I wonder how large you you see the chance that Amercia will drop their way into socialism and go back to the land of hard work, valuable money and the motto: "A penny saved is a penny earned?"
I for my part think that big government will still try to spend their way out of anything, just by printing money and more and more "regulations". But one can see the end is approaching. The debt increase is IMHO beyond any hope, and sooner or later this will break down. And as von Mises has written. There is no hope to escape the problems of credit expansion. Either you stop it or it will stop your currency from functioning. I can tell you a break down of a currency is the most empoverisching event a nation can get in but a fully defeat in some war.... But usually after a lost war the currency will go down the drain anyway. And to my best knowledge a currency break down never has happened without violence. ....
I even think there may be the chance of a new civil war. AFAIKT the build-up-of-arms for the police is on it's way. I even think that we'll the the military on the streets in the US. What do you think?
I think Ron Paul is vital to the liberty movement at this point. Preserving his momentum is paramount. He needs to meet with some council of "high libertarians" to discuss strategy moving forward. The movement will likely have to become a lot more decentralized, but still have a few prominent leaders on top. I see regional champions of libertarianism coming up and giving speeches at different places. If we can win the hearts and minds of the youngish of both parties, we can get somewhere. But Paul needs to plan ahead for this. We need great, talented young speakers to get very well educated and to start many rallies and to begin teaching people economics and history.
That's how I see this moving forward. If we miss this chance, we might not get another for 30 or 40 years.
Unfortunately, I don't think Ron Paul is going to win. And had he won, I doubt he could've done much to arrest the momentum of the country. We can't succeed when the left spends their presidencies by borrowing multiple trillions. It's swimming with an anchor tied to your leg. In any case, the right isn't much better. Romney is a statist collectivist along with the rest of them, save Paul. Paul doesn't know how to gain and keep political power, however. Had he really wanted to be president he should've attained a governorship. Repubs don't generally elect congressman to the presidency in the modern era.
I think we need to found a new society and move there, thus getting out from under this crushing debt, an end run around the policies of the left. And my proposal is to create a floating state for libertarians, and craft in it a new political order in line with libertarian principles.
In Futurama Richard Nixon says "Computers may be twice as fast now than they were in 1973 but the average voter is as drunk and stupid as ever". It may come from a cartoon but that's where the problem lies, and not just with the US.
For years I have tried to convince myself the average voter is just "misguided" but the harsh reality has now become inescapable. Ludwig Von Mises put it much better "The struggle for liberty is ultimately not against tyrants and oligarchs but against the despotism of public opinion". The reason we have dangerous crackpots at the helm is because people want them to be at the helm. If you want even more proof you only need to listen to what people say about Ron Paul: he's considered "dangerous" because he wants to stop murdering people abroad, cut public spending, stop destroying the currency and bring the Federal Reserve to justice by fully auditing it. Do these sound like the actions of a "dangerous" man? Surely he's less dangerous than Obama, whose ideas seem the same as Romney's or Santorum's, only coated in different dialectics. I won't even comment about Europe, where the whole disgregration process is a full step ahead and where there isn't even a Ron Paul but just a bunch of small time crooks making Obama appear like a moral colossus.
The painful reality is the average voter is fully satified with the present system based on ever growing government intervention in his/her life. When Close Encouters of the Third Kind came out in 1977 Russell Davies commented "It's highly symbolic of the modern man's deep seated desire to be relieved of his weary responsibilities by an external agency". It may not have been Spielberg's goal but Davies was right on the money.
"I think we need to found a new society and move there, thus getting out from under this crushing debt, an end run around the policies of the left. And my proposal is to create a floating state for libertarians, and craft in it a new political order in line with libertarian principles."
Where? and which "state" will give up it's land for it? Sorry I can not see how this should work....
Friedrich Dominicus: Anen: "I think we need to found a new society and move there, thus getting out from under this crushing debt, an end run around the policies of the left. And my proposal is to create a floating state for libertarians, and craft in it a new political order in line with libertarian principles." Where? and which "state" will give up it's land for it? Sorry I can not see how this should work....
Anen: "I think we need to found a new society and move there, thus getting out from under this crushing debt, an end run around the policies of the left. And my proposal is to create a floating state for libertarians, and craft in it a new political order in line with libertarian principles."
I didn't explain properly. By "floating state" I mean literally a state floating, as in--on the ocean.
Take a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKWZBqSMU8U
The United States and China each have about 1 million square miles of land. At least half of that is uninhabitable for both countries.
However, the Pacific Ocean has 65 million square miles of water-surface.
When I get the capital, I'm going to begin manufacturing hex-platforms for sale or lease, and start a pilot program off San Francisco. Probably take me a couple years to reach that point, but I am going to do it. Sooner if I find an investor who shares my vision.
In the mean-time I'm building a conceptual basis for a legal system based on libertarian principles :)