Freedom Home Page of the Week Archive Winter 1999

Joe Zychik's Second Amendment page, Arm The People, is an index of some of his best and most passionate essays. Each article is a brief manifesto making an exciting argument for the right to keep and bear arms:

Zychik is a skilled writer. Each essay is short enough to read in five minutes, but penetrating enough to stick in your mind for life.

Moscow Libertarium is, in the words of its creators, "primarily a Russian language resource created to support Russian-speaking people in their efforts to build a free and prosperous society in Russia." A project of the Institute for Commercial Engineering, a Russian think tank, ML is involved in many different activist projects in areas such as e-commerce, telecommunications, and contract jurisdiction, as well as working to create and register a libertarian party ("Freedom Party") in Russia.

Yes, much of this libertarian site is in Russian. On the other hand, much of this LIBERTARIAN site is in RUSSIAN!

You may not be able to read all of the articles, (most of the English translations are at the Moscow Libertarium Library page,) but the fact that this page exists at all is a cause for celebration. Go here when you need a solid reminder that things can, and sometimes do, change.

Since its founding in 1991, The Smith Center at California State University, Hayward has been delivering on its promise to teach "future leaders in business and society ... how the principles of free enterprise build a strong economy."

In addition to awarding the annual Smith Center Prize in Austrian Economics, the center runs an essay contest and a business planning contest for high school juniors and seniors, plus frequent lectures, seminars, conferences, and courses featuring prominent speakers like Milton Friedman, David Friedman, Ward Connerly, and T.J. Rodgers.

At this web site, you can read transcripts of some of the past events and find out what's coming up.

The site's crown jewel is director Charles Baird's monthly column (with an archive dated back to August '96.) Professor Baird, a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and a contributing editor of The Freeman, is a refreshingly frank analyst of current events who supports his free-market positions with a thorough understanding of Austrian economics. The current column, "Obsessive About Executive Pay" is a devastating critique of the AFL-CIO's policy of, in Baird's words, "enraged envy" towards CEO paychecks.

Although the site could be updated more often, and I do wish there were more transcripts of past speeches, there is plenty here to satisfy a voracious reader and thinker.

As I write this, Monica is testifying in the impeachment trial and Ken is considering indicting the president on other charges. If recent history teaches us anything, we should expect Bubba to begin dropping bombs somewhere by Wednesday. No mirrors involved, but plenty of smoke. (Of course, the idea that there might be people who'd like to see him impeached for war crimes seems to elude the man.)

It's a good time to check out the Committee Against U.S. Intervention. This large site offers links, all smartly categorized, to anti-interventionist sources from across the political spectrum. From news and editorials to tools and events for activists, the Committee has scoured the Web for all of the best information and opinions. When you're ready for a laugh, (albeit a mildly horrified one,) you can even find the latest editorial cartoons on the subject.

It's time my home computer started pulling its own weight. I'm at the Henry Hazlitt Foundation office five days a week, working hard for the cause of freedom, while Mr. Gateway2000 sits at home, taking it easy. Well, no more! I'm putting the little good-for-nothing to work.

Here's the deal. The U.S. government tells us that 56-bit encryption is as much privacy as anyone needs. They call 56 bits the Data Encryption Standard, or DES, and restrict the usage of more powerful 90-bit or 128-bit encryption. But is 56 bits enough to keep your information safe from government snoops, or even private thieves? Many experts say it isn't. (For more background information, see the our Policy Spotlight on Encryption from last year.)

RSA Data Securities, a company which develops computer encryption technology, agrees with the experts that 56 bits isn't enough. And they put up reward money to prove it.

In previous contests, DES was cracked in 96 days, 41 days, and then 56 hours. On January 19, DES was cracked in 23 hours, by Libertarians for Privacy.

Libertarians for Privacy is a team of computers that is coordinated through distributed.net, an organization that shows how tasks like this can be easily accomplished when you have enough processing power, even when the CPU's belong to different computers spread out around the world.

Since starting with five computers in November of 1997, the Libertarians for Privacy team has grown to over 400 members. After winning the last contest, these members have now taken up the latest challenge: breaking 64-bit encryption.

Interested in joining this exciting effort? All it takes is three simple steps. Just download the RC5 client program, configure the client for your computer, and add your e-mail address to the Libertarians for Privacy team roster. Then, let your computer do the rest. Leave the program running and, every time you get online, your computer will turn in decoded blocks and retrieve more to work on.

In return, you'll be helping bring attention to libertarianism and the computer privacy movement, you may just win some money, and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that, if you're not always being productive, at least your computer is. Now, if you can just get it to tidy up a little around the house ....

Since 1985, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow has been working to counter the unscientific, anti-technology views of the environmental left. Yet, CFACT's Web site also drives home the oft-unspoken point that being pro-capitalism doesn't make one anti-environment. CFACT's concerns about liberal policies are rooted in concern for the environment, given the likely effects of said policies.

According to CFACT, "[o]ur path into the future must be guided by creativity and innovation" - creativity and innovation being best supplied by a free market. For evidence, check out CFACT's ample "Issues & Topics" page: In addition to a "Daily Highlight" of a particular issue, the "CFACT Resource Center" offers "Articles, Briefing Papers, and Other Bytes of Text" organized into 12 useful categories.

When you're feeling daring, venture into "From the Dark Side", a SCARY page featuring true horror stories of the environment's most vocal and least knowledgeable advocates. (CFACT's sense of humor also plays a role in the obligatory links page with a visual pun that actually made me laugh, a difficult task for a pun.)

"Dear Washington, Thank you for disarming law-abiding Americans. They posed the only real threat to our way of life. Sincerely, The Criminals."

During the 1994 elections, this message was displayed on 30 billboards around Tucson, AZ (and later in another five states) thanks to the efforts of the activists at Brassroots. You can expect more of this sarcastic and fun approach to Second Amendment activism at Brassroots.org.

From a challenge to gun-control supporters to display signs in their homes, businesses, and cars declaring that they are unarmed, to a Blockbuster Video "card-cutting party," to selling front license plates displaying your caliber of choice, the people at Brassroots are constantly looking for creative, new ways to get the message out that there was a second amendment to the constitution.

Though mostly centered around Arizona, Brassroots is looking to expand operations across the nation. If you hurry, you could be the first to start a chapter in your state.

"Just the usual," I replied. "Quit smoking; Get and maintain a savings account."

"You should check out this Web site, Resources for Independent Thinking. It's all about becoming a more critical thinker. I've added a bunch of stuff to my list."

"Pish," said I. "I'm a libertarian, and like all libertarians, my thinking is already perfectly clear, independent, and critical."

Well, I visited the site, list in hand, and after adding "Learn Humility", I found several other suggestions:

4.) Judge people based on their actions, not on their beliefs. (From the editorial, "The Singer, Not The Song.")

5.) Be aware of the censors and dogmatists who live within my own mind. (From the editorial, "Ethics of Believing Unbelief.")

Although the online content is somewhat sparse, the extensive book and tape catalogs will point you towards other useful resources, and the Links page will take you to many of the best and most thoughtful pages on the Web (like Free-Market.Net, for example.)

Oh, how I wish the Internet had been around when I was a teenager. How many years did I waste, wandering around in a haze, always with that nagging feeling that my political inclinations were not suited to either party and that my rights, if I had any, were dwindling away? How many late nights did I and my friends, hanging out after dark, encounter curfew-enforcing police with only an "um" or maybe a "you fascist!" as an argument? If only someone had told us that there was a better way. If only we'd had Libertarian Rock.

Dave Doctor's site is a libertarian call-to-action for teenagers, and deals with the issues that teenagers care about: censorship, schools, sex, and most of all curfews. Dave has had a revolutionary idea: You, as a teenager, should be legally allowed to stay out after curfew if you are exercising your First Amendment rights. So if, for example, you are wearing a sticker which says "Repeal the Curfew", any officer who arrests you for being out too late would be directly violating your right to free speech.

At Libertarian Rock, you can download masters for the Repeal the Curfew stickers as well as many others. The most vigilant teenage activists even get recognized on the site as Libertarian Rockstars.

If you're a teenager, go to this site now. If you know any teenagers, e-mail this URL to them now. Libertarian Rock almost makes me wish I was a teenager again. (Of course, I could do without the acne this time.)

I didn't realize that the Olympics were coming to Utah in 2002. I didn't know that Utah allows its citizens to carry firearms. And I didn't know (though I'm not surprised) that those concealed-carry laws are now in danger of being wiped off the books.

Sarah Thompson, M.D., also known as "The Righter," knows all these things and now, thanks to her, I do too.

Dr. Thompson retired from the world of medicine after growing disgusted with "the combined horrors of HMO's, corrupt state licensing boards, involuntary commitment and medication, and politically correct pseudo-science." The Righter is an intelligent and passionate column combining a radical, activist libertarianism with just a little bit of the Judaism where she puts her faith.

If you only have time to read one article, read "The End of Activism," originally a speech presented to the Arizona Libertarian Party, and a powerful call to personal involvement in the fight to keep and regain our freedoms. Bookmark the page, though. You'll want to come back for more.

Looking for a libertarian site that highlights relevant current news with witty commentary on the side? You may be looking for Politicians Against Liberty.

(The sound of Free-Market.Net publisher Chris Whitten spitting coffee across his desk is heard. "What?" he gasps. "Right when we're trying to promote LibertyNow, Eric wants us to feature a page that offers news?!?")

Well, yes. In the often-overlooked cooperative spirit of the free market, and in the generous spirit of the season, I would like to point out that there is another site to browse when you're looking for a libertarian spin on the current outrages (as well as the occasional good news).

PAL also offers original features like Porno for Prohibitionists ... an exposé of the ad agencies who churn out those annoying "Partnership for a Drug Free America" ads ... and the developing PAL Enemies List, featuring the dirt on anti-liberty crusaders from the Liar-in-Chief to Pat Buchanan to Ralph Nader.

And once Politicians Against Liberty has got you hungry for more, click on over to LibertyNow, Free-Market.Net's daily, international, libertarian news source (See, Chris? "Daily" and "international"! We've still got the edge.)

In 1983, high school student Andrew Acosta, inspired by the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," wondered aloud to a friend about what effect his life had had and what the world might be like without him. The friend misinterpreted Andrew's speculation as a suicide threat and reported him to the high school guidance counselor. A chain of events was set into motion which eventually led to Andrew's incarceration in a mental hospital for 71 days. "Slavery for Their Own Good," Andrew's online book on the subject, is an unnerving story of liberties taken away. Think "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," only factual and sans Jack Nicholson's wisecracking. As Andrew puts it, "I learned more about freedom in the seventy-one days that I was in the hospital than I could have if I read about it in school."

"Slavery" is an engaging story with a conclusion that should make a libertarian cheer. (The last chapter is titled "I Am Only One, Not A Group.") Read it and you will agree that, like George Bailey, Andrew worried unnecessarily. The world would be worse without him.

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