cozcommunio

The facebook message was: Freedom-loving individuals would gather in the Jefferson Memorial just before midnight, April 13, and spend ten minutes bopping, swaying and moonwalking to honor the birthday of the author of the Declaration of Independence. The Jefferson Memorial is open 24 hours and the facebook birthday group of about 20 planned on wearing ipod headsets so as not to disturb other visitors. After four minutes of quiet dancing the U.S. Park Police told the group to leave. When one dancer questioned why, she was arrested and handcuffed. Here are links to American Spectator article and youtube video:

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13056

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujrSAJ1b6Go

Warren Buffet was answering questions on CNBC this morning. There were a number of email questions regarding his advocacy of higher taxes for the rich and why he doesn’t voluntarily give more money to the government. His answer was that his charitable foundation probably does a better job of allocating resources then the government would do. This comment begs the question of why we should have higher tax rates to give more money to an entity that will not do a good job of allocation resources. I agree with Warren here that the people who work and produce the resources should decide how to allocate the resources. I wish Warren always agreed with Warren and let people decide how to spend the fruit of their labor. Or does Buffet only want certain people to be able to make these decision?.

WFB Jr. is a good example of why I’m not a conservative. His self described mission was to “stand athwart of history yelling stop.” As a liberal I embrace life embrace change and want fight to define history for the good and virtue. Like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman I do not consider myself a conservative. I have no pretense that I’m a Hayek or a Freidman but I’m fortune to stand on their shoulders. In Hayek assay Why I am not a conservative he talked about the liberal looking forward, based on courage and confidence, on a preparedness to let change run its course even if we can not predict where it will lead.

“This difference between liberalism and conservatism must not be obscured by the fact that in the United States it is still possible to defend individual liberty by defending long-established institutions. To the liberal they are valuable not mainly because they are long established or because they are American but because they correspond to the ideals which he cherishes.”

“The chief evil is unlimited government, and nobody is qualified to wield unlimited power.” Hayek

How important are labels? How do you think of yourself and how do others see you? Now that elitist socialists are leaving the label liberal to go to the label progressive can we take back liberal for the camp of limited government pro-liberty. Libertarian seems like such an awkward word. Its label value has been damaged by the LP. What about the label Free-market Liberal.

lib·er·tar·i·an

lib·er·al

2.	(often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.

13.

of, pertaining to, or befitting a freeman.con·serv·a·tive 1. disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change. 2. cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate. 3. traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness: conservative suit. 4. (often initial capital letter) of or pertaining to the Conservative party. 6. having the power or tendency to conserve; preservative.