Where Were You People the Past 100 Years?

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CNNs Wolf Blitzer

There should be two groups in the United States that must be ripping their hair out in a fury: Trump supporters and libertarians. Now, thats not to conflate the two groups. There is more overlap than libertarians like to admit, however, they are quite distinct. In any case, both have to be frustrated with the media coverage of the new president. Trump supporters are angry that the media will not let go of its deranged pathological hatred of the man, and libertarians wonder where this skeptical media has been.

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What is a Pre-Existing Condition?

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Obligatory image of a doctor

As moderates and regular Republicans argue over how soft or hard the Obamacare repeal and replace should be, one of the things almost everyone agrees upon is ensuring that so-called pre-existing conditions should be covered. But what does that even mean? Why do so many people want them covered? What would happen if they werent? And how does it affect the economics of insurance and healthcare?

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Whats Next in Drug Legalization?

2017-Map-of-US-State-Cannabis-LawDespite Attorney General Jeff Sessions intent to recriminalize marijuana usage (rather than focus on what his boss was elected to do: immigration), legalization is going full steam ahead. Proponents are now probably where gay marriage supporters stood around 2008-2010. The outlook seemed good, but its not over yet. As it stands, the entire west coast and Alaska has legalized and life has gone on. They are joined by Colorado, and New England is making moves with Maine and Massachusetts voters having passed referendums to legalize. New Hampshire is a mostly legislative state and the House has passed legalization and decriminalization several times, but either the Senate or the Governor stops it. We finally have a governor willing to sign decrim (a Republican, after twelve years of Democrats who refused). And with states like Arkansas and Florida finally getting medical thru, the land of the free is at a crossroads. Only seven states retain a total prohibition. Now, its only a matter of time.

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The UK Liberal Democrats are NOT a Libertarian Party

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Not libertarian

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced an early election last week to help her with Brexit negotiations. She currently has a slim majority from David Camerons 2015 victory and polls show she would go from 330 seats to over 430 seats, out of 650. This will ensure more flexibility in negotiations and getting the withdrawal approved. Additionally, many remainer MPs could be ousted by voters who wanted Out, which means it will be smoother sailing. Conservative candidates will have to say they support the Prime Minister and leaving the European Union.

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Trump Officials Move to Arrest Assange

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Julian Assange

Statements have come out from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and CIA Director Mike Pompeo that the US will seek to arrest libertarian hero Julian Assange, known for heading Wikileaks. The organization has been a dumping ground for all sorts of incriminating activity by the US government in particular and has frustrated three administrations and a presidential campaign. Assange has been under an effective house arrest for several years since fleeing to the Ecuadorian embassy in London to escape interrogation for alleged rapes in Sweden. Ecuadorian officials brainstormed multiple plans to get Assange out of the embassy and to Ecuador, but none of them were considered viable. He has also had run-ins with embassy staff and after leaking many Hillary Clinton campaign emails, his internet was temporarily shut off. There was a brief concern that if a right-wing candidate won the recent presidential election, Assange would be asked to leave.

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Will There be Regulations in a Libertarian Society?

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The GEICO gecko mascot

Libertarians and conservatives often talk about the importance of deregulation in order to free up the economy and create more prosperity. However, regulations often solve very real problems and conflicts that otherwise might be difficult to deal with. For example, how do we incentivize drivers to drive safe? The mere threat of an agorist lawsuit against the perpetrator of an accident is not enough to get a driver to be safe. And what about pollution? Surely, courts could rule a class action lawsuit against a nearby factory belching smoke, but there are a lot of costs on both ends. Insurance solves almost every single one of these issues. In fact, some have claimed that government itself is an insurance program. Already in the hampered market we live in, insurance exists and protects us from each other and acts of God.

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No, Its Not Time to Break Up Google

225px-google_2015_logo-svgA recent article in the infamous New York Times claims that Google, Facebook, and other tech companies are monopolies “in classic economic terms”. Such a statement is always funny coming from someone guaranteed to be completely ignorant of classic economics. In fact, none of these are monopolies. A monopoly is usually defined as a exclusive control of a good or service in a market. Just about every dictionary I consulted emphasized exclusivity, and sometimes a government grant. Aha!

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Was the United incident a market failure?

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David Dao, the United passenger

As almost everyone knows by now, a doctor was violently physically removed from a United Express plane a couple weeks ago because he needed to be in Kentucky the next day for his patients. United mistakenly overbooked the plane and at the last minute, four employees approached, saying they needed to board to crew a plane from Louisville the next day. Airline representatives offered passengers a rebooked flight, hotel, and $400, but nobody took it up. Then, they offered $800 and still no one took it up. Usually, airlines will go higher, but for some reason, they chose instead to have a computer randomly kick four people off who had already boarded and settled into their seats. The first two were a couple who willingly left, then our latter day hero was selected and absolutely refused, saying he had appointments the next day. Instead of being reasonable and asking for proof or taking him at his word, they insisted he leave, and soon called security, who literally beat him bloody and dragged him off the plane, likely causing a concussion and other massive damage. Passengers started recording and screaming about the unfairness, setting up United for the absolute worst public relations disaster for a company in years, only to be exacerbated by an arrogant CEO. The settlement is expected to be in the hundreds of millions, and deservedly so.

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Do the Rich owe Society anything?

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Henry Ford

Leftists often claim that successful businesses owe society for all the money they have made. Those capitalist bastards took all our money and gave us nothing in return, right? This, of course, makes absolutely no sense. How did they get that money if not by selling us their products which we wanted? If anything, we got the better deal: a physical good or service in exchange for some paper (or an electronic ledger record these days).

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Cop Blocking a Checkpoint in New Hampshire

P1030453Last night I attended my first cop block event here in New Hampshire, where libertarians from across the country are migrating to help one of the most liberty-minded states become more so. Several times a year, police in Manchester set up a DUI (and every other driving offense, such as broken headlight) checkpoint. For years, libertarian activists, many of whom moved from other states like me, have been holding signs and shouting warnings at the entry to the checkpoint when drivers have one last chance to turn away. They have also filed lawsuits to make the police give clearer notice about these checkpoints, which have not been proven to reduce any harmful behavior, and mostly seem to net police departments fine money.

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