The Economist's Cookbook

I found this especially interesting. It's very much worth watching and raises some interesting arguments in the justice sphere. How can we hope to "rehabilitate" people that are literally ticking bombs from a neuroscience standpoint.



Thoughts?

For those of you that are not aware of the existence of what some people call the "Three Percent" movement. They are, for lack of a better description, quasi-revolutionary. I wouldn't say fully, because while they may preach "keep your rifle ready and your powder dry", they aren't out looking to start assassinating public officials or waging open war against the government. Yet.

And I think that they serve a very good purpose. They are a fountain of information regarding gun laws, the abuse of police powers, and trying to gauge where politicians lie on certain issues. And , God forbid, a shooting war did start in this country between government agents and armed citizens, I'd probably be supporting them however I could. Politically speaking, they are either libertarians or "conservative republicans" (I still don't really understand what this means).

But there is another side to the 3% guys and gals that ... concerns me. In fact it is a concern that largely mirrors my concern with "libertarian" groups in general. While most of the "Threepers" I've come into contact with have been passionate, intelligent people. There are a few ... "moonbats" that exist.

Now those of you that are reading this that consider yourselves part of the 3% crowd, please hear me out.

I very much enjoy some of the financial and economic discussions. The work on gun rights and political activism for the Second Amendment is priceless. But get the raving loons out of your group! I don't mind people talking about how much the government sucks, I don't mind the discussion about rights. What I mind is people who:

• Go flying off the hilt about the New World Order and all this other random conspiracy crap, that is a COMPLETE violation of Occam's Razor.

• While I don't object to people holding their religious values. I'm frankly sick and tired hearing that "The END TIMES are nigh!" No one cares, people have been screaming that for ... millennia. I do mean millennia, since the early 100s AD certain Christian groups have been calling for the end times, you haven't gotten it right yet. Please stop treating the most confusing book in the Bible like you understand prophecy, no one's gotten it right yet.
  

I have seen several examples of BOTH of these points of view on blogs that are backing or sympathetic to the movement. (Hell, I'M sympathetic to the movement).

But this presents us with a problem. It's a problem that libertarians have struggled with: how do you get these people out of the party when one of your founding tenants is "free association"? The libertarians have their share of UFO chasing, NWO fighting, tinfoil hat wearing, conspiracy nut cases. And frankly it hurts the movement. It hurts the movement a lot because morons like that end up on TV and the American people go "What the hell? I don't want to be part of this group!"

So I pose the question to the Three Percenters: What are you all going to do? Please keep in mind that I'll back most of you. In fact, I do my best to try and provide a bit more economic education to some of the other blogs that support the 3% movement. But you all still have some kinks to work out. Please consider this constructive criticism.

So my younger brother is a Sophomore in high school and is currently studying Orwell's 1984. His teacher puts up a discussion online and this is a thought of his that I found ... rather profound for a 16 year-old:

The idea of unified thinking, decision making, and gov’t is when freedom will start to become obsolete. Freedom of thought is disunity, non unification, and difference in opinion

Freedom of thought is disunity.... hmmmm

Well to the political class ... thought is dangerous. Don't think for yourself, Don't question authority, Don't oppose the "experts".

Да товарищ

Wewt! The new replacement Dell arrived and is now up and running, still need to load a few more operational programs on it, but other than that ... IT'S ALIVE!

So your libertarian thought for the day. I wrote this a while back when discussing the upcoming 2008 presidential election on an automotive forum, when explaining my position on the "moral" use of coercion to "help" those less fortunate.

I want the government to have less power in every aspect, not more. Of course people see a 'crisis' coming and they turn into a bunch of bleating sheep who beg the government to save them or do something about it. The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say. I want my country back and I don't want some politician telling me that I should be a slave to someone else because it's "moral". Fuck you, I live for me, not for someone else.

I'm more profane than I am elegant in my arguments and for that I'm sorry, I'll never be a Walter Williams or a Don Doudreaux. But I can be a voice for freedom.

Weeeell the moral busybodies are at it again. Now I should state before I link to the Reason video on this that I'm not a supporter of this hardcore S&M porn they are referring to. However, at the same time, I think that as long as things are voluntary they have a right to produce whatever kind of adult films they want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxSJAeKphpM

To steal and mutilate a phrase:

"First they came for the Bondage Websites. And I didn't speak up because I wasn't into Bondage ...."

You get the idea.

The fact that they are trying to use the PATRIOT Act to circumvent obscenity laws is just ridiculous. These people are not supporting terrorists.

Funny, in a time of economic crash they are actually putting businesses OUT of business. Funny, shouldn't they be trying to make sure people keep their jobs?

*sigh*

I'm worried, very worried. It seems like no one cares about liberty, freedom, trade, and wealth anymore. Not that your average person really gives a damn about the finer points of argument over freedom vs. slavery. Hell we've replaced rational discourse with emotional appeal, demagoguery, lies, and politics.

I'm just an "extremist". One of a precious few that seem to see the primrose path we're being led down. A path that will ultimately self-destruct in what I think will be a very Atlas Shrugged fashion.

What do we do? Do we run? If so, where? Fighting will leave us branded as domestic terrorists, and while I would love to see the established political power in this country torn to bits, I don't relish trying and only succeeding in spending the rest of my life in some prison where the government and people can forget about you.

Education is failing as every new crisis is used as evidence against free markets and free minds. I think it was Stalin that said education is a weapon. It's a weapon that is, I fear, no longer ours to wield in any effectual manner.

What are freemen to do? I don't have an answer and that troubles me greatly. I get to sit and watch our society grind itself up.