Voice For Liberty

Category: Liberty

  • Surveillance state arrives in Wichita

    In an effort to control crime in Old Town, Wichita is importing the police surveillance state. Right now the targeted area is a small part of the city during certain periods of time. But once camera use has started, it is likely to spread across town, especially given the enthusiasm of police and elected officials like Wichita city council member Lavonta Williams (district 1, northeast Wichita), according to Wichita Eagle reporting.

    Many people may not be aware of the gross invasion of privacy that government cameras represent. Have you used the facial recognition technology in Google’s Picasa software? It’s uncanny how accurate it is. In the hands of government, it’s a concern.

    Some surveillance cameras can read car license plates two blocks away. With facial recognition technology and optical character recognition, police don’t have to actually watch the live or recorded video to learn who has been in a location. Computers can create databases, updated in real time with who is where at what time. Alerts can be programmed, so that if a person or car is seen, police can be notified.

    Then, we have to wonder whether the cameras work as advertised. The website You Are Being Watched, a project of the American Civil Liberties Union, comes to this conclusion: “An increasing number of American cities and towns are investing millions of taxpayer dollars in surveillance camera systems. But few are closely examining the costs and benefits of those investments, or creating mechanisms for measuring those costs and benefits over time. There is extensive academic literature on the subject — studies carried out over many years — and that research demonstrates that video surveillance has no statistically significant effect on crime rates. Several studies on video surveillance have been conducted in the UK, where surveillance cameras are pervasive. The two main meta-analyses conducted for the British Home Office (equivalent to the US departments of Justice and Homeland Security) show that video surveillance has no impact on crime whatsoever. If it did, then there would be little crime in London, a city estimated to have about 500,000 cameras.”

    An irony is that law enforcement likes recording citizens, but not the other way around. As John Stossel has noted, police don’t like to be recorded. In some states its a crime to tape a police officer making an arrest. A video excerpt from Stossel’s television shows the attitudes of police towards being recorded. At Reason Radley Balko details the problem, writing “As citizens increase their scrutiny of law enforcement officials through technologies such as cell phones, miniature cameras, and devices that wirelessly connect to video-sharing sites such as YouTube and LiveLeak, the cops are increasingly fighting back with force and even jail time—and not just in Illinois. Police across the country are using decades-old wiretapping statutes that did not anticipate iPhones or Droids, combined with broadly written laws against obstructing or interfering with law enforcement, to arrest people who point microphones or video cameras at them. Even in the wake of gross injustices, state legislatures have largely neglected the issue.”

    Further irony is found in the parties promoting the cameras. Council member Williams was instrumental in crafting Wichita’s smoking ban. So too was Charlie Claycomb, president of the Old Town Association. One of their arguments was that everyone should have the right to enter any business and not be subjected to secondhand smoke. It was an argument based on civil liberties.

    I’d like to be able to enjoy a cocktail in Old Town without my presence monitored and noted by the police. Is that a civil liberty worth preserving?

    Wichita should reconsider this decision. It seems like an easy solution to a problem. But it’s another journey down the road of the ever-growing regulatory regime in Wichita.

  • Central planning: Are we humans or pawns?

    From LearnLiberty.org, a project of Institute for Humane Studies, a video titled Adam Smith and the Follies of Central Planning.

    “How do you like being told what to do? If someone tells you to do something you find enjoyable or fulfilling, you may not mind. What if you are told to do something contrary to what you would choose for yourself? What if the government was the one telling you to do it? Adam Smith, the philosopher and father of economics, talks about a “man of system,” a central planner who believes he can orchestrate the lives of others, like chess pieces that can be moved at will. As Professor James R. Otteson illustrates, society suffers when the man of system attempts to force his desires on the lives of individuals in ways that contradict their own desires. According to Smith, people are not chess pieces to be moved on a board; they are living and thinking and have their own wills. Individuals pursuing their own desires will constantly be in conflict with the desires of any central planner.”

    In Kansas, we see the rise of central planning in several ways. Officials believe they can plan and guide our economic development efforts, and the results have not been successful.

    Wichita believes it can plan its downtown development and direct taxpayer subsidy to politically-favored developers and campaign contributors, but voters, when given a chance, reject this.

    Then we have the rise of sustainable communities planning, shepherded by the professional planners working at Regional Area Economic Partnership.

    All these are examples of the problem explained in the video.

  • Classical liberalism: Liberty, individualism, and civil society

    In a short video, Nigel Ashford of Institute for Humane Studies explains the tenets of classical liberalism. Not to be confused with modern American liberalism or liberal Republicans, classical liberalism places highest value on liberty and the individual. Modern American liberals, or progressives as they often prefer to be called, may value some of these principles, but most, such as free markets and limited government — and I would add individualism and toleration — are held in disdain by them.

    Here are the principles of classical liberalism that Ashford identifies:

    Liberty is the primary political value. “When deciding what to do politically — what should the government do — classical liberals have one clear standard: Does this increase, or does it reduce the freedom of the individual?”

    Individualism. “The individual is more important than the collective.”

    Skepticism about power. “Government, for example, often claims ‘we’re forcing you to do X because it’s in your own interests to do so.’ Whereas very often, when people with power do that, it’s really because it’s good for themselves. Classical liberals believe that the individual is the best judge of their own interests.”

    Rule of law.

    Civil society. Classical liberals believe that problems can be dealt with best by voluntary associations and action.

    Spontaneous order. “Many people seem to assume that order requires some institution, some body, to manipulate and organize things. Classical liberals don’t believe that. They believe that order can arise spontaneously. People through their voluntary interaction create the rules by which people can live by.”

    Free markets. “Economic exchange should be left to voluntary activity between individuals. … We need private property to be able to do that. … History show us that leaving things to free markets rather than government planning or organization, increases prosperity, reduces poverty, increases jobs, and provides good that people want to buy.”

    Toleration. “Toleration is the belief that one should not interfere with things on which one disapproves. … It’s a question of having certain moral principles (“I think this action is wrong”), but I will not try and force my opinions — for example through government — to stop the things I disapprove of.”

    Peace. Through free movement of capital, labor, goods, services, and ideas, we can have a world based on peace rather than conflict and war.

    Limited government. “There are very few things the government should do. The goal of government is simply to protect life, liberty, and property. Anything beyond that is not justifiable.”

    This video is available on YouTube through LearnLiberty.org, a site which has many other informative videos. Besides this video, other resources on classical liberalism include What Is Classical Liberalism? by Ralph Raico, What Is Classical Liberalism? by John C. Goodman, Christianity, Classical Liberalism are Liberty’s Foundations by Leonard P. Liggio, What is Libertarian? at the Institute for Humane Studies, Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative: The Normative Vision of Classical Liberalism (review of James M. Buchanan book by William A. Niskanen), Myths of Individualism by Tom G. Palmer, and Palmer’s book Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice.

  • 2011: The Year in Review

    Following is a selection of stories that appeared on Voice for Liberty in 2011. Was it a good or bad year for the causes of economic freedom, individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and civil society?

    January

    Kansas: business-friendly or capitalism-friendly? While Kansas Republicans want to create a business-friendly environment, we have to be watchful for harmful crony, or false, capitalism.

    In Wichita, start of a solution to federal spending. A stand taken by a Sedgwick County Commissioner could pave the way to control of federal spending and debt.

    Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer: State of the City 2011. This week Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer delivered his annual “State of the City” address. While the Wichita Eagle editorial commenting on the mayor’s speech is titled “Cause to boast, hope,” a look at some of the important topics the mayor addressed will lead some to conclude otherwise.

    Charles and David Koch v. George Soros: Free markets or not. The protests surrounding a conference of free-market advocates reveal the political left’s misunderstanding of the relationship between business and government, and between freedom and coercion.

    February

    Regulation helps big business, not free enterprise. Both Democrats and Republicans love creating regulations, and big business loves these regulations.

    Kansas auto dealers have anti-competitive law on their side. Kansas automobile dealers benefit from a law that limits the ability of competitors to form new dealerships.

    Affordable Airfares audit embarrassing to Wichita. An audit of Affordable Airfares produced by the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit is an embarrassment to City of Wichita elected officials and staff, the Kansas Regional Area Economic Partnership, and the Wichita State University Center for Economic Development and Business Research.

    Wichita should reform its economic development strategy. Wichita can start moving towards an environment that promotes diverse economic growth by voting against targeted economic development incentives on today’s agenda. But if the council decides to approve each item, I would ask that the council identify specific spending somewhere else to cut, so that the cost of these programs are not spread among all the residents and businesses in the city.

    KNEA, the Kansas teachers union, open to reform? Do the teachers unions in Kansas, particularly Kansas National Education Association (KNEA), have the best interests of schoolchildren as their primary goal?

    March

    Charles G. Koch: Why Koch Industries is speaking out. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Charles G. Koch, who is chairman of the board and CEO of Koch Industries, writes that economic freedom — not government spending and intervention — leads to prosperity and economic well-being for all, even for our poorest citizens.

    Speculators selfishly provide a public service. Speculators are selfish people, acting only to make as much profit as possible for themselves without concern for the welfare of others. By doing so, they provide a valuable public service.

    Because arts are important, government funding should be avoided. The more important to our culture we believe the arts to be, the stronger the case for getting government out of its funding.

    KPERS problems must be confronted. This week the Kansas Legislature may work on the problems facing the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System, or KPERS. Past legislatures have failed to enact reforms necessary to put this system on a sound financial footing, and the legislature has shown itself incapable of managing a system where it’s easy to pass on the problem to future generations. Now Kansas faces an unfunded liability of some $9.3 billion in KPERS. The most important thing the state can do is to stop enrolling new employees in this failing system.

    Weekly Standard: The left’s obsession with the Koch brothers. Matthew Continetti of the Weekly Standard has written a profile of Charles and David Koch and Koch Industries, focusing on politics and the attacks by the political Left. A key passage in the story explains what those who believe in economic freedom have known all along: If Charles and David Koch really wanted to make a lot of money for themselves, they would act like most corporations: seek fortune through government intervention, not through competition in free markets.

    Sedgwick County Commission to consider corporate welfare as economic development. The Sedgwick County Commission will consider embracing corporate welfare as its economic development strategy.

    April

    Wichita elections a blow for economic freedom. The victory by Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer and other city council members means a win for crony capitalism and a loss for economic freedom in Wichita.

    Reisman: Social Security, Medicare must end. The institutions of Social Security and Medicare have replaced individualism with reliance on a collective fraud.

    Liberals and economic knowledge. Who might you guess is better informed on issues of economics: liberals who promote government intervention in the economy, or conservatives and libertarians who oppose it?

    Hazlitt’s ‘Economics in One Lesson’ relevant today. Economics In One Lesson, first published in 1946 and recently reissued by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, explains fallacies (false or mistaken ideas) that are particularly common in the field of economics and public policy.

    Kansas Chamber finds voters favor cuts, not tax increases to balance budget. A survey of Kansas voters conducted on behalf of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce found widespread support for cutting spending rather than raising taxes as the way to balance the Kansas budget. Support was also found for cutting state worker salaries, or reducing the number of state employees.

    May

    Forgivable loan a test for new Wichita City Council members. This week three new members of the Wichita City Council have a chance to live up to — or not — their campaign rhetoric.

    In Kansas, school choice programs could help the most needy students achieve. School choice programs in Kansas could help close the gap between low-performing students and the rest, according to the Kansas Policy Institute.

    In Kansas Legislature this year, opportunities for saving were lost. This year the Kansas Legislature lost three opportunities to improve the operations and reduce the cost of state government. Three bills, each with this goal, were passed by the House of Representatives, but each failed to make through the Senate, or had its contents stripped and replaced with different legislation.

    Pickens criticism illustrates divide between free markets and intervention. Criticism by energy investor T. Boone Pickens of U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo and Koch Industries continues to illustrate the difference between those who believe in economic freedom and free markets, and those — like Pickens — who invest in politicians, bureaucrats, and the hope of a government subsidy.

    Kansas needs truth about schools. Kansas needs an honest assessment of the performance of its schools from education commissioner Diane M. DeBacker.

    June

    For Wichita, Save-A-Lot teaches a lesson. The announcement that a Save-A-Lot grocery store will proceed — contrary to the claims of developers and city staff who rely on their information — should provide a lesson that yes, economic development in Wichita can and will happen without public assistance.

    Wichita and its political class. Discussion at a Wichita City Council meeting provided an opportunity for citizens to discover the difference in the thinking of the political class and those who value limited government and capitalism.

    Huelskamp at RightOnline: Debt is the problem. At the RightOnline conference in Minneapolis, U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp of the Kansas first district told the general session audience that federal spending and debt is a threat to the future of America, and that we must use the opportunity of the upcoming debt ceiling vote to force spending cuts.

    Economist: Kansas must improve its competitive position. Kansas needs to implement pro-growth economic policies or face mediocrity and stagnation, says economist Jonathan Williams of the Rich States, Poor States report.

    Economic freedom leads to better lives for all, says video. Economic freedom, in countries where it is allowed to thrive, leads to better lives for people as measured in a variety of ways. This is true for everyone, especially for poor people.

    Corporate jet incentive, or tax dodge, or kids’ safety?. Although President Obama’s demagoguery is mistargeted, it would be a good idea to get rid of preferential tax treatment in all cases.

    July

    Wichita school board: critics not welcome. A recent meeting of the board of USD 259, the Wichita public school district, provided insight as to the insularity of the board members and district staff, and as to how little meaningful discussion or debate takes place at board meetings.

    Kansas jobs creation numbers in perspective. The administration of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback announced job creation figures that, on the surface, sound like good news. But before we celebrate too much, we need to place the job numbers in context and look at the larger picture, specifically whether these economic development wins are good for the Kansas economy.

    Federal grants seen to raise future local spending. Not only are we taxed to pay for the cost of funding federal and state grants, the units of government that receive grants are very likely to raise their own levels of taxation in response to the receipt of the grants. This is a cycle of ever-expanding government that needs to end, and right now.

    Sedgwick County considers a federal grant. While most people think the problem of government over-spending requires a top-down solution starting in Washington, we have to do better than waiting for Washington to act.

    Despite subsidy program, Wichita flights are declining. Supporters of the Kansas Affordable Airfares Program are proud of the program’s success. But looking at the statistics uncovers a troubling trend that is obscured by the facts used to promote the program.

    Pickens: It’s all about me, and MSNBC doesn’t notice. Appearing on the MSNBC morning program Morning Joe, energy investor T. Boone Pickens let us know that despite his no-nonsense business-like approach to supporting what he believes to be in America’s best interests, it’s really all about him and what profits him.

    Wichita school district able to maintain employment ratios. Despite the claims that schools have made drastic cuts, evidence shows that USD 259, the Wichita public school district, has been able to maintain student-employee ratios.

    Clusters as economic development in Kansas. Is the promotion by Kansas government of industry clusters as economic development good for the future of Kansas?

    Tax expenditures, or loopholes. Tax expenditures, commonly called loopholes, are in the news as part of the debt ceiling negotiations. What is the true nature of these? Spending, or not?

    August

    Job creation at young firms declines. A new report by the Kauffman Foundation holds unsettling information for the future of job growth in the United States.

    U.S. receipts and expenditures. A look at the recent history of U.S. receipts and expenditures holds useful lessons on taxes and spending.

    Wichita City Council bows to special interests. Yesterday’s meeting of the Wichita City Council revealed a council — except for one member — totally captured by special interests, to the point where the council, aided by city staff, used a narrow legal interpretation in order to circumvent a statutorily required public hearing process.

    Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer to critics: stop grandstanding. A meeting of the Wichita City Council provided a window into the attitude of Wichita elected officials, particularly Mayor Carl Brewer. Through their actions, and by their words, we see a government that cares little for the rule of law and good government, and one that is disrespectful to citizens who call attention to this.

    Pay-to-play laws are needed in Wichita and Kansas. In the wake of scandals, some states and cities have passed “pay-to-play” laws. These laws often prohibit political campaign contributions by those who seek government contracts, or the laws may impose special disclosure requirements. But Wichita and Kansas have no such laws.

    Intrust Bank Arena depreciation expense ignored. Reports that income earned by the Intrust Bank Arena is down sharply has brought the arena’s finances back into the news. The arena, located in downtown Wichita and owned by Sedgwick County, is deemed to be a success by the county and arena boosters based on “profit” figures generated during its first year of operations. But these numbers are not an honest assessment of the arena’s financial performance.

    ‘Honest services’ law expansion sought. While the U.S. Supreme Court has attempted to limit the application of vague “honest services” statutes, the Obama Administration is working to restore what the Wall Street Journal describes as “essentially unlimited prosecutorial discretion to bring white-collar cases.”

    In Wichita, historic preservation tax credits an inefficient form of developer welfare. As part of the subsidy plan for Douglas Place, a downtown Wichita hotel being proposed, developers plan to make extensive use of historic preservation tax credits to fund their project. This form of developer welfare, besides being inefficient, is largely hidden from public view.

    For Wichita’s Project Downtown, goal keeps slipping. In selling a plan for the revitalization of downtown Wichita, promoters started with a promise of much private investment for just a little public investment. But as the plan proceeded, the goal kept slipping, and the first project to be approved under the final plan will probably not come close to meeting even the modest goals set by the Wichita City Council.

    September

    Walter Williams: Government must stick to its limited and legitimate role. Economist Walter E. Williams spoke on the legitimate role of government in a free society, touching on the role of government as defined in the Constitution, the benefits of capitalism and private property, and the recent attacks on individual freedom and limited government.

    In Wichita, private tax policy on the rise. In a free society with a limited government, taxation should be restricted to being a way for government to raise funds to pay for services that all people benefit from. But in the city of Wichita, private tax policy is overtaking our city.

    Free market energy solutions don’t jeopardize national security. Free market energy solutions don’t jeopardize national security, write U.S. Representatives Mike Pompeo and Jeff Flake.

    The resolve of the Wichita City Council. Despite her assessment of the will of the people of Wichita, The Wichita Eagle’s Rhonda Holman encourages the Wichita City Council to stick to its guns and do the opposite.

    At Wichita City Council, facts are in dispute. Some Wichita City Council members, including Mayor Carl Brewer, criticize citizens for their use of inaccurate and misleading information. So how do the statements made by council members fare when subjected to scrutiny?

    Kansas needs pro-growth policies. A theme of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback when he spoke in Wichita this week was jobs and opportunities, and how Kansas needs pro-growth policies to break out of a slump.

    Kansas school spending: the deception. Kansas school spending advocates like Mark Desetti of the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) use only a small portion of school spending when making presentations, letting them be accurate and deceptive at the same time.

    Sedgwick County considers a planning grant. Sedgwick County’s consideration of a federal planning grant raised a host of issues, including buying in to the Obama Administration agenda and the roles and relationships of federal and local governments.

    October

    Ken-Mar TIF district, the bailouts. Circumstances surrounding the Ken-Mar shopping center in northeast Wichita illustrate how inappropriate it is for the city to serve as either entrepreneur or partner with entrepreneurs, and is another lesson in how Wichita needs pay-to-play laws.

    Pompeo at Pachyderm on economy, budget. U. S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Wichita addressed members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club, with members interested in the economy and budget issues.

    Wichita city council: substance and process. The Wichita City Council and city hall bureaucrats have shown that they are willing to follow the letter of the law, but following the spirit and substance of the law, especially regarding public hearings and citizen involvement, remains a challenge for the city.

    Kansas and its own Solyndra. At this moment, we can’t say that Kansas has its own version of Solyndra, the subsidized and politically-connected solar energy firm that recently shut down its operations and declared bankruptcy. But as far as absorbing the important lessons from Solyndra, we may have another chance to learn them in Kansas.

    The politically-motivated attack on Koch Industries. The more scrutiny the Bloomberg article attacking Koch Industries receives, the worse it looks.

    Intellectuals against the people and their freedoms. Why are so many opposed to private property and free exchange — capitalism, in other words — in favor of large-scale government interventionism? Lack of knowledge, or ignorance, is one answer, but there is another.

    Economic freedom in America: The decline, and what it means. The decline in economic freedom in the U.S. leads to slow growth in the private sector economy and persistently high unemployment.

    Wichita economic development: And then what will happen? Critics of the economic development policies in use by the City of Wichita are often portrayed as not being able to see and appreciate the good things these policies are producing, even though they are unfolding right before our very eyes. The difference is that some look beyond the immediate — what is seen — and ask “And then what will happen?” — looking for the unseen.

    Kerpen on Obama’s regulatory extremism. A new book details the ways that President Obama is bypassing Congress and the will of the people in order to implement his extreme radical agenda.

    Kansas schools need diversity and dynamism to engage students. Kansas schools need to be much more dynamic and diverse in order to meet students’ needs and effectively engage them in learning. But the lack of school choice and charter schools in Kansas means that Kansas children are missing opportunities for learning that are present in some states. Until Kansas changes its educational policies, it is unlikely that schools will see any significant improvement.

    ‘Sustainable planning’ not so sustainable. The vast majority of Americans, surveys say, aspire to live in a single-family home with a yard. The vast majority of American trave — around 85 percent — is by automobile. Yet the Obama administration thinks more Americans should live in apartments and travel on foot, bicycle, or mass transit.

    November

    School choice savings not being considered in Kansas. According to the reporting surrounding the revision of the Kansas school finance formula, Kansas is overlooking a sure way to save money and improve Kansas schools: widespread school choice.

    Huelskamp on spending, health information database, and Buffett. Addressing members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club last Friday, U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp of the Kansas first district updated the audience on national spending and debt, a health information database that poses privacy risks, and Warren Buffett’s taxes.

    Focus on Kansas school funding formula is a distraction. As Kansas struggles with a formula for financing schools, we’re losing an opportunity to examine our schools and see if they’re performing as well as they should, both financially and academically

    Supercommittee fails at tiny goal. The failure of the Congressional Supercommittee to meet such a small and modest goal is not good news, as the real problems are much larger.

    Wichita property taxes are high, leading to other problems. High business property taxes in Wichita cause officials to take an “active investor” role in economic development, despite evidence that this approach does not work.

    TIF and other subsidies harm Wichita. Everyone who cares about Wichita — the entire city, not just special interests — ought to be opposed to the continued use of tax increment financing (TIF) districts and other forms of subsidy that direct benefits to a small group at the expense of everyone else.

    Kansas PEAK program: corporate welfare wrapped in obfuscation. Many economic development programs, such as the Kansas Promoting Employment Across Kansas (PEAK) program, are surrounded by confusion that hides the economic reality of the transactions.

    December

    Kansas gas storage regulation might not improve safety. Should Kansans be relieved that government regulation and inspection of underground natural gas storage may be resumed soon?

    Wichita should reject tax increment financing. Wichita should reject tax increment financing for the good of the entire city.

    Wichita City Council sets hotel tax election date. Discussion of setting an election date provided another example reinforcing the realization that Wichita has a city council — with the exception of one member — that is entirely captured by special interests.

    In Wichita, disdain for open records and government transparency. Despite receiving nearly all its funding from taxpayers, Go Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau refuses to admit it is a “public agency” as defined in the Kansas Open Records Act. The city backs this agency and its interpretation of this law, which is in favor of government secrecy and in opposition to the letter and spirit of the Open Records Act.

    Wichita falls in economic performance ranking. The City of Wichita has fallen in a ranking of the performance of its economy, according to the Milkin Institute.

  • Classical liberalism values liberty, the individual, and civil society

    In a short video, Nigel Ashford of Institute for Humane Studies explains the tenets of classical liberalism. Not to be confused with modern American liberalism or liberal Republicans, classical liberalism places highest value on liberty and the individual. Modern American liberals, or progressives as they often prefer to be called, may value some of these principles, but most, such as free markets and limited government — and I would add individualism and toleration — are held in disdain by them.

    Here are the principles of classical liberalism that Ashford identifies:

    Liberty is the primary political value. “When deciding what to do politically — what should the government do — classical liberals have one clear standard: Does this increase, or does it reduce the freedom of the individual?”

    Individualism. “The individual is more important than the collective.”

    Skepticism about power. “Government, for example, often claims ‘we’re forcing you to do X because it’s in your own interests to do so.’ Whereas very often, when people with power do that, it’s really because it’s good for themselves. Classical liberals believe that the individual is the best judge of their own interests.”

    Rule of law.

    Civil society. Classical liberals believe that problems can be dealt with best by voluntary associations and action.

    Spontaneous order. “Many people seem to assume that order requires some institution, some body, to manipulate and organize things. Classical liberals don’t believe that. They believe that order can arise spontaneously. People through their voluntary interaction create the rules by which people can live by.”

    Free markets. “Economic exchange should be left to voluntary activity between individuals. … We need private property to be able to do that. … History show us that leaving things to free markets rather than government planning or organization, increases prosperity, reduces poverty, increases jobs, and provides good that people want to buy.”

    Toleration. “Toleration is the belief that one should not interfere with things on which one disapproves. … It’s a question of having certain moral principles (“I think this action is wrong”), but I will not try and force my opinions — for example through government — to stop the things I disapprove of.”

    Peace. Through free movement of capital, labor, goods, services, and ideas, we can have a world based on peace rather than conflict and war.

    Limited government. “There are very few things the government should do. The goal of government is simply to protect life, liberty, and property. Anything beyond that is not justifiable.”

    This video is available on YouTube through LearnLiberty.org, a site which has many other informative videos. Besides this video, other resources on classical liberalism include What Is Classical Liberalism? by Ralph Raico, What Is Classical Liberalism? by John C. Goodman, Christianity, Classical Liberalism are Liberty’s Foundations by Leonard P. Liggio, What is Libertarian? at the Institute for Humane Studies, Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative: The Normative Vision of Classical Liberalism (review of James M. Buchanan book by William A. Niskanen), Myths of Individualism by Tom G. Palmer, and Palmer’s book Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice.

  • The creeping expansion of government power

    Trackside is a column written occasionally by John D’Aloia Jr. He lives in St. Marys, Kansas.

    TRACKSIDE © by John D’Aloia Jr.
    12 December 2011

    A belief I encounter increasingly often is that, with few exceptions, the Guardians ensconced in Washington, and their minions in the bureaucracy, The Clerks, are driven by greed, corruption, fraud, power, and immorality, not by the Essential Liberty principles of our Founding Documents. The electorate is angry and frustrated. They see their resources and their freedom being whittled away for the benefit of the Guardians and their cronies. They see the basic morality of the country being banned from the public square and perversion jammed down their throats. They see the very gas they exhale being cited, in spite of the evidence, as a reason to deny the use of energy resources. They see the Guardians trash the Constitution and their oath of office. They see themselves being made slaves of the state. Daily headlines reinforce these beliefs.

    Much internet traffic has circulated about the words in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (H.R.1540) that gives the federal government the ability to detain U.S. citizens suspected of terrorism, at home or abroad, in military custody, outside of the court system, and hold them indefinitely. Bye, bye Fourth Amendment. This reading of the law was confirmed by Senator Graham, who said in the Senate on November 17th that Section “1031, the statement of authority to detain, does apply to American citizens, and it designates the world as the battlefield, including the homeland.”

    The Guardians manipulate words to mean whatever they want them to mean and they have the force to impose their meanings — this makes the power of warrant-less arrest of citizens highly dangerous. A pesky Tea Party activist is shining a spotlight on your misdeeds and machinations? Designate him a terrorist and haul him off to a military gulag where he will have no rights, no recourse to the courts. It gives me no comfort knowing that the Guardian-in-Chief’s rule book, written by Saul Alinsky, holds that lying is a tool of the trade, that ends justify means, and that there is no moral code.

    A provision of H.R.-1540 that has not gotten the same notoriety is the one that repeals Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the article that makes sodomy a court-martial offense. (I refrain from quoting Article 125. Google can assist if you must know.) Why repeal it? The repeal fits right in the with the Guardian-in-Chief’s efforts to promote the homosexual agenda as part of his effort to dissolve society’s moral glue, its standards, making it easier for him to impose his vision of a state in which his whims are the law.

    The 9 December issue of the economic newsletter “Casey Daily Dispatch” contains an article titled “Man vs. Morlock” in which the writer reached back and pulled up a book by Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45, University of Chicago Press, 1955. The excerpt in the Dispatch included this paragraph, one you may well have read elsewhere, but was not aware from whence it came — I wasn’t:

    “Pastor Niemöller spoke for the thousands and thousands of men like me when he spoke (too modestly of himself) and said that, when the Nazis attacked the Communists, he was a little uneasy, but, after all, he was not a Communist, and so he did nothing; and then they attacked the … and he did nothing; and then the schools, the press, the Jews, and so on, and he was always uneasier, but still he did nothing. And then they attacked the Church, and he was a Churchman, and he did something — but then it was too late.”

    And further on in the excerpt was this “boiling the frog” analogy of how the Nazis gained complete domination:

    “In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D.”

    We must make a stand in November 2012. Absent a massive “Road-to-Damascus” constitutional epiphany by the Guardians, and by their Clerks, the only recourse citizens have to regain our country’s future as a free people is to turn them out, election after election, until we again have a Constitutional Republic governed by the virtues established by The Founders. The eviction of the Guardian-in-Chief and voter-imposed term limits on all those who believe they are our Guardians are actions that I encourage all to undertake.

    Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, Pray for Us, Pray For Our Country.

    See you Trackside.

  • Libertarianism site launched

    Recently the Cato Institute launched Libertarianism.org, a site that is a “resource on the theory and history of liberty, broadly construed.”

    It’s a great site, full of videos, essays, and a blog. I recommend starting with the video An Introduction to Libertarian Thought, delivered by David Boaz.

    In its introduction, the site explains the importance of liberty and what it means: “Liberty. It’s a simple idea, but it’s also the linchpin of a complex system of values and practices: justice, prosperity, responsibility, toleration, cooperation, and peace. Many people believe that liberty is the core political value of modern civilization itself, the one that gives substance and form to all the other values of social life. They’re called libertarians.”

    In the conclusion to the introduction, what libertarians do and the goal of libertarian activists: “Libertarianism is one of the most exciting developments in modern thought. Libertarian scholars address hard problems and propose solutions that are both moral and realistic. Libertarian activists work to defend liberty from its many enemies and to advance liberty to those who have been excluded from its blessings. They seek to liberate individuals and bring about open, free, humane, and prosperous societies. The people of the world have waited long enough to be free.”

  • Walter Williams: Government must stick to its limited and legitimate role

    Walter E.
    Williams

    At two events in Wichita today, economist Walter E. Williams spoke on the legitimate role of government in a free society, touching on the role of government as defined in the Constitution, the benefits of capitalism and private property, and the recent attacks on individual freedom and limited government.

    The evening lecture was held in the Mary Jane Teall Theater at Century II, and all but a handful of its 652 seats were occupied. It was presented by the Bill of Rights Institute and underwritten by the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation.

    Williams said that one of the justifications for the growth of government — far beyond the visions of the founders of America — is to promote fairness and justice. While these are worthy goals, Williams said we must ask what is the meaning of fairness and justice, referring to the legitimate role of government in a free society.

    In the Constitution, Williams said the founders specified the role of the federal government in Article 1 Section 8. This section holds a list that enumerates what Congress is authorized to do. If something is not on the list, Williams said Congress is not authorized to do it.

    The Article 8 powers that Williams mentioned are to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; to borrow money on the credit of the United States; to coin money; to establish post-offices and post-roads; and to raise and support armies. It is regarding these powers, plus a few others, that Congress has taxing and spending authority. “Nowhere in the United States Constitution to we find authority for Congress to tax and spend for up to two-thirds to three-quarters of what Congress taxes and spends for today.”

    Farm subsidies, handouts to banks, and food stamps are examples Williams gave of programs that are not authorized by the Constitution. “I think that we can safely say that we’ve made a significant departure from the constitutional principles of individual freedom and limited government that made us a rich nation in the first place.”

    The institutions of private property and free enterprise are the embodiment of these principles, Williams said. But there have been many successful attacks on private property and free enterprise. Thomas Jefferson, Williams said, anticipated this when he wrote “The natural progress of things is for government to gain ground, and for liberty to yield.”

    Taxation and spending are the ways government has gained ground. Taxes represent government claims on private property.

    But an even better measure of what government has done is to look at spending. From 1787 to 1920, federal spending was only three percent of gross domestic product, except during wartime. Today, that figure is approaching 30 percent, Williams said: “The significance is that as time goes by, you and I own less and less of our most valuable property, namely ourselves and the fruits of our labor.”

    In the realm of economics, Williams said that the founders thought that free markets and capitalism was the most effective social organization for promoting freedom, with capitalism defined as a system where people are free to pursue their own objectives as long as they do not violate the property rights of others. An often-trivialized benefit of capitalism and voluntary exchange is that it minimizes the capacity of one person to coerce another, he told the audience. This applies to the government, too.

    But for the last half-century, Williams said that free enterprise has been under unrelenting attack by the American people. Whether they realize it or not, people have demonstrated a “deep and abiding contempt” for private property rights and individual liberty.

    Williams said that ironically, capitalism is threatened not because of its failure, but because of its success. Capitalism has eliminated things that plagued mankind since the beginning of time — he mentioned disease, gross hunger, and poverty — and been so successful that “all other human wants appear to us to be at once inexcusable and unbearable.”

    So now, in the name of ideals other than freedom and liberty, we pursue things like equality of income, race and sex balance, affordable housing, and medical care. “As a result of widespread control by our government in order to achieve these higher objectives, we are increasingly being subordinated to the point where personal liberty in our country is treated like dirt.”

    This ultimately leads to tyranny and totalitarianism, he said. To those who might object to this strong and blunt conclusion, Williams asked this question: “Which way are we headed, tiny steps at a time: towards more liberty, or towards more government control of our lives?” He said that the answer, unambiguously, is the latter.

    It is the tiny steps that concern Williams, as they ultimately lead to their destination. Quoting Hume, he said “It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” Instead, Williams said it is always lost bit by bit. If anyone wanted to take away all our liberties all at once, we would rebel. But not so when liberties are taken bit by bit, which is what is currently happening.

    It is people’s desire for government to do good — helping the disadvantaged, elderly, failing businesses, college students — that leads to the attack on private property and economic freedom. But Williams explained that government has no resources of its own, meaning that for government to give one person money it must first — “through intimidation, threats, and coercion” — confiscate it from someone else.

    Williams told the audience that if a private person used coercion to take money from someone and give it to another person, that would universally be considered theft and a crime. It doesn’t matter how needy or deserving the recipient, it would still be theft. But Williams asked if there is any conceptual difference between that act and when agents of the government do the same. Williams says no, except that in the second act, where Congress takes the money, the theft is legal.

    But mere legality doesn’t not make something moral. Slavery was legal in America for many years, but not moral. The purges of Stalin and Mao were legal under the laws of those countries. So legality does not equate to morality, Williams explained, and he said he cannot find a moral case for taking what belongs to one person and giving it to another to whom it does not belong.

    Charity is “praiseworthy and laudable” when it is voluntary, but it is worthy of condemnation when government reaches into others’ pockets for charity. Those who accept the forced takings are guilty, too, he explained.

    “The essence of our relationship with government is coercion,” Williams told the audience. This, he said, represents our major problem as a nation today: We’ve come to accept the idea of government taking from one to give to another. But the blame, Williams said, does not belong with politicians — “at least not very much.” Instead, he said that the blame lies with us, the people who elect them to office in order to get things for us. A candidate who said he would do only the things that the Constitution authorizes would not have much of a chance at being elected.

    The further problem is that if Kansans don’t elect officials who will bring federal dollars to Kansas, it doesn’t mean that Kansans will pay lower federal taxes. The money, taken from Kansans, will go to other states, leading to this conundrum: “That is, once legalized theft begins, it pays for everybody to participate.”

    We face a moral dilemma, then. Williams listed several great empires that declined for doing precisely what we’re doing: “Bread and circuses,” or big government spending.

    But there is a note — only one — of optimism, Williams believes. The first two years of the Obama administration, along with the Democratic Senate and House of Representatives, has been so brazen in their activities in “running roughshod over our liberties” that people are starting to argue and debate the Constitution. State attorneys general are bringing suits against the federal government over Obama’s health care plan. State legislatures are passing tenth amendment resolutions. The tea party and other grassroots movements give him optimism, too.

    We must also ask ourselves if we are willing to give up the benefits we get from government, he said. But most people want cuts in spending on other people, not ourselves, as “ours is critical and vital to the national interest.” With all of us feeling this way, Williams said the country is in danger.

    Young people have the greatest stake in the struggle for limited government and economic freedom, as the older generations have benefited from a relatively free country and the economic mobility that accompanied it. He said he’s afraid we’re losing that: “I’m hoping that future generations will not curse us for bequeathing to them a nation far less robust, far less free, than the nation that our parents and our ancestors bequeathed us.”

    In answering a question from the audience, Williams said he would be afraid of a constitutional convention to be held today, as some are advocating. We wouldn’t be sending people like John Adams. Instead, he said we’d be sending people like Barney Frank and others who have “deep contempt” for personal freedom.

    In response to a question on regulation, Williams said that regulations like health care and uncertainty over taxation cause businesses to be afraid to commit money to long term investments. Uncertainty “collapses the time horizon” causing firms to look for investments that pay off in the short term rather than the long term. This contributes to unemployment, he said.

    Williams also talked about the economic history of America. From its beginning to 1930, there were recessions and depressions, but there were not calls for the federal government to intervene and stimulate the economy. It wasn’t until the Hoover administration and the New Deal that the federal government intervened in the economy in order to “fix” the economy. Williams said that what should have been a “sharp two or three-year downtown” was turned in to the Great Depression — which was not over until after World War II — by government intervention. The measures being taken today are similarly postponing the recovery, he said. He added that most serious economic downturns are caused by government. It’s also futile for the government to spend the country out of a recession, which he likened to taking water from the deep end of a pool to the shallow end in order to raise the level of the shallow end. Government taking money from one person, giving it to another, and expecting the economy to rise is similarly futile.

    A question about mainstream media and their representation of the issues of today brought this response: “You have to make the assumption, I believe implied in your question, that those people are ignorant, and if only they knew better, they would change their behavior. Human ignorance is somewhat optimistic, because ignorance is curable through education. I’m very sure that many of these people want government control. The elite have always wanted government control, and the media was very responsible in getting President Obama elected.”

    In an interview, I asked what President Obama should say in his jobs speech tonight. Williams recommended the president should reduce regulation and lower taxes, especially capital gains and corporate income taxes. The spending programs of the past will not help. But Obama’s constituency will not favor this approach. The spending on roads and bridges benefits labor unions, for example.

    On those who accept who accept and benefit from government spending, Williams said that “one of the tragedies of our nation” is that the growth of government has turned otherwise decent people into thieves, because they participate in the taking of what belongs to someone else. But because of the pervasiveness of government, sometimes this is unavoidable.

    I asked do we need better politicians — ones who will work to limit government — or do we need different rules such as a balanced budget amendment or spending constraints? Williams said that the bulk of the blame lies with the people, as politicians are simply doing what voters ask them to do. “The struggle is to try to convince our fellow Americans on the moral superiority of liberty and its main ingredient, limited government.” Politicians will then follow, he added.

    I asked if we’ve passed some sort of tipping point, where people look first to government rather than voluntary exchange through markets. He said perhaps so, and mentioned another problem: Close to 50 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax. These people become natural constituents for big-spending politicians. As they pay no taxes — “no stake in the game” — they don’t care if taxes are raised or lowered.

    On the issue of the subsidy being poured into downtown Wichita, Williams said the issue is an example of the “seen and unseen” problem identified by Frederic Bastiat. We easily see the things that government taxation and intervention builds, such as a convention center. But what is not easily seen is what people would have done with the money that was taken from them through taxation. While the money taken from each person may be small, it adds up.

    On government funding for arts, an issue in Kansas at this time, Williams said that it ought to be an insult to artists that their work has to be funded through government forcing people to pay, as opposed to voluntary payments.

    Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Walter E. Williams holds a B.A. in economics from California State University, Los Angeles, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from UCLA. He has served on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, since 1980. His website is Walter Williams Home Page.

  • Guitar makers and players targeted by onerous laws

    Today the Wall Street Journal reports again on startling examples of overcriminalization, with federal authorities conducting raids on businesses based on aggressive enforcement of broad and vague laws.

    This time it’s the famous Gibson Guitar company, which is charged with importing wood that may have been illegally harvested. But individual guitar owners are targeted, too, if they travel across international borders with a guitar that might possibly have been made from banned wood. If the traveler doesn’t have the proper documentation, the guitar might be seized. As a result, a law professor says he doesn’t leave the country with a wooden guitar.

    Gibson had tried to comply with the law. It had used the services of Forest Stewardship Council, an organization that, according to its website, provides a certification service: “FSC certification provides a credible link between responsible production and consumption of forest products, enabling consumers and businesses to make purchasing decisions that benefit people and the environment as well as providing ongoing business value.”

    According to Gibson, FSC certification means the wood was not obtained illegally.

    The law under which Gibson is charged, the Lacey Act, creates many problems for U.S. importers. According to Gibson, “The U.S. Lacey Act does not directly address conservation issues but is about obeying all laws of the countries from which wood products are procured. This law reads that you are guilty if you did not observe a law even though you had no knowledge of that law in a foreign country. The U.S. Lacey Act is only applicable when a foreign law has been violated.”Gibson says it has statements and documents that wood seized in an earlier raid was legally exported from Madagascar. That’s right — this is not the first time for Gibson, and the earlier case is still pending.

    Interestingly, the wood that is in controversy — Madagascar ebony — provides an example of how lack of property rights causes shortages of a desirable product. Further, this is an example of how lack of property rights and economic freedom keeps a country poor, instead of being able to benefit from its natural resources.

    Among the countries of the world, Madagascar ranks very low in legal structure and property rights. According to the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom for Madagascar compiled by the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal: “Secured interests in property are poorly enforced. Restrictions on land ownership by foreigners impede investment. … The judiciary is influenced by the executive and subject to corruption, and investors face a legal and judicial environment in which the enforcement of contracts cannot be guaranteed. … Corruption is perceived as widespread. ”

    This illustrates the importance of economic freedom, which is rooted in property rights and respect for the ability of parties to contract. When property rights are not felt to be secure and people believe that the government will not enforce contracts, it’s difficult to get people to make investments, especially in things like trees that require investment and stewardship over a period of years. Who will nurture trees for decades to maturity, only for them to be stolen, either by a corrupt government or by thieves who have no fear that the government will protect the property of others?