Dr. C.H.E. Sadaphal - A BLACK LIBERTARIAN?

No, the title is not an oxymoron. I am a libertarian (for the most part). I also happen to be of West Indian descent. People who are familiar with the central tenets of libertarianism wonder how I managed to reconcile my ethnic background with my choice of political philosophies. They have a hard time figuring out why any person of color in their right mind would ascribe to a philosophy that encourages private citizens to “discriminate”, condemns the use of governmental programs that economically benefit a proportionally larger percentage of the minority community, and stands firm in its opposition toward using race as a determinant for preferential treatment in education and employment (affirmative action).

1 In a nutshell, the resolution of the conflict is rooted in the idea that once you begin thinking that every person has certain unalienable rights, applicability becomes universal and any attempt to limit these rights thus becomes a human problem, not a racial one. After all, if we are all created equal, should we not also be treated as such?

In theory that may sound like a good idea, but in reality we all know it’s not the case. Despite all the progress that has been made in the past few decades, racism is still alive and well. Moreover, anyone who suggests that racism does not exist is a fool, not a minority, lying through their teeth, or living under a rock. The fact remains we still live in a society that is very race-conscious. What that means is Americans tend to view their own world in the context of what the other person looks like—the other person’s race is an overriding feature that forms initial impressions.

On the contrary, in the West Indies, where my parents were born and raised, that society tends to be very class-conscious, meaning your race subjugates itself to the “level” any one individual has achieved in society. Unfortunately, in America, regardless of what you have achieved, many will still regard someone else as “the Asian guy” or “the Latin female”. The inherent downfall in this assumption is that the user of said shortcut limits the other person’s relevance by restraining them in a box bound by race.

Read more: http://www.chesadaphal.com/the-black-libertarian/

George Ayittey: The Failure of African Socialism

George Ayittey is a Ghanian economist and the founder and president of the Free Africa Foundation. He also taught economics at American University and is an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

In this video from a San Francisco Libertarian Party event in 1989, Ayittey talks about the failure of Africa's experiments with socialism throughout the 20th century. He tells stories about the inefficiency, waste, and bureaucratic corruption in countries like Ghana, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, and says that wrangling Africa's political class is of paramount importance when it comes to African development.

Download the .mp3 version of this lecture here: http://bit.ly/Ux3kO0

‘Duck Dynasty’: Phil Robertson FIRED for Anti-Gay Remarks

By Reginald Kaigler (DEMCAD)

I maybe the only man in America that hasn't seen the hit A&E reality television show "Duck Dynasty." But I really don't watch as much TV as I used t...o. Recently, one of its stars, Phil Robertson, was removed from the show after blasting an anti-gay rant in GQ magazine.

 

Read more: http://demcad.blogspot.com/2013/12/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-fired-for.html

Adedayo Thomas: Breaking the Wall of Communism in Africa through Book Fairs

Almost everyone in Africa understands the principles of a free society if briefed. However, it is not practiced by the ruling elites because if implemented they become powerless. This has largely contributed to low level of development within the continent since its independence. The independent fighters made their first mistakes when the socio-political and economic structure was distorted with the adoption of a welfare state, which was put in place as the alternative to colonial practice. This destroyed the entrepreneurial spirit that characterized the pre-colonial period in the exchange for reliance on the government as the solution to economic problems.

 This ultimately bred big governments and was used by the elites as one of the ploys to remain in power. The outcome of course was noticeable as the society and the public structures left by colonialists became dysfunctional and characterized by the huge budget for recurrent expenditure at the expense of capital projects.

 The first target was education.  Governments believed in a “government can do all things” perspective. Education from primary school to the university level was made free. This provision was made the exclusive function of government. The younger ones were drifted to Russia for further studies. When they returned, they became the official mouthpiece of socialist ideas and went on to insert that into schools’ curriculum. This became the teaching fabrics in the universities with libraries stocked completely with communist materials which now explains why socialist scholars are not in short supply in African societies, including universities.

- See more at: http://africanliberty.org/content/breaking-wall-communist-africa-through-book-fairs-adedayo-thomas#sthash.gOAblK15.yGuUx6Qn.dpuf

Black Libertarian History: John Monds

In 2008, John Monds became the first Libertarian Party candidate in Georgia and the rest of the United States to receive over 1,000,000 votes when he ran for the Statewide office of Public Service Commission District 1 seat in 2008. Monds received 1,076,726 votes for 33.4% of the vote in a two-way race with only a Republican opponent.

 His vote total was highest number of votes that a Libertarian candidate has ever received in a United States election at any level, Monds also received the highest percentage of the vote ever for a Libertarian in a statewide race. He is seeking that party's nomination for Governor of Georgia in 2010.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Monds

The First 90 Days of a Societal Collapse

My commentary on what i plan on doing for the first 90 days of a societal collapse. Defense, water, food, travel and first aid.

 

The Truth About Mental Illness and Guns

Ron Paul Defines Libertarianism - Charlie Rose Interview

Is There a Way Out? by Walter E. Williams

According to a recent Fox News poll, 73 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country, up 20 points from 2012. Americans sense that there’s a lot going wrong in our nation, but most don’t have a clue about the true nature of our problem. If they had a clue, most would have little stomach for what would be necessary to arrest our national decline. Let’s look at it.

 Between two-thirds and three-quarters of federal spending, in contravention of the U.S. Constitution, can be described as Congress taking the earnings or property of one American to give to another, to whom it does not belong. You say, “Williams, what do you mean?” Congress has no resources of its very own. Moreover, there’s no Santa Claus or tooth fairy who gives it resources. The fact that Congress has no resources of its very own forces us to recognize that the only way Congress can give one American one dollar is to first -- through intimidation, threats and coercion -- confiscate that dollar from some other American through the tax code.

Read more: http://www.creators.com/conservative/walter-williams/is-there-a-way-out.html

Military Industrial Complex gets a stimulus package from Iran

"Does the NSA Violate Your Constitutional Rights?"

Libertarians vs. Conservatives on Social Issues

Libertarian does not equal libertine. Libertarianism is strictly a political philosophy that has to do with the proper role of government. That's it. Libertarians can be socially conservative, socially liberal, libertines, or indifferent. Being personally socially conservative does not make you less of a libertarian.

The DEMCAD Show (Black America, Gun Control in CT & Chicago, TPTB)

Quote of the Day

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ” ― Alvin Toffler

Can Libertarians be Racist? (political vs philosophical libertarians)

 

Alex Merced answers a fundamental libertarian misconception. Can Libertarians be Racist?
Answer: A Political Libertarian (Solely Believing in Small Government) can be, while a Philosophical Libertarian (Believes in Small Government cause of Belief in Individual) can't be

The REAL Reason For The Syrian War

 

Did the United States set the Assad government up with the chemical attack? Is the entire war being funded by Saudi and Qatar energy interests?


Qatar -- rich and dangerous -- eyes Syria
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/...\

Qatar bankrolls Syrian revolt with cash and arms
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86e3f28e-be...
Taking Outsize Role in Syria, Qatar Funnels Arms to Rebels
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/wor...

Russia Urges Saudis, Qatar to Halt Help for Syria Rebels
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06...

Bryan Caplan - How Libertarian Was the Civil Rights Movement?

Overall, I see the civil rights movement much as I see the Protestant Reformation.  Both attacked blatant injustices, many of them government-imposed.  But the thrust of the Protestant Reformation wasn't separation of church and state.  It was state-mandated Protestantism.  Similarly, the thrust of the civil rights movement wasn't separation of race and state.  It was state-mandated group equality of result.  Whether they're quoting Martin Luther or Martin Luther King, libertarians shouldn't forget these facts.

Read more: http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2010/05/how_libertarian.html

Black History and Liberty

It is remarkable that American libertarians—so often eager to discuss freedom in nearly every conceivable iteration—rarely address African-Americans and the Struggle for civil rights in America. Slavery is long gone, but it is hardly coincidence that the descendants of slaves have accounted for disproportionate percentages of Americans in poverty and incarceration in the 150+ years hence.

Save Emancipation and America’s reluctant recognition of the 14^th Amendment by way of Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, the government has consistently (though not exclusively) been a boot on the necks of African-Americans, hindering progress and true equality. Yet libertarians tend to shrink away from acknowledging race for fear of involving themselves in “identity politics” and thus rarely discuss the government’s legacy of racial oppression.

If libertarianism is to be something more than free markets—libertarianism’s guiding principle is, after all, liberty—then its adherents should recognize that liberty is the end of, not just the means to, a better society. Thus, when looking for people to hold up as exemplars of liberty, we need to stop thinking “Was ______ a libertarian?” and start thinking: Did ________ fight for liberty? Is there something we can learn from him about what it means to be free? What exactly was he fighting against—and what did his denied freedom teach him? What mistakes did he make— and what mistakes by others resulted in the denial of his freedom? How did the government fail him? How did society fail him?

Read more: http://www.libertarianism.org/blog/black-history-liberty

Why Libertarians Should Not Support the Confederacy

             

Why shouldn't libertarians support the Confederacy? In short, because the Confederacy itself was not very libertarian.

In addition to being founded explicitly to protect the slave trade in America, the Confederacy conscripted soldiers, inflated its money supply during the war, and played host to many civil liberties violations. But that's not to say that the Union was much better, as Jason Kuznicki (@jasonkuznicki) explains.

Kuznicki is a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and is editor of Cato Unbound.

Stop and Frisk Unconstitutional - Darn Straight

Walter Williams - Black Self-Sabotage

Walter Williams discusses “black self-sabotage” in his latest column: 

 If we put ourselves into the shoes of racists who seek to sabotage black upward mobility, we couldn’t develop a more effective agenda than that followed by civil rights organizations, black politicians, academics, liberals and the news media. First, weaken the black family, but don’t blame it on individual choices. You have to preach that today’s weak black family is a legacy of slavery, Jim Crow and racism. The truth is that black female-headed households were just 18 percent of households in 1950, as opposed to about 68 percent today. 

In fact, from 1890 to 1940, the black marriage rate was slightly higher than that of whites. Even during slavery, when marriage was forbidden for blacks, most black children lived in biological two-parent families. In New York City, in 1925, 85 percent of black households were two-parent households. A study of 1880 family structure in Philadelphia shows that three-quarters of black families were two-parent households. During the 1960s, devastating nonsense emerged, exemplified by a Johns Hopkins University sociology professor who argued, “It has yet to be shown that the absence of a father was directly responsible for any of the supposed deficiencies of broken homes.” 

The real issue, he went on to say, “is not the lack of male presence but the lack of male income.” That suggests marriage and fatherhood can be replaced by a welfare check. The poverty rate among blacks is 36 percent. Most black poverty is found in female-headed households. The poverty rate among black married couples has been in single digits since 1994 and is about 8 percent today. The black illegitimacy rate is 75 percent, and in some cities, it’s 90 percent. But if that’s a legacy of slavery, it must have skipped several generations, because in the 1940s, unwed births hovered around 14 percent. 

 Disgustingly, black politicians, civil rights leaders, liberals and the president are talking nonsense about “having a conversation about race.” That’s beyond useless. Tell me how a conversation with white people is going to stop black predators from preying on blacks. How is such a conversation going to eliminate the 75 percent illegitimacy rate? What will such a conversation do about the breakdown of the black family (though “breakdown” is not the correct word, as the family doesn’t form in the first place)? Only black people can solve our problems.

More: http://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2013/07/31/black-selfsabotage-n1651550/page/full

Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System

Fewer than half of 1 percent of Americans are in state and federal prisons. That sounds like a small number. But when the U.S. prison population is examined by race, we find that the effects of the criminal justice system in the United States are unequally distributed in society. While whites make up 64 percent of the U.S. population, they make up 31 percent of the incarcerated population. In contrast, Blacks represent 14 percent of society but 36 percent of prisoners. Similarly, Hispanics represent 16 percent of the U.S. population, but 24 percent of the prison population.

While fewer than 1 in 100 Americans are in jail, among the population of young black men, the ratio is closer to 1 out of 4. A young black man is more likely to be imprisoned than to get married or go to college. Professor Daniel D’Amico argues that while the causes of this trend are complicated and multicausal, perhaps part of the blame should be placed on the U.S. criminal justice system.

He points out problems with the perverse incentives politicians and bureaucrats have in developing laws. Although laws about drug prohibition, for example, are ostensibly color blind, people with different levels of wealth face different costs and benefits to participating in the drug trade. Minorities are overrepresented in U.S. prisons. In light of this, Prof. D’Amico argues that radical changes to the system might be necessary and preferable to the status quo.

"A Professor's Argument for Same-Sex Marriage"

Should same-sex couples be permitted to marry? Are civil unions or domestic partnerships sufficient? What kind of effect does same-sex marriage have on heterosexual marriage? Do the children of same-sex couples face undue challenges because of their parents? These questions have all been raised in the ongoing debate about gay marriage. Prof. Dale Carpenter makes a compelling argument in favor of same-sex marriage from a philosophical, rights-based perspective while presenting data to answer these questions and others.

Milton Friedman - School Choice In The Black Community

Milton Friedman explains why school vouchers would do more to advance minority education than any other plan.

 

My Pro Capitalism Rant

Black Americans express support for Ron Paul

Vision-Black Libertarian (Jay-z ft. Nas- Black Republican Freestyle)

Just having fun with this one, took about 15 minutes to make. Always wanted to hop on this Jay and Nas track. Please actually listen to the lyrics=)

(And yes I am a black Libertarian!)

Follow me: www.twitter.com/visionfromkoc
Like me: www.facebook.com/visionfromokc

Fallout from the George Zimmerman Trial

Kenneth Durden: Did George Zimmerman Get Away With Manslaughter? Part 1

Kenneth Durden a Black libertarian-conservative blogger, writer takes issue with the Trayvon Martin verdict: 


I believe George Zimmerman got away with manslaughter(note the term other than murder). 

I wanted to address the case without rehashing all of the details of the case, but I find it necessary to at least touch on some basic points. I have so much to say about this so it will be broken into parts. This first addresses the basics of the case. I am not saying that the prosecution presented the case well. I believe the case was overcharged and poorly presented. That is a different discussion. I do have a concern with those who say the case should never have been filed or those who suggest that Trayvon Martin "got what he deserved."

Read more: http://www.kennethdurden.com/2013/07/did-george-zimmerman-get-away-with.html

Meet the Asian-American Libertarian Running for Governor of Virginia

http://www.robertsarvis.com/

The 36-year-old Sarvis has some things going for him: He has submitted 17,000 petition signatures, or 7,000 more than required to get on the ballot. He is, to put it mildly, smart – having earned degrees in math from Harvard and Cambridge, then a law degree from NYU, then a master’s in economics from GMU. He is a native Virginian. Half-Asian, with an African-American wife, he is bulletproof on diversity grounds. He is wonkish: As a fellow at GMU’s Mercatus Center, he co-authored, among other things, a paper on America’s historical experience with fiscal stimuli. And he is a technological innovator: He was a winner of Google’s 2008 Android Developer challenge for mobile apps.

 But Sarvis also has some things working against him. He is running on the Libertarian ticket, which almost always is a ticket to oblivion. He has never held public office. This is a major shortcoming for a gubernatorial candidate and could be an even greater one for any governor not named Schwarzenegger. (Sarvis disagrees: He says elective experience does not equal managerial ability.) Granted, Sarvis shares that shortcoming with Terry McAuliffe. Some consolation.

http://reason.com/archives/2013/06/24/robert-sarvis-libertarian-with-a-chance

NSA WHISTLEBLOWER Edward Snowden! Verizon Sells Customers Out to NSA!

Walter Williams: Up From the Projects

In 1981, Secretary of Health Education and Welfare Patricia Harris wrote in the Washington Post that libertarian economists Walter Williams and Thomas Sowell are "middle class" so they "don't know what it is to be poor."

In fact, Williams grew up in a single-parent household in a poor section of Philadelphia. He was raised by his mother, who was a high school dropout. The family spent time on welfare, and eventually moved into the Richard Allen public housing project. (Sowell, whose father died before he was born, was the son of a maid.)

Drafted into the peacetime Army, Williams eventually earned a PhD from UCLA in the late 1960s and quickly became a sought-after researcher and public intellectual. His best known book, 1982's The State Against Blacks, argues that a major cause of black unemployment is government intervention in the labor market.

Williams' contrarian views have had wide exposure through documentaries, public appearances, and for the past 30 years, a syndicated weekly column. Since 1992, Williams has also been a frequent guest host of Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Now a professor emeritus at George Mason University, Williams has taught at Temple University, California State University-Los Angeles, and other universities. (Go here for his personal web page.)

His new book, Up from the Projects: An Autobiography, is a fascinating look at his childhood, his half-century-long marriage to his recently departed wife, his unusual career path, and the genesis of his views on race, economics, and politics.

Throughout his career, Williams has used his own life to illustrate how government regulations often work to deny opportunities to poor blacks, and his memoir is no exception. For example, Williams recounts that when he was a teenager, he was fired from a great job at a hat factory when a fellow employee complained to the Department of Labor that his boss was violating child labor laws.

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie recently sat down with Williams to talk about his life, how his experiences have informed his scholarship, his lead role in turning George Mason University into a center for libertarian scholarship, and whether the Obama presidency has improved the lives of blacks in the United States.

Williams is also an emeritus trustee of the Reason Foundation, the nonprofit that produces Reason.tv.

For more on Williams' new memoir, check out Damon Root's review (http://reason.com/archives/2011/01/28...), which calls the book "a revealing and sometimes hilarious account of his rise from Philadelphia's Richard Allen housing projects, where his neighbors included a young Bill Cosby, to 'brown bag' lunches at the White House where he gave advice to President Ronald Reagan and his staff."

Jonathan Blanks - Why “Libertarian” Defenses of the Confederacy and “States’ Rights” are Incoherent

There is a strain of libertarian contrarianism that holds that the Confederate States of America were within their “rights” to secede from the Union. Such contrarianism on this particular topic is detrimental to the larger cause of liberty because the logic of this argument relies upon relinquishing individual rights to the whim of the state. Indeed, as there is no legal or moral justification for supporting the Confederacy in the Civil War, it is impossible that there could be a libertarian one.

 The legal argument against secession is straight-forward. Beyond the simple fact that most countries don’t provide for their own dissolution at the outset, the Constitution is not silent on the use of force by the federal government. Article I Section 8 clearly grants Congress the power to put down insurrections, as the South was well aware. As recently as 1859, that power had been used by then-Union colonel Robert E. Lee to put down John Brown’s mindless and bloody raid on Harpers Ferry.

Read more: http://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/why-libertarian-defenses-confederacy-states-rights-are-incoherent

Walter E. Williams: Government, The Market, and Minorities

What Libertarians Mean By "The Free Market"

Socialism vs Capitalism: Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman discusses the free market with Phil Donahue. This is where the famous "Greed" clip originates.

.

Milton Friedman explains the dynamics of welfare

Black People & Gun Rights!!

Quote of The Day

"It would be against all nature for all the Negroes to be either at the bottom, top, or in between. We will go where the internal drive carries us like everybody else. It is up to the individual." ~ Zora Neal Hurston

Why Be a Libertarian: Intro

Walter E. Williams: Government, The Market, and Minorities

Walter E. Williams is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He is a well-known columnist and the author of South Africa's War Against Capitalism (1989) and The State Against Blacks (1982).

In this video, Williams speaks at a Libertarian International conference in Stockholm, Sweden in 1986 on how governments interact with minorities. He covers everything from prejudice and discrimination to segregation, equal pay for women, and "subsidized preference indulgence." He also answers audience questions about investment, foreign policy, immigration, welfare, and many other topics.

Download the .mp3 version of this lecture here: http://bit.ly/RCz47l

What is Bitcoin?

A look at what Bitcoin is, the rise of it, and acceptability over the criminals in the central banks defrauding people. Recorded from BBC Newsnight, 26 March 2013.

    

Dr. Anne Wortham - No He Can’t

Fellow Americans,

Please know: I am black; I grew up in the segregated South. I did not vote for Barack Obama; I wrote in Ron Paul’s name as my choice for president. Most importantly, I am not race conscious. I do not require a black president to know that I am a person of worth, and that life is worth living. I do not require a black president to love the ideal of America.

I cannot join you in your celebration. I feel no elation. There is no smile on my face. I am not jumping with joy. 

There are no tears of triumph in my eyes. For such emotions and behavior to come from me, I would have to deny all that I know about the requirements of human flourishing and survival – all that I know about the history of the United States of America, all that I know about American race relations, and all that I know about Barack Obama as a politician. I would have to deny the nature of the "change" that Obama asserts has come to America. Most importantly, I would have to abnegate my certain understanding that you have chosen to sprint down the road to serfdom that we have been on for over a century. 

I would have to pretend that individual liberty has no value for the success of a human life. I would have to evade your rejection of the slender reed of capitalism on which your success and mine depend. I would have to think it somehow rational that 94 percent of the 12 million blacks in this country voted for a man because he looks like them (that blacks are permitted to play the race card), and that they were joined by self-declared "progressive" whites who voted for him because he doesn’t look like them. I would have to be wipe my mind clean of all that I know about the kind of people who have advised and taught Barack Obama and will fill posts in his administration – political intellectuals like my former colleagues at the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

"Top Libertarian Songs"

Taweh D. Beysolow, II - Libertarians and Conservatives Clash in GOP Identity Crisis

Fed policy has only encouraged people to incur more debt by taking out more loans, caused a massive inflation of the money supply, and the bad debt that otherwise would have been liquidated has instead been largely bought by the federal reserve. This bad policy feeds back into other parts of the economy.

 Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/economics-and-politics-today/2013/apr/11/2nd-recession-obama-and-congress-flounder-america-/#ixzz2S1Xxjxxf Follow us:

A Minority Viewpoint with Libertarian Jabriel Ballentine

Jabriel Ballentine abandons the DC Republican Party to pursue libertarian solutions to the problems in the beltway. Libertarian Party member Melissa Dawson interviews Mr. Ballentine about racial politics in the age of Obama, and what freedom means.

Foreign Aid: A noble act of non-creative destruction

While the idea of providing monetary and financial incentives to facilitate the economic growth of undeveloped regions seems noble, there are distinct fallacies and unplanned destructive effects from that proposal.

 Many Africans regard governmental aid as a means of promoting cultural erosion through enforced programs, as well as an underhanded means of unscrupulous conditional exchange for the sovereign natural resource wealth of recipient countries.

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/liberating-africa-freedom/2013/mar/31/foreign-aid-noble-act-non-creative-destruction/#ixzz2S1I7fRmD

Reactions to Sen. Rand Paul's Speech at Howard University

Thomas Sowell - Why Drugs Should Be Legalized

Black Libertarian Elected Official: Karen Richardson

Council member Karen Richardson brings ten years of community involvement experience in Johns Creek to her work on the Council.

As a wife and mother, Richardson originally got involved in the Johns Creek community as a member of the Windermere Park Homeowners Association. She went on to serve as Chair of the Zoning Committee of the Johns Creek Community Association (JCCA), the ground-breaking Homeowner Association (HOA) umbrella group of then unincorporated northeast Fulton County.

Her love of community service led to her selection as Chair of the Zoning Sub-committee of the Committee for Johns Creek, which spearheaded the grass roots incorporation movement.

As Chairwoman, she extended her role as a zoning advocate for the community, while helping to lay the groundwork for the City's future Community Development department following incorporation.

Richardson describes her highest priority as informing and empowering her constituents. Her dedication to engaging the communities she represents has prompted her to schedule "Coffee with Karen" meet and greets and to maintain weekly office hours.

Realizing the importance of parental involvement in all children's education, Richardson serves as the Treasurer of the Abbotts Hill Elementary School PTA.

A native of Scarsdale, New York, Richardson and her husband, Eric, relocated to the Ocee community of Johns Creek nine years ago. They have three children, Andrew, Samantha and Miles, who attend the public schools of Johns Creek.

Richardson holds a BA in History from the University of Rochester and an MS in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation from Syracuse University. She was formerly an educational consultant with the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York.

http://www.johnscreekga.gov/about/council/post3.aspx

Welfare Destroys Black People (At home and Abroad)

Is America winning the war on drugs?

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2013 ― The “war on drugs,” a phrase coined in by the Nixon administration, has resulted in half of America’s incarcerated adult population being jailed for drug crimes.

At a time when state budgets are stretched and governors are facing harsh economic choices, at a time when state budgets are slashed to eliminate education and social services, we are constantly reminded that the United States leads other nations in the wildly expensive activity of locking up hundreds of thousands of its citizens for non-violent crimes. 

Marijuana was illegalized as part of William Randolph Hurst’s campaign to eliminate hemp, a cheap alternative to his extensive tree farms and wood pulp operations. The war on that drug always had an anti-Hispanic flavor, and it is interesting to see a nation as sophisticated as ours still fighting a Prohibition-style war (with as little success as Prohibition had against liquor) that disproportionately incarcerates black and Latino males. And this is to ban a substance that appears to be vastly less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco.

The cost of the war on drugs to the American taxpayer is multi-layered. There are the obvious costs of enforcement and incarceration. Add on to those the costs imposed on welfare systems as families are ripped apart and destroyed by the drug war. Neighborhoods are devastated, justice systems and politicians corrupted, police resources diverted from fighting other types of crime.

The social cost of this war, as of any other war, is enormous.

Just as with Prohibition, the war on drugs has fostered a culture of violence. When illegal drugs are no longer illegal, but controlled, that violence will be reduced along with drug-related crime, the costs of enforcement and incarceration will fall, and costs to American taxpayers will decline.

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/common-sense-conservative/2013/mar/28/america-winning-war-drug-policy/#ixzz2PBNsmYUK

"Where Have All the Black Libertarians Gone?"

I like Bill Maher. He takes sides. One of his best recent lines was, "the last time the Republicans had that many black folks on stage they were selling them!" (That was in response to the reportedly large number of black folks carrying the Republican banner at the 2004 RNC.) The historical irony is that the folks who did the bulk of the selling of black folk would have been predecessors of today’s Democrat party. (So, Maher is evidently no history buff.) I still like him though. Calling on some of that history, Deroy Murdock and Steven Warshawsky suggest supporting the Republican Party.

For me they are just picking a different bus upon which to ride to the same destination. (One can only hope they both get to sit up front!) Why do black folk overwhelmingly support the Democrats, particularly in light of history? And why not give the ‘other party’ a chance? Because neither party gives a rat’s anal opening about black people! And even if they did it would not matter, for reasons I examine below.

How about more black libertarians? Black libertarians are as common as lips on a chicken – hence the tongue-in-cheek title of this little rant. Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams come to mind as examples of black libertarians. I am pretty sure that the chairman of the NY Libertarian Party is black. But to be clear, I do not think embracing another vehicle of state power – another political party – is really the answer. After a rather long time with my head in the sand – or stuck in other places equally dark – I have come to an even more controversial conclusion. For black folk there is only one viable option – abolish the state.

 Read more:http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig7/alston1.htm 

Black Libertarian in America

My warning to black people (hell, all people) about the dangers of not being prepared for an emergency (such as a economic crisis, natural disaster, terrorist attack.) I think about the history of the race riots on Black Wall Street in 1921 (Greenwood riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma), the Argentina collapse, Katrina and gun control.

Quote of the Day

It is remarkable that American libertarians—so often eager to discuss freedom in nearly every conceivable iteration—rarely address African-Americans and the struggle for civil rights in America. Slavery is long gone, but it is hardly coincidence that the descendants of slaves have accounted for disproportionate percentages of Americans in poverty and incarceration in the 150+ years hence. Save Emancipation and America’s reluctant recognition of the 14th Amendment by way of Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s, the government has consistently (though not exclusively) been a boot on the necks of African-Americans, hindering progress and true equality. Yet libertarians tend to shrink away from acknowledging race for fear of involving themselves in “identity politics” and thus rarely discuss the government’s legacy of racial oppression.

~ Jonathan Blanks

Dr. Walter Williams on Libertarianism

               

Walter E. Williams is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. He is an expert on discrimination, labor policy, regulation, and South Africa as well as a well-known columnist and the author of South Africa's War Against Capitalism (1989), The State Against Blacks (1982), and More Liberty Means Less Government (1999).

 In this lecture given at a Libertarian Party of Georgia event on March 23, 1991, Williams talks about libertarianism generally and relates his own moral arguments against state coercion. Williams also briefly suggests a few things he thinks libertarians should be doing if they want the libertarian movement to grow. 

Download the .mp3 version of this lecture here: http://bit.ly/GJgX7h

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Black Libertarian: The Story of Zora Neale Hurston

Marcus Epstein Like it or not, it is Black History month, a time when the establishment celebrates Marxists such as W.E. Du Bois, Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton, and an assortment of other radicals. Most mainstream conservatives search to find famous blacks that they can trumpet as conservative heroes. Neoconservatives do this by promoting the cult of Martin Luther King Jr. and have nostalgia for the "golden era" of the civil rights movement that never existed. 

Any genuine conservative or libertarian does not need to be told that King was clearly always a man of the Left who supported democratic socialism, reparations for slavery, and affirmative action. Others properly look towards Booker T. Washington. However there is one African American who is widely ignored by the Right, largely because she has become a hero to multiculturalists and organized feminism. That woman is Zora Neale Hurston.

Hurston was born in Eatonville, Florida, a small self-sufficient black town. Her father was a Baptist minister who would later become its mayor. She educated herself before attending high school in Maryland and then college at Howard University, where she was inspired to start a literary career. She transferred to Barnard College, where she studied under Franz Boas. For several years, she traveled around the South, Hati, and Jamaica to collect local folklore.

Read more: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/epstein2.html