I quit about ten years ago. I was getting sick of it and Hillary was going to finance her health plan with taxes on cigs. I went cold turkey and being mad at Hillary helped me over the rough spots. Maybe you could think of all your money that will NOT be going to the government.
– Commenter ‘Spacer’ on how to motivate a libertarian to give up smoking
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January 12th, 2003 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
 Jeffrey Tucker has written a superb article about conservative statist central planning, but one paragraph stands out for me:
What could I possibly add to that? January 3rd, 2003 | 5 comments - (Comments are closed)
Spiritual movements are revolts of thought against inertia, of the few against the many; of those who because they are strong in spirit are strongest alone against those who can express themselves only in the mass and the mob, and who are significant only because they are numerous January 1st, 2003 | Comments are closed
…if evil men were not now and then slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers December 30th, 2002 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
…But nobody can be a great economist who is only an economist – and I am even tempted to add that the economist who is only an economist is likely to become a nuisance if not a positive danger December 28th, 2002 | Comments are closed
A lie told often enough becomes the truth I suspect Vladimir is more widely read in Broadcasting House (The BBC) than Hayek, Rand, Mises, Bastiat, Friedman and Popper added together December 13th, 2002 | 6 comments - (Comments are closed)
As a bit of a “petrol-head”, I have been saddened by the recent demise of Formula One motor-racing, which is increasingly indistinguishable from a procession of cars with few chances for overtaking or for drivers to demonstrate their brilliance. There are few characters or opportunities for eccentric outsiders to take the field, as in the great days of Fangio or Jim Clark. So it is encouraging to read that F1 bosses are trying as best they might to tweak the rules to make the sport get our pulses racing once again. Of course we may end up being disappointed once more, but fingers crossed, this great sport can get a much-needed dose of excitement again. And of course all good libertarians should want a sport that celebrates fast driving, the internal combustion engine and obscenely-rich motoring moguls. You can bet that the Guardianistas loathe it. In fact, the killjoys would probably ban it. December 11th, 2002 | 6 comments - (Comments are closed)
When a woman marries a wealthy man for his money, she is often described as having ‘married well’. Yet when a woman merely rents herself to a man, she is called a prostitute and threatened with legal sanction. December 11th, 2002 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
Christmas will soon be upon us, and along with television adverts advising us not to drink and drive, hangovers from office parties and late-night shopping, another regular feature rears its reliable head – the condemnation of commercial Christmas. This time, the nags against Christmas free-market fun come from Germany, which in its current over-taxed and economically sclerotic state, could use all the commercial fizz going, I would have thought. But no, a German priest wants his patch to be declared a “Santa-free zone”. Like the late Ayn Rand, a devout atheist, I always think that one of the very great things about Christmas – which after all started off as a midwinter pagan festival to give us all a good excuse to eat and drink excessively – is its commercial character. The glitz and colour of this time of the year provides much of its “point”. So come on Santa. Sprinkle a bit of Christmas happiness over our a glum Teuton neighbours. Right now, they need it. December 9th, 2002 | 4 comments - (Comments are closed)
I think the terror most people are concerned with is the IRS1. 1 = for non-US readers, IRS is the December 9th, 2002 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
Even more significant of the inherent weakness of the collectivist theories is the extraordinary paradox that from the assertion that society is, in some sense, more than merely the aggregate of all individuals, their adherents regularly pass by a sort of intellectual somersault to the thesis that, in order that the coherence of this larger entity be safeguarded, it must be subjected to conscious control, that is, to the control of what in the last resort must be an individual mind. December 6th, 2002 | 2 comments - (Comments are closed)
Germany’s hapless Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has dished out insults at the musician who penned a chart-topping song that Adriana wrote about last week, taking a crack at Germany’s onerous taxes. Well, tough luck, Gerhard. It seems the Chancellor doesn’t like the fact that the crippling confiscation of German citizen’s money is provoking satire as well as anger. When a politician starts bashing the comics and music makers, it is a clear sign he or she is in trouble – big trouble. This bespeaks a political elite on the Continent of Europe that is increasingly aloof and out of touch with ordinary citizens. On one level, this is encouraging, because such arrogance usually comes before a fall from grace. However, it also suggests that if the situation is not tackled soon, the anger boiling up in Germany and elsewhere could turn ugly. 
Sure, Gerhard. As logical as December 5th, 2002 | 7 comments - (Comments are closed)
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