New at The Liberty Papers

I am very pleased to announce my joining the staff of The Liberty Papers. TLP was established in November of 2005 as a blog with a primary focus on posting issues that involve liberty. Eric, one of TLP’s original contributors, explains the purpose of the blog in this way:

We are a group of people who hold some very specific beliefs. We believe that the theories of individual, inherent rights and government of what is now known as classic liberal theory are the correct political theory. We believe that failing to understand the reality of market economics, individual motivation, and politics leads to tragedy as the world has seen so many times over in Russia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Yugoslavia, Cuba, France and many other places around the world. The Declaration of Independence is not just the document that told the British Crown that its American colonies were an independent nation. It is a Declaration that henceforth men would no longer be subject to oppressive government that traded their individual liberties and rights for the paternalism of government. It is the best single expression and declaration of the rights and responsibilities of the individual, including the source of the powers of government. We believe that the United States Constitution is the best attempt by man to take these ideas and turn them into practical, political reality.

All of us are experienced bloggers, we’ve written, in the aggregate, literally hundreds of thousands of words on a wide variety of topics. Always, though, there has been a steady theme of classic liberal belief running through those words. Some people, today, might call that set of beliefs “libertarian”, but there are differences between libertarians and classic liberalism. We are not pacifists, we are not libertines who merely want our vices to be legal. Most, if not all, of us believe that the use of drugs, for example, is a very bad idea, and one that creates issues for the individual, the family, the society. But, we believe the oppression that comes with dictating morals and personal behavior, through collective action and the law, is far worse, and far more destructive to society, than the use of narcotics. We are not anarchists. There is a legitimate purpose for government. Government derives its just powers from the consent of those who will be governed by it. [click here to continue reading]

As many of you know, I have recommended specific posts from TLP almost from the very beginning because it has been my favorite blog for quite some time. TLP is ranked an adorable rodent in the TTLB ecosystem but don’t let that fool you; this blog is very widely read. Neal Boortz even made mention on his blog called Nealz Nuze of Brad Warbiany’s post called The Threat of Teacher’s Unions (I responded to the post here).

I can’t even begin to describe what an honor it is to become a part of this blog. I have written my first post at TLP which introduces myself to the TLP readers. If you have read Fearless Philosophy for awhile and are curious about some aspects of my life I have not shared here, here’s your chance to do your own psycho analysis of me (it might answer some of your questions anyway).

If you have not read The Liberty Papers before, as its newest contributor, I invite you to give it a read. You won’t be sorry you did.