What issues matter to you?

[MaineShark]

I'd probably agree to pay a big tax just to do away with public schools and send needy kids to private schools.

Of course, private schools would cost less to run, not having a monopoly, so the amount required would be smaller, and well within the realm where donations could be requested to fund education for those who are actually needy.  I expect that most private schools would have a small scholarship fund for such purposes, just as good PR...

Joe

[K. Darien Freeheart]

Yes, I believe that is a true statement in the form of a question.   Grin

Lucky for me, PWI isn't a crime.

I suppose I should also post mine.

- Universal right to bear arms. Covers "criminals" and children as well, thought the children aspect is covered in another one of my issues below.
- Elimination of all taxation
- Elimination of ages of consent and ages of majority
- Elimination of zoning, licensing and any other barrier to market entry that keeps skilled people impoverished
- Recognition of property rights, including the right to self-ownership (so drugs, prostitution, euthanasia, suicide)
- Governmental data mining - abolish biometric registries, sex offender registries, address databases, census et cetera

[Dylboz]

Elimination of the initiation of force as an accepted and legitimate means to anyone's ends. This would then result in total freedom for intentional and voluntary communities to spring up, and new institutions of trade, mutual aid and social arrangement to compete for our energy and association. I love the 'Claves described in Neal Stephenson's works of fiction, they strike me as a nearly perfect solution to the market for communities.

In the here and now, RTKBA and an end to all War. Especially the Wars in Iraq and on drugs. Then, hard money and cutting businesses off from the taxpayer teat by simultaneously ending the income tax and all subsidies, licensure, tariffs, duties, labor laws, and other regulatory schemes designed to limit liability, create barriers to market entry, and protect assets; thereby exposing them to the full risks and profit potential associated with doing business in a free market. I suspect this will facilitate a huge devolution to smaller, more local and worker owned businesses in a robust economy that eliminates the weird incentives and socialized costs that government intervention has created, like eating frozen spinach from China shipped on a tanker burning a gallon of diesel every 5 feet even when a wide variety of fresh local produce is available, or having to pay more for tortillas AND gasoline because corn is being used for fuel, even when cheaper ethanol is available from Brazil.

I am a bit of a local, organic, off the grid, barter, DIY, home-brew, grow your own (food ) kinda guy. Mostly because I'm cheap, and it helps to avoid paying taxes.

[kola]

I am a bit of a local, organic, off the grid, barter, DIY, home-brew, grow your own (food  ) kinda guy. Mostly because I'm cheap, and it helps to avoid paying taxes.
 

and there lies the secret in beating the bastards at their own game.

its a slow movement but IMO more and more people are awakening to these ideas.

and all these gas and utility increases are actually helping convince common people to go back to homesteading.

how cool is that?

Kola

[K. Darien Freeheart]

I am a bit of a local, organic, off the grid, barter, DIY, home-brew, grow your own (food Wink ) kinda guy. Mostly because I'm cheap, and it helps to avoid paying taxes.

More generally, I'm an agorist. I beleive that free trade involves only those making the trade. The "local" and "organic" parts I disagree with because I'll trade with anyone liberty minded over someone who isn't. Organic doesn't provide any benefits to me personally (I've heard all the pro-organic arguements - I drink heavily and eat too much junk food - not really concerned about "putting crap in my body". ). As far as homebrew though, I'm so there. I brew my own beer because it's cheaper and tastes better. Once in NH, I plan to begin selling it too which has a double impact since unlike most states, NH controls alcohol sales. From what I gather, any beer over 6% is essentially non-existant in NH. Poor Porcs!

Establishing non-government interefered with sources for my daily goods is a big step towards my personal freedom, but on a larger scale it's perhaps the ONLY way to move to freedom without violence, as I see it. I'm a big fan of the economics of voluntaryism.

[Dylboz]

The organic isn't so much for me, and you're right, there's no evidence that it improves your health over similar non-organic products. It's just for the future and the environment in general, and I'm not a purist at all (remember me supporting GMO foods? I hope they can actually reduce the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers). But, intensive chemical industrial farming is a corporatist phenomenon, and has bad consequences for others through pollution. A free society would probably limit it in so far as they'd be exposed to full liability for environmental damages. For instance, there is a huge dead zone at the Mississippi Delta because of nitrogen fertilizer run-off. I like to SCUBA dive, and I'd like there to be some life in the ocean when I get there, and I'm sure the residents there feel the same way. Also, when I grow my own food, I do it organically by default, because it tastes better and is safer for me, my dogs and my house, and most importantly, it is cheaper to turn my garbage into fertilizer.

As for the local thing, I think it would happen by default if government got out of the way. Seriously, you don't really think it makes more economic sense to get that Chinese spinach, (not very liberty minded people either) do you? After all the subsidies, incentives and socialized costs are removed, local would almost always make more sense, at least as far as food goes. I'm just being the change I want to see in that regard.

And, I'm an Agorist too!

[David]

Definitely the war.  I feel so helpless knowing there really isn't much I can do to stop it though. 

Immigration is a close second. 

I prioritize my issues based on importance, Life, and property/liberty.  Taxes are important to me, but life, and human liberty are moreso.   

[kola]

let me clarify something.

I am not ok with the USDA "organic" label, in fact that was big govs idea to take control of the old style organics.

I could not give a rats butt about the "science" behind organic vs. non-organic. I do not need science to over rule my common sense, good jusgement and my individual right to choose.  I want to be able to grow trade or purchase foods that are free of pesticides, grown with natural fertilizers and keep the techniques as close to nature as possible...and not harm anything else in the process but infact, give something back as well.

Kola 

[K. Darien Freeheart]

The organic isn't so much for me, and you're right, there's no evidence that it improves your health over similar non-organic products.

Just to avoid a debate/flamewar on the subject: I'm ambivalent. There MAY be health benefits (why are you concerned about the fertilizers and pesticides if they're not harmful and if it's harmful non-organic foods COULD be more harmful in theory). I'm simply saying that for me, IF it's healthy or not, I don't care. I understand you're kinda agreeing I just want to clarify my position since I know there are at least two people here who would go to lengths to present the positive case for only eating organic foods.

But, intensive chemical industrial farming is a corporatist phenomenon

I'm not sure I exactly agree. I understand the "corporate" (i.e. a legal entity absolved of personal responsibility) objection but I don't think that efficient farming is per se a bad thing. There are all kinds of interferences with the market in all the steps of the food supply but I think eliminating those interferences would NOT remove that kind of farming unless you're connecting (in a way that I do not) the corporate-induced lack of concern. I beleive the style of farming and lack of concern are distinct (and seperatable) things. I don't have a problem with pollution itself, I have a problem with the belief that a person or group of persons aren't responsible for the effects of their pollution, if that distinction makes sense.

A free society would probably limit it in so far as they'd be exposed to full liability for environmental damages.

Just a semantics issue, but I personally wouldn't say that a "free society would limit" it in-so-much as remove incentives to do it. I believe that a default person is good. I beleive that free of artificial incentives to ignore the health of others, the long-term viability of the land that people WILL naturally honor those things because they are more profitable long term. I don't think a free society would PREVENT them from doing that - they'd simply make them responsible for the effects of choosing to do so. We agree on the point, but I agree with Ian's (and Orwell's!) importance on words. Yeah, I'm a dick sometimes.

As for the local thing, I think it would happen by default if government got out of the way. Seriously, you don't really think it makes more economic sense to get that Chinese spinach, (not very liberty minded people either) do you?

We could debate the possible chain reactions on either side but I do believe that industrial farming would still happen. Making Dole, for instance, responsible for the chemicals they induce into your land would create incentive for Dole to introduce less harmful chemicals (or other methods, perhaps genetically modifying the algea in that delta you like, so they munch on the nitrogen and feed the wildlife you enjoy while SCUBA diving. ) and still manage to get their massive yeilds. If they manage to do that then yes, I CAN see a viable free market case where getting food from China would still be cheaper for me than buying from your organic garden. There are other things to factor in, like that fact that you produce less apples in a New Hampshire winter than say Chile which would either drive the price of local apples so high OR eliminate supply locally that buying an apple that "I gotta have" would be cheaper from China. Even removing the incentives to "do bad" volume yields and efficency would still be a competitive advantage.

That said... I've got some Chinese friends who break through the Great Firewall of China to contribute code to software that they could probably go to jail for, in some cases cryptographic software to protect privacy which I consider pretty liberty minded, if the mere act of bypassing the Great Firewall wasn't enough of an act of civil disobedience itself. I think it's kinda of unfair to categorize "the chinese" as "not very liberty minded". You are, after all, living in the Socialist Republic of America but YOU'RE liberty minded.

After all the subsidies, incentives and socialized costs are removed, local would almost always make more sense, at least as far as food goes.

I agree that local foods (and I suppose "local" has to be defined - I don't consider Apple a "local" manufacturer of computers even though they're closer to me than say, FIC in Taiwan) would be more competitive than today but I'm not sure the change would be that dramatic. While I am sure that government costs drive up costs of local foods, I think there are manipulations that work the other way too - if that local farmer was paying $12 a gallon for gas because of the removal of the government reserve and military protection then you might see that Walmart's Produce division (who negotiates larger oil contracts) obtains fuel for their tractors and pickers much more cheaply, or that ConAgra foods, which invested more heavily in solar powered combines, might be able to still undercut local farmers.

I'm just being the change I want to see in that regard. And, I'm an Agorist too!

[Dylboz]

Well, alrighty then. 

Well done, sir. Well done indeed.

[sfchik]

Here is my 2 cents worth.

1. The Patriot Act, I view this as a legal loophole allowing the government to violate everyone's constitutional rights.

2. The kidnapping of 400+ children living in the polygamist sect. The government lacked probable cause therefore this was a search and seizure violation. I realize all the children are back with their families but where was the public outcry when it began? I was disgusted by this and still waiting on some action against the public officials that gave permission for this to happen, guess I better not hold my breath.

[K. Darien Freeheart]

The kidnapping of 400+ children living in the polygamist sect. The government lacked probable cause therefore this was a search and seizure violation. I realize all the children are back with their families but where was the public outcry when it began?

I know! I've been moved to vomitting by the government's actions before, but that didn't affect me NEARLY as hard as the day after the FLDS got raided. I was chatting with an open minded liberal friend of mine about this, and the loudness of the "BAM" as her mind slammed shut when I was discussing this disgusted me. I might have gone out in a blaze of glory had it not been for Free Talk Live covering it, honestly. Wow.

[Dylboz]

Just as an aside, I think that the conflation of the government with "we" is really awful. "We" didn't attack Iraq. "We" didn't put men on the moon (yes, there were men on the moon, deal with it!), "we" didn't bomb Hiroshima nor did "we" win WWII, or any other war. "We" are not the state. The state is a bunch of violent assholes claiming to be "us."

[sfchik]

The kidnapping of 400+ children living in the polygamist sect. The government lacked probable cause therefore this was a search and seizure violation. I realize all the children are back with their families but where was the public outcry when it began?

I know! I've been moved to vomitting by the government's actions before, but that didn't affect me NEARLY as hard as the day after the FLDS got raided. I was chatting with an open minded liberal friend of mine about this, and the loudness of the "BAM" as her mind slammed shut when I was discussing this disgusted me. I might have gone out in a blaze of glory had it not been for Free Talk Live covering it, honestly. Wow.

I know how you feel, right away I was actually yelling at the TV, where are these people's rights, what about the children how horrified they all must be. I also spoke with a liberal friend about this; he was the first and only person beyond my husband that had a problem with the raid. That tells me we have a real problem in America when the general public does not understand how inexcusable this is. I fear the lack of outcry and punishment for the officials will open doors that no one wants to imagine, this may well be the first of many raids to come, I hope I am wrong.

I don't think I have heard of Free Talk Live, I am assuming that it is a libertarian type of show, is that a national broadcast or just in your area?

[Vitruvian]

I think that the conflation of the government with "we" is really awful. "We" didn't attack Iraq. "We" didn't put men on the moon (yes, there were men on the moon, deal with it!), "we" didn't bomb Hiroshima nor did "we" win WWII, or any other war. "We" are not the state. The state is a bunch of violent assholes claiming to be "us."

This really bothers me as well.  Such a profound corruption of language is evidence of the degree to which they have been brainwashed.

I don't think I have heard of Free Talk Live, I am assuming that it is a libertarian type of show, is that a national broadcast or just in your area?

Free Talk Live