Nick Gillespie Talking Entitlements, Rose Wilder Lane, the Fed, Zoning, & More!

I was recently interviewed on a podcast called Outstanding Ohioans. The host Ron Siliko covered a huge amount of ground during the 75-minute conversation, including the following:

• how [Nick Gillespie] preps for an interview
• why he hates the political process
• how does Nick consume so much content (very well-read and well-versed)
• book reference to Rose Wilder Lane
• we covered the following political topics
  • entitlements-mandatory and discretionary spending
  • pension reform
  • eminent domain & civil forfeiture
  • regulations, including the hot topic of Net Neutrality
  • zoning
  • tax code
  • ballot and voting access
  • the FED
  • link where Reason.com does periodic polling
  • are we getting closer or further away to "free minds and free markets"?
• the work of the Institute for Justice
• Reason's YouTube Channel Reason TV

Quite possibly the only thing we didn't talk about was the kitchen sink. It's a fun, loose podcast and blog.

You can go here to listen in a wide array of formats and on a wide array of services.

Click here to start listening right now.

Comments

[R C Dean]

are we getting closer or further away to "free minds and free markets"?

In the US? Farther. Not even close.

The best argument to be made for "closer" is that technology is laying the groundwork for a possible future revolution in what the State can't even reach to control. Its a pretty short step from current technology to end-to-end encrypted mesh networking, 3D printer manufacturing, etc. But if I had to bet, I'd bet on that revolution not happening.

[Almanian!]

I was promised a "libertarian moment"!! WHERE IS MY "LIBERTARIAN MOMENT"???!

[widget]

end-to-end encrypted mesh networking

https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/

It goes through firewalls always and through scrubbers most of the time. By most of time I mean it gets blocked for a few minutes and then renegotiates another connection. I expect the NSA data center equipment is hip to this, and doesn't work there.

[Carl ?s the level]

Hamachi is not a mesh network.

[widget]

There are three modes to Hamachi: hub and spoke, gateway, and mesh. I have always used the first two, mostly the second, but I have never tried mesh. So I will just have to note what you wrote.

[Carl ?s the level]

Sorry, I was incorrect. I had the definition of mesh network too narrow in my head, so only a partially connected mesh network would satisfy it; Hamachi in mesh mode, AFAICT, qualifies as a fully connected mesh network.

[Scarecrow Repair]

The printing press started an unstoppable trend towards distributed knowledge, and power goes with knowledge, so centralized governments are on the short end of the stick, although the road is bumpy and long. Tech is the key.

I think centralized government will remain the same, but within an ever smaller fenced-in irrelevancy. Sure, it can bust people and put them in physical jails and seize physical goods, but that's less and less important and easy, as Silk Road showed. Just as busting Napster was the dumbest move possible by the entertainment cartel, so was busting Silk Road.

The encrypted mesh network is close, and government is too slow to stop it before a lot of society runs off it, out of reach. By the time government does react, too much fun stuff will be sealed away from their control. Bitcoin points the way to independent currencies out of their reach.

Meatspace currencies will dwindle, and taxes too. Sure, dentists will still have meatspace money and books, but more and more business will be barter with invisible currencies. If even 10% of all business is off the books, it will put a serious dent in taxes and the control that goes with it.

Cars, houses, expensive pohysical goods will take remain under meatspace control. But filling cavities, landscaping, writing, acting? All off the official meatspace books, and fuckall they can do about it.

[Cytotoxic]

Also: the world is getting more competitive. This means that while big government will be around for a while, bad government is less and less feasible.

[Cytotoxic]

So the legalization of MJ and increase in gun rights is just bumpkis?

[widget]

how does Nick consume so much content...

He's a sponge from the planet Zork. Dennis Miller says people like him have 'deep drawers', oblivious to their true nature.

[silent v]

Is this new? Weren't you on this podcast before? Are they already out of Outstanding Ohioans?

[The Last American Hero]

Maybe it's because Nick is referring to himself as The Outstanding Ohioan.

[F. Stupidity, Jr.]

Did the Jacket take any questions?

[Puddin' Stick]

When is The Jacket going to do an Ask Me Anything?

[Spencer]

It's alright if you finally stop caring; just don't go and tell someone that does.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Outstanding Ohioans? Was the guy who runs the 24-hour fireworks store busy? Well, I guess he would be.

[Agile Cyborg]

On a similar note: Ohio house bill 677, which in 2015 would have legalized consumer grade fireworks, has been attacked by the Ohio State Medical Association and other physician's organizations. The bill is currently dead due to this assault on common sense law.

The fucking law that would have removed the 'illegal' fireworks stigma from thousands of Ohio families enjoying fireworks in the backyard was snuffed out by a collective pissbucket of well-paid and highly-educated doctors.

[bassjoe]

My own (short) rant about zoning ordinances:

They're abused to a ridiculous extent. Insane zoning ordinances along with overly-restrictive rent control laws have made San Francisco completely unaffordable. It is nearly impossible to actually build anything in that city in a way that reflects the popularity of living there. You have people paying $3500 for (sort of) one bedroom basement "apartments". The working class is being priced out of the city because there are simply not enough units and market forces aren't allowed to function properly.

I say start tearing down the 3 story row houses that are everywhere. There are maybe 100 "special" ones in the entire city that probably deserve to be preserved; however, entire neighborhoods need not be off-limits to new development.

[Agile Cyborg]

Nothing outstanding about buckeyes. They eat lawn mower blades like Cheetos.

[Jayburd]

Don't miss Marilynn Manson next week.

[loverfashion]

Wholesale Sexy Classy Dress
Sexy Club Dresses 2015

[Rock Action]

The "Click here" link is misdirected. It's some woman who wrote a book. Her name, apparently, is Susan. But it ain't The Jacket.