Who Should I Vote For In The US Election?

Yesterday, I received my absentee ballot for the US election.

I remain genuinely undecided as to who to vote for between Mitt Romney and Gary Johnson.

I was initially intending to vote for Gov. Johnson, however I am rather compelled by the argument that with 3 SCOTUS justices in all likelihood retiring  in the next presidential term, that this election has slightly some long-term ramifications in an area where I do believe Romney will be significantly better to President Obama.

On the Other hand… it is Romney.

So. Crowd-sourcing here. What should I do?

Potential relevant factor: I am registered in Virginia where the RCP Polling Average has Obama leading by just 0.4%.

Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance Launch

If you havn’t read about this already, I’d like to formally announce to all ALS supporters that I’m soon formally launching the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, as a free-market grassroots activist/advocacy organisation. You can check out www.taxpayers.org.au for more information, including the business plan, constitution, Board of Advisers etc.

The official launch is in Sydney on 1 May, and I’d love to have as many freedom-fighters join us as possible! You can register to attend here, and if you use the code SUPPORTER, you will get a 33% discount!

Stuff Libertarians Say

So… perhaps a bit late to the meme, but if you’re in need of a laugh:

Must Watch: John Stossel’s Illegal Everything

Make the time to watch this great episode of the Stossel show on growing government restrictions in our lives, and how the average American commits three felonies a day! From police shutting down kids with lemonade stands and local governments stopping girl scouts selling cookies, to someone being threatened with imprisonment for 6 months as the planning department didn’t approve of a tree species  someones backyard, 6 years in gaol for importing some lobster tails, to a couple being fined for hosting bible studies in their homes … right down to more controversial issues of drug prohibition… this has it all and is a must watch!

So, block out 45 minutes and watch! 🙂

Paging All Pro-Liberty Students!

Last week I had the privilege of attending the amazing, brilliant, and wonderful annual conference of Students for Liberty, which attracted well over 1,000 libertarian students from not only the U.S., but around the world.

The success of Students for Liberty is an amazing story: in just five years they have grown from nothing to having 800 clubs on campus in the U.S., presence in many European cities, regional conferences both in Europe and the U.S., and of course, their main annual conference with – again – over 1,000 students in attendance! Clearly they are doing something right!

As readers where would know, options  for libertarian students in Australia at present remain rather limited: only a couple of universities have anything resembling libertarian clubs (and even these are rather new), so many students do not have the opportunity to develop their libertarian ideas or receive training in effective advocacy as part of a network and support-structure of like-minded individuals.

As such, I am incredibly excited about the fact that Students for Liberty has just launched a new program to train and provide resources to libertarian future leaders. Called their Global Charter Teams Program, this is an amazing opportunity for people to start up their own clubs, or, if they are already members, receive the skills necessary to become more effective. And, of course, make new friends around the world! Here’s more on the program:

The SFL Charter Teams program seeks to build the student movement for liberty around the world by identifying, training, and supporting the strongest student leaders of liberty in areas currently underserved by SFL (i.e. outside the United States, Canada, and Europe).  All students selected to the Charter Teams Program will undergo a rigorous 3 month online training program with biweekly readings and online seminars on the philosophy of liberty and management techniques.  This training will educate Charter Team members in the best practices SFL has developed over the years to effectively create a student movement for liberty in new areas.  Once the online training program is completed, Charter Teams will begin to start student groups at their own schools and schools nearby, run events that educate others on the meaning of liberty, and seek to identify other pro-liberty students in their areas.  The goal is for Charter Teams and the individual members achieve success in building the student movement for liberty in their area to create long-lasting, meaningful mechanisms of supporting pro-liberty students.

In addition to this, I know that Students for Liberty is very interested in helping provide support and resources to help build the movement up in Australia, so this is a great opportunity on all rounds!

So, if you are a libertarian student, I would strongly encourage you to check out the Charter Team project and apply(and also, feel free to email me on my gmail address (timintheus) if you have any questions, or want to be involved more!). Otherwise, if you’re not a student… I’m sure you know some who are pro-liberty, so pass the link along!

Critics of Liberty: Anti-Libertarian Books Libertarians Should Read

As part of Cato’s new libertarianism.org project, they’ve started up a series of recommended reading lists – introductions to libertarianism, libertarian theory, libertarian history and so forth. However, they also have a section for “critics of liberty” that I was very interested to read, and thought I’d share with you.

Here’s how they introduce it:

It’s not enough to be familiar with the major libertarian thinkers and their arguments. A well-informed advocate of liberty must also understand and appreciate the positions of those thinkers who disagree with libertarianism. The works on this list offer a comprehensive introduction to many of the most intriguing, enduring, and forceful attacks on libertarianism—as well as positive arguments for visions incompatible with the philosophy of liberty.

You can find the full list here, together with reasons as to why libertarians should read each of them. I’d advise you to check it out (I’ve already ordered one of them on Amazon!)

h/t Mrs. Wilson’s Cabinet of Curiosities