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Let’s Talk About Beer Aug 15, 2015

A few weeks ago, I rolled my eyes upon hearing that someone was suing Blue Moon. The dispute? Blue Moon is marketed as “craft beer” despite the fact that the brand is owned by one of the country’s largest beer manufacturers, MillerCoors. It speaks to the broader cries of “you can’t trust that word, there’s no government regulated definition” and both of my eye rolls when I hear those cries. According to Merriam-Webster a craft beer is a “specialty beer produced in limited quantities.” TheBrewers Association gets a little more specific, defining a craft brewer as a brewer that produces no more...

By Students For Liberty Vote10 0

Demystifying the Invisible Hand Aug 15, 2015

The phrase “invisible hand” can easily evoke fanciful imagery of invisible hands magically manipulating the world. So it’s no surprise that many critics of laissez-faire, particularly on the left, misconstrue the concept as a form of magical thinking or religious fundamentalism. For example, Neil Douglas and Terry Wykowski allege that “market fundamentalists imagine that the market magically transforms market participants into moral agents who mitigate self interest through the ‘invisible hand’ as described by Adam Smith.”1 But economists don’t argue that markets produce moral outcomes as a result of “magic.” Rather, they argue that the institutions associated with markets produce...

By Students For Liberty Vote1 1

Immigrant Today, Anti-Immigrant Tomorrow Aug 15, 2015

Donald Trump’s mother was born in Scotland; his paternal grandparents were German immigrants who came to America in the late-19th century and started their living as restaurateurs in New York’s red-light district.  Bernie Sanders’ father was a Holocaust survivor from Poland.  So why does neither candidate acknowledge the value of open borders, not only as a human rights concern, but as a valuable asset to a nation that prides itself as being built on immigration?  More interestingly, why are both candidates so appealing to a voter base made up of descendants of immigrants whose struggles closely paralleled those of modern-day...

By Students For Liberty Vote4 0

The Pragmatic Case for Radical Libertarianism Aug 14, 2015

Matthew La Corte recently wrote an article titled “The Radical Case for Pragmatic Libertarianism”, which argued that in order for the radical ideas of individual liberty to ever become a reality, we need to be more pragmatic. For him, that means holding our noses and directly appealing to policy-makers. Along with that comes promoting policies that might not be perfectly libertarian, but are at least marginally more libertarian. For what it’s worth, I agree that libertarians should be more pragmatic, and as he writes, “Young libertarians should avoid rigid devotion to Utopian outcomes at the expense of incremental policy improvements.” Steps...

By Students For Liberty Vote6 0

The sharing economy creates growth, so let it! Jul 23, 2015

The following was written by Students For Liberty Blog Team member, Elias Garcia It has been seven years since the Great Recession ended, but the economy today still struggles to show that it has recovered.  While politicians continue to look around for solutions to the dismal state of the world economy, they have conveniently ignored the largest engine for economic growth, entrepreneurship. Companies like Uber were unheard of prior to the Great Recession, but they have made a substantial economic splash since appearing.  As a result of using technology to connect sellers to buyers, the sharing economy has created companies such as Uber...

By Students For Liberty Vote5 0

The Forgotten Meaning of “Sound Money” (and Why It’s Coming Back) Jul 20, 2015

The following was written by Sound Money Defense League and MoneyMetals.com columnist Guy Christopher, a veteran writer living on the Gulf Coast. A retired investigative journalist, published author, and former stockbroker, Christopher has taught college as an adjunct professor and is a veteran of the 101st Airborne in Vietnam. We Americans no longer carry gold and silver money in our pockets and purses as our grandparents did during their lives. But we still carry the history, legacy and spirit of those gold and silver coins in our language – with more meaning than you might imagine. “Sound money” has a clear...

By Students For Liberty Vote4 1

The financial crisis in Greece shows why we need Bitcoin Jul 17, 2015

The following was written by Students For Liberty Blog Team member, Elias Garcia How would you react if you went to the ATM to withdraw money, only to find out that you reached the government mandated $50 limit for the day? Making matters worse, the government closed your bank and has made it illegal for you to move your life savings until future notice. Imagine, if you will, that your government is severely in debt and you could possibly lose your life savings if it fails to change its spending habits. Your money is frozen, your government is crazy, and...

By Students For Liberty Vote2 1

The Radical Case for Pragmatic Libertarianism Jul 15, 2015

The following was written by Matthew La Corte, the former chairman of SFL’s North American Executive Board and an Alumni For Liberty member. He currently works as a Research Associate at the Niskanen Center, a D.C.-based libertarian think-tank. The United States will not establish an open-borders immigration policy in the foreseeable future. But Congress may expand the number of high-skilled immigrant visas allocated per year. Drugs are not going to be legalized in the United States anytime soon. But Naloxone programs to reduce deaths from overdose have been expanded by many state legislatures. The USA PATRIOT Act appears to be...

By Students For Liberty Vote2 0

You Can Buy Movie Tickets With Bitcoin, And You Have “Dope” to Thank Jul 13, 2015

The following was written by Students For Liberty Blog Team member, Anne Butcher If you've spent enough time in libertarian social circles, you've probably heard someone mention how we need more libertarians in show business. The progressives run Hollywood and it's absolutely ruining us! Well, it's unclear whether or not Rick Fumuyiwa and the good people over at Open Road Films identify as libertarian, but they're certainly pushing the industry in a slightly more libertarian direction. Fumuyiwa's movie Dope, a breakout hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, became the first movie to sell tickets for Bitcoin last month. Now, Movietickets.com offers Bitcoin as...

By Students For Liberty Vote6 0

What Makes Social Change Special? May 21, 2015

Libertarians are a persistent community. Ever since we started developing theories about free markets, non-aggression, and human flourishing, we have necessarily been interested in how we get from here to there. While our end goals are vital to flesh out and understand, what’s the point if they’re never realized? What’s all this for if we never get free? It seems then, that libertarians need theories of social change. We need ideas about how to achieve a free society. Many libertarians have historically turned to political institutions as a force for change. Libertarians spend lots of time working on political rallying, campaigning, voting, and public policy analysis...

By Cory MⒶssimino Vote6 2

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