Economic Freedom on the Farm

Farmers have been selling their produce since the early stages of civilization, so just what is going on with vegetables and the authorities in Fauquire County, Virginia?  Could this really all be about a birthday party, did someone not invite a special child.

If a person can't raise a crop and sell it to people who want to eat is either party free?  How much regulation do local officials need to place on selling farm plants?

Economic Freedom

This whole blog is about promoting Economic Freedom so that everyone can make the best of their self in the way that suits them the best.  No one can make those decisions for you in an office miles away based on demographic groupings.

This video exemplifies why economic freedom is EMPOWERMENT.  

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Definitely the best video we've seen all week!  

Thank you to all the folks at http://www.thelibreinitiative.com

Municipal Economic Problems

There have been a few large cities go bankrupt in recent history.  In Alabama the city of Birmingham spent on non-essential projects while needed utility maintenance was set aside.  Eventually the city found itself hundreds of millions of dollars in the hole and unable or unwilling to raise revenue to meet obligations.

Stockton California recently made the news as the largest city to file bankruptcy but it is not the only large city in California to have leaders put it into financial straights.

• Will cities be better off in the long run if they are forced by bankruptcy to only focus on the most basic needs such as police, fire protection, streets?
• Should your city borrow money for some things while other services are in need?
• Do civic leaders in your area equate the cost of interest rates on bonds to taxes that must be collected?

Of all the things that many people consider that ONLY a city can do, at least one town has outsourced it's police work!  Could some services be done by contract and would this allow competition so cities have choice in the services they use?

Friedman Day

Tomorrow, July 31st, would be Milton Friedman's 100th birthday.   Many policy groups today are working toward better schools in conjunction with The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.

Click HERE to find an event in your area!

Here's a clip of Mr. Friedman in action, we hope you enjoy it, Happy Birthday!

And a great series of Friedman stitched together by Amanda!

Evangeline

A little different sort of video this week in observation of the "Great Upheaval".  This video coming from the Learn Liberty series.  It tells a story of peaceful people in economic harmony caught between their links to indigenous neighbors and warring interlopers from Europe.

July 28th is a day of remembrance for those where cast off by their government; government which always claims its purpose is to protect people. 

Longfellow wrote about the Acadian expulsion in his poem Evangeline:

"Once in an ancient city, whose name I no longer remember,  

Raised aloft on a column, a brazen statue of Justice  

Stood in the public square, upholding the scales in its left hand,  

And in its right a sword, as an emblem that justice presided  

Over the laws of the land, and the hearts and homes of the people.  

Even the birds had built their nests in the scales of the balance,  

Having no fear of the sword that flashed in the sunshine above them.  

But in the course of time the laws of the land were corrupted; 

Might took the place of right, and the weak were oppressed, and the mighty  

Ruled with an iron rod."

Thanks to The Institute for Humane Studies.