Archive for philosophy
Edmund Opitz – Minister to Liberty
Posted by: | CommentsThis article first appeared in Young American Revolution magazine in the March 2010 issue.
If a patron saint for the libertarian movement were to be chosen, at the top of the list would be Rev. Edmund A. Opitz, minister and theologian for liberty. He was a good friend of Murray Rothbard and many others in the freedom movement—he was present from the beginning and knew almost everyone. From the 1950s through the 1990s, Opitz called the church to an integrated understanding of religion, economics, and individual liberty. He passed away in 2006, creating a void yet to be filled but leaving this world much better than he had found it. Read More→
Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.
Tags: christian libertarian, Christianity, Edmund Opitz, individualism, libertarian christian, philosophy, theology, YAL
Related Content:
Don’t Tread
Posted by: | Comments
This article is #3 of a weekly series highlighting the former memes of Bureaucrash, an organization once headed by my friends Pete Eyre and Jason Talley of the Motorhome Diaries. The memes were originally authored by Pete Eyre and Anja Hartleb-Parson, and were intended as means of communicating ideas about liberty in catchy and succinct ways.
The message “Don’t Tread” communicates in two words what the entire political philosophy of classical liberalism is about: desiring to be free from oppression from whatever quarter. In other words, “don’t mess with me.” This message is used by those advocating a less-invasive state, because governments — through taxation, legislation, regulation, surveillance, etc. — are the main aggressors upon individual rights. Read More→
Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.
Tags: Don't Tread, government, memes, philosophy
Related Content:
Why being a candidate can be beneficial for liberty
Posted by: | CommentsThough I think it is misguided to believe that electoral politics is the primary means of effecting change for the cause of liberty (especially at a national level), local activism is still a valuable tool for gaining visibility and spreading the libertarian message. For the first time ever, I’m running as a Libertarian for State Representative in District 49 in Austin, TX. Today I had the opportunity to submit a questionnaire to the League of Women Voters in their pre-primary/convention issue. I was pretty thrilled considering I know quite a bit about each of the issues in the questionnaire. By golly, they even asked about one of my specialties: transportation pollution!
Just the act of answering questions like this means that somebody, somewhere is probably going to hear the libertarian perspective, perhaps even for the first time. Here is the questionnaire and my answers. See what you think and comment about what you would have said. You can help me improve for next time!
Q1: Since the State financial support for education has decreased over the past two decades, what measures would you support to provide our public schools with adequate funding? (75 words)
A: Public school funding is not a sufficient metric for successful education efforts. Many private schools and homeschooling families operate on extremely low budgets yet educate children at a disproportionately high level relative to public schools. Rather than focus on increasing funding, I would support measures that give back control of educational resources to teachers and parents first. Eliminating systemic problems caused by political control of education should always take precedence over funding.
Q2: Texas is recognized as the highest carbon dioxide polluter among the 50 states. What would you propose to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Texas? (75 words)
A: Carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced using many methods that do not resort to increasing the government’s control over the economy. Clean vehicle purchases can be encouraged by repealing all taxes and tariffs upon high-efficiency vehicles. Tax deductions should exist for efficiency improvements, upgrades, and repairs on older vehicles, and those purchases should be tax-free. Alternative energy subsidies should be eliminated; the free market will determine how to allocate energy resources most efficiently.
Q3: How would you address the major transportation problems in Texas? (75 words)
A: The Trans-Texas Corridor scheme proposed by Rick Perry is a scam, and the government’s general effort to manage transportation in Texas is a failure. If an effective, inexpensive solution is sought, the government should reduce its role in managing the system. By allowing private roads to develop freely and competitively upon the market (not like the pseudo-public-private toll roads that TXDOT has built), transportation problems will invariably begin to solve themselves.
Q4: How should Texas solve the depletion of the unemployment fund? (75 words)
A: Ultimately, the unemployment fund can have no other effect than the perpetuation of unemployment since financial resources are used to allow idleness rather than productive activity. Instead of worrying about the depletion of the unemployment fund, the government should work in every way to reduce its own spending, thereby allowing the free market to adjust resources and capital toward creating new jobs without interference by the government.
Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.
Tags: activism, economics, elections, philosophy, pollution, public schools, transportation, unemployment
Related Content:
Top 10 Books for Christian Libertarians – 2009 Edition
Posted by: | Comments
One of the most popular and commented on posts of this past year was my Top 10 Books for Christmas last December. I’m thinking it’s about time for another list, since the Christmas season is upon us and I bet you’re wondering what to get that liberty-loving friend, brother, or spouse. Now, although the title of this post says “Christian Libertarians,” plenty of these books are applicable to libertarians everywhere. Anybody can find something on here to enjoy and learn from. Check out some of these great books and see what you think…
End the Fed, by Ron Paul – The Federal Reserve banking system is corrupt and has devastated the world economy, and Ron Paul demonstrates in this great book just how bad it really is. A must-read for our current political situation!
Meltdown, by Thomas Woods – Here’s another essential book for you to know well. Tom has not only written a great expose of how the government has crippled the economy but also a great treatise in basic economics. This book even hit the NYT Bestseller list for multiple weeks!
The Libertarian Theology of Freedom, by Edmund Opitz – Most LCC readers are already familiar with Opitz since I have been in the process of archiving his essays online, but I want to point out that this book is back in stock again at Amazon (but probably not for long). Read my review of this book for more information. But for that matter, any book by Ed Opitz is well worth having on your bookshelf.
Christianity and War, by Laurence Vance – I’m going to keep pushing this book until every Christian I know is reading it. Laurence’s work is incredible and absolutely essential for getting the church at large to realize war is NOT the answer. (Don’t forget that you can get the audiobook exclusively from LCC!)
Amusing Ourselves to Death, by Neil Postman – Does American “culture” sometimes make you wonder what on earth happened here? Neil Postman clarifies the problems we face on a regular basis in this classic book. Check out my book review here at LCC.
The Ethics of Money Production, by Guido Hulsmann – Guido is definitely one of my favorite scholars in the Austrian School, and this book is just one more reason why. His thesis is simple: money creation must occur on the free market, neither inhibited nor controlled by government, in order to be created in an ethical manner. Pretty great topic, eh? (By the way, you can get this book at Amazon, but it’s cheaper via the Mises Institute online store.)
The Cult of the Presidency, by Gene Healy – I met Gene for the first time this past October at the Students for Liberty Texas Conference, and am now an even greater admirer of his intellect and tenacity to hit the establishment hard. This book shows just how ridiculous statolatry has become, especially in the last eight years with Bush. Now, I think he could write a second book just about Obama. (Also, the paperback version runs a couple bucks cheaper if it matters to you.)
Faith and Liberty, by Alejandro Chafuen – I was really excited to find this book, which covers the history of the Late Scholastic thinkers and their writings on private property, trade, money, and the State – which were all written from theological perspective.
![[cover thumbnail]](http://static.lulu.com/items/volume_66/3160000/3160866/13/preview/320_3160866.jpg?3160866-1247697898)
The Way, the Truth, and the Sword, by Scott Ritsema – You can get Scott’s great book either as an eBook or through Lulu.com. Either way, you’re in for a treat, as Scott has written a wonderful little book encouraging the church at large to reject the State and get back to the true savior, Jesus Christ. Scott is the webmaster at Civics News.
An Amazon Kindle filled with the Mises library and Christian Classics – This may be #10, but it’s probably #1 in my list. You know, almost every book the Mises Institute publishes (and much more) is available to download for free as a PDF on their website. You could easily fill a flash drive with liberty PDF’s from the Mises Library and tons of classic theological texts from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and Project Gutenberg. Now THAT would be a gift long remembered! (Hey Mom, hint hint?)
And remember, if you follow one of these links, LCC gets a small referral cut from every purchase you make at no cost to you. So, get some great books AND support LibertarianChristians.com while doing your Christmas shopping. It’s much appreciated…
Finally, if you think a great book deserves to be on this list, comment below and make your voice heard!
Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.
Tags: Book Reviews, culture, government, history, money, philosophy, recommended books, statolatry, theology
Related Content:
Podcast: Live and Let Live Radio Interview
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s podcast is actually an interview I recorded with Gary Johnson of the Live and Let Live Radio Show on RuleOfLawRadio.com about a week ago. We talked for a full two hours about Libertarian Longhorns, the Students for Liberty Texas Conference, vaccinations, student activism, and of course what it means to be Christian AND libertarian. You can download the full interview from ROLR’s archive if you like, but I’ve cut it down to about 25 minutes of straight-talk about religion and politics. Enjoy!
Right click here to download the entire audio file. [~25 minutes, mp3]
For those with podcast software, there is a special Podcast RSS Feed set up just for you.
If you are using iTunes, click on the following button to subscribe directly:
UPDATE: I made a flub in the interview regarding the Greek wording of the “Golden Rule” — the negative form is NOT used in the Greek. My bad, got my facts upside down in my brain…
Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.
Tags: interviews, philosophy, theology
Related Content:
Norman is the creator and primary writer for LCC. Learn a little bit about him in the