Progressive Libertarianism

By: Stephen Carter

The go-to guide on understanding Ron Paul and a Paul presidency.

For a summary of most topics in this piece via video format, please scroll to the bottom.

Ron Paul is a very unique politician that sharply stands out from others. Having served 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives he has a record of being an outsider in congress; having never voted for a budget that would increase U.S. debt, choosing to opt out of the congressional pension plan, returning unspent money from his congressional office each year, and sponsoring bills where other politicians dare not tread, he is a rare breed that stands on principle. When he talks to people he doesn’t flop around in order to get votes, he means what he says and doesn’t try to mislead people. His goal is a constitutionally restricted federal government that promotes liberty for all and he has demonstrated his seriousness of this issue time and time again.

With all of that being said, there’s still quite the misunderstanding of who Ron Paul is and why he thinks the way he does. Many still know very little about the man, which is common in our drive-by, sound bite driven media. It is my hope to present to you here a full summary of who Ron Paul is, what his political stances are and where they are derived from, as well as tackle many of the questions surrounding Paul and what his presidency might look like. Read more…

Stephen Articles, PL Contributors, Videos abortion, blue republican, civil rights, drug raids, drug war, economics, federal reserve, foreign policy, gay rights, isolationism, liberal, libertarian, liberty, monetary policy, non-interventionism, president, primary, progressive, republican, ron paul

By: Stephen Carter

Two halves make a whole and in this case it’s one half liberal and one half libertarian. The two naturally go together, actually complement one another and as long as they’re willing to set emotions aside and genuinely talk and listen to one another, they’re able to keep things in perspective and make up for one another’s shortcomings. Read more…

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By: Derek Vande Brake

I have heard arguments about how much money the rich have, and how they don’t need so much.  Sometimes it seems as though they are pushing the notion that there is only so much money in the economy (sort of true) and that any time the rich get some (and they get a lot) it disappears, never to be seen by the poor and middle class.  This, however, is not true. Read more…

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By: Susan Cassidy

I went into teaching because I wanted to make a difference. Most of us do. I certainly did not go into it for the money or the pension. Hell, at the beginning of my career, at the ripe old age of 20, I didn’t even know exactly what a pension was, nor had I ever heard of the State Teachers’ Retirement Association. As for those that say we go into it for our summers off? Well, they just sound stupid. I was an idealist that wanted to change the world by teaching music to some of the world’s children. Read more…

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By: Chris Edgin

The more I think of the Megavideo take down, the more it bothers me, and one simple ground..no due process was granted to them at all and at this point I doubt there will even be a trial. The arrested people will likely be given fines as an easy way out of jail, all the hardware will remain in government custody, and never will the process used by law enforcement be subjected to judicial review. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter

An often repeated line by many liberals and even some conservatives, is that it is hypocritical for a libertarian to accept money from the government in any form. So is this true? Not hardly. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter

Sometimes I need to work more than forty hours a week, sometimes I want to work more than forty hours a week, either way it’s to get ahead and be a little more financially stable. Often though, I’m unable to do so. Read more…

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By: Gigi Bowman

My New Year’s resolution to my country. I will do everything I can to get Ron Paul elected and here is why: Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter

Should it be illegal for a privately owned business to discriminate against people?

People discriminate every day. What instantly comes to mind with something like this is color of skin and gender. Discrimination can be any range of areas though, from looks, to speech, quality of clothes, pitch of voice, physical strength, etc. There are many things here that are discriminated against that people cannot control. Should we employ a bad singer over a good singer in order to avoid discrimination? Should we employ a weaker person over a very strong person to do a job that requires a lot of physical strength, just to avoid discrimination? How about the modeling business, isn’t that entire industry built on discrimination against ugly people? What of all female book clubs, doesn’t this discriminate against males? Scholarships that go to only black people? Businesses that will not hire people with visible tattoos or those who cannot pass a drug test but never show up to work inebriated? Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter

When I was in high school I always stood and always recited the Pledge of Allegiance because that was what I believed we were supposed to do. It was all I had ever known and I was just following what everyone else did. Some other students refused to participate though and they caught a lot of hell for it and I often felt that they didn’t deserve to be berated by teachers for refusing to participate since that was simply them exercising their freedom of choice.

When I got older though and I began to look at life and government differently, I realized a few things. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter

It just doesn’t seem like you get much justice when it comes to dealing with the government, especially when you’re defending yourself from it.

Most have experienced this before, whether they realized it at the time or not, and it is remarkable that we have not conceived of something better, at the very least cried out against the injustice. When the government gets you in its sights, often the easiest thing to do at the time is comply and hope it goes away. What exactly are we talking about here you ask? Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

Many of us find ourselves holding back sometimes when people say or do absurd things, all for the sake of maintaining relationships and/or keeping the general peace. We all have our own beliefs, and those beliefs are tough to change, but shouldn’t the more absurd beliefs that are so easily pulled apart be subject to real evaluation by those that hold them? A person’s beliefs should be subject to change a bit, any rational person should be flexible in their beliefs to account for new information. Some aren’t so open-minded though.

There are a slew of things that we all hear regularly from many different people; opinions that should be deemed as recklessly hateful or poorly thought out without much consideration for facts and information. There are also opinions on how to approach others and various situations that don’t seem to be based on logic and reason, but on fear. This all needs to end though and more of us should be speaking up. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

The Alien and Sedition acts were both an affront to genuine liberty, and also tools of great corruption and oppression. While many patriotically supported these acts as necessary to preserve the United States, they failed to realize the implications of such measures. Read more…

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A man was put in jail, lost his car and his job, and got nothing but a very late apology from Chase because of a very serious mistake made by Chase. Read the story

When things like this happen due to stupidity on the part of a business, more than just an apology is owed, compensation is owed, heavy compensation. Not only should businesses be made to pay damages to people that have this sort of thing happen to them, but governments that make similar mistakes should do the same as well.

A person should never be inconvenienced like this, and when such mistakes are made, they should be so costly to the ones guilty of the mistake that the chance of this happening to someone else is much smaller in the future.

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

The economic practice of mercantilism by Great Britain was a system that gave special privileges and monopolies to select people while restricting the flow of goods coming into and going out of the country by means of taxation and shipping policy in order to favor select local merchants over foreign ones and enrich the empire through taxes.

It has been argued by many that this was the most beneficial economic policy to all subjects and the government, and indeed it was very beneficial to the government and the select privileged merchants, as this brought in many taxes and kept the merchant’s competitors at bay; however, mercantilism was harmful to the overall society. Read more…

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Proposed in 1916: all acts of war should be put to a national vote. Anyone voting yes had to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army.

Thanks to The Humble Libertarian for finding this little jewel. I think it needs another go at it.

Here are some other amendments that didn’t make the cut as well: Read more…

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Ever wanted to get in on a good get rich quick scheme? Ever wonder how banks and the “well to do” in general make their money? Get ready to be upset. Read more…

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By Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

Traditional money was backed by gold and silver due their qualities of durability, being easily divisible, and for their many uses. Today as currencies around the world are devalued, people are flocking to these metals as a hedge against monetary inflation. I am leery of this. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

Cam Nedland’s recent article about the end of retail stores got me to thinking about a long-held economic misconception, that of innovation causing a loss of jobs. Shouldn’t we be worried about all of the people that will lose their jobs once the era of retail ends? Read more…

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By: Kyle Trowbridge

In reaction to http://www.democrats.org/ ’s piece on Ron Paul, and why he is so scary, I thought I would share with you all the five reasons why I am no longer a Democrat.  And this is no defense of Ron Paul, who I may/may not vote for.  Rather, it is to show that the Democratic Party is a gang of immoral frauds.  Read more…

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Texas Rep. Ron Paul announced that he will not run for another term in congress and will focus on his bid to become our next president.

In a message posted on Facebook he stated: “I have decided not to seek re-election for my House seat in 2012 and will focus all of my energy winning the presidency.”

Ron Paul, an obstetrician having delivered over 4000 babies before entering congress in 1978, is attempting his third run for president. The first came as a Libertarian Party candidate in 1988, and the second in 2008 where he made big waves and got many people involved on a grassroots level. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

If you’re a baseball fan then you’ve probably heard that Derek Jeter got his 3000th hit this past weekend, a major milestone in major league baseball, and not just any hit, a home-run. The lucky fan that caught his ball, Christian Lopez, was generous enough to return it to him, even though he could have kept the ball and made quite a bit of money from selling it.

Jeter and the Yankee organization felt that his kindness merited a reward, so they chose to give the fan a luxury suite for the rest of the season, and a lot of autographed souvenirs. This is where it all gets screwy, and should make any person’s blood boil, that is the IRS decided to get involved. Why, might you ask, did the IRS get involved? They decided that the fan owed them some money due to gift he received. Reminds you of the story about the Houston Astros fan that won free donuts and had to pay taxes on them. Read more…

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by Sara Billings, RN

I believe knowledge is power. There is no more complex topic in the healthcare debate than end-of-life care. I have been a Registered Nurse for thirty years. I deal with this every day. All of us will confront this issue eventually. When it’s your turn, I hope the medical profession will guide you to the best options for you and your family. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

I’ve heard a lot of different responses to the marijuana legalization movement during the time I’ve been involved with this great group of people. Some have been good, some bad, many have been irrational, but the one I’ve begun to hear recently sickens me.

The charge levied against those involved in the marijuana movement? That we are using medical marijuana as a cover, that we really don’t care about the sick, and that we just want to get high without getting arrested. Well, one part of that statement is accurate, and you’d better believe that every single one of us is in this for it. All of us that consume marijuana “yes there are some people involved that do not consume marijuana” do just want to get high in peace, and there isn’t a thing wrong with that. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

As you may have already heard, an alliance has been forged in congress on the issue of marijuana legalization. Democrat Barney Frank (Ma) and Republican Presidential Candidate Ron Paul (Tx) have come together to bring us H.R. 2306, known as “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011″ however thanks to Rep. Lamar Smith(R) of Texas, the bill likely will not even get a hearing. Read more…

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By: Stephen Carter - stephen@icarter.com

Happy 4th of July everyone, a day where we all celebrate our liberty and those who stand up and actively work against those who would oppress others.

You might thank a soldier, but few wars have been fought to preserve liberty. You might thank a politician, but few politicians have been on the side of liberty. The unseen are the ones you should be looking for, those that fight for your rights on a daily basis, the ones hassled by those in positions of power for exposing corruption, malice, and inconsistencies in liberty. Read more…

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By: Paul Graham

Have you ever seen an old photo of yourself and been embarrassed at the way you looked? Did we actually dress like that? We did. And we had no idea how silly we looked. It’s the nature of fashion to be invisible, in the same way the movement of the earth is invisible to all of us riding on it.

What scares me is that there are moral fashions too. They’re just as arbitrary, and just as invisible to most people. But they’re much more dangerous. Fashion is mistaken for good design; moral fashion is mistaken for good. Dressing oddly gets you laughed at. Violating moral fashions can get you fired, ostracized, imprisoned, or even killed. Read more…

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A well-stocked first-aid kit is a necessity in every home.

The first-aid kit should be kept in an easy to reach place. It is best to keep one first-aid kit in your home and one in each car. Also be sure to pack a first aid kit when you go on vacation.

How to make a First Aid Kit

Choose containers for your kits that are roomy, durable, easy to carry, and simple to open. Plastic tackle boxes or containers for storing art supplies are ideal, since they’re lightweight, have handles, and offer a lot of space.

The following items are basic supplies. You can get most of them at a pharmacy or supermarket.

Bandages and dressings:

• Assorted sizes and shapes of Band-Aids
• Sterile gauze pads and adhesive tape
• ACE bandage for wrapping wrist, ankle, knee, and elbow injuries
• Triangular bandage for wrapping injuries and making an arm sling
• Aluminum finger splints
• Eye shield, pads, and bandages
• Home health equipment:
• Thermometer
• Syringe, medicine cup, or medicine spoon for giving specific doses of medicine
• Disposable, instant ice bags
• Tweezers, to remove ticks and small splinters
• Sharp scissors
• Sterile cotton balls
• Sterile cotton-tipped swabs
• Blue “baby bulb” or “turkey baster” suction device
• Save-A-Tooth storage device in case a tooth is broken or knocked out; contains a travel case and salt solution
• Safety pins
• First-aid manual

Medicine for cuts and injuries:

• Antiseptic solution, such as hydrogen peroxide or wipes
• Antibiotic ointment, such as bacitracin, polysporin, or mupirocin
• Sterile eyewash, such as contact lens saline solution
• Calamine lotion for stings or poison ivy
• Hydrocortisone cream, ointment, or lotion for itching
• Ibuprofen for pain
• Extra prescription medications
• Anti-diarrhea medication
• Antacid (for upset stomach)
• Laxative

Miscellaneous items:

• Plastic gloves
• Flashlight
• Extra batteries
• Mouthpiece for administering CPR
• List of emergency phone numbers
• Blanket
• Dried food
• Canned goods
• Can opener
• Prescription glasses
• Eye wash solution
• Bottled water

Check your kit regularly, and replace any supplies that are getting low or which have expired.

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Via Reason Magazine

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) will introduce “bi-partisan legislation tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference,” according to a press release from the Marijuana Policy Project that just hit my inbox. More from that email:

Other co-sponsors include Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). The legislation would limit the federal government’s role in marijuana enforcement to cross-border or inter-state smuggling, allowing people to legally grow, use or sell marijuana in states where it is legal. The legislation is the first bill ever introduced in Congress to end federal marijuana prohibition.

Rep. Frank’s legislation would end state/federal conflicts over marijuana policy, reprioritize federal resources, and provide more room for states to do what is best for their own citizens.

I called Morgan Fox at MPP to ask about the chances that this bill will get any serious debate time in the House (a fair question, considering that it has only one Republican supporter at the moment). “It’s definitely going to get a serious debate, probably more in the media than on the floor of the House,” Fox told me. “But I think it needs to be debated on the floor.”

What does MPP see as obstacles?

“Someone in the prohibitionist camp could hold it up as long as they wanted, but the slew of opinion pieces that came out last week calling for the end of the failed drug war will give this momentum,” Fox said.

While Paul’s status as a declared presidential candidate should help with media pick-up, Frank is leading the press teleconference tomorrow, and Paul’s not even on the call.

Previous Frank-Paul partnerships include a 2010 op-ed to reduce military spending and a marijuana decriminalization bill introduced in the House in 2009. In the intervening two years, Arizona and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical marijuana, and the Connecticut legislature has moved to decriminalize it. Now former U.S. Attorney John McKay and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes are organizing to completely legalize marijuana in Washington State. The time is ripe.

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By: Stephen Carter -  stephen@icarter.com

We have been at war in order to introduce good, liberty oriented American values to everyone else in the world and prevent tyranny since we got involved massively on the world stage in world war one. This has been the line of thinking, that we’re so heavily involved in the world in order to make it a better place. How have we fared? Read more…

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