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-Deist: We've got a medical doctor, a PhD doctor, and a son of a doctor.
Lew, we know you know as much as doctors. I think somebody out there
can start us up. Maybe this gentleman.
-Audience Member: I'm Bill Anderson,
I teach economics at Frostburg State University in Maryland.
-Deist: Bill's one of our affiliated scholars with Mises.
-Audience Member: Something that to go along with this, it's more of a comment but I'd like to see
how you you respond, and that is that
not only are we seeing this growth of the
police state and imprisonment but the law itself has undergone
a bit of a revolution. And that is that in the past, especially criminal law, we
had, what we called, Malum in se
directing our law. That was that an act was
bad, it was understood universally
be bad. Societies throughout history have had laws against
*** and
*** and of theft, but now we have this a growth
of malum prohibitum and that is that the government
just sets a bunch rules. They have arbitrary numbers and targets
and the like, and if you violate that
then you go to prison. We can talk about our
metastasizing prison system
but would not have been possible without
this legal revolution because well over half
people all in prison today
in American prisons are there for what we would call violations
of malum prohibitum. In other words, they broke a rule
as opposed to, what we would call, committed a crime historically. Now, it's
my thinking, but I would like to know how
how the panel would not look at that particular comment.
-Deist: So, the general question if anybody didn't hear it, was basically the
distinction in law between acts that have always been known to be harmful to
others and ethically morally they've always been but down on,
as opposed to acts that are victimless in a sense but they're just
prohibited by the state. As Dr. Anderson pointed out, in a a huge
number of
our jailed criminals are in jail simply because they violated
a the state rule as opposed to violating a long-standing ethical rule. So,
I know Tom has a lot to think about or a lot say about our legal system and the
criminal justice system in particular.
Woods: Well, as the government grows larger and its ambitions grow greater
the list of things that you might do that would
consider wrong or punishable by jail time
would grow along with and so it's not just the drug war, which would be a case
of a victemless crime, but also
the huge regulatory thicket becomes impossible to know,
what I can do with my business, what I can't do. Anti-trust law is impossible to
figure out.
You know the old- I don't want to tell the joke but I mean
you could make a case under antitrust law that lower your prices is wrong,
raising your prices is wrong, and keeping your prices the same is wrong.
So that's sort of an administrative crime.
Then we have people who, just for no good reason, just seem to enjoy
lording over people. I'm just talk to Ben Swann the other day
about what's going on in Chicago
where Rahm Emanuel is upset about electronic cigarettes.
Where basically you're your exhaling vapor. Now,
here we are in this world with every- you know Dr. Paul talks about all the things that
are wrong in the world and
he's worried about electronic cigarettes
electronic cigarettes even though
the point of them is to help wean you off real cigarettes.
It's not to get you to start smoking e-cigarettes
and he wants to ban them or you gotta go out on the street if you wanna smoke 'em.
So here you have people who are trying
to quit smoking and he's forcing them out there with the smokers.
There's no second-hand affect
of an e-cigarette. There's no conceivable health benefits it's just
they like doing this to us and these people
are going to lecture us about the vices in our lives
and yet the very first opportunity we ever have to peel back
and look at the reality of their lives we find out case after case after case
they are involved in
every conceivable vice under the sun,
present company excepted.
-Deist: Okay, I know we got somebody else
-Paul: Just one, short comment.
I think the problem is is that these individuals who like legislation,
they want to legislate against vices and bad habits.
They shouldn't ever do that. That's not their business
but the other thing is the original intent
was not to have a federal police force. So,
if there's going to be any of these laws they should be legal.
So, I'm for radically
reducing the size and scope and authority of the federal government and
we might have a much better chance
and handling this. As Tom points out, the local people
can be just as bad sometimes. But, you can't have laws against vices
and bad habits. That's just totalitarianism.
-Rockwell: I'll quickly mention that Senator *** Durbin
wrote a letter to the
the committee that puts on the Golden Globes,
and also warning the Oscars, that they've actually showed people smoking
e-cigarettes on the air
and this had to be banned. So, they're already
threatening them too. I just want to quickly mention
a great book by Harvey Silverglate, who's a defense attorney
in Boston, called "Three Felonies a Day".
And he argues, just by living you're committing three felonies a day
and it's a good book.
-Deist: Well, attendance today is the fourth.
So who do we got? Yes, this gentleman in the necktie.
-Audience Member: I'm a little bit confused about
the role of NSA and government and
that in the grand scheme of fascism
senator Bernie Sanders made an inquiry, and backed the word
that congress is being spied upon. Whistleblower
of nine years ago, Russ Tice said he witnessed NSA satellites
of intelligence analysts that US senators, representatives, members of
the administration,
Obama, then unknown, Supreme Court judge Alito and many more
were attacked.
So, this is not even close to the Patriot Act.
A suggestion is that maybe the NSA black mails
on what they know about members of government and of the
administration and Congress.
So, I know the Russians have
it easy, they have
the KGB head and he is going to be president.
So, in your analysis,
is the POTUS still Obama or is there a co presidents such as
Clapper and where does this fit into the grand scheme of fascism?
-Woods: I want doctor Paul answer this one
but I've often wondered if the reason that congress
just lamely gives up its prerogatives
isn't necessarily just because they're a bunch a lazy
bums, but because maybe there's some pressure being put on them
behind-the-scenes. I hate to even
guess it's something like that, given the wonderful people who are in charge of just
looking out for our good.
But I wonder what Dr. Paul thinks. I his *** cheney
-Paul: I think it's *** Cheney. He's into his fourth- no he's into his fifth term.
I don't think any the president's really are
in charge, I think others are. The people who
provided the ability to get through the process, and get through the
the media hurdles, and get the money and then they have a lot to say what's going
on.
And I think they also have a say on who becomes the Federal Reserve Board
Chairman
which is probably just as significant as who is the president.
-Deist: This young lady here.
-Audience Member: I have a comment more than a question. I grew up in a really small town and
my father's actual police officer and i've seen firsthand the militarization
of the local police departments in small towns
and because the water the fear-mongering with the media they are most welcome it.
So, what is the solution other than, the media's very biased but
a lot of Americans are aware of the NSA problems and
the police state that's emerging but for a lot of people, like I said, they welcome
it. So what is the solution
and what but practically can we do to get people to wake up?
-Woods: Well, there are some
areas where I think we're doing pretty badly and other areas where I think
things are turning around.
One of them is that the younger people, well they might be confused on
economics, well, that's what the Muses institute is here for,
but they're much better on war and they're much more skeptical of the police.
They don't buy into the
superstitions of their parents and I used to, by the way, I used to think that
anybody
that had any problem with the police was a *** *** who should pack his bags and
get on outta the great old USA.
And now, I see that I shouldn't have thought that way but the younger people don't
have some of the
superstitions we have. And they're all- I mean, Lew mentioned Cop Block.
That's funny, I was just on their Facebook page a couple of weeks ago they had about
73,000 likes.
Then I checked the other day, they're at 94,000 thousand. I mean like,
with that kinda growth everybody be a member of Cop Block by the end of this
seminar.
So like, there are young people plus the ability to
communicate forbidden ideas and videos and clips and what's really going
on.
So, I don't know how this is all gonna work out but that is an explosive and
very, very, welcome combination.
-Deist: Okay, where's our mic? Oh it's this young man.
-Audience Member: Hello, my name is Austin Chamberlain I go to Allatoona high school in Georgia
and I know, being the young that I am, even I at times
can be discouraged at times
that things aren't going the way you want them to. I was wondering
how
the three of y'all have been able to maintain your enthusiasm or been able to work
through the adversities
they have been given to you by the media blackouts,
the naysayers, and people that call you neo-confederates
and the just how you been able to work through those and maintain
your sanity, pretty much. Thank you.
-Deist: Well, there's nothing to be dour about, we still have a level of material prosperity that we enjoy
every day that
no generations before us ever enjoyed. We still have a degree of freedom of
speech.
We have the digital age to allow us to communicate but
I mean lots- we always, I think, have this
fantasy that we live in the most dangerous and dramatic times
of all
and we're pikers compared to lot of folks in a lot different stages of history. So, I
still wake up with a smile on my face. I have two young children
so that's my motivator.
-Woods: Yeah, I've got a fifty child coming because our philosophy is we're just
gonna win the battle of ideas through sheer numbers.
But, seriously I mean we should-
in a way we haven't got any- any time you're feeling down,
I want to throw some cold water on your face, smack yourself around,
and try and think about what it would have been like to be Murray Rothbard in
1967.
The National Review crowd won't have anything to do with you, even though
you're the,
you know, next to Mises the greatest living economist.
The left, well you can reach out a little bit to them, but increasingly less and
less as the sixties go on.
You are a free market economist whose anti-war,
you could fit all of you in a phone booth, remember those?
Mises dies in 1973, Hayek gets the Nobel Prize the next year,
Mises doesn't live to see it and yet he just carries on, carries on, carries on...
He doesn't get the feedback. He can't send out a tweet and get a hundred re-
tweets
instantly and be validated. And yet,
here we've had these tremendous advantages, we have the Mises Institute,
great reach,
Dr. Paul with over a million likes on Facebook. We've got this ability to reach
people
that Rothbard and Mises could only have dreamed of and yet they thoroughly
enjoyed their lives.
They didn't say woe is me and oh, things are going so well.
Compared to them, we've got it made in the shade so
smack yourself around if you get discouraged.
-Paul: You know I get a similar question asked frequently, how did you survive all those
years up there?
Wasn't it really frustrating for you? I say, no,I was never frustrated.
Never once. I tell them I just had low expectations!
But, there's some truth to that is your expectations make a difference.
You know, I thought that me being in congress,
I first went to congress in 76, that I was going to,
all the sudden, change that system. I think I understood it s little bit better
than that
so I wasn't expecting do that. Quite frankly, I think
more came of it then I ever dreamed because even after having been there for
a long time
they're still- I think Jeff might have mentioned it, that I would talk to
smaller crowds.
For a long time I would go to college campuses and get fifteen or twenty people
out-
and something changed in 07
all of a sudden, but things came together.
But, in Washington, no I wasn't frustrated
and I tried to make the best of it and I really, really, wellcomed
a type of a victory.
I remembered Leonard Read's advice that your approach has to be
to spread the message. It has to be a much more
calm demeanor. You don't grab a guy from the shirt and say, "this is the way it is and
you're
gonna listen to me." He says become knowledgeable and somebody might ask
you a question
and when they do it's important. And I can remember, and many have you in this
room will know the name,
Walter Jones from North Carolina.
Walter Jones, right now is probably the strongest anti-war
I proponent in Washington. He's not a libertarian, he admits that,
but he changed his mind on that. But I remember him coming,
sitting down next to me and he was having second thoughts about
his voting for the war and he wanted me to explain
how you can be a conservative and be opposed to the war. And all of a sudden, lightbulbs went
on.
So, for all the things that should have made me frustrated,
a Walter Jones and a couple others
gave me a lot of encouragement. -Woods: He came from a highly
Military District. He had no interest, whatsoever, in changing his mind.
-Rockwell: All to say from me are the two things that count are first of all, we have the truth on
our side.
And think in a secular sense and religious sense,
we know the truth will triumph. Also, it's fun to give the bad guys a hotfoot.
I mean, it's fun to fight them. So, for me those are the two things.
-Deist: Now, Lew do you want to explain to our younger folks what a
hot foot is?
I think that's another term like peace officer that we've-
Next question, who's up?
-Audience Member: Hello, my name is Chris Russell. I'd just like to get the
panelists opinion on
the Free State Project, which, for those of you who aren't familiar, is an effort to move
20,000 liberty loving people to New Hampshire to
exercise liberty in our lifetimes. I'm not a participant yet, but I just like to
get your opinion on the Free State Project and also
would you ever considered, geographically, in the Mises Institute participating by
moving to New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project?
-Rockwell: Well, my mother was from New Hampshire. I've spent a lot of time in New
Hampshire as a kid. I love new hampshire
and I think the Free State Project is a very neat idea,
of course it's being targeted, as Tom pointed out, by the police and
newspapers, but I think it's terrific.
For the Mises Institute we have a wonderful- in fact, I invite everybody
to come and visit us.
We have a wonderful campus in Auburn so thats
not movable. For good or ill,
we couldn't move it.
-Paul: On the Free State movement I think it's fine
and I hope it works. I probably wouldn't
move to New Hampshire, that just wouldn't be
in the cards, but the only way I see that it could be a shortcoming is I
all of us.
I can't believe 'woodsian' is being used as a majorative here.
Hi, I'm Ken Hoover from Cypress Texas. I've got a question for
Dr. Woods. Could you share briefly with this audience,
concerning the recent controversy Mark Levin.
I really don't want to but only because you asked.
There's this radio host and I don't really want to dwell on him, but he
wasn't really nice to our
esteemed friend and scholar here
during the campaign. But, Mark Levin's a radio host, he's got 8 gazillion
listeners
and they're very loyal to him and good for him for that.
And I don't bother with this guy, don't listen to him, I don't respond to him,
whatever. Except when he attacks me or somebody else, then I defend myself. And
the thing is that then I defend myself people say,
"Woods, why can't you just work together with Levin?
Well, do you ever say, "Levin, why can't you work togeth-" Why is it always me?
I hope these kids- these parents aren't teaching their kids you know,
"if you're getting beat up on the playground why aren't you working
together with that kid?"
Look, you go to defend yourself sometimes! And,
he was saying terrible things about me, about Judge Napolitano.
He wouldn't use the judge's name but he would call the judge
some bad name, like we all know he means. And I don't have time
to make many YouTubes anymore because I'm recording videos on history
and economics and government for a certain slave driver's homeschool
curriculum over here.
So, I don't have a lot of time but it was only because I felt- there we go.
It was only because- see, that that was a voluntarily agreed to whipping,
So that's okay. I don't have time but I felt that
I've got to do- I know the sound melodramatic but I thought, lately
he's been really attacking people who support
state nullification. He says that you're kooks, you're crazy, but I have a
pretty good argument for it and he has not actually
try to address that. And I just thought, "alright I just can't let this go on
without a response." So, I made a response and I told him
if you want keep calling names, there's no way I can stop you. I've never called you a
name.
I said none of the other people you're kind names have called you a name
and I even said we were probably raised differently from you. So,
that may have something to do with it. I said but if you want to debate me anytime
you want,
look go ahead you name the place and you and I will have a debate.
And I was proposing judges who would determine a winner and
then we'll have a cash award
for his favorite charity if I lose and then if
I win I have another charity and he's not gonna like given money to.
So that's that.
-Paul: I was talking to somebody once about being a successful talk show host and I thought that would
be
a neat thing to do. I don't think I'm cut out for that.
I don't know if you can see yourself as a talk show host but they taught me how to be a
successful talk show host and the many
big shots in his country that our talk show host and maybe they got
to be so big because they said a successful talk show host is
somebody
who can talk for ever without saying anything.
-Deist: This gentleman has been very patient.
-Audience Member: My name is Israel Friedman. I'm out of Austin Texas and first and foremost I'd like to
say thank you
for being here because not every day that you can sit amongst peers and
heroes.
That being said, I'm also appreciative that they have that
they've mentioned Sheriff Andy Griffin as well as the tank man so much so that I have
the tank man tattooed on the back of my leg.
I'm currently over a decade in
active duty with the military. I've have been to the Balkans, I've been to Iraq
and being part of that,
it has its plus sides and
I feel more so its negatives. I still have about 18 months left in my current
contract and because I feel like I'm contractly obligated to be there but
I feel too
while being there I was able to
mentor fellow soldiers so much so that they voted for Dr. Paul.
And, I see the militarization
of our police force where
my own personal friend, Tony Wheeler, who was also a combat vet, who started the
peaceful street project,
with the help of Pete from cop block and I see what they're doing
after the fact. And I see
especially like APD so much so trying to you
recruit from within the military while we're serving to go over there and I
feel like,
well, how do you combat that? How do I join the APD too to hopefully try to
influence and be a Sheriff Andy Griffin,
or do I continue along the road of filming police officers or do I
attend these and try to pass that on my children. I guess I'm looking for some
guidance, 'cause I feel that I am defeated. Where I feel like
those small victories or those low expectations, I don't know if it's
enough.
-Deist: Well, I know a lot of young people over the years, have asked Ron, what should they do?
-Paul: I think it's a personal choice. Every individual has to make that choice.
Some people leave and get out of it and reject it-
You're talking about being on active duty, mostly?
-Audience Member: Yes, sir.
I had as a couple people on my channel the other day interviewed ima
husband and wife and a in a were really tired though and they declare themselves
conscientious objectors
and that's not advice because you know and I referred to
you know it's in what they do is they get young people and then when
I was the end involved in there was a draft going on
and i know i den like what was going on you know I wasn't ready
to give up my medical career my license in and fight the whole system
but boy I think it's personal it's sorta like cash practicing civil disobedience
if you do in peaceful civil civil disobedience
I am you might be arresting you might have to go to jail some people make bad
decisions others ***
you know aren't as likely to do that but dunno if you make the best of a
situation and think you could do something positive manner
I i don't think that's a terrible choice I'm
but damn martz pancer be interesting to know what he had to say
yeah he but Dad it can be very tough minutes it's good that you're thinking
about it at least
at least a you have that to that thought in your mind on
trying to do the right thing
be nice if we had a website testimonies from people who have been in your shoes
are people who have transitioned out and what their experience was what their
advices
because I know there are a lot of them because I get emails from so that's a
project for somebody to take on not me of course
somebody else I think we have time for two or three more quick question where
the German business roster will from Los Angeles by way of Austria
yeah Nicolas killer from be an hour originally are
I have a question to you are mister doctor Paul arm
it was a very hopeful in a very inspiring message you said
our if we look back to the Austrians if we go back to main your
if we go back to burn by Ambac they're all very depress
about what happened what this song in Dec canonical Bros
are banned by but was even are saying to the Emperor
if he's doing dad are we will see the collapse of the austro-hungarian empire
in
nobody was listen what gives you the hope right now in all the challenges
that we are facing like
in China your are theirs and not enormes are
challenges in the next year's coming to we will not have
the same are I'm principles that they are happening again what happened in the
first world war is second with work
to be really can't break through Arun that we all hope for did
are you human kind is taking the next step of responsibility
I'm hoping that we live in unique times and I dot
something very special was going to happen because right now
there's not a worldwide movement to promote to communism
tornado hopefully it's dead and buried you know it in the marshes sense
and they had their experiment the Nazis had their experiment at the fashions had
their experiment
the KZN now that they're coming to an end so
I I think the attack maybe the world does change
I I work on I a theory that data
you know the human race he's only been really active in promoting
technology in all for II most avid
most in the major changes have happened in like two hundred years
sham but has been around 1000 Xavier several thousands
up years bit everything that we have done technologically we have all this
technology now in the government using it to spy on us
you know and what about all the other technology yes we have Jan airplanes and
we fly commercial
but die think of all the technology being used to just fight wars
so I I really believe there it could be a time
where the you hugh you human
eat human being can change amman is a
well maybe we can get smarter you know and look at history
even though I know the natural Tennessee evil people to do bad things
my goal is to explain why you why government so small
that evil people can take control of the government in the evil people be taken
care of the your neighborhood
and hopefully we can move in that direction
because the obvious failure here that's why we have to capitalize
on the Austrian theories coming about
be in right incorrect in have more credibility
at the same time you can't be intellectually on there still some in
Hershey conversion
he can't be promoting marches on you know when
and who I'm hoping that we can totally discredit Keynesianism
where they're going to discredit themselves and therefore we might be
able to usher in a new age
okay we have time for always time for done Prince doctored on Prince
well thank you I we've talked many times that iconic
picture have the tank man please
go look at that picture cuz ur something even more
wonderful in there look what he's holding in his hand
it's not a gasoline bomber anything like that
is a shopping bag
when I let's have one last question
I am in its Jason armen internet entrepreneur I'm also
a marijuana legalization activists and I'm involved with the
Republican out party here in Harris County in recently began working with a
group called
RAM which stands for republicans against a marijuana prohibition
I'm we're in the process of forming advisory board and I'm curious
if in your view or perhaps maybe colleagues the you know
would be interested and serving an advisory role
and you think it's important to spread the message to conservatives
that's our medical marijuana industrial him
and on decriminalization tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol
are important issues
sure well yes you're dressing maybe some concerns we come over and join
but I would have to suggest the progressive but not been very good
had down you know moving along even though they're supposed to have been you
know I'm
and Obama was supposed to lighten up
he's lightening up now not because he's changed his mind but because our
the momentum is is so great but damn
I look at is a we know when we talk about the drugs
I talk like I mentioned before I talk about legalizing freedom premature
Chenal
area and I see I'm making your choice
scheming your choice about marijuana
equal to your choice about your spiritual life in your intellectual I'd
as all one in the same for me
me obviously everybody should hear this message
you know conservatives anybody else but when you're when you're dealing in a
political context you're dealing with activists who've been around a long time
and whose ID is a pretty well for it's not impossible they could change their
mind but it's highly unlikely
it would be like the chairman of the Republican Party suddenly
deciding that he wants to be an on interventions like that's just not gonna
happen
right he he might be friendly or unfriendly doctor paul but he's
dust that forces left the state like he he is who he is and that's always going
to be
so I if it's aimed at trying to get up-and-comers
who are young and don't have any don't have as many preconceived ideas
and to say that you have a home here well that I think you're more likely to
have
success with butter I think I would be more of a drag to your more than
anything else
so to speak
there is no less am around the park Treasury sneakers way
the No