This column by Andrew Coyne is very good. You should read it. Coyne’s thesis, I think, is this: Canadian conservatism is really a mixture of different groups, including libertarians, fiscal conservatives, and social conservatives. These groups don’t have a lot in common, but they can, under the right circumstances, put aside their differences to support a [...]
Category Archives: Libertarianism
Ann Coulter is right: libertarians are (mostly) wimps
Posted by Terrence Watson on March 1, 2013 1 comment
“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” “In fact,” said Mustapha Mond, “you’re claiming the right to be unhappy.” “All right then,” said the Savage defiantly, “I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.” “Not to mention the right [...]
Two puzzles about hate speech
Posted by Terrence Watson on February 27, 2013 1 comment
With regard to today’s Supreme Court decision upholding Taylor and Canada’s anti-hate speech laws: Obviously, libertarians will hate the decision, but hopefully they weren’t disappointed. Did anyone really think the Court would strike down the censorship provisions in every human rights act across Canada? But I see a puzzle. To quote the decision, the term “hatred” contained [...]
The fable of schlibertarianism
Posted by Terrence Watson on November 10, 2012 Comments Off
Inspired by John Holbo’s delightful essay published on the Bleeding Heart Libertarian’s blog. Suppose that every society that exists, at least beyond a certain level of sophistication, was built, at least in part, atop a series of injustices. Suppose, further, that the harm or deprivation these injustices caused was not distributed randomly, like lightning strikes, but fell [...]
Portrait of a libertarian Republican
Posted by Terrence Watson on November 8, 2012 6 comments
I’m posting this strictly for the lulz. Eric Dondero, a self-described libertarian Republican who once worked for Ron Paul, is spitting mad about President Obama’s victory. And when I say spitting mad, I mean that literally. If I meet a Democrat in my life from here on out, I will shun them immediately. I will [...]
Neil Peart, bleeding heart libertarian
Posted by Peter Jaworski on June 18, 2012 1 comment
This should interest co-blogger Terrence Watson: Neil Peart, like many of us, was an Ayn Rand fan in his twenties. Neil Peart, of course, is the drummer for Canadian rockers Rush, who are slowly getting the kind of respect that they deserve (I’m not really a fan, but it doesn’t matter. They are amongst the [...]
On neoconservatives and conspiracy theories
Posted by Mike Brock on January 8, 2012 5 comments
Ron Paul is driving the neoconservative right crazy. For them, a Ron Paul presidency signals the end of America. His foreign policy will be the final nail in the coffin of the United States. They often lament that many of Ron Paul’s views are driven by wacky conspiracy theories. In particular, they focus on a [...]
Top 10 ways the Liberty Summer Seminar is better than Occupy Wall Street
Posted by Terrence Watson on November 11, 2011 13 comments
As many of you know, Peter Jaworski, editor and writer for The Volunteer, hosts a libertarian gathering on his family’s property each year. For more than ten years now, this event, the Liberty Summer Seminar (LSS), has brought people together from all over the world for a weekend of lecture, discussion, fine dining, and camping. It’s [...]
Should the libertarian movement engage with Occupy Toronto?
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on October 18, 2011 9 comments
My initial gut reaction to the Occupy movement was to dismiss it with a sneer. I had spent many of my post-secondary education years witnessing incoherent, ineffective, and politically-stunted protests, and I assumed that the Occupiers were cut from the same cloth. Most of the news reports I came across (both hostile and friendly) seemed [...]
Matt Zwolinski explains bleeding heart libertarianism
Posted by Peter Jaworski on October 6, 2011 Comments Off
UPDATE: Zwolinski also discusses bleeding heart libertarianism on the Institute for Humane Studies’ Kosmos website. Listen here: If you check out our “About” page, you’ll see that the four of us — Mike Brock, Terrence Watson, Hugh MacIntyre and myself — count ourselves as more or less “bleeding heart libertarians.” Zwolinski gives a nice explanation [...]
Should I vote Freedom or Libertarian?
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on October 5, 2011 4 comments
Voting tomorrow in the Ontario election will be difficult for me. I have never had as much difficulty making up my mind on how I would vote for an election as I have for this one. For the first time I have been given the opportunity to vote for one of two political parties that [...]
Ontario Freedom Party leader Paul McKeever talks marijuana on The Arena
Posted by Peter Jaworski on September 16, 2011 21 comments
Paul McKeever, leader of the Ontario Freedom Party, went on Michael Coren’s The Arena yesterday to talk about marijuana and freedom. Here’s the video, with a little bit of snark on my part afterwards: The snark: ShareFacebookStumbleUponDiggRedditEmail
Clint Eastwood on gay marriage
Posted by Hugh MacIntyre on September 16, 2011 3 comments
No one has ever articulated my own position on gay marriage as well as Clint Eastwood has: “These people who are making a big deal out of gay marriage?” Eastwood opined. “I don’t give a fuck about who wants to get married to anybody else! Why not?! We’re making a big deal out of things [...]
One year later: Marc “Prince of Pot” Emery sentenced to five years in U.S. prison
Posted by Peter Jaworski on September 10, 2011 Comments Off
Today is the one-year anniversary of Marc “Prince of Pot” Emery being sentenced to five years in a U.S. prison. Jodie Emery, his wife, posted the following comment on her facebook page: One year ago today, Marc was sentenced to 5 years in US federal prison. It was either a 5-year deal or 30-to-life. Marc [...]
Video: Watch the new Seasteading Institute documentary
Posted by Peter Jaworski on September 10, 2011 Comments Off
I had a chance to speak with Ezra Levant from Sun TV about the Seasteading Institute’s initiative to construct libertarian islands in international waters. Now you can watch a documentary about the initiative. The description reads: By January 1st, 2030 will you be living in an independent country in the middle of the ocean? The [...]
Marc Emery endorses Freedom Party of Ontario
Posted by Peter Jaworski on September 7, 2011 1 comment
In his latest letter to his wife, Jodie, Marc “Prince of Pot” Emery talks about the political party he helped to found in Ontario — the Freedom Party. Emery sees this year as a “renaissance” for the political party that tries to stay true to Ayn Rand’s Objectivist philosophy. Not only has the party been [...]
Will Gary Johnson dump GOP to run as Libertarian Party presidential candidate?
Posted by Peter Jaworski on September 3, 2011 3 comments
Before Ron Paul contested the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 and now in 2012, he was the Libertarian Party’s standard bearer in 1988. He remains a life member of the Libertarian Party, and continues to have a good relationship with the LP. Things might become a little difficult if former New Mexico governor and current [...]
Volunteers in the media: Libertarian Islands
Posted by Peter Jaworski on August 18, 2011 1 comment
Here’s the video of Ezra Levant and myself talking about libertarian islands: You can also check it out at the Sun in their video section here. ShareFacebookStumbleUponDiggRedditEmail
Volunteers in the media: Libertarian islands edition
Posted by Peter Jaworski on August 17, 2011 2 comments
At around 5:25 p.m. EST tonight, I will be on Ezra Levant’s The Source to talk about, what else?, libertarian islands! You can watch the show live beginning at 5 p.m. here (or tune in to Sun TV if you get it). Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, has put over a million dollars into this [...]