Crystal meth and Twinkies:
Both are equally just harmless nouns.
Vote Libertarian, the Twinkie-Winkie Party
Where we can't see any difference between these two things!
Posted on 06/12/2002 11:57:24 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
Edited on 04/12/2004 5:38:44 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) - A man described by a judge as "an evil monster" was sentenced to 25 years in prison for using a baseball bat, metal pipe and golf club to attack a 12-year-old Halloween trick-or-treater on his doorstep.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Meth equals twinkies? Maybe you've hit on a new Libertarian bumper sticker!
Good work fellas.
Peace, love, dope!
Another sure hit bumpersticker for the next LP national convention. (Is at it Denny's again?)
Between you and me, I got banned years ago after a war with Don Morgan, who was then the conservative enforcer. Don makes these guys look like powder puffs on the 'statist' Richter scale. The funny part is that Don then got banned after going completely postal, eventually I think he became the biggest detractor of Jim Robinson of anyone. These guys turn on you fast if they are shown to be wrong, becoming vindictive mad dogs. Don even had my hotmail account canceled.
The really really weird thing is that in reality I'm as conservative as it gets when it comes to the Constitution. Just that the Bill of Rights turns out to be very libertarian and the so-called conservatives can't stand it.
I say both killers were plain crazy. - And we can't just lock up all the crazies, like you, can we?
After reading your posts on this thread, I'm convinced that you have no idea what conservatism is.
"Free Republic is a place for people to discuss our common goals regarding the restoration of our constitutionally limited republican form of government. If people have other agendas for FR, I really wish they would take them elsewhere."
First of all, conservatism as a political philosophy is based in large measure on tradition and social stability.
Libertarians seek to create a government in their own image based on the belief that all law should mirror their force of fraud model, but American government wasn't founded on purely libertarian principles. In order for a libertarian governmental model to be implemented, the traditions of American culture would need to be replaced by libertarian theory, and conservatives are generally reluctant to replace tradition with anything. (This is why Hitler and the German Nazis were particularly hostile to conservatism; for awhile it stood in the way of their new political model which was based on the theorizing of Mussolini and Hitler.)
Conservatism also stresses established institutions and prefers gradual development to abrupt change. Libertarians advocate abrupt changes in drug laws, morals laws. etc. and conservatives are again generally reluctant to replace established law with a new set of laws based on theory.
In its attack on American culture and social institutions libertarianism works hand in hand with liberalism to undermine tradition and social stability, which are pillars of political conservatism...and anyone who tells you otherwise has no idea what they're talking about.
Kirk's Six Canons of Conservative ThoughtLibertarianism fails the test.1. "Belief in a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as conscience."
2. "Affection for the proliferating variety and mystery of human existence, as opposed to the narrowing uniformity, egalitarianism, and utilitarian aims of most radical systems;"
3. "Conviction that civilized society requires orders and classes, as against the notion of a 'classless society'."
4. "Persuasion that freedom and property are closely linked: separate property from private possession, and the Leviathan becomes master of all."
5. "Faith in prescription and distrust of 'sophisters, calculators, and economists' who would reconstruct society upon abstract designs."
6. "Recognition that change may not be salutary reform: hasty innovation may be a devouring conflagration, rather than a torch of progress."
Meaning that if the tradition of our government has morphed into communism or totalitarianism, conservatives would be arguing to keep it the way it is. This explains Roscoe and his band of statists trapsing around and claiming things like "benefits are not free."
Of course Social security has a price. It is exacted at the point of a gun from others who have no moral obligation to send their hard-earned money to people undeserving of it.
Libertarians believe that rights are not subject to the whim of statists.
2. "Affection for the proliferating variety and mystery of human existence, as opposed to the narrowing uniformity, egalitarianism, and utilitarian aims of most radical systems;"
Couldn't this be interpreted to mean opposition to government forcing all people into a single mold, whether it be the "new man" envisioned by communism or the pious, hardworking example of the Protestant work ethic? In other words, while government is perfectly justified in creating and preserving order, it is not supposed to force its citizens to live the way it wants outside of certain narrow goals designed to prevent mankind from reverting to Hobbes' brutal state of nature. In other words, if a man's lifestyle includes practices that are unorthodox or even unhealthy but not harmful to others, what right does government have to force him to change his life to meet someone else's ideals?
4. "Persuasion that freedom and property are closely linked: separate property from private possession, and the Leviathan becomes master of all."
And what is the right to property without commerce? In other words, does a man have any right to property if he is not free to dispose of that property? If nothing else, the War on Drugs has had the side effect of allowing government to further erode the right to property. Government certainly has a role in regulating commerce, for the sake of allowing an orderly system of trade, but how far can that role extend before it eats away at the very idea of private property? Should drugs be freely sold like any other commodity? Probably not, but criminalization has driven a multibillion dollar commerce underground and given government more power over private property than ever.
5. "Faith in prescription and distrust of 'sophisters, calculators, and economists' who would reconstruct society upon abstract designs."
What is "a drug-free America" but a utopian fantasy? Does anyone really think the drug problem can be ended once and for all, with one fell swoop? We can only hope to control it, and our current supply-side, law-enforcement focused policies aren't doing the job. Rather than pursuing utopian dreams, let's focus on practical solutions to minimize harm and preserve societal order.
6. "Recognition that change may not be salutary reform: hasty innovation may be a devouring conflagration, rather than a torch of progress."
How old is the War on Drugs as currently practiced? Less than a century, whether you date it back to the Nixon administration or the first laws banning opium and marijuana. Have these hasty innovations, which history shows were passed based on scare tactics and scant evidence, been successful in their intent? We're still talking about the drug problem, so the answer seems to be a resounding no. Maybe it's time to take Kirk's advice and re-examine what were essentially ill-considered hasty government reactions to the drug problem that began in the 19th century and continues today.
The application of historic police powers against the manufacture, sale and use of certain illicit drugs is "forcing all people into a single mold"? Hardly.
And what is the right to property without commerce?
Opportunities for commerce are greater here under the systems we've developed than anywhere else in history. Laws against contraband are as old as the Republic itself.
What is "a drug-free America" but a utopian fantasy?
Pharmacies are full of readily available over the counter and prescription drugs. Only a relative handful of illicit drugs are being treated as contraband.
How old is the War on Drugs as currently practiced?
Prohibitions on contraband date back to the earliest days of our Republic.
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