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Thursday, October 19

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The Humble Libertarian is the guest editor today.

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photo courtesy of Trey Ratcliff
The War Prayer by Mark Twain 1904
Original article It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun...
Who Bullies The Bullies?
Original article There's a big push for "women's safety" online, for getting rid of trolls and cyberbullies and cyberstalkers, not coincidentally another one of Randi Zuckerberg's pet causes; and while these are all legitimate worries someone should take a minute and ask why, when mustached men have been stalking women since the days of Whitecastle yet no systemic changes have been effected, the moment women feel threatened from the safety of their LCD screens America opens the nuclear...
Being an Achiever
Original article The difference between an achiever and a non-achiever is largely a matter of attention. Non-achievers give their goals little attention, if they bother to set goals at all. Achievers give their goals sufficient attention so as to reach, attain, or accomplish those goals.
Why were Confederate monuments built?
Original article The Southern Poverty Law Center's timeline for the construction of Confederate monuments and KKK enrollement numbers is suspiciously inaccurate- based on an earlier timeline created before the Charlottesville rally... by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Why lie?
Wikileaks Mocking US Government Over Bitcoin Shows Why There Is No Stopping Bitcoin
Original article People who are against bitcoin - and why in the world would you be against a free market money unless you are an immoral statist or a paid government troll? - like to make themselves feel better about missing out on the biggest thing since the internet by saying, “The government will shut it down!”
Is it Wrong to Question the Official Story When Tragedy Strikes?
Original article Which came first, the media’s obsession with violence, or the public demand for violence? In the 1990’s as violent crime in America dropped, the media filled more and more time slots with stories about violence. By the end of the 90’s the public was clamoring for the government to do something about what they assumed was a rising trend in violent crime...
Catalonia: Spain detains two separatists
Original article Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart, who lead prominent separatist groups, are being held without bail while they are under investigation for sedition. The men were leading figures in the 1 October independence vote, which the Madrid government regards as illegal...
"I'm Concerned... It's Highly Unusual" - Vegas Massacre Security Guard Remains Missing
Original article This is coming from completely reputable, establishment, main stream media sources. It is definitely not made up. It is also definitely not getting a lot of attention...
How Defense Distributed Already Upended the World
Original article From The Atlantic in 2013... still ever relevant in any discussion of gun control...
“Me Too” is a Branch Issue, and a Distraction
Original article Branch issues are all the rage in the media, very rarely is a root issue given the light of day. Root issues are things like the childhood trauma, monopoly policing, compulsory education, interventionist war, and inflationary central banking. This is in no way an exhaustive list, but the deepest root of them all is the belief that some people have the right to hurt or steal from other people without just cause (eg. self-defense). The roots are the primary source of nourishment for the branches...
Mathematician John Conway's Game of Life...
Original article The Game of Life was invented in 1970 by the British mathematician John Horton Conway. Conway developed an interest in a problem which was made evident in the 1940’s by mathematician John von Neumann, who aimed to find a hypothetical machine that had the ability to create copies of itself and was successful when he discovered a mathematical model for such a machine with very complicated rules on a rectangular grid.
Self Esteem and “Libertarian Burnout” with Dr. Michael Edelstein
Original article In today’s show, we take a slightly different path away from libertarian philosophy and politics and welcome in clinical psychologist and speaker Dr. Michael Edelstein. Dr. Edelstein starts off by explaining how he became interested in clinical psychology and how that eventually led him to meet Walter Block and – after several years of debate – to him becoming a libertarian. Dr. Edestein then explains his view on self-esteem, and why he is critical of its promotion...
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Surveillance Self-Defense
Original article Modern technology has given those in power new abilities to eavesdrop and collect data on innocent people. Surveillance Self-Defense is EFF's guide to defending yourself and your friends from surveillance by using secure technology and developing careful practices.
Running With Mexico’s Tarahumara Indians
Original article Tarahumara runners are some of the best long-distance marathoners in the world. While exploring Mexico’s Copper Canyon, I attempted to go running with them...
A journey through Iran: Eye-opening photographs reveal an enchanting, mysterious and rarely seen side of the country
Original article It is perceived as one of the most introverted countries in the world with a policy of eradicating any outside influence from foreign nations. But a photographer's stunning collection of images from his journey through the Republic of Iran offers a rare insight into what life in the Islamic state is really like.
Fifth World Problems
Original article Did a golden mouth appear in a bonfire and scream the date of your own death at you?   Are pools of blood forming in your hands whenever you cup them, only to coagulate into the form of a tiny baby with three heads? You're stuck in 2nd person and you can't get out. Help you. Help you. Please. Help you.
STR Blog
Original article
Lions and Tigers and Trumps, Oh My!
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Mark Davis 2017-02-02 09:15
Column by Mark Davis. Exclusive to STR Auntie Em: Help us out today and find yourself a place where you won't get into any trouble! Dorothy: A place where there isn't any trouble. Do you suppose there is such a place, Toto? There must be. It's not a place you can get to by a boat or a train. It's far, far away. Behind the moon, beyond the rain... [singing] Somewhere Over The...
About Anonymous Alcoholism: Notes on the Cultocracy
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Kevin M. Patten 2017-01-18 01:00
Column by Kevin M. Patten. Exclusive to STR Lest I be accused of throwing every problematic drinker under the bus, let’s get the boringly obvious out of the way: There’s no doubt that the institution of Alcoholics Anonymous has helped a few people overcome their addiction. But I find it refreshing that after decades of monopolistic influence on the courts and rehabs, AA is finally...
Does Michael Moore Matter Anymore? An Open Letter From One Filmmaker to Another
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Douglas Herman 2017-01-16 09:43
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “This is the true joy in life – being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” ~ George...
Did the Russians Poop in the Hallway?
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Paul Bonneau 2017-01-11 09:50
Column by Paul Bonneau. Exclusive to STR There is an amusing “meme” floating around that bears on recent events: I have found an article that is more even handed than most these days, on the question of Russian hacking of email servers. Highly recommended. There are apparently, three distinct views that one can have of this controversy: 1) Whoever hacked the DNC email server--...
Why It Makes Sense That Police Are Outlaws
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Alex R. Knight III 2017-01-06 09:04
Column by Alex R. Knight III. Exclusive to STR There’s been a lot of talk for quite some time now about police brutality, misconduct, and unaccountability.  In fact, last year saw an unprecedented level of demonstrations, riots -- and even multiple shootings of police – in response to cop actions against the populace deemed to be abusive and outside of written code, often with...
Confessions of a Fake News Reporter
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Douglas Herman 2017-01-04 09:22
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “A lie can travel half way around the world while truth is still putting on its shoes.”  ~ Mark Twain I write for those so-called “fake news” websites. You know the ones: the 200 odd deplorable websites, the ones Hillary, the Pope and Michael Moore have attacked as threatening to destroy World Peace, Democracy, Facebook and...
Rube Goldberg Government
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Paul Bonneau 2017-01-03 01:00
Column by Paul Bonneau. Exclusive to STR For the younger readers, Wikipedia notes that “Goldberg is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complicated gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways.” Democracy The first stage of our Rube Goldbergian government is Democracy. Mencken said it best: "Democracy is grounded upon so childish a...
When Deplorable Meets Adorable
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Douglas Herman 2016-12-17 14:39
Column by Douglas Herman. Exclusive to STR “Why are we in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate measures?” ~ Henry David Thoreau   So I had to meet Miss America again. If someone said to me, 50 years ago when I was a tongue-tied teenager, that one day I’d be hanging out with a former beauty queen for a couple of days, trying not to fall in love with her as...
The Last Barricade
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Terry Hulsey 2016-12-17 13:59
Column by Terry Hulsey. Exclusive to STR “I” comes from the flesh, but [...] “we” comes from the Devil. ~ Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn   So much of life is compromise. Rare is the one who maintains his integrity to the end of his life. In this national election year when not one candidate stands for a consistent set of principles, it’s good to ask the question:...
Assumptions, Assumptions
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Paul Hein 2016-12-16 09:16
Column by Paul Hein. Exclusive to STR Our trash is picked up on Tuesdays. Well, I should not simply say “trash,” because only one of the containers holds officially defined trash. The others are for recyclables and yard waste. (Ah, the carefree days of my youth, when trash was trash, and not analyzed and segregated.) Recently, while writing out the check for these services, which are...
A Dollar in Peril
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Jim Davies 2008-11-02 17:00
Exclusive to STR One of the nice things about not voting is that one can enjoy a little sport at the expense of those who do. Let me share with you an example or three. A few days before November 4th, I visited a nearby town, and first called at the government postal monopoly for some stamps so that I could write to an innocent friend incarcerated in a government prison. Standing in line, I said...
Deadliest Catch: One Alaska Fisherman to Another
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Douglas Herman 2008-09-28 16:00
Exclusive to STR September 29, 2008
The Confessions of Osama Bin Laden
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Douglas Herman 2008-11-17 17:00
I confess I did not know then, but I know now, why you Americans stopped chasing me at Tora Bora in October 2001.
What's So Hard to Understand About the Right to Bear Arms?
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Wilton D. Alston 2009-02-03 17:00
Exclusive to STR February 4, 2009 'Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India , history will look upon the Act of depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.' ~ Mohandas Gandhi, from An Autobiography
Do You Really Want Freedom, Or Are You Just Kidding Yourself?
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Wilton D. Alston 2009-06-09 16:00
Exclusive to STR June 10, 2009 'The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.' ~ Plato 'Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to ensure implicit obedience is to...
A New Strategy For Liberty - Part 1: An Open Letter To Ron Paul Supporters
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Stewart Browne 2009-05-17 16:00
Exclusive to STR May 18, 2009 Dear Ron Paul Supporters, Thank you. Thank you for giving your time, effort, and money to the cause of liberty. Thank you for taking a stand for what you know is right, and putting yourselves out there in favor of opinions the State would rather you didn't hold.
A New Strategy For Liberty - Part 2: Secession in Three Easy Steps
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Stewart Browne 2009-05-17 16:00
Exclusive to STR May 18, 2009 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
Objectivist Resistance to Anarchy: A Problem of Concept Formation?
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Carrie Burdzinski 2009-05-19 16:00
Exclusive to STR As a former Orthodox Objectivist who now recognizes anarchy's intrinsic coherence, I have particular interest in studying the ethical basis of anarchism. Roy A. Childs, Jr.'s "Objectivism and the State: An Open Letter to Ayn Rand" and "The Epistemological Basis of Anarchism: An Open Letter to Objectivists and Libertarians," and Nicholas Dykes' "Mrs....
Charity Never Faileth
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B.R. Merrick 2009-05-13 16:00
Exclusive to STR May 14, 2009 The title of this article comes from 1 Corinthians 13:8. I can't call myself a believer anymore, but I do believe quite strongly in the need for each of us to be charitable. I think it's good for us. I know that for me, it helps to remind me of things I tend to forget, when I think of what it is that I lack. There are plenty of people worse off than I am, or...
Functional Rights: The Elephant in the Parlor, Part II
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Scarmig 2009-06-03 16:00
Exclusive to STR June 4, 2009 Part II: Rights are' So what are rights? If there are none of these things, functionally, despite what anyone might claim, then what are they? How do they function in daily life? How are they exercised inalienably by every person everywhere that has ever existed, regardless of the government that claimed authority over them? George Potter wrote:
Do We Need a Vaccine for Hubris? MUST READ
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D. Saul Weiner 2015-02-13 09:13
Column by D. Saul Weiner. Exclusive to STR There are a lot of heated exchanges going on right now in social media related to vaccination. Many people have become convinced that parents who do not vaccinate are jeopardizing the health of others and that vaccines for children should be mandated. Politicians who are expected to run for president in 2016 are starting to weigh in on the topic and some...
'Obamacare Nightmare Edition' of Ringo's Law and the Healthcare System of Doom MUST READ
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Glen Allport 2013-10-30 08:02
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR Introduction for this 2013 Edition As I write this – October 28, 2013, more than four years after the column below was posted (here with minor edits; see the original at this link if you wish) – NBC News is reporting that the Obama administration “knew millions could not keep their health insurance" under Obamacare, and has known...
An Armed March on Washington? MUST READ
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Alex R. Knight III 2013-05-07 06:52
Column by Alex R. Knight III. Exclusive to STR Perhaps never before have I encountered a proposal within Liberty Movement circles that has generated more controversy faster and further than Adam Kokesh’s planned July 4th march on Washington, District of Criminals, in which he states that himself and the other participants “will march with rifles loaded & slung across our backs to...
The Orwellian Paradigm--Killing You, For Your Own Safety MUST READ
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fmoghul 2013-04-10 08:12
Column by Faisal Moghul. Exclusive to STR Almost 30 years ago, cultural critic Neil Postman argued in Amusing Ourselves to Death that television’s gradual replacement of the printing press has created a dumbed-down culture driven by mindless entertainment. In this context, Postman claimed that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World correctly foresaw our dystopian future, as opposed to George...
Frameworks, Virtual Reality and Civil Society: A Manifesto for the Doctrine of Love and Freedom MUST READ
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Glen Allport 2012-12-06 08:44
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR Perhaps I should say this paradigm shift is resuming. The healthier incoming paradigm is a modern, more accurate, better-supported, and better-understood version of one that began the shift towards a free, healthy, and prosperous world more than three centuries ago and which informed the creation of the United States itself: Classical Liberalism. - 1...
Timeline of a World-Killing Paradigm Shift MUST READ
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Glen Allport 2012-05-14 00:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR   Part 3 of "Could the Non-Aggression Principle Stop the Sixth Great Extinction?"   Part One of this series discussed the Non-Aggression principle, calling it "the libertarian half of the Golden Rule" (compassion being the other half) and describing the function of aggression in creating not only tyranny and war but also...
Terrorist Alert: Government Extremists Threaten Americans MUST READ
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Glen Allport 2012-03-26 00:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR   Question: are you more terrified by Muslim extremists, by "domestic terrorists" – or by your own government? Which group is more likely to assault you? To kill you? To unjustly imprison and even torture you?   The U.S. federal government has ALREADY:   Built and is staffing a huge gulag of concentration camps [...
The State Is a Firing Squad MUST READ
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JGVibes 2012-02-17 01:00
Column by JGVibes.   Exclusive to STR   Although the common perception of human nature is very negative, the truth is that most people who aren’t mentally ill have a very difficult time committing acts of violence. Usually it takes a sizeable payment and a fair amount of manipulation to convince someone to act violently, and even then a tremendous amount of guilt typically...
How the 1% Took America's Wealth--and How to Get It Back MUST READ
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Glen Allport 2011-12-01 01:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR  - 1 - Plundering Wealth vs Producing Wealth   In recent decades, the rich have gathered an increasing share of the total wealth in the United States. As this wealth disparity grows and especially as large numbers of the formerly middle class fall into poverty and even into homelessness, this flow of wealth from main street (from anyone not...
'Anarchy or Minarchy' Is Only Half the Question, Part 2 MUST READ
9.5
Glen Allport 2011-04-13 03:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR  This is Part 2 of a response to a column by Wesley Messamore. Last week's Part One of this column discussed the following:   ·      Minarchy: Lighting a Match to the Fuse of Tyranny ·      Anarchy: By Itself, Yang without Yin ·      The Missing Key...
Neocons and Progressives: One Big Family of Aggressors and Central Planners, with Delusions of Grandeur Recommended
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Scott Lazarowitz 2012-04-26 00:00
Column by Scott Lazarowitz. Exclusive to STR Regarding the traditional left-right scheme and modern uses of the terms “conservative” and “liberal,” the neoconservatives are hardly conservative and the liberals and progressives are hardly liberal or progressive. Rather than viewing “left” as liberal or progressive, and “right” as conservative or...
The Great Stagecoach Robbery Recommended
8.5
David Calderwood 2012-03-02 01:00
Column by new Root Striker David Calderwood.  Exclusive to STR  It’s Political Season and the airwaves are stuffed with Great Plans from Great Men, full of promises to Fix This and Fix That. I guess the goal is, “He who makes the Most Believable Promises Wins.”   Bah.   Does anyone else share my sense that I’m a passenger on a stagecoach that is being...
Freedom Is Not Found on Paper Recommended
9.2
Alex R. Knight III 2012-02-14 01:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III   Exclusive to STR   One of the good folks at Gun Owners of Vermont (I like spelling that out much more than the acronym – GOVT – for what should be an obvious reason) recently sent me, along with my 2012 membership card, a piece published not long ago in a small freebie newspaper called The Shopper. It hails out of Ludlow, Vermont, and the...
A Look at the True Collectivist, Socialist and Communist Nature of Today’s Conservatives Recommended
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Scott Lazarowitz 2011-12-06 01:00
Column by Scott Lazarowitz. Exclusive to STR Many of today’s conservatives speak of traditional moral values and free-market capitalism, and say they are “against collectivism, socialism and communism.” But an examination of the actual policies they support and the way they want to implement their “values” shows that many conservatives are really the collectivist,...
Heartless Libertarians Recommended
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tzo 2011-11-03 00:00
Column by tzo. Exclusive to STR   The specter of the heartless libertarian arises when it is suggested that society could perhaps be better organized without a coercive government at its core. The proponents of this shocking scheme are dismissed as being either blatantly naïve or else accused of being calculating, soulless monsters who don’t want to be bothered with the less...
Against State-Sponsored Gay Marriage Recommended
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R. K. Blacksher 2011-06-29 00:00
Column by R.K. Blacksher. Exclusive to STR In an 1877 essay titled “Against Women’s Suffrage,” Lysander Spooner wrote, “Women are human beings, and consequently have all the natural rights that any human being can have.” These natural rights, Spooner argued, do not include the “right” to use the power of the state to engage in theft and coercion against...
Patriot Pauls and Patriot Acts, Part II of II Recommended
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tzo 2011-06-28 00:00
Column by tzo. Exclusive to STR   Part II: Get Real   Reality check: There is little I can do to change society as it is currently configured, and the Constitutionalist must come to grips with the fact that he is in an identical situation. The Voluntaryist is ridiculed for holding a position that hardly anyone understands or is aligned with, but the same may be said of the Ron Paul...
Why Experience Libertopia? An Interview with Sky Conway – Paraphrased Recommended
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Lawrence M. Ludlow 2011-04-27 03:00
Column by Lawrence M. Ludlow. Exclusive to STR In February, Sky Conway introduced Libertopia to the anarchists who gather regularly at Café Libertalia in San Diego. I decided to interview him again to explore his concept for the Libertopia weekend (October 21 to 23) a bit further. I gave up on writing a formal interview article, but the following paraphrase is an accurate depiction of what...
'Anarchy or Minarchy' Is Only Half the Question Recommended
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Glen Allport 2011-04-05 03:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR Hello Wesley,     I loved your Libertarian Dilemma: Anarchy or Minarchy? in today’s Humble Libertarian (March 22, 2011). Since founding the site, you’ve shown a knack for asking interesting questions and a willingness to consider views outside your comfort zone. In this new column, you say, among other things, that “I am...
Why Is Social Security Going Broke? Recommended
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Glen Allport 2011-03-08 04:00
Column by Glen Allport. Exclusive to STR - 1 -   In plain language, there is no good reason for the unfolding Social Security nightmare. Yes, the Baby Boomers are retiring, but so what? It's a big group, but this same big group has been paying into Social Security their whole adult lives. It's not like the money hasn't been set aside or anything.   Right?   - 2 -   Of course,...

 

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