Crossing the 10% Rubicon
Alex R. Knight III
2012-01-09 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
A very recent article published in Science Daily reveals the findings of a study that has yielded some very positive information for the Voluntaryist movement. In short, that once an ideology or set of beliefs is fervently held by ten percent of any given group or population, it invariably becomes the predominant philosophy throughout the...
Why You Can Drive Over 65
Alex R. Knight III
2011-12-21 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
I’m not referring to age – though the answer to that, if you qualify, is probably that your eyesight and reflexes are still good enough to get behind the wheel and make it from point A to point B without causing any 20-car pileups or running down any small children. I am referring to the the maximum speed limit cap on most...
The Iconography of Evil
Alex R. Knight III
2011-11-30 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
If you ever want an irrefutable indication of what’s wrong with America today, I suggest you have a look at some of the iconography government is putting out there – symbolism, if you will.
It has long been a known psychological principle that symbols and icons are a powerful yet subtle means to instill certain emotions and...
Vermont's Raw Arrogance
Alex R. Knight III
2011-11-17 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
Of course, it’s already common knowledge for the most part that Vermonters have the temerity to carry firearms without any form of government say-so – even neighboring “Live Free or Die” New Hampshire will not suffer such uppitiness from the mere non-governmental hoi polloi. But another freedom – albeit not nearly...
No, Society, There Is No Santa Claus
Alex R. Knight III
2011-11-15 00:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
I know that I have likely irked some of you already by writing a Christmas-themed column before we have even gotten to Thanksgiving, but I can at least offer the caveat that it will likely not be near as onerous as the fact that the latest crop of political parasites (with all due respect to Ron Paul) have already ramped up their bids to be...
To Vote or Not to Vote? I’d Rather Go Fishing
Alex R. Knight III
2011-10-30 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
There resides here in southern Vermont a radio personality and newspaper columnist who prefers to simply go by the handle of “Fish” (no, it’s not Abe Vigoda living out a retirement fantasy in the Green Mountains), who in the October 26th edition of the Brattleboro Reformer began his column titled “To Vote or...
Government Steve, This Will Not Pass
Alex R. Knight III
2011-09-08 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III.
Exclusive to STR
There was a pretty good article back in June published at Slate.com by David Weigel. The title was “Live Free or Move: Hanging Out With the Young Kids Who Want to Turn New Hampshire into a Libertarian Paradise.”
It’s a trite label for what was otherwise, in my opinion, a pretty good write-up. Not...
Aquacalypse Now: Some Reflections on Tropical Storm Irene in Vermont
Alex R. Knight III
2011-09-07 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Good night, Irene. And good night, as well, to any number of roads, storm drains, bridges, businesses, and homes here in Vermont and some surrounding environs. In a roughly 24-hour period on August 28th, the landscape of the Green Mountains was radically transformed. It will be weeks and months before any semblance of full...
A Decade of Striking the Root
Alex R. Knight III
2011-08-09 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Although for myself personally, it’s been very close to half that long at the time of this writing. My very first STR column, “The Trouble With Star Trek,” appeared on August 22, 2006. It was the first time I came to recognize the immense power of the Internet. I’d only learned of STR’s...
Government Is an Obsolete Idea (and Castro Proves It)
Alex R. Knight III
2011-08-01 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Fidel Castro is one of the only personages within recent memory--and this was while talking to a host of news reporters back in the 1990s--who repeated the Marxist myth that ideally, Communism would eventually make governments disappear. Of course, when then asked when the world could expect to see the Cuban government disappear,...
How Can You Hate Hitler?
Alex R. Knight III
2011-06-27 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
And not just in contrast to other tyrants and butchers of the 20th Century, when modern warfare and weaponry for the first time made the extermination of human beings possible on such a massive scale – I’m referring to Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and a few others who were at least indirectly responsible (after all, it was ultimately the masses...
Obama, Where's the Contract?
Alex R. Knight III
2011-06-26 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
Of course, the more popular question these past three years or so has been, “Where’s the birth certificate?” – so much so that Barack felt obliged to produce a Hawaiian “long-form” piece of paper alleging his 1961 birth took place there. Others contend that this is a forgery, and that the...
The Absurdity of Hating Walmart...and Not Government
Alex R. Knight III
2011-06-09 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
It seems to invoke the ire of the dogmatic leftists to no end, the largest corporation on earth; this homegrown business, now global in scope, second in size only to the U.S. federal government. They inveigh against it as if this department store chain were the summary of all total malfeasance – a horrible capitalist-pig...
We Have Nothing to Fear but Government Itself
Alex R. Knight III
2011-05-23 23:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
The recent conviction of Bernard von NotHaus, founder of the Liberty Dollar, which had provided a gold and silver-based alternative form of currency to U.S. government-sanctioned Federal Reserve Notes (pieces of paper backed by nothing of any value whatsoever; thin air) since 1998 demonstrates quite clearly where Amerika currently is. ...
Government Will Die
Alex R. Knight III
2011-01-24 03:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
But not by way of “Second Amendment remedies” or any such hyperbole. True, there may well (and probably will) be episodes of anti-government violence before we get to the zero-government endgame, but as my last piece here at STR pointed out, violence begets violence. And we know that government, by its very nature...
Violence Begets Violence...and Government Is Violence
Recommended
Alex R. Knight III
2011-01-11 03:00
Column by Alex R. Knight III
Exclusive to STR
The recent shootings in Tucson, Arizona, involving Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, federal judge John Roll, and others has brought a tidal wave of outrage from the mainstream press, with those on the political left railing against what they perceive as the violence-inducing tirades emanating from everyone, apparently, from Michael Savage to Sarah...
Government Is a Garbage Dump
Alex R. Knight III
2010-04-30 02:00
Exclusive to STR
I was recently sent two friendly little notices from the government of Vermont, via the U.S. government’s postal monopoly, to the effect that it was time to fork over some of my money to purchase a new slip of paper and a couple of stickers so as to “register” my automobile, and to purchase a new laminated piece of paper with photo (though in Vermont, the...
The Real Debate
Alex R. Knight III
2009-12-20 16:00
Exclusive to STR
Most of STR's readers by now are likely no longer deluded by the falsehood of the Left Wing vs. Right Wing argument. Most of you correctly perceive both "wings" as really being one force unified against individual liberty in both economic and personal affairs. However, it occurred to me recently that--even in libertarian circles--there is still a strong perception of...
Things to Do While Boycotting July 4
Alex R. Knight III
2009-07-03 15:00
Exclusive to STR
July 2, 2009
It's been a tradition of mine, lo these past few years, and I certainly feel no shame about it. After all, July 4, 1776 , was a unique and very limited event. A group of 56 men, incensed by the tyranny of King George III in Great Britain , declared the land and inhabitants therein of 13 colonies, free from this regent's control.
I Don't and Won't Vote: Here's Why
Alex R. Knight III
2009-06-08 02:00
Exclusive to STR
It was really Larken Rose’s idea, not mine. In case you don’t know who Larken is, he is a fellow anarchist, but is more infamous still for his assertion that there is in fact no government law that makes anyone liable for the U.S. income tax. While I agree with his overall assessment, I...
Statism Is a Poisoned Mind
Alex R. Knight III
2009-05-17 15:00
Exclusive to STR
May 18, 2009
To fully appreciate and understand the hurdles we voluntaryists face in imparting the rational truth about government to the general public, observe this particular spectacle: an excerpt from an article written by Leon Wieseltier, titled 'Washington Diarist: Love Me I'm a Liberal,' published in the March 4, 2009 edition of The New Republic:
Don't Answer the Census
Alex R. Knight III
2009-05-07 15:00
Exclusive to STR
If you're already familiar with Lysander Spooner's "No Treason IV: The Constitution of No Authority," then you know that the U.S. Constitution isn't even worth the paper it's printed on. This becomes all the more visible when you bear witness to how selectively government either enforces or doesn't enforce it, based on whatever happens to be to the advantage of those...
Should Voluntaryists Own Guns?
Alex R. Knight III
2009-02-17 16:00
Exclusive to STR
Before answering that question, it seems profitable to delineate all of the various reasons or motivations anyone--not just voluntaryists--might find to own firearms. I'll start with the more trivial, and work my way down to the serious:
1.) Target and Sport Shooting: Like many recreational activities, this can also improve manual and mental dexterity. Sport shooting is a...
Vermont's Red Badge of Courage
Alex R. Knight III
2009-02-09 16:00
Exclusive to STR
February 10, 2009
Of late, the dogmatically left-wing media apparatus here in Vermont has been broadcasting with great zeal the fact that the Brady Campaign, and the New England Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, have just unilaterally denounced the lack of gun laws in Green Mountain country as 'the worst in the nation.' Here's a brief laundry list of the facts these wonderful...
I Believe in Common-Sense Too, Obama: I'm Buying More Guns
Alex R. Knight III
2008-12-15 03:00
Exclusive to STR
In an article published on December 8th by the Chicago Sun-Times, Barack Obama was quoted as saying the following: "I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the Second Amendment," Obama said at a news conference. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven't indicated anything different during the...
Ready for Revolution?
Alex R. Knight III
2008-12-07 16:00
Exclusive to STR
December 8, 2008
According to Gerald Celente, you'd better be. Celente is the CEO of Trends Research Institute, who in mid-November made public his prediction that by 2012, America will witness mass food riots, squatters rebellions by the homeless, tax rebellions by the economically strapped, and even pockets of armed resistance as economic conditions worsen.
Libertarians, the Party's Over
Alex R. Knight III
2008-11-04 16:00
Exclusive to STR
November 5, 2008
This is an open letter to any and all 'Libertarian' Party folks; those of you who are still clinging desperately to the notions that libertarians will someday be electable candidates for office, and that by engaging and subsequently entering the political system, you can then dismantle, reduce ' or even eliminate it altogether ' from within.
Dark Thoreau: Another Side to Henry David
Alex R. Knight III
2008-10-30 16:00
Exclusive to STR
October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween, everyone. I thought I might take this opportunity to share with you a book by Walter E. Bridgman, Dark Thoreau (University of Nebraska Press, 1982). Strike The Root seems the best venue for this, of course -- and on what better day?
With Government, You've Already Lost
Alex R. Knight III
2008-09-29 15:00
Exclusive to STR
September 30, 2008
It doesn't have to be anything as dramatic as being dragged into court on criminal charges, though that certainly qualifies. It might be a routine traffic stop, whether or not the cop issues you a fine. It might be a nastygram sent via the U.S. postal monopoly from the IRS . It may only be one of those absurd forms the U.S. Census Bureau mails to us every...
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
Alex R. Knight III
2008-09-23 15:00
Exclusive to STR
To my disgust, there's one down at the end of my driveway at the time of this writing. Well, okay, it's really only half my driveway, even though I own the land immediately adjacent to either side of it. It's shared with my seasonal neighbor, who shall remain anonymous, and who departs for Florida every year before the snow begins to fly here in Vermont. Not that I envy him '...
Thoreau: Anarchist, Minarchist, or Individualist?
Alex R. Knight III
2008-02-28 16:00
Exclusive to STR
Was Thoreau an anarchist, a minarchist, or merely an aloof individualist to whom the State was an at-hand example to be used in illustrating further philosophical points? I'd like to re-examine Thoreau thusly.
Perhaps the first place to turn one's attention in this regard is 'Resistance to Civil Government' ' or, 'Civil Disobedience' if we defer to Thoreau's later title. At the...
The NRA: Friend of Freedom, or Foe of Firearms?
Alex R. Knight III
2008-02-07 16:00
Exclusive to STR
February 8, 2008
From a recent solicitation letter I received from the National Rifle Association in order to increase membership, I excerpt the following quote: 'We actively work to fight anti-gun media bias by encouraging law-abiding gun owners like you to stand tall and defend our freedoms without apology or compromise.'
Socialism Does Not Exist
Alex R. Knight III
2007-09-23 15:00
Exclusive to STR
September 24, 2007
Let's take a brief trip back to high school civics class (yes, I know it was likely a government school, but I'm sure not to blame for that) and review the four major known systems of economics:
1. Communism: In this model, both ownership and operation of all means of production lies exclusively in the hands of the State.
Don't Burn Your Bra, Just Stop Wearing It
Alex R. Knight III
2007-08-22 15:00
Exclusive to STR
As filmmaker Aaron Russo (The Rose, Trading Places, most recently America: Freedom To Fascism) tells it, he was sitting around sipping drinks with Nick Rockefeller when the latter asked him what he thought the whole Women's Lib movement, culminating in the early 1970s, had been about. Russo responded that he thought it was mostly about equal pay for equal work and universal...
Put the Monster in the Cornfield
Alex R. Knight III
2007-08-12 15:00
Exclusive to STR
August 13, 2007
As resident horror/sci-fi/fantasy buff here at STR , I'd like to draw to your attention an old and rather famous Twilight Zone episode. It's the one about a small rural town in Ohio , a town every single bit as Norman Rockwell as the early 1960s in which it fictitiously existed. A serene, peaceful, sleepy place to live.
Until the monster came to town.
Time in a Bottle: American POWs Left Behind in Vietnam
Alex R. Knight III
2007-07-02 15:00
Exclusive to STR
July 3, 2007
It was, I suppose, otherwise a typical overnight for me; listening to Coast To Coast AM in the wee hours of this past May 30th. The subject matter, however, was such as I had not visited since at least the 1980s, when Rambo-type movies were in vogue -- Uncommon Valor (loosely based on true events) is one which comes to mind. It all made for great cinema, though...
The Day After
Alex R. Knight III
2007-03-25 15:00
Exclusive to STR
March 26, 2007
It was nothing like the ABC -TV special from November of 1983 (save one element) -- but it was November. 2008. The day before the presidential elections, to be specific.
That one element was the use of Soviet-era "suitcase nukes." Within bare minutes of each other, four of them detonated in various parts of the country. Though three of them occurred in...
Welcome to Anderson, Alaska!
Alex R. Knight III
2007-03-21 16:00
Exclusive to STR
March 22, 2007
Here's what you won't find here: there is NO: sales tax; "income" tax (Alaskans won't buy into the Feds' fraud--bravo to them!); property tax (that's right--absent any mortgage, you own your home and land free and clear!); gun control (though Alaska does ban certain types of "exotic" shotgun ammunition; Vermont is one up on the Last Frontier there).
What you...
Chuck Schumer, You Are the Essence of Evil
Alex R. Knight III
2007-02-26 16:00
Exclusive to STR
February 27, 2007
Senator Schumer:
I'll cut right to the chase. First off, I'll not refer to you as the "Honorable Charles Schumer," since there is not a single manner -- not one -- in which that adjective can possibly apply to you.
UFOs: What Does Government Know?
Alex R. Knight III
2007-02-25 16:00
Exclusive to STR
February 26, 2007
Well, here's what I know: I've never seen an unidentified flying object in my life. Yet I still believe they exist . . . whatever they may be. Certainly the number of sightings and reports -- going back centuries, and at the time of this writing we are witness to a global rash of them -- indicate some substance to the overall phenomenon. In truth, however,...
I Talk to the Wind
Alex R. Knight III
2007-01-31 16:00
Exclusive to STR
February 1, 2007
"I talk to the wind/My words are all carried away /I talk to the wind /The wind does not hear/The wind cannot hear."
So sang King Crimson way back in 1969, and these lyrics are especially poignant (if considerably more vile) when we substitute "bureaucrat" for "wind." Go ahead and do that right now and see what I mean.
Leave Government Alone!
Alex R. Knight III
2006-12-31 16:00
Exclusive to STR
January 1, 2007
Perhaps no one institution receives more derision on a more consistent basis, and yet somehow manages to carry on virtually unabated. This stands as either a testament to its noble heroicism, or evidence of a kind of Luciferian immortality. It all depends, I suppose, on where you think mankind stands.
Either way, we ought to leave government alone.
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