For peace of mind, we need to resign as general manager of the universe.
Larry Eisenberg
2013 Reason Video Awards
I embed one of the winners in the Political Humor section below.
The Injustice of Civil Forfeiture
Facebook Corner
(LFC). Hi. I'm a left-leaning individual and love reading this page to gather new insights and ideas from folks who think differently than I do. I wanted to ask, what do libertarians think about Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the US constitution in which it sanctions taxation. When libertarians say "taxation is theft", are they referring to ALL forms of taxation or just the income tax? Thanks.
For libertarians, the primary issues are competition and consent. You are forced to pay for something you don't want. To give a simple example, consider excise taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. (I don't smoke and rarely drink--hence these taxes don't really hurt me.) It may be much easier to aim a tax at the hated minority that smokes than pass a general consumption tax. But why should smokers pay a disproportionate share of the burden? It's not that libertarians don't want security or justice; they differ in the means and source.
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| Via LFC |
Dear Laissez Faire Capitalism, I believe in free markets 99%. The one that I can't seem to grasp is free market electricity. Generally, it seems like for power, you only have one choice (I live in a more rural area). How would the free market react to a business hiking up prices? I don't really see a choice to move to a different electric company.
How would the free market react to hiking prices? With competitors, of course. The infrastructure--the power lines to homes, etc.--is already in place, and there is competition among suppliers to the grid. Being tied to a costly supplier is more the result of a conferred monopoly privilege.
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| Via LFC |
Political Humor
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Bob Gorrell and Townhall |
Mariah Carey, "I Want To Know Know Love Is". Is there any better female vocalist since the dawn of the rock era in terms of range? My inner record producer might tweak the performance at spots (I imagine more of a higher-register driving chorus), but it's hard to improve on Mariah's version (her transition to the chorus is a thing of beauty). I love singles with a gospel choir (Diamond does it on his take of "Morning Has Broken") I, of course, also love the Foreigner original--a sort of embarrassing, humorous anecdote. At the time I was a full-time doctoral student visiting my folks one weekend; I had my car windows down and I was singing along with the radio, and my Dad, who also has reasonably decent pipes, is just staring at me. I'm not sure what he was thinking: (1) he liked it, (2) what will the neighbors think?, or (3) my oldest son has lost it. But not nearly as embarrassing as the time my boss caught me singing along with Anne Murray on "Daydream Believer" (sometimes when you're in the zone, you're not aware of what else you may be doing).
