libertarian society would have no taxes, so the government couldn't take your land for not paying the "rent" of annual property taxes. If you like the idea of having the freedom to do any peaceful thing you wish on your own property, you just might be a libertarian. If so, join us and help make real freedom ring! LEARN MORE: "Zoning, Privatization, and Liberty" by
the Mackinac Center: * * * * * * * * 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
Add the WOW! Factor by Sharon Harris Communications expert Stephen Boyd says you should always include a "Wow!" factor in your speeches or presentations. What's a "Wow!" factor?
"With a 'wow' factor, you then have something to look forward to in the speech that you know will have an impact on your audience. "You'll become a more enthusiastic speaker because the 'wow' factor will get you as well as your audience pumped for the speech." Boyd is right. Further, this applies to casual communication as well. Having a startling or surprising story, factoid, or visual aid handy will instantly make your conversations come alive. How do you find your Wow! factors? One way is to collect them from your reading. We include Wow! factors in every issue of the Liberator Online. Here are a few plucked from this issue's "Good News, Bad News, Unbelievable News" section, for example: * Two little girls had their roadside fruit stand shut down by obnoxious politicians -- and millions of adult Americans are treated essentially the same way by local, state and federal governments. Wow! * After 70 years of fighting the War on Marijuana, 85 percent of high school seniors describe marijuana as "easy to get". That number has remained virtually unchanged since 1975. The War on Pot doesn't keep drugs out of the hands of kids. Wow! * A new study shows that more public school teachers support education tax credits than oppose them. Wow! There are others in this issue alone. And our archives
To always have a great visual aid with you, carry the wallet-sized World's Smallest Political Quiz cards, available from the Advocates. Learn Wow! factors for your favorite topics, or topics you expect to be questioned about -- and watch your communication become more memorable. See more One-Minute Liberty Tips! •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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I did some research and found that the
spectrum chart was in fact created by David Nolan, a political scientist
and founder of the Libertarian Party and that the quiz was created by
Marshall Fritz, founder of the Advocates for Self-Government.
spectacular
cruise ship, heading to a beach paradise! Yes, Advocates Board Member
Dr. Ken Bisson is announcing the 12th Annual Freedom Cruise -- February
15 - 22, 2009. This year, it's a scuba and beach lovers delight. Check
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Turks & Caicos; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; Cozumel, Mexico; Fort
Lauderdale! Just $853 per person (including port charges and taxes) if
you reserve now. Non-libertarians welcome! Great food, an amazing
itinerary, and fine
company! (This isn't an Advocates event, but as noted, Ken is on our
Board of Directors, and libertarians who have been on past cruises rave
about them.) For photos and more details -- or to sign up for free,
no-commitment email updates -- visit:
he
father of the world-famous World's Smallest Political Quiz, and
all-around amazing guy -- has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic
cancer. 
It's
amazingly affordable -- as low as 2.9 cents each. AND we pay shipping!
Learn more, and order yours today:
much more difficult for designers to find customers.
fees, supplies, computers, and
tuition) to low- and moderate-income parents who send their children to
private schools. Would you favor or oppose such a proposal?" 
at
the zoning authorities permit -- an all-too-common problem these days.
Boyd
explains: "Something in your speech should make your audience think,
"Wow!". It could be a story, a dramatic point, an unusual statistic, or
an effective visual that helps the audience understand immediately.
13-year-old
makes difference for liberty