The Humble Libertarian original

In a recent interview for IVN, Gary Johnson consultant Ron Nielson said Johnson “would be a fantastic senator” if he chose to run in 2018 against New Mexico’s Democratic junior senator, Martin Heinrich. When pressed on whether Johnson would consider making a bid for the U.S. Senate next year, Nielson had no comment, saying: “Well you’d have to ask Gary. I have no idea. No doubt that Gary would be a fantastic senator. He would do an amazing job and be great at that task. I have no idea if that would be of interest to him.” – Ron Nielson Ron Nielson, a public opinion research consultant from Salt Lake City, Utah, was Gary Johnson’s campaign manager, and the chief architect of his two successful bids for governor in New Mexico in 1994 and 1998. He also helped Johnson garner a historic, record-high voter turnout for a Libertarian Party presidential candidate in the party’s 45-year history... Read the rest at : The Independent Voter Network . Bonus Interview Content for THL Reade...

Sometimes when I am lacking in the level of initiative and motivation I need to sustain to achieve all my goals short term and long range, I go onto message forums and Facebook groups and join in some debates with Marxists and socialists to get my head right. Just to think, if I keep staying unmotivated and uninspired long enough, my mind could atrophy so badly I end up like one of these blighted souls! It's a real gut check. Well recently some one started off a debate asking for some Marxists to justify their belief that wage labor and the employer-employee relationship are inherently exploitative. One happily obliged: "Wage labour pays only a fraction of what it's worse. [I think he meant to type "worth"] That's where the exploitation happens. Your wage isn't the whole value of your work, most of it is retained by the boss as surplus, or profit." To which I responded: "Of course the labor is worth more than the wages to t...

A study of FBI crime statistics released last month has found that marijuana legalization is decreasing violent homicides related to the illegal drug trade in U.S. border states. In this article I talk some about the study and link to an article I wrote in 2010 in which I predicted this would be the outcome of legalizing marijuana by thinking about the problem of drug related violent crime economically. When we think economically about tough social problems, it can reveal truths that are counter to intuition.