The New Jersey Alliance of the Libertarian Left held our second meeting on September 29. We are growing, and we have plans. We will continue counter-recruitment flyering, and will soon revise the flyer to better address employment and scholarship concerns. The loitering action was put on hold to make way for anti-police brutality action, which we are now planning. We are of course continuing our efforts to work with other local activists and increase our numbers.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 20 at 6:30 pm. Email us at nj.libertarianleft(at)gmail.com if you want to get involved.

nj.libertarianleft.org
True Liberty For All!

As an addendum to some of my recent posts, you might be interested in Guns and Weapons for Law Enforcement, a magazine that hypes everything tactical to police officers.

One such gun for law enforcement is the BlackWater BW 15.

According to Guns and Weapons for Law Enforcement, “Blackwater’s reputation for adapting to a fluid battlefield can be found in the modularity seen on their BW15 AR.”

The US Government is quite proficient at turning America’s streets into “a fluid battlefield.”  How nice of their nominally private partners in crime to present them with tactical equipment solutions.

Numerous police officers were patrolling the platforms at the Princeton Junction train station this morning.  Signs near the platform entrances alerted passengers that their bags would be subject to search.  Three NJ Transit Police Department “Special Operations” SUVs were parked around the station, one of them attached to a large trailer.  At least one SUV also had “Justice Team” written on the side, apparently to make passengers believe that superheros protect them.  In addition, a very large “Special Operations” truck and two unmarked police cars were parked near the station.

I have not found any news of any particular threat today, so it is unclear what the officers are looking for.  If I was a real journalist I would have asked them, but I am not (maybe I need to make myself a darianworden.com press pass to feel official).

In related news, police in Mount Vernon, New York, have set up checkpoints to search cars for illegally-possessed guns and other unharmful activity.  Clearly they will do whatever they can get away with to protect their monopoly on the use of force.  The Journal News wants you to think that the residents of Mount Vernon approve of this “bold initiative.”

Also related is the fact that police agencies around the country are adding military rifles to their patrol equipment, and other military equipment is on the way (See radgeek for some examples).  And let’s not forget tomorrow’s deployment of an active Army unit within the United States “for the same mission – with a twist” as patrolling Iraq “in full battle rattle.”

William Gillis, an all-around awesome dude, recently posted a detailed analysis of the RNC protests.

Give ALL a call when you’re ready to take liberty a little more seriously.

Thanks to Brad Spangler for bringing this absolute win to my attention.

A free market is an arena of voluntary exchange – exchanges made without the use of aggression, without government involvement. The American economy does not operate this way in general, and the banking industry does not operate this way in particular. See Sheldon Richman for further details.

Government “de-regulation” usually entails helping preferred established firms while keeping in place regulatory barriers that lock out true competition. This prevents the operation of the most democratic, egalitarian, and efficient system of regulating business – the aggregate of voluntary exchange known as the free market. However, even this variety of de-regulation is not to blame for the current government failure.

In this light, a new flyer is available as a .pdf that addresses the bailout issue from a radical free-market perspective.

Related:
State Capitalism in Crisis
Scratching By: How Government Creates Poverty as We Know It
And Now a $700 Billion Bailout

Free the markets – free the people!

Charles Johnson posted 14 recent Police Magazine covers on his blog today. My favorite headline: “Is America Running Out of Cops?”

“Dear Friends, Family, and Comrades:

“We are the RNC 8: individuals targeted because of our political beliefs and work organizing for protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention, in what appears to be the first use of Minnesota’s version of the US Patriot Act. The 8 of us are currently charged with Conspiracy to Commit Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism, a 2nd degree felony that carries the possibility of several years in prison. We are writing to let you know about our situation, to ask for support, and to offer words of hope…”

Read the rest at Friends of the RNC 8.

It would appear so.

I managed to read a good number of the Market Anarchy zines over the summer. One that I didn’t get to was “Can Austrian Economics Break Bricks?,” an adaptation of Benjamin Darrington’s essay Government Created Economies of Scale and Capital Specificity.

Drawing heavily from Kevin Carson and the Austrian tradition, the essay describes various ways in which government encourages the establishment and continued existence of large, centralized, and capital-specific firms and methods of production.  The motivations for doing so and the harmful effects are also explored.  This is especially important reading in this hour of accusations against non-existent lassiez-faire.

I’ll be selling and signing Bring a Gun to School Day at the Collingswood Book Festival on October 5. Check it out if you’re in the South Jersey or Philly area.

This will be the first time I sell my novella somewhere that isn’t distinctly libertarian or pro-gun. Hopefully I’ll be the new controversial thing. Self-published authors have it hard enough without getting attention and no amount of controversy is too much for Darian Worden to handle. The world needs more books that explore touchy subjects like school shootings and state oppression anyway.