Brian’s Column: Dead Horse, New Horse?

4Q 2015, Michigan. [Excerpt draft from upcoming The Truman Prophecy.]

HeinleinAnd it came to pass in the SLOW (Spartan Land of the Wolverine) and in most other  subrealms of the LOWDOWN—to be uttered in a deep Darth Vader-like voice—(Land of Worship for Deathstar Operations Worldwide No-Exceptions) that a onetime major—albeit never conventionally successful—movement for freedom sputtered to a halt. That ultimately petering-out political enterprise would be the Libertarian Party of Michigan (LPM) and Libertarian Party (LP) in general.

Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. [Good manners, consideration] … and formal politeness provide the lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as ’empty,’ ‘meaningless,’ or ‘dishonest,’ and scorn to use them. No matter how ‘pure’ their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.
— Sayings of Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love, Robert Heinlein Continue reading

Brian’s Column: The Death of Death Star Politics

Home of Postmaster 1, Sterling Heights, Michigan.

Walking_off_Stage_2[Editor’s note: This column is an excerpt from the Tin Man’s Heart chapter of my novel in  progress, The Truman Prophecy. The corresponding location in the book will likely see several changes before publication.]

Patrecia Bartlett turned off her TV in disgust. Mid-October 2015, the 2016 presidential candidates snorted and pawed in the early public forums leading into Primary Season. What earned her revulsion was the latest ‘debate’ among the Republican lot.

She seldom watched mainstream TV anymore, but succumbed today in a moment of weakness. Maybe this one time—with alleged libertarians Rand Paul and Ben Carson or apparent anti-MSM, Jack-in-the-Box billionaire Donald in the mix—a genuine ray of hope-laden light would slip out between the gears of the fog machine. Continue reading

Book Review: End the Fed (2009)

End the Fedby Ron Paul
No mo’ money outa ‘thick’ air
Reviewed by Brian Wright

Stand back! We don’t know how big this thing is gonna get! — Adam

Today, I review The Book of the New Century… which, of course, needs to be qualified with innumerable adjectives. Such as political, economic, financially liberating, revolutionary, and “ding-dong da witch be goin’ down, baby!” The witch being: Continue reading

Brian’s Column: Liberty and Celebrity

Some thoughts on ‘being known for being known’
and what it means to the freedom movement

This definition of celebrity—being known for being known—is pretty close to a quote from a an interesting piece I read from a Web article by Daniel Epstein published a couple of years ago in The Weekly Standard of all places[1].  Actually, Epstein was quoting Daniel Boorstin from The Image: Or What Happened to the American Dream: “The celebrity,” Boorstin wrote, “is a person who is well-known for his well-knownness.”[2]

Epstein continues by making a distinction between fame and celebrity: fame being based more on actual achievement, while celebrity especially recently become more the art of being paid attention to by large numbers of people on television regardless of any personal noteworthiness. Probably the most classic example is Brian “Kato” Kaelin, the house guest of OJ Simpson.  The Kaelin persona reminds me of the Woody Allen movie, Zelig, in which a nondescript man seeks to blend in and dissemble as if he were one of the famous people himself. Continue reading

Book Review: Kindergarten Rules (SNaP Module #1: 2010)

Understanding the first principles of nonaggressionLiberation Technology User's Guide: Module #1: Kindergarten Rules
by Brian Wright


The Kindergarten Rules is the first installment of a series of seven that describe and advocate the Sacred Nonaggression Principle (SNaP)—my book advocating that we hold the nonaggression principle (banning the initiation of physical force) as the highest standard in social systems. Continue reading

Guest Column: Tom Woods on Ron Paul

What opponents seem to be saying
by Tom Woods

Tom WoodsTom Woods, historian and author of New York Times bestseller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, is a strong spokesman and advocate for liberty,[1] whom I have recently witnessed emerging and leading the Tenth Amendment (state Nullification of unconstitutional laws) charge. He also is a salient intellectual on the frontlines of support for candidate Ron Paul. What will strike you most, however, in the majority of his commentaries—esp. in this piece he wrote back in February 2012—is his rapier wit and humor. Here’s a long excerpt: Continue reading

Brian’s Column: Time Now to Johnson Up for Liberty

Notes from the 2012 LP of Michigan Convention
by Brian Wright


Embassy SuitesAnother one for the books. The 2012 nominating convention was organized this year by Renee Lewis, setting at the luxurious Embassy Suites in Livonia, 02 June 2012 (01 June, too, if you count the last-minute Senatorial debate between Mr. Scotty Boman and Dr. Erwin Haas). Continue reading