Learn Liberty: The Rubin Report- Dave Rubin- Interviewing Deirdre McCloskey: 'Marxism in Two Minutes'

Source:Learn Liberty- not fans of Marxism: in case that's not obvious enough. I mean, they're Classical Liberals, after all.

“Marx was the greatest social scientist of the 19th century…” says Professor  Deirdre McCloskey. “But he got everything wrong.”
Learn More:Learn Liberty."

From Learn Liberty

As I explained with communism last week and explaining what communism is, the basic definition of communism is that communism is the state owning the means of production in society. Someone who is a hard core Communist believes the state should own and manage the entire economy and that property rights and property ownership, are outlawed.

In a true communist state people wouldn't even own their own homes or automobiles. No such thing as small businesses with people owning their own restaurants. All private property including businesses and personal property, would be owned by the national government. This is basically the basic definition of what is called Marxist/Communism.

According to Wikipedia: "Marxism has developed into many different branches and schools of thought, though now and there is no single definitive Marxist theory." Communism and Marxism, has developed into many aspects of a broader political philosophy and we don't know if Karl Marx himself ever went as far and developed his own political philosophy beyond his theories on economics.

When I think of Marxist/Communists today and going back to pre-Cold War is that people who do believe the state should own the means of production in society, but that their political philosophy goes beyond just economic policy.

A Communist to me anyway and even so-called Democratic Socialists who perhaps aren't pure Communists and do have some democratic leanings with those leavings being more social democratic and collectivist, than liberal democratic and don't put much if any emphasis when it comes to individual rights and aren't fans of individualism at all, are people who see individualism and personal autonomy as dangerous and selfish. And therefor you need a big centralized national state to make most if not all the decisions for society. And to prevent people from being greedy and to think for themselves. As well as to develop opposition to the state.

My personal definition of a Communist or Marxist/Communist (if you prefer) even though I don't believe we'll ever know what Karl Marx thought beyond economic policy, is someone who is anti-individual and pro-collectivist. Someone who is against individualism and pro-statism and collectivism.

A Marxist-Communists sees personal autonomy and individualism as dangerous and believes once you give people the freedom to make their own decisions, they'll end up making bad decisions that the state will end up having to pay for. Or will make great decisions for themselves and end up doing much better than society as a whole which is what Communists view as selfish.

This definition of communism can be applied to more than just economic policy and property rights, but big government in general when it comes to the nanny state as well. But the political correctness movement on the Far-Left and Far-Right, that seeks to eliminate and censor free speech that they disagree with and find offensive.

If you're asking me that would be my definition of a Communist and to a large extent Socialists in general, even though Democratic Socialists to tend to be more democratic obviously and a believer in at least some individualism when it comes to private property and the right to privacy, and some personal autonomy.

Learn Liberty: Professor Howard Baetjer- 'What is Communism?'

Source:Learn Liberty- Professor Howard Baetjer, talking about Communists and communism.

“How is Communism described in theory, and how does it play out in the real world? Join us for our question and answer series with Prof. Howie Baetjer.”

From Learn Liberty

I believe Professor Howard Baetjer gave an accurate definition of communism as short and simple as it was. That communism is the common ownership of the means of production of society. But that can be interpreted in two ways.

One, that government owns the means of production of society. Which is generally how communism has been practiced. Look at North Korea today, look at Cuba up until ten years or so ago. Look at China up until about forty years ago. Look at the Soviet Union of Russia before they broke up. Look at the Eastern European Russian satellites during the Cold War.

Another way to look at common ownership of the means of production of society would be that the individuals themselves would own these things. The workers would own a piece of the company that they work for and you see that in what are called economic cooperatives where each worker literally owns a stake in the company that they work for. There are some economic cooperates ( or co-ops ) in America but this is not a common economic system in America or really anywhere else in the world.

But similar with democratic socialism ( the democratic wing of socialism ) communism is not just an economic idea or philosophy. And if you want to know what communism is and what Communists believe you have to look at Communists themselves and what they believe and look at communists government’s in countries where communism is the governing philosophy.

My definition of communism is a belief that the state ( meaning the central government ) should be in charge of society and therefore run society on behalf of the people. That the only way society can be strong is if everyone is strong. Meaning that no one should and would have too much while others live without enough and of course no one should go without enough. That individual freedom and individualism, as well as private enterprise, are looked down upon. That people shouldn’t be allowed to own things and create for themselves and instead everything should be shared for the common good of society.

That the state should be in charge of everything and that there is no private ownership on behalf of the people to serve the people. And that there is no private dissent and competition that the state should have to deal with. No political opposition and private media.

There really aren’t any countries left in the world other than North Korea that is purely a communist state. Even Fidel Castro’s Cuba now has private enterprise in it. While the state still clamps down on personal freedom and political opposition. The same can be said about the People’s Republic of China. Russia is still around but the Soviet Union is now gone. All the former Russian European satellites are now essentially democratic republics with private enterprise economies. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam now has private enterprise in their economy.

And this is simply that communism doesn’t work as an economic system and these countries were tired of trying to fund their centralized regimes with so many poor people in their countries and not producing enough revenue for their regimes.

You can also see this post at FreeState Now, on WordPress.

Learn Liberty: The Rubin Report- Dave Rubin Interviewing Dan Carlin: We're All Liberals and Radicals

Source: Learn Liberty-

Source:Learn Liberty

I agree with Dave Rubin and Dan Carlin on at least one thing here about political labels having lost their meanings and I would argue true meanings. I'm a Liberal because I believe in liberal democracy and its that simple. Individual rights, rule of law, equal rights, equal justice, equality of opportunity, limited government, free, fair and open elections, fiscal responsibility, strong but limited national defense, property rights.

But someone who believes in the opposites of many if not all of those things and not even believing in free speech and perhaps even a free press that is in private hands, along with having a lot socialist if not communist views on economic policy, will also call themselves a Liberal. People like talk show host Thom Hartmann who really is a Democratic Socialist if you bother to look at his politics instead of just automatically taking his word when he calls himself a Liberal, but he at least in the past has called himself a Liberal, but has called for state-control of the press.

The so-called liberal magazine Salon had an article in 2014 written by Fred Jerome calling for the nationalization of Fox News and other right wing media outlets because he believed there was too much of a right wing slant on the news.

Now who is the Liberal here? The man who advocates for liberal values and policies, or the people who call themselves Liberals, but advocate for Far-Left politics and positions and view people like Communists Fidel Castro Che Guevara, and the Neo-Communist regime in Venezuela as really good but misunderstood people. Perhaps they were treated badly as kids which is why they turned out like this, or its societies fault that they became authoritarian dictators.

When I see an apple and an orange, I'm going to call the apple an apple even if the orange calls them self an apple as well. Sometimes you need to believe your own ears and eyes over someone else's mouth. Facts matter and we should always take facts over someone else's propaganda. I partially agree with Dan Carlin on his second point that we're all Liberals. A lot of us are in America in the sense that Americans tend to believe in liberal democracy and values I just laid out and believe in both personal and economic freedom.

But if you're familiar with the over-caffeinated Millennial Generation and aging Baby Boomers who are still living in the 1960s culturally and mentally and still trying to take down the man (as they would put it) and destroy our inhumane, corrupt, corporate controlled private system, (as they would put it) they're not liberal all all, really. They can't take a joke and believe anything that offends them or people they claim to care about, should be censored and outlawed.

To go back to my previous points about Fidel and Che, the illiberal-left believes Castro and Guevara are good men. They believe in the Venezuelan Neo-Communist regime is a good honorable government trying to serve their people and eliminate corporate control. Even though they're arrested people simply for protesting against their regime. They believe the wrong country won the Cold War. And yet they get called Liberals by the lame stream media (to quote Sarah Palin) as Liberals, simply because the so-called mainstream media doesn't know what Liberals are and equates everyone on the Left as Liberals even if their politics are illiberal.

But again who are the Liberals here? The people who believe in liberal values, or the people who simply call themselves Liberals and are called Liberals by others? To go back to my point about facts matter, we should always believe our own ears and eyes overs someone's else's propaganda. Just because someone else labels them self something or is labeled something by someone else, doesn't make that true. Instead what you should do is your own research and look at their politics and see if that matches up with what they're self-proclaiming.

Learn Liberty: Professor Howard Baetjer: Freedom of Speech- What is Your Opinion?

Source:The Daily Review

I believe college campus's perhaps especially in the Northeast, is the perfect place to ask people what they think about free speech. And perhaps requiring all college students to pass a course on free speech and the U.S. Constitution in order to graduate might also be a good idea. Because with what seems to be their lack of familiarity with both right now. With 2-5 Millennial's now believing that free speech shouldn't protect people's rights to offend minorities and perhaps people in general.

We saw that in this video with one female student, but with another one saying he's against gun rights, but supports a person's freedom to offend. Which I thought was pretty interesting, because generally when someone is that far in one direction in one issue, they won't support freedom when it comes to another individual rights issue like speech. The only way you learn anything from anybody is for all of us to have that constitutional right to express ourselves. You learn what others think and what they know and don't know and they learn from you. You also learn things about yourself. Like where you do well and where you need to improve.

The only thing you get from fascism whether its Marxism on the Far-Left, or religious extremism on the Far-Right is what the central state approves of whether they're right or wrong. They'll only tell you what you what they want you to hear. Liberal democracy, liberal societies, liberal states, free societies, are not meant to be nice, or mean. They're meant to be free and meant to be real. You have the freedom over your own life and even what you say and what you think. But so does everyone else and we all have the right to tell others what we think about what they say.

Learn Liberty: Professor Antony Davies: 'Who Favors More Freedom, Liberals or Conservatives?'

Source:Learn Liberty- Antony Davies talking about Liberals and Conservatives.

"Prof. Antony Davies analyzes the fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives.  He then proposes an alternative method of viewing political issues, which looks at policies and their respective impact on individual freedom.  Prof. Antony Davies concludes that the conventional liberal/conservative dichotomy encourages us to ignore first principles, and hence, overlook contradictory views." 

From Learn Liberty

With this piece I'm going to look at the real and classic definitions of liberalism and conservatism and not how they're both been stereotyped and even rewritten by the mainstream media. And people who self-describe themselves as Liberals and Conservatives, but who are actually much further to the left and right.

From Wikipedia-

"Liberalism, a political philosophy founded on the ideas of liberty and equality.

Liberty, having to do with things like personal choice and self-government. People govern themselves and allowed to make their own choices. Equality, the idea that everyone should be able to live in freedom and have the liberty over their own lives. Not that everyone should have the exact same amount of money and personal property. Liberalism, is not a collectivist ideology like socialism. Liberals believe that people are entitled to liberty. The word liberal comes from liberty. Sounds nothing like socialist, or collectivist, or socialize."

The Wikipedia definition of liberty-

"Free-will and determinism. Again having to do with individual freedom and self-governance and self-ownership, which I covered last week and the week before on this blog. Nothing in here about big centralized government, where a big state would collect most of the economic resources in the country so everyone is economically equal and taken care of. Liberalism, is not about the liberty for people not to take personal responsibility over their own lives and be taken care of by big government. The opposite is true, because liberalism is not socialism."

The Wikipedia definition of conservatism-

"A political philosophy based on conserving social institutions. Preserving tradition and a traditional way of doing things and a way of living. In other words conserving what already is and how things have always been done. Conservatism, is about moving slowly, but gradually. To take it one day at a time, so to speak and not be quick to react and to reform."

Now when it comes to conservatism, are you talking about conservatism in a cultural sense, a religious sense, or a political sense? You could even talk about conservatism in an athletic sense. Since this is about Liberal vs Conservative, I'm interested in conservatism in a political sense. 

When I hear the term Conservative Republican in America, I think of someone who is interested in conserving the republic. Our federal republic and federalist form of government. Conserving the U.S. Constitution, not trying to rewrite it or change it, certainly not dramatically, because they already approve of it. The whole notion of constitution amendments is anti-conservative, because constitutional amendment are reformist, which tend to go against conservative and even drastic attempts to get one's policy objectives through government.

Now based on the actual definitions of liberalism and conservatism, I would have to say that Liberals believe in more freedom. More personal choice and autonomy, because we're less interested in tradition and the status-quo and tend not to take the view that we shouldn't be able to do certain things individually, because they haven't been done before. 

The whole U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, are the most liberal documents ever written, because they are based on individual rights and liberty, self-governance and self-ownership. That people should be able to make their own personal choices and then live with consequences of those choices. 

You can also see this post at FreeState Now, on Blogger.

Learn Liberty: Professor Dan Russell: Self-Ownership and The Right to Say No

I agree with Professor Dan Russell on a couple things here. The only people we actually own are ourselves and that property rights extend to ourselves and our bodies. For example, we as adults can have sex with anyone we choose, as long as they are adults and they consent to it. But we don't have a right to rape people and no one has a right to rape us. I'm not pro-choice on practically everything because I'm a big fan of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, pornography, gambling, tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, abortion, etc, because I'm a big fan of all of those activities. The opposite is true, I just don't believe that just because I don't personally approve of them that others shouldn't have the same freedom of choice as I have to make those decisions for themselves. 

Freedom of choice, is not freedom of force. It just means we have the right to make our own personal choices as long as we aren't hurting any innocent person with what we're doing. And then we are personally responsible for the choices that we make. Now where government can come in is to put out all of the best available information about all of these activities for free people can make the best personal decisions for themselves as possible. And not bail people out when people are personally irresponsible with their own lives and force responsible people to pay for the bad decisions of irresponsible people. Freedom of choice, is not just right for people to say yes when it comes to activities and deciding to do things. It is the right for people to make their own decisions. Yes or no and then they're responsible for their own decisions. 

Professor Peter Jaworski: 'What Does Liberty Really Mean?'

Source:Learn Liberty- and Lady Liberty.

"Liberty 101: What Does Liberty Really Mean?" by the Institute for Humane Studies. Prof. Peter Jaworski says that libertarians focus on political liberty over other types of liberty. What does he mean by “political liberty”? Why is this the priority?" 

From CNX 

From Wikipedia- "Liberty in philosophy, involves free will as contrasted with determinism. In politics liberty consists of the political social and political freedoms enjoyed by all citizens."

The first time I've actually seen that on Wikipedia, but that is pretty close to the liberal definition of liberty. The ability for one to have self-determination over them self. To chart their own course in life and make their own decisions about themselves. It means the freedom for people to be themselves short of hurting innocent people with their freedom. And then being held personally responsible for their own decisions for good and bad. 

The liberal definition of liberty covers both economic and social policy. Someone can run their own company essentially anyway they want to, short of hurting their own employees and customers. Again, we're talking about liberty from a liberal, not libertarian vantage point. When it comes to social policy, liberty is the ability for one to make their own decisions over their own personal affairs, short of hurting innocent people intentionally, or otherwise.

Again, we're talking about liberty in a liberal society, a free society, where people have the right to self-govern. But we don't have the right to hurt people unless in self-defense. But liberty is too expensive if it doesn't involve both personal responsibility and rule of law. And without rule of law, liberty becomes anarchism. 

The extreme version of liberalism is not socialism, or Marxism. People who believe socialism and Marxism, are the extreme versions of liberalism, don't understand liberalism. The extreme version liberalism is anarcho-libertarianism and anarchism. Where people can essentially do whatever they want, because there aren't any consequences that come with their decisions. Short of someone getting back at you for robbing them, or assaulting them, or whatever the case. So a Liberal believes in both liberty and rule of law. They go together like meet and potatoes, cheese and bread, whatever combination you want to come up with.

Name the social issue including gambling and prostitution which are also social issues, I'm probably pro-choice on it as a Liberal. Just as long as it comes to rule of law including a regulatory state. Not to run the enterprise or activity, but to protect consumers and employees from predators. And it doesn't involve legalizing predatory behavior. Like murder, rape, assault, theft, etc. 

Liberty, is the ability one to live their own life short of hurting an innocent person with how they live. Not the liberty to hurt innocent people intentionally, or otherwise. 

Conservatives and Libertarians, at least in the classical sense, have a similar definition of liberty as I do. Social Democrats, Socialists, Communists, not such big fans of freedom of choice, even with responsibility. And have more of a collective government-centric idea of liberty. But one of the great things about living in a federalist liberal democracy, is we get to make these decisions for ourselves.

You can also see this post at FreeState Now, on Blogger.

Learn Liberty: Alex Kreit- Don't be a Victim: The Drug War & You

Source:Learn Liberty

I guess Alex Kreit is saying that "we shouldn't be a drug war victim unlike the millions of Americans who are already drug victims". Since this wasteful authoritarian paternalistic bogus War on Drugs was created by the Nixon Administration in 1971. And has been enforced by every other American president both Republican and Democratic since some forty-three years after this so-called war on what people put into their own bodies has been launched.

Learn Liberty: Aeon Skoble: Individualism vs. Collectivism

Source:FRS FreeState 

There are many types of of governments in the world, governments where freedom is vast economically and socially and people have the right to elect their own leaders with open and free multi-party elections and can freely speak out against their leaders.  This is called a liberal democracy, America for example.

Governments where freedom is tightly controlled and limited and government has a huge say in how people live, where you can even risk going to prison without a fair trial for speaking out would be an authoritarian government, with Iran a good example. Then there are governments where social freedom is vast, as in a liberal democracy with open and free multi-party elections where people can speak out against their leaders and government but where economic freedom might be limited and where the people are subjected to high taxes and the economy is tightly regulated. Sweden would be a good example. 

With liberalism and individualism, people have the right to live their own lives as they see fit for the most part as long as they are not hurting anyone else and where people can be as successful as their skills and production will allow, which is determined by a private market, and are not subjected to high taxes and controlled by excessive regulations. That is a liberal democracy, with America being the perfect example. In a liberal democracy, people have the liberty to live their own lives without worrying about government intrusion. 

With a socialist collectivist society, the government tightly controls economic freedom and taxes it highly, so when people "make too much money" compared with the rest of society, that money is taken away from them and given to people who do not have enough and lack the ability to make a lot more money and be more successful.  Even if their skills and production call for it, government will take it away.   This is called a social democracy, where you are no stronger than your weakest link. 

What makes America great and the greatest country in the world and why we're still the envy of the world and people still emigrate here is our freedom and form of government, where if you get a good education and skills, you can live your own life as you see fit and be as successful in life as your skills and production will allow, which is determined by a private market. 

America has been a liberal democracy for 234 years now and overall it's worked very well.  We are the best country in the world and when we move away from that foundation, we slip back.