Comments for Talking Liberty

Comment on Why vegans should be libertarians by Ray

Ray — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:18:01 +0000

I am a libertarian and a vegan. I certainly do not fear that my friends will dislike me in any way because of the food choices I make. Everyone has the right to choose their own life style regardless of who they are as long as they don’t force someone else into what they believe is a better lifestyle. A lot of vegan/vegetarians are the type who believe the government should force people into living the way they do. I don’t believe that at all.

The Government for one is the reason why we have the food system that we do. They heavily subsidize corn so that producers can sell it at below cost. 70% of this cheap corn is then fed to cows and other animals and then sold to the public. If the government did not subsidize corn the way they do meat prices would increase, and eventually people would choose to eat less meat because of the cost.

So we go to the government who is the cause of the problem and ask them to fix the problem. They give all these reasons, the public health, the factory farming, and the increasing cost of health care. Everyone misses the point……. Stop subsidizing the crops.

Libertarians believe that people should be free to live their life, and as long as they don’t initiate force, (Stealing, fighting, expecting the government to initiate force to take taxes from the rich) everyone would live a peaceful happy existence. It is when government starts passing laws to gain votes or gain campaign donations, that the wrench gets thrown into the mix. We then heavily subsidize the corn, sugar, and soybeans because the farmers in Iowa vote first. As I said the government created the problem. If we took the power from government we would not have the problem.

So how do we take the power from Washington? Money……. Money……. Money……
They have so much money in Washington, and so much power over our lives that, that lobbyists run ramped in D.C. If the government did not have all the money and power that they do, there would be few reasons to go to Washington to lobby your congressman to pass laws in your favor. The problem is that we turn to Washington for EVERYTHING… Fix this, help them, do this, build that.

If our government only did the essentials. Military, court system, and a few other things we would fix a lot of the spending, taxing, and growth problems our country faces. We would fix the broken factory farming system that has come from subsidies, and a lot less meat would be eaten in America.

I choose to be vegan because of the health benefits. I feel better than I ever did, and plan to live a long healthy life. I would never force anyone to do what I do, but I will teach people the benefits, and then through education we can change the culture. Not by force, but by individuals choosing freely. The libertarian way!

Comment on Why vegans should be libertarians by john

john — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 23:25:44 +0000

Animals don’t choose to end up as our food – we coerce them.
True libertarians should be vegans if they believe in non-aggression and non coercion.

Comment on Always the bridesmaid, Dalai Lama by Paul

Paul — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:21:12 +0000

As your financial advisor will tell you, “past performance is no guarantee of future results”.

Comment on Why same-sex marriage advocates leave a bad taste in your mouth by Paul

Paul — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:16:26 +0000

In large measure the power of the civil rights movement in the 1960′s was the messaging. Tapping into myths and archetypes in a positive way has immense power to move and inspire people. Pissing people off has almost as much power to get them to dig in or look the other way. Sure, a majority of Americans at the time of the Civil Rights Movement appreciated the inconsistency between the American spirit of freedom and segregated lunch counters. But how different would the struggle have been had the protesters been nasty, violent and disrespectful? One wonders how sympathetic the average person would have been had the narrative been “violent, Marxist protesters trying to disrupt normal life in quiet, sleepy southern towns”, rather than “peaceful, non-violent people seeking to right an injustice”. As it happened, Martin Luther King brilliantly played the peaceful Christian facing the hoses, dogs and violent police and was thereby cast as the Christian facing the lions. Messaging matters. And more importantly, it isn’t always about BEING right; more often than not its about DOING right.

Comment on Comedy: the new tool for collectivists? by John B

John B — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 23:42:28 +0000

stephan colbert has definitely become a statist tool…..here’s a video of him shitting all over libertarian ideals (his closing quote is especially sickening) http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/221335/march-11-2009/the-word—rand-illusion

Comment on Why Roberts is Right by polpaul

polpaul — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:14:26 +0000

Thank you for your comment. I have been thinking about your excellent questions and rather than give a long answer, I think you may have inspired me to another article. Stay tuned.

Comment on Why Roberts is Right by polpaul

polpaul — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:12:37 +0000

I agree. It’s outrageous on its face and disgusting in its fraudulent sophistry.

Comment on Why Roberts is Right by CGeary

CGeary — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 13:58:22 +0000

And the more I think about it, the worse it gets. Not only don’t the pols have to label it a tax (the courts can apparently do that for them) but the Roberts decision clearly spells out the route to control behavior via “optional” taxes. He wrote, “Neither the Act nor any other law attaches
negative legal consequences to not buying health insurance, BEYOND REQUIRING A PAYMENT TO THE IRS.” (p.37)(emphasis mine). When I read those words, I nearly fell out of my chair. The government isn’t requiring a person to do anything–it’s just taking your money if you don’t do what they say. So even if the pols have the courage to call a new mandate a tax, they can adopt Robert’s reasoning such that it isn’t really a mandate or a tax, but rather a simply an optional payment a person can make if s/he doesn’t want to do what the government wants them to do. So really, it’s a personal choice. Heck, it’s liberty in action!

Comment on Why Roberts is Right by Paul

Paul — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:51:44 +0000

Quite possibly.

Comment on Why Roberts is Right by CGeary

CGeary — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 12:49:02 +0000

So if we’re right that Roberts effectively created a new, unlimited taxing power–and it doesn’t even have to be called a tax–even as he supposedly limited Congress’ power under the Commerce Clause (and I’m not at all sure that he did, as it seems to me his discussion becomes meaningless dicta given the way he ruled) then isn’t this really one of the worst decisions ever?