Category Archives: Liberty

Bitcoin Is The Ultimate Freedom, Says Former EU MP Nigel Farage

In a sea of faceless mediocrities, Nigel Farage stands out as one of the few European who speaks his mind, and speaks it rather eloquently as well. From Namcios at bitcoinmagazine.com:

The former Member of the European Parliament drew parallels between leading a “political insurgency” with Brexit and the opposition Bitcoin experiences today.

Any new idea automatically faces the opposition of the establishment, said former Member of the European Parliament, Nigel Farage, on a panel at Bitcoin Amsterdam on Thursday.

That argument served as the introduction to Farage’s point throughout the conversation, as he drew parallels between Bitcoin and his experience pushing the then-unpopular idea of Brexit, the exit of the U.K. from the European Union.

​​“I led a political insurgency, I took on the establishment,” Farage recounted. “What I think is happening with Bitcoin is we’re seeing a similar type of insurgency, an economic insurgency that is being driven and led by people who are worried about the sheer size and scale of big government.”

The subject was ignited by fellow panelist and “What Bitcoin Did” podcast host Peter McCormack’s initial question. “What are you doing at a Bitcoin conference?”

Farage concluded that because of the links between his past experience and the Bitcoin movement today, it was “a perfect and natural place to be.”

The politician expanded on his argument, detailing more of his views of the establishment and why it can be difficult to challenge it. Those who are part of and maintain the establishment, he argued, “own and set the status quo, they are very comfortable… and they don’t want anything to come along and disrupt.”

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Anarchy Means Only No Rule, No Rulers; In Other Words — Freedom, by Gary D. Barnett

Is an autonomously ordered anarchy possible, an anarchy far different than most people’s conception of anarchy as pure chaos? From Gary D. Barnett at lewrockwell.com:

“Anarchists did not try to carry out genocide against the Armenians in Turkey; they did not deliberately starve millions of Ukrainians; they did not create a system of death camps to kill Jews, gypsies, and Slavs in Europe; they did not fire-bomb scores of large German and Japanese cities and drop nuclear bombs on two of them; they did not carry out a ‘Great Leap Forward’ that killed scores of millions of Chinese; they did not attempt to kill everybody with any appreciable education in Cambodia; they did not launch one aggressive war after another; they did not implement trade sanctions that killed perhaps 500,000 Iraqi children.

In debates between anarchists and statists, the burden of proof clearly should rest on those who place their trust in the state. Anarchy’s mayhem is wholly conjectural; the state’s mayhem is undeniably, factually horrendous.”

Robert Higgs

Language is of such great importance as to be critical to the survival of mankind. While this may sound exaggerated, it is certainly not. The idea of our language, and the root systems from which our language originated, are not able to be altered at will to suit the state or any other individual or entity attempting to create a position based on the fraudulent restructuring of the meaning of words and phrases for their benefit. This is always and only done, to create confusion or to advance an agenda, and usually both. Anytime the state actors decide to control language in their favor, they are intending to steer mass opinion, and contradiction, hypocrisy, and control are the prevailing result. This has never been more apparent than with the term Anarchy, which is the absolute antithesis of state tyranny.

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Why the World Economic Forum’s Plutocracy Should Be Dissolved, by J.B. Shurk

The WEF is a collectivist organization dedicated to implementing changes that will give more power to collectivists. From J.B. Shurk at gatestoneinstitute.org:

  • No matter how noble its stated intentions, the “Great Reset” is at its heart a program for driving political power away from individual citizens and toward the controlling interests of a small international class of financial elites…. For citizens to reclaim power, they must not only embrace the basics of free markets once again but also rekindle a fondness for questioning the motivations of political authorities.
  • It is not just kings, generals, and popes who possess great power. Wherever a person, group, or institution is capable — through enticement, coercion, or brute force — of bending an individual’s free will, the structures and instruments of power exist. A local school board, after all, may well have more immediate and intimate influences over a person’s family than the United Nations Human Rights Council and its revolving door of despots who tend to promulgate international resolutions shielding their own crimes.
  • Limited regulation keeps the costs of market transactions low. Respect for private property and fair and impartial application of commercial laws encourage capital investment. Refraining from taxing the fruits of an individual’s labor fosters an exponentially more productive labor force. Providing populations with the tools to pursue and obtain knowledge and skills at minimal expense promotes not only an educated workforce but also politically competent citizens.

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American Bolshevik Nightmare: Mike Lindell Waylaid by Feds, Phones Stolen, by Andrew Anglin

The Bolsheviks won’t be happen until they’ve obliterated every last vestige of civil liberties. From Andrew Anglin at unz.com:

Unfortunately for everyone, all of that stuff I said was going to happen is now happening. You’ll remember that I said all the way back in 2020 that:
  • The Democrats were going to steal the election if mass mail-in balloting was allowed
  • The Democrats would prosecute Donald Trump
  • The Democrats would abolish law and order
  • The Democrats would start a war with Russia
  • The Democrats would go full-Bolshevik and start intimidating, raiding, and ultimately just arresting the opposition

I said it, point by point, because it was completely obvious to me how this would all unfold. I don’t know why it wasn’t obvious to everyone if it was obvious to me.

It’s unclear why I am so on the ball. I don’t really feel like I’m special. But here we are – it’s all coming down.

After the FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home, a Congressman was waylaid by the FBI while on vacation with his family. Then, Joe Biden gave a speech declaring that he was a dictator, and would crush Trump supporters who he claims are trying to overthrow our democracy (our values).

Shortly thereafter, between 35 and 50 high profile Trump supporters were raided and/or subpoenaed.

This week, we found out that Trump’s PAC is under investigation for – you know, for whatever – they’re not really even trying to explain it. The media is just acting like this is all normal. It’s possible that the Trump supporters who were raided were raided in relation to the Trump PAC investigation, but Trump was raided for some confounding thing about secret documents, and the Congressman was raided over January 6.

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Rage, Rebel, Replace, by Robert Gore

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Let’s try something different.

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.

The Declaration of Independence, 1776

It is disheartening how many people are pinning their hopes on the next two elections. We still don’t know exactly how the last one was stolen—the thieves were never charged, evidence was never presented, there was no discovery, cross-examination, or verdict in a court of law—but stolen it was. Yet, many believe Lucy won’t pull the football away this time.

In 2020, no one showed up for Joe and Kamala’s appearances while Trump was pulling them in by the tens of thousands. Trump got more votes than any sitting president had ever received, but Biden supposedly beat him by 7 million votes. There were myriad inconsistencies and irregularities, many connected with procedures concocted to deal with the overhyped Covid threat. However, the election was pronounced free and fair, January 6 protestors were arrested and jailed, Trump relinquished the presidency, and that was that, a bipartisan-endorsed end of story.

Everything the Democrats have done since Biden halted the Keystone XL pipeline on inauguration day seems designed to lose votes, and the polls register fading support. Yet, the Democrats are acting as if they have this year’s elections in the bag, just as they did in 2020.

Politicians interested in winning legitimate elections don’t appropriate $80 billion three months before the election to hire 87,0000 new IRS agents, some of whom will be armed, to harass tax-paying voters. They don’t conduct a raid on the home of their hated opponent, handing him an issue which solidifies his support. They don’t engage in a Quixotic proxy war on the doorstep of a nuclear power. Their nominal leader doesn’t disparage half the population in a creepy, neo-Nazi setting and speech. Is it because the vote doesn’t matter, only, per Joseph Stalin, who counts the votes?

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On that score not much has changed. The documentary 2000 Mules came and went; once in a while someone mumbles something about election integrity, and a few states have passed a few laws purportedly ensuring fairer votes (“restricting voter access” in Democratic parlance).

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Anatomy of a Police State”: The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Conference, by Ginny Garner

This looks like one of those rare conferences that you might actually want to attend. From Ginny Garner at lewrockwell.com:

“If there was no hope at all, I would ask Daniel (McAdams) if I could hand out cyanide capsules” – speaker Jacob Hornberger

While at times it seems to many of us as if, as the 1965 Barry McGuire song goes, we’re on the eve of destruction, hundreds of high-spirited, intelligent freedom loving critical thinkers gathered on September 3rd to honor the greatest living liberty-promoting leader in their time: Dr. Ron Paul. Attendees at a hotel near Dulles Airport 31 miles from Washington, DC ranged from teenagers to senior citizens who had travelled from distant points across America and Canada to be in the presence of the 87-year-old revered statesman. One young couple drove from Pittsburgh and camped out the night before in a tent. A teenager from Nottingham, Virginia told me how excited she was that her parents had brought her to her first Ron Paul conference. A businessman from Maryland who listens to each and every one of Dr. Paul’s Liberty Reports broadcast Mondays through Fridays had his teenage son in tow. Tim Pool, who pioneered on the scene, livestream journalism with his 2011 coverage of the Occupy Wall Street protests, was there. Once a supporter of Bernie Sanders, regarded as a maverick by the Democratic leadership which denied the socialist their party’s nomination, Pool’s detractors now label him as “alt-right.” Seeing the popular podcaster, who has 1.3 million YouTube subscribers, shaking the hand of Dr. Paul was a powerful, symbolic image of how the principles of liberty transcend the false left-right paradigm designed to divide and rule the people.

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Trump Worshipers, Trump Lies, Election Idiocy, and the Truth About Collectivist Political Madness, by Gary D. Barnett

The money paragraph is the last one: “The entirety of this political process is collectivist madness. Quit relying on political masters and elections to save you. Vote for no one; get rid of them all!” From Gary D. Barnett at lewrockwell.com:

“The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.”

H.L. Mencken

Rarely do I wander into political arguments, or discuss politics in any manner other than to denounce all government and governmental procedures as completely insane. The most prolific liars, thieves, and murderers are politicians, and those who control them. Actually, the entirety of all politics is criminal, and ridiculously asinine. With that said, the population at large in this country, whether they participate in the idiocy of voting or not, accept the premise that politics and government are a necessity for life, and that humanity has not any ability to function properly without a governing force ruling over them. In simple terms, what this means is that almost the totality of the entire populace has accepted a master and slave relationship that requires extreme force in order to exist and survive. Under these conditions, freedom is an impossibility that cannot ever be achieved.

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The Decline and Fall of the American Empire, by Doug Casey

A lot of people have compared the American and Roman empires, but Doug Casey puts the comparison in a new light. From Casey at internationalman.com:

As some of you know, I’m an aficionado of ancient history. I thought it might be worthwhile to discuss what happened to Rome and based on that, what’s likely to happen to the U.S. Spoiler alert: There are some similarities between the U.S. and Rome.

But before continuing, please seat yourself comfortably. This article will necessarily cover exactly those things you’re never supposed to talk about—religion and politics—and do what you’re never supposed to do, namely, bad-mouth the military.

There are good reasons for looking to Rome rather than any other civilization when trying to see where the U.S. is headed. Everyone knows Rome declined, but few people understand why. And, I think, even fewer realize that the U.S. is now well along the same path for pretty much the same reasons, which I’ll explore shortly.

Rome reached its peak of military power around the year 107, when Trajan completed the conquest of Dacia (the territory of modern Romania). With Dacia, the empire peaked in size, but I’d argue it was already past its peak by almost every other measure.

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The “Great Reset”: A Blueprint for Destroying Freedom, Innovation, and Prosperity, by J.B Shurk

Totalitarianism such as that embodied in the Great Reset destroys everything that makes life worth living. From J.B. Shurk at gatestoneinstitute.org:

  • Notice that no nation has managed merely to print money and tax its citizens on the path to prosperity. Real wealth cannot simply be conjured from thin air. There must be recognized value in what a nation and its citizens possess.

  • More than any other source for national wealth, however, one towers above the rest: innovation. The ability of the human mind to create something new and valuable provides society with endless wealth creation…. Innovation is the magic sauce for generating wealth.

  • Humans struggling merely to survive in the world do not waste time, labor, or resources on projects that offer no prospect for future reward. Humans working as servants to the state under centrally controlled economies have no incentive to innovate. Only when private ownership and personal liberty combine can human innovation flourish. Freedom is the secret ingredient to innovation’s magic sauce for increasing wealth.

  • A country whose institutions do not respect property rights or whose customs do not value freedom will remain a barren desert for human innovation. In this way, nations have a great incentive to liberalize over time. Should they not, they quickly become financially and militarily vulnerable to more innovative and wealthier nations. Observing this simple truth, classical liberals have always understood free markets as the gateway to human emancipation. Economic self-interest, in other words, ultimately leads to expansive human rights and liberties across the planet.

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Supersized IRS Will Shrink Liberty, by Ron Paul

Taxes and liberty cannot coexist. From Ron Paul at ronpaulinstitute.org:

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin recently claimed the 15 percent corporate minimum tax contained in the Inflation Reduction Act, which should be called the Inflation Creation Act, is not a tax increase. Instead, he claimed, the bill simply closes a loophole that allows corporations to avoid paying all the taxes they owe. Despite what Senator Manchin says, the fact is the new minimum tax increases the amount of money some corporations must hand over to the government; in other words, it increases their taxes.

It is common for politicians, policy wonks, and even some libertarians to demonize loopholes for making the tax system too complex, but loopholes are simply ways that individuals can keep more of their money. Loopholes are thus pro-liberty and pro-sound economics.

In addition to raising taxes, the Inflation Reduction Act provides 80 billion dollars to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Some of the money will go to improving taxpayer services so, for example, taxpayers may actually talk to a real person who can provide information about the tax law when they call the agency. But, over 50 percent will be spent on enforcement.

The IRS is expected to hire approximately 87,000 new agents. Supporters of the expansion say the IRS will use the enhanced enforcement capacity to target only “the rich.” However, it is not necessary to massively increase the IRS’s enforcement capacity just to go after “rich tax cheats.”

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