Volume 13, Number 5 | March 13, 2008
The Liberator Online
Contents
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS, UNBELIEVABLE NEWS
PERSUASION POWER POINT
#245
ASK DR. RUWART
PRODUCT REVIEW
Dear friends, Spring is almost here! And spring is a great time to take the ideas of liberty to your community -- and HAVE FUN doing so. You can do this by using Operation Politically Homeless -- OPH. OPH is the Advocates' acclaimed "event in
a kit" that can help you discover dozens or even hundreds of OPH works like magic. Wherever people are gathered, OPH will attract them. It will let you identify libertarian-leaning folks and get the names and contact information. And one of the most amazing things about OPH is that it's... FUN! Libertarian outreach -- fun? You bet! Over and over again, I've heard OPH users say that. Don't take my word for it:
OPH is a great volunteer activity. Newcomers and veterans alike can do it with ease. Each OPH Kit provides everything you need, including banners, posters, Quiz cards and even "how to" training materials. Somewhere near you, this weekend there will be an event -- a political rally, a county fair, a concert, a neighborhood party -- that is PERFECT for OPH. Will OPH be there? It's up to you. Learn about OPH -- and see photos of OPH
in action -- at At that URL, check out the many RAVE REVIEWS from real-world libertarian activists who have been amazed and delighted by OPH success! SPECIAL:
Thank you -- and Happy Spring! * * * Welcome to 157 new Liberator Online subscribers this issue. Thanks for joining our subscription "family" of over 70,000 liberty-loving readers in more than 100 countries! To learn more about the Advocates and our work for
liberty: To learn more about libertarianism: PS: FEATURED PRODUCT THIS ISSUE: New "Discover Liberty" outreach tabloid! "Discover Liberty" is a full-color,
eye-catching 8-page tabloid. It's a high quality, attractive and
friendly, designed for OPH booth volunteers to hand out to the public.
It's amazingly affordable -- as low as 2.9 cents each. AND we pay
shipping! Learn more, and order yours today: BONUS: For a limited time, we'll send you 100 Deluxe Quizzes FREE with your order! To order, or learn more, see "Product
Review" at the end of this issue. Or just visit: Your purchase supports the great work of the Advocates. Thank you! ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
What's Happening With The Advocates * 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: * QUIZ ON FACEBOOK: The Advocates has brought the World's Smallest Political Quiz to Facebook, the world's fastest-growing social networking site! Over 1,000 people per day are already using it! FACEBOOK USERS: See how you can use our new
Quiz Facebook app to spread the ideas of liberty throughout the Facebook
community: NOT FAMILIAR WITH FACEBOOK? Learn more about
it, why you might want to join and how easy it is, and how you can begin
to network for liberty: ******
by James W. Harris Advocates of educational liberty are reeling at a California court decision last week that essentially outlaws homeschooling in that state. A February 28 ruling by the California Appellate Court for the second district argued that "parents do not have a constitutional right to educate their children in their own home." Further, said the court: "It's clear to us that enrollment and attendance in a public full-time day school is required by California law for minor children." The court said homeschooling would only be permissible if the child were tutored by a person with a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught. Earning that state license would require a bachelor's degree and numerous examinations. An estimated 90% of homeschooling parents would fail to meet that standard. Should those parents continue to homeschool, wrote the court, they "may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program." This Draconian ruling "would drastically reduce or do away with homeschooling" in California, according to J. Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. The decision has outraged parents and others, who have vowed to fight it. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the ruling "outrageous" and pledged legislation to reverse it if the state's supreme court fails to do so. However, statist Educrats give it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "It's a matter of holding the standards high enough to ensure that children get a decent education," said Fred Glass, spokesman for the California Federation of Teachers. He noted that teaching credentials don't guarantee that (something legions of dissatisfied parents can readily confirm), but said that "it's probably the best measure we have." Similarly, Lloyd Porter, a member of the board of directors of the California Teachers Association, declared: "We're happy ... We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting." Ominously, the court decision also quotes this statist -- and very revealing -- statement from a 1961 California court case: "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare." As the Cato Institute's Adam Schaeffer notes: "Seldom do the defenders of the government education monopoly reveal in such forthright language the true purpose of their position; they are training children to be loyal subjects of the state, not free citizens of a republic. The logic behind support for a government education monopoly and opposition to school choice is chilling and clear." The irony is, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal notes: "Research conducted by the National Home Education Research Institute in 2001 shows homeschooled students, on average, outperformed their public school peers by 30 to 37 percentile points across all subjects, and that performance gaps impacting minorities and genders are virtually eliminated among the homeschoolers." But of course opposition to homeschooling isn't about education. Never has been. It's about indoctrination. (Sources: Christian Science Monitor: * * * Rep. Jeff Flake: The Three Worst Bills
In January, the libertarian magazine Reason asked Flake to name the three worst bills recently inflicted upon us by Congress. Here are Flake's choices and explanations. 1. The Farm Bill: "Both the House and Senate versions of the farm bill extend subsidies, distort markets, and hamper future free trade agreements, and the final bill is only likely to get worse in a conference committee. Sugar growers who didn't get what they wanted in the initial legislation are urging conferees to repeal portions of NAFTA." 2. The Omnibus Appropriations Bill: "Congress rolled 11 appropriations bills into one massive package and passed it in late December. House members had less than 24 hours to read the legislation before we voted on it. We're still finding out what's actually in the bill. But we do know it contained nearly 12,000 earmarks. That was reason enough to vote 'no.'" 3. Economic Stimulus Package: "Any time Republicans and Democrats can so easily agree on legislation as expensive as this, it's not a good sign. Rebates look to me like an admission by Congress that perhaps the federal government shouldn't have taken that money in the first place. Hopefully, Congress will keep this in mind as the Bush tax cuts get set to expire." (Source: Reason magazine * * * Prison State USA: One in 100 Americans Now Behind Bars There has been an explosion in arrests and imprisonment of Americans in recent years. Today, for the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults -- 2,319,258 persons -- is in jail or prison. That's just one of the startling findings of a new report by the respected Pew Center on the States. No other country on earth has as high a
percentage of citizens incarcerated. The runners-up are China,
Also, no other country in the world has so large a number of its citizens behind bars. China, with a larger population, allegedly has 1.5 million people in prison. (Note: figures from authoritarian China should always be viewed with suspicion.) Black Americans are being hit particularly hard, according to the report. "While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine." According to the report, the high incarceration rates have nothing to do with any increase in crime. Instead, the rates reflect tougher sentencing laws that have been passed in recent years, such as "three-strikes" laws, that mandate longer prison stays. Much of this, of course, is due to the disastrous War on Drugs, which creates incentives for property crimes and violent crimes by creating a black market for drugs, and which also spawned the "three-strike" type laws. Indeed, as the libertarian magazine Reason notes: "The problem is that [the government] is locking up many people for longer than is appropriate, and many people who do not belong in prison at all, including nearly half a million drug offenders." Further, notes the Pew study: "The national recidivism rate remains virtually unchanged, with about half of released inmates returning to jail or prison within three years." In short, current incarceration policy seems to be just like every other government program. It is incredibly expensive, (last year states alone spent more than $49 billion on corrections, up from $11 billion 20 years before), costs are skyrocketing, it has unintended negative consequences, it is milked by special interests, it victimizes utterly innocent peaceful persons, and it largely doesn't work. (Source: Associated Press * * *
The program is called "Next Generation Identification."
But... the FBI's not just collecting fingerprints from criminals. They've got *you* in their sites, too. Already, according to CNN News, over 55 percent of FBI checks are background checks for people applying for sensitive government jobs, or for private sector jobs working with the elderly, children, or other vulnerable people. The FBI says it hasn't been saving fingerprints used in those checks. But that may soon change. A planned FBI program would "let" employers ask the FBI to keep employee prints on file, and inform the employer should the employee ever get in trouble. "It's the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Project. "This had started out being a program to track or identify criminals," Steinhardt said. "Now we're talking about large swaths of the population -- workers, volunteers in youth programs. Eventually, it's going to be everybody." Wouldn't all this fit in nicely with the REAL ID national ID scheme, which we discussed a couple issues ago? But don't worry. If you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have anything to hide. Right? (Source: CNN.com:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/02/04/fbi.biometrics/index.html?eref=ib_topstories QUICK SHOTS... * HEY, THE CUBA EMBARGO WORKED: "Hard to believe Fidel Castro is gone. See? So, the embargo worked; 49 years later, he is out of there." -- Jay Leno, The Tonight Show, February 21. * FREE-CRIME ZONES: "Gun laws are laws against self-defense. Criminals have the initiative. They choose the time, place and manner of their crimes, and they tend to make choices that maximize their own, not their victims', success. So criminals don't attack people they know are armed, and anyone thinking of committing mass murder is likely to be attracted to a gun-free zone, such as schools and malls. "... If you are the target of a crime, only one other person besides the criminal is sure to be on the scene: you. There is no good substitute for self-responsibility. How, then, does it make sense to create mandatory gun-free zones, which in reality are free-crime zones?" -- libertarian journalist John Stossel * NO RECESSION: "In a press conference today, President Bush announced America is not headed into a recession, especially if you own an oil company." -- Jay Leno, The Tonight Show, February 29. * * * * * * * *
Warning: Hating Is Addictive and Hazardous to Your Life by Michael Cloud Hating is all the rage. True believers hate unbelievers. In morality, politics, religion, and more. True blue progressives hate rock solid conservatives. Righteous righties hate loyal lefties. Anti-war activists hate pro-war activists. We see hate on cable TV political shows. We hear hate on talk radio. We read hate on websites and blogs. Too many of them traffic in hate. Not just once or twice. Repeatedly,relentlessly. They are serial offenders. Hate Pushers. Amateur and professional.
Producing and promoting hate makes them powerful. Consuming hate makes you and me weak. And it's easy to hook people on hate. If you're FOR something, you must be AGAINST its opposite. If you're for truth, you must be against falsehood. If you're for right, you must be against wrong. If you're for good, you must be against bad. Hate pushers hook you by focusing your attention and energy against the opposite of what you seek. Hate pushers hook you by dwelling on the wrong, the bad, the false. And giving you small doses of hate. To build your tolerance. Hate pushers slowly increase the doses. Ever-increasing amounts, more and more frequent fixes -- chasing the rush, the thrill, the high. Until some people can't get enough hate. Few people become full-blown hate addicts. But too many of us are hooked on maintenance levels. Against high taxes. Against Big Government. Against violations of our privacy. Against government violations of our personal and civil liberties. Maybe you believe that this amount of hate won't hurt you. Maybe you think it's necessary. I used to. I was wrong. Warning: hating is addictive and hazardous to your life. Hating is toxic to you. And those you share your life with. Hating makes you bitter and unhappy. It eats away at your mental, emotional, and physical health. Hating makes you ineffective at advancing liberty. It poisons your conversations. It drives people away. Hating interferes with your family, social, and business life. Can you kick a hate addiction? Of course. Go cold turkey with the hate pushers. Turn off the hate peddlers on cable TV and talk radio. Kiss off the haters' websites and blogs. Read only thoughtful articles, essays, and blogs on the Internet. Fill that time with people and activities that make you feel good. Pay attention to what you do want, not what you don't want. Think about what you're for, not what you're against. Speak about what you love, not what you hate. You don't have to hate disease to love health. You don't have to hate death to love life. You don't have to hate misery to love happiness. In conversations about politics and economics, talk about what you do want. Discuss what you propose. Show the person the features and benefits of your libertarian alternative. You'll be healthier, happier, and loved. You'll slip up from time to time. Fall off the wagon. Relapse. Don't worry. It's normal. It's part of the process. It happens to me. It happens to most. Simply notice it. And re-focus your thinking, speaking, and your actions back toward your love of liberty. Toward your knowledge that freedom lifts up our lives. That free markets make us prosperous. When you kick hate addiction, you will do more than simply live and let live. You will love and let love. * * * * * * * * 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. * * * QUESTION: Since libertarians believe taxation is theft, shouldn't libertarian politicians all be volunteers? Shouldn't they refuse to accept tax-funded salaries for their offices? Are there enough wealthy libertarians committed to the cause to help elected libertarians refuse tax-funded salaries? MY SHORT ANSWER: Libertarians have
often debated this, and disagree among themselves. A number of elected
libertarians have indeed refused compensation because they regard taxes
as money stolen from their neighbors. Even when they have qualified for
matching funds, Libertarian Party presidential nominees Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX), the Libertarian Party's 1988 Presidential candidate, currently running for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, refuses to participate in the lucrative pension program offered to Congressional representatives. However, some libertarians see the
compensation offered to candidates and elected officials as a way to
recover what the government has forced them to For example, the Libertarian Party and its candidates, incredibly, are forced to spend up to 90% of their resources re-qualifying every 2-4 years for ballot access -- something that the Democrats and Republicans don't have to do. And of course, these requirements were passed by Democrats and Republicans. Most elected libertarians and their supporters are not sufficiently well-off financially to replace government funding for salaries. Because libertarians don't court special interest groups looking for government largesse, they are largely responsible for funding their own campaigns and ballot access drives. Thus most are faced with additional expenses, not enriched, by their efforts to create a better world. In contrast, many, if not most, non-libertarian politicians, especially at the national level, leave office much better off financially than when they went in due to special interest "payoffs." Libertarians generally don't enjoy this "perk," because they aren't willing to support legislation that favors one group over another. * * * Are most people too stupid to be libertarians? QUESTION: My friend tells me that most people are too stupid for libertarianism. What can I tell him? MY SHORT ANSWER: The desire for freedom, to make one's own choices in life, has little to do with intelligence. Many "dumb" animals die in captivity, simply because they have been deprived of freedom. If we want liberty for ourselves, we must allow others their freedom too. We can't be free from aggression if we practice it ourselves, for we teach and encourage others by our example. This simple concept is surely within the grasp of virtually everyone! Specific libertarian positions sometimes require explanation because we are taught that majority rule, taxation, and regulation preserve freedom, rather than destroy it. We are not attempting to counter stupidity, but to counter propaganda. Understanding this important distinction will help us to share libertarian concepts more effectively! * * * * * * * * 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
Word Choices: "Capitalistic Acts between Consenting Adults" by Sharon Harris, Advocates President
In his 1974 masterpiece Anarchy, State and Utopia, he wrote this: "The trouble with government regulation of the market is that it prohibits capitalistic acts between consenting adults." That's a wonderful phrase: "capitalistic acts between consenting adults." It can be very useful in discussing free market ideas with our friends on the left. Many on the left say they believe any acts "between consenting adults" should be legal. They are referring to such activities as drugs, sex, prostitution, pornography, and so on. Here they agree with libertarians. Adding "capitalistic acts" to the commonly-used phrase "between consenting adults" is a marvelous twist -- and can potentially expand our areas of agreement. The resulting phrase is eye-opening, thought-provoking, paradigm-shifting. At the very least it can help those on the left better understand what libertarians believe. And it may win them over to our side on some issues. You could also point out that such activities as prostitution, pornography, and drug use all have strong economic components. One could hardly purchase drugs if they were not manufactured and sold, for example. A useful variation on Nozick's phrase might be something like this: "I believe that all voluntary, consensual, non-violent economic exchanges between adults should be legal." That puts the onus on your opponents to justify and defend the use of government force to interfere in the peaceful and personal choices of adults -- a position many will find uncomfortable. Learn Robert Nozick's little phrase and put it in your communication toolbox! (PS: Let me take a moment to point out, as most of you already know, that just because libertarians believe an activity should be *legal* does not mean we necessarily think it is *moral* or wise.) See more One-Minute Liberty Tips! •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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libertarian-leaning folks in your community. OPH is one of the great
success stories of the libertarian movement. Hundreds of thousands of
people have encountered the ideas of liberty through OPH. And *millions*
more people are out there, just waiting for someone -- maybe you? -- to
introduce them to libertarianism with OPH. 
We've
supercharged OPH outreach by adding a new, almost free full-color
tabloid handout! You can learn more about it in our PRODUCT REVIEW at
the end of this issue. 
Rep.
Jeff Flake (R-AZ.) is one of the most libertarian, or
libertarian-leaning, members of Congress. The four-term congressman is a
member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, which pushes for libertarian
ideas within the GOP, and he is earning a national reputation for his
outspoken and controversial opposition to GOP drunken-sailor-type
spending. In fact, the small-government lobbying group Citizens Against
Government Waste recently dubbed him a "taxpayer superhero." Prior to
entering Congress, Flake was head of Arizona's free-market Goldwater
Institute. 
Russia
and several other former Soviet bloc nations, sad company indeed.
Don't
worry, says the FBI. It's only to protect us from terrorists and to
identify criminals. 
Many
make out like bandits from peddling hate. Many more make themselves
comfortable by making others uncomfortable. Others indulge in hate
trafficking as an intoxicating experience. 
Libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick was
one the most respected and influential philosophers of the past century.
In the coming months
we hope 200,000-plus people
will Discover Liberty, thanks to this great new publication -- and
thanks to grassroots libertarian activists and the wonderful people who
make this and so many other programs available by supporting the
Advocates.