Highlights included:

• Paul Krugman being completely unable to understand that while he tries to play off Ron Paul for trying to pretend we are living 150 years in the past, Krugman is advocating the exact policies that brought down the Roman Empire. (Ron Paul totally took that one straight out of Ludwig von Mises’s Human Action. Doesn’t he know that book is, like, 70 years old?!)
  

  RP: “Professor Krugman indicates we just want to go back 100 years or so. That’s not exactly true. We want to improve on what life was like back then. But he wants to go back 1,000 years or 2,000 years just as the Romans and the Greeks and all other countries debased their currency. They didn’t have a computer. This idea that we need a Federal Reserve to run things or a central bank — that is just a modern times.

  What did the Romans do to their currency? The Byzantine Empire had a gold standard for a thousand years and they did quite well and they didn’t fight wars. But the Roman empire eventually destroyed their currency. They put in wage and price controls before they diluted the metals. They inflated. They thought wealth could come by fooling the people. Who would want today – if they had 10 years to send their kid to college, would they put their money in gold coins or a Treasury bill making 1% or 2%? They can’t keep up with the inflation or the devaluation of the currency.”
  PK: “I’m not a defender of the economic policies of the Emperor Diocletion, let’s make that clear.” (YES YOU ARE!)

  Also, this wasn’t mentioned, but the thirteenth century policies of Gaikhatu Khan were hardly different from what Krugman calls for either.

• Paul Krugman being completely unable to comprehend competing currencies.
  

  PK: “You can do barter with all kinds of stuff.”

• Paul Krugman being completely unable to comprehend how the Federal Reserve is a counterfeiting organization.
  

  RP: “If a private company commits fraud, they go to jail. If the Federal Reserve commits fraud, they get nothing…. If you had a private issue of money and you committed a fraud, you would go to jail. But, no, governments can debase the currency and injure a lot of people and cause the business cycle and cause inflation and cause unemployment and get off scot-free.”
  PK: “I have been pretty harsh on Ben Bernanke, but fraud is not one of the things I would charge him with.”
  RP: “You want him to print more money faster.”
  PK: “Well, of course I do.”

In the end, it was like watching Muhammad Ali box an infant. Economic reality is much to difficult to see from way up in that Ivory Tower. As always, Ron Paul patiently picks apart the economic fallacies of his foes and calmly advocates more sound economic policy (or rather, lack of policy), while his opponent scurries around him flailing his hands without making a real argument. One day maybe we’ll get to see Robert Murphy finally knock some business cycle sense into Krugman. This particular scuffle with Ron Paul was plenty entertaining, though. Someone out there watching is bound to pick up on Dr. Paul’s message.

Oh, and after the debate, Bloomberg TV did not fail to ask the obligatory “When are you going to drop out?” that every media outlet has been throwing at him since forever.

The debate in a nutshell:

Ron Paul taunts Paul Krugman

Ron Paul brings his message to the University of Texas

With the 2012 election around the corner, Ron Paul and his supporters won’t go down without a fight no matter how much the mainstream media attempts to black them out from the news. If you had been at the LBJ Lawn at 7PM you would have witnessed that his campaign has a youthful following. The founder of the Tea Party drew over 6,000 supporters, liberty-inclined students, and area residents to hear his message of smaller government, peace, free-market economics, and the protection of civil liberties. Ron Paul’s visit to the University of Texas at Austin couldn’t be described as anything but EPIC. Prior to Ron Paul’s arrival, local Austin activists and founders of the Ron Paul Marches chanted, “What do we want? PEACE! When do we want it?” The audience would follow immediately with, “NOW!!!”

As supporters gazed on with bated breath, Ron Paul walked up the stairs to the podium the crowd’s energy was tangible, his supporters emphatically cheered “PRESIDENT PAUL”! For activists in the movement, it is truly a beautiful thing to see so many people inspired by the message of liberty and freedom. We are winning the fight of ideas and we have Ron Paul to thank for being the gateway drug to freedom.

If you have ever been to a venue where Ron Paul is speaking you can expect nothing but a lively, enthusiastic crowd of supporters chanting in unison “END THE FED!!!” As someone who has seen Ron Paul speak on numerous occasions, I still get goosebumps when he educates the audience on the moral and ethical issues of America’s flawed foreign policy. He speaks the truth, and, given the failed two-party system we have in place, for those who are apathetic or disillusioned with the left/right paradigm, Paul’s message is refreshing.

Ron Paul draws thousands to LBJ Lawn

Under the program launched last week, passengers on busses run by the Houston METRO system will be subjected to random questioning and searches from “counter-terrorism experts” hired by the Transportation Security Administration. Yes, the very same TSA that has become notorious for invasive pat-downs at airports across the country are opening up a new front in their war on privacy, and it’s on Houston’s public busses.

Riders of the Houston METRO won’t be waiting in line for security checkpoints like they do before boarding flights, though. According to the press release, authorities will “ride buses, perform random bag checks and conduct K-9 sweeps, as well as place uniformed and plainclothes officers at Transit Centers and rail platforms to detect, prevent and address latent criminal activity or behavior.” Both local police and undercover TSA agents will be carrying out the city-wide searches.

Now, I don’t live in Houston, but I do ride the CapMetro here in Austin quite a bit. But, there’s no need to fear; safety shall be granted to the Austin metropolitan area soon enough by these public benefactors.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County say the searches starting in Houston are part of a national pilot program. BusSafe, it says, may be introduced in cities from coast-to-coast.

Usually the biggest danger I face on the bus is olfactory. The TSA is poised to completely change that. I’ll have no time to worry about an unsavory odor when a plain-clothed officer is demanding that I open my backpack in fear that my laptop and Mises books are actually bombs and drugs, or worst of all, declarations of my rights as a human being.

Safety first!

This all reminds me of a quote by the great sage of Austin, Philoso-Norm.

Philoso-Norm Ponders the TSA

Godfather Mises Offers the Action Axiom

The Most Interesting Economist in the World

The Notorious H.O.P.

I also made some featuring Libertarian Longhorns members.

Daniel, the Extreme Libertarian, on Democracy

Norman, a.k.a. Philoso-Norm, Ponders Social Contract Theory

Enjoy these? Feel free to share these with your friends!

More memes will be shared in upcoming posts.

Speak out for peace on April 14th!

There is a great misconception in our society concerning what the current government, like the past administration, is doing in the Middle East. The majority of Americans have been deceived into believing that our military campaigns overseas involve combating terrorism, but once the conduct of the operations and the details of the fighting are examined, it becomes clear that the war that we are prosecuting is the real terrorism. Indeed, U.S. foreign policy actually tends to perpetuate so-called terrorism in the countries that we audaciously invade and subsequently occupy.

The very phrase “War on Terror” is a euphemism used to conceal the fact that it is instead a war against the Muslim world. Escalating employment of “drones,” man-less aerial craft remotely controlled from hundreds or even thousands of miles away, has resulted in a substantial increase in “collateral damage” (another euphemism) as targeted air strikes against so-called “insurgents” (yet another) cause unacceptably numerous, innocent civilian deaths. With all of this in mind, current U.S. foreign policy seems more likely predicated on scaring the American people into submissive compliance to the state rather than on genuine “security” or “defense” in what can only be nakedly described as a blatant government power grab domestically and a further imperialist push for American hegemonic ambitions abroad. The effects of racial and cultural tensions fomented by the Federal propaganda machine are increasingly being felt here at home. Last week, Shaima Alwadi was murdered in what was undoubtedly a racially motivated hate crime, a victim of collective guilt unfairly attached to an innocent woman.

While the government’s imperialistic endeavors grow, the government manipulates the people at home under the guise of protecting our freedoms by encroaching on our civil liberties. More and more we are seeing the effects of these never-ending wars here at home. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) is feeling us up and taking nude pictures of us, our local police forces are investing in tanks, helicopters, heavy armor, and other war-like materials while at the same time it seems that more and more people are being arrested and/or brutality attacked by the police for such peaceful, nonviolent activities as filming them in public areas. The fact that those who are supposed to be serving and protecting us seem to be increasingly arresting and attacking us is an extremely unsettling one that we are now forced to live with.

Despite all of this, there is hope. A new organization called the Austin Alliance For Peace (AA4P) has been founded. We are a trans-partisan organization that seeks to promote peaceful solutions in an era where violence and threats are too often employed. By educating the public on the violations of peace, mobilizing them to bring peace wherever it is absent, pursuing the redress of grievances in alignment with the tradition of nonviolent resistance, and building a constituency whose main priority is to practice diplomacy and to strive to solve problems without the use of violence, AA4P hopes to create a more peaceful, loving world now and for future generations.

The first event that AA4P is putting on will be Saturday, April 14 at noon at the south steps of the Texas Capitol and is the first annual AA4P Peace Rally. There will be speakers discussing the various forms of violence in our society, including the multiple wars that our nation is engaged in and the growing militarization of our local police forces. Keynote talks will be delivered by Iraqi-American medical doctor turned full-time peace activist Dahlia Wasfi, and host of Antiwar Radio Scott Horton. Other speakers scheduled to appear include local Austin activists such as Iraq War veteran and victim of police abuse Antonio Buehler, and Texans for Accountable Government Executive Director Heather Fazio.

The rally is rapidly growing as more and more people are getting excited about attending and standing up for peace. Students from over ten universities from across the state have committed to attend, from such diverse groups as Libertarian Longhorns, the Israeli-Palestinian Alliance, and Amnesty International. In addition to the large amounts of students that are going to be in attendance, many people from throughout the state and from all different walks of life will also be there. Organizations from Code Pink to Texans for Accountable Government to Texans for Peace will also be in attendance, making this event as large as it is diverse.

Peace is a popular message that everyone can get behind. The Austin Alliance For Peace is the first truly trans-partisan peace organization in the state that is determined to build bridges and form a diverse alliance of people dedicated to bringing peace to a violent world and it begins in Austin on April 14! Please, stand in solidarity as we spread the message of peace and compassion for those who have suffered from violence.

With a clever Orwellian sleight of hand, the use of the phrase “private sector” effectively evokes the idea that markets are a totally secretive process with a bunch of corporate fat cats calling all the shots without any form of accountability. This could not be further from the truth. In reality, markets are very complex institutions that involve not just the producers and managers at the top, but the consumers that ultimately vote with their dollars on which products and what businesses stay afloat. The subjective value judgments of countless consumers also play a significant role in the formation of prices. This whole process stands in sharp contrast to the inner workings of the so-called “public sector” which is notorious for operating under a veil of secrecy— especially when it comes to crafting unpopular legislation behind closed doors and then ramming it down the general public’s throats!

Ultimately, the private versus public sector arguments in today’s political arena highlight a false dichotomy. The way these debates should be framed is whether an institution is voluntary or coercive. The voluntary nature of the market allows for a dynamic process of competition amongst producers. Thanks to the process of creative destruction, free markets are truly progressive forces that allow for consumers to enjoy a wide variety of goods services that they could have never possibly imagined. The paradigm-shifting nature of the marketcompels producers to pay heed to the demands of consumers or get put out of business. As Ludwig von Mises aptly pointed out in Bureaucracy, “The real bosses, in the capitalist system of market economy, are the consumers.”

The state, on the other hand, is the absolute antithesis of the marketplace; it is an institution of coercion and regression. By it’s definition, the state is a monopolistic institution. So, when it gets its hands on the economy, stagnating competition and economic malaise logically follow. The state also operates in a very surreptitious manner in which consumers have little to no say in judging the efficacy of its services. Without the profit and loss motive and with an endless trough of taxpayer funds, it’s nearly impossible to put a government agency out of business through normal market means, except by outright abolition.  It’s also commonplace for the state to work in absolute secrecy as it doles out favors to special interest groups through subsidies, tariffs, regulations, etc. All of these types of policies work against the free market in nature. Not only do they hurt producers, but they also limit consumer sovereignty by restricting the overall supply of goods and services. So much for upholding the public interest!

Debates over whether the private sector or public sector is more accountable to the general populace tend to miss the point. Markets in reality provide tremendous amounts of positive externalities to the general public at large and actually uphold its interest more so than the purported  “public sector”. The real distinction here is between the process of a handshake that promotes competition and the process of the hidden gun in the room that stifles competition. Consumers are kings in a true free market, as they are the ultimate deciders of what goods and services are produced. Just ask the former heads of General Motors, IBM, Kodak, Xerox, and other fallen corporate powerhouses if they wielded more power than the customers who stopped consuming their products. Any form of top-down economic regulation suppresses the will of consumers by effectively limiting the stock of goods and services that they can choose from. Many of these horrible economic policies were crafted in a very unaccountable fashion by political and corporate elites in the more obscure halls of Congress.

The only thing public about these political actions is the level of suffering that the American populace must face due to the unintended consequences of these misguided economic policies.

Created by: OnlineCriminalJusticeDegree.com

1. It is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government is Wrong by Andrew Napolitano – The Judge, host of FreedomWatch on Fox Business, has put together an amazing book that analyzes a host of topics from the standpoint of natural law. I will be reviewing this book on my personal website soon but I’m going to say it now – you need to read this book. The data and stories he presents in the book make it easily worth every penny and a well-deserved place on your (or anyone else’s) bookshelf.

2. Libertarianism Today by Jacob Huebert – This book was on the list last year, but it warrants another mention because you can get it at a significantly reduced price by purchasing directly from the publisher. Huebert’s book is definitely a must-read, and is one of the best recent books on hardcore libertarianism in the past few years. LRC writer Laurence Vance has called it, “The best introduction to libertarianism on the market.”

3. Bourbon for Breakfast and It’s a Jetsons World by Jeffrey Tucker – Check out this review of Bourbon for Breakfast, and you’ll see that it is a super read for anyone looking to circumvent statist restrictions upon their lives. Tucker’s followup work tells exciting stories of the little everyday miracles of the free market at work.

4. Liberty Defined by Ron Paul – Another gold standard in libertarian literature by one of liberty’s greatest defenders. See this review for the full story.

5. Rollback by Thomas Woods – I am a huge fan of Tom Woods and have known him for over 5 years now. His latest book makes an eloquent case for dismantling pretty much everything the government currently does today.

6. Great Wars and Great Leaders by Ralph Raico – Leaders who take a country to war are often heralded as “great,” but the libertarian perspective dispenses such ideas as folly. War is the health of the state and the enemy of liberty, and Raico’s historical work is great ammunition in the war of ideas that we fight daily.

7. Myth of a Guilty Nation by Albert Jay Nock – This is an old book newly reprinted by the Mises Institute, and I’m excited to see it available again (because I’m a big fan of Nock and haven’t ever read this one). From the Mises.org description: “Nock’s book reminds us of what most everyone has forgotten, namely, that this was sold as a war for freedom and self-determination over imperial ambition. Along with that came some of the most rabid war propaganda ever fabricated until that point in time, all designed to make Germany into a devil nation. Nock’s brave book took on that idea and demonstrated that there was fault enough to go around on all sides. All through the 1920s, a Nockian-style retelling of the facts behind the war led to a dramatic shift in public opinion against World War I.” Awesome!

8. The Bastiat Collection Pocket Edition by Frederic Bastiat – If you haven’t read Bastiat’s The Law, you need to get on that immediately! This book contains all the major works of Bastiat in a very small volume, and makes a great gift.

9. Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt – Need to learn a little more about economics? Start with the classic by Hazlitt, and never forget the first lesson again…

Last but not least, a special note for the Christian readers…

10. Christian Theology of Public Policy and Bible and Government by John Cobin – I absolutely love the excellent work of John Cobin. For Christian libertarians, these are must reads!

Have a happy holiday season!

Jack Hunter reports in the Daily Caller that Rand Paul blocked an unanimous consent vote that could have had big effects:

Last week, while most senators were focused on the important national issues of war funding and Americans’ constitutional liberties, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) seemed more concerned with the fate of a foreign country. Behind the scenes, Rubio moved to have a unanimous consent vote that would have hastened Georgia’s entry into NATO. The unanimous consent vote never happened because Senator Rand Paul single-handedly prevented it.

This is not a triviality. Make no mistake: Bringing Georgia into NATO could lead to a new military conflict for the United States, which is why any move that would facilitate Georgia’s entry into the alliance should be publicly debated. Rubio’s attempt to push this through by unanimous consent — that is to say, without any formal debate or vote — is highly suspect and calls into question the senator’s better judgment.

You may remember that the small country of Georgia, which is on the border of Russia, nearly got the United States into a smoking conflict just three years ago. There is more information in the Daily Caller article and I recommend reading it. The American people are, for the most part, incredibly ignorant of foreign policy these days. I highly doubt that most could even find Georgia on a map, or even know that Georgia is a country at all. Nonetheless, this rogue government continues its imperialist ventures behind the people’s backs, ignoring the costs and building its hegemony day by day.

However, just reporting the facts in this blog post is only part of the point…

Rand Paul made a good move here, no doubt. But, we need to remember such events do not prove that politics is the be-all-and-end-all of the liberty movement as well. Rand, I am sure, knows that if the government wants a war, they can get one. The importance of Rand’s block is that it brings attention to the inner workings of the State. If the consent vote had gone through, hardly anyone would have noticed until another conflict was underway. Then, of course, boobus Americanus will fall in line, trusting that their deified overlords got it right just like they did Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Libya, and etc.

It is our job to expose the evils of the State, not “reform” them. Libertarian politicians like Rand and Ron Paul can only do so much to “fix” anything at all. Ultimately, the willingness of the people to turn a blind eye is what allows the State to thrive. We should take events like Rand’s vote as opportunities to talk to people, to teach them about liberty. Without changing the culture, any good a libertarian politician might accomplish has every possibility of being washed away the moment he leaves office.

I support Ron Paul, but it is up to us to carry things forward in the long run. I’m not Ron Paul, you are. Think about it.