"Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued.... Woods has opened up an area of historical analysis that should invite further study."
-Journal of American History
Join the authors of three books in the Politically Incorrect Guide series (American history, the Constitution, and the Founding Fathers) in a live session tonight at 9pm ET. Bring your questions! Not yet a member of Liberty Classroom? Check it out, and join us!
I’ll be speaking in Austin, Texas, this Saturday, May 19, at what is shaping up to be a huge event with plenty of musicians and other personalities. See you there!
With me as guest host: Brian Doherty, author of Ron Paul’s Revolution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired, released just today; and Edward Conard, author of Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong. Listen live, 10am-12pm, for free (no subscription necessary) at SchiffRadio.com. Taking your calls at 855-4-SCHIFF!
On the forums over at my Liberty Classroom, a member asks Brion McClanahan, one of our faculty members: “You mention in part one of Mr. Lincoln’s War that Jefferson believed there would eventually be multiple American federal republics. Can you tell me where to find more information on his thoughts regarding this?”
Professor McClanahan replied:
Jefferson made several statements in support of “separate confederacies,” decentralization, and secession throughout his life. In Virginia, he advocated something he called “ward republics.” In essence, Jefferson contended that a republic should be small enough that everyone could realistically participate in the political process.
In his 1801 inaugural address, Jefferson suggested that those who wished to secede from the Union should be free to do so, and he backed that up in several letters from that point forward (and of course this is not including the Declaration of Independence).
In 1804 he wrote Dr. Joseph Priestley about the prospects of a western confederacy.
In 1816, he expressed similar ideas to William Crawford.
His statements, by the way, also echoed what many in the founding generation thought about Union in 1787 and 1788. Union was only possible if the central government concentrated on the general interests of the Union (commerce and defense) and left all else to the States.
Check out Judge.me, a new Internet-based dispute resolution website, being touted as an equitable and affordable alternative to government courts. The creator sent me a note alerting me to it, and I’m very interested. He also did an AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) at Reddit. Here’s how it works.
The Carol Paul portion of the show has already been posted, but here’s the show from last week in which I talked to Carol, economist Peter Klein (who testified at Ron Paul’s hearing last week), and Peter Schiff himself.
Here’s a graph showing the real numbers. As you suspected, “austerity” doesn’t mean to reporters and politicians what it would mean to a normal person — severe cuts in government spending. Sometimes it doesn’t mean any cuts in government spending at all. And here’s a follow-up post to the first one. (Thanks to Bob Murphy.)
LRC columnist Ryan McMaken is teaching a course at CU-Denver this summer on the history of American conservatism and libertarianism. It can be taken by anyone, or just audited, whether or not the student is enrolled at CU-Denver. Details here.
Members of Tom Woods’s Liberty Classroom, my new site, can now earn some dough by helping us out. Just like Amazon, which gives you your own special link and then pays you for all the sales made through your link, we give you a link you can use to help promote us. Use that link on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, your website, in an email, whatever. If someone clicks on it and subscribes, you earn $20. If ten people subscribe through your link, you get $200. And so on.
Right now the affiliate program is available only to members, but we hope to extend it to non-members soon. Check it out!