Tag: liberty

Disrespect for the Government, by Felipe Franco

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A fascinating article over at Lew Rockwell on the differences between Latin America and the United States. Excerpts to whet your appetite: People rarely race around at dangerous high speeds. They don’t delay either. Major collisions are much rarer than in the U.S. I lived for 5 years in a city of one million people that had no traffic lights or stop signs at the time. Traffic flow was very natural. Traffic would flow one way through an intersection until there was a natural lull and then the cars from the other direction would nose in and dominate the intersection until…

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My Opinion: Vindicated

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Okay, perhaps it is a little early to say I am truly “vindicated” but that is certainly the way things are looking. Remember my recent post about Human Rights and the Gitmo Detainees? I said, “Once we start saying that some people don’t have the right to a speedy and public trial, we’re on a dangerous road. Don’t forget that only last spring most of these readers were labelled ”right-wing terrorists” in a MIAC report. So if the “regular” terrorists don’t have a right to a speedy and public trial, it is only a short step to denying right-wing terrorists their basic rights,…

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Educating the New Generation: Parents…or the Government?

I had an encounter yesterday with someone who was in the education sector, probably a public school teacher, but I’m not sure. At any rate, I was asked about my status in highschool, I was assumed to be a sophomore, after which I informed this person that I just graduated from highschool. I was questioned as to the testing and regulations for homeschoolers to graduate. I answered that the parents decided when their child had completed highschool, and in Illinois, there are no tests that kids have to take. This person was, to say the least, aghast, that there was…

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The Underground History of American Education

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A new book is due out soon by John Taylor Gatto, read about it here. Samuel Blumenfield notes, “…with the educational-industrial complex, we are dealing with an entirely different animal, one that eats children alive, destroys minds, destroys families, undermines our culture, provides neither protection from our enemies nor academic learning for our kids.” There are countless times while I’m reading about public education where I stop and thank God that I was homeschooled. As a recent graduate, I’ve thought a lot about education in the last few months, and it made me realize, all over again, what a profound…

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Dr. Seuss and Liberty?

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There’s a remake of one of his most famous lines circulating Facebook right now…but before I post that, I’d like to mention that his book “Yurtle the Turtle” has been interpreted as an anti-statist parable, you might say. Anti-statist being anti-state. One turtle decides he must get high enough to see the whole world (or something alone those lines) and tells the other turtles it doesn’t matter how they feel about it, they must sacrifice themselves for him, so that he can see the world. Anyways, here’s the remake: I do not like it Uncle Sam, I do not like…

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Who Am I? An Essay of Identity

The title of this piece is taken from the Broadway Musical based on the book by Victor Hugo, “Les Miserables.” In the musical, the protagonist sings, “Who Am I?” because he is caught between two identities, one being his respected life as the mayor of a town, and the other being his former life as a convict. He struggles between being Jean Valjean and “24601”—his prison number. The prison number is an artificial identity, given to him by the state because of his alleged crime of stealing bread for his sister’s starving child. Yes, he was guilty of theft, but…

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Gitmo Detainees and Human Rights

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If you don’t know this about me already, you’ll know now. I have a habit of challenging everything that those around me take for granted as being right. Example, there was recently an uproar about the Gitmo prisoners being brought to Thomson IL, which I don’t think is more than 90 miles from where we live. Within only a couple days, many conservatives came out against it, including Rep. Manzullo. That’s fine, I understand the concern, especially since there is at least one, maybe more, nuclear plants in this area…it would make an ideal target for terrorists, if you’re going…

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