The Humble Libertarian original

Last month marked the five year anniversary of Kelo v City of New London, a contested US Supreme Court decision voted 5-4 that allowed eminent domain to be used by the government to force property transfers between two private parties. In this particular case, a homeowner was uprooted from their home so the property could be rented to a private developer for $1.00 a year, with the intent of flushing the city with money, jobs and tax revenue. Five years later the lot sits vacant, the private developer never obtained funding, and not a dime of revenue was ever generated. Besides thousands of dollars in court costs the next largest publicly paid expense was the relocation and additional compensation of the homeowner. “This is simply another example of how government intrusion, despite whatever story politicians drum up, always involves less liberty for private citizens and is rarely effective and never efficient,” stated Charlie Earl, Libertarian Party Candidate for Ohio Secretary of St...

If we are to believe the US Government, the second greatest threat to America, after the terrorists, is drugs. And the biggest segment of drug use that appears to be growing is Marijuana use. This is the most prosecuted victimless crime' in the United States. Police time, government money, and prison space are wasted, to the point that $17 Billion has been spent on the war on drugs JUST THIS YEAR! 623,000 people have been arrested on drug charges JUST THIS YEAR! At the end of 2008, 2.4 million people were in the US prison system, and 25% of them were drug crime offenders. That's 600,000 people at the end of 2008! When we consider that the 10 year average of prison inmate increase is 3.4%, we can estimate that as of right now, there are almost 650,000 people in our prison system because of the War on Drugs ". We should also consider what happened when alcohol was prohibited. Gang wars, government money spent on finding and destroying illegal alcohol, increase in crime. Pre...

By Guest Writer: Sean VanSickel Much has been said in recent years about legalizing drugs. Most of this discussion, however, deals specifically with the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. It is a fiercely debated subject, and no consensus has been reached. Something that has not been studied or debated nearly as much are the social and economic effects of legalized street drugs. The criminalization of drugs actually encourages crime, funds gang activities, and promotes drug addiction. Current U.S. drug policy echoes that of alcohol prohibition during the 1920s. Such prohibitions are beneficial in the sense that law-abiding citizens sometimes try to avoid the illegal product, but they do tremendous harm to society as well, since prohibitions ". . . can increase income-generating crime, such as theft or prostitution, by raising prices if the consumers finance consumption of the prohibited commodity from such crime ( The Effects of Prohibitions )." Prohibition c...

Here at The Humble Libertarian , author Daryl Luna wrote in criticism of the Constitution that: " some of its provisions are downright hostile to liberty. Look no further than the constitutional provision for some types of eminent domain as an example. Not only do I dislike the failures of the Constitution, but I think the Articles of Confederation — our original constitution and predecessor of the current one— is a much better document. I wish that the Constitutional Convention would have actually carried out the job it was commissioned to do and simply amended the Articles. Instead, they chose to scrap it, create a stronger federal government, and give up even more of the states’ sovereignty. " But in a time when the rule of law is ignored, and the government goes beyond even the scope of Federal powers defined in the Constitution, Daryl also argues that to return to the Constitution would be to make progress toward freedom. That is the editorial position of THL- that th...

Are US Taxpayers Bailing Out Greece? By Congressman Ron Paul Hat Tip: Campaign for Liberty "Last week we were reminded that ours is not the only country suffering from severe economic turmoil. The Greek government is the latest to come close to default on their massive public debt. Greece has insufficient funds in their treasury to make even the minimum payments that are now coming due. Their debt level is about 120 percent of their gross domestic product and their public sector absorbs what amounts to 40 percent of GDP. Any talk of cutting costs and spending is met with violent protests from the many Greeks heavily dependent on government payments. Mounting fears of default have sent shockwaves through their creditors and all of the eurozone countries. But there have been statements made by the European Central Bank to calm fears and give assurances that Greece will get the aid it needs. Details of agreements are not forthcoming. Is it possible that our Federal Reserve has had s...

By Daryl Luna, Editor: In Defense of the Constitution On February 24, 1803, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down arguably the most important decisi on in its entire history— Marbury v. Madison . It was Chief Justice John Marshall—a Hamiltonian and no fan of limited government—who provided the opinion, which would change the face of the Court and its power forever. The ruling itself i s not what makes this case so significant. Rather, it i s the power that the Court assumed whil e delivering this ruling that begs our attention—the power of judicial review . To most, the concept of judicial review is nothing controversial. Why would it be? Judicial review is merely the practice of the judicial branch overturning legislative and executive act ion it deems unconstitutional. In fact, a number of courts throughout the democratic world have this power expressly noted in their foundational documents. So what is the big deal? First, the Constitution allows for no such judic...

The Brilliance of That Hayek vs. Keynes Rap By: Jeffrey Tucker (Originally ran on Mises.org ) Hat tip: Campaign for Liberty The debate between J.M. Keynes and F.A. Hayek, both living and teaching in Britain in the 1930s, was one of the great debates of the century. Sadly, the charming globetrotter Keynes had the podium and the audience, to the point of influencing policy the world over even to the present day. Meanwhile, the quiet and studious Hayek never really did gain an audience. Like his colleague and mentor Mises, Hayek wrote in scholarly journals and was heard only by those with skeptical minds, people who doubted the theoretical and policy conventions and looked beneath the surface. In one sense, then, the debate between these two was one of the most critical for the shape of the world over the last 75 years. In another sense, however, this debate never really occurred, for the Hayekian point of view has been systematically marginalized and kept at bay by the political a...

By Daryl Luna, Editor: In Defense of the Constitution I am a libertarian, and I am a constitutionalist. But should I be? Not that I shouldn’t be a libertarian. I am sure most of the readers here at T H L would maintain that we should all be libertarians. But should I- being a libertarian- also be a constitutionalist? I contend that I should for good reason. First, let me note that I in no way want to give the impression that a libertarian must be a constitutionalist. Many true libertarians shun the Constitution (and sometimes the very existence of government altogether), and I can sympathize with their reasoning . However, I would like to explain why I personally feel comfortable as a libertarian and a lover of the Constitution. (It is sort of my job; I do maintain a blog titled In Defense of the Constitution .) Even though I am a bit of a constitutional apologist, I admit the Constitution is far from perfect and some of its provisions are downright hostile to liberty. Loo...

By: Daryl Luna at: In Defense of the Constitution Editor's Preface: It is a real thrill to publish the following article here at T H L . As events unfold in Washington, I have found my own thoughts turning more and more to nullification as a means to defend our liberties. Here, Daryl Luna, who blogs at In Defense of the Constitution , explains what nullification is and skillfully lays out the historical, Constitutional, and political case for nullification and the 10th Amendment assertion of states' rights against an ever-more-abusive Federal government. I'll let Daryl take it from here: Thomas Jefferson once proclaimed when referring to the checking of federal power, “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” In our current age it is rare to find anyone who reveres the rule of law, understands adherence to a standard, or seeks preservation of a covenant. Because of a def...

By: Chad Peace "In 2007, the modern tea party movement took shape , in a vastly different form than it now presents itself. Spurred by an impending recession, a government overrun by deception and corruption, and an unprecedented expansion of government under eight years of 'conservative' leadership, the first modern day tea partiers had positive causes of action: honesty, respect for the rule of law, and protection of the rights of the smallest minority; the individual. In late 2007, on the anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party, positive protestors laid hope in a solution. In a 24 hours period, in concert with symbolic and peaceful re-enactments of the Boston Tea Party in over 50 cities across the country, energetic tea partiers dumped over 5.2 million dollars into a long-shot presidential campaign to support a candidate that embodied honesty, respect, and sincerity in the pursuit strict constitutional leadership. The goal: to entrust our highest office to ...

Guest Post By: RJ Harris The Ninth Amendment of the Bill of Rights protects your un-enumerated rights. The Supreme Court has held that the right to have children is a fundamental right and therefore is indeed protected by this amendment. Hand in hand with this right, is the right to raise your children as you see fit according to your own beliefs, morals and standards so long as those do not infringe upon the child's own rights to life, liberty, property or unenumerated rights (remembering that you are the guardian of your children's rights until they reach the age(s) of consent). As a parent then, and the legal guardian of your children's inalienable as well as constitutionally protected rights, what are you going to do when a panel of government bean counters says that you cannot have your baby, you MUST abort him, because he has Down Syndrome and he will present an unacceptable cost on the now socialized health care system? As a parent then, what are you going to do whe...

Guest Post By: Dave Cruikshank I searched out a group to go with, mainly because I definitely did not want to drive, and I wanted to be with like minded individuals. To date all of my discussions of politics have mainly been online or with my wife. Many people just don't want to talk politics, are uniformed, or have steadfast liberal views like many of my family. My mother-in-law whom we live with gets upset when I talk politics or watch Glenn Beck, O'Reilly, or listen to talk radio. When I said I was going to DC she asked "Why did I feel a need to dig up dirt?" She is from the generation that you respect the President no matter who is in or what they do. I found 2 groups by searching for "912 project" and eventually meetup.com . I ended up joining the Schuylkill County Conservatives and the Berks County Tea Party. Both are in East-Central PA. I grew up in Schuylkill County and had originally planned on going with them. I actually knew 2 members from High...