Written by Matt D. Harris, LPWV Chairman

Class warfare arguments have long been the domain of socialists, big-government leftists, and others who believe that through government force, they can end oppression and be uplifted individually and economically.  While many of the statements they make about class-based oppression and exploitation ring true, their solutions to those very real problems are not viable solutions.  History has shown that government force only imposes greater exploitation of workers, greater tyranny by the political and ruling classes, and greater hopelessness for the regular people in America.

Capitalism does not exist anywhere in the world today.  Not really, at least.  The US economic system, based largely on the Keynsian theory of central management, has empowered a political class to enable a ruling class which have for over a century oppressed the American citizen and led to a gradual decline in the ability of people to be independently prosperous in modern society.  This sort of central management is far closer to Marxist theory than it is to true capitalist theory as espoused by the Austrian school of economics.  Central management has allowed for corruption to be centralized, created readily available paths for the most powerful mega-corporations in areas ranging from military contractors like Blackwater and Halliburton to retail giants such as Walmart, to impose draconian regulations and to even go so far as to lead to human death and suffering on a massive scale.

Regulations by the government may seem well-intentioned to the uninitiated.  When the government says “we’d like to help the environment,” it’s natural for someone to believe that they are helping the environment by doing something such as limiting pollution and imposing penalties for polluters.  While this may seem on the surface to be a noble goal, the truth of the matter is that what’s really happening is that a massive bureaucracy is being created.  We all know that mega-corporations have a lot of control over the government we live under.  It shouldn’t be difficult, then, to realize that if these mega-corporations didn’t want such regulations, they could have stopped them from coming into existence.  They do want them, however, and here’s why.  Those bureaucracies cost millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars a year to comply with.  The regulations go vastly beyond simply saying “don’t pollute or you’ll get in trouble”, and instead create these massive, expensive bureaucracies.  These compliance costs create a barrier to entry in many industries, which means that only the mega-corporations who can afford easily to comply, can do so at all.  That drives up prices for the consumer, and absolutely prevents competition which would help to protect the consumer from the mega-corporations by allowing someone else to “do it better and cheaper.”

Another good example of this is the FDA.  At many points in history, new medicines were developed by accident by brilliant individuals working at home.  Now, it’s impossible for this to occur, since the FDA would regulate them out of existence.  The pharmaceutical giants which love the FDA’s existence because it allows them to hold their power over that market also lobby for things like continuing marijuana prohibition to prevent medical marijuana from becoming popular.  Many patients who use medical marijuana illegally suggest that it works wonders, yet the federal government maintains prohibition against it.  It just isn’t profitable for the mega-corporations in the pharmaceutical industry.  They can’t patent it.

Beyond that, the inherent corruption of the Keynsian-Marxist system we live under has created a new class - the non-productive political class of politicians and bureaucrats who contribute little if anything to society while working to enforce regulations that maintain the oppression of the most productive classes in society.  The political class has one mandate from the ruling class which created it - to help the ruling class to maintain its power and build barriers to prevent others from becoming a part of the ruling class, while pretending to be somehow benevolent, and not looking or smelling like the ruling class to the majority of the citizenry.

It’s our belief as libertarians that the only way to empower working people is by removing the power from the corrupt political class which enables them to serve the ruling class.  That means dramatically shrinking the size and scope of government at all levels. Only then can people be truly free to compete against the mega-corporations successfully.  Socialism and corporatism (also known as the Keynsian economic model of central management) empower that political class to serve the whims of the ruling class, which allows for the exploitation of workers.  A truly free market - which is something that we absolutely do not have in this state or this country today - would allow every individual to be a capitalist and to potentially, through their own hard work, entrepeneurship, and motivation, and to potentially join the upper class.  Big government does not create trickle down wealth, it leads only to trickle-down poverty.  Big government steals wealth from the people and delivers it into the hands of the ruling class through inflationary monetary policy, bailouts and corporate welfare, and by preventing free competition from rising up from the productive classes of society.

I hope you’ll join us in our fight to help regular people in the state of West Virginia achieve the prosperity they deserve.

Written by Matt D. Harris, LPWV Chairman

Many in the liberty movement worship and idolize Ayn Rand, author of The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and a myriad of other novels and shorts.  Ms. Rand, however, hated the liberty movement and the Libertarian Party in particular.  Rand was particularly critical of the LP’s presidential candidates running in opposition to Nixon and Reagan, as she was herself both a staunch Republican and advocate of authoritarian statism.  Unlike what many believe, Rand in fact believed that a strict authoritarian state with dictatorial powers was the best way to impose her brand of objectivism and capitalism on the unwashed masses.  In fact, it’s quite clear that Rand in fact loathed the productive class of society in general.

Rand is quoted in “A Nation’s Unity” in 1972 as saying “ If, at a time like this, John Hospers takes ten votes away from Nixon (which I doubt he’ll do), it would be a moral crime.“  Furthermore, she goes on to state, speaking of the Libertarian Party “Capitalism is the one system that requires absolute objective law, yet they want to combine capitalism and anarchism. That is worse than anything the New Left has proposed.“  If these two quotes - an endorsement of statist president Richard Nixon, and a lambasting of anarchism while stating that capitalism requires absolute objective law, do not show you that Rand was in fact a statist, then perhaps you’re dense.

Regardless of her beliefs in statism however, perhaps you should also give consideration to her hatred for you, as libertarians.  “Now here is a party that plagiarizes some of my ideas, mixes it with the exact opposite—with religionists, anarchists, and just about every intellectual misfit and scum they can find—and they call themselves Libertarians, and run for office.”, Rand stated in a 1975 interview.  She makes an accusation of plagiarism (which is, in fact, quite common for Rand - even though there’s never any credible evidence thereof given whatsoever)  while denouncing the Libertarian Party and libertarians.  History shows that Rand never supported libertarians politically and in fact unilaterally sided with statist Republicans.

Throughout her career, Rand showed a genuine loathing for the productive classes of society - those who were not her beloved “capitalists”, but were the workers that allowed such people to do anything whatsoever.  Face it - without workers, there’d be no industry.  Yet while claiming moral superiority, Rand lambasted those very workers while championing the non-productive classes of society.  By supporting statist Republicans, she championed the political class.  In Atlas Shrugged, she clearly showed a love for the non-productive “management” class.  On the other hand, her dislike for the productive class - those who actually do useful things and create useful things - was obvious in many of her writings.

Not everyone in the liberty movement cares much for the Libertarian Party, it’s true.  Many of those who choose not to support the LP are in fact great activists, philosophers, thinkers, writers, and otherwise.  Just because they choose not to support the LP does not make them authoritarians or statists.  Rand, however, has clearly shown herself to be a statist and proponent of the useless political class in America.  Her writings, thoughts, ideas,. and statist notions of capitalism ought be tossed out of our philosophy once and for all.

Ayn Rand hates you, and philosophically, you can do so much better than her drivel.

The LPWV today announced an internship program, primarily targetted at students of West Virginia University.  Based in Morgantown, the LPWV’s initial internship opportunities are posted at the WVU Career Services Center’s MountaineerTRAK website.  Students are encouraged to log in to MountaineerTRAK and view available positions for 2009 and 2010.

“We hope these positions will help WVU students to grow and obtain valuable on-the-job experience which is important for building a good resume, while also enabling the LPWV to take advantage of one of our community’s most valuable resources.” said Matt Harris, LPWV Chairman.  The LPWV hopes to bring in between 3 and 5 interns over the course of 2009 beginning with the summer semester, with several more positions opening up at the start of the 2010 West Virginia State legislative session.  More positions will likely be made available as Libertarian candidates begin their campaigns in the run-up to the 2010 general elections.

If a hostile force were to invade the US, I would be the first to become an insurgent. If they invaded by military might, I would fight them with military might. If they invaded by political means, I would fight them with political means.

Well, they have. The Democrats, Republicans, and the bankers who control them have invaded our country and taken it over by political means. I’m an insurgent. You can be too. Join the Libertarian Party of West Virginia today and start fighting back!

You can join today for only $20 per year by clicking the contribution link here on the web or by mailing a check or money order with member information (name, address, phone, email address) to us at PO Box 4428 Star City, WV 26504. Thank you for your support!

- Matt D. Harris, LPWV Chairman

Dear Friend of Liberty,

I have been very impressed with the remarkable accomplishments of the Libertarian Party of West Virgina so far this year regarding ballot access and candidate recruitment under the leadership of their new Chair, Matt Harris.

I hope you’ll visit their website and contribute $100 or $200 to help pay for petition signatures to get six candidates on the ballot for the November 2010 elections.

They’ve got an experienced petitioner on the ground collecting signatures now thanks to a recent $1,000 contribution, and they need $500 minimum to keep going for another week. They’re also doing work to prepare for 2012. Continue reading Help the LPWV put candidates into office

From tadbritch.com:

I am somewhat baffled as to why the Federal Reserve is receiving such a bad rap these days. There have been recent anti-Fed movements and demonstrations all over the country. Most recently, Ron Paul has introduced H.R 1207, which seeks to audit the Federal Reserve. I feel the criticism may be misplaced, and these people are entirely wrong on whom they are levying the criticism against. Those in the Fed are working diligently to protect and save this country from financial ruin.

For those who may be unaware, the Federal Reserve is a private group of bankers who have been given the keys to our economy. This bank is largely run by the same powerful families who controlled the Bank of England (Rothschilds), and another family who are self-admitted globalists (Rockefellers). The Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913, and shortly signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson (the same visionary who enslaved Americans with the income tax). An oligarchy,  not accountable to any American, now controls the whole of our nation’s money supply. Those bankers have complete decision-making power over our monetary policies. The organization can inflate and devalue the dollar at will through a number of policies. While the President and Senate must ratify the chairman of the Fed, none of their decisions can be reviewed or vetoed by any lawmaker. Continue reading Why the criticism of the Fed?

Governor Manchin has, as expected, signed the ballot access reform bill into law which effectively cuts in half the number of valid signatures required to get minor party and independent candidates on the general election ballot in West Virginia.

We at the LPWV applaud the governor’s office and thank Governor Manchin, as well as all of the state house and senate members who voted in favor of this bill, for helping to make elections in our great state more free and fair to all participants.

Over the past few months, the United States military has been operating remote-controlled drones to attack targets inside of Pakistan, a sovereign nation.  President Obama virtually promised such attacks to supporters during his campaign, stating that “If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”

Now he appears to be keeping at least one campaign promise.  According to one report, 700 Pakistani civilians have been killed by these attacks, leading to outcry in Pakistan against the use of these attacks and encroachment into sovereign Pakistani airspace to attack what the US military believes might be terrorist targets. Continue reading LPWV demands immediate end to drone attacks in Pakistan

Speaker of the House Richard Thompson held a live internet chat and took questions from the public today. (Read full transcript here.)

The LPWV raised an important question on the issue of marijuana legalization. We asked Thompson if he is willing to consider steps towards decriminalizing marijuana due to the relative harmlessness of the drug, and the large profits West Virginia could make from its sale. Thompson responded,

As someone who comes from a law enforcement background, I’m not convinced that marijuana is as harmless as some would have us believe. I’m not in favor of — and I do not believe the House is in favor of — making marijuana legal.

We respect Mr. Thompson’s time spent serving our state, but it appears  he falls into the “pot is evil” crowd and may not have taken the time to conduct his own research on the drug. The LPWV does not feel it is reasonable, nor logical, to maintain the status quo where innocent citizens are locked up for nothing more than exercising their personal freedoms. Those looking for changes in marijuana laws should not hope to see it anytime soon.

Continue reading Reactions to chat with Speaker Richard Thompson

We’re almost there!  The ballot access reform bill, introduced in the most recent session of the West Virginia legislature, passed both the house and the senate.  Libertarian Party activists have actively lobbied in support of this legislation at the state capitol and we expect that Governor Manchin will sign the bill.  As of the time of this writing, the bill has not yet been received by the governor’s office.

This bill cuts in half the number of valid signatures needed to get on the general election ballot in West Virginia, as well as moving the deadline for all petitions to be turned in up to August 1st.  More detailed information on the bill can be found in a previous post on lpwv.org.

- Matt D. Harris, LPWV Chairman