The Alternative Media
www.myspace.com/the_alternative_mediaWe will get through this!!Mood: determined
Posted at 12:19 AM Jun 10 view more
Alternative Media
- Texas, US
- Last Login: 8/19/2009
-
189072921|25|11111|http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/62/m_5fabcac2d8d9d051b8c8f427fae4f244.jpg
Music Player
Interests
General
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available in an effort to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, and so on. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
America and Libertarianism
by Tibor R. Machan
Because America is still widely regarded as a pretty decent country, even while Left, Right and the rest find a lot of fault with it, the question of whether Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, Conservatives, Populists, or Libertarians are the most faithful to its central ideas and ideals is important to ask and answer.
The Left—or modern liberals—claim they are the true champions of American values because they stand up for the little guy and reject dominance by big business, just as some of the Founders did. The Right—or conservatives—believe they are the most faithful Americans because the country was founded by more or less avid Christians and has always embraced various important religious traditions, both social and political. Populists think they are the most American of them all because they claim they stand up for the power of the underdog, the people without much means but large in number.
Why does the libertarian think America is best understood in terms of libertarian ideas, principles, theories, and ideals? Because of what the Declaration of Independence states. Libertarians hold, with that venerable document, that everyone has an unalienable right to his life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. This means that others must secure one’s permission before utilizing one’s labor, time, works, resources for any purpose whatever. No one may intrude on another person without that person’s permission or consent.
The rights mentioned in the Declaration are unalienable, which means no one can lose his or her rights, they cannot be voted away, no one, government or neighbor, is authorized to violate them regardless of how important the purpose might be used to justify such violation. If one is concerned about the poor, others’ support must be obtained without coercion. If one is interested in converting someone to a different faith from the one he or she is practicing, this must be done by means of persuasion, by convincing people, not be forcing them to change their beliefs. If one disapproves of homosexuality, drug use, gambling, hunting, horseback riding or any other fundamentally non-coercive conduct by others, one must never resort to force to try to change their beliefs and behavior. If one wants to further space research or the fine arts, that too must be achieved without conscription anyone into these pursuits.
That is what having an unalienable right to one’s life and liberty and so forth means. No exceptions, even if there are complications and nuances involved in how these ideas and ideals are implemented.
It is interesting that Osama bin Laden’s latest lecture to those in the West urged them all to convert to Islam. Now urging them to do this is fully consistent with the principles of the Declaration. But terrorizing them if they refuse completely violates them. (One can ask Mr. bin Laden why one ought to convert to Islam but the answer cannot be because the Koran commands it, since that Koran has authority only over those who are Muslims, not over anyone else! But this holds also for anyone who urges another to convert to any faith at all—the reasons must be independent of the doctrine to which one is urged to convert.)
Many people in the West are not all that far from believing what Mr. bin Laden does, namely, that everyone ought to covert to their way of life, leave everything else behind. And it is only because of certain principles, the ones the Declaration lays out so succinctly, that most do not resort to coercion to try to get others to convert.
It used to be quite popular in the West, this coercive conversion idea. And in many ways it still is, as when people use the power of government—of physical force and its threat—to force others to give up their own resources, their own private property, so as to support some worthy cause. That is totally against what the Declaration identifies are our unalienable rights. Sure, most people in the West resort not to out and out terror but to more indirect force, via the legislative process, to pursue public policies that treat others as unwilling means to their ends. But the principle isn’t all that different from rank terror—the prospect of spending years in jail unless one pays up when the legislature insists one must for some cause or another is certainly terrifying to anyone.
The only contemporary political idea that really squares with the letter and spirit of the American founders is, then, libertarianism. Sure, they may not have gone so far as libertarians do to affirm the absolutely sovereignty of every adult individual. They may not have come up with substitutes for taxation, a system of extortion that violates the principle that one has an unalienable right to one’s life and liberty. But they laid the groundwork for advancing toward a truly free society. And it is libertarianism that most fully captures the implications of what they did declare to hold as being self-evidently true.Movies
Television
Heroes
Mobsters
Los Angeles Lakers Fans
Latest Blog Entries
- Apr 10, 2009 9:14 PM Why I Quit HIV
- Mar 20, 2009 11:23 PM Before the Music Dies
- Oct 17, 2007 6:55 PM Mossad Has Seized Power in U.S.A.
- Jul 8, 2007 6:34 PM Car Bomb Kills Five Marines
- Jul 8, 2007 1:00 AM ZIONIST SIEZING POWER ILLEGALLY?
Friend Space (Top 20)
-
PIA (con safos!)
Queti Mporta
-
IndyMedia.org
-
Ry anti-neocons
Ryan Dawson
-
Student/Farmworker Alli…
StudentFarmworker Alliance
-
democracy now (unoffici…
-
SocialistUS
-
gift of the gab'i
-
Coalition Against Immig…
-
Morrissey
-
Weird
Weird Magazine
-
Marxist Reading Group!
MRg UTpa
-
Student Labor Action Pr…
-
Katrina Truth
-
Worldwide Progressive M…
-
MEChA at UTPA
utpa mecha
-
Golyath
-
Leo K. WeAreChange.org …
Leo Krayola
-
ItsTimeToSaveTheWorld.n…
-
Ashley
Ashley Storrie
-
Tom
Tom Anderson
Comments
Aug 20 2009 2:36 AM
What's Hot!
August 7th & 8th
Mcallen Creative Incubator, 7pm - 12am
This art show is a thank you to everybody who takes an interest in non-mainstream type art, dares to do something different and struts to the beat of their own drum. We have combined the hottest, most expressive art in the area for your viewing pleasure, we have also connected with a couple health organizations to promote healthy living and personal safety. No better way to beat the heat than with What's Hot!
Thank You
May 11 2009 9:50 PM
May 7 2009 10:43 PM
May 6 2009 4:03 PM
Check out the latest art piece I'm working on
... & if you play Mobsters, Overdrive, or Hammerfall make sure to add me
Apr 30 2009 6:01 PM
Apr 24 2009 10:25 PM
Apr 26 2009 5:14 PM
moving slowly over wet sand.
Apr 23 2009 11:16 PM
lifetime supply of sugar for u! ;)
Sep 9 2008 12:23 AM
Apr 22 2009 9:05 PM
Sep 6 2007 6:04 PM
Subscribe today and get this issue FREE!
Visit nacla.org and enter code PR2007 to get this special solidarity discount!
Aug 16 2007 10:00 PM
Aug 9 2007 12:26 AM
There was plenty of energy, and a nice handful of militant folk showing their anger with the reactionary regime in Oaxaca and Mexico.
The protest was stared off by some pretty direct chants: things like "Oaxaca Vive! La Lucha Sigue!" and "Ulises Ruiz-Asesino!" were a couple of the things shouted this saturday.
Protest signs with the image of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, the unwanted governer of Oaxaca, were held up as the group shouted in unison; denouncing all the human rights violations and deaths commited by the state.
After a public reading of a collective statement signed by the participating organizations, and a list of only some of the killed and disappeared, in addition to a list of political prisoners arrested for their participation in the popular struggle in Oaxaca, the group headed inside the Consulate to address everyone there. After wrapping up inside, the group was then escorted out by the Consulate himself.
Only one mainstream media outlet was present; this was Univision.
Here is the collective statement we refer to:
A collective statement addressing the situation in Oaxaca:
Today, August 7th, 2007, marks the 107th anniversary of the 1st edition of the Mexican newspaper, Regeneracion. The periodical will forever live in our hearts and in our heads for denouncing the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz and the oligarchic sectors of the population. Its incessant demand for justice resonates today, in the state of Oaxaca and throughout the world. Today, we are here, peacefully, with our bodies, our words, and our banners, to denounce the repression that is happening in Oaxaca.
Mexican governments at all levels have blood on their hands; twenty-four people have been slain and many beaten and tortured, both physically and psychologically- and let us not forget the fear in the population resulting from increased state and federal police presence, and the lack of accountability for human rights viol
Aug 9 2007 8:41 PM
Jul 25 2007 11:55 PM
Jul 4 2007 8:17 AM
TimeIsBack.com
Jul 3 2007 5:51 AM
THE ELEVENTH DAY OF EVERY MONTH
TRUTH REVOLUTION RADIO
Jun 25 2007 12:44 AM