A lone voice of freedom in European parliament, a healthy dose of Nigel Farage is the only way I can bear to watch any European proceedings. (Much like needing Ron Paul or Peter Schiff to be on hand for U.S. news segments, to avoid having to turn the television off.)
See below for channels that host his videos, but this recent one in particular I liked.
europarl
ukipmedia
UKIPmeps
You may recognize Farage from this famous clip:
I literally spit all over myself laughing at the second one.
That was actually my second exposure to him, as it was instantly an Internet hit, and got around quickly. My first was this one, which led me to reply "whoa...a European talking politics, and not sounding like a complete idiot." Then of course when I saw the Rumpoy rant, I recognized him and began investigating. That's how I learned about UKIP, and started to follow (at least somewhat) happenings in European politics.
So the old codger at EconomicPolicyJournal has discovered Farage...
This is awesome. Farage is calls out the banksters and their scheming to use the eurozone crisis as cover to create a centrally planned Europe.
(Interesting how Farage mentions the previous video in the thread in this one, 18 months later. But really. If you follow some of those channels I linked in the OP, you'll really get a sense for how screwed up Europe is. We may be in worse shape economically, but they are so screwed. So screwed. Just look at the way they scoff and laugh at Farage (the (unfortunate) Walter Block evil twin actually is his polar opposite...Martin Schulz, Socialist Group President). Thank god for Farage and Daniel Hannan. I don't know how they do it. We think Washington is a den of vipers. Maybe it's largely because I'm a foreigner and it's not my land, not what I'm used to...but I would be scared shitless to stand up in those hearings. In fact, that's about the only thing that does scare me...the obedience that would come after one of their orders...)
I don't think he is THAT good. He thinks democracy is holy grail - everything undemocratic is bad and if democratic system is not performing then just people in charge are bad, which is so sad. Perhaps he thinks he could be better looter and central planner than them (on a somewhat smaller - national - scale, but we know it changes nothing). Remember that politics is popularity contest - he is the only voice of discontent in EU parlament and poor one at that. I don't see what is scary to say what he wants - he can only bark at best (especially that he is being paid millions of stolen euros to do that comedy show - pretty nice for barking). As long as he is completely powerless to change anything nobody in power cares (which can be seen by reaction on faces of hardcore socialist on these videos). Daniel Hannan - he is something different. I kinda like him, clearly he has read a lot about AE, I wonder what he thinks about ancap ideas. Too bad he has chosen to loot people just so he can be part of EU scam.
boniek: Daniel Hannan - he is something different. I kinda like him, clearly he has read a lot about AE, I wonder what he thinks about ancap ideas. Too bad he has chosen to loot people just so he can be part of EU scam.
Daniel Hannan - he is something different. I kinda like him, clearly he has read a lot about AE, I wonder what he thinks about ancap ideas. Too bad he has chosen to loot people just so he can be part of EU scam.
I think you're being a bit harsh by saying he has 'chosen to loot'. He isn't looting, he is simply receiving some of the loot. by running to me a MEP he hasn't caused the state to grow, and as an MEP you could argue he has slowed it down.
However I agree that all the 'libertarian'-democrats like Farage, Hannan and co, need to read some Hoppe.
"He isn't looting, he is simply receiving some of the loot."
Yeah, I stand corrected on that. Still, he has chosen to be part of a problem instead of solving it. I would argue that anybody that supports democracy is causing democratic state to grow (ceteris paribus) because they convince people that voted on them that system is good (or at least not that important) - only people in charge are bad (important). They perpetuate myth of democracy as sustainable and desirable (in a sense of achieving goal of prosperity for society) system when facts and logic are to the contrary, so people instead of abandoning idea of democracy are just "voting bums out".
I thought this dude looked familiar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax-sDZisMag
The whole documentary is pretty good, too.
Argh I posted on Internet Explorer because Chrome isn't playing youtube videos right now and mises.org ate my post, so I typed it out again on Chrome. Sorry for taking up space.
I don't think he is part of the problem. He is a member of european pariliament who supports the abololition of the european parliament (at least as far as the UK is concerened). As an MEP, he is the best an an-cap could hope for.
I agree with you that democracy is stupid. Like I said, he should read some Hoppe. But to his credit Hannan does support relatively radical democratic reforms. And right now I think direct-democracy could have some rather libertarian results.
As far as I understand you just confirmed what I said. He is part of the problem he is trying to solve (EU Pariliament). Considering that and how well compensated they are for not doing anything but talking and without power to do anything (which they themselves say in videos linked above) calls into question his motives and means. I mean he knows he can't do shit, but he is getting a lot of stolen money for pretending. I he wants to preach how EU is bad he can do that without subsidy. At least he would not be hypocrite. EU is going to hell with or without him. As an ancap all MEPs are the same to me - at best confused classical liberal democrats. Listening to those losers is waste of my time. Better go and read some Mises or Hoppe as you mentioned. "Fairly radical" reforms are just that - they keep the essence of the problem and changes are only there to to sell it better.
Free market in essence is direct democracy. Direct democracy does not always mean free market.
I knew there was something I liked about Cavuto...
Farage continues in the great tradition of opposition MP's from the XIX century: lots of well-worded criticism about the present ruling party but little (if anything) of value.
It's very hard to draw a comparison with Ron Paul: everything Paul does is aimed at exposing the largest number of persons possible to his message. But what Farage does is speaking to his own party and supporters. In short he's not out to convert people: he's preaching to the faithful. Different market strategist but I am almost sure to know which one is the most successful.
If we consider politics a form of market right now in Europe there's an enormous demand for anti-EU, small government types. The offering is scarce and marketed in the worst possible way: as anyone knows people won't buy from you if they don't know what you are selling, even less if they don't know you exist. Instead of trying to present his own product to a host of potential new customers, Farage prefers his old customer base. It ain't much but it gives him enough to scrape by.
Farage on UKIP's recent success:
(host sounds eerily familiar, no?)
It's hard to not really like this guy.
Farage: I owe no allegiance to the EU flag
subscribe to capitalaccount on youtube. I just saw him on there yesterday and was told he's been on there a few times.
http://www.youtube.com/user/CapitalAccount
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9wJRa7s_-U
"The best way to bail out the economy is with liberty, not with federal reserve notes." - pairunoyd
"The vision of the Austrian must be greater than the blindness of the sheeple." - pairunoyd
As an european I must say that Nigel Farage is one of the very few politicians I respect.