Free Republic

Ross Ulbricht was a quiet nerd -- an Eagle Scout who never cursed. Then he became a libertarian, and he decided, "I want to use economic theory as a means to abolish the use of coercion." By coercion, Ulbricht meant force. He viewed laws against drugs as coercion -- government force that stops people from living the way they want. So he created a website called Silk Road. Silk Road let people buy and sell contraband -- mostly drugs -- using bitcoin. The site became successful quickly. It soon carried a billion dollars in transactions. Because Silk Road didn't use...

Gov. Phil Scott has signed Vermont's marijuana legalization bill into law. A Scott administration official tells WCAX the governor signed the bill shortly before 2 p.m. Monday. Scott is now the first governor in the country to sign marijuana legalization into law. Eight other states legalized marijuana through public referendums. In a letter to lawmakers, Scott said he signed the bill, H.511, with "mixed emotions." The bill allows Vermonters over the age of 21 to have an ounce of weed and to grow a few plants. Once signed, the new law goes into effect July 1.

Virginia’s campaign for governor ends Tuesday with polling suggesting a tight contest between Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph Northam, leaving Libertarians yet again a potentially influential factor. Libertarian Cliff Hyra, a patent attorney, is unlikely to win a large share of the vote, with polls suggesting 3 percent at most, but it’s a clear possibility he will take more votes than the race's margin of victory. The third party’s leaders say that doesn’t matter, and that Hyra’s individual-rights platform is worth supporting regardless of electoral consequences — not a new argument for Libertarians, twice accused of contributing to recent...

From football stars to entertainment figures to politicians, it seems that every other day America witnesses the fall of yet another icon. Are we celebrating the wrong people? Exactly what makes a hero? Lawrence Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education, recently spoke to Free Market Central about his book, “Real Heroes: Inspiring True Stories Of Courage, Character and Conviction."

Long-time pro-mass immigration billionaires Charles and David Koch became the latest force to pressure congressional Republicans to nullify the end of DACA with a legislative amnesty Thursday. Koch spokespeople said the brothers will throw their weight behind the growing effort to force a two-house GOP majority that has refused to pass either funding for the southern border wall or the RAISE Act, a key nationalist immigration reform, to quickly pass an amnesty for those who were once exempted from federal immigration law under President Barack Obama’s DACA. The Koch amenability to open borders and amnesty is nothing new. In 2013,...

Abuse Of Power: The IRS scandal seemingly has lain dormant now for months, all but forgotten amid the spate of recent anti-Trump media spasms, the ongoing violent antics of the antifa leftists and, now, Hurricane Harvey's devastation. But even if much of Washington has forgotten about it, a Washington judge hasn't. As reported by the Washington Examiner, Judge Reggie B. Walton of the Washington, D.C., District Court last week revived legal attention to the scandal, telling the IRS it has to reveal the names of IRS employees who targeted conservative, libertarian and Tea Party groups. But Walton didn't stop there....

As a teacher, George Mason University economist Walter Williams explained: "I think it's academic dishonesty to use one's classroom to proselytize students, that is…to give students your opinion, and I think it’s dishonest in the sense that it takes advantage of the immature minds of young people who have not gained the maturity and the experience to be able to individually assess things and to come to their own conclusions." He said that at the orientation for his undergraduate and Ph.D. class, he informs the pupils that if he utters an opinion without the preface "In my opinion," they should...

Donald Trump gets elected and the Left protests by setting fires in the street: They form a “Resistance” and continue to riot for months, forming a “Resistance” whose members throw punches, attacking their “enemy” with their fists, sticks and bike locks stuffed in a sock. Celebrities who have joined the movement throw oil on the fire saying increasingly stupid things like they want to burn the White House down. And suddenly every Democrat pol is so angry they have seemingly lost the ability to control themselves and the air turns blue with their F-bombs.The Left forms “The Resistance” made up...

For those of you wondering why I’m writing another column about the alt-right, the reason is simple: Every time I do, people comment to explain why I’m wrong. Those people, some of whom I used to know, are starting to buy what the alt-right is peddling. Some of them are brazen enough to inform me that I, as an active social conservative, should be “smart enough” to realize that “the Jews,” whom they somehow believe to be a homogenous and monolithic group, are responsible for all of the evils Western civilization faces. One of these people even wrote that Richard...

< snip > After enjoying the inauguration and our nation's peaceful transfer of power, we attempted to make our way to a parade viewing party on Pennsylvania Avenue. What should have been a painless trip across town quickly became a prime example of how unhinged the far left has become. Along the way we witnessed smashed cars, broken windows, a fire, and were called names and threatened simply because of how we were dressed; so much for tolerance and acceptance. After arriving at the parade, we had the pleasure of running into former Massachusetts Republican Governor William Weld. Governor Weld,...

One of the most basic tenets of libertarianism is the construction of barriers, borders and boundaries. These boundaries are usually invisible, but they could just as easily be manifested into something physical. To protect individual liberty, libertarians believe in placing constitutional limits on the government's power and reach. Figuratively, libertarians believe in building barriers around individuals to protect them from physical coercion, violence and various other external elements. Some libertarians would argue that they're building barriers around the government – but the outcome and intent are still the same: individual freedom. In most cases, to protect one individual from another,...

DENVER -- The man accused of fatally shooting his wife while investigators said he was high on marijuana edibles pleaded guilty to second-degree murder .. Richard Kirk, 50, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, citing marijuana intoxication, in September to a first-degree murder charge in the death of his wife Kristine. Under terms of the plea, Kirk, who had been charged with first-degree murder, will be sentenced to 25 to 30 years in prison and fined $5,000 to $1 million. He will also give up parental rights to the couples' three children to Kristine Kirk's parents ... The...

Today Libertarians praised President Donald Trump’s goal of reducing federal government regulations by 75 percent and expressed hope that his plan to counter any new regulation with the elimination of two existing regulations serves to reduce the massive regulatory burden that Americans suffer under today. Libertarians caution that some regulations impose 100 times the burden that others do. So a two-for-one deal won’t necessarily result in a net reduction in red tape, bureaucratic obstruction, or needless government meddling in people’s lives.

Donald Trump will be busy Friday. He and Mike Pence have promised, Mother Jones magazine points out, that on Trump's first day in office he will repeal Obamacare, end the "war on coal," expel illegal immigrants, begin construction of a "beautiful Southern border wall," fix the Department of Veterans Affairs, come up with a plan to stop ISIS, get rid of "gun-free zones," "start taking care of our ... military," withdraw from the TPP trade agreement, cut regulations and designate China a currency manipulator. OK, much of that was probably just campaign talk. I'm grateful for that. I hope...

Libertarians need to understand that liberty does not exist in a vacuum, or in a borderless world. It cannot work that way I believe in free trade, but ultra-libertarians and free-market proponents ignore the necessary conditions for the rule of law and culture. Libertarian policies cannot flourish in a vacuum, but require a government to protect our rights—Including the rights of the working man. Chinese citizens have few rights, and the freedom of that nation’s economy has not translated into political liberty. Poverty wages are the norm in corrupt kleptocracies, and with that cheap goods for sale on the global...

either Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson nor the Green Party's Jill Stein managed to make a dent in the Electoral College, but they did post a significant enough showing in several states arguably to help elect Donald Trump. Trump won 290 Electoral College votes to 232 for Hillary Clinton, as of Wednesday evening, with Clinton topping him in the popular vote. But had the Democrats managed to capture the bulk of third-party voters in some of the closest contests -- Wisconsin (10), Pennsylvania (20), Michigan (16) and Florida (29) -- Clinton would have defeated Trump by earning 307 Electoral College...

http://johnrlott.blogspot.com/2016/11/libertarian-vp-nominee-bill-weldmy.html Libertarian VP nominee Bill Weld claims:"my belief is that the libertarian party pulls substantially more from Mr. Trump" @ 2:41 mark (video is available here). I had heard that Weld has been raising money with this message as a way of getting those who want Hillary to win to donate money. Consistent with that, it also just so happens that the big dollars that the libertarians have been spending have apparently been on conservative talk radio. The New York Times also has an op-ed saying that the Libertarians will tilt the election to Hillary Clinton. With just a few...

Since her announcement that she’s suing her former employer Roger Ailes and Fox News for sexual harassment, beloved reporter Andrea Tantaros has been maintaining a low profile. She emerged from wherever she’s holing up, however, to name her choice for President. You’ll be relieved to hear, at very least, that she is not voting for Hillary Clinton. Said Tantaros of former Massachusetts Governor Weld, “He’s a good man, and he treats women with the utmost respect.” She formerly worked for Weld when he ran for Governor of New York. Said Tantaros of Trump, who she previously supported, “I’m disappointed that Donald Trump...

Because they are only 19, Grace Danby and Courtney Trudeau are preparing to vote in their first presidential election. The Ohio state students who play for the women's club hockey team are part of the millennial generation, loosely defined as 18-34-year-olds, that is predicted to be one of the largest voting blocs in the 2016 election. They also share another trait: they identify as libertarians. "Any of the third parties I would consider would take away votes from Donald Trump," Danby said while also expressing dislike for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. "I don't have a lot of time to think...

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson on Tuesday defended his lack of knowledge of world affairs, suggesting on MSNBC that foreign policy expertise, or even an understanding of where international leaders are from, is what leads to military conflict. “You know what? The fact that somebody can dot the i’s and cross the t’s on a foreign leader’s geographic location then allows them to put our military in harm’s way,” Johnson told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. The former New Mexico governor has been widely panned for a pair of foreign policy gaffes that have weighed down his long-shot candidacy. First, Johnson responded...