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Politics

Who Will Be The Independents' Top 10 Enemies of Freedom?

Matt Welch | 8.15.2014 7:11 PM

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Over the past two weeks The Independents has been counting down our eerily familiar list of 25 "Enemies of Freedom." Here's what we've tallied so far:

On Wednesday's episode we talked about #s 13-11:

Well, tonight on Fox Business Network at 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT (with re-airs three and five hours later), it's Top 10 o'clock! Who will these dastardly do-badders be? IT'S TOTALLY TIME FOR A COMMENTS CONTEST.

Fill out a list of 10 guesses in the comments below before showtime, and the winner will get a trebly autographed copy of…whatever you want (within reason)! A pic, a book, a copy of a magazine, a paper plate from the Fox cafeteria, you name it. BUT YOU HAVE TO COMPETE. Because life is a competition, winning is the only thing, and there's no business like show businss. Also, if you're just submitting entries with new screen names under the same IP address, BZZZT!

Hints? Well, I don't know if it helps, but our guests will include Townhall Political Editor Guy Benson, Forbes columnist Rick Ungar, Cato Executive Vice President David Boaz, and, uh, Nina Khrushcheva. Remember, this ain't science, but it is an attempt to have some fun with the unfuns of the world—yes, there will be a game during the show's halftime—and, well, we could all use some levity after a week like this.

Hurl insults at The Independents on Facebook, Twitter, or right the hell here. And click on this page for more video of other enemies!

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

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NEXT: Kim Jong Un Cracks Joke About How Funny He Isn't

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

PoliticsThe Independents
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  1. Hyperion   11 years ago

    I'm totally objecting to zombies only being one slot behind Lizzie White Squaw Warren, and the squaw should totally be higher on the list than Mugabe. I'd put her somewhere in the top 10 between Paul McCartney and The Anti-Christ.

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      I agree.

      i also think Bloomberg got almost a bonus prize for being 'just' #25. He should have been flagged as top 10 because his style of Freedom Hating is in fact widely emulated and used as a model by smug nanny-state prog mayors all over the country.

      While Mugabe, Castro, Zombies, et al may have Anti-Freedom street-cred, they make little difference in the lives of many Americans.

      Whereas, Bloomie, Sheriff Joe, James Clapper, Bill Bennett and his ilk, etc. are real people who haunt our institutions and ruin people's lives for their own political ends.

    2. Sudden   11 years ago

      Well, everyone behind the Warren for President campaign is a zombie, so it makes sense to put her right in front of them.

      1. Bobarian   11 years ago

        I welcome the zombie apocalypse, the NYT headline will read :The Libertarian Moment has Finally Arrived!

        1. Whahappan?   11 years ago

          Women and children hit hardest.

  2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

    This is going to end like Time's person of the year for 2006, isn't it?

    1. db   11 years ago

      They'll just show a black screen and leave the viewer to reflect on it.

      1. Sudden   11 years ago

        Can they at least play some Journey in the background?

        1. GILMORE   11 years ago

          Any way you want it?

        2. Paul.   11 years ago

          Just the way you need it.

    2. GILMORE   11 years ago

      You're just upset it was Me

  3. Arkansaustrian Economics   11 years ago

    10. ISIS
    9. David Frum
    8. Millennials
    7. Kennedy as roundtable discussion host
    6. Feminists
    5. Congress
    4. Vladimir Putin
    3. Cross dressing porn stars who smoke pot
    2. That girl in 3rd period. You know who I mean.
    1. Barack Obama

    Make sure ya'll spell my name right.

    1. Bobarian   11 years ago

      #7 made me laugh.

      Its true cause its funny?

    2. db   11 years ago

      Man, that girl in 3rd period Spanish class...made me think very evil wonderful thoughts back in the day. I wonder what became of her?

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        Kid out of wedlock, got fat, trailer park, 3rd marriage.

        You're welcome.

        1. db   11 years ago

          That would be hilarious, given that her dad was the president of a local bank.

          1. Sudden   11 years ago

            So ixnay the trailer park. Once she got fat, she was too big to fail.

            1. db   11 years ago

              Honestly couldn't imagine her as fat. She was a cross country runner.

  4. Drake   11 years ago

    Obama?

    The American voters?

    Together they have made real progress.

  5. BiMonSciFiCon   11 years ago

    10. Putin
    9. Bush
    8. Obama
    7. Diane Feinstein
    6. BIEBER
    5. David Brooks
    4. ISIS
    3. Soccer
    2. Carlos Mencia
    1. Manbearpig (al gore)

  6. DEG   11 years ago

    It's time to drink. Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout for me.

    1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

      Still pear cider. I have a Hop Stoopid in the fridge come 5pm, though.

      1. DEG   11 years ago

        Pear cider is good.

      2. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

        Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Ale was a fantastic choice on my part. Still have 3 bottle left to enjoy.

        1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

          I'm staying in my right mind for the time being. Going to see the Chris Pratt movie tonight.

        2. Sudden   11 years ago

          Undecided as of yet. Either finish off the remaining bottle of wine from last night, the sixer of Shipyard Export, The Bruery Sucre (though way too heavy for this weather), or just try everything on tap downstairs.

  7. Jensen   11 years ago

    Will their choices be as dumb and arbitrary as Reason Magazine's? Find out next week, same bat time, same bat channel!

    I predict very few African shitbag leaders and a lot of petty Washington bureaucrats.

  8. Almanian!   11 years ago

    10 Millenials
    9 Millenials
    8 Millenials
    7 Millenials
    6 Millenials
    5 Millenials
    4 Millenials
    3 Millenials
    2 Millenials
    1 Millenials

    1. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

      I vote for this entry. I'll even suffer through some bagpipe "music" for it.

    2. Bobarian   11 years ago

      Don't the fuckin' Boomers get some love?

      1. Headless Body of Agnew   11 years ago

        And isn't Obama borderline Gen-X?

        1. Bobarian   11 years ago

          NO!!

  9. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    I'm hoping the show is ballsy and labels democracy the number 1 enemy of freedom.

    1. Jensen   11 years ago

      Yeah, that'd look great out of context: "Libertarian cable news show announces democracy as evil, re-education camps to be authorized by Congress immediately."

  10. Scruffy Nerfherder   11 years ago

    Sparkly vampires are missing from this list.

  11. Bill Dalasio   11 years ago

    Dick Chaney and Harry Reid both beating Elizabeth Warren?

    Sorry, not buying it. Harry Reid is just an unprincipled, two-bit, hack. He hasn't the brains to be a genunine enemy of freedom. If it weren't for foreign policy, Dick Cheney....would still suck, but at least not much more than most other politicians. But Elizabeth Warren?!?!? Has the woman ever taken a position that didn't involve infringing on others?

    1. Brandon   11 years ago

      Harry Reid has significantly more power than Warren.

      1. db   11 years ago

        Warren will be the next Ted Kennedy: The Forever Senator. We will be dealing with her freedom-hating ass long after it is making her diapers stink worse than Strom Thurmond and Richard Byrd's illegitimate combo-clone baby's aborted corpse.

        1. db   11 years ago

          Oh, and

          Thanks, Massholes.

          1. DEG   11 years ago

            Fuck I hope you are wrong.

            1. db   11 years ago

              Massholes love their royalty and will continue to gobble up whatever rat's asshole the Democratic Party puts in front of them forever and ever, Amen.

        2. Sudden   11 years ago

          Ha, you only wish!

          She will be the next POTUS. I'd bet my ass on it.

      2. Bill Dalasio   11 years ago

        Not buyig it. Without Harry Reid, you'd have...some other Dem. hack doing pretty much the exact same things he's doing. He hasn't noticably moved the needle against liberty. Warren is actively pushing for statism on a consistent basis.

  12. GILMORE   11 years ago

    King Edward III? come on.

  13. Troy muy grande boner   11 years ago

    10. municipal pool life guards
    9. DEA
    8. BATF
    7. IRS
    6. Home owner associations
    5. ISIS
    4. cop enthusists
    3. Obama
    2. hillary clinton
    1. the us federal government

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      Nothing was more crushing of liberty and the human spirit than "adult swim" hour

  14. Sudden   11 years ago

    Traditional, non-libertarian conservatives are starting to see the police for what they are, what they've become. Mark Steyn weighs in with thisgem.

    1. Dances-with-Trolls   11 years ago

      "Law" "enforcement" in Ferguson apparently has at its disposal tear gas, riot gear, armored vehicles and machine guns ...but not a dashcam

      Great point.

    2. Sudden   11 years ago

      Bonus points for Steyn. He concluded his piece by linking to Reason.

      We may be living through the libertarian moment.

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        We may be living sleeping through the libertarian moment.

    3. Raven Nation   11 years ago

      Although Steyn was not a Ron Paul guy, he was one of the few public conservatives who said that, in a general between Obama & Paul, he would vote for Paul. Most public conservatives indicated they would not vote if that was the choice.

  15. The Immaculate Trouser   11 years ago

    This list is almost as retarded as Buttplug's daily postings. Seriously, if you're even going to put guys like Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro on the list, they need to be at the very top for being such absolute shits for their entire lives. I hate Krugman as much as the next person, but he's absolutely not a greater "enemy of freedom" than Fidel fucking Castro -- don't be US-centric. And if you are putting things like "emotion" on the list, you might as well throw in dick cancer and space aliens. It is so stupid and over-the-top, that I refuse to believe that Matt and Kmele had anything to do with it and attribute all blame to its creation to Kennedy, just as she is to blame for most of what is wrong with the show. Down with the Independents!

    There, hopefully that's humorless and hostile enough to end up on the two minutes' hate.

    1. Sudden   11 years ago

      They may edit out the dick.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   11 years ago

        They always do...

  16. The Immaculate Trouser   11 years ago

    Also, I will be very disappointed if #1 is not Nicole -- not quite disappointed enough to cancel my subscription, though. That will have to wait for the next gay marriage thread.

  17. Howzie   11 years ago

    10boko haram
    9barack obama
    8george w bush
    7DEA
    6IRS
    5United Nations
    4Vladimar Putin
    3ISIS
    2MSNBC
    1Police

  18. Stormy Dragon   11 years ago

    11. Emotion

    Way to fight the stereotype. =P

  19. bbeshwate   11 years ago

    In no particular order:
    Adolf Hitler
    Joseph Stalin
    Woodrow Wilson
    FDR
    Karl Marx
    Vladamir Lenin
    Income Tax
    Dianne Feinstien
    Pol Pot
    Daryl Gates, and so much more...

  20. Irish   11 years ago

    How does this book exist?

    Kelly is at loose ends in all kinds of ways. Though he has a Ph.D. from Harvard in East Asian studies, he's working as a program manager at a feeble public radio station in Baltimore. He schlubs around in hoodies and old black Converse sneakers.

    One day Kelly meets a familiar-looking black man. This turns out to be his old friend and bandmate Martin Lipkin, a Jewish guy who has undergone what he calls "racial reassignment surgery." Inside, Martin always felt black. The surgery, he says, has made him whole. He's changed his last name to Wilkinson because, he asks, "You know many brothers named Martin Lipkin?"

    "His voice is different," Kelly notices. "It is, thoroughly, unmistakably, a black man's voice, declarative, deep, warm, with a faint twang in the nasal consonants."

    (Snip)

    This novel has piercing things to say about Spike Lee's movies, about Prince, about rap and reggae and about Barack Obama, of whom Martin says: "He has that look all the time, a kind of noble dread. He's a sacrificial king, the still center of the churning world. Call him whatever you want, but he's older than old school. He's the most primal president we've had in my lifetime."

    1. Irish   11 years ago

      When Mr. Row writes a sex scene, he doesn't pull a fade; he's all in. About sex he is blissfully unquotable, except perhaps his observation about "the long arc of orgasm, where all of our perversities are unleashed." This cerebral writer is primal in other ways. There are a lot of meals in his novel. Kelly says it: "Food, it seems to me, and the smell of food, is the world's great consolation prize, its way of saying, things can't possibly be so bad."

      Comparing a young writer to other writers is, in the end, a chump's game, but it's hard not to do it. There's some Jonathan Lethem in Mr. Row's street-level awareness of culture, popular and otherwise. There's some Saul Bellow in his needling intelligence.

      "Your Face in Mine" spins toward a somewhat outlandish conclusion, but its core of meaning retains its force. Necessity is a mother of invention, this novel declares, but so is uncut human desire. "How far in the future can it be," Martin asks, "when people say, I don't want to be me anymore?"

      Wait, this is a POSITIVE review? I assumed he was picking those quotes out to make fun of them.

      1. The Immaculate Trouser   11 years ago

        It's obvious that you're just jealous of Row's "long arc of orgasm", Irish.

        Expect this book to be required reading for every Black Studies major. That should sell 44 copies, at least and perhaps up to dozens.

        1. db   11 years ago

          "long arc of orgasm"

          *This* is what passes for metaphor these days? A description of the parabolic trajectory of some dude's jizz?

        2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

          Expect this book to be required reading for every Black Studies major.

          At least it would have been, had Mr. Row hailed from the motherland as opposed to being a frigid Ice Person.

        3. Sudden   11 years ago

          Also, RACIST!

          He's the most primal president we've had in my lifetime."

      2. GILMORE   11 years ago

        "This novel more than fulfills the promise of those books. It puts him on another level as an artist."

        I am assuming this is the "level" referenced in that recent piece about how Liberals Kill Art by insisting it be Political

        neither here nor there, but George Sauders is actually a great writer, who really ruined himself for me by being such a screaming leftard.

        His short stories can be genius though. (shrug)

        1. Irish   11 years ago

          He ruins his own short stories by being a screaming leftard. Half of his stories make me laugh when he wants me to be sad because they're so stupidly and nonsensically political.

          1. GILMORE   11 years ago

            I think the story "Jon"(?) could be read in ways equally-libertarian as Leftist-anti-consumerism.

            a lot of his stories are like that. Well, some at least. i think he, like many leftists, blames 'capitalism' for the effects of mass-culture statist regulatory systems which limit and proscribe human lives into predictable patterns, like rats in a maze.

            Basically, i think he's a good writer who says interesting things despite his probable intentions.

    2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      That sounds like the literary fiction version of Shark Week.

      1. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

        I support it. Stay away from my beach, kooks!

        Also, this happened here yesterday:
        http://ktla.com/2014/08/14/sha.....nt-attack/

    3. ant1sthenes   11 years ago

      Shit, is cisrace going to be a thing now?

      1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

        We're all tragic mulattoes now.

  21. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    Everything men need to know about sexual harassment of women and femme-types in one convenient comic

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....ps=gravity

    1. The Immaculate Trouser   11 years ago

      The resulting comic covers everything from street harassment to legislative control over women's bodies, and offers bystanders a way to push back against harmful narratives.

      A construction worker yelling "nice tits!" is the harbinger for legislative control of women's bodies, sadism, rape, and eventually death. It's an inevitable chain of causality. OK sure, I buy that.

      Q: How do feminists reconcile the expanding freedoms (and privileges) of women in the 20th century with the fact of a greater deal of public coarseness in men's interactions with women over this same period? Might it have something to do with the fact that men have very little filter when speaking to each other, and may that be the real reason that "sexual harassment" is so "invisible" to menfolk?

      Just a thought.

    2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      That wasn't a "convenient" comic. It was a haranguing that matched Edward's "Sinners in the Hands of and Angry God" in both length and tone.

      1. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

        Even my liberal teachers assigned us Edward's sermon - feminist comics, not so much.

        Edwards is readable and interesting, there's another point of contrast.

        1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

          "Salvation through grace and not through works" is a foundational maxim of both the Calvinist and Radical Feminist creed.

          1. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

            I loved the spider thing. Really evil, when you think about it, but I guess the Calvinists wouldn't like me, either.

            1. The Immaculate Trouser   11 years ago

              Damn Papists, insisting on not believing in a demon-god who creates people for the sole purpose of punishing them for eternity with no possible escape. I mean, who wouldn't want to be martyred for spreading such a wonderful testament of God's love and joy!

              I'm a Protestant, but I'm pretty well convinced that John Calvin was produced in a mad theologian's lab somewhere in the Swiss Alps.

    3. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      Here's an attractive woman's thoughts on the subject.

    4. The Immaculate Trouser   11 years ago

      "I believe it's always good when topics such as rape culture, sexism, and harassment are explored and discussed,"

      There's always a sentence like this one every time one of these trollops ends up writing about this issue, and it's always and everywhere hilariously wrong. The last thing a feminist wants is for these topics to be "explored" or "discussed"; there's less hostility on the part of Christians when an atheist mocks the Holy Trinity than when someone questions rape culture in the presence of a feminist.

      No, they want to be agreed with and asked what one must do to deliver themselves from the anti-woman demons which lay dormant within every man. It is a power trip -- but just like every leftist, it is one trumpeted by the buzzwords of tolerance and egalitarianism, even though it is anything but.

    5. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

      As has been noted many times before, other women have more incentive and are more likely to engage in slut shaming than are men. As a rule, it is not in a man's best interests to shame a slut.

      Cartoonist might also note that saying something rude is to be expected of a minority of our asshole species and can be easily countered with a witty barb or mantra. Nothing wrong with encouraging civil behavior, but expecting it from what amount behaviorally to hyperintelligent chimpanzees is a recipe for a bitter, disappointing life. Give in to the Sowellian tragic vision already.

    6. Bill Dalasio   11 years ago

      Thank you. Even perusing it, I feel like I've lost a few IQ points.

  22. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    Mircoagressions, or: The one word that you should never, ever call a beautiful woman

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJem4_guSnU

    1. Sudden   11 years ago

      Rule #1: Never listen to what women say, watch what they do.

    2. GILMORE   11 years ago

      'annoying cunt'? I do that all the time. which is why the homely girls love me.

      1. Sudden   11 years ago

        If you do it in a Cockney British accent, it's not sexist.

        1. GILMORE   11 years ago

          Yeah, but that does get old real quick

  23. Karl Hungus   11 years ago

    Casey Kasem's been dead for two months now; I had no idea he hadn't been buried yet:

    http://tinyurl.com/la222lg

    Sure hope they've been keeping him on ice.

  24. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    Petition convinces Chicago Blackhawks to drop 'stripper song' from intermission ice activity

    The Blackhawks will be ditching their practice of organist Frank Pellico playing "The Stripper" as women participate in the "Shoot the Puck" contest during the second intermission of every game, ESPN reported Wednesday.

    Critics of the tradition launched an online petition and a hashtag campaign (#BanTheStripper) earlier this month urging the team to ditch the song and include women of all body types in the promotion by making the selection process "truly random."

    The petition also called for the team to change the uniforms for female members of their "Ice Crew" to match the less revealing outfits worn by male members, and for the team's annual convention to include at least one female panel moderator in 2015.

    "It's time to stop taking women for granted," stated the petition, which was signed almost 900 times. "We're here, we want to root for the Hawks, we're going to spend money to do it, and we want to be treated fairly along the way."

    In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Blackhawks president John McDonough did not specifically say whether the team would take the petitioners up on their other two requests, but did say they "hear the feedback. We respect it. We're distilling it right now."

  25. Libertarian   11 years ago

    "If she appears smiling on camera, she is 'wearing the mask,' that is, she is hiding her actual state through a strategy of self-presentation that is a cultural legacy of slavery."
    - Eileen Boris, Feminist Studies professor

    Commenting about the professor who tore up a teen's anti-abortion poster.

    1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      I like how Boris takes the "joyful Darkie" trope and inverts it to defend the indefensible actions of her colleague.

      I wonder what Miller-Young thinks of her boss basically calling her a grinning idiot, in her defense, none the less.

      1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

        Wait, it's even worse

        Prof. Boris seeks clemency for her colleague, stating, "she was at the stage of a pregnancy when one is not fully one's self fully, so the image of a severed fetus appeared threatening."

        Are you fucking kidding me?

        1. Sudden   11 years ago

          Our culture is rapidly degenerating into one in which women are not held responsible for their actions at all. Which is why it is inevitable that our next POTUS will be a woman.

          What difference, at this point, does it make?

          1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

            Only the chair of a Women's Studies department could get away with saying pregnancy makes one irrational.

    2. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

      When Anglos smile, it's the cultural legacy of the Norman conquest. If you're of Irish stock, it's because of the Tudor expulsion of the Irish from their lands. Koreans smile out of Japanese-inflicted misery, and the Japanese smile because of the atomic bomb.

      Humanity stands united in its common victimhood.

  26. Karl Hungus   11 years ago

    Mentally ill San Jose woman, 19, paints cordless drill black, points it at police, who then shoot and kill her:

    http://www.sfgate.com/crime/ar.....689036.php

    1. Libertarian   11 years ago

      Well, in their defense, it WAS cordless. They couldn't just run away and hope the cord popped out of the wall.

      1. Karl Hungus   11 years ago

        LOL excellent point! Paid vacation it is then!

  27. Sudden   11 years ago

    In case anyone wants to know how I became so cynical before discovering libertarianism (and its obvious fit given my cynicism), also if you're one of Reason's several fans of the Chiefs: Why Your Team Sucks: 2014 Kansas City Chiefs

  28. Libertarian   11 years ago

    If Chuck Schumer isn't in the top ten list of freedom's enemas, then Reason is dead to me. Dead! DEAD!!

    1. db   11 years ago

      Just Because.

  29. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Someone above mentioned this story - the porn prof apologizes for stealing that prolife sign, admits they had a right to be in the university free speech zone, submits letters of support from raving loony leftists.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014.....lifer-say/

  30. Pl?ya Manhattan.   11 years ago

    I think the real question here is what is the winner going to have autographed? I have an idea.

    1. db   11 years ago

      Depends on who's signing it.

  31. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    I know Putin and ISIS will be on the list, but where? And who are the other candidates?

    10) Ferguson, MO police
    9) NYPD
    8) Lois Lerner
    7) Vladimir Putin
    6) ISIS/IS
    5) Barack Obama
    4) Supporters of the proposed Detroit stadium
    3) Drug Warriors
    2) Elizabeth Warren
    1) Hillary Clinton

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      Tom Steyer.

      He wants to prevent me from destroying this planet. Which i find really, like, constraining, man.

  32. Andrew S.   11 years ago

    10. Tulpa
    9. The surfingest, powerlifting-est, dating Morgan Fairchild-est cop in the Northwest
    8. Hillary Clinton
    7. George Dubya Bush
    6. Janet "Not the Judge's sister" Napolitano
    5. Dianne Feinstein
    4. Irish Prime Minister Barack O'Bama
    3. American Police officers
    2. Pootie Poot
    1. NSA

  33. Raven Nation   11 years ago

    10. Michelle Obama
    9. Erdogan
    8. Matt Yglesias
    7. John Roberts
    6. Vladimir Putin
    5. Barack Obama
    4. Hamas
    3. ISIS
    2. Obamacare
    1. Cops

  34. jdgalt   11 years ago

    President Obama belongs at #1. His AG Eric Holder also belongs on the list, as do several other prominent Democrats including DiFi and Pelosi.

    But Fox's reluctance to annoy conservatives bugs me, too. Joe Arpaio belongs on the list, as does the police chief in Ferguson, MO.

    Then there are the enemies of consumer choice. I'll nominate the head sof EPA, PETA, and Greenpeace.

    Russian leader Putin and the fake-news folks at Al Jazeera can round out my top ten.

  35. Sissy Willis   11 years ago

    Top enemy of freedom is the lofos, our fellow Americans who haven't a clue.

    1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      They are a beautiful addition to any garden, though.

  36. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    10. The DEA

    9. George W. Bush (or the Bush family in general)

    8. Zoning laws

    7. Joe Arpaio

    6. Liquor laws

    5. Militarized police

    4. Putin

    3. Obama

    2. Hillary Clinton

    1. Voting

  37. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Prediction:

    10. Episiarch
    9. Pantsfan
    8. Warty
    7. Serious
    6. Episiarch
    5. db
    4. Notorious
    3. Kibby
    2. Episiarch
    1. Gilmore

    1. Bobarian   11 years ago

      not enough Epi!

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        You, being one of his sockpuppets (DON'T DENY IT), are on the list as one of those.

        1. Bobarian   11 years ago

          You're one of his sock puppets!

          too!

          1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

            WRONG. You're all my sockpuppets. It's been established.

            1. Andrew S.   11 years ago

              I thought you were really one of the Reason staff (I'm guessing Tucille) who really likes being first in the links threads.

              1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

                A dirty ethnic like Tuccille? Please.

        2. Irish   11 years ago

          We are all Epi's sockpuppets.

    2. db   11 years ago

      5? Seriously? They...They really *do* love me!

    3. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

      You mean Kibby has seized Nicole's tiara as the WORST?

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        She's another of Episiarch's sockpuppets. THAT'S HOW THE WORST SHE IS.

        1. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

          ...then who have I been having sleeping with when I visit Phoenix?

          1. db   11 years ago

            The very fact you call it that tells me you're not ready.

          2. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

            No, Nicole is one of Epi's puppets. Kibby actually made the list as herself. And deserves better than a man who kisses and tells.

            1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

              ...YOU CAD.

          3. Whahappan?   11 years ago

            You don't want to know.

            1. Whahappan?   11 years ago

              And by that I mean STEVE SMITH!

  38. BigT   11 years ago

    10. Putin
    9. Bush
    8. Obama
    7. Diane Feinstein
    6. Schumer
    5. David Brooks
    4. ISIS
    3. Cruz
    2. Putin
    1. Al Gore

  39. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Matt Welch is really Bruce Wayne? Pow!

    1. db   11 years ago

      *SLAP*

  40. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Santorum? Shouldn't you still be relevant to make the list?

  41. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    I should have known Santorum would be on the list

  42. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Uhhhhhhhhhhhnger

  43. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Really? One of the most corrupt Senators? At least he was dry, sober and home with his wife.

  44. Bobarian   11 years ago

    Rick Unger is a douche?

    wait I mean

    Rick Unger is a douche!

  45. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    What the hell is Ungar hinting at?

    1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      Substance and consequence-free innuendo?

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        THERE'S MORE THERE.

        Now let's move on.

  46. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Ungar = not just inarticulate, but probably full of shit too! "There's more there!?"

    he reminds me of the lefties who aren't content to simply exaggerate things they disagree with libertarians about, but need to *make shit up* on top of that.

  47. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Obamacare is such a stinker that putting his name on it is a low blow.

  48. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

    Mizzled! We're all being mizzled!

  49. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Guy Benson makes Fred Savage look like a Wise Old Man.

  50. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    So, it turns out it's possible to shoot a bow with your feet:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zPz3QKqwNU

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      Everybody knows that.

  51. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

    Has anyone seen where Schumer lives in DC? He's a fucking hoarder!

  52. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    I'm not doing so well on this list so far...

  53. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Schumer may actually be the worst current member of the Senate.

    1. Raven Nation   11 years ago

      Probably - although there is a lot of competition.

    2. Bobarian   11 years ago

      That's a bold statement...

      Given the fucking derpy list that comes out of that 'August Body'

      Boxerstein
      Graham
      McCain
      McConnell
      Lizzie
      Durbin
      Whorehouse Harry

      But yeah, probably #1 by an extended nipple.

      1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

        I shouldn't have read that to the last sentence.

  54. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    He actually said "well intentioned."

  55. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    Pajama Boy is going to be number 7?

  56. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Now it's going to be Pajama Boy, isn't it?

  57. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

    Rick Ungar deserves to have his hands tied by a chain, hung from a lamppost and then be disemboweled with a bone knife so that he slowly swings in the wind while his slimy intestines slowly slide out from the wound in torso.

    1. Suthenboy   11 years ago

      I think you are just supposed to make a small hole and pull one loop of a couple inches of intestine out. Then you let the coyotes spend half the night finishing the job.

      1. Whahappan?   11 years ago

        You sir, are an artist.

  58. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    Hmmm. Top enemies of freedom. Here's my take:

    10. fiat currency
    9. taxation
    8. vice laws
    7. compulsory schooling
    6. conscription
    5. nationalism
    4. the surveillance state
    3. the belief that the majority should rule
    2. the belief that might makes right
    1. the belief in that some people should hold power over others

    1. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

      They're already releasing the list...isn't it a bit late?

      1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

        Eh, they're only down to #7.

    2. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

      Yeah, that's a serious list. What they are doing isn't serious. And believe me, I know serious.

    3. Tony   11 years ago

      It would be a free world indeed in which there were no government whatsoever and everyone treated everyone nicely and always agreed and cooperated.

      Such a serious and probing philosophy of politics you have.

      1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

        I did not say that there should be no govt at all. I do think that people should realize that the more power they give to the government, the less free they are. Government is at best a necessary evil.

        Riddle me this: how is it possible for people to be equal if some people (politicians, judges, etc) have power over others? How can an equal have authority over an equal?

  59. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Sing it, Welch.

  60. GILMORE   11 years ago

    The Independents Attire Review, 15 August 2014

    Blow Wind, Come Wrack-Edition

    - Kennedy: We like the color combo of the teal+hot pink lippy; the look reminds us of the "Miami Vice" Izod combo which works much the same way. The blouse, while providing a nice creamy-V of Girl-Flesh, looks a little dated, although in a good, 'Cybil Shepherd, circa 'Moonlighting' kind of way. The dreamcatchers are a bit much with this as well.

    - Matt: The Pink Shirt again brings along its favorite pal, the "Tie That Works With The Pink Shirt". We can only assume that Matt took note of our previous flags on this point, because formerly-ubiquitous Pink Shirt has since eschewed all of its former extra-clashy-playmates. Only note this eve = again, the vanishing collar thing? Look at the back of Matt's neck. The collar is sinking beneath his lapels. This seems an on-again/off-again issue. Perhaps Matt is a sloucher.

    - Kmele: Grey Paisley Skinny Tie. We've given this package look a previous review, and won't bother with a re-hash. We like it, and again think we need to try for wider tie-knots with these spread collars.

    Everybody's On tonight. This requires all readers of this column to now chug what they're drinkin'.

    Y'all come back now, y'hear?

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      it now occurs to me skinny-ties don't do 'big knot'.

      meh

      1. GILMORE   11 years ago

        On a triple-take...

        ...it looks like he's on the 'fat knot' tip already.

        Look dude, i just take a quick glance.

  61. Irish   11 years ago

    I just saw that Reason poll about constitutional amendments and Americans are fucking retarded.

    74% want a balanced budget amendment, but if you asked them what they want to cut, they wouldn't actually be okay with cutting any programs.

  62. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

    "Let me answer the rhetorical question that I asked of myself."

  63. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Ungar's riposte = *things aren't worse*

    Than what??

  64. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Ungar is keeping his corporate plan rather than going into the exchanges.

  65. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Wham, bang, sweet Pyongyang

  66. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Your age, Guy?

    He's admitting he's a political Doogie Howser? Really? I thought it was a glandular problem. Or enforced Chastity

  67. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Africa begs to differ.

  68. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Startup New York: Won't you come into my parlor...

  69. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

    I thought Walter White killed that guy!

    1. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

      Enjoying the fiery Matt. Someone's been feeding him Rand and Rothbard.

  70. GILMORE   11 years ago

    CLAP OFF

  71. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    You can't allow an unconstitutional thing without an amendment.

    1. Bobarian   11 years ago

      Just ignore the question.

  72. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    She used Hussein.

  73. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Obama was running against Bush?

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      he still is.

  74. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    It annoys me when people imply that China is the US govt's main creditor when in fact the Federal Reserve is. I guess it's more effective to invoke the Yellow Peril.

    1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      Obama is quite the Sinophobe.

  75. Bobarian   11 years ago

    I love Laurence Fishburne commercials

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      He's selling Red Pills?
      (i don't get the commercials on my stream)

      1. Bobarian   11 years ago

        It's Samuel L. Jackson...

    2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

      I tend to prefer Montana Fishburne commercials.

      1. GILMORE   11 years ago

        Do they have Fishbone Commercials?

        1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

          Get together your shit, and get your ass to a proper toilet.

  76. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    The needs of our wounded will continue for many years to come...do you want them to depend on the VA? Donate now!

  77. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Nozachinsky? She don't look polish

  78. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Is Green Day going to be the bumper?

  79. GILMORE   11 years ago

    the answer 'huh' was actually fair

  80. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Foster doesn't self identify as a dark horse.

  81. Derpetologist   11 years ago

    My favorite Latin mottoes:

    virtus laudatur et alget- virtue is praised and left out to freeze

    si facisti, nega- if you did it, deny it

    sile, et philosophus esto- be silent and you will pass for a philosopher

    mudis vult decipi ergo decipiatur- the world wishes to be deceived, therefore it is deceived.

  82. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    "You can beat Matt with this."

    Not the first time Welch has heard that surrounded by women holding props.

  83. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Any test which has 2 questions about Uzbekistan is by definition invalid

  84. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    ARE YOU SERIOUS?

    1. Bobarian   11 years ago

      No, Nancy said "WHY SO SERIOUS?"

  85. Tony   11 years ago

    So in this show, freedom is being played by low tax rates for corporations?

    Also, "emotion." You people are never as tiresome as when you're playing Vulcan. Usually right after making a sappy paean to some dumbass simplistic principle, which wouldn't even be necessary to illustrate that any realistic political philosophy should have to take into account how people actually are (not Vulcanesque).

    1. Bobarian   11 years ago

      Tony's just mad cause he got left off everyone's list.

      1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

        The tears of impotent rage are almost as yummy as salty ham.

      2. GILMORE   11 years ago

        Tony's too stupid to be an enemy to anything except himself

        1. Raven Nation   11 years ago

          Wow, now that's a put down.

        2. Tony   11 years ago

          10. Lack of education
          9. Totalitarian government
          8. Poverty
          7. Debilitating health problem
          6. Prison
          5. Solitary confinement
          4. Slavery
          3. Major disability
          2. Persistent vegetative state
          1. Death

          1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

            Numbers 9, 6, and 5 are direct effects of the govt. 10, 8 and 4 are exacerbated by it. 7, 3, and 2 are bad luck and I don't even know why 1 is there.

            1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

              I don't even know why 1 is there.

              Tony's a transhumanist, perhaps?

              1. GILMORE   11 years ago

                "Death = woman, minorities, gays suffer worst effects"

                1. Tony   11 years ago

                  Unfreedom = white heterosexual males have to introspectively examine their outlook on life for five seconds.

                  1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

                    So what does that have to do with me, Tony? Not to mention that the last bastion of unabashed, naked, for-reals racism in modern America is firmly within your community.

                    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

                      Also, tony...

                      ...i changed my race to "Eskimo" in 1992. So i'd appreciate it if you'd refer to me by my tribal pronoun please? That's
                      "Angayokfark"

                    2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

                      Only real Inuits can use the E word. It bothers me when throat singing fans think they can use it because they believe they understand "igloo" life. It's cultural appropriation.

    2. Derpetologist   11 years ago

      I heard a pretty good insult the other day:

      "I'd call you a cunt, but you lack both the depth and the warmth."

  86. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Boaz =

    interesting tie
    painful shirt

  87. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    The people who donate to her are idiots. That helps.

  88. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    I got one!

  89. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    That's probably the best thing you can say about Pelosi. She's not as bad as ISIS.

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      I would dispute even that.

      She certainly ruins far more American lives.

  90. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    "Someone" left those weapons there.

  91. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Number one? Maddow. Her show is on opposite < i The Independents.

    1. Bobarian   11 years ago

      How would anyone know that?

  92. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    1. Warrior Cop?

  93. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Public unions?

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      would have been much better

  94. David R   11 years ago

    10. Rick Santorum
    9. RNC / DNC
    8. Chuck Schumer
    7. Pajama Boy
    6. Kim Jong Un
    5. James Clapper
    4. Debt
    3. Nancy Pelosi
    2. ISIS
    1. Vladimir Putin

    How'd I do?

  95. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    I got another one!

  96. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    I thought it was going to be Bernie Maxsmith.

  97. HazelMeade   11 years ago

    Well, if you can put "emotion" on the list....

    In no particular order:

    Progressives
    ISIS
    Vladimir Putin
    Child Protecting Services
    Occupational Licensing
    EPA
    FDA
    USDA
    ADA
    ACA

  98. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

    Putin?

    Weak sauce, Independents. Weak fucking sauce.

  99. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Putin is shielding Snowden.

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      AND that too

  100. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Putin?

    I thought Reason had a warm fuzzy for Russia, and Sheldon Richman seems to have developed Yogi-like contortion-abilities in his ability to characterize Russian expansionism as something akin to 'stretching its legs'

    1. Sudden   11 years ago

      That was until he crossed TEH GHEYZ/TEAM FABULOUS.

      At that point, he became officially worse than Hitler.

    2. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

      http://reason.com/archives/201.....ure-russia

      Indeed, Russia isn't the only country that has brutally regarded its "backyard" as its sphere of influence and playground.
      ...
      This history doesn't excuse Russia, but it does put Putin's actions in perspective. It also accounts for the less-than-awed reception for President Obama's and Secretary Kerry's sanctimonious utterances. To the extent that Obama and Kerry imply that Russia threatens our "peace and safety," they look like fools. "The worst pretense of empire," Adam Gopnik writes, "is that every rattle on the edges is a death knell to the center."

      What an apologist.

      1. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

        http://www.thenewamerican.com/.....ian-crisis

        No government is to be trusted, and among the most fearful components of government is the military. Thus Putin's moves toward mobilization are to be condemned by all who love peace and oppose war. Any war would kill innocents and run a high risk of careening out of control. For that reason, Putin's responses to events in Ukraine merit the contempt of all decent people.

        Unless it has something to do with the thick/thin debate, which isn't about the foundation of self-ownership/NAP, or the fact that he doesn't back a certain socialist police state, I don't get the Richman hate. Maybe someone can 'splain it to me.

        1. GILMORE   11 years ago

          Read 10 of his columns in a row and you'll quickly see that they're pretty much the same thing with Nouns replaced

        2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

          Sounds like you have your mind already made up.

          1. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

            I have strong opinions. That doesn't mean they can't be wrong, so I'd like to hear a clear argument for why people like you despise him so much. I respect your posting history--you have always struck me as a fellow ancap, not that that's the only thing that matters--and I admire Richman's work, so I legitimately don't get it.

            I've read and listened to Richman for years, and I've always taken him as a philosophical Rothbardian with a different set of priorities & emphasis than more Old Right libertarians like me.

        3. Jordan   11 years ago

          There isn't anything to the Richman hate. If you ever dare to write a column about Russia or Iran that doesn't suggest that they're the most evilest people ever and the only thing stopping them from building Mecha-Hitler is good ole' Murican firepower, then you're a "peacenazi" or something.

          1. GILMORE   11 years ago

            Thats some cute handwaving.

            Richman is the one who vastly simplifies history and world affairs.

            trying to pretend criticisms of him are 'absolutists' running into his *refined subtlety* is patently ridiculous

            As i said - read any 10 of his pieces. they're basically One Point made over and over again, with zero new insight on the varying topic.

            1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

              Well that, and while not "back[ing] a certain socialist police state" is one thing, actively cheering on a genocidal death-cult of martyrdom despite the fact that they would happily slit your throat from ear to ear because you possess the same genetic background as the population of said socialist police state is another.

              1. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

                I'd like to see the column where he cheered or didn't unequivocally condemn Hamas or Islamism.

                Like Rothbard, Richman offers a defense of normal, flawed people who get caught in the middle of interstate conflicts, whether those are Palestinians who lose their lives to the Hamas/Israel struggle or dirt-poor Southerners who get shot down in their homes during the various invasions of the Civil War.

                I'm sensitive to the latter, having lost multiple ancestors to the kind of blase murder that characterizes invasions (and which are acknowledged statistically, then swept under the rug for ideological purposes by mainline academics), so I'm sensitive to the former, too.

      2. GILMORE   11 years ago

        You could also excerpt parts where he describes having inititated trade with the former Soviet Republics as 'irresponsibly inflaming tensions' etc. and 'encroaching' on them by supporting NATO expansion.

        The point re: Richman I made was that he can go from mild to extreme at the drop of a hat, and basically considers everything the US has ever done in its entire history to be 'inexcusable interventions which results only in misery and disaster'

        i'd guess you could probably find quotes where Hitler sounds like a decent drinking buddy too.

  101. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Don't subject these brave veterans to the vagaries of the VA...donate now!

  102. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

    War, what is it good for?

  103. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

    Ah. Not Lou Dobbs.

  104. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

    You know, when I agitated for "Regulate" to be the new Independent's theme song, you all laughed at me.

    1. Fist of Etiquette   11 years ago

      Still are.

      1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

        That's because you smoke like Nate Dogg smokes, which is like everyday.

        1. GILMORE   11 years ago

          I'll meet you halfway and we can make it

          "I keep forgetting" by Michael McDonald

          That chorus really is the bomb

          1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

            Works for me.

          2. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

            But can you imagine Doobie in your funk? Woah! WEFUNK!

  105. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    Ooh, foreigner stealing Lou Dobbs' job!

  106. GILMORE   11 years ago

    Meh. Webster

  107. Notorious G.K.C.   11 years ago

    OK, my list not only included ISIS/IS and Putin, I said it was a *given* that the two would be included. That should be bonus points for me.

  108. Tony   11 years ago

    10. Lack of education
    9. Totalitarian government
    8. Poverty
    7. Debilitating health problem
    6. Prison
    5. Solitary confinement
    4. Slavery
    3. Major disability
    2. Persistent vegetative state
    1. Death

    1. GILMORE   11 years ago

      Its the story of your life, isnt it?

      1. Raven Nation   11 years ago

        This thread is like the episode of the X-Files where Muldar smacked Kryjeck in the head every time he said something.

    2. Bobarian   11 years ago

      "2. Persistent vegetative state"

      Don't be so hard on yourself.

    3. Jordan   11 years ago

      Nobody asked to see the progressive wishlist.

      1. Tony   11 years ago

        Oh, I thought we were talking about freedom. Apparently we're talking about tax rates on billionaires. I wish you guys would use more precise language.

        1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

          Please explain how an equal (say a judge) can have authority over an equal (citizen)?

          How is it possible to believe in both authority and equality at the same time?

          1. Tony   11 years ago

            People can have authority over other people for any number of reasons, some malicious and some practical. With any luck you live in a place where the reasons are practical, codified in law, and subject to democratic checks and balances. Maybe you're clever enough to devise a system in which there are no official power relationships and everyone is nevertheless free and treated fairly. I can't without diving deep into fantasy.

            1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

              You Can Always Leave

            2. Derpetologist   11 years ago

              I didn't ask why people should have authority. I asked how can it be compatible with equality.

              If we are equal, I cannot boss you around and vice versa. But if one of us is a cop, the cop can boss the other guy around. But that means the cop and the other guy are not equal. See what I mean?

              1. Tony   11 years ago

                But nobody thinks absolute and total equality is a good or possible thing. Not sure what you're arguing against.

                1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

                  If you accept the idea of authority, you need to be honest and admit that you are perfectly fine with people being unequal in certain ways, namely that some are allowed to do things others are not.

                  1. Tony   11 years ago

                    Yes?

                    1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

                      If you're fine with inequality of power, why do want to reduce inequality of wealth?

                      I say people are unequal in numerous ways and there is point in trying to make them equal. The only way people can be equal in a practical way is if they are held to the same standards.

                    2. Tony   11 years ago

                      One wants to reduce inequality of wealth in order to maintain a free society. Too much wealth concentration means too much concentrated power. There is absolutely no moral justification for the circumstances that lead to too much wealth concentration. If an unfettered market leads to it, then an unfettered market is flawed. It is, in itself, a detriment to freedom.

                      "Fine with inequality of power" is not the same as fine with whatever inequalities of power that may exist. You're grasping. I don't think you care to argue against the concept of laws. If so, god be with you anarchist.

                    3. Derpetologist   11 years ago

                      You can't reduce wealth inequality without threatening the freedom of the people whose wealth want you take.

                      The US has an unfettered free market? You need to spend thousands of dollars on permits to drive a cab or open a hot dog stand.

                      What is too much wealth concentration? Ever notice that countries that try to stop wealth inequality tend to be the least free overall?

        2. Jordan   11 years ago

          I hear Cuba is quite free. No billionaires there (except for the Top Men who happen to own a private island, but they're the good guys, right?).

          1. Tony   11 years ago

            You people are the vanguards for kleptocracy, so in the words of an eminent libertarian scholar, give me a break!

            1. Jordan   11 years ago

              I hear Venezuela is quite nice as well. Make sure you bring your own toilet paper and drinking water, though. I'll bet that the government bigwigs there don't have that issue though.

            2. Sevo   11 years ago

              Tony|8.15.14 @ 10:29PM|#
              "You people are the vanguards for kleptocracy,"

              This from a parasite who has gov't thugs steal for him.

        3. Jensen   11 years ago

          "The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim -- for it is an abiding characteristic of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to be more than intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives -- is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal. Thus throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main outlines recurs over and over again. For long periods the High seem to be securely in power, but sooner or later there always comes a moment when they lose either their belief in themselves or their capacity to govern efficiently, or both. They are then overthrown by the Middle, who enlist the Low on their side by pretending to them that they are fighting for liberty and justice. As soon as they have reached their objective, the Middle thrust the Low back into their old position of servitude, and themselves become the High. Presently a new Middle group splits off from one of the other groups, or from both of them, and the struggle begins over again. Of the three groups, only the Low are never even temporarily successful in achieving their aims."

          -The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism.

          1. Tony   11 years ago

            Orwell was a socialist.

            1. Heroic Mulatto   11 years ago

              Who would have spat bile at your full-throated defense of radical centrist "third way" fascism.

              1. Tony   11 years ago

                Of all the insults that have been hurled my way on these threads, "radical centrist" perhaps hurts the most. How dare you.

            2. Derpetologist   11 years ago

              And even he admitted its flaws:

              In every country in the world a huge tribe of party-hacks and sleek little professors are busy 'proving' that Socialism means no more than a planned state-capitalism with the grab-motive left intact.

              Man, that sure reminds me of someone...

            3. Grand Moff Serious Man   11 years ago

              He was and he was fundamentally mistaken about the efficiency of government to centrally plan things and maintain control.

              The world of progressivism isn't '1984', it's more like Kafka's 'The Trial'.

              1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

                It is really depressing how much faith progs put in the power of the govt to solve problems. I remember chatting with a person about Medicaid, and they reported that the program was a success because some surveys showed greater customer satisfaction than people with private insurance. I said that people on Medicaid get sick more and die sooner. The prog's response? "But the surveys say..."

                ARGH!

                1. Raven Nation   11 years ago

                  And when things fail, it is someone else's fault. Remember how the failure of the healthcare.gov rollout was due to the Republican government shut down? Then there are all my academic friends who sang the praises of the ACA. When it started falling apart, they suddenly "remembered" how the law was written by the health insurance companies.

                2. Tony   11 years ago

                  It only seems like undue faith in government because it's being contrasted to your radical antigovernment outlook.

                  1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

                    It only seems like undue faith to say that 2+2=5 because it's being contrasted to your radical anti 2+2=5 outlook.

                    See how silly that looks?

                    Adjectives are not arguments.

                    1. Tony   11 years ago

                      You're tedious.

                      You don't get to claim that your checklist of political opinions equates to a mathematical tautology. These are subjects about which you can be wrong. And you are.

                    2. Derpetologist   11 years ago

                      Assertions are not arguments either.

                      The only valid way to argue is to point out errors in the facts and logic of the opposing view.

        4. HazelMeade   11 years ago

          Freedom from logic? Freedom from biology?

    4. HazelMeade   11 years ago

      As yes, totally inanimate forces can be "enemies of freedom", and even your #1 case, a biological inevitability.

      It would be nice if we could confine our lists to things that actual people are actually doing to other people.

      1. Tony   11 years ago

        And it would be fabulous if libertarians could figure out how to get off this agency fixation. My point, clearly, is that freedom is inhibited by things other than people doing shit to you. But libertarians think taxes and government should only be used to prevent the harms that come from human agency. For no rational reason whatsoever.

        1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

          The reason rational people focus on agency is because only people are able to understand and follow morality. This is why dogs do not get charged with sexual assault for humping someone's leg.

          And see once more the conflation of govt and society. Just because libertarians disagree that the govt should be in charge of preventing disease (the CDC) doesn't mean that no one should prevent disease.

          1. Knarf Yenrab!   11 years ago

            I bet you don't want the state growing wheat, either, and probably don't even care how many people would starve if we didn't have any wheat!

          2. Tony   11 years ago

            I know perfectly well that yours is a moralistic system. Completely obsessed with the moral behavior of people to the exclusion of all reason and practicality. But I don't follow any religion. I don't think people should. So kindly excise it from my throat. Many thanks, however, for explaining that libertarian agency fixation is essentially a religious mindset and not a useful political theory.

            1. Derpetologist   11 years ago

              I'm moralistic? Really? Libertarians don't give a crap if people use drugs, have gay sex, home school their kids, etc. All we care about is that people do not hurt each other or take their stuff.

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