On October 28, 1886, in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland, despite the fact that the monument was not a federally funded project.
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Statue of Liberty
Author: Redactor
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Barbara Jordan
Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.
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The Myth of Swedish “Good” Socialism
John Stossel handles a perennial topic, with his usual incisiveness:
Johann Norberg’s documentary on the subject:
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Times for Choosing
On October 27, 1964, Ronald Reagan delivered a speech on behalf of Republican candidate for the United States Presidency, Barry Goldwater, thereby launching Reagan’s political career. The speech came to be known as “A Time for Choosing.”
Two years earlier, Vasili Arkhipov, a flotilla commander present on the Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine B-59 in the Caribbean sea, defied the sub’s captain, Valentin Savitsky, to launch a nuclear device. The captain had come to the conclusion that war had started while the submarine had been submerged. He had inferred this from the depth charges that American ships had deployed in order to force the submarine to the surface during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Captain Savitsky, seeking the necessary approval of two others on board, political officer Ivan Masslenikov and the flotilla commander Vasili Arkhipov, to launch a nuclear torpedo.
Masslenikov agreed. Arkhipov refused.
The date was October 27, 1962, and World War III was prevented by this one man, Arkhipov, who held his ground while facing the increasing anger of the submarine commander, refusing to approve a nuclear torpedo launch that would most almost certainly have triggered a conflict that would have doomed civilization, perhaps most or all of humanity.
That, we can now agree, was a “time for choosing” when the correct choice was made.
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Reagan and Goldwater
On October 27, 1964, Ronald Reagan delivered a speech on behalf of Republican candidate for president, Barry Goldwater, thereby launching Reagan’s political career. The speech came to be known as “A Time for Choosing.”
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Andrea Millen Rich
It has been hard to find the words to express my sense of loss upon the passing of Andrea Millen Rich, one of the sweetest, most glamorous, and toughest champions of liberty I have ever had the privilege to know. Fortunately, the Cato Institute has produced a beautiful short video in which many of her good friends pay tribute to her achievements, explaining why they benefited so much from their relationships with her.
For many years Andrea was the proprietor of Laissez Faire Books. She also played an important role in the early years of the Libertarian Party, among other things helping to develop the excellent Clark for President television ads in 1980.
Many in the video tribute speak glowingly of Andrea’s wisdom, candor (or “crankiness”), generosity, and ability to bring people together.
Tom Palmer observes that the lives of people all over the world “have been shaped in a positive way by Andrea. I think she was, globally, one of most important libertarian leaders of the last hundred years.”
Jim Powell, David Boaz, Ed Crane, Chris Edwards and Ian Vásquez discuss the role of Laissez Faire Books — with tough negotiator Andrea at the helm — in getting great libertarian books into the hands of people who would have had ready access to them in no other way. The situation has changed, now, in this age of the Internet and Amazon. But in the 1980s and 1990s, Laissez Faire Books — and the enthusiastic and illuminating way its wares were promoted by editors like Roy Childs and Jim Powell — was a lifeline for many friends of liberty.
Sandy Gelfond, Chris Hocker, Anita Anderson and others remember what a loving team Howie and Andrea Rich always were. They had met while working in the Libertarian Party in the early 70s and soon married. “Howie and Andrea always seemed like a perfect, perfect pair,” says Peter Goettler, “and seemed to have such a close and happy partnership. It’s inspiring to the rest of us.”
I can testify to that, having had the honor of working with Howie Rich for most of my adult life — as can my sister, Kathleen Jacob Wikstrom, who wore more than one hat at Laissez Faire Books and worked closely with Andrea for many years. And I will certainly never forget Andrea’s help when I faced prison for refusing to register for the draft, in my early twenties. She was there in my corner — bringing me to New York to speak.
During my lifetime, I have been lucky to know many inspiring people fighting for our freedom. Andrea Millen Rich will long inspire.
This is Common Sense. Thank you, Andrea.
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Continental Congress
On October 26, 1774, the first Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Exactly one year later, King George III of Great Britain went before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion. And one year later yet, to the day, in 1776, septuagenerian Benjamin Franklin (pictured, above) departed from America for France, seeking financial support for the American Revolution.
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Barbara Jordan
But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.
“In these times, we have to unify,” President Donald Trump said in response to reports of bombs sent to high-level Democratic public officials, “we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”
He also assured that “a major federal investigation is now underway.”
It sure looks like a concerted operation, considering the number of targets: political funder George Soros, former CIA director John Brennan, former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Maxine Waters, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, et al.
Given the political affiliations of the recipients, many people assume it was a partisan terrorist from the Republican side of the proverbial “aisle.”
But note the obvious: not one putative bomb went off. Or even got close to the ostensible targets.
Massive incompetence?
One device seems to have “ISIS” scrawled on it, but experts tell us that device is well below ISIS standards. It turns out that the marking is an ISIS parody symbol. The perp is not likely a jihadist “lone wolf” wannabe.
Bombs going off is serious terrorism, deadly evil. But bombs not going off is serious . . . propaganda by the dud.
What if the point is not to explode and hurt people, but to “explode” in human minds?
Could this be an “October surprise,” the false flag of some demented person or “cell” on “the left” to impugn “the right”?
As Matt Walsh hazarded at The Daily Wire, “It does not take a conspiracy theorist to wonder about the timing and methods in this case.”
We do not know much yet. Questions will hopefully soon be answered.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Illustration: pixabay
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Max Stirner
On October 25, 1806, the German philosopher Max Stirner was born. Stirner was known for his radical individualism, which under the name of “egoism” became culturally chic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to Der Einzige und sein Eigentum, a major work that was famously attacked by Karl Marx, he translated Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and J.-B. Say’s A Treatise on Political Economy into German.