February 7, 2008

A message I received from a reader the other day:

To Whom It May Concern (meaning you, Editor):

I've moved over the last several years, from being what I thought was a conservative (actually and unknowingly a neocon), to being a free market anarchist, thanks in part to Antiwar.com, LewRockwell.com, and now Strike-the-Root.com. I actually started with NRO (I know, I know), then moved to WND (slightly better), all the way on up to your site, LysanderSpooner.com, and Lew Rockwell's all on a daily basis....

I went out and pulled a lever for Ron Paul today even though I think that:

a) The election is fixed so that one or the other of the ruling elite from either party is guaranteed to win,

b) even if Paul did win, the ruling elite would not leave him in place for long, and

c) voting should indeed generally be considered as an act of violence (although I think that if a vote is cast for a true libertarian, it may very well be only an act of violence against the state).

I reached this decision only after reading "The Reality of Self-Defense Voting" by Bob Jackson. However, I am grateful for the input of Per Bylund, Jim Davies, and Wendy McElroy among others, in helping me to see the error of my ways, and the true nature of voting. It has been a difficult decision, and I will be forever reminded of the seriousness of what I am doing should I ever go to the polls again. Unless it is clear that the man I'm voting for is intent on tearing down coercive action on the part of any earthly government, I will not contribute. Even so, I may never contribute again, if upon reading further at your site I determine that the Ron Pauls of this world are misguided.

Once again, thank you for all you do. I am exceedingly grateful that I had the opportunity to be awakened, if government should ever get its hands on the Internet and silence websites like yours. You've helped at least one person to turn around.

“As Greenwald makes clear, Bush has applied his claim to be above the law far beyond the issue of wiretaps. Bush has acted on the belief that he may seize anyone, even an American citizen living within the United States , and hold him as he deems fit in a military prison, there to be subject to harsh treatment that does not fall short of torture.”

“If the national economy produces more hamburgers and computer software next year, these economic developments in no way imply that more money should then be spent for defense. If the threats remain the same and the costs of acquiring defense goods and services remain the same, then the defense budget can remain fixed in amount and still serve its proper purpose.”

More evidence that people are smarter with their wallets than in the ballot box.

“If Congress eliminated every earmark approved last year — $15.3 billion worth — it would cut 0.5% of federal spending and less than 4% from the deficit. That grand gesture would pay for what the nation spends in Iraq in just six weeks.” This issue has been a pet cause for me for some time now.

“The authority is no longer designating properties to be acquired because of the change in the law. Now, city officials must wait for properties to come on the market or try and convince people to sell.” Oh, the horror!