Life, Love, and Liberty

The exploration of new genres continues with two opera sounds today by Andrea Bocelli.

-Canto Della Terra

-Songo

Look for these two tunes and more on Songo.

Time to tackle a new genre with Now We Are Free by Enya.

Check it out by taking a look at the Gladiator sound track.

It’s late in coming but I’ve asked Brad Spangler to add my name to the list of MLL members who endorses this campaign. Why do I endorse it? Let’s put the reasons into words. In counteracting the state, focusing attention on issues in the limelight is important. One such issue is the continuing war in Iraq. Here, a newly resurgent SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) has the right idea with direct action aimed at confronting the war machinery.

Should we feel qualms about engaging in illegal activity? No! As long as we remain within the ethic of non-aggression. Some might raise the issue of property rights being violated. How can recruitment stations, congressional offices, and so on be regarded as genuine private property? Remembering that the state is criminality writ large, being funded by taxation or receiving tax dollars renders a different situation.

These actions are consistent with the final goal summed up well in this fine chapter from For A New Liberty.

“To conclude our discussion, the primary plank of a libertarian foreign policy program for America must be to call upon the United States to abandon its policy of global interventionism: to withdraw immediately and completely, militarily and politically, from Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, from everywhere.”
-Murray Rothbard

Well, I’m feeling tired but I am going to weather the storm and blog it up anyway. Man, I am in love with writing and music. Often when I need a break from the troubles of life, music is a wonderful escape.

I’ll throw out another mixture of good listens.

-Baby I Need Your Loving from Essential Tops.

-To Love Somebody from The Bee Gees-Their Greatest Hits:The Record.

-War, What is it Good For from The Very Best of Edwin Starr.

-Runaround Sue from Dion & Belmonts - Greatest Hits.

“Perhaps the whole thing can be summed up by a sign carried by some of the kids at an anti-war march in New York City on April 5. The sign read simply: “Death to the State. Power to the People.” How can you fault a movement having that as a slogan?”
-Murray Rothbard

I’ve spoken of Kevin Carson’s influence upon me before and recently obtained a bound copy of his book Studies in Mutualist Political Economy. After having revisited the third part of the text that deals with action, thoughts for a post sprang to mind. Similar ideas had been brewing since taking a look at some essays from Problems of Market Liberalism that dealt in how to effectively spread libertarian ideas. Basically, the strategic outlook should be a populist one. As Kevin puts it:

“Not all reductions in state power are equally important, and it could be disastrous to dismantle state functions in the wrong order.”

Exactly! As an example, a priority should be placed on ending corporate welfare — and translating the savings into tax cuts for those at the bottom of the bracket — over ending welfare statism. There should also be a promotion of cooperative grassroots schemes like Ithaca Health Insurance and the revigoration of mutual aid societies.
Not only are they just — not resting on taxation– but promote a sense of community and control that is lacking in bureaucracy. Radical libertarianism should be a people’s movement seeking to widen the sphere that individuals have for control over their lives. That and an ethical opposition to state aggression combined with a fear of the destruction that centralized coercive state power can wreak — and has! — is what made me an individualist anarchist after a hiatus from the creed. In closing, I’d like to throw out one of my favorite quotes that really speaks to the idea of a populist movement.

“After a long life, and thirty years in the public school trenches, I’ve concluded that genius is as common as dirt.”
-John Taylor Gatto

Amen! Encouraging that spirit of self-confidence in one’s intelligence is key to crafting a genuine people’s movement against the state.

Lots of different artists to promote today.

-Drown In My Own Tears from Ray Charles:Ultimate Collection.

-Good Thing from The Raw & and the Cooked .

-Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy from Queen’s Greatest Hits.

-Time After Time from Time After Time.

Music is such a wonderful part of life.

Disclaimer: In writing critically about the drug war, let me emphasize that I mean no insensitivity towards those who have had ill experiences with illicit substances. I also make no pretense of knowledge other than from reading and chatting with folks.

A galling example of what destruction can be heaped upon the populace by an agency vested with coercive power run amok occurred last December. We witnessed the grotesque spectacle of DEA raids to prevent sick individuals from making use of marijuana as a medicine. Here, we see that the DEA is under the illusion that they collectively own our bodies. What business is it of theirs if someone weighs the costs and benefits of cannabis use, given their individual context, then acts on that judgment. Absolutely none! It’s events like this that make me remember Rothbard’s reply to the charge of utopianism…

“the man who puts all the guns and all the decision-making power into the hands of the central government and then says, “Limit yourself”; it is he who is truly the impractical utopian.”
-Murray Rothbard

Yes, the DEA was acting contrary to the wishes of the local electorate, yet the local law enforcement agency took part in this tragedy. We see a split in decision-making power– albeit still in the context of statist institutions — but rights still being trampled. This is a fruitful area for a whole array of activist measures from mass mailings to civil disobedience. Encouragement of willing human walls between DEA agents and their targets would let them know that there is less public support than they think. Understandably, many people may not want to incur that kind of risk, yet it doesn’t hurt to throw out the idea. Speaking personally, in moments of intense political idealism, I feel like I’d be willing to volunteer for such an action.

Jimi Hendrix awed countless crowds throughout his career with brilliant guitar work in songs like Purple Haze. Look for it on the collection Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix.

Aretha Franklin has plenty of classics worth checking out but I’d like to highlight the song she performed in the Blues Brothers. It was her 60s hit Think that folks can find on the album Aretha’s Best.

Back to Everclear we go.

-Queen Of The Air

-Santa Monica

-Heartspark Dollarsign

-Chemical Smile

All of these worthy songs can be found on their album Sparkle and Fade.