A Candid World

[mjw8204]

This looks like something I'd be really interested in seeing. I'm interested in politics and have done a lot of reading on libertarian philosophy over the last year. Kudos for taking on the project; I bet you've met a lot of interesting people. Keep us posted!

[tattguy]

good luck, sounds like a great project....
love to see it take off....( your doc, and the NH land grab)
freedom is one thing to obtain... but how will we ever get rid of greed, jealousy, envy, prejudice, ego,and all those other traits that are sure to follow us wherever we roam. i've been on the fringes of western society groups that pretty much ignored alot of law enforcement.( hardcore, not weekend warrior) deadheads, bikers, ravers, burning man, all have alot of freedom, and all have assholes who can't play nice with others...

[hour_of_darkness]

Originally posted by tattguy:
good luck, sounds like a great project....
love to see it take off....( your doc, and the NH land grab)
freedom is one thing to obtain... but how will we ever get rid of greed, jealousy, envy, prejudice, ego,and all those other traits that are sure to follow us wherever we roam. i've been on the fringes of western society groups that pretty much ignored alot of law enforcement.( hardcore, not weekend warrior) deadheads, bikers, ravers, burning man, all have alot of freedom, and all have assholes who can't play nice with others...

<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">Greed will never go away, however greed is a good thing that keeps the economy going. Most people mistake the EVILS of capitialism being greed that leads to big business.

The only time greed is bad is when greedy people are given an unfair advantage over others by the government. Most regulations that exist on business don't exist to protect consumers like people are lead to beleive. The exist because businesses with enough money to withstand them have funded politicians to support those regulations because it eliminates the smaller businesses trying to compete with them because they can't get up to regulation standards.

Then after they get their regulations, big businesses recoup their expenses by getting tax cuts passed.

So the bully wasn't able to be a bully until the government helped it. As far as people breaking laws, unless they are directly harming another individual's life, liberty or property it probably shouldn't be a law anyway. If they are harming life, liberty and property that is the one legitimate role of government, to deal with that. Funny that it is the one thing governments hardly ever do.

In short the answer to your question is to reduce the size of government and make sure it doesn't grow back. People can be greedy, but without the government helping them they can't grab control.

Thanks for the kind words about the project as well!

[hour_of_darkness]

Originally posted by El Gato Grande:
This looks like something I'd be really interested in seeing. I'm interested in politics and have done a lot of reading on libertarian philosophy over the last year. Kudos for taking on the project; I bet you've met a lot of interesting people. Keep us posted!

<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">What kind of stuff have you been reading? Anything by Harry Browne is a great read. Michael Badnarik's "Good to be King" is good as well, though I don't agree with some of the stuff he says. His chapter on rights vs priviliges is excellent though. That can actually be downloaded for free at this site: http://constitutionpreservation.org/book.html

Michael Badnarik is also participating in the film as sort of narrator. Looking forward to that!

[mjw8204]

Originally posted by tattguy:
good luck, sounds like a great project....
love to see it take off....( your doc, and the NH land grab)
freedom is one thing to obtain... but how will we ever get rid of greed, jealousy, envy, prejudice, ego,and all those other traits that are sure to follow us wherever we roam.

<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">We will never get rid of those things. The key to controlling them is personal responsibility and accountability for one's own actions. For too long we as a society have depended on the government to take care of these things for us -- most likely because we've gotten so far away from what this country was intended to be, people simply don't know any better. If we cannot control ourselves to the extent that we are peaceful, morally upright, and prosperous, that is our failure as a people and as a nation. We cannot expect the government to correct and control for every shortcoming of human nature.

I could rant on forever about this, but I think you get my point here. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[mjw8204]

Originally posted by hour_of_darkness:
What kind of stuff have you been reading? Anything by Harry Browne is a great read. Michael Badnarik's "Good to be King" is good as well, though I don't agree with some of the stuff he says. His chapter on rights vs priviliges is excellent though. That can actually be downloaded for free at this site: http://constitutionpreservation.org/book.html

Michael Badnarik is also participating in the film as sort of narrator. Looking forward to that!

<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">I've been reading a range of stuff lately. I don't think I've seen anything by Harry Browne, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that. I'd like to get a hold of a really good book about Thomas Jefferson. That's cool that Michael Badnarik is participating in your project. What do you think about his politics? Personally, I'm not sold on the guy as being a key figure in the Libertarian party. I've read that there are some inaccuracies/misinterpretations in his book that other Libertarians have brought to light. In fact, there is actually some question as to whether he's really Libertarian rather than some form of a Constitutionalist. I watched the 2004 Libertarian party debates on C-Span and was surprised that he pulled out the nomination. Then again, I don't think they've had a really strong candidate to legitimize the party as a serious player. What I'd like to see is a strong figure that Libertarians, as well as average Americans, would want to rally behind. Someone who, instead of simply representing some sort of movement, can present the party as one with practical solutions for the every day American. Until we have that, it will only be an idea, and America will continue to be held hostage by the two-party system.

<font color="#FFFF00" size="1">[ February 05, 2006 11:37 AM: Message edited by: El Gato Grande ]</font>

[hour_of_darkness]

I also wanted to mention that I don't think that the Presidential election is important. Even if we elected a Libertarian President that united the party and America, we would still have Republicans and Democrats in Congress. What we would have is a stalemate of ideas. The growth of government would slow down, but its size would not reduce.

I think the key is to focus on the House and even state and local politics to begin with. Many Libertarians have won local offices and have made progress at the local level. If we can get a Libertarian governor or mayor and illustrate success at that level, it will set a great example. If we get Libertarians into Congress, then there is chance to make change at the Federal level, especially if there is a Libertarian President at one point.

But it's also important to note that just because there is a Libertarian in office, doesn't mean we don't still need to scrutinize their activity and make sure they govern to their principles. Power can corrupt anyone, Libertarians included.

[hour_of_darkness]

Originally posted by El Gato Grande:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="verdana, arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="verdana, arial">Originally posted by hour_of_darkness:
What kind of stuff have you been reading? Anything by Harry Browne is a great read. Michael Badnarik's "Good to be King" is good as well, though I don't agree with some of the stuff he says. His chapter on rights vs priviliges is excellent though. That can actually be downloaded for free at this site: http://constitutionpreservation.org/book.html

Michael Badnarik is also participating in the film as sort of narrator. Looking forward to that!

<font size="2" face="verdana, arial">I've been reading a range of stuff lately. I don't think I've seen anything by Harry Browne, so I'll have to keep an eye out for that. I'd like to get a hold of a really good book about Thomas Jefferson. That's cool that Michael Badnarik is participating in your project. What do you think about his politics? Personally, I'm not sold on the guy as being a key figure in the Libertarian party. I've read that there are some inaccuracies/misinterpretations in his book that other Libertarians have brought to light. In fact, there is actually some question as to whether he's really Libertarian rather than some form of a Constitutionalist. I watched the 2004 Libertarian party debates on C-Span and was surprised that he pulled out the nomination. Then again, I don't think they've had a really strong candidate to legitimize the party as a serious player. What I'd like to see is a strong figure that Libertarians, as well as average Americans, would want to rally behind. Someone who, instead of simply representing some sort of movement, can present the party as one with practical solutions for the every day American. Until we have that, it will only be an idea, and America will continue to be held hostage by the two-party system.

<font color="#FFFF00"><font size="1">[ February 05, 2006 11:37 AM: Message edited by: El Gato Grande ]</font></font></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="verdana, arial">I agree with you about Michael Badnarik, there are areas where him and I disagree. I wouldn't go as far as to say that he is not a Libertarian, but he is somewhat on the fringe. I think he is a compelling speaker and has presence in a room, which is good for film. As far as a leader to rally behind goes, I think he's the closest thing the party has. They've been trying to get Penn Gillette of Penn and Teller to run, but it looks that isn't going to happen.

Also, I couldn't agree more with your previous comment about our failure as a people and the government not being able to fix that. You worded that perfectly.

[hour_of_darkness]

The trailer for this is finally complete and up at the website: www.candid-world.com (The site has a nice new look!)

Go to Multimedia, then click trailer. Let me know what you think and a great big thank you to the people on this board that threw us a few bucks to help us make this!

[Beyerstein]

are you gonna make a movie about mike ness instead