The Humble Libertarian original

In March, I mentioned that I had never written a book, and set a public goal of finishing one by the end of the month and then giving it away here at The Humble Libertarian for free. I missed my deadline. However, I'm glad I had a deadline to miss. Setting one motivated me to get started, and now that I've started, I'm going to finish. And I'm very happy so far with how it's turning out! Now I'm going to reveal the name and topic of the book. No, it's not going to be a book about politics. It's going to be a book about blogging, how to blog successfully, and how to use your blog to capture the imagination of your community and open doors to career and income opportunities. The title of the book is: " Because I Blog ." The idea is, many people try to make money from their blog, but in my experience, that's not the easiest or most ideal way a blog can help you transition from amateur writer to professional writer / activist / (...

My Top 100 Libertarians Blogs and Websites list (which I am in the process of revising and bringing up to date!) has been considered one of the most important libertarian resources on the Internet for a couple years now and has been an important feature of HumbleLibertarian.com. If you go to Google and search for "libertarian websites," odds are that this Top 100 list will be your first result. Well I'm at it again. Over at The Silver Underground blog , I'm working to create a list of Top 100 Sound Money Blogs for libertarians with a specific interest in finance, economics, and monetary policy. When it’s finalized and published, we expect this list to become a major resource for sound money advocates on the web. In order to qualify, blogs or websites should, of course, advocate sound money policies, and monetary policy should be at least a major if not primary focus of the website. Please share this post far and wide so we can get as many submissions and nom...

Yesterday you may have read my grand announcement of the Affiliated Blogger Program that I am launching here at HumbleLibertarian.com to develop aspiring bloggers, writers, and citizen journalists and promote their websites in exchange for some help curating content and operating this website at a new, better, faster, more awesome pace. You might have also thought as you were reading, "Gee, I'd really love to help Wesley advance liberty by growing this website and I have a couple hours each week that I'd gladly volunteer for the cause, but I don't have any plans or aspirations to make a living doing political writing and I don't have a blog of my own that I want to promote. I just want to help. Why can't I be a part of the 'small army' Wes is building to take over the world and then leave everybody alone?" *sadface* Sorry to leave you hanging, but you can be part of the small army! In fact, we need your help. If you would like to be a volunte...

I need help. As much talking as I do about building "a small army to take over the world and... leave everyone alone ," I don't honestly act like much of a general, do I? More like a lone wolf who tries to do everything myself and is too afraid to let go of any kind of control over what happens on this website, and the problem with that is that I'm just one person and I can't do everything myself. I'm a classic self-employed perfectionist who doesn't want to let anyone help because deep inside I'm afraid they won't do as good a job as me (which isn't very humble ), and as a result I'm holding this website back by bottle-necking its success within the confines of the energy levels and time management of one, single, eccentric, bipolar, ADD, 25-year-old, male aspiring writer and journalist. It's a bad model. It's a flawed strategy for success. Great projects, great businesses, great organizations-- they aren't founder -...

A Message From One of Humble Libertarian's Sponsors: (Your approved advertising text here, including a text link to your approved website or URL.) More information and how to purchase your own post ad . Hurry and get it at a discounted rate! Offer ends soon. Advertisers: Thank you for supporting independent media like HumbleLibertarian.com. Readers: Thank you for supporting our sponsors! You all rock. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

As this libertarian website continues to grow, I'm going to kick off this new year with an advertising discount for new advertisers and a chance to win some free advertising as well! Want to drive more traffic to your website? Promote a book you've published? Improve your search engine optimization? Put your ad here on The Humble Libertarian , a highly-visited, well-ranked libertarian political website and blog with a high-quality audience of engaged and intelligent readers! Starting now through the end of February, I'm going to be offering all my ad placements at 25% off for the first four weeks for all new advertisers. Here are the placements: TOP BLENDED AD This is the king of ad placements at HumbleLibertarian.com! The ad is at the very top of the page above the rest of the posts and blended into the same post summary format so it doesn't intrude on the user's aesthetic experience of the website. It normally runs for $15/week, but now through the end o...

The YAL Civil Liberties College Tour starts tonight at 8pm EST at Columbia University in New York City! The four tour stops feature Glenn Greenwald (liberal), Bruce Fein (conservative) and Jacob Hornberger (libertarian). They will discuss habeas corpus, the PATRIOT Act, extraordinary rendition, torture, regime change, and how the war on terrorism has infringed upon the rights of U.S. citizens in the name of making us safe. The tour will be moderated by YAL's own Jack Hunter, and hosted by YAL chapters in conjunction with The Future of Freedom Foundation. If you don't live near any of the stops, you can stream the events online . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

There's less than a week left for you to be entered into my drawing for free silver ! All you've got to do is email your friends about the new website where I am working hard as the Editor in Chief (not to mention all the hard work of the several great contributors we have there!) to provide a viable alternative to the establishment media. We're thinking big and hoping to be the next Huffington Post or Daily Caller , but with an editorial vision that includes the positively revolutionary changes that are happening in the Republican Party, in the broader United States political process, and in the entire world. To get entered into the contest drawing for a chance to win one of three silver pieces, all you have to do is email some of your friends and tell them about our website, The RevoluTimes . CC me at my personal email address so I can see how many friends you've emailed and enter you in the drawing that many times (up to 10)! We will not be using those email...

Hey everybody-- I'm running a contest at the website where I work as the Editor in Chief, The RevoluTimes , to kick off the New Year strong! Check it out and learn about your chance to win free, inflation proof silver! Deadline fast approaching! A special thanks to another website where I work : The Silver Circle Movie , for sponsoring this contest with some free, inflation proof silver coins! Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

I announced a notepad rant contest here last month and provided the sample notepad rant -- well the results are in! You can view them all on Flickr , including the winning notepad rant (which was very clever!). I also got this question during the contest: Hi Mr. Messamore, Great work with the website, keep it up. Excited to make my submission to the notepad contest tonight. My question is—where can one buy rebel silver coins in the event they don’t win the contest? Thanks The answer is here: http://www.silvercirclemovie.com/store/ And they're really cool! They have 1/10 oz. silver rounds. Seriously. Like, small coins that are worth a couple bucks because of the inherent economic value and usefulness of the material that is in them. Sick. I've actually got to get myself some of this stuff now that I'm thinking about it. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

From The Silver Underground : You’ve seen them popping up EVERYWHERE, and you’ve read every word. The captivating nature and prime time attention is making notepad rants the viral way to get your opinion across on the Occupy-filled airwaves. Today is the day you can take a swing at this silent protest tactic. Some of our bloggers here at Silver Underground already have! So take notes (not word for word though!) from our blogger, Wes Messamore of HumbleLibertarian.com , and snab a pen and give a notepad rant your best shot. Would it motivate you more to say that the best notepad rant will win 1 oz. of Rebel silver from us? That’s right starting today we’ll be accepting notepad rant submissions until the end of this month. Deadline is November 30th at 12:00 am. A few musts when concocting your personal message for the world: Please keep it under a page, it’s awkward to hold more than one page up and defeats the purpose of the short and sweet messages. Please revolve your rant...

For Humble Libertarian readers in the LA area, you might want to go to this: Where: UCLA Schoenberg Hall When: November 8, 2011 - 6:30pm - 8:30pm Tickets: $20 Peter Schiff will offer his views on the current economy and how investors can best position their portfolios to help survive what he sees as a major realignment in currency valuations. RSVPs are required. All attendees that pay in advance will receive a free copy of Peter's latest book: How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes ($19.95 retail value) . Two-hour event will allow for generous audience Q and A. CLICK HERE to register for this conference Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

In the mail from Young Americans for Liberty . Pay attention to the salary and benefits in bold text below: Americans for Prosperity NOW Hiring Field Staff for 2012 Americans for Prosperity has asked for YAL members specifically to apply for full-time Field Field Coordinator positions in key targeted states for the upcoming electoral season. Unlike the rest of Obama's economy, AFP is hiring young, talented, and self-motivated activists to manage and lead field operations between now and the end of the 2012 elections. If you are looking for a new job or want to take some time off from school to make a difference for your country, then please start the application process by completing this form and sending your resume . Depending on your experience, most salaries will start in the mid-30 thousands, and include health benefits and a 401K plan. AFP is currently hiring Field Coordinators for the following states: Colorado, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, Virg...

Attention all domestic and international High School and College students! FEE is offering cash prizes to the top three student-produced YouTube videos based on this essay about the Great Depression . Here are the rules, which you should feel free to forward to anyone: “Great Myths of the Great Depression” Video Contest 1. Maximum length of a video: 8 minutes. No minimum length, though the shorter a video the better chance of more views on YouTube. It should be concise, in good taste and visually appealing. Must be in English. 2. Video must explicitly mention FEE and the essay the video is based on, though other sources may certainly be used as well, if properly cited. 3. Video may be a synopsis or the entire essay or it may focus on one or more particular aspects of the Depression. It doesn’t matter which of these two possible courses a student may choose to pursue. 4. Description section must include link to FEE.org, the “Great Myths” essay on the FEE websit...

"The Cato Institute seeks a Junior Web Designer to work with the web staff on the design and development of the Cato Institute's online content. Some of the duties of the position include: designing and updating webpages, e-newsletters, and mobile pages using the Adobe suite of products; writing and editing XHTML, CSS and JavaScript; database/ content entry; and other tasks that may arise during the day-to-day management of multiple websites and online channels. The position requires the candidate to have an undergraduate degree or equivalent experience in web design; a high level of proven design skill and technical proficiency; a solid understanding of the Adobe suite, web standards and usability, XHTML, HTML5 and CSS2/3; and knowledge of current and emerging digital design conventions. Qualified candidates should email their resumes in Word or PDF format with salary requirements to webmaster@cato.org ." --- More job and internship opportunities at The Cato Ins...

Kristos Trading is starting a Silver Dollar giveaway contest on October 1st, 2011 for their Facebook fans. The winner, based on a random drawing, will be rewarded with a free US Silver Dollar! (Drawing on 10/23/2011.) This exclusive giveaway of gold and silver will only be available to their Facebook followers; so join today for your chance to enter this exciting contest and to keep up to date with the latest precious metals trends. Just follow the link to their page to "Like" them. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

A friend of mine in the liberty movement recommended I take a look at Peter Schiff's special report on buying gold and silver without getting ripped off, especially as more scammers are taking advantage of people who are smart enough to buy some inflation-proof gold and silver. I read through it today and for anyone who is interested in buying a little gold or silver, but has absolutely no idea where to begin and feels a little bewildered by all the options out there: this is a great little report to help you get started. Obviously it's also an advertisement for Schiff's coin and bullion selling company EuroPacificMetals , but the information in it is definitely valuable and worth reading if you're a total noob thinking about buying some gold or silver. You can read the report here . Schiff also has a Facebook page here . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Last month, Young Americans for Liberty announced something incredible: It would be running TEN campaign bootcamps for youth activists all around the country to learn the skills they need to mobilize the philosophy of liberty into a political movement that makes real changes happen to restore our republic. With eight left to go, October is going to be a busy month for the YAL crew and if there is a bootcamp anywhere in your area, you should strongly consider signing up to learn everything you can about successful political activism. As an attendee of multiple bootcamps, I can tell you this training is incredibly valuable and very high quality. Read more about it at Young Americans for Liberty 's website. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

In the mail: " First the bad news: Two of YAL's fall internship slots have unexpectedly opened up. Now the good news: This means we want YOU to apply to intern at YAL! If you want to advance liberty full-time this fall, connect with other pro-liberty activists -- and you can start work right now, this opportunity is for you! Apply today for a fall internship position at YAL! We are serious about starting right now -- if your application is accepted, you'll be notified and be expected to report for duty all within the next two weeks! Interns receive a monthly stipend of $750 and free housing (with all utilities, including internet and cable) at YAL's house in Arlington, VA." As a former YAL intern myself, I cannot more highly recommend the program to anyone who's eligible and interested. Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Earlier this summer I announced that I would be launching a new political website, one that I feel might even have the potential to leave this one in the dust (though don't worry-- this one's still going and growing-- that won't change). It's taken me some time in finally getting around to it, but I'd like for a few of you readers to help me test this website over the next couple weeks. I have a tendency to get very excited by an idea, so I want to make sure this website is as good as I think it might be in my excited state. If any of you have the time to visit my new website once a day or every other day for the next couple weeks and hit my inbox with feedback, feel free to email me asap at wemessamore -at- gmail -dot- com to let me know. I want to start running the website very soon and getting feedback from willing members of the community here. If it's as cool of an idea as I think it is, I'm hoping to launch before the winter and really take the Int...