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  • Eric Sharp

How to Defeat the Patriot Act May 26, 2020

They say that you have to fight fire with fire. Many have tried and failed to defeat the Patriot Act, which authorizes warrantless surveillance and kangaroo FISA courts. Rand Paul once filibustered it for 10 hours! But it keeps getting re-authorized instead of retired like it deserves. If you aren't familiar, the ACLU has a guide to the USA Patriot Act that explains everything quickly. According to them, "Hastily passed 45 days after 9/11 in the name of national security, the Patriot Act was the first of many changes to surveillance laws that made it easier for the government to...

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My Top Political Podcasts May 16, 2020

We Are Libertarians A nuanced and fun show designed to "make you sound smarter when talking to your friends". The WAL network also hosts several other shows like the Brian Nichols Show, and their journal the WAL Heretic. Posts one or twice a week. I appreciate the intellectual diversity, and willingness to voice unpopular opinions in the libertarian echo-chamber. Mutual Exchange Radio A new project by C4SS.org, bringing the left market anarchist perspective to the podcast space. Very heady always challenges my understanding of topics covered. Posts about once a month. Abe Lincoln's Top Hat Hosted by Ben Kisel who...

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Become a Gender Libertarian May 16, 2020

To complete a trilogy of thought on gender liberty, I would like to give birth to a new term: gender libertarian. Many queer and LGBTQQI+ activists are already, even if they don't know it, and anyone else who believes in an open and pluralistic society should consider themselves one too. Simply put, a gender libertarian is someone who supports gender liberty. Gender liberty can be defined as the ability for an individual to make their own decisions about their gender and what it means to them. We are talking about self-determination and self-expression, applied to the concept of gender. Sex...

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Why I Joined the Libertarian Party May 11, 2020

About this time last year I joined the Libertarian Party. It was a long time coming, and I put it off for a while- but I bit the bullet. Why? For a long time I opted for organizations like YAL and C4L instead, thinking we had to work within one of the major two parties. I was aware of the LP, but hadn't given it much thought. So what changed? Well, let's take it point by point. 1.) Politics changed Or more accurately the GOP changed. Under Trump's direction the Republican party has become openly hostile to libertarian interests such...

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Optimism for the Future Jul 19, 2019

It's easy to look at the headlines and the division in our media feeds and feel dread. People my age seem sure that the world will be destroyed by they are seasoned with age. But there is a song that I retreat back to when I need reminding. That song is Forevermore by Iron Savior. Make sure you are in a quiet place where you won't be interrupted, and crank your sound system or earbuds. This ballad allows me to see past the rabble, past this moment in time, and see the realization of our goals. When I hear this...

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Political Language Strategery Pt. 1 Jul 7, 2019

Opponents on the state left and right are constantly reinventing words and political  language to suit their agendas and purposes. I've heard our ranks complain about this, but libertarians have got to lean in. This process consumed our very name in the US- we became libertarians because the cloak of liberalism was stolen from us. What follows is a list of terms and names that must morph to our strategic advantage. Much of our language is still from the Cold War, using the language of the right to oppose the state left. With the rising tide of the state anti-market...

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Why Left Libertarianism? Dec 6, 2017

We are lost, astray inside a  "blue corn maze", Libertarianism, a revolutionary philosophy of redistributing power generally, is today mainly associated with the Right Wing of American politics. Others still believe that libertarianism is a "third path" from left and right and has nothing to do with those concepts. This is wrong-headed and ahistorical. Libertarianism grew out of classical liberalism, which is properly viewed as belonging to the left. The core concept that libertarianism rests, liberalism, is liberatory by nature. Conscripting with theocratic restrictions on the right is illiberal and antithetical. And so it was long ago, in the time...

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Gender Liberty Revisited Nov 24, 2017

I've noticed at that lot of fellow libertarians are on the fence or adverse to gender-fluidity and transgenderism. As I've noted before, this exists in the mind of the beholder and is entirely outside of libertarianism. A “thin” libertarianism remains value-neutral on the matter and has nothing to say about it what so ever. A “thick” libertarianism coupled with conservative values (which is a very confused but somewhat common mix, as I've also explained previously) may have an adverse opinion, but this is usually just grafting on personal prejudices, pseudo-science, and religious strictures. A “thick” left libertarianism, while still holding...

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Liberty is a State of Being Nov 19, 2017

Sadhguru Vasudev cautions those that want to change the world to first rid their own hearts of fear and pain, before embarking to change the way others live — otherwise one will only transcribe one’s own darkness upon the world and make a bigger mess. Before you can bring the message of liberty to anyone, you must first “live in truth” and experience liberty in your mind and heart. If your heart, mind, and body, are not aligned to the same purpose your message will be muddled. As the saying goes, ” No one cares how much you know, until...

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Everyman Is An Island Nov 19, 2017

A commonly raised objection to the sovereignty of the individual is the cliche saying, "No man is an island." Or so they say, having read such out of a text book or annotated from a statist professor's mouth. This objection is raised to say that no one is completely isolated from society, and is part of some larger whole like the community and thus is not sovereign but rather a cog in the machine of civil society. But I will contend that every man is an island, and that the metaphor is incomplete without the water that distinguishes a mountain...

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