by Skeptikos | Nov 24, 2011 |
As of this Monday, I have been in Keene for three years. Three years may not sound like a long time, but, in the Keene activist community, three years makes me an experienced veteran, and in this time I have grown immeasurably. For the sake of newer activists, and those considering moving, I’m going to share some of my experiences here, to give a sense of what to expect, and offer some hard-earned advice.
In 2007, at 19, I was attending Texas Tech as an engineering student. But I had hated school for years, and didn’t like college any better. I also became fascinated by economics and the social sciences, and found that engineering, in comparison, was intolerable. I dropped out.
Around the same time, I decided I was an anarcho-capitalist, and, via the MySpace Libertarians group, I stumbled onto the Free State Project. (more…)
by Skeptikos | Nov 12, 2011 |
I talked to a few Manchesterites last week who are working to relaunch the Free Manch blog, which has been abandoned for a long time. I’m excited, and I want them to be successful. So, to help motivate people to make this happen, here are 4 good reasons that every liberty activist in Manchester should want a well-maintained blog:
1) Attracting new movers.
The Free Keene blog has attracted all sorts of liberty activists to New Hampshire. (Myself, for example!) It does an excellent job of showcasing local activism, and gives liberty-lovers elsewhere a taste of New Hampshire. In my judgment, this is the biggest reason that Keene is a hub of libertarian activism, rather than just another small NH city.
From what I’ve heard, there’s plenty of activism in Manchester– but it doesn’t seem that way to the rest of us, because there’s no good blog to present it. How many more people would move if they were aware of Manchester’s activism? (more…)
by Trifith | Sep 12, 2011 |
Pollution seems like an insurmountable problem for a stateless society. After all, without government regulation, who will prevent companies from dumping toxic waste everywhere? This overlooks the fact that a company has a strict liability for damage it causes, even through it’s dumping practices. This liability is something that the company itself, as well as its insurance provider will want to control. And because all property is privately owned, there will always be a damaged party from indiscriminate dumping. (more…)
by Trifith | Sep 9, 2011 |
Continuing our look at education in a stateless society, lets examine homeschooling and unschooling. Because of the similarities between the two, I’m going to present both in this post, rather than repeat myself. Both home and unschooling are very student driven, giving focus to each individual students needs. The parents, who will act as instructors, are very involved in the child’s education, which is more difficult when the children are sent to an outside school. Home/Un-schooling also has an incredibly low cost.
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by Trifith | Sep 7, 2011 |
Lets take a look at how various state services may be provided in the absence of government. Education, Roads, Protection, Courts, pollution control, and many other services currently monopolised by the state can not only be provided by the private market, the will be more affordable, less intrusive, and respond to customer needs faster. Education is often a service that people just can’t seem to imagine without the state. But as I hope to demonstrate, the private market can, and will, provide, if only the state got out of the way.
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by Kager | Aug 16, 2011 |
Although you may have been taught to believe differently, public schools tend to have very negative impacts on the development of a child’s creativity, sense of ethics and autonomy. From the first day in kindergarten until the last day of senior year, ‘kids’ are told to “treat others as [they] want to be treated.” Actions speak louder than words. Unfortunately, the staff members at public education facilities treat students as if they have “authority” over them, ingraining the message that it is acceptable to treat other people like property – though I doubt they wish to be treated that way. A ‘child’ can learn all of the skills that one may deem ‘critical’ without being subjected to the hypocrisy and demand for blind obedience in the public school system.
I believe that it is more important to teach children the difference between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ than to teach them to follow rules that someone with purported authority sets for them. Government schools teach children that they need to comply with the demands of teachers, principals, police officers, and other individuals who are portrayed to have a higher level of authority. Giving a child the impression that they are required to obey orders without question diminishes their ability to make decisions based on logical reasoning and conscience. I would prefer to teach my children to live in ways that do not aggress upon others, use critical thinking skills and come to their own conclusions as opposed to blindly following orders and accepting what they are told without question. (more…)
