In 1970, Chile elected Salvador Allende, a socialist, to office; he instituted sweeping reforms aimed at ending the corrupt rule of a small, monied, brutal elite; in 1973, the dictator Augusto Pinochet led a US-backed military coup that involved horrific torture and mass executions of political enemies. Read the rest
The Seasteading Institute is a group of libertarian separatists who dreamed of building an autonomous, contract-governed mini-state on a set of floating platforms in the south Tahiti lagoon of Atimaono; only one problem: they didn't renew their contract with French Polynesia to build their platforms. Read the rest
Libertarian wisdom holds that "the answer to bad speech is more speech," but if you're a Peter Thiel libertarian (that is, the kind of "freedom lover" who doesn't think women should vote, wants to spy on everyone in the world, and secretly wields power to censor the free press), then "the answer to bad speech is secretly backing lawsuits by washed-up pro-wrestlers in order to kill a media outlet whose reporting you don't like." Read the rest
Director Frank Capra said "It's a Wonderful Life" was designed to "strengthen the individual’s belief in himself" and "to combat a modern trend toward atheism." But the FBI's 13,533-page Communist Infiltration of the Motion Picture Industry classed the movie as a secret work of Communist propaganda, "written by Communist sympathizers...to instigate class warfare" and "demonize bankers." Read the rest
Reason Editor-in-Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward received a commemorative Johnson-Weld 2016 Libertarian Party Presidential Campaign plate in the mail.
Haiku stamped on the back of a commemorative Johnson/Weld plate I just got in the mail:
Not for food use. May poison Food Decorative Art pic.twitter.com/soSagmFPtk
— Katherine Mangu-Ward (@kmanguward) November 22, 2016
Yoni Mazuz wonders:
There’s definitely a libertarian/regulation joke in here somewhere but I’m to lazy to fully work it out. https://t.co/OYkgeCuLzM
— Yoni Mazuz (@yonatron) November 25, 2016
The Libertarian moment of enlightenment is when you realize it's a giant ashtray. Read the rest
