Don't Hurt People and Don't Take Their Stuff: A Libertarian Manifesto

by Matt Kibbe

  Speaking of music, a lot of Rush was played during the writing of the book, as you may have ascertained by the end of Chapter Two. If you don’t already have it, you should get a vinyl copy of A Farewell to Kings. Liner notes are everything. The band members will no doubt be horrified to learn of their unwilling role in this process, and I can only assume that Rolling Stone will demand a(nother) clarification from the band. There was also plenty of John Coltrane, Tom Waits, My Morning Jacket, Sigur Ros, and Father John Misty. And, of course, the Grateful Dead.

  Finally, a random hat tip to Three Floyds Brewing’s Permanent Funeral. It’s a fine beer that fortified this author at key junctures in the creative writing process.

  NOTES

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was made. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature on your ebook reader.

  Chapter 1: Rules for Liberty

  1. Sir John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, Lecture, February 26, 1877.

  2. Murray Rothbard, “War, Peace, and the State,” The Standard (April 1963), 2–5.

  3. Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (New York: Penguin Classics, 2010).

  4. Ibid.

  5. Max Weber, Economy and Society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978).

  6. Wendy Milling, “President Obama Jabs at Ayn Rand, Knocks Himself Out,” Forbes, October 30, 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/10/30/president-obama-jabs-at-ayn-rand-knocks-himself-out/ (accessed October 23, 2013).

  7. Thomas Patrick Burke, “The Origins of Social Justice: Taparelli d’Azeglio,” First Principles Journal, January 1, 2008, http://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=1760 (accessed August 21, 2013).

  8. John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971).

  9. F. A. Hayek, The Fatal Conceit: Errors of Socialism (London: Routledge, 1988), 114.

  10. Jim Geraghty, “The Things We Choose to Do Together,” National Review, August 27, 2008, http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/8984/things-we-choose-do-together (accessed September 17, 2013).

  11. Stephen Cruz, “Ashton Kutcher Reveals to Millennials an Enduring Secret to Certain Success,” Forbes, August 23, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/08/23/ashton-kutcher-reveals-to-milennials-an-enduring-secret-to-certain-success/ (accessed October 23, 2013).

  12. Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1949), 859.

  13. Jonathan Haidt, “What the Tea Partiers Really Want,” Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2010, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703673604575550243700895762 (accessed December 15, 2013).

  14. Benjamin A. Rogge, Can Capitalism Survive? (Indianapolis: Liberty Fun, Inc., 1979).

  15. Sir John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, Letter to Mendell Creighton, April 5, 1887.

  16. F. A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960).

  17. Ibid.

  Chapter 2: You Can’t Have Freedom for Free

  1. Ron Wynn, Michael Erlewine, and Vladimir Bogdanov, The All Music Guide to Jazz (San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books, 1994), 197.

  2. Rush: Classic Albums: 2112 & Moving Pictures (Eagle Rock Entertainment, 2010).

  3. Chris Matthew Sciabarra and Larry J. Sechrest, “Ayn Rand Among the Austrians,” Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 6, no. 2 (Spring 2005): 241–50.

  4. Pete is now one of the most distinguished professors in a booming community of Austrian-minded economists teaching in academia, and is the deputy director of the James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy, a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center, and a professor in the economics department at George Mason University.

  5. H. L. Mencken Quotes, Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/7805.H_L_Mencken?page=3 (accessed August 29, 2013).

  6. Barry Miles, “Is Everybody Feelin’ All RIGHT? (Geddit?),” New Musical Express, March 4, 1978, http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/images/books/mojo-06.2012/mojo-06.2012-11.pdf (accessed September 26, 2013).

  7. Scott R. Benarde, “How the Holocaust Rocked Rush Front Man Geddy Lee,” JWeekly, June 25, 2004, http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/23003/how-the-holocaust-rocked-rush-front-man-geddy-lee/(accessed August 29, 2013).

  8. Stephen Cox, “Ayn Rand’s Anthem: An Appreciation,” Atlas Society, http://www.atlassociety.org/ayn-rands-anthem-appreciation (accessed August 29, 2013).

  9. “Books That Made a Difference in Readers’ Lives,” English Companion, response to Survey of Lifetime Reading Habits taken in 1991, http://www.englishcompanion.com/Readings/booklists/loclist.html (accessed August 29, 2013).

  10. Joshua Green, “An Apology to Rand Paul,” The Atlantic, June 11, 2010, http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2010/06/an-apology-to-rand-paul/57999/ (accessed August 29, 2013).

  11. Andy Greene, “Q&A: Neil Peart on Rush’s New LP and Being a ‘Bleeding Heart Libertarian,’ ” Rolling Stone, June 12, 2012, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-neil-peart-on-rushs-new-lp-and-being-a-bleeding-heart-libertarian-20120612#ixzz2dIlNJFqD (accessed August 29, 2013).

  Chapter 3: Them Versus Us

  1. Martin Luther King, “I Have A Dream,” speech delivered August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm (accessed September 3, 2013).

  2. William Sullivan, “Communist Party, USA Negro Question,” U.S. Government Memorandum, August 30, 1963, http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/king/images/fbifiles/other/full/10.jpg (accessed September 18, 2013).

  3. Tony Capaccio, “King Address That Stirred World Led to FBI Surveillance,” BloombergBusinessweek, August 27, 2013, http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-08-27/king-address-that-stirred-world-led-to-fbi-surveillance-program (accessed September 3, 2013).

  4. David J. Garrow, “The FBI and Martin Luther King,” The Atlantic, July 1, 2002, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/07/the-fbi-and-martin-luther-king/302537/ (accessed September 3, 2013).

  5. Peter Hamby, “Axelrod Suggests Tea Party Movement Is ‘Unhealthy,’ ” CNN, April 19, 2009, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/19/axelrod-suggests-tea-party-movement-is-unhealthy/ (accessed September 16, 2013).

  6. Abby D. Phillip, “IRS Planted Question About Tax Exempt Groups,” ABC News, May 17, 2013, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/irs-planted-question-about-tax-exempt-groups/ (accessed September 3, 2013).

  7. Victor Fleischer, “A Dickensian Delay at the IRS,” New York Times, May 16, 2013, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/a-dickensian-delay-at-the-i-r-s/ (accessed September 19, 2013).

  8. David Weigel, “IRS Asked a Pro-Life Group to Explain Its Prayers Outside Planned Parenthood, Which Is Now a Scandal,” Slate, May 17, 2013, http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/05/17/the_irs_asked_a_pro_life_group_to_explain_its_prayers_outside_planned_parenthood.html (accessed September 26, 2013).

  9. Tamara Keith, “Report: IRS Scrutiny Worse for Conservatives,” NPR, July 30, 2013, http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2013/07/30/207080580/report-irs-scrutiny-worse-for-conservatives (accessed August 26, 2013).

  10. “IRS Scrutiny of Non-profit Organizations,” C-SPAN video, June 4, 2013, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/RSScr (accessed August 29, 2013).

  11. Ibid.

  12. Caroline May, “Tea Party Groups Speak Out Against the IRS: ‘Folks, This Is Bad,’ ” Daily Caller, May 16, 2013, http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/16/tea-party-groups-speak-out-against-the-irs-folks-this-is-bad/ (accessed August 29, 2013).

  13. Michael McDonald, “The IRS Takes a Closer Look at Colleges,” BloombergBusinessweek, November 17, 2011, http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-irs-takes-a-closer-look-at-colleges-11172011.html (accessed September 16, 2013).

  14. Stan Veuger, “Yes, IRS Harassment Blunted the Tea Party Ground Game,” American Enterprise Institute, June 20, 2013, http://www.aei.org/article/economics/yes-irs-harassment-blunted-the
-tea-party-ground-game/ (accessed September 18, 2013).

  15. Douglas M. Charles, “How Did the IRS Get Investigatory Authority Anyway?,” History News Network, August 21, 2013, http://hnn.us/article/151970#sthash.9RXzbkmd.dpuf (accessed September 16, 2013).

  16. Michael Scherer, “New IRS Scandal Echoes a Long History of Political Harassment,” Time, Swampland, May 14, 2013, http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/14/anger-over-irs-audits-of-conservatives-anchored-in-long-history-of-abuse/#ixzz2eR8AInHE (accessed September 16, 2013).

  17. Alan Farnham, “IRS Has Long History of Political Dirty Tricks,” ABC News, May 15, 2013, http://abcnews.go.com/Business/irs-irs-long-history-dirty-tricks/story?id=19177178 (accessed September 3, 2013).

  18. Victor Reuther and Walter Reuther, “The Reuther Memorandum: The Radical Right in America Today,” Memorandum to the Attorney General of the United States, December 19, 1961, http://www.scribd.com/doc/31124491/The-Reuther-Memorandum-Precusor-to-the-Ideological-Organizations-Audit-Project-Created-by-President-John-F-Kennedy-and-Attorney-General-Robert-Kenn (accessed September 18, 2013).

  19. David Dykes, “Former IRS Chief Recalls Defying Nixon,” USA Today, May 26, 2013, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/26/irs-chief-defied-nixon/2360951/ (accessed September 3, 2013).

  20. House Judiciary Committee, “Articles for Impeachment,” Watergate.info, July 27, 1974, http://watergate.info/impeachment/articles-of-impeachment (accessed September 16, 2013).

  21. Scherer, “New IRS Scandal Echoes a Long History of Political Harassment.”

  22. “Lois Lerner to 1996 US Senate Candidate Al Salvi: ‘We’ll Get You!’ ” Illinois Review, June 3, 2013, http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2013/06/lerner-asked-salvi-for-200000-plus-never-run-again-promise.html (accessed September 16, 2013).

  23. Josh Hicks, “Republicans Say IRS E-mails from Lois Lerner Show ‘Abuse of Power,’ ” Washington Post, September 13, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/09/13/republicans-say-irs-e-mails-from-lois-lerner-show-abuse-of-power (accessed September 16, 2013).

  24. Ibid.

  25. Timothy P. Carney, “The IRS Is Deeply Political and Very Democratic,” Washington Examiner, May 15, 2013, http://washingtonexaminer.com/tim-carney-the-irs-is-deeply-political-and-very-democratic/article/2529758 (accessed September 16, 2013).

  26. “IRS Chief Says He’d Rather Not Switch to ObamaCare Plan,” Fox News, August 1, 2013, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/01/irs-chief-says-hed-rather-not-switch-over-to-obamacare-plan (accessed September 3, 2013).

  27. National Treasury Employees Union action alert, http://capwiz.com/nteu/issues/alert/?alertid=62634726&type=CO&utm_source=Illinois+Policy+Institute&utm_campaign=7790111647-0613_ecompass&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0f5a22f52c-7790111647-10830129 (accessed September 19, 2013).

  28. Wenton Hall, “IRS Org Chart Puts Ingram, Lerner at Center of Power,” Breitbart.com, May 23, 2013, http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/23/EXCLUSIVE-IRS-Org-Chart-Puts-Ingram-and-Lerner-At-Center-of-Power (accessed September 16, 2013).

  29. “Members Only: How the White House Is Weaseling Congress Out of ObamaCare,” Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324522504578654193173779414.html (accessed August 27, 2013).

  30. Historical Federal Workforce Tables, U.S. Office of Personnel Management: Data, Analysis & Documentation, http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/historical-tables/total-government-employment-since-1962 (accessed August 26, 2013).

  31. Ruth Alexander, “Which Is the World’s Biggest Employer?,” BBC News, March 19, 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17429786 (accessed August 26, 2013).

  32. “IRS Scrutiny of Non-profit Organizations,” C-SPAN, June 4, 2013.

  Chapter 4: Gray-Suited Soviets

  1. Jehiel Keeler Hoyt, The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1896), 763.

  2. “Obama on NSA Surveillance: Can’t Have 100% Security and 100% Privacy,” RT.com, June 7, 2013, http://rt.com/usa/obama-surveillance-nsa-monitoring-385 (accessed September 9, 2013).

  3. Tal Kopan, “Lindsey Graham ‘Glad’ NSA Tracking Phones,” Politico, June 6, 2013, http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/lindsey-graham-nsa-tracking-phones-92330.html (accessed September 9, 2013).

  4. Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1949), 283.

  5. Sarah Kliff, “White House Delays Employer Mandate Requirement until 2015,” Washington Post, July 2, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/02/white-house-delays-employer-mandate-requirement-until-2015 (accessed September 26, 2013).

  6. Megan R. Wilson, “ObamaCare’s Architects Reap Windfall as Washington Lobbyists,” The Hill, August 25, 2013, http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/318577-architects-of-obamacare-reap-windfall-as-washington-lobbyists (accessed September 23, 2013).

  7. Elijah E. Cummings and Sander M. Levin, “Reform the IRS, but Leave Politics out of It,” Washington Post, August 12, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/reform-the-irs-but-leave-politics-out-of-it/2013/08/12/64c5d36c-0362-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html (accessed September 23, 2013).

  8. Political Calculations, “How Many Pages Long Is the U.S. Income Tax Code in 2013?,” Town Hall, Finance, February 17, 2013, http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/politicalcalculations/2013/02/17/how-many-pages-long-is-the-us-income-tax-code-in-2013-n1514277 (accessed August 23, 2013).

  9. Kelly Phillips Erb, “Tax Code Hits Nearly 4 Million Words, Taxpayer Advocate Calls It Too Complicated,” Forbes, January 10, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2013/01/10/tax-code-hits-nearly-4-million-words-taxpayer-advocate-calls-it-too-complicated/ (accessed August 23, 2013).

  10. Guinness World Records, http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-1/longest-novel/ (accessed August 23, 2013).

  11. Patricia Murphy, “IRS Commissioner Does Not Do His Own Taxes,” Politics Daily, January 8, 2010, http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/01/12/irs-commissioner-admits-he-does-not-do-his-own-taxes (accessed August 23, 2013).

  12. Janet Novack, “Tax Waste: 6.1 Billion Hours Spent Complying with Federal Tax Code,” Forbes, January 5, 2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnovack/2011/01/05/tax-waste-6-1-billion-hours-spent-complying-with-federal-tax-code (accessed September 9, 2013).

  13. Jason J. Fichtner and Jacob Feldman, “The Hidden Costs of Tax Compliance,” Mercatus Center, May 20, 2013, http://mercatus.org/publication/hidden-costs-tax-compliance (accessed September 9, 2013).

  14. Leslie Bonacum and Eric Scott, “When It Comes To Tax Law, It’s Complicated,” CCH, January 2012, http://www.cch.com/wbot2012/020TaxCode.asp (accessed September 9, 2013).

  15. Alexandra Wexler, “Sugar Free Trade Sours for Taxpayers,” Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2013, http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/11/19/sugar-free-trade-sours-for-taxpayers (accessed December 15, 2013).

  16. Wendy McElroy, “Decriminalize the Average Man,” Ludwig von Mises Institute, October 12, 2010, http://mises.org/daily/5759 (accessed August 23, 2013).

  17. Avik Roy, “How Employer-Sponsored Insurance Drives Up Health Costs,” Forbes, May 12, 2012, http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/05/12/how-employer-sponsored-insurance-drives-up-health-costs (accessed September 9, 2013).

  18. Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, “Annual Limits Policy: Protecting Consumers, Maintaining Options, and Building a Bridge to 2014,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, January 6, 2012, http://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Resources/Files/approved_applications_for_waiver.html (accessed September 18, 2013).

  19. Becket Adams, “How Many Are Exempt? The Final Number of ‘ObamaCare’ Waivers Is In,” The Blaze, January 6, 2012, http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/01/06/how-many-businesses-are-exempt-the-final-number-of-obamacare-waivers-is-in (accessed September 3, 2013).

  20. Alex Nussbaum, “ObamaCare Unleashes Benefit Changes from Companies,” Bloomberg, September 19, 2013, http://www.
bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-19/obamacare-unleashes-benefit-changes-from-companies.html (accessed September 23, 2013).

  21. Avik Roy, “The Obamacare Exchange Scorecard: Around 100,000 Enrollees and Five Million Cancellations,” Forbes, November 12, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/11/12/the-obamacare-exchange-scorecard-around-100000-enrollees-and-five-million-cancell ations (accessed December 5, 2013).

  22. Mike Emmanuel, “Second Wave of Health Plan Cancellations Looms,” Fox News, November 20, 2013, http://aei.org/article/health/second-wave-of-health-plan-cancellations-looms (accessed December 5, 2013).

  23. “Members Only: How the White House Is Weaseling Congress Out of ObamaCare,” Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324522504578654193173779414.html (accessed August 27, 2013).

  24. Glenn Kessler, “Did Obama Exempt 1,200 Groups, Including Congress, from Obamacare?” The Washington Post, October 16, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/10/16/did-obama-exempt-1200-groups-including-congress-from-obamacare (accessed December 12, 2013).

  25. Jennifer G. Hickey, “Democrats Act to Stop Vitter Amendment, Keep ObamaCare Exemptions for Congress,” NewsMax, September 17, 2013, http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/vitter-obamacare-congress-exemptions/2013/09/17/id/526269 (accessed September 23, 2013).

  26. Avik Roy, “Yet Another White House ObamaCare Delay: Out-Of-Pocket Caps Waived Until 2015,” Forbes, August 13, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/08/13/yet-another-white-house-obamacare-delay-out-of-pocket-caps-waived-until-2015 (accessed September 9, 2013).

  27. Internal Revenue Service Oversight Hearing, C-SPAN, April 9, 2013, http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/OversightHearing (accessed September 19, 2013).

  28. Robert E. Barnes on behalf of John Doe Company et al., Class Action Complaint, Superior Court of the State of California for San Diego, March 11, 2013, http://global.nationalreview.com/pdf/complaint_051513.pdf (accessed August 19, 2013).