Five Libertarian Ideas #6 - Ron Paul coin, Rand Paul on Snowden, Mark Levin on Nullification, etc.

Prohibition and crime levels

Between 2000 and 2005, drug crimes in Mexico went UP while violent crime overall went DOWN. Then in 2006, the nightmare began and the narcos became insurgents. We see how on-the-books prohibition "caused" drug crime to "rise" while other crime went down. We then see how government-enforced prohibition turned a regional gang war into a nationwide civil war. –1/04

Ron Paul coins vs. the Fed

So there's a gold Ron Paul coin. Let's just say it actually becomes a hot commodity, demand goes up, and the supply goes down. How long before the Fed stockpiles those gold coins and then lends against them on the fractional reserve? Oh, the sweet irony... –1/05

Rand Paul on Edward Snowden

RAND PAUL is NOT saying that Snowden oughta be in jail for whistleblowing on the NSA, but rather for providing US secrets to OTHER GOVERNMENTS. Whistleblowing on your own government is libertarian. Selling out and working for other governments is not libertarian, it's just a DIFFERENT shade of statism. So chill out, Haters-o'-Rand. –1/06

Mark Levin [WRONG] on Nullification

My friend, 10^th Amendment Center’s Nick Hankoff, challenged Mark Levin's idea of NULLIFICATION (and was subsequently berated for it). It seems like Levin's idea of nullification is limited to seceding from the Union and protecting slavery, rather than its actual purpose: to be a constitutional republic's safeguard for the minority against tyranny of the majority. –1/08

The Iraq War Interpreters

Some of the brave unsung heroes of the Iraq War are the Iraqi interpreters who risked life and limb believing that what they were doing was for the good of their country. In 2003 they were trying to liberate their country from a dictator. From 2004 onwards, they were helping pacify an insurgency of religious fanatics and plain psychopaths.

Many or most of them are in the US and can never go home for fear of their lives. Many believe that the war ultimately wasn't worth it. Nonetheless, they are a proud people with an aversion to being ruled, be it by dictators, religious zealots, or foreigners. We should reach out to these new-generation Americans, as they're more libertarian than even they realize. –1/22

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Edward Snowden GIF graphic by Laura Poitras/Praxis Films and used via CC BY 3.0 license. Iraqi interpreter image by Pete Rimar and in the public domain.  Both images were obtained from Wikimedia Commons.