Category Archives: Freedom

Little Tony

Thursday 3 November 2011 Richard 1 Comment

Little Tony was sitting on a park bench munching on one candy bar after another. After the 6th candy bar, a man on the bench across from him said, “Son, you know eating all that candy isn’t good for you. It will give you acne, rot your teeth, and make you fat.”

Little Tony replied, “My grandfather lived to be 107 years old.”

The man asked, “Did your grandfather eat 6 candy bars at a time?”

Little Tony answered, “No, he minded his own fucking business.”

[Reprised from beNZylpiperazine, March 2007.]

ALCP, Ayn Rand, Freedom, Jihad on Drugs™, Libertarianz, Live Like It's Legal, Meta-ethics, Philosophy, Slavery, Tax, Vote 2011

A top tax rate of 39 minutes

Tuesday 1 November 2011 Richard 3 Comments

I’m inordinately fond of this quotation from comedian Katt Williams.‎

If you ain’t got no job, and you not smoking weed, I don’t know what the fuck you are doing with your life, I really don’t.

Some people seek to spend their every waking hour hard at work. Some people seek to spend their every waking hour hard at play. And some people seek an elusive “work/life balance”. Are you keeping busy?

This post is a bit of a follow-up to why I am a libertarian. I am a libertarian because one cannot consistently argue for personal liberties and at the same time be opposed to economic liberty.

I have been a drug law reform campaigner my entire adult life. I joined NORML over thirty years ago – or tried to. I was told to wait a year or two until I turned 18. The idea of persecuting people for choosing to smoke a herb that makes them feel happy and relaxed, and enhances their appreciation of food, music and sex always seemed to me both ludicrous and wrong. There are too many smokers to arrest!

The fact that there are too many cannabis smokers to arrest makes cannabis prohibition ludicrous, but it does not make it wrong. At university I once attended an introductory lecture on critical thinking. The lecturer devoted his time to demolishing most of my long cherished arguments in favour of drug law reform. I was aghast! And chastened. I realised that deploying bad arguments for good causes is not a good idea. I also realised that I needed only one good argument in favour of drug law reform. That argument is the argument from human rights. I have a moral right to smoke cannabis! It ain’t nobody’s business if I do! The state should leave peaceful people alone to enjoy smoking weed, if that’s how they choose to spend their time.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I realised that my one good argument was actually an entire political ideology. That’s when I realised I was a libertarian. I have a moral right to earn money! It ain’t nobody’s business if I do! The state should leave peaceful people alone to enjoy earning money, if that’s how they choose to spend their time. And it should leave peaceful, productive people alone to enjoy the fruits of their labours. Prohibition is violence and taxation is theft. Both institutions depend, ultimately, on coercion by the state. Both are wrong, and for the same reason. Whatever may be open to disagreement, there is one act of evil that may not, the act that no man may commit against others and no man may sanction or forgive.* So long as men desire to live together, no man may initiate—do you hear me? no man may start—the use of physical force against others.

But, from a governmental perspective, there are differences between smoking pot and earning money. Time is money. The government can tax your money, but it can’t tax your time. Unless you try to combine smoking pot with earning money. Then you run the risk of a tax bill of several years in jail. This happened to one of the great heroes of New Zealand’s drug law reform movement, Dakta Green. Right now, he should be out campaigning for the ALCP vote in New Lynn. Instead, he’s rotting behind bars. Dakta Green says

After you’ve spent a little time in jail for growing a little weed, it tends to focus your mind on whether or not that’s a fair and proper response from authorities to our citizens. I, along with millions of others around the world, have decided that cannabis should be legally available for adults.

I’m one of those millions of people who’s decided that cannabis should be legally available for adults. That’s why, this election, I’m standing for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party. I’m the ALCP candidate for the Mana electorate, and #9 on the party list. Tick, tick!

[Cross-posted to SOLO.]

(*This is the Objectivist version of the NIOF principle, due to Ayn Rand. Christians may not sanction, but they must forgive. Yes, even the tax collectors.)

Ayn Rand, Bogus Science, Consciousness, Evolutionism, Freedom, Intelligent Design, Laws of Nature, Meta-ethics, Monism vs Dualism, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind

We are not Robots Ayn Rand. We are Moral Agents.

Thursday 27 October 2011 Tim 12 Comments

Though we are wonderfully designed beings *we are not Robots!* This is a monumental fact that raises human beings into another League far above the rest of creation.
One of the most self-evident of proofs that we Humans are dualistic Spirit beings, and part of a higher reality than the materialistic realm is that we possess Libertarian free will. Atheist Materialism is at a complete loss to explain this. Therefore they deny it. Evolutionary Psychology is the new big thing in atheist academia, and it specializes in theorizing away freewill morality. In Contrast the Biblical theistic explanation of reality actually has the explanatory power to deal with the issue as to how and why freewill and freedom are possible.
Materialism is a very shallow faith… a purely convenient atheistic whim that does not square with the facts of experience. They abitralily impose it upon reality by sheer force of will. The fatal problem is in a purely Materialistic Universe Liberty and freewill are impossible because everything is enslaved to deterministic causation. Atheist Materialists infer that everything in existence from the moon and the stars to Ford cars and lustful thoughts all were pre-determined within ‘the big bang’. Of course even admitting the universe had a beginning is a recent novelty for Materialists. They used to believe the universe was eternal and would mock Christians fo believing God made the universe out of nothing… that is until science proved that the universe did in fact have a beginning just as The Book of Genesis declared.
Now having quietly corrected themselves on that thorny issue, it is staggering to apprehend just how outrageous and blundering the atheist assertion of materialism still is! Not only does it deny freewill, It actually infers that Henry Ford was compelled to invent the Motor car! They are supposed to be inescapably determined by the Laws of physics! They assert everything that exists and happens, from the Big Bang to Entropic Death is supposed to be nothing more than the ‘settling of Cosmic dust’…the blind result of an explosion! It ought to be obvious to anyone with a modicum of common sense that this is absurd! Many Atheists (Richard Dawkins included) hate discussing this matter. Many bury their heads in the sands of denial. In contrast Freewill *And design* is fundamental to Theism and the teaching and ethics of the Bible.
For eg. The Bible clearly teaches Gods will is currently * not being done* on Earth as it is in Heaven. The Earth is filled with Rebellious evildoers whom freely commit atrocities and perversions …. And The Bible says God holds mankind accountable for our wicked works… We are accountable to God because we are not compelled by materialistic forces to commit evil, Nor does he impose his will upon us. We act via our own choices. We are moral agents. Christ taught his Jewish disciples to pray to Their heavenly Father “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in Earth as it is in heaven…”. They were praying for an end to the free reign of unchecked evil. In the meantime we need Just government to mitigate the evil urges of fallen man.
Freewill Morality begins back in the Garden of Eden. When God made Adam he gave him the liberty to disobey Him. God gave Adam a choice, and it is in the Genesis story that the principles of Libertarian ethics find their origins. It is here where Man gets his God-given inalienable right to Life, and the liberty to exercise his own moral judgments as a freewill agent.
Consciousness and free will are Theistic realties. The problem of slavery to determinism is the ultimate proof that if Atheist Materialism were true, it would render reality Amoral as it not only negates the Libertarian ethics of inalienable rights, by rendering Man a mere chemical reaction, but destroys morality absolutely! Moral law has not foundation in a cold materialistic universe and Materialistic beings cannot be moral agents as they don’t possess freewill. It is a double dilemma. Most Materialists claim we horribly delude ourselves as to the existence of morality and freewill… They say the scientific man has exorcised these bogeymen ( This is what the foolish superstition of Materialism leads to and a good example of this reasoning can be found in the writings of honest atheist Bertrand Russell)
And then flying in the face of all this you get the psychotic delusions of Objectivist atheists whom pretend they can squeeze Inalienable rights out of stones. They are Bat shit crazy… bordering on dishonest.
Rabid atheist Ayn Rand was 100% wrong in her John Galt’s speech when she called The Adam of the Bible a Robot! The truth is *It is Her Atheist Materialism which renders Man a mere amoral machine!*
That is an inescapable fact! Rand was absolutely wrong! She is deranged! Her whole argument is Bunk. She is the enemy of Libertarianism because she sets about to destroy faith in the bible… and it is from the Bible that all the essential principles of Libertarian Individual rights and limited government are derived. (eg. Study John Locke). Thus it is my duty as a Lover of Liberty and a believer in The objective reality of Individual rights to expose the fraudulent delusions of Ayn Rand… a wolf in sheep’s cloth. A deceiver of Souls.
Theism escapes this amoral prison because man gets his life and freewill conscience breathed into him from the spirit of God himself. Ie our conscience is not a product of or determined by Matter. And the honest man must admit this view makes far more sense! It can explain why I am free to write this sentence… I could have watched TV instead. My wife was not a Robotic slave to inescapable laws of causation… she does love me! YES! Theism is far more rational than Atheist Materialism! Its explanatory power takes in the full scope of Human experience. We didn’t need to touch on the fact that atheist materialism is also complete at a loss to explain the origin of Life whereas The Bible has a brilliant explanation for that too… completely supported by Science proper! And it is from the Christian scriptures that Libertarianism and the conceptualization of Inalienable rights was born. I shall be expanding upon this assertion in future posts… so stay tuned. …Anyone hear the howling of Wolves?
Tim Wikiriwhi

End note: I take no pleasure in conflict. And as a Libertarian Christian I respect the rights of others such as Objectivists to believe what they like and say whatever they like even if it is against my own personal views. This is what freedom is, and freedom of conscience, freedom of religion is the most fundamental of all freedoms. It would be nice if I did not have to level accusations against ‘Objectivism’. Unnecessary conflict is to be avoided. A cardinal rule put down by the great founder of this Blog is in the side Bar. “ Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen”. The primary goal of this blog is edification and the promotion of toleration, yet it must be remembered that Truth is the highest of values, and that Lies damn men’s souls and prop up tyrannies, and that as such Christians are called to ‘earnestly contend for the faith’. It must also be remembered that in a free society that there will still exist conflicting values and world views locked into a War of Ideas. Yet this is a war of minds not swords. Reason, and the power of persuasion are the weapons. It is in the contexts of Individual rights that makes a free society a more civil and just society having removed violence and political coercion from the Ideological Battlefield. Objectivists wage this war with relentless fanatical zeal in emulation of their Idol… The fanatical Atheist Ayn Rand. Thus it behooves Me to meet this Horde head on, and swing the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ at their conceptual throats and to decapitate their Ideological Queen. Objectivists should expect nothing less.
They give no quarter and none shall be given them.
Tim Wikiriwhi. Soldier for Christ.

Everyone is entitled to my opinion

Tuesday 11 October 2011 Richard Leave a comment

Brilliant Minds Think Alike, But Brilliant Lines Cost You

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Everyone’s entitled to David Brinkley’s opinion, but they have to pay for Ashleigh Brilliant’s thoughts.

Mr. Brinkley, the television journalist, says he has been the victim of “a shakedown.” He says the culprit is Mr. Brilliant, but more than that he won’t say: “I don’t want to get into it because I don’t want him coming back at me. We’ve paid him off. Now I just want to get rid of him.”

Mr. Brilliant’s racket: professional epigrammatist. Creating and copyrighting pithy mottoes has been his livelihood since 1967. So far, the 63-year-old former history professor has copyrighted 7,540 aphorisms, which he licenses for postcards, T-shirts and other products. They range from his favorite, “Fundamentally, there may be no basis for anything,” to No. 7,540: “My plan is to get through life without ever having a plan.” And they include No. 461, copyrighted in 1974: “Everybody Is Entitled to My Opinion.”

After Mr. Brinkley’s book with a similar title was published last fall, Mr. Brilliant wrote him a letter saying: “I have always had the utmost respect for you and your work … but I am sorry to tell you that there is a legal problem.” Noting that Brilliant v. W.B. Enterprises Inc. found that even a short, catchy phrase is entitled to copyright protection, Mr. Brilliant explained, “I am obliged to fight tenaciously to retain those rights, because my entire livelihood depends on it.”

Mr. Brinkley acknowledged in his book that he paid $1,000 to a friend of his daughter, Edwin Craig Wall III, for thinking the title up one night over dinner.

But Mr. Brilliant thinks Mr. Wall was just “subconsciously quoting” the saying, not creating it. “I impute no dishonesty to Mr. Wall,” Mr. Brilliant wrote to Mr. Brinkley, “but there is also a very good possibility that he had somewhere encountered it on one of my products.”

Indeed, the world of epigrams is fairly well-mined with Brilliant copyrights waiting for infringement. He has now settled 134 infringement claims, he says.

And in this case, too, he won in the end. Random House, which published Mr. Brinkley’s book, paid him $1,000 for the rights without agreeing to or contesting Mr. Brilliant’s claims.

All of which reminds Mr. Brilliant of thought No. 1,862: “Before you go to sleep tonight, please remember that all my dreams are copyrighted.”

Copyright © 1997 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

My opinion is that

People like Mr. Brilliant give professional epigrammatists a bad name

If restricting other people’s freedom of speech is what his “entire livelihood depends on” then it’s time to get a new job.

ACT, ALCP, Freedom, Libertarianz, Vote 2011

Stephen Berry for Tamaki

Monday 10 October 2011 Richard Leave a comment

Libertarians come and libertarians go … and some libertarians come back, older and wiser, and on steroids! Such a libertarian is Stephen Berry. One time Deputy Leader of the Libertarianz Party, this time around Berry is an Independent candidate for the Tamaki electorate. His website is here.

I’ve always loved Berry’s press releases. ACT – Classically Illiberal Stinkers is an all-time favourite.

“Any person who openly advocates a war on people of whom they disapprove could be called many things, most of which are uncomplimentary, but they can not be called ‘classical liberal.’ They are an authoritarian.

“I had always thought that classical liberals supported individual freedom and ownership over your own body and life,” Berry says. “Now, either I am mistaken about what a classical liberal is, or Newman truly has no political integrity. No prizes will be awarded for the correct answer.”

It was press releases like this one (and constant aggravation from Muriel Newman) that inspired me to join the Libz. Indeed, my first press release as a Libz spokesman, Smoking ban poll causes alarm, followed a week later.

There are many candidates to choose from in Tamaki this election. Most of them offer varying degrees of the status quo; only one offers the alternative of individual liberty. That candidate is Stephen Berry …

Unlike the other candidates for the seat of Tamaki, I am not going to bribe you with election lollies obtained through taxation. I am not going to promise to spend more of your money on special interests. I am not going to pretend that the solution to local and national issues is more Government. I am not going to tell you how to live your life, spend your money or what you must do with your property!

I am standing on a platform of individual freedom. Real individual freedom – not the watered down illusion that the Act party will offer. I am advocating true personal sovereignty – unlike the National party which has a constitution espousing freedom while they ban substances they do not approve of. I promote complete economic freedom – in contrast to Labour and Green politicians who wish to steal your money to redistribute to the lazy.

Bring it on!

I am Tamaki’s only freedom candidate!

Vote Stephen Berry for Tamaki! (And give the ALCP your party vote!)

Freedom, Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew

Matthew 13:24-30

Saturday 8 October 2011 Richard Leave a comment

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” (NIV)

Freedom, Libertarianz, Peter Dunne

Why I am a libertarian

Thursday 6 October 2011 Richard 1 Comment

Because

A person can not consistently argue for personal liberties and at the same time be opposed to economic liberty.

[F]or those who can not reconcile the idea that someone who advocates free market capitalism also supports decriminalizing cannabis, consider this – both are expressions of the rights of individuals to live their lives as they see fit. No one else owns your life or what you do with it. That applies equally to the drugs you take and to the productive labour you choose to engage in – and the subsequent disposal of all wealth thus produced.

Vote Sean Fitzpatrick – Ohariu 2011

Monday 3 October 2011 Richard 1 Comment

I’m standing as the ALCP candidate for the Mana Electorate in this years’s General Election. Expect an official announcement soon.

Meanwhile, friend and fellow freedom fighter Sean Fitzpatrick has officially announced his candidacy for the Ohariu electorate.

Sean Fitzpatrick to be Libertarianz Candidate in Ohariu
Friday, 30 September 2011, 4:52 pm
Press Release: Libertarianz Party

Sean Fitzpatrick to Stand as Libertarianz Candidate in Ohariu

Libertarianz Deputy Leader, Sean Fitzpatrick, has officially announced his candidacy for the Ohariu electorate in this year’s general election.

As an alternative to power lusting professional politicians, Mr. Fitzpatrick will be contesting the electorate this November to serve the interests of individual voters themselves rather than serve the interests of a political party.

“While the authoritarian Greens are willing to back anti free speech campaigner Chuck Chauvel and the ‘cling to power at all cost’ Nats are willing to support Peter ‘I need Ohariu more than it needs me’ Dunne, Libertarianz wants to give voters a real alternative,” Fitzpatrick says.

“I am the only candidate who believes individuals are best qualified to run their own lives. Every other candidate either thinks people are too dumb to make their own decisions or simply views them as a tool to wrangle a political career.”

“Many people are struggling to find work and the national debt is worsening by the day. It is becoming increasingly urgent for politicians to get out of the way of the people who are the real source of economic growth: ordinary, hard working kiwis. These are the folk who care a lot more about their bank balance, their health care, their kid’s education and their own future prospects than any pack of politicians ever could.”

Mr. Fitzpatrick was the Libertarianz candidate in the Mana by-election in 2010. A professional martial arts instructor, he runs a highly successful full time school in Wellington.

For more information, see www.libertarianz.org.nz or contact:

Sean Fitzpatrick
Libertarianz Deputy Leader
Ohariu Candidate
Phone: 021 1699 281
Email: sean.fitzpatrick@libertarianz.org.nz
Website: http://seanfitzpatrickonline.com

Libertarianz: More Freedom, Less Government
www.libertarianz.org.nz

Go, Sean!

Freedom, Jihad on Drugs™, Libertarianz, National Party, Slavery, Vote 2011

A party of parrots

Wednesday 14 September 2011 Richard Leave a comment

It looks like Hekia Parata is the first off the blocks here in the Mana electorate. A flyer was in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago. Half the content is under the heading “I stand for:”

Not included are the three most important of the National Party’s stated values, viz.,

• Individual freedom and choice
• Personal responsibility
• Limited government

Included is

Safer communities. I back law and order policies that put victims first and deal with serious repeat offenders. I support early intervention for young offenders and measures to win the drug war on ‘P’.

Hekia’s list is standard copy that I presume has gone out to all candidates because the exact same text is on Mark Mitchell‘s website and Leonie Hapeta‘s website.

National Party candidates don’t know what they stand for. That’s why they have to be told. Parata’s party is not a party of principle, it’s a party of parrots!

Eternal Vigilance