Author: Laurence M. Vance

If there is one thing that most conservatives have in common it is their support for the federal government’s war on drugs. Although conservatives claim to believe in certain principles that libertarians would likewise hold to, their support of the drug war shows that they don’t really believe in them at all. Here is the conservative drug war creed. I believe in the Constitution, but I also believe in the unconstitutional federal war on drugs. I believe in a smaller federal government, but still support a federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). I believe in federalism, but not when it comes … Continue reading →

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The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits states from denying residents who have reached the age of eighteen the right to vote. It doesn’t say that states can’t set their voting ages lower than eighteen. The Amendment simply reads: “The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.” A couple of years ago, I saw where some people had come up with the bright idea of giving sixteen-year-olds the right to vote. Singer … Continue reading →

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May 5 was the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx. Although Republicans have universally used the occasion to point out Marx’s bloody legacy, they have failed to realize that they themselves are Marxist when it comes to income taxation. At the end of section two of Marx’s Communist Manifesto, in addition to calling for the abolition of private property and the centralization of the means of production in the hands of the state, Marx called for “a heavy progressive or graduated income tax.” From its very beginning, the U.S. tax code has sought to soak “the rich” with … Continue reading →

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I have seen them in restaurants eating their lunch. They are well-dressed. Some of them are women. They have nice offices in shopping centers. I’m talking about pimps, but not the sleazy, flashy, abusive kind who solicit those willing to hire themselves out to perform illicit acts for paying customers. Worse. The ones who look and act respectable while they solicit those willing to hire themselves out to perform illicit acts for paying customers. The customers in this case being the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. And those hiring themselves out being soldiers, sailors, airmen, and … Continue reading →

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In August of last year Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced a bill (S.1689), the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017, to legalize marijuana on the federal level. According to a press release, the bill would: Remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances, making it legal at the federal level; Incentivize states through federal funds to change their marijuana laws if marijuana in the state is illegal and the state disproportionately arrests or incarcerates low-income individuals and people of color for marijuana-related offenses; Automatically expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes; Allow an individual currently serving time in federal prison for … Continue reading →

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Don’t feel bad if you don’t know what the word myrmidons means. Until just a few months ago, I had never even heard of the word. Here are some definitions of myrmidon from a few online dictionaries that you might find helpful, as I did: Myrmidon [mur-mi-don, -dn] noun, plural Myrmidons, Myrmidones [mur-mid-n-eez] 1 Classical Mythology. one of the warlike people of ancient Thessaly who accompanied Achilles to the Trojan War. 2 (lowercase) a person who executes without question or scruple a master’s commands. Myrmidon noun | myr·mi·don | \ ˈmər-mə-ˌdän , -dən \ 1 capitalized : a member of … Continue reading →

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The libertarian position on the drug war is simple, radical, and consistent. As I said in my lecture on “Christianity, Libertarianism, and the Drug War”: There should be no laws at any level of government for any reason regarding the buying, selling, growing, processing, transporting, manufacturing, advertising, using, or possessing of any drug for any reason. It is not the proper role of government to prohibit, regulate, restrict, or otherwise control what a man desires to eat, drink, smoke, inject, absorb, snort, sniff, inhale, swallow, or otherwise ingest into his mouth, nose, veins, or lungs. The War on Drugs should … Continue reading →

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The reason for my unusual title will quickly become evident. Since the horrific mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 students and teachers dead, some conservatives have compromised on the issue of gun control. That should come as no surprise since some conservatives compromise what little principles they have on a regular basis. Many conservatives, however, have been resolute in their defense of gun freedom in spite of the ferocious Democrat, liberal, and progressive onslaught—including some conservatives at the Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. It … Continue reading →

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Little did I know as I was planning, designing, and typesetting my new little book Free Trade or Protectionism? that the official release date I selected would coincide with the launch of President Trump’s trade war. I shouldn’t have been so surprised since Trump is an economic nationalist who believes that only limited “fair” trade, increased tariffs, and a lower trade deficit will make America great again. In one of the Republican primary debates, Trump proposed a 45 percent tariff on all imported goods from China “if they don’t behave.” China must have misbehaved because Trump has imposed tariffs “on … Continue reading →

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Introduction to Laurence M. Vance, The Free Society (Vance Publications, 2018), xii + 468 pgs., paperback, $19.95. Most Americans think they live in a free society. They think that because they can find fifty varieties of salad dressing at the grocery store, choose from among a hundred types of wine at the liquor store, select a television channel from over 1,000 choices, download any movie or song they want from the Internet, and sit at home for hours playing the latest video game that they live in a free society. They are oblivious to the extent of government encroachment on … Continue reading →

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In 2013, in response to the increasing “open carry” debate, Howard Schultz, the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Starbucks posted an open letter on the company’s website requesting that “customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas.” Until this time, various gun-control groups proposed boycotting Starbucks because of the company’s gun policy of following local laws that permitted open carry. After the Starbucks decision, pro-gun conservatives expressed their intention to refuse to patronize Starbucks because of its new gun policy. Just recently, after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods … Continue reading →

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Although about thirty countries have the death penalty for drug trafficking, only in China, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Vietnam are drug offenders routinely executed. Yet, the worst place to be caught drug trafficking is in the Philippines, where thousands have died in extra-judicial killings. In the United States, not only can some drug offenses result in life in prison, “the sentence of death can be carried out on a defendant who has been found guilty of manufacturing, importing or distributing a controlled substance if the act was committed as part of a continuing criminal enterprise.” President Trump … Continue reading →

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As night follows day, so cries for more gun control follow another deadly shooting. But once again, it is not just Democrats, liberals, progressives howling for more or stricter gun-control laws, it is Republicans and conservatives as well. Republicans just don’t get it on gun control. I pointed this out five years ago a few months after the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. President Trump pledged to ban bump stocks, with or without Congress: By the way, bump stocks—we’re writing that out. I’m writing that out myself. I don’t care if Congress does it or … Continue reading →

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Ivan Eland, Eleven Presidents: Promises vs. Results in Achieving Limited Government (Oakland: Independent Institute, 2017), xi + 370 pgs, hardcover. Republicans claim to be the party of the Constitution. They have since the early 20th century cultivated the image that they and their presidents are in favor of limited government while the Democrats and their presidents are in favor of big government. Ivan Eland, senior fellow and director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at the Independent Institute, in his new book Eleven Presidents: Promises vs. Results in Achieving Limited Government, shows, conclusively, that this is not the case. … Continue reading →

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A conservative writer is upset that high school and college kids never read the Constitution, can’t name the first president, don’t know what the stripes on the flag mean, don’t recite the Pledge of Allegiance any more, don’t pay attention when the National Anthem is played, and don’t “understand the costs of freedom paid by millions of men and women who served in the military.” Ah, the military. The writer is also upset about school truancy, illiteracy, out-of-wedlock births, drug addiction, welfare, the lack of common sense, direction, critical thinking skills, loyalty to the United States, and excessive texting. But … Continue reading →

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