February 5, 2010
Recently, while reading the Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson, a thought came to mind, why do people believe that taxes are necessary? If there was no law forcing one to pay, how many would willingly send money to the government? It would be far more likely that people would turn to private corporations to receive services and would put their dollars into the hands of these more efficient producers.
For thousands of years, governments have sought out ways to extort money from the people they lord over. These methods of extortion are broadcast to the public as good things. But, when it comes down to it, one can see that if they look behind the curtain, many of these so-called good things are nothing more than a sly move to commit grand larceny against the citizenry. many of the services are poorly carried out, or are not even done!
For instance, consider that a portion of your paycheck is withheld each week to pay numerous types of taxes. While one might suggest that this is a service that allows people to not have to set aside a portion of their income each week to pay the taxes at the end of the year, this is nothing but a way for the government to assure that they collect the money. If people had truly planned on paying the government, they would do so without needing the money to be withheld.
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Federal Government | Tagged: Collective Action, Government, Taxes | 
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Posted by adamrbitely
February 1, 2010
Reading a great post on Campaign for Liberty today definitely got my thoughts rolling. If you want to read a great piece on the old argument about voting for “the lesser of two evils”, than give Adam de Angeli’s piece a read:
I recently read a member post that argued that one must sometimes support the lesser of two evils. The author explained it with a metaphor, by saying that, on the one hand, if offered two unhealthful foods, one could refuse to eat either of them, but if being forced to choose between an unhealthful food and poison, one would have to take the unhealthful food to avoid the poison. Likewise, he argued, having no choice but John McCain or Barack Obama, he should have voted for John McCain rather than the third-party candidate.
It is a popular, understandable belief; an intuitive tactical judgment. But upon close examination, it is principally due to this belief that our politicians get away with betraying us.
Indeed, it is essential for success that we defeat acceptance of the lesser of two evils. Therefore, let us examine what’s wrong with supporting the lesser of two evils.
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Leave a Comment » | Politics | Tagged: Adam de Angeli, Campaign for Liberty, Democrats, John McCain, Obama, Politics, Republicans, Voting | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
February 1, 2010
As a subscriber to The Economist, I get the occasional good “Special Report” in my weekly editions. This week, was one of those good weeks. The special report focused on Social Networking, one of my favorite subjects and the subject of what I do professionally all day long.
If you don’t have a subscription to either the print or online edition, I believe you can see a preview of the report here. I highly recommend reading this for any of you Social Network geeks like me.
I-Pad/Netbooks
On a side and somewhat related note, I recently joined the netbooking world. I must admit, this is one of the best upgrades I have ever done (second only to when I upgraded from a regular cell phone to BlackBerry). While I am overwhelmingly pleased with my new netbook, I almost wish I had held out for the new I-Pad.
Check out this informational piece on the I-Pad here.
Leave a Comment » | Social Networking | Tagged: Apple, Ipad, Netbook, Social Networking, The Economist | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
January 26, 2010
As someone who has refused to fly since Christmas due to the unnecessary restrictions that are now placed on me, I found this article interesting. I have also enjoyed driving much better as my mode of transportation for travel. My only movement restrictions are self imposed. Wilt Alston wrote a great piece at Campaign for Liberty that everyone should read.
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Leave a Comment » | National Security | Tagged: Airport Security, Campaign for Liberty, National Security, Terrorism, TSA, Wilt Alston | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
January 11, 2010
Last week, I had the pleasure to go skiing for several days at the Wintergreen Resort in Virginia. While out on the slopes, I noticed something that might serve as a good example of how order emerges out of what would appear to be chaos.
When I first began to ski (which I hadn’t done since I was 10, and wasn’t exactly an expert), I was nervous that I would collide with other people on the more elementary slopes where I started. After a few good runs down the hill, I started to notice that everyone was watching out for themselves on the hill to avoid collisions and other skiing disasters.
The slopes had several sections that would merge into one central area. People would be skiing in to the elementary slopes at high speeds from the more advanced hills. However, I saw almost no accidents! And, there was no one there policing everyone on the hills.
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Leave a Comment » | Voluntaryism | Tagged: Central Planning, Order, Skiing, Voluntary Society, Wintergreen Resort | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
January 5, 2010
Here is what normally happens when government is proven to be inefficient at a certain task. Once the public starts to see the inefficiencies, the government responds by over correcting their bad behavior ten fold. Today’s detainment of Michael Yon was a perfect example. Here is the story I posted at NetRightNation.com:
This seems to have happened about an hour ago. Apparently, Michael Yon was arrested at the Seattle Airport after refusing to tell airport security how much money he earns! This seems like a resonable reason to detain someone…
On Michael Yon’s Facebook Fan Page, the following updates were posted:
Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not “arrested”, but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eve…ntually came — they were professionals — and rescued me from the border bullies. (About an hour ago)
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Leave a Comment » | Civil Liberties, National Security | Tagged: Airport Security, Michael Yon, National Security, Seattle Airport, TSA | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
January 1, 2010
This year will be the big test for the Obama administration. With the 2010 Midterm Elections upon us, everyone is expecting the Republicans to have a clean sweep at the polls in November, but will that mean anything? Probably not.
What will the Republicans do if they take control of Congress? Probably nothing.
Will they repeal the Health Care plan should it pass? Probably not.
Will the clean up government? Probably not.
Will they shrink the size and scope of government? Probably not.
Will they actually remove troops from the wars overseas? Definitely not.
So what do I have to look forward to in 2010? Nothing.
This post originally appeared at Liberty Movement HQ.
Leave a Comment » | Politics | Tagged: 2010, 2010 Elections, Obama, Republicans | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
December 31, 2009
Here are the top eight moments of government expansion from the past decade, as decided by me. Obviously, this is my opinion and these are in no order of importance. These are simply the top eight events that led to continued growth of government.
You may be wondering why I didn’t do a list of ten, as seems customary with these end of year lists? 10 is simply an arbitrary length for these types of lists. I got tired of creating this list after 8.
Enjoy and have a Happy and Free New Year!
1. 9/11 – Aside from being an extremely tragic event, this event was used for political cover by politicians seeking to consolidate power. The very government that was unable to prevent these disasters after being warned of them became the “only source” to stop/prevent these types of terrible events. Has the U.S. Government been successful in stopping terrorism? No. Are terrorists any less powerful now than they were a decade ago? I have no idea. But the fact that I can’t easily figure that out tells me that something isn’t working.
2. The Patriot Act – Maybe the single worst Government intrusion into civil liberties in the modern era. As evidenced last week and countless times before, this piece of legislation has been proven unnecessary in preventing terrorism.
3. The Medicare Expansion – Remember the Republican congress pre-2006? These “limited government patriots” promoted and passed this nanny state expansion. This put us one step closer to the Universal Health Care program that is being promoted today.
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Leave a Comment » | Big Government | Tagged: 9/11, Bailouts, Big Government, Education, George Bush, Iraq War, No Child Left Behind, Obama, Patriot Act, Stimulus, TARP | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
December 28, 2009
In the aftermath of the thwarted terrorist attack in Detroit, the TSA is scrambling to provide what can only be the “appearance of safety”. Janet Napolitano and crew have completely skipped over why the terrorist attack was thwarted. TSA has simply disregarded that passengers on the plane noticed odd behavior and foiled the plot of the would-be terrorist attack.
TSA played no role in preventing this attack. The terrorist got through security, foiled the TSA, safely boarded the plane unhindered by security, and was thwarted only when private citizens successfully prevented the terrorist from blowing up the plane.
In no point did TSA provide any “security” from this near disaster. And now, TSA is taking steps to prevent future attacks of this nature. However, the new restrictions do nothing to prevent what happened. As Radley Balko points out at The Agiator:
In addition to keeping with its usually tradition of making policy on a reactionary basis, this one wouldn’t even have done anything to prevent the attempt over the weekend. The guy was in his seat when he tried to light the explosive device. And the passenger who confronted him got out of his seat to do it.
Also, if the goal was to bring the plane down from the air, why add restrictions for the last hour of the flight?
Seems to me that what this, Flight 93, and the Richard Reid incident have shown us is that the best line of defense against airplane-based terrorism is us. Alert, aware, informed passengers.
TSA, on the other hand, equates hassle with safety. For all the crap they put us through, this guy still got some sort of explosive material on the plane from Amsterdam. He was stopped by law-abiding passengers. So TSA responds to all of this by . . . announcing plans to hassle law-abiding U.S. passengers even more.
If you’re really cynical, you could make a good argument that they’re really only interested in the appearance of safety. They’ve simply concluded that the more difficult they make your flight, the safer you’ll feel. Never mind if any of the theatrics actually work.
What we need is less TSA. Private citizens have proven to be more effective in preventing terrorism.
UPDATE: Former DHS officials are calling for Underwear Scanners according to Wired. These scanners are truly nuts. In June of 2009, Congress voted to prohibit TSA from using these machines as “primary” security scanners. I would highly suspect that Congress will end the Underwear Scanner prohibition in short order.
This post originally appeared at Liberty Movement HQ.
Leave a Comment » | National Security | Tagged: Airport Security, National Security, Radley Balko, Safety, Terrorism, TSA | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
December 22, 2009
With a Health Care bill almost on the desk of Barack Obama, what better book to read than one that may predict our future. The recently released Universal Coverage by Daniel Putkowski provides a good look at our not to distant future–that is if things don’t change quickly.
Buy the book here.
And here is a brief description of the book:
Bob Smith had it all. A beautiful house, a happy family, a rewarding career, and a government concerned with his well-being. But when his young son collapses, everything begins to crumble. Suddenly thrust into the world of Universal Coverage, Smith discovers that the ideals he voted for have spiraled out of control. The U.S. nationalized health care system has quickly devolved into a nightmare of unbearable waits, inevitable fraud, and uncertain outcomes presided over by a disinterested bureaucratic class. As Smith struggles to save his son’s life, he finds the only hope is Salvare, an unauthorized hospital ship providing world-class care to anyone with cash who’s willing to make the journey. A miracle at sea awaits aboard Salvare if Smith is brave enough to question the dangerous path his country has taken. Time is running out, and in matters of life and death, timing is everything.
Leave a Comment » | Health Care | Tagged: Daniel Putkowski, Health Care, Obama, Universal Coverage | Permalink
Posted by adamrbitely
