The Anti-State Blog

And he gives several more good reasons how US interventionism in the middle east has engendered hatred of us.
Article here

[originally posted May 24, 2007]

Excellent interview with CNN regarding blowback for our imperialistic foreign policy.

[originally posted May 23, 2007]

Why are we there? Bush said it was because of WMDs. He lied. He said it was about Al Qaeda. He lied. We are now over in Iraq spending billions, getting our troops and Iraqis killed, and not doing much good at restoring order. All the while, Al Qaeda can call us imperialists and occupiers and increase their ranks. Withdrawing from Iraq is a no brainer.

[originally posted May 20, 2007]

‘You can see his article here. Following is a copy of the email I sent to Byron York (byork@nationalreview.com):

Your article completely dances around Paul\’s point: the rest of the world considers the U.S. to be thuggish and imperialist. I know it is comforting to regard the anti-American terrorists as sub-human lunatics, but what would you do if China had major army outposts in the U.S. and in many surrounding countries and allied itself with repressive regimes throughout the world (as we do with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others and as we did with Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war)? I know what I would do in such a situation–I would regard China as an imperialist aggressor and I would take up arms against it. So it does not surprise me that Bin Laden and his followers see us as the enemy and that they have taken up arms against us.

You would do well to remember that this nation was founded by revolutionaries who fought against a government far more benign than our \’ally\’ Saudi Arabia. So to me or to anyone who understands human nature it is perfectly natural that our actions abroad have caused resentment and anger. Of course, attacking civilians is despicable. To insinuate as you and Giuliani do that Paul and others who believe as he does somehow condone the September 11 attacks is churlish and reeks of the most despicable demagoguery

From an MSNBC interview March 29, 2007. See my earlier post [link] for reasons why you should vote for Paul, even if you don\’t think he can win. The classic American position on foreign wars is that they are not necessary and they certainly cause harm both to our finances, our image, and to the people killed or wounded in those wars. Why do we need to spend money to house troops in Germany, the Phillipines, Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia? The people of those countries do not want us there, and their resentment fuels the terrorists and gives the terrorists more recruits.

[originally published 15 May 2007]

Why is government necessary? Many would answer this by saying that police are a useful government service. Of course, when they say this they are not thinking of the steady militarization of the police, the destruction of habeas corpus, and the criminalization of behavior that does not infringe upon others’ rights (such as doing drugs, engaging in prostitution, insider trading, etc.).

Next time you feel good about your local police, take a look at the following US map of botched SWAT raids on innocents, many of which resulted in deaths.

[originally posted 5 May 2007]

People tend to think that voting for (or donating to) a third party candidate or a candidate who is not a front-runner is throwing your vote away or throwing your money away. If you ask an economist, though, he or she will tell you that any donation or vote is irrational. Why? No statewide or national election has ever been decided by one vote. A lousy $2,300 would never have made the difference between success and defeat. However, this is the wrong way to look at elections.

Elections are not single-shot events. They are repeated every few years (though not with the same people). In a repeating event even one vote can matter because the votes in one election influence the views in the next election. So think of voting not as a way to get your candidate into office but as a way to influence the candidates’ positions and the type of policies debated in the next election.

So if you support smaller government, vote for the most libertarian candidate available (among republicans, that is Ron Paul). Even if he is too radical for you, that is okay, because your support for him will influence other politicians to move only slightly against big government in the next election. And it will influence those politicians who get into office. Seeing a candidate who calls for abolishing the IRS get 5% of the vote might persuade those who do get into office to be slightly less profligate in their spending, if only to attempt to appease those who voted against them.

And now a couple quotes:

Johann Goethe: “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”

Barry Goldwater : “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

[originally posted 5 May 2007]

Below is a montage of Ron Paul’s responses at the Republican ‘debate’ from last night. Smaller government, lower taxes, and less imperialism abroad. What is not to like? He was the only one who did not pussyfoot around hard questions. He has good libertarian views and he sticks with them.

Government is evil. It is that simple. My goal is to convince you of that. Because I fear certain people I criticize in this blog may retaliate against me, I have registered the domain privately and will not give out my name.

Fiat iustitia, ne pereat mundus.

I praise the chains that bind me;
I cheer my Master as his whip rips my flesh;
I bless the tyrant as his minions kill
my children and rape my sisters;
I thank God for their evil;
for what they sow I shall reap.
Let us not forget: the sword of freedom
is forged in the fires of oppression.

When my nightmares come
– as every night they do —
I embrace their horror
and find solace in their bedlam.
No demon is so evil as the fool who takes and
destroys while thinking she does good;
no man so cowardly as he who
refuses to confront his own mortality.

Every day I seem him die,
see his body thrown about and crushed
like an ant betweeen my fingers.
I never knew his name, his life–
had he fought with his wife that night?
Did his little girl cry herself to sleep,
wondering why he left her all alone?

And yet one life is as nothing compared
to the harvest of the Evil One.
His forces have left billions to mourn,
billions to weep and cry and renounce their faith–
in but a hundred years, two hundred million
have fallen
and yet we do not learn
and yet we give more power to our oppressors
and we–and I–
and I watch as they rape my neighbor
and I praise God that they have not
yet taken me to the gallows.

[originally posted 3 May 2007]