Volume 3, Issue 15 | January 2024
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“There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.” ― John Adams, The works of John Adams (Second President of the United States) |
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In this issue…
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From the ChairEvery election, we hear the same thing. "This is the most important election of our lifetimes!" It is repeated, ad nauseum, trumpeted by both sides who warn vociferously, but deadly serious, how life as we know it will come to an end if you don't support the person they do. Whether it is the end of democracy, or climate disaster, infiltration by terrorists or immigrants, death by communism or death by fascism, there is always a new boogieman to rally support, trying to drum up enough votes to hoard more power through the perceived legitimacy of the ballot box. But what if every election really is the most important election, not for massive existential reasons, but because that is the election right in front of us, right now. What if the next election is the one where the tide turns, in some small way, and the long, gradual slide into tyranny stops. What if the next election is the one where we choose Liberty? If we don't, I am not going to fear-monger and tell you the world will end because of it (though we should be aware of the war hawks circling around federal office and what that might entail). I will tell you that, without Liberty, we will continue the slide into muddling mediocrity, stagnation, and ruin. Without Liberty, innovation will stifle and suffocate, and will be replaced by government mandates, formed at the direction of corporate profit margins. This month's episode looks at these issues. We have two articles on how the government has deliberately and willfully destroyed the value of your money and made it much more difficult for you to accrue assets that hold their value or use those assets to participate in the financial system. We have another article that looks at how the politics of fear is used to take ever more of our rights, all in the name of an ultimately illusory safety. Instead of fear, I want to push back with hope. We have a slate of incredible candidates running for office right here in North Carolina, and this is the year, with your help, that we get them elected! We have allies, and people willing to push back against the overreach of the state. Just in the next few weeks, we have two governor candidate debates, one including three other parties. The Liberty message is spreading. We have our annual convention right around the corner, and our keynote speaker wrote a book about how government schools have killed innovation and progress, and so he and his partners found a way to break the system. We have so many reasons to be hopeful, and I am optimistic. However, we can't do any of it without help. If you are reading this, reach out. Give your time or your money. We don't need hundreds of dollars or hours upon hours. Just a little here and there makes a huge difference, especially if everyone reading this got involved. -Ryan Brown, LPNC Chair |
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County CornerGovernor DebatesWith the primaries just over a month away, there are three upcoming opportunities to get to know our Governor candidates better. On January 24, both Shannon Bray and Mike Ross will have the floor to address the attendees at the WakeLP Convention. They will each have about eight minutes to speak to the crowd, and there will be opportunity to engage with them one-on-one during the event. On February 5, both Mike and Shannon will participate in a Governor candidate debate that will also include Democrat Mike Morgan, Republican Dale Folwell, and Green Party candidate Wayne Turner. The debate, sponsored by the North Carolina Forward Party, will be at Camino in Charlotte, starting at 6 PM. It is expected to last approximately two hours, and then have a reception where attendees will have a chance to speak directly to the candidates. Full details in the registration link. The event is free, but space is limited, so registration is required. Don't hesitate!
On February 17, at the end of the second day of State Convention, both Shannon Bray and Mike Ross will stand up to a professional grilling by Barbara Howe. The three-time Libertarian governor candidate will hold both of their feet to the fire for 90 minutes as she asks them questions submitted by the audience and challenges them on their answers. Watch the first debate between Mike and Shannon on Liberty iNC. |
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North Carolina Gold CoinsThe Rise and Fall of North Carolina’s Leadership in Gold and Sound Moneyby Joshua D. Glawson The first gold rush in North America began in North Carolina in 1799 after a 12-year-old boy named Conrad Reed found a 17-pound gold nugget. The news spread, drawing the attention of tens of thousands of prospectors to begin mining operations throughout the state. This gold rush made North Carolina a central hub for gold mining and private coining. Gold mining became North Carolina’s second-largest market, behind agriculture.
When people mined gold in the U.S., they could turn that gold into standardized coins by taking it to a private mint or the U.S. Mint and would receive completed coins in return. Private mints existed in America, such as John Higley’s private mint in Connecticut which minted copper coins as early as 1737; John Chalmers’ Maryland-based mint that started producing silver and gold coinage in 1783; and, Templeton Reid’s Georgia private mint beginning in 1830. Until 1835, the only federal government minting location was the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, which was too far away and costly for most people living in the Carolinas. Certainly, that would be a dangerous journey to be carrying large quantities of gold. Since 1792, the U.S. Mint had provided free coining of gold, silver, and copper when people turned in their monetary metals. However, since it was free of charge, the process was slow as many more people turned their metals in. In contrast, private mints charged a small fee but could coin much quicker than the Philadelphia Mint. The private options for standardizing the content, purity, and weight of a gold coin were not guaranteed by the government as “legal tender,” but banks and everyday people readily accepted them. These private mints were praised for their highest quality standards well trusted by the market and competed directly with government mints. Privately minted coins were quite common. Although the Coinage Act of 1792 specified what the content, weight, purity, and denominations of U.S. coinage would be, the gold and silver coins produced were out of sync with world standards at the time in the sense that, in the U.S., silver was slightly overvalued versus gold.
Spanish silver coin - “Pieces of Eight” Foreign coins (e.g. Spanish silver dollar known as “pieces of eight”), privately minted coins, and U.S. Mint coins all circulated within the United States. (That is until Congress intervened by passing The Coinage Act of 1857 to stop the circulation of foreign coins.) From 1799 through 1830, North Carolinians either made the long trek to Philadelphia to have their coins minted or traded with local banks that then took the raw gold to the Philadelphia Mint. Answering the market demand, Christopher Bechtler opened a private mint in Rutherford County, North Carolina, in 1830 and began privately minting gold coins in 1831 and 1832. Bechtler minted $1.00, $2.50, and $5.00 face value gold coins. The Bechtler dollar gold coin was the first gold dollar coin in the United States. The Bechtler family minted coins until the 1850s.
Both sides of a Bechtler gold dollar coin Each Bechtler gold coin had the face value, “A. Bechtler,” “Carolina Gold,” and the weight in grams. For about 5 years the Bechtler Mint was the sole provider of gold coins in the Carolinas. The federal government finally saw the need to open other mint locations around the country. In 1835, the U.S. Mint opened the Charlotte Mint, Dahlonega Georgia Mint, and the New Orleans Mint.
The Charlotte Mint in 1837 From 1835 to 1861 the federal government operated the Charlotte Mint and produced gold coins. During the Civil War, the Confederates converted the Charlotte Mint into a hospital and military office. After the Civil War, the Charlotte Mint was converted to an Assay Office (1867-1913) before eventually being closed altogether on the notion that there was ostensibly no longer enough gold available to justify minting activities.
Front and back of an 1860s Greenback At the same time minting abruptly ended in North Carolina, central planners created the first U.S. income tax in 1861 and fabricated the US-Union fiat currency known as greenbacks in 1862 (Confederates made fiat greybacks). Truly a monetary seigniorage scheme. They also created the IRS in 1862, established the federal tax levy court system, made private minting of coins or money illegal in 1864, expanded federal powers and territory through the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 to create a false sense of demand, and created the Secret Service in 1865 to enforce those anti sound money laws and system. Call me a skeptic. This series of events that echoed throughout the American Civil War effectively ended North Carolina’s growth and leadership in gold mining and the private minting of sound money. Today, you can still visit Reed Gold Mine in Midland, and the site of the Bechtler Mint in Rutherfordton. The Charlotte Mint building was relocated and reconstructed into the Mint Museum at Randolph in Charlotte in 1933 -- which was the same year that the U.S. government made owning gold bullion illegal. Joshua D. Glawson is Content Manager for MoneyMetals.com and a writer and speaker in the Liberty Movement. He has been active with the Libertarian Party of California since 2015. He now resides in his home state of North Carolina. Check him out at Home - Joshua D. Glawson (joshuadglawson.com) |
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Candidate SpotlightMike Ross I have made the case to you, North Carolina, many times, as to why I should be your next governor. I have met you face-to-face, through video, in debate, and out doing the work fighting for Liberty. The place I have met you that means the most to me is when we are standing together fighting against the overreach of the state and the oppression it inevitably brings against those who defy it or refuse to comply with the morality it wants to enforce. Over the last few years, I have led the charge seeking Justice for Joshua, pushing back against Gastonia cops who abused their power, assaulted homeless war veteran Joshua Rohrer - resulting in the death of his service dog. I kept showing up, at every rally and city council meeting, while the city fought to keep the body camera footage hidden for nine months until it could no longer affect the outcome of the trial. And I kept showing up after that, demanding accountability for the clear crimes and abuses of power shown on the body camera video. At the same time, the City of Gastonia leveraged the weapons at its disposal and shut down Pastor Moses Colbert's church where he let homeless people shelter and eat. Rohrer was one of the human beings who Pastor Moses was helping. When Pastor Moses spoke out against the police violence Joshua suffered, the city shut his ministry down, citing fire and safety violations. In the three years that Pastor Moses had been giving people shelter, no one had died on the streets of Gastonia from exposure. In the three winter months after the city shut him down, more than thirty people died on the streets. Over the last three years, the LPNC has covered the actions of the City of Gastonia and Pastor Moses's fight against them in detail, but eventually, despite all of our attempts to comply with increasingly ridiculous requirements and demands from the city, the accrued fines were too much, and Pastor Moses was forced to shut down the shelter part of his ministry and consider a new approach. In a development that should surprise exactly no one, those people once again were out on the streets with no where to go. Despite their victory, the city is not content with turning people out on the streets to freeze to death. Apparently, they want to continue attacking Pastor Moses as he looks for ways, like overnight services, to help the most vulnerable avoid the frigid temperatures. The fire marshal has made several demands of Pastor Moses, all of them expensive, unnecessary, and authoritarian, doubling down on a city policy that is anti-homeless and unwilling to tolerate dissent or challenges to its power. Unfortunately, this is a legacy that has followed the City of Gastonia for decades. The city did note that it has the Salvation Army as a resource, which can hold 64 people, four of whom can be men, according to the WSPA Spartanburg story linked above. There are estimated to be about 200 homeless people in Gastonia, and Pastor Moses had capacity for all of them. I say to you, North Carolina, it's time we say "no more!" I will lead the fight for Liberty, and make sure no one is criminalized for helping fellow humans, starting in Gastonia, and on through the rest of our beautiful state. We have two debates coming up, with details listed in this newsletter, as well as a speaking opportunity at the WakeLP convention. I hope you all take the chance to listen and get to know me, as I continue to share my vision for a free and prosperous North Carolina and my plan to get us there. And I also hope you are moved by Pastor Moses and his ministry, and can give a little something to help him. I can't wait to meet the rest of you and be your champion for Liberty. --- Bob Drach Get to know Bob Drach better.
Independent The State Auditor protects the citizens of North Carolina from abuses of power and instances of incompetence that unfortunately happen in government. Because the government is dominated by Republicans and Democrats, it would be unwise to have a Republican or a Democrat as the Auditor. (Unwise, as in a conflict of interest, the fox guarding the henhouse, and generally a bad idea. Major party voters who care about the integrity of the office can admit as much and should vote for me, while I am the clear choice for unaffiliated and third-party voters.) Qualified I am a certified management accountant and former Treasurer, CFO, and CIO. I have earned multiple other professional certifications and taught in public schools. I am uniquely both a former Peace Corps volunteer and graduate of a highly competitive MBA program. Scrupulous Throughout my career, I have exemplified the character, honesty, and diligence which make good organizations great. This is important right now for the Office of the State Auditor, rocked by the resignation of the prior elected auditor under a cloud of disgrace and with the unelected incumbent installed by the state political machine. As the State Auditor, I will focus on retaining the excellent audit staff while recruiting additional talent. Continuity on key investigations is critical, while also emphasizing performance metrics that highlight both transparency and activity. --- Steve Feldman
In many ways, we live in the best of times in human history, but it doesn’t always seem that way. In our culture, particularly among the major political parties, there’s a strong tendency to denigrate the motivations of the other, feeding an angry culture that leads, I believe, to discontent, conflict, and violence (and perhaps even to reduced life expectancy). We Libertarians tend to be more objective and can see that those who disagree with us are well meaning, too, but we are not totally immune to the siren song of denigrating others. A recent update touting Libertarians’ effort to defend our rights said, “The Uniparty serves its deep-pocketed masters, with no regard for suffering or death they cause as a result.” We shouldn’t be contributing to the culture of hostility with comments like this. People who are in other parties care deeply about all our citizens and about the people suffering in other countries. People in other parties just have different policy ideas about what will bring peace and security for all. I believe that Libertarian policies, rooted in respect for the individual rights of all and supporting peaceful means to achieve peace, are far more promising than the idea that inflicting violence on others will be the best means to achieve peace. However, I’m confident that everyone is well meaning (even and perhaps especially the most hawkish) and desires peace for themselves, for their children, and for others. Instead of denigrating others and instead of trying to use force to bring about peace, I support taking Jefferson’s approach to relationships with others, both here at home and abroad: peace, commerce, and honest friendship. |
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Cheers to Rebellion!
Convention is right around the cornerJoin us in Clemmons the weekend of February 16th-18th for the 2024 LPNC Convention. Everyone wants to live their own life their own way, for their own needs, and according to their own values. It's time we push back against the ever-encroaching imposition of the state in our lives. Come celebrate with us, and raise a glass to freedom. We'll be meeting at the Village Inn Hotel and Event Center for a weekend of business, enlightening speakers, and fun! Tickets include all convention activities, including delegate selection, platform committee, gubernatorial candidate grilling, and potential presidential porcupine debate, plus a catered Gala on Saturday. We will also have a Friday evening reception from 7pm-11pm. Michael Gibson announced as keynote speaker
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Sound Money in 2024A Presentation Given at the LPMeck Convention**edited slightly for print by: Jp Cortez, Executive Director, Sound Money Defense League What Happened to Sound Money?
In some states, when you buy gold and silver, you pay a sales tax. In every state, and then again with the feds, you're hit with a capital gains tax when you sell. There's too much friction involved to use gold and silver as money. So what we do [as an organization] is go state to state and DC, removing the disincentives, the frictions, the taxes, and the regulations around using sound money as actual money. So maybe we'll take a step back. What we're talking about here when we say sound money, we mean money that has long-term purchasing power that has been tested by markets. Money is not determined by a government. If the world were flat, no executive order could make it round. And if the world were round, no act of Congress could make it flat. On a long enough timeline, money wins out. The government does not get to decide what money is. The market's cheaper. So what we're talking about here is a money that retains its purchasing power over the long-term. There are two pretty simple value propositions to understand the importance of sound money.
And that long-term planning and the infrastructure is what increases livelihood, and what decreases is the mortality rate. These are the things that make a difference long-term. And so you need a solid money to be able to do that. There are places around the world today where you have to be paid multiple times a day for your job, where you're paid in the morning, and then you're paid again at night, because if you hold the money for too long, twelve hours from now, your money's worthless. In those places, they're carrying wheelbarrows of cash. Money is broken, and it's not that far away from happening here. This isn't an obscure thing. Historically, this happens all the time. On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for all fiat paper monies is zero. Every single one of them dies. It's just a question of when. So the first reason why sound money is important is to be able to plan for the future. The second is that it shackles a government that would otherwise support it, spend recklessly, and do things that it's citizenry wouldn't pay for voluntarily through taxation. We're talking about wars of choice. We're talking about giant domestic programs, retirement programs. They're so bloated that they don't actually provide any safekeeping for the people who are relying on these things to retire, for example, for the future. So sound money is not just for the ability to plan. It also constrains the government. It keeps the government from doing things that we know we don't want governments doing. This idea is sort of for the academic heads, the Miseses, the Rothbards, the Hayeks of the world. This idea is Rothbardian. This definition of sound money comes from the Austrian or the free market tradition. While we know that the monetary problem is largely a federal problem, this is a problem that stems from the federal government and the Federal Reserve monetary system. We know that, but that doesn't mean that states have to sit idly by and watch the purchasing power of their money be zapped away. All over the country, not just North Carolina, you have people unable to afford housing, unable to afford food, medicine, transportation, and that's not an act of God. Inflation is a policy choice. This is something that the federal government is choosing to do. States do have options. And one of the primary things they can do is re-monetize other forms of money to allow for competition in currencies. If it weren't for legal tender laws, and if it weren't for the government requiring payment of taxes in the U.S. dollar, we likely wouldn't use the U.S. dollar. Just objectively, this is a piece of paper without any backing. very easily debased. They literally print millions upon billions of them a day, and that money that's regularly printed goes to fund really nefarious and horrible things all around the world.
Eight years ago when we started this project, it was a very minor thing. It was me and the people on our staff running around asking states and asking legislators to introduce this stuff. That's not the case anymore. Against a backdrop of record high inflation, of kids not being able to afford to go to college anymore, of public schools failing, of infrastructure failing, and of America regularly fighting wars that they have no business fighting, or at least funding wars they have no business funding, things are changing. Against the backdrop of all of this, people are starting to say, wait a second, why is this the money we're using? And how does this money enable all of this horrible stuff? So, again, states themselves are doing a lot of things to encourage individuals to invest in gold and silver, and for themselves to also invest in gold and silver. This was the list of more than half of the states in the country in 2023 that introduced legislation to promote sound money, to promote the preservation of purchasing power, to allow people to save long term. Historically, in the past, when people wanted to save money, they would simply hold money, because the money itself would hold value. But that's not the case anymore. You can't just hold money as wealth preservation or as a savings vehicle. Because it loses – on purpose, a stated purpose - it loses at least 2 percent of its value a year. And that's if you buy the official inflation numbers. Closer to 7 or 8 percent if you've walked into a grocery store in the last year, and you know for a fact it's not 2 or 3 percent. So, historically, people were able to store money and because the government broke the money, they're no longer able to do that. Now you have to invest in risky stock market casinos. Now you have to buy ETFs and mutual funds and stocks. Now you have to buy third-world debt just to have your money keep up. And so now people who are planning for the future, myself, my younger brother, the people in this generation, they need to be working. They need to be increasing their output by at least 2 or 3 percent a year just to break even. And that's impossible for this many people, the ask is way too high. And too many people are suffering because the money has been broken. People work for money, that broken money, that somebody else prints for free. And that actually is, at its root, the nature of the failure of the central banking system like one we have today. These are called Cantillon effects, an economic term to describe how, when central banks print money, the people who get that money first are government actors. They're politically tied people. And by the time the money comes down to you and me and the people in this room, inflation has already adjusted and prices have already risen. It's the people most entrenched, the people with political power, that get the easy money first. And by the time it reaches us, it's the same broken money that we're carrying in our wallets today.
And that's where you can affect change. And so actually, maybe more than anything I've said today, the largest thing you can take away from what I'm saying is to please be an active participant in your legislature. You don't have power in D.C. I'm sorry. You call D.C., an intern is going to answer the phone. The congressman may or may not get your message. Probably won't. It'll be filed away. You'll never be heard. When you call Raleigh, when you call state capitals, these people are not used to organized efforts. Even just ten or twenty calls phone calls to a state switchboard and all of a sudden you have a hot issue on your hand. I understand the belief that political efficacy is at an all-time low, the belief that you don't have much power to change what happens in D.C. I'm sorry, that's probably true. But that doesn't have to be true on the state level. And so I encourage everyone, be it sound money, be it drug legalization, be it civil asset forfeiture, be it education, no matter what the issue, be an active participant in your state legislature, because you have a voice there. But we are doing things in D.C. We worked with Congressman Alex Mooney from West Virginia, who has really carried the sound money torch since Dr. Ron Paul retired. Congressman Mooney has introduced several D.C. federal sound money bills. The Gold Standard Restoration Act would peg the dollar to a price of gold based on the market price at the time. The Monterey Meadows Neutrality Act, and Ted Cruz also introduced something similar to this as well, but Congressman Mooney has a federal bill that would exempt capital gains from gold and silver, which would mean the friction that I talked about, the tax that enforces or levies a tax on anyone who sells their gold or silver capital gains, this on the federal level would completely remove that. And most states operate their tax return based on the federal AGI. So doing this in one fell swoop would be an incredible win. Many of you may know there is allegedly gold in Fort Knox. I personally have never seen it. I know that there is some sort of made-for-Hollywood TV showing where someone took a camera and they sort of looked at it for a second and then quickly panned away. And we're supposed to believe that there are hundreds of millions of billions of dollars worth of gold in there? Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. More important than that, though, is whether or not it has any financial encumbrances. The gold might be there, but who owns it? Who has this been pledged to? Does China own it? Does Russia own it? Does Germany own it? Whose gold is this? And so this bill would call for a full accounting of all transactions, all encumbrances, all financial swaps, or leases, or anything on the gold that supposedly is the backbone of America. Central banks and the Federal Reserve are still buying gold, and they're telling you gold is not money, but central banks around the world are still actively buying gold. The question as to whether or not it's still there is incredibly important. In North Carolina, there is legislation on the state holding gold, silver, and bitcoin on its balance sheet. Representative Mark Brody introduced legislation. We did pass it out of the House and we're hoping to get hearings in the Senate this year. This is my first time at a Libertarian party event, I've never done this, thank you for having me, thank you. I was struck once, I remember having a conversation with someone who said something to me in reference to the Libertarian National Convention. Something like, well, you know, those Libertarians, those people are crazy, you know, they've got shirtless people on stage, they've got, you know, people with hats on, these are crazy people. And I said, yes, totally crazy. You know what else is crazy? Bombing the shit out of Aleppo. You know what else is crazy? A system that enables civil asset forfeiture, that allows a cop to pull me over and just take the things in my car because they say so, and with very little recourse for me after they've been taken. You know what else is crazy? That the Revolutionary War was fought over like a 3 percent tax on tea, and now 35 to 40 percent of my wages and everything I do is regularly taxed. Crazy? You guys want to talk crazy? Come on. National debt will hit $35 trillion this summer. This is a massive issue. And the idea, like, Libertarians are so active, they've been so good for decades on gay marriage, on drugs, on war. Libertarians are the voice. They have been the voice of this country for decades. Long before Barack Obama endorsed gay marriage, Libertarians were writing about it in the 70s. Libertarians are the background and they're the moral fiber of this country and they're such an important voice. The voice for Liberty, the voice for freedom, the voice for self-choice, for self-efficiency, for self-efficacy. Huzzah for being ahead of the curve. Thank you. Javier Milei, the guy who just won the presidential race in Argentina. I'm here in L.A., I wake up every morning, I see this guy has cut another government agency, this guy has laid off another thousand government workers. Man, talk about a dream, right? But maybe we do live in the best timeline. Maybe we do. At the end of all his speeches, he says something and he says it in Spanish. He ends all his speeches with the saying Viva la libertad carajo, which is Spanish for "Long live freedom, dammit." This should be the default. This is not for questioning. My rights are not up for a debate. They sure as shit aren't up for a for a vote. Thank you so much. |
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OpEdBack to Realityby: Rob Yates, LPNC Communications Director I went to Orlando a couple of weeks ago for a long weekend celebrating my brother's birthday. We spent essentially three full days at Disney. While not necessarily my first choice, I would be lying if I denied having fun or being incredibly impressed. First of all, the security there was magnificent. Somehow, they manage to get the guests into the park quickly and with relatively little inconvenience, while making me feel completely safe. This is in stark contrast to the comedy of errors that was the TSA (but that's a story for a different day). Suffice to say, when a private organization is incentivized to keep guests safe while moving them through a checkpoint quickly, they do it well. When government employees are incentivized to follow a bunch of ineffective rules and guidelines, they do it well, and the end result is no one is safe and the process is laughably inefficient. Nevertheless, we made it into the park, and then we experienced the full extent of the outcome when a company with Disney's resources is incentivized to create a world of complete fantasy and wonder. The "Magic Kingdom" moniker is well-deserved. The parks each built an illusion of magic, imagination, and wonder, spanning past, present, and future They explored the fantastic and the wonders of the seemingly mundane, crossed great geographies and distances, and brought the extremes of science fiction and the beauty of the natural world right to you... Whatever your fantasy, Disney had anticipated it, curated it, and perfected it. The illusion was perfect, and it was also complete. We were immersed in the world of Disney for a few days, adults and kids alike, and, while Disney is not my normal cup of tea, and I also have some serious trepidation about supporting them in any capacity (another story for another time), the trip was fantastic, a sentiment echoed by everyone who went. Of course, on the flight back, we were flung back into the real world as we had another miserable experience with TSA. Perhaps it isn't surprising, given that TSA security officers consistently report the lowest satisfaction and have some of the highest attrition rates of any government job. But we suffer the indignation of airport security because it ensures our safety, or at least we are told. It's true that we have not had another major terrorist attack on an airplane since 9/11. Of course, it's also true that we didn't have a long history of them before 9/11 either. But that safety seems to be more of an illusion, as a third truth is that the TSA has failed major audits in recent years where undercover agents were able to sneak 95 percent and 80 percent of hidden weapons through the gates. In fact, under the auspices of "keeping us safe," we have seen the perpetual re-approval of the Patriot Act, the creation of the DHS, illegal spying on citizens by the NSA, and the framework by which the government is now trying to control speech on the internet, even going so far as to propose the Orwellian "Disinformation Board," which, among other things, considered people who questions vaccine mandates as potential domestic terrorists (you know, like the kind that they can't find in the TSA, but they need to justify their existence). Politicians from both parties create the illusion that your life or livelihood is at stake if you vote for the other person. Then they propose policies, which they rarely actually enact, without being honest about the potential downsides of what they propose. They rely on our tribal nature to rally support for their cause, building on this illusion and making anyone who supports the opposition candidate a mortal enemy. Whatever else you might think about Disney, at least they create a happy illusion for gain. Politics, on the other hand, obfuscates basic truths that are disadvantageous to them getting elected, consolidating power, and hiding what they are doing from us. Then, they can enact the policies supported by their big money donors; the same donors who fund the marketing campaigns that builds the illusions that we should hate each other based on political beliefs. Here's the truth. Unless you are a shill for the state seeking to oppress people, defraud them, or take away their rights for your own gain, then I am not your enemy. We have more in common with each other by magnitudes of life than we do with the political elite and the corporate-connected dark money that keeps them in power. Freedom can be scary, but the alternative is the illusion of safety at the cost of our rights, and that is much scarier. |
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Remember to Check Out Our StoreCheck out the latest LPNC merch for gifts and stocking stuffers
The LPNC store has it all, from clothes and hats, to buttons and stickers, tumblers, mugs, glasses, and more. Stop in and grab something! |
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OpEdThe Powder Keg of the 21st Centuryby: Trevor Miles The Middle East. Just mentioning it in political circles creates tied tongues and a list of opinions longer then the number of years the United States has had troops deployed there. An economic and energy powerhouse, an area of deep history and powerful religious dedication, a region shaped by substantial external meddling and imperialism, and the graveyard of countless American youths since the early 2000s; the Middle East is everything except simple. Being only 27 years old, I’ve never truly known a United States at peace, and at the rate the current global geopolitical situation is deteriorating, I fear I never will. Now, even after we have left Afghanistan, at least for the moment, we find ourselves once again threatened with a Middle Eastern conflict, this time sparked by the ever-present issues presented by the United States’ entangling alliance with Israel. Since coming to have some understanding of global geopolitics, I can’t help but wonder why we the people continue to tolerate the government supporting a country who is clearly able to defend itself (see the multiple full-scale conflicts between Israel and its Arab neighbors). Perhaps it’s because the conservatives feel some theological need to protect the Holy Land (even though we are not a Christian nation, and never have been), or maybe because the warhawk democrats feel the need to ensure control over a constant supply of oil to line their pockets with lobbying money. Understand, I am not defending any of the actions of Hamas, nor am I taking a side in this conflict. Rather, I am saying that, in my political opinion, the U.S. needs to exit the Middle East entirely. The people of the Middle East have suffered from centuries of imperialism by the Europeans and Americans. The first step to ending the American empire and restoring our country to the Shining City on the Hill - a beacon of freedom and peace for the whole world - is to stop distracting ourselves with pointless conflicts in the sandbox. Israel has proven itself capable of its own defense. Let them be the ones to bury their sons and daughters in defense of their nation, as it should be with all foreign conflicts, instead of bleeding us dry and shattering another generation of American youth with the horrors of war that can never be won. |
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Help WantedThe LPNC is seeking passionate and dedicated volunteers to join our team and play pivotal roles in advancing the cause of liberty across North Carolina. Currently, we have exciting opportunities for individuals interested in serving as "Secretary" and "Assistant Treasurer." Job description. Our Secretary position offers a chance to contribute to the smooth functioning of the LPNC by assisting in record-keeping, meeting minutes, and organizational documentation. If you have strong organizational skills and a passion for detail-oriented tasks, this role might be a perfect fit for you. Likewise, our Assistant Treasurer is instrumental in supporting the financial operations of the LPNC, ensuring transparency and accountability in our financial management. If you have a keen eye for detail and a commitment to fiscal responsibility, we encourage you to explore this essential role. Additionally, the Communications team is seeking content submissions and regular writers, artists, editors, and support staff for the newsletter, the podcast, and several other ambitious plans for 2024. We can use an hour a week, or 40, as long as you are fighting for Liberty there is a place to make your voice heard. We can't do it without you! To learn more about these positions and other exciting volunteer opportunities, please visit our staff page at https://www.lpnc.org/staff. Your involvement can make a significant impact on the success of the LPNC, and we welcome individuals with diverse skills and backgrounds to join us in championing liberty in North Carolina. Take the next step in your commitment to liberty by becoming a vital part of the LPNC team. We look forward to welcoming you aboard! If you are interested in filling one of these positions, please email why you would be a good fit to Ryan Brown at [email protected]. |
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Liberty iNC
Your rights, all the time. Nothing more, nothing less, no exceptions. Simple as that. Check out Season 3, and get ready for Season 4, coming soon! If you want to assist with the show, be a guest, suggest a guest, and have any other comments or feedback, please, reach out to [email protected]. |
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Book ReviewReview by Rob Yates, LPNC Communications Director
Lou Perez's That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy, is a thought-provoking exploration of the evolving landscape of comedy in the modern world. In a pivotal moment in time, when the very purpose of comedy is being challenged, Perez takes readers on a witty and insightful journey through the history, challenges, and potential resurgence of comedy as a cultural force. One of the book's strengths lies in its historical perspective. Perez skillfully traces the roots of comedy, showing off an impressive range of knowledge of comedy's roots while peppering in deeply personal and funny stories that drive the narrative and reinforce his arguments with a side of hilarious. This approach provides readers with a rich context for understanding how comedy has evolved and adapted to changing societal norms and technologies and what fitting into that evolution looks like. Perez doesn't shy away from addressing the complexities and controversies surrounding comedy today. He delves into the challenges comedians face in navigating a world where prominent corners, once bastions of safety for all comedy, are increasingly sensitive and politically correct. He offers multiple perspectives on issues such as cancel culture, the boundaries of humor, and the role of satire, all while challenging outside forces that seek to control what is "acceptable" within the realm of the comic world. Beyond the myriad laughs and the unapologetic honesty, what sets That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore apart is Perez's engaging and conversational writing style. He effortlessly blends humor with deep insights, making the book both entertaining and intellectually stimulating. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud one moment and pondering the profound implications of comedy the next. Furthermore, Perez's personal anecdotes and experiences as a comedian add authenticity and relatability to the narrative. His willingness to share his own struggles and growth in the world of comedy adds a human dimension to the book, making it accessible to both comedy aficionados and newcomers. As the title suggests, Perez explores the idea of comedy's rebirth. He argues that, despite the challenges, comedy continues to evolve and find new forms of expression. He points to the resilience of comedians and their ability to adapt to changing times as a source of hope for the future of humor. And he refuses to put shackles on the limitations of comedy based on potentially harming someone's manufactured sensibilities. Instead, he makes the seemingly obvious demand that comedy be funny, nothing more, nothing less. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore is a must-read for anyone interested in the art and cultural significance of comedy. Lou Perez's blend of humor, history, and insight makes for an engaging and enlightening exploration of comedy's past, present, and future. It's a book that will leave you both laughing and thinking long after you've turned the final page. |
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2A TalkA Short List of Gun-Rights Victoriesby Justin Hinckley, LPNC 2A Issues CoordinatorRead this article, and then check out Justin's site, Port City Firearms. Support your fellow Libertarians and protect yourself at the same time! For much of the Twentieth Century, the U.S. was on a downward trajectory with respect to gun rights at both the national and state level. The National Firearms Act (1934), the Federal Firearms Act (1938), the Gun Control Act (1968), the Firearms Owners Protection Act (1986), The Brady Act (1993), and the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (1994) are the major 2A anti-freedom laws enacted during this time, but there are quite a few others. However, since the 1960s the scales have slowly tipped in favor of the 2nd Amendment and the rights of the people. Below is a short list of the major actions occurring over the last 40ish years. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but the major benchmarks by which we can measure where the country currently is with regards to gun rights. Please note, I have largely left the victories of 2023 off the list due to the current fluid nature of the many and conflicting rulings and laws throughout the US.
Things are looking up for gun rights in the U.S.! We should celebrate these myriad victories and bring them up anytime pro-gun people try to say we are losing. We are winning, almost entirely because the culture accepts the fundamental truth that firearms are necessary for personal safety and protection. The fight continues to expand freedom and the place where we need to push the hardest is at the federal level, specifically the Executive and Legislative branches, who have done the least to expand and the most to restrict gun rights in the recent decades. Continue pushing, force politicians to take uncompromisingly pro-gun positions and actions. |
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Support Your Fellow LibertariansPort City FirearmsOur very own Justin Hinckley, 2A Issues Coordinator, has opened an online store, and you don't want to miss it! Port City Firearms and Training
--- Non Crappy CraftsAngela Humphries is a free-spirited watercolor artist who lives by the calm, colorful waters of New Bern, North Carolina. With her loose, expressive strokes, she works to impress the magic of flora and fauna onto her canvases. Her lighthearted, whimsical mark making, infused with the inspiration of her surroundings, invites admirers to walk in nature to enjoy it’s beauty and magnificence. 
Angela is a member of the North Carolina Watercolor Society and enjoys working in the privacy of her small home studio. She shares more of her work in the digital realm on her greeting card creations. Her work may be discovered in New Bern, NC at the local Bank of the Arts Gallery, as well as the Nautical Star Coffee Shop and finally her online store via Etsy. --- Dr. Dan's Freedom Forum Radio
"The right to own private property that cannot be arbitrarily regulated or confiscated by the government is the moral and constitutional basis for individual freedom" Listen Live: Freedom Forum Radio Podcast: Freedom Forum Radio Podcast Index ---
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Very nice to meet you all. I am Bob Drach, and I am your best choice for North Carolina's State Auditor. A former Certified Management Accountant, I know financial reporting, information systems and organizational leadership.
We live in great times.
The LPNC is excited to announce that Michael Gibson will be the keynote speaker for this year's annual state convention. Gibson is the co-founder of the venture capital fund 1517, which is devoted to backing dropouts and people who never stepped foot on a college campus. Before his academic apostasy, he was working towards a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Oxford. He has written on innovation and technology for MIT’s Technology Review, National Review, the Atlantic, and City Journal. Gibson is the author of the book 
It didn't fail, to be sure. The gold standard did not fail. It was killed, by dishonest politicians who do not like honest money. The main way it was killed was by taxes. You can't use gold and silver anymore as money, largely because of the taxes associated with doing this.
The first is that it allows people to plan for the future. If I were building a house, if I were taking out a 30-year loan, I would want to know that the unit in which the loan is denominated will hold its value. I need to be able to make that sort of planning to be able to build infrastructure, to be able to long-term plan.
Fortunately, I'm happy to say that sound money itself is in the middle of a movement. This past year, there were 26 states in the United States that introduced legislation to adopt sound money, and to remove taxes around the use of sound money. To invest physical gold and silver in state pension funds and in state reserve funds. In North Carolina's case, there is active legislation for the state to conduct a study about whether they should store gold, silver, and Bitcoin on the state's balance sheet.
There are also federal initiatives. It's not just on the state level. To be sure, I think at the state level is the best chance of passing policy. D.C. is largely a gridlocked place, a place for people who want to make a name for themselves, who want to grow personas. People interested in actually making a difference are in Raleigh, are in Nashville, are in Albany, are in Tallahassee, in the state capitals.
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