Book Review: Libertarian War on Poverty (2012)

Repairing the ladder of upward mobility
by Daniel K. Robin


Libertarian War on PovertyThis is a very good book that deserves to be read… by people inside the freedom movement and out. It’s crisply well-written and the thinking flows strongly and comfortably. Those who are neophytes in economics or who, like me, have little affinity for it, will love the clarity with which it presents solutions to economic problems and subproblems. Poverty is after all an economic issue: not having enough useful stuff to meet one’s needs. The author, through substantial and relevant research, gives us common-sense public policies, that unfortunately are still uncommon. Continue reading

Book Review: Drug War Addiction (2001)

From the front lines of America’s #1 policy disaster
by Sheriff Bill Masters
Reviewed by Brian Wright


Drug War AddictionEditor’s note: I met Sheriff Bill at the 2002 Libertarian Party National Convention in Indianapolis. He looked just like the picture, authentic law-enforcement (LE) good guy, unpretentious, whistle blower. He had the inside skinny on how corrupt the cops of Samland had become, almost all being on the take in the Drug Racket. With federalization, the drug war money from the Washington—guns, SWAT teams, civil forfeiture, and simply mountains of tax loot—made for a welfare system few of his buddies in Colorado LE could resist. It became just too easy to become a self-righteous thug. The book was hot stuff around the l/Libertarian circuit in 2001 when it came out. I bought the book from his table, did a read in a couple of days, and found it remarkable that so little a book could be so dense-packed with moral and practical observations of the “#1 policy disaster.” Continue reading

Guest Column: Pot Law Sleaze-Beneficiaries

Lobbyists getting rich over weed prohibition
by Lee Fang (RepublicReport.org)


Budlaw BenniesLast year, over 850,000 people in America were arrested for marijuana-related crimes. Despite public opinion, the medical community, and human rights experts all moving in favor of relaxing marijuana prohibition laws, little has changed in terms of policy.

There have been many great books and articles detailing the history of the drug war. Part of America’s fixation with keeping the leafy green plant illegal is rooted in cultural and political clashes from the past. Continue reading