In July of 2001, Portugal tried something which would horrify policy makers the world over: the decriminalization of all drugs. As a result, Portugal turned into a country overrun with drugs, stoners, drug tourists, and criminals…right?
“The data show that, judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success. Within this success lie self-evident lessons that should guide drug policy debates around the world.”
While this result may shock most people, this comes as no surprise to Libertarians. The question is, will the rest of the world learn from Portugal’s experiment with drug decriminalization?
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The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. – Amendment X – Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791.
Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) in his support of HCR 50, a resolution reaffirming Texas’ Tenth Amendment rights has reinvigorated not only the debate over state’s rights but also the ultimate “nuclear” option of a state’s right to secede from the U.S.
On April 9th, Gov. Perry explained his reasoning behind supporting the resolution.
Gov. Rick Perry’s Tenth Amendment Stance: Principle?
Gov. Perry, speaking at a Tea Party event on April 15th went a step further telling the crowd that the day could come where Texas could decide to secede.
“We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”
Christy Hoppe, writing for The Dallas Morning News, calls the notion that Texas has a right to secede a “mythology.”
“The fact is, the treaty under which Texas joined the U.S. provides that it could be divided into five separate states. But it is not empowered to leave the union, a question that the Civil War seems to have settled once and for all.”
Left leaning blogs such as Texas Liberal also agree that the question of secession was “settled” with the Civil War and goes even further stating that Gov. Perry’s statements are “treasonous.”
On further inspection, the idea that individuals on the Left would call the question of secession settled should not be surprising at all. When taken to its ultimate conclusion, the philosophy of the Left is “might makes right.” If a majority of people can be convinced they have the right to pick the pockets of a minority of taxpayers, for example, then by all means. In their collectivist world view, “the majority rules;” individual rights must always take a back seat to the will of the majority.
The question of secession was by no means “settled” by the Civil War (or the War Between the States if you prefer), at least not in a sense which recognized the rule of law. Abraham Lincoln made a choice between upholding the U.S. Constitution and preserving the Union. With his suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and other civil liberties we normally take for granted, Lincoln chose the latter*. The state’s rights issue was “settled” from the barrel of a gun in a period of U.S. history we now call “Reconstruction.”
Beyond this “settled history” argument, it seems to me that if the federal government violates the Tenth Amendment and ignores the sovereignty of the states, it stands to reason that the states can ignore the dictates of the federal government (which is really all Gov. Perry is trying to do). The Tenth Amendment was a guarantee to those who were concerned about states losing sovereignty to a stronger federal government. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that they had secured their independence form Great Britain, why would they want to surrender sovereignty to a new authority?
Over time, the Tenth Amendment was ignored by the courts and the congress. The aftermath of the Civil War practically changed the term “The United States” from an “are” to an “is.” And with the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, the states lost the ability to be represented at the federal level. For all practical purposes, the “United States of America” could be more accurately referred to as “The United State of America.”
These facts of history do not make the notion of either state’s rights or secession “mythology” by any means. The Declaration of Independence makes the case for “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” makes a similar case as does John Locke in his “Two Treatises of Government.” There is no shortage of political theory which supports Gov. Perry’s claim that states (and people for that matter) have the right to seek self determination and dissolve or separate themselves from oppressive government.
Gov. Rick Perry’s Tenth Amendment Stance: Political Pandering?
Gov. Perry’s sudden concern for state’s rights does have me wondering about his motives. As I’ve pointed out above, this erosion of Tenth Amendment rights has been happening since before the text of the amendment’s ink dried. The federal government did not just start undermining state sovereignty when Barack Obama was sworn into office on January 20, 2009.
I can’t help but wonder how concerned Gov. Perry was when his predecessor, George W. Bush, moved from the Texas Governor’s Mansion and into the White House imposing unfunded federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind? On what side of the state’s rights debate did Gov. Perry fall when the Ashcroft/Gonzales Justice Department argued successfully before the Supreme Court that Angel Raich could not use marijuana for her medical conditions pursuant to California law on the theory of interstate commerce**?
Some of Perry’s critics believe that his sudden Tenth Amendment convictions have more to do with political pandering than principle (and they may have a point). Gov. Perry is looking to face Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2010 Republican Primary Governor’s race. What better way to win support than to promote state’s rights at a Tea Party event? Who knows, perhaps with all of the state’s rights and small government rhetoric he’s espousing, small government minded Texans will forget about his executive orders forcing 11 year-old girls to receive HPV vaccinations?
While it is great to hear someone of Gov. Perry’s stature stating that there are limits to federal power, it would be a lot easier for me to accept as genuine if it wasn’t his party that was out of power in Washington.
Sometime one has to get up early to get the quote-of-the-day post on this site. Not being a morning person, I simply waited until after midnight. Blogging is more fun while sucking down a beer than drinking the first cup of morning coffee, anyway. Since I rarely provide the QOTD here, I thought it was time for twofers.
While at the Birmingham Tea Party, quite a few Republicans thanked me for my role in bringing the Department of Homeland Security document to the light of day. One was even shedding real tears of gratitude. Every since the report was released, I’ve been amazed by the amount of site traffic and major media attention this issue has received. And also very, very confused.
WE FVCKING TOLD YOU SO!!!!! WE TOLD YOU THIS EVERY G*DD@MN DAY FOR 8 G*DD@MN YEARS!!!!!
He adds:
Anyway, I, for one, welcome my new rightwing fellow travelers. All I ask is that they try to remember that a red boot can stomp on a human face as much as a blue boot.
He expressed my feelings so well that I’m at a loss for words. And that’s a very difficult accomplishment, indeed.
The furor over the Tea Party movement has been quite exciting. While I love watching government officials and their sycophantic propagandists energetically denounce people for daring to suggest that people should be permitted to keep their earnings, I, like others, think the protests – in and of themselves – are insufficient to meaningfully change the vampire economy that has seized the U.S. in its fangs.
The people protesting are not, however, wrong. The basis of a free society is the independence of the people: their ability to choose how to conduct their lives, what professions they will pursue, where they will live, how they will order their lives. The more resources a person has at their disposal, the wider the range of choices available to them. Freedom from taxation is as fundamental a human right as choosing whom we love. Obviously, for the majority of us, freedom from taxation will never actually happen, instead if you’re wanting to have more resources at your disposal, and have a wider range of choices available to do as you please in your life, instead of no longer wanting to pay taxes – taking a look at something like these 8 tricks to improve your finances could possibly leave you feeling more fulfilled as well as more financially stable. At the end of the day those taxes help your government and people that are much less fortunate, so why would you want to stop paying them?
The protesters are, however, seemingly oblivious to the real problem, the control the state has over the institutions of finance, banking and trade. It is this control that not only allows the state to plunder without any limits, but also encourages people to acquire wealth through dishonest means – through rent-seeking, wealth distribution, or other forms of special privilege.
If we wish to be a free people, we must build the institutions and cultural habits that encourage individuals to amass these resources through peaceful commerce and production. The fundamental act by which people stockpile these resources is called saving. In a simple economy, such as an agrarian one, the importance of having people stockpiling seed-corn, or hay for feeding their herds during winters or periods of famine is obvious to everyone.
In a complex economy, people typically stockpile money, since there is a degree of uncertainty as to how those savings will be put to use in the future, and money provides them with the most options when looking to consume savings to satisfy some present need. Unfortunately, people have stopped saving, largely because the current monetary regime makes saving a sucker’s game. Taking the help of financial advisors in the case of personal finance, or experts like Poe Group Advisors for finance businesses to understand best investment practices and how the business can be made better by retaining revenue or clients could help, but not everyone would be able to acquire such services. Most people rely on their own knowledge of how money and taxes work to decide what to do with their money. A dollar stuffed under a mattress exponentially loses its value. A dollar deposited in a bank also steadily loses value, albeit at a lower rate; the bank typically makes up much but not all of the losses due to inflation by paying interest.
Those of us who wish to reverse the trend towards an ever more powerful and intrusive state must take the lead to restoring the ability of people to stockpile savings.
How can we do this? There are several ways:
Create new forms of money that are easily stockpiled. This does not have to be gold and silver, but can be things like cell-phone minutes
Create new markets to trade without interference
Create new systems for storing forms of money safely
Building these institutions will not be easy. They cannot be imposed from outside. They cannot depend on some messianic leader to encourage their adoption. They must attract users who have no interest in the political agenda, but because they satisfy the users’ personal needs. It is important to bear in mind that this regime has existed so long that for most of us who are alive today have no idea that it could ever be otherwise. Furthermore, the public is the target of a pretty comprehensive propaganda campaign that pervades all forms of mass media that distorts history and aggrandizes the growth of the state. At this point, the vast majority of people are absolutely convinced that a free society is at best doomed to economic collapse and in all likelihood a violent, brutish, dog-eat-dog dystopia.
While I don’t have a particular “magic bullet” to restore the vital freedom to amass wealth without having to fear government confiscation or debasement, I do have some suggestions:
Accept as wide a variety of currencies and goods as payment as you can.
Likewise be prepared to proffer as wide a variety of goods and currencies as possible.
Store some of your savings in places that others do not have access to. Limit knowledge about the size of your savings on a strict need to know basis. Loose lips sink ships! (NB. Safety Deposit Boxes don’t count; FDR had his thugs systematically go through people’s safety deposit boxes throughout the country, confiscating the newly illegal gold) .
Do not cooperate with the state any more than your conscience, or willingness to engage in civil disobediance permits. Keep in mind, though, that principled non-cooperation with the state can easily lead to being thrown in jail, beaten, or even murdered.
Keep your eyes peeled for new ways of doing business, new products, and new marketplaces that increase your independence. When you find something, publicize it as widely as is appropriate.
So I have a homework assignment for you, dear reader, what will you do to build the institutions that make it easier for you and your neighbors to keep what they make away from the tax-man?
I am an anarcho-capitalist living just west of Boston Massachussetts. I am married, have two children, and am trying to start my own computer consulting company.
Protesting government spending is meaningless unless you say what you’d cut.
(…)
All protests against spending that do not tell us how to reduce it are fatuous pieces of theater, not constructive acts of politics. And until the right is able to make a constructive and specific argument about how they intend to reduce spending and debt and borrowing, they deserve to be dismissed as performance artists in a desperate search for coherence in an age that has left them bewilderingly behind.
