They Said It… With Nick Gillespie, Jonah Goldberg, and More
(From the They Said It section in Volume 20, No. 4 of the Liberator Online. Subscribe here!)
BIG CHANGES AHEAD:
“Whether you believe the ‘libertarian moment has finally arrived‘ or not, there’s no question that 2014 was a watershed for the decentralization of all sorts of cultural, economic, and political power. Thanks to technology that empowers individuals (think Twitter, Uber, cellphone cameras) and the continuing breakdown of all sorts of gatekeeper institutions (social, political, religious), more and more people in the United States and around the globe are ready, willing, and able to try and call their own shots.” — Reason.com editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie, “5 Earth-Shaking Trends To Follow in 2015 — and Beyond!,” TIME, Jan. 1, 2015.
OBAMA, MILITARY BIG SPENDER: “Defense budgets under [President] Bush… averaged $601 billion per year, while [President Obama] has presided over annual budgets averaging $687 billion between 2009 and 2014. Indeed, President Obama, who was elected during an economic crisis, will leave office having approved more military spending than any presidential administration in the nuclear era. Not too bad for a president who is often accused of trying to gut the military.” — Christopher A. Preble, Cato Institute, “Budget Snapshot: Average Annual Defense Spending by Administration,” Jan. 21, 2015.
LIBERAL “REBELS”: “My single biggest complaint about the majority of college campuses is the widespread myth that being liberal is rebellious somehow. I always like to ask students something like: ‘So, let me get this straight. Your professors are liberal. The administration here is liberal. Your high school teachers were liberal. The mainstream media is liberal. The music industry is liberal. Hollywood is liberal. The art community is liberal. The fashion and publishing industries are liberal. And yet you people think you’re sticking it to the Man by agreeing with them?’ Being liberal is just about the least rebellious thing you can do on an elite college campus.” — conservative journalist Jonah Goldberg, interviewed by Ryan Shinkel in The College Fix, Jan. 28, 2015.


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