Monday Book Pick

The classic Atlas Shrugged by the visionary Ayn Rand.

This classic has seen its sales triple in the past two months. Probably because its messages rings true in the current political climate.

The Monday Book Pick Archive

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

BHO boosts sales of Atlas Shrugged

Since our Dear Leader has taken office and made his socialist agenda clear, sales of Ayn Rand’s classic Atlas Shrugged have more than tripled.

Keep in mind that BHO won with a razor thin margin in an election with an average turnout. He stirred up his base, a good chunk of the right of center base stayed home and moderates in the middle seemed to have bought into the message of “change” not just being different than G.W. Bush, but somehow would be better. Now they are finding out that “change” can be worse, much worse. The democrats policies will stir up the conservative Republican base better than McCain could and alienate the moderate center. The campaign for the 2010 (and 2012) elections have alreadys started.

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

End the Taxachussets Income Tax!

Tax Day MoneyBomb

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Introduce fiscal Responsibility into the Peoples Commonweath.

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Roswell, Texas

An online graphic novel of Libertarian Science Fiction.

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Jay Tea has a damn good observation.

Jay notes at WizBang:

A little while ago, I heard some commentator note that Democrats, as a general rule, oppose giving the people any choice in matters — unless the matter involves sex. It seemed like a good observation — they don’t think we can choose whether or not to wear seat belts, get health insurance, serve in the military (note that the biggest — and nearly only — proponents for reinstating the draft are Democrats), give more money to the government, or a host of other examples. It’s only in matters related to sex (gay rights, gay marriage, abortion, etc. etc.) that they are champions of “choice.”

I’ve been thinking about that a lot, tossing it around and bouncing it off walls, and I think I’ve refined it a smidgen: as a general rule, the Democrats don’t want the people to choose — unless it’s in a way that doesn’t really matter.
…
The libertarian in me rebels against this. I want the right to make choices in my life, and I demand the right to be responsible for those decisions. I want my choices about my life to mean something, for good or ill — because they’re MY choices, about MY life.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve quoted David Gerrold’s “A Matter For Men,” but he had the best definition of freedom I’ve ever heard: “the right to be responsible for one’s actions.” I insist on the right to do as I wish, and demand that I be held responsible for them — for good or ill.

If I am protected from the consequences of my bad choices (and they are legion), then I have no right to be proud of the good choices I make. Those who would “protect” me from my bad choices are doing me no service — they are simply trying to give me a more comfortable slave’s collar, gild the bars of the cage they put me in to keep me safe.

Keep your collars and cages, people. I demand the right to fail — because if I can’t fail, then any successes are meaningless. They mean nothing unless I earn them — because anything someone else gives you, then someone else can take away.

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin

Local Script for local businesses

Libertarianism is creeping it’s way into Western Massachusetts.
According to Reuters:

GREAT BARRINGTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) – A walk down Main Street in this New England town calls to mind the pictures of Norman Rockwell, who lived nearby and chronicled small-town American life in the mid-20th Century.

So it is fitting that the artist’s face adorns the 50 BerkShares note, one of five denominations in a currency adopted by towns in western Massachusetts to support locally owned businesses over national chains.
…
There are about 844,000 BerkShares in circulation, worth $759,600 at the fixed exchange rate of 1 BerkShare to 90 U.S. cents, according to program organizers. The paper scrip is available in denominations of one, five, 10, 20 and 50.

In their 10 months of circulation, they’ve become a regular feature of the local economy. Businesses that accept BerkShares treat them interchangeably with dollars: a $1 cup of coffee sells for 1 BerkShare, a 10 percent discount for people paying in BerkShares.

All Original material is copyright © Mark Urbin