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Joe Biden’s false equivalence

In a statement released by Vice President Joe Biden a few days ago for the “International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia” (apparently that’s a thing), he addressed issues facing the LGBT community. His short statement was not policy-heavy and was based primarily on the notion “that everyone, everywhere is entitled to be treated with dignity …

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Why I am a libertarian

Note: A libertarian (with a small “l”) is not the same as a Libertarian (with a capital “L”) because the former is a philosophical designation while the latter references membership in a political party. I am a libertarian because I oppose the initiation of force and because I believe in liberty, autonomy, and the non-aggression …

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Poverty versus Prosperity

No amount of government spending will ever “eliminate poverty” because poverty is not actually caused by a lack of money; it’s caused by a lack of ambition and productivity. There are some exceptions, of course, but in the vast majority of cases, poverty is a choice. I’m not discounting the often significant obstacles which can …

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In Defense of Anarcho-Reformism

As much as I tend to agree with Voluntaryists on most issues, the one area I have trouble with is their insistence that total abstention from politics is the only moral (and philosophically consistent) position. I believe that one can recognize that government is an unnecessary evil and still work within the system to make …

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Someone, not Santa, is always watching

A paper recently published by a professor in Canada suggests that the popular “Elf on the Shelf” game is conditioning children to accept the surveillance state. The notion of the Elf on the Shelf is that a small elf doll is actually a scout elf who reports nightly to Santa Claus on the activities that …

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“Protectionism” Only Protects Special Interests

Protectionism exists in many facets of the economy and is essentially the use of taxes, regulations, or other means to disincentivize, restrict, or prohibit trade. The idea is simple: I am the only widget maker in town and I get the town council to levy a 50 percent tax on any widgets that are manufactured …