Bill Whittle is a conservative pundit probably best known for hosting Afterburner with Bill Whittle over at PJTV. He has put together a series of 7 short videos outlining what they call “the basics of Tea Party Conservatism“. The series is called “What We Believe”, and I have posted the first one here. You can find the remainder on his Youtube channel along with even more of his material.
Most of this material is very libertarian-y, but don’t anybody go mistaking libertarians for Tea Party conservatives. Whittle doesn’t discuss drug legalization, gay rights, prostitution, and a host of other social issues where we likely differ, and his clip on immigration left me wondering if he had used up all his logic and intelligence on the other six videos. All the same, this is a particularly valuable aid to my left-wing acquaintances who aren’t inclined to join their compatriots in dismissing Tea Partiers as a bunch of ignorant racists.
Todd Kuipers blogs over at Calgary Libertarian, where he has shared his thoughts on a recent paper concerning the end of taxi regulation. The paper suggests that the rise of GPS-enabled smartphones is going to dismantle the government-protected taxi monopoly, and Kuipers is just fine with that -
“Given how deeply in bed taxi company owners are in bed (sic) with the regulators that are supposed to “serve the market” it might be a while before regulations change. But, if we can route around them, we might establish a bit more freedom for Calgarians.”
Not just a bit more, I think, and not just Calgarians. The same technology that helps destroy the taxi cartel will also enable private sector commuter vans, both of which will put enormous competitive pressure on public sector mass transit in urban areas all over North America. If you have an iPhone, I recommend you head on over to the Avego website, where you can download a free ride share app that works for both passengers and drivers. If you have any sort of smartphone whatsoever, you can use the same app, but only as a passenger. I believe this is the first of many attacks technology will be mounting against government and its cronies, and people are going to make use of it not because they care about liberty, but simply because it’s in their self-interest. Please spread the word.
Monday, May 30th is Memorial Day in the US. Like Remembrance Day in Canada, it is a day ostensibly given over to honouring those who have died during military service. For libertarians, it is also a day to recall that many of those deaths have been pointless, and Roger Young has prepared this excellent video reminding us to remember the many people who make those deaths possible -
A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbours. William Ralph Inge
In this time of hockey fever, I can’t help but see the parallels between ‘the local team’ and nationalism. The two are obviously different: one is fealty to individuals who claim some sort of authority over you; the other is supporting individuals on their quest to glory. But when I hear those around town saying things like “we’re going to win this year” and “we are doing great” tied up with “I’ll support any Canadian team” or “Canada is going to kick some ***”, the parallels become fundamentally clear. Being a fanatic of some sports (in particular, hockey in Canada), like nationalism, is about reward without effort. It’s about living vicariously through a dream created by someone else (instead of creating your own) and getting caught up in group hysteria. I’ll admit, it can be fun to watch the game, but when the message is repeated over and over and tied in with a sense of unearned pride, it can give one pause for wonder if ‘the local team’ is all we are cheering for.
