Old Truth Blog

Should people be free to immigrate to our country without restriction? Should borders be "open"? Should people be barred from immigrating to our country who don't have anything to offer us? And should there be quota restrictions? As a libertarian, I believe in freedom of travel, but I also believe in property rights. What I never considered before was just how property rights and free or "open" immigration may conflict. At least not until I read this article by Lawrence Vance. He explains that although people should be free to travel, they shouldn't be free to trespass on the property of others. He also makes other points against "open" borders having to due with the welfare state and other social programs. The introduction: Human migration is an ancient, inevitable, and unstoppable global phenomenon. Yet immigration is an issue that divides both conservatives and libertarians. Some advocate a completely unhindered immigration policy ("open b...

There was a comment left on the last post by the author of the blog Preparedness Pro that linked to an article she wrote about Gun-free Zones. It was a great article and can be found here . What I especially liked and was moved by was a video she included of a congressional testimony by a woman involved in a gunman's rampage with her family, and wanted to share it here ( 5m, 23s, Google Video ):

In his latest column , Walter Williams explores whether or not believing in the right for a State to secede from the Union is treasonous, as has been claimed by some. The introduction: Texas Gov. Rick Perry rattled cages when he suggested that Texans might at some point become so disgusted with Washington's gross violation of the U.S. Constitution that they would want to secede from the union. Political hustlers, their media allies and others, who have little understanding, are calling his remarks treasonous. Let's look at it. When New York delegates met on July 26, 1788, their ratification document read, "That the Powers of Government may be resumed by the People, whensoever it shall become necessary to their Happiness; that every Power, Jurisdiction and right which is not by the said Constitution clearly delegated to the Congress of the United States, or the departments of the government thereof, remains to the People of the several States, or to their respective State G...

Great satirical (and true) video from a certain group of gun control proponents, criminals ( 2m, 35s, LiveLeak ):

In my opinion, there really isn't anything more American than the principle and practice of secession. Think about it. Our country began through an act of secession. Our very claim to govern ourselves instead of by a foreign, central power was realized through the secession and eventual union of thirteen separate British colonies. This is important history as it demonstrates the founding principle of our nation, self-government. While Washington may be on the same continent as most American States, it's centrality is growing and could rightly be considered foreign by some. Here's Congressmen Ron Paul's response (4m 39s, YouTube ) to Texas Governor Perry's recent secession comments:

I have completed this book by Llewellyn Rockwell and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a collection of essays over the last two decades that explore the points he makes in his introduction, of which I will re-print here: In American political culture, and world political culture too, the divide concerns in what way the state’s power should be expanded. The left has a laundry list and the right does too. Both represent a grave threat to the only political position that is truly beneficial to the world and its inhabitants: liberty. What is the state? It is the group within society that claims for itself the exclusive right to rule everyone under a special set of laws that permit it to do to others what everyone else is rightly prohibited from doing, namely aggressing against person and property. Why would any society permit such a gang to enjoy an unchallenged legal privilege? Here is where ideology comes into play. The reality of the state is that it is a looting and killing machine. So why...

Here's Congressman Ron Paul (5m, 35s, YouTube) on how to deal with piracy . He was a proponent of the same solution to deal with terrorists back after 9/11, and since we now have hindsight on just how far we've gotten in our search for bin Laden, his was probably the better course: (Hint: The solution is in the Constitution .)

We were brave today and despite mother nature, we protested the federal government. I don't know how effective protesting is, and I'm certainly not one to believe that protesting is the most efficient way of bringing about change, but I found value in going as it provided a receptive place for me to pass out literature on the Austrian school of economics. "Why Austrian Economics Matters" by the Mises Institute to be exact. A friend and I bought 150 pamphlets and passed them out in about 15 minutes. They went like hot-cakes. Only one person, after asking what it was and I explained how the Austrian school has shown the Fed to be the main cause for the business cycle, decided he didn't like it and gave it back. Everyone else was reaching for it as I yelled out "Learn Austrian Economics!" and "Ron Paul is a student of the Austrian school of economics!". I only wish I had a thousand or two. But hopefully what I did have will encourage someone to ...

The Mises Institute has created a fantastic resource on our current economic woes called the Bailout Reader that gives you everything you need to know about the economic/political cause and effect of it all. Everything is organized into these nine sections: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac The Housing Bubble Inflationary Finance Community Reinvestment Act Short Selling The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle Who Predicted This? What to Do Books to Distribute I've added this to my Suggested Reading section at the top of this blog.

This is a fantastic video by Reason.tv (2m, 44s, YouTube) that puts all of the money our benevolent federal government is pouring into bailouts and stimulus packages into perspective. It compares it to World War I, the New Deal, World War II, and the Iraq War, plus a few other federal projects over the last century. It's absolutely insane how much money the federal government is taxing, borrowing, and inflating in order to fund these projects. On top of that, at the end of the video, take their final number and multiply it by 9 to understand how much of an unfunded liability Social Security and Medicare are.

This is a great lecture by the Rabbi Daniel Lapin at the recent Austrian Scholars Conference, held at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. He explores, in a very lively and entertaining way (he is Jewish, after all) what is morally right about economic freedom. That to exchange and make money is virtuous, and uses Judeo-Christian principles to make his point. It's about an hour long (including an introduction for the conference and for the rabbi by Joseph Salerno) but well worth it. As I said, it was very lively and entertaining, and for me, enlightening. (Embedded below, can be found here via YouTube.)

Anonymous posted a reply to mine of his: Skyler, you in NO WAY can claim that the views you hold "are in every particular the views of those men that established the foundation of the most prosperous nation in the history of the world, the Constitution." This is simply not the case. Your views on the constitution are so radical the Founding Fathers would be rolling in their graves if we were to abide by certain principles you hold. [I'm not sure what version of history you heard but, yes, the Founding Fathers of the United States were libertarians and were radicals. Conservative (true meaning) radicals who believed in self-ownership and self-government, to be exact. This is indisputable and any perusing of the biographies of their lives and their first-hand accounts of what they believed about government will prove my point. For your benefit and the benefit of the rest of my readers, here's a few, telling quotes: "Any people that would give up liberty for a litt...

Anonymous posted a comment I'd like to address. My response is in bold brackets: Are you kidding me? What a joke Skyler. Your principles of self-ownership are ridiculous. [You can deny your self-ownership all you want, but by what right do you have to deny me mine?] What you propose is nothing sort of borderline anarchy. There must be laws. Just because somebody wants to buy sell and use drugs, does not mean they have a "right" too. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, they should make tobacco illegal. [I don't disagree that drugs, be it marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol are indeed public nuisances, but after doing a cost/benefit analysis to their criminalization, both logic and history is on my side that the War on Drugs has failed. Fortunately for me, I also believe in freedom. Again, you can deny your self-ownership all you want, but you, or any one else, have no right to deny me mine.] I should be able to walk outside my place of employment without having to take in a...

Are you tired of the Federal government reaching into your pockets and your retirement accounts and stealing from you through direct taxation and counterfeit inflation of our fiat money supply? Are you you tired of the Federal government breaking free of its Constitutional chains and growing ever bigger towards Leviathan and totalitarianism? Then read up! Salt Lake City is having a tea party! To protest the growing size and scope of the federal government, Salt Lake City will be having a Tax Day tea party protest at the downtown Federal building. My wife, son, and I will be there, protest signage and all. The specs: When: Wednesday, April 15, 2009, Noon ~ 3pm * Where: 125 So. State Street, Salt Lake City Speakers: Federal Congressmen Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz , Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff , Activist and Author Candace Salima * Click here to find protest information for Provo, Utah and St. George, Utah.