The only equality that can be achieved in the world, hence the only rational concept of equality, is equality in liberty.
Category: Libertarianism
Friday Quote – Thomas Sowell
What do automobiles, guns, and home-schooling all have in common that makes the liberals hate them? All these things reduce individual dependence on the government and the grandiose schemes for other people’s lives created by liberals and imposed by the government.
Friday Quote – Jeff Cooper
The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely on the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized.
Derek’s Mildly Useful Movie Reviews – Tread
The Wife and I decided on this film for our movie night viewing. I knew of the Killdozer story from the growing internet folktale of the event. I was curious to see how it was portrayed.
The documentary uses audio tapes made by Marv Heemeyer in the months leading up to the Killdozer event and interviews with his friends in the first act to bring Marv to life. The filmmakers use this time to help Marv build his case against the authorities in the town of Grady.
Then, the second act feeds in the counter narrative with interviews from members of the local government and parts of Marv’s tapes that were more, shall we say, ranting. By the end of the second act, I was a bit more ambivalent on whether Marv was fucked over by the town or Marv just had a persecution complex.
The third act was the Killdozer rampage. I learned a lot of details about how Marv built, armed, and drove the Killdozer. The last act is going to be shaded by how you come out of the previous two acts. Since I was feeling more ambivalent already, the rampaging done made me more ambivalent.
Summary – I thought this was a well-done documentary. I think anyone who champions the Killdozer as a myth of the common man against corrupt government should watch this. Then, after seeing this, do you think if the folktale holds, or should we discard this?
Defund the Statues!
I’ve seen the mobs tearing down statues with a weary resignation. After all, this is the violence of the mob, and the mob cannot be reasoned with. There’s only three things to do with the mob: let it run wild and hope that it spends its energy before lives are lost; contain it so that it’s destruction is contained to an area; or finally quash it with all available force. None of these come without cost in blood and property.
This post isn’t about what to do with mobs. This is about what to do with public statues. Statues are supposed to commemorate great events or persons, represent public values, beautify the community, and/or fund public funds to the artistic community. The problem in our current multi-faceted community is that we have statues that not only do not reflect some factions’ values, but represent horrific events/attitudes in their view. Why should they support those with their tax dollars?
My personal opinion is that all statues should be privately owned and funded. If some great event needs a statue or monument, then there shouldn’t be a problem for a non-profit to raise the funds. Plus, private funding of monuments prevents government from being petitioned to use public funds for largely unwanted projects. I’ve seen some of the statues Tampa has commissioned, and most of them seem like payoffs.
What to do with the current statues? I’m all for cities, states, and even the federal government selling or giving them to private entities. Right now, it would be in the best interest of many municipalities and states to sell as many of them as possible to make up for lost tax revenue. I also have no issue with the government saying that the new owners must relocate the statues.
Friday Quote – Ayn Rand
Fascism and communism are not two opposites, but two rival gangs fighting over the same territory – both are variants of statism, based on the collectivist principle that man is the rightless slave of the state.
Friday Quote – Phil Labonte
If the constitution were meant to be interpreted, if it were meant to change and be fluid with the times, why would the founders have made an amendment process in the first place? Furthermore, if it was meant to be interpreted and a “living constitution” that changes, why would the amendment process be so stringent?
Wild Plan For Remaking Criminal Justice Part Something or Other
I was listening to the Free Thoughts podcast last Friday, and they were discussing criminal justice reform. One of the speakers (honestly can’t remember if it was one of the hosts or guests) talked about ways of reforming the disparity between the prosecutors and public defenders offices. He talked about semi-privatizing it by selecting each side from a pool of available attorneys. I liked the concept.
Derek’s State Attorney’s Office Proposal:
- Abolish both the prosecutor’s and public defender’s office
- Establish a pool of attorneys. I’m thinking of either volunteers or perhaps as a condition of being a part of the bar.
- All attorneys in the pool agree to a flat rate per hour for doing state service.
- No attorneys will have qualified immunity for unreasonable prosecution.
- Trial costs would be managed by judges
Here’s my idea of the flow:
- Police investigate crime, develop evidence, and arrest suspect
- State Attorney or Deputy State Attorney will decide if the case should be brought forward
- If the case is going forward, two attorneys from the pool are chosen randomly – one prosecutor and one defender
- Attorney selected for prosecution can decline if case is unsound. Since the attorney will be liable for bad prosecutions, they will have incentives to take the strong cases.
- Defendant may accept pool attorney or hire their own attorney.
- Attorneys will be paid going rate per hour for their time on the case.
- If additional funds are needed for prosecution or defense, that will be up to the judge.
Are there big, gaping holes in the plan? Heck, yeah. That’s what happens when Derek gets one of his wild idea plans. Yet, I find the framework fascinating.
Friday Quote – Henry Hazlitt
The “private sector” of the economy is, in fact, the voluntary sector; and the “public sector” is, in fact, the coercive sector.
Friday Quote – Calvin Coolidge
Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual.