My beliefs about politics and community are ever evolving. I am never one to scold politicians--or anyone, for that matter, for changing their mind. If John Kerry was for the war in Iraq and then against it, I give him the benefit of the doubt that he altered his view after getting more information, hopefully not from an opinion poll. Of course, I like my politicians like I like my drinkers: politics only on weekends and in moderation. Or at least not a 12 pack of legislative actions a day.
I also am constantly being surprised myself as to how I'm changing....not surprised about the additional things I learn about economics and logic, but surprised at the labels I appear to be qualifying for. I've been listening to a podcast called "Bad Quaker Dot Com" which is archived, strangely enough, on badquaker.com. The hosts, Ben and his adult (or precocious) daughter Ki, keep saying things I agree with. It reminds me of when I first heard Rush Limbaugh...at that time, I was thinking, "Yeah! I think affirmative action is unfair, too! I think taxes should be lower too!" Now, although I stilll adore Rush, there are now many things we are not sympatico about. I started learning about libertarianism from other sources when I was a regular listener and it eventually won my heart over Rush's brand of conservatism.
So for several years I purchased every issue of "Liberty", until the paper one went away and we were left with the online version (which I don't like as much), read everything I could get my hands on on libertarianism, and found myself downloading Austrian economic podcasts (Von Mises, the Cato Institute, etc) like crazy. If someone would ask me what party I belonged to or if I was a Democrat or Republican, I would say "I'm a libertarian."
But since August, when I began listening to Ben and Ki, I've been more exposed to the ideas of anarchy, particularly anarchocapitalism, and I like it. Once again, I keep saying to my iPod, "Yeah! that's right! Violence ALWAYS leads to problems, and taxing is violence!" (I still don't like taxes).
The zero aggression principle is important in libertarianism too, but it is taken to its logical goal in the ideas of anarcocapitalism.
What I don't understand and am trying to is that Ben always talks about "the state" as separate from "the government". I guess the point is that even if a government is duly elected, there's a more sinister "state" that exists (or maybe one that will develop) behind it that will tend toward the evils of control, of violence, and of oppression of personal liberties. I'm not sure if I know exactly what "the state" is or whom it comprises of.
I do like Ben and Ki though. Since I'm looking for a church home, I'm even thinking about checking out the Friends' meeting house. (I should point out that although badquaker.com has that name, it is not used by the hosts to proselytize; I don't know if Quakers do that anyway. But they seem like very nice people, as have all Friends I've known.....good or bad.)
http://badquaker.com/
I also am constantly being surprised myself as to how I'm changing....not surprised about the additional things I learn about economics and logic, but surprised at the labels I appear to be qualifying for. I've been listening to a podcast called "Bad Quaker Dot Com" which is archived, strangely enough, on badquaker.com. The hosts, Ben and his adult (or precocious) daughter Ki, keep saying things I agree with. It reminds me of when I first heard Rush Limbaugh...at that time, I was thinking, "Yeah! I think affirmative action is unfair, too! I think taxes should be lower too!" Now, although I stilll adore Rush, there are now many things we are not sympatico about. I started learning about libertarianism from other sources when I was a regular listener and it eventually won my heart over Rush's brand of conservatism.
So for several years I purchased every issue of "Liberty", until the paper one went away and we were left with the online version (which I don't like as much), read everything I could get my hands on on libertarianism, and found myself downloading Austrian economic podcasts (Von Mises, the Cato Institute, etc) like crazy. If someone would ask me what party I belonged to or if I was a Democrat or Republican, I would say "I'm a libertarian."
But since August, when I began listening to Ben and Ki, I've been more exposed to the ideas of anarchy, particularly anarchocapitalism, and I like it. Once again, I keep saying to my iPod, "Yeah! that's right! Violence ALWAYS leads to problems, and taxing is violence!" (I still don't like taxes).
The zero aggression principle is important in libertarianism too, but it is taken to its logical goal in the ideas of anarcocapitalism.
What I don't understand and am trying to is that Ben always talks about "the state" as separate from "the government". I guess the point is that even if a government is duly elected, there's a more sinister "state" that exists (or maybe one that will develop) behind it that will tend toward the evils of control, of violence, and of oppression of personal liberties. I'm not sure if I know exactly what "the state" is or whom it comprises of.
I do like Ben and Ki though. Since I'm looking for a church home, I'm even thinking about checking out the Friends' meeting house. (I should point out that although badquaker.com has that name, it is not used by the hosts to proselytize; I don't know if Quakers do that anyway. But they seem like very nice people, as have all Friends I've known.....good or bad.)
http://badquaker.com/
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