FREEDOMHUB

Henry David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience” in the jail he suffered at for failure to comply with a tax funding our U.S. Republic’s first imperialist invasion toppling a foreign regime. Waged 175 years ago against a flawed but fellow republic, this aggressive intervention against Mexico was built on lies launched from the White House by a hawkish ideologue. The service and sacrifices of the troops were trotted-out to rally patriots, raise recruits, and police dissent. It turned out to be a bloody mess, provoking resistance, and guerrilla war among the occupied populace. Sound familiar? The war was also a proving ground for the generals who would lead armies on both sides of the American Civil War, was a crucible for past, present, and future U.S. presidents, and an early rehearsal of foreign policy scripts Washington would repeatedly rehash for the next two centuries—scripts still on a prolonged revival tour today. One prominent veteran—who straddled the military and presidential legacies of the Mexican War—Ulysses S. Grant, later wrote "I do not think there was ever a more wicked war than that waged by the United States on Mexico. I thought so at the time...only I had not moral courage enough to resign.” Major Sjursen explains why the war so haunted future President Grant, and why more Americans should know that it did!

The TV series M*A*S*H has often been called “television’s finest half-hour.” The dramedy, set at a U.S. Army field hospital during the Korean War, both tickled the funny bone and tugged at the heartstrings, making it a TV-ratings juggernaut from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. Its 1983 finale, “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,” gained a stunning 106 million viewers—a number that current-day Superbowls struggle to reach. What’s remarkable about the series is how broad its popularity was, especially at a time when the nation was heavily divided over the Vietnam War, the fallout of the 1960s counterculture, the Nixon presidency, and the economic malaise of the 1970s, as well as America’s social evolution from the lefty libertinism of the early 1970s to the Reagan Revolution of the early 1980s. And the show didn’t gain its popularity by ducking controversy; it deliberately seized on social and political issues. Cato's Regulation Magazine editor will explain how one of the reasons M*A*S*H was popular was because it drew on a set of values respected across the U.S. political spectrum of the time: the values of classical liberalism. The show’s opposition to military adventurism, skepticism of government power, appreciation for the incentives and benefits of the marketplace, and championing of civil liberties gave Americans plenty to unite around. Hopefully, those values can do the same again today.

State lawmakers know the unemployment and malaise 2020’s lockdowns have caused. This winter as they gather for new sessions to pass bills, special interests will paint for them vastly differing strategies to help the people. But think tanks in all 50 states have gathered data about how free-market policies have outperformed statist ideas. Mr. Estes presents ALEC’s report on what makes a state poor versus rich.

Congressional failure has yielded a high and growing debt burden that already harms our lives and threatens an eventual fiscal crisis. That fate can be avoided, but only with an accurate diagnosis of the problems and a range of bipartisan solutions. Budget expert Kurt Couchman explains how we got into this mess, how we can get out, and when Congress and the Administration will take seriously our dangerous budget imbalances.

An under-reported aspect of the Covid crisis entailed the government’s slow war on “infected” cash. As with any other product, will the government’s digital currency speed up the public’s slow uptake of cyber currency - or sabotage this money transition? IT entrepreneur Craig Bergman presents his technical cash solution, and expand on its blockchain component to show its applicability to election integrity. Continual Voting Fraud controversies make this webinar timely!

Very few of us don’t know someone who has suffered the grinder of Family Court or Child Protective Service. The former seems a justice system more appropriate for the terror of Stalin, and the latter seems a “gift” from the Gestapo. Both have combined to create a tragic phenomenon called Parental Alienation. Presenting the Orwellian world of Family “law” is Maryann Petri, author of Dismantling Family Court Corruption: Why Taking The Kids Was Not Enough. Based on personal experience, Maryann explains what makes Family Court corrupt, how CPS gets away routinely with false allegations, what perpetuates Parental Alienation, and encourages entitlement is not only the opposition but also the children. Telling her own story that may be made into a movie, Ms. Petri proposes solutions to depoliticize the judges themselves, as well as to radically overhaul the entire apparatus of how society protects against child abuse and adjudicates family disputes.

Lockdowns have sabotaged the livelihoods of countless American families, with the WHO warning continuation of draconian orders that would exacerbate a worldwide epidemic of poverty. Even before Covid, though, business owners struggled to thrive, and individuals faced existential crises around finding paths that motivated the effort necessary to flourish. Where do we go from here? For almost two decades Mr. Sharpe has counseled executives and activists on how to set and meet goals - including how to discover what they even want to do. With the shambles in which society finds itself, each of us needs coach Larry to discover our footing and rebuild a better world.

Riots nationwide have thrust American policing into the political stage, threatening danger to our property and lives on the one hand - or an even worse Police State if politicians continue to ignore the elephant in the room, the Drug War. Since running police training for Baltimore's mayor Kurt Schmoke who made headlines refusing to hurt his inner-city voters with punitive Drug War enforcement, Neill Franklin has become a world leader in rolling back the Overcriminalization state as head of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). Changing its name to broaden advocacy focus to all the issues that incorporate enforcement and lead to flourishing communities, Mr. Franklin's new group examines problems holistically - even including the impact of international criminal organizations, free speech, judicial reforms, community empowerment, and the militarization of police. Neill fears for our society if police either are defunded or are asked to enforce future draconian orders of a growing Police State. While understanding the cry for help from the inner city, Chief Franklin warns against reform that merely exacerbates the current impasse. This is a powerful discussion!

When we ignore how local economic development groups connive with politicians to milk honest businesses in order to erect regulatory obstacles or create a pig trough for project financing, we facilitate irreparable damage to our community. The only protection against this corruption entails electing libertarians to local councils. Using lessons learned from managing investments and trading in the commercial banking world, Councilman Arps opposes frivolous spending and flippant calls to steal the income of those with real jobs. Doing so, Mr. Arp writes, has earned him some powerful and well-connected enemies. That comes with the territory. It’s a badge of honor. His goal is to be the TAXPAYER’S BEST FRIEND. Hence the importance of this webinar, to let voters know what a real free market supporter can do in a local governing body - so you can try to elect one in your council. Maybe even yourself!!

One of the best things for the LP’s chances happened with the Trump-Biden debate: The chaos that turned off voters. More than ever they might listen to the candidate sitting ready in 3rd place in the polls. Why is the Libertarian Party important? Steve Dasbach ran the party decades ago and knows all the arguments both for and against wasting one’s vote. But maybe the truly wasted vote is for candidates in whom one truly doesn’t believe?

In her massive economic, historical, and literary trilogy "The Bourgeois Era", professor McCloskey sought to re-orient history in order to humanize economics and connect the virtues of ancient entrepreneurs with the courage of today's idealists and market movers. As innovators struggle today against the special interests using government to smother market competition or even our rights, Dr. McCloskey's message of bourgeois dignity needs more appreciation. In this webinar, Deirdre takes us on a tour of her history of the class of humans who cleared the way for the progress we take for granted today and help us understand the integration important to understand when seeking to define what goals are important to create a better world and find our individual destinies.

Faith has always played a driving force in American politics. Benjamin Franklin said: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Our Founders also insisted on a constitutional amendment preventing government interference - or support - for religious belief. With existential hysteria in 2020 over pandemics and endless protests making some believe November’s election implicates the Apocalypse, the election presents a new challenge for believers and non-believers alike. Lord Acton had said: “Men cannot be made good by the state, but they can easily be made bad. Morality depends on liberty." But does Trump offer the liberty Acton said was required before virtue? Or has his stoking of the always simmering “culture war” alienated the rising demographic of “nones”? How indeed will religions’ broad and divided electorate sway November’s vote? Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, via his Inst. on Religion and Public Policy Bishop Grieboski has mediated conflicts worldwide among competing factions of belief. He is a senior fellow at the Dietrich Banhoeffer Institute - named after the German thought leaders who stood up to totalitarian genocide. His leadership role in a Catholic denomination helps him balance the retention of rejuvenating tradition, with individuals’ needs to carve their own relationship with spirit.

Not actual ones, just the economic ones. The latter sheds a 'bright light' on why and how the morals of true believers regularly align with the money of true deceivers. And the results are usually and predictably bad for almost everyone, even the Baptists themselves. No political conspiracies are required, only economic incentives. These incentives are the large and concentrated benefits versus the smaller and defused costs, both psychic and material, from government hand-outs and favors. Official history only highlights half the story with the Baptists, sound economics completes it with the Bootleggers. For over 25 years Mr. Nelson has advised governments, media, think tanks & corporations - on topics including antitrust, infrastructure, and justice. He is the author of “Ten Principles of Regulation & Reform” and The "Bootleggers and Baptists" of the Coronavirus Crisis.