Don K wrote on June 19, 2008 03:23 PM: Bob_Robertson wrote on June 10, 2008 07:21 AM:
"Would you like 7.62 mm or 5.56 mm with your tea gentlemen?"

I'm an American! .30 Cal, please, in 8-round enblock clips!

Bob - 7.62mm is the same as .30 caliber. .308 Win is commonly refered to as 7.62 by the mil. I realize you like the .30-06 from your enblock clip comment, but .308 is almost as good :-)

Don

Ron wrote on June 15, 2008 08:25 AM: I am actually quite impressed with the topic and debates for this article. As this healthy debate certainly refutes Jeremiah's May, 18th claim that "... some of his (Vin's) readers would believe him if he said that Antarctica was a tropical paradise, but I'd prefer some evidence to back that up."

Vin, though I agree with you on 90% of what you say, I think that I would agree with our more freedom loving brethren below... There surly must be a better solution...

While the debate is healthy, as we need this both here and at other sites, I think it would behoove us to work at our local and state level to affect change in all areas that concern those of us who value freedom for all.

Roll the sleeves up people, we have a good philosophy, and it is finally starting to ignite the minds of others. We can affect real change.

Kind regards,

- Ron

Bill Smith wrote on June 10, 2008 11:46 AM: Actually Jim, Vin’s statement was very accurate.

Bob_Robertson wrote on June 10, 2008 07:21 AM: "Would you like 7.62 mm or 5.56 mm with your tea gentlemen?"

I'm an American! .30 Cal, please, in 8-round enblock clips!

Mutineer wrote on June 09, 2008 02:19 PM: Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representative who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.

If we are to take that as fact, then we are fight human nature itself. The Libertarian ideal is a good one, a noble one. But how can those of us with ethical and moral character/concerns, reason with those bankrupt?

Would you like 7.62 mm or 5.56 mm with your tea gentlemen?

jim wrote on June 09, 2008 11:45 AM: Vic, I usually like your column and agree with much of what you say. But take a look at your column today as you're denouncing propaganda--"young minds "molded" by paper-pushing government functionaries I wouldn't trust to train my cat." You are impugning thousands of hard-working, dedicated and effective teachers with your sarcastic generalization, obviously crafted more for clever wording than for accuracy or fairness, and you owe them an apology. Be a Libertarian, not a jerk, ok?

Brian Kominsky wrote on June 08, 2008 09:03 PM: Gary Nolan? Back in the early days of the LP, I knew a guy named Dave Nolan. Am I remembering incorrectly?

Who is Gary Nolan?

Also, Vin, you may need to read the Constitution very carefully. The Federal government has no jurisdiction over immigration. Naturalization is not the same thing as immigration. Once someone is in a state, the feds can presumably grant some sort of federal citizenship.

But under the Constitution, the states, not the feds, are expected to handle immigration. If you are a Constitutionalist, rather than an anarcho-capitalist, then that document needs to mean what it says. And for someone who rails about the jbt's at Waco and Ruby Ridge to somehow want to cede authority to the feds which they do not have is almost comical, but it's really not funny at all.

Yeah, I favor getting rid of the welfare state. Apparently that is not and never will be an option. So we must grab the statist cloak and wrap ourselves up in it all warm and cozy? Nope.

Paolo wrote on June 08, 2008 05:46 PM: This discussion brings up the question: what is the difference between a "libertarian" and an "anarchist?"

Anarchists call for the complete abolition of all governments. Libertarians (as usually defined) call for governments that are limited to the few functions in a free society that can only be handled by governments. All those functions are related to defense against aggression or fraud: national defense, courts of law, and police forces.

In a free society, all of these rather minor functions could be paid for through voluntary means; Ayn Rand suggested a small fee on all credit transactions would more than pay for these functions. Of course, if you wanted to "opt out" of the system, you could, but then you would not have the benefit of appealing to the legal system if you were defrauded or attacked. Other options for financing these few functions have been suggested, too.

The fact that such payments would be voluntary would put limits on what the government could do; it would be easy to maintain a national defense force, for example, but not possible to maintain an imperial army to meddle in two-thirds of the world's nations, as is currently the case. Such a system could pay for police to capture a mugger and a court system to render justice; it could not pay for an overblown, insane, unconstitutional "war on drugs".

Press2forEnglish wrote on June 08, 2008 05:38 PM: Just think about it , History repeats itself , and will again ,
Our conditions are not much different than they were in Germany before the rise of Hitler, Hitler was no different than many leaders thoughout history,
We have a country where the leaders are not listening to the people , we are being invaded by a hostile culture and people that do not mix with our "melting pot" , the are cling to their culture and trying to change ours,
History says that a strong and possibly very brutal person will rise up , Americans will be so sick of the invasion that they will rally behind this person who will promise to rid this country , by any means of the invaders,
And most of us will support him/her
Its root hog or die now folks, Either we preserve America as a melting pot or we become a 3rd word suburb of mexico ,
We are no longer a nation of rocket scientists but we are becoming a nation of gardeners and toilet cleaners,
And you can take that to the bank

tim wrote on June 08, 2008 12:48 PM: i think vin is trying to relate to you that there is to much gov.and he is right.there are powers written into the constitution that gives the gov.power and one is to defend our nation,that would include our borders.education is another matter,you my not agree with him on that but he has his point.gov.education is proving to be a failure,whether you like it or not.you must know his stance if you read his columns like i do all the time.

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