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Comment Re:Internet wins... (Score 1) 495

Left wing is not anti-authoritarian any more than right wing is authoritarian.

Counter-points: Barack Obama & the nationalization of the automotive industry; Ron Paul as an anti-authoritarian on the far right.

Comment Re:Just keep calm... (Score 1) 1059

You seem to have a slightly warped view of the power of the Presidency.

He would have to use his veto power to kill the budget in order to kill the TSA. The War of Drugs is a legislative issue, so all he could do there is refuse to enforce those laws while in office. It would also be within his power to pardon all non-violent drug offenders in federal prison (but not state prisons). He couldn't disband the TSA, but he could require them to weave baskets or something all day instead of enforcing the law.

Paul has been a constitutionalist first and a libertarian second. I don't believe he would break treaty obligations, although I'm sure he would work to lessen them while in office. He would certainly pull all of our troops home (except if bound by treaty, see above). He certainly wouldn't start a war of aggression, although I believe he would decisively defeat any state enemy that attacked us during his term.

There are a LOT of things a "rogue President" could do. I'm a gun nut, so the first thing that springs to mind is the FOPA '86, which banned new-manufactured machineguns, and the GOA '68, which allows the Attorney General to authorize an Amnesty, which could allow individuals to manufacture and register machineguns, suppressors, short-barrelled rifles and shotguns, etc. There's not reason that Amnesty couldn't last all 4 years.

Finally, let's not forget that for the past 40 or so years, the federal government has primarily exercised control via regulation, not law. Think of all of the controversial rulings that you've lived through, whether they be from the EPA, BATFE, FTC, etc. All of that could be repealed in a heartbeat, as ultimately, the President acts over those agencies in the same way a CEO acts over a corporation.

Comment Re:Hell that's nothing (Score 1) 1059

To understand Paul, you really have to see where he's coming from.

Take drug legalization, for instance. Paul supports an end to the federal War on Drugs - but he also believes that the federal government does have to authority to force the states to do the same. That is not saying that he believes states should ban drugs, but merely that he believes states have the enumerated power to do so under the federal constitution.

I share his approach. I'm an anarcho-capitalist, I want to eventually see the state dissolve. In order to do that, there are two things that have to happen: The state must be forced to abide by its own charter, and the charter must be amended over time to reduce its power, eventually culminating in the state being replaced entirely by private interests. Reining in the federal government does no good if it is authorized by the constitution to do all sorts of horrible things. Likewise, amending the Constitution does no good if the state does not stay within it.

Comment Re:Bitcoin is more secure than ACH (Score 1) 213

Yet.

Check out Bitcoin Spinner in the Android Market. It has solved the primary problem with Bitcoin in my opinion, which is that it was difficult for non-technical users. It's still a little rough, but it works well.

I've been using it with some (not geeky) friends to split checks at lunch and the like. They like it, and I even heard one ask a local coffee shop if they would accept them :)

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