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Richard Maybury: Two Laws of Freedom
www.fair.org, Jul 27 '05 New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has urged the U.S. government to create blacklists of condemned political speech--not only by those who advocate violence, but also by those who believe that U.S. government actions may encourage violent reprisals. The latter group, which Friedman called "just one notch less despicable than the terrorists," includes a majority of Americans, according to recent polls. Also:
www.number-10.gov.uk The Bill currently being drafted will create as you know a new offence of all acts preparatory to terrorism, a new offence of indirect incitement to commit a terrorist offence, and a new offence of receiving or giving training in the use of hazardous substances and other methods and techniques for terrorist purposes both here and abroad. Blair characterizes what America and Britain are doing as "helping Iraqis and Afghans get their democracy" and spouts some drivel about killing people in his war has no relation to terrorist acts in London. He talks about how he wants to "eliminate" the opposing point of view even from people who abhor the methods of terrorism.
....Until we get rid of this frankly complete nonsense in trying to build some equivalence between what we are doing helping Iraqis and Afghans get their democracy and these people going in deliberately killing wholly innocent people for the sake of it, until we eliminate that we are not going to confront this ideology in the way it needs to be confronted and my point to you is this, it is time we stopped saying OK we abhor their methods, but we kind of see something in their ideas or maybe they have got a sliver of excuse or justification.... Blair rationalizes violence against innocent people as much as the terrorists do. Maybe he should be banned. Yes, frankly, I believe it should be against the law for any government to spread lies, start illegal wars and threaten citizens with dictatorship. In fact, maybe it already is against the law. Explaining the connection between terrorism and the Western foreign policy of violent interference in the Middle East - and how this policy is WRONG - is helpful, because it might lead to Western governments ceasing their provocations that create hatred and stir up terrorism. It is also helpful because it counters these fantasies dreamed up by the pro-war imperialists that the Islamic world "hates us because we are free". And yet these pro-war governments want to take away our freedoms because of terrorism. Their war-mongering and unjustified pack-of-lies war against Iraq is endangering the citizens of Western nations. And whenever there are more terrorist attacks, they want to take away our freedoms. Terrorism always results from war. There are always atrocities committed by both sides in wars. This is how it works. It's very simple.
If you want to remain free (to the extent that we do have some freedom), stop wars of aggression and stop believing lies. Learn about the interference in the Middle East that has been going on forever. If you want to stop terrorism, stop war and intervention. Stop letting our government "nation-build" Afghanistan. Stop letting them use our troops to take sides and prop up shaky governments. If you want to stop war, speak up against the "War Party", which means anyone from any party who advocates aggressive war. In Canada, we're only half way there unfortunately.
cnews.canoe.ca, Jul 19 '05 A Manitoba MP [Pat Martin] is questioning the value of airline no-fly lists after being red-flagged for scrutiny at the airport twice in less than four months. ..."There's no accountability here, there's no grievance procedure, there doesn't seem to be any remedy for people who feel they're being treated wrongly," he said. ...Following word of [Defence Minister Bill] Graham's difficulties, Air Canada said in a statement that there had been "technical glitches" resulting in passengers being inadvertently flagged in its system by the U.S. government's no-fly list.
www.thestar.com, Aug 23 '05 The Canadian government is planning their own list. Canadian airlines are already using the U.S. list apparently. A Muslim man was not allowed to fly because his name matched another man's name. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is demanding strict rules to protect the rights of flyers:
Or before they are sent off to Syria to be tortured like Maher Arar. But it's probably expecting too much of the government to allow passengers to challenge the presence of their name on one of these secret lists. The U.S. government's way of doing things is so extreme that to expect accountability of the Canadian government feels like some kind of fantasy. We feel so thankful that they don't plan to copy exactly the U.S. nightmare screw-up version. How can we be made "secure" if we are not made to feel fear and intimidation? The idea is to scare people away from travelling? What does the government have to do with running airlines anyway? The airlines should assert their role and make sure that all passengers are treated respectfully. Every time the government makes a mistake with the list, the airlines should challenge the list on behalf of the passenger and protest the government's action. On the other hand, even Transport Canada says the airlines should not be using the U.S. list. So this goes to show you there are also some irresponsible airlines that need to be taught a lesson by consumers. The bottom-line from my point of view is that the airlines should run their own show and should serve their customers by challenging every aspect of the upcoming list. They should get an explanation from the government for every name on the list. The airlines are the ones who should be calling the shots on security, and who exactly they don't want on their planes. And the list should be accessible to the public. There shouldn't be any secret at all. Why is it secret? So they can lure potential terrorists to airports?? Make it a public list so those on the list know they should stay home, or know they should challenge it.
I recommend this book because the author presents principled libertarian policies. I found it very helpful in gaining a better understanding of libertarianism. Contents Chapter 1. The Nature of Government Chapter 2. The Alternative to Coercive Government Most people, most of the time, operate on this libertarian principle of respect for the rights of others. Most people do not want to control others and do not want to be controlled themselves. Chapter 3. Obstacles to Clear Thinking About Government Lists some fallacies about government, including the utopian fallacy. Chapter 4. The Development of Libertarianism as an American Political MovementChapter 5. The Libertarian Difference Chapter 6. Libertarian Analysis of the Issues Chapter 7. Foreign Policy, Free Trade and Nuclear Arms Chapter 8. Taxation as Theft Chapter 9. Education: State Control or Freedom of Choice Chapter 10. Prohibition Revisited Chapter 11. Social Security Chapter 12. What About the Poor People? Chapter 13. Economic Freedom: Personal Freedom Chapter 14. Pollution and Environmental Values Chapter 15. Guns, Crime and Responsibility A clear, concise and brilliant explanation of liberty. Also available online here
Randolph Bourne, The State, 1918 ...The Government, with no mandate from the people, without consultation of the people, conducts all the negotiations, the backing and filling, the menaces and explanations, which slowly bring it into collision with some other Government, and gently and irresistibly slides the country into war. For the benefit of proud and haughty citizens, it is fortified with a list of the intolerable insults which have been hurled toward us by the other nations; for the benefit of the liberal and beneficent, it has a convincing set of moral purposes which our going to war will achieve; for the ambitious and aggressive classes, it can gently whisper of a bigger role in the destiny of the world....
weekendinterviewshow.com, Aug 20/05 This interview with Richard Maybury is very interesting. His website is www.chaostan.com. Another page here He recommends Austrian Economics because it is a tradition that recognizes that man has free will, and that the economy is not a machine to be manipulated. He is active in the home-schooling movement and his books include the "Uncle Eric" series - for teens especially - which explains liberty and economics. The following two laws (quoting him approximately) are part of our British heritage and lead to freedom and prosperity if followed:
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