Gonzaga Campus Libertarians

Health Care

2007-10-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

Hello Zags for Liberty!

The discussion topic for tomorrow is Health Care. We will be meeting at 8 PM Lower Crosby; the mail room, Sunday, October 21st.

Here are a couple readings!
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5422 - "A blueprint for health care freedom" -Cato Institute

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/html/pa532/pa532index.html - A really long policy paper by the Cato Institute. Skimming through is probably all that is necessary.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/123004.html - Reason Magazine's call to end employer-provided health care.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf3MtjMBWx4 - The John Stossel report on Health Care that we watched the other week. Parts 2-6 are also on Youtube, pretty easy to find.

Fair Tax

2007-09-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone!

We will be meeting tonight (September 30) in the mail room of lower crosby, at 7:00 PM, to discuss the Fair Tax

Here are some links!
http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_main - Official website

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010523 - WSJ attack on the FT

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/long1.html - Unrelated, but fun.

First Meeting

2007-09-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hello libertarians!

Our first meeting of the year will be taking place 9:00, Tuesday September 4th, on first floor Crosby at our usual meeting place. Our discussion will consist of determining our objectives for the year, discussion topics, club fair, and elections.

Be sure to suggest some books for our reccomended reading list, and I hope to see you all on Tuesday!

Ryan

Libertarian Reading List

2007-08-20T01:44:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Libertarians

For this coming year I am putting together a reading list for the club, just some reccomendations, fiction, non-fiction, history, whatever. I've opened the comments, so if anyone has any suggestions, let us know!

Anarchy!

2007-04-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some readings for our meeting tonight, 9:00 in Crosby.

Murray Rothbard - http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp this is a full size book, I would suggest reading chapters 22 and 23.

http://oll.libertyfund.org/Texts/LFBooks/Herbert0120/CompulsionByState/HTMLs/0146_Pt02_Choices.html

I'll also bring my David Friedman book; he doens't have a substantial amount of it online.

2007-04-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Tonight at 9:00 PM we will be meeting in Crosby to discuss the FDA: what role does it have, if any, and how can it be made more useful? Here are some links to read before coming.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/29097.html - Reason Magazine article
http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=279 - Economists against the FDA

Intellectual Property Discussion: 03/28

2007-03-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we're meeting at 9:00 on 1st floor Crosby to discuss intellectual property, and the government's role in protecting it.

Pro-intellectual property:
http://libertariannation.org/a/f32h3.html
http://news.com.com/Two+cheers+for+intellectual-property+law/2010-1014-6165353.html
http://www.ciel.org/Tae/Trade_IntProperty.html

Anti-intellectual property:
http://libertariannation.org/a/f31l1.html
http://www.codepoet.org/~markw/musings/ip.html

Further Reading, from Dingel:
http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/againstnew.htm
-This is book length, but worth the additional reading.

E-mail me at libertarians@gonzaga.edu with any additional links!

2007-03-08T21:11:00.001-08:00

Hehe

http://www.theonion.com/content/cartoon/feb-21-2007

Thanks to KB.

Social Security 02/28

2007-02-28T12:25:00.000-08:00

We're having a discussion tonight at 9:00 pm, lower Crosby. Here are the readings thus far:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/34031.html
http://www.reason.com/news/show/34687.html
http://www.reason.com/news/show/36568.html
http://www.reason.com/news/show/32767.html

Meeting, Wednesday January 31st

2007-01-29T19:07:00.000-08:00

Libertarians,

This Wednesday at 9:00 pm in lower Crosby, we will be meeting to discuss potential candidates for the 2008 presidential election, and deciding which some of our favorites are - and, more fun - our least favorites.

Here is a list of who I think we should discuss this coming Wednesday, and if anyone would like to see anyone else on this list, email libertarians@gonzaga.edu to let me know. I will also post links with research, so make sure I have time to put up any sources you would like people to read before the meeting.

Democrats:
Hillary Clinton
http://usliberals.about.com/od/liberalpersonalprofiles/p/HillaryClinton.htm
Barack Obama
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3936013.stm
Bill Richardson
http://www.examiner.com/a-523409~Ed_Morrissey__Richardson_could_be__08_s_most_dangerous_candidate.html
Tom Vilsack
http://www.ontheissues.org/Tom_Vilsack.htm
John Edwards

Republicans:
John McCain
Rudy Giuliani
Mike Huckabee
Mitt Romney
Ron Paul
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/08/AR2006070800966.html
Chuck Hagel
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/25/AR2007012502086.html

Libertarian Movie Night; club fair

2007-01-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

I sent out emails, but just a reminder; tomorrow is club fair. We will be running a table between 10 and 2. Also, we will be watching a movie at 9 pm in Madonna, hopefully with some new faces.

Hope to see people there!

Ryan

2007-01-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome back libertarians!

We will be meeting tonight at 9:00 in lower Crosby, to discuss Parliamentary democracy versus Presidential democracy.

http://www.sais-jhu.edu/cmtoolkit/approaches/statebuilding/democratization.html - There's a good overview of the two systems

And as much as it hurts me, Wikipedia actually has some decent material...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidentialism

Have a Nice Break!

2006-12-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

We chose our club T-Shirt for the year, the Liberty Now, Liberty Forever shirt, so ask your loved ones for one for Christmas!

I hope finals are going well for everyone, and I will see everyone next semester. E-mail me with topics you would like to discuss!

Ryan

Meeting 12/07 - Movie night 12/10

2006-12-06T22:20:00.000-08:00

Hello, libertarians!

We're meeting Thursday, tomorrow, on 1st floor Crosby. We're discussing market failure, which is the theory which most advocates of government intervention in an economy use - from subsidization of education to the taxation of pollution, to antitrust laws.

This is our last meeting of the semester, and we're going to be voting on T-Shirt designs! If, for whatever reason you cannot be there to vote, e-mail libertarains@gonzaga.edu and I'll tally your vote.
Last meeting we narrowed the decisions down to
Capitalist Pig
Liberty Now, Liberty Forever (with cool, metal logo)

Sunday we're meeting at Madonna, in the main room, at 3:00 PM to watch a movie, so be there!

Here are some links discussing market failure.

Great overview of market failure at Libertarian Studies
Milton Friedman criticism of government intervention
CATO Study

Also! I come with a message from our great former leader about his experience at the Koch Summer Fellowship, and would advise anyone who is looking into a career in public policy to take a look.

"I'd recommend that any member of Campus Libertarians seriously
interested in public policy apply for the Koch Summer Fellowship. I
was a Koch Fellow in 2006 and had an absolute blast! It's the best
experience a libertarian can have in DC -- you get put up in excellent
apartments with 50 other libertarians, paid a stipend that covers a
summer's worth of transportation, clubbing, and pubbing, and work at a
think tank that matches your research interests. It's a very
competitive applicant pool, but the application doesn't take much time
to complete and the benefits are huge, so I'd advise junior and senior
CL members to take a look --
http://www.theihs.org/internship_programs/id.329/default.asp

Cheers,
Jonathan"

If anyone wants to ask him anything about it, he can be reached at jonathan.dingel@gmail.com
I would also reccomend his blog for some quality, erudite economics discussion at Trade Diversion

Campus Libertarian Movie Night, 11/05 and Next Meeting, 11/07

2006-11-03T17:35:00.000-08:00

Remember, Saturday night/Sunday morning at midnight the Campus Libertarians will be holding a special movie night. The movie is a great one, so bring your friends!

Tuesday, November Seventh, we will be discussing the Right to Bear Nuclear Arms, whether the Second Amendment extends to such destructive weapons, and the right of the United States to regulate which countries can possess such weapons.

If there are any readings which would fit here, send them to libertarians@gonzaga.edu and I will put them up. Here is the reading list so far.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/gaddy/gaddy25.html

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle1997/le970615-02.html

http://hamilton.indymedia.org/newswire/display/1290/index.php

More to come.

Ryan

Fall 2006 Club Fair & First Meeting

2006-09-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to GU for another awesome academic year. Some events that we already have scheduled are:

Club Fair is this Wednesday from 10:00am until 2 or 3:00pm. We will have a chance to pitch our club to the new freshmen as well as to returning students. Stop by when you have a chance and help aleviate our political bipolar disorder.
Our First Meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 19th at 9:00pm in Lower Crosby. Since this is our first meeting, the subject will be around the ideas of "What is a libertarian?" and "Why Libertarianism?" for our new members.

Please also check out the libertarians main page at http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~libertarians. See you all at Club Fair and the first meeting!

2006-05-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

The readings have been updated to include another article for this weeks meeting. The direct link follows below. The last meeting of the year will be this thursday at 9:00pm in the basement of Crosby. Please be sure to come, as our senior members will appreciate a larger audience.

Russ Shafer-Landau "Ethical Subjectivism"
http://www.philosophy.ku.edu/faculty/Shafer-Landau/SUBJECT.html

Service Project Information

2006-05-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, May 2nd, The Campus Libertarians will be doing their annual service project. We will be walking up the 1700 and 1800 blocks of N. Astor, picking up what garbage we find. This will take an hour of your time at most. Please come to Desmet Circle at 6:00pm on Tuesday, May 2nd And help keep our club alive!

South Park and Next Meeting

2006-04-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Gonzaga Libertarians will be meeting at the Music Mansion at 9:00pm on Thursday the 13th to watch some especially libertarian episodes of South Park. The Music Mansion is located on the corner of Boone and Lidgerwood next to the Birch Apartments.

The next meeting will be Thursday the 21st in Crosby Basement. The topic for this meeting will be Immigration. Readings will be posted as soon as they become available.

V for Vendetta and Next Meeting

2006-03-29T15:28:00.000-08:00

This Friday the Gonzaga Campus Libertarians will be viewing V for Vendetta at Riverfront Park Square at 9:05 pm. To get discounted tickets, go to the Crosby Student Center and buy one or more in advance for $4. We will be leaving as a group from Crosby at approximately 8:10. If you cannot make it to Crosby, meet us at the theater.

The next meeting will be held on April 6th at 9:00pm in the basement of Crosby. The topic will be V for Vendetta. Invite your friends. They've seen the movie, but do they realize the depth of thought behind it?

Also, we will be sponsoring a club table during Gel Weekend from 11:00am until 2:00pm on Saturday, April 8th. Please check your schedules and Email KB if you can help out!

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlight (3/3/06)

2006-03-06T15:08:00.000-08:00

Click here to see a comic strip that appeared in the March 3, 2006 edition of the Gonzaga Bulletin.

Next Meeting: March 9, 2006

2006-02-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

Our next meeting will be the evening of March 9th. Our topic for discussion will be national defense. The following readings are suggested:

Ronald Bailey. "Libertarianism in One State?" Reason. January 30, 2003.
B. Schwarz & C. Layne. "A New Grand Strategy." Atlantic Monthly. January 1, 2002.
Christopher Preble. "National Interest Alone." NRO. July 10, 2003.
Ivan Eland. "Reasons for Restraint." Washington Post. February 26, 1999.
Ivan Eland. "National Security Policy Turned on Its Head." Daily Journal. November 6, 2002.
Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy. "The Perils of Empire." 2004.
Hans-Hermann Hoppe. The Myth of National Defense. 2003. p.1 - 18

Club Photo

2006-02-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

Available on our website.

Meeting February 23, 2006

2006-02-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

Thursday's meeting is at 9:00 pm in the basement of Crosby. Our topic is children and their relation to libertarian theory.

Frank McGahon. "Libertarian doesn't apply to children." January 26, 2006.
Jason Sorens. "Libertarian Theory and Children's Rights." (pdf) Libertarian Alliance. 2001.
Doris Gordon. "An Open Letter To Murray Rothbard." 1993.
Williamson M. Evers. "The Law of Omissions and Neglect of Children." (pdf) Journal of Libertarian Studies. 1978.
Williamson M. Evers. "Rawls and Children." (pdf) Journal of Libertarian Studies. 1978.

Topics mentioned at tonight's meeting

2006-02-09T23:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some items relevant to topics that were discussed at this evening's meeting.

Research consistently finds that the use of the generic masculine pronoun evokes a male referent.
Mark E. Johnson, & Seana Dowling-Guyer. "Effects of inclusive vs. exclusive language on evaluations of the counselor." Sex Roles. March 1996.

"Strategies for Solving Gender Exclusive Pronoun Problems" at Empire State College.

On Lawrence Summers' remarks about mathematical ability and sex, especially in regards to the difference between mean and variance.
William Saletan. "Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Head." Slate. January 21, 2005.

On the power of persuasion and public debate to alter social norms, rather than legal solutions.
Richard von Busack. "Superman Versus the KKK. Metro. July 1998.

Next Meeting: February 9

2006-01-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

The GU Campus Libertarians will meet on February 9th at 9:00 PM in Ad 135. The primary topic of discussion will be libertarian feminism.

The following readings, particularly the first link, are recommended for our discussion.

Roderick Long & Charles Johnson. Libertarian Feminism. 2005.
Association of Libertarian Feminists. Newsletter Issue 90. Spring 1999.
Andrea Dworkin. "Men and Boys." Pornography: Men Possessing Women. 1981.
Catharine MacKinnon. Not by Law Alone. 1982.
Wendy McElroy. "Individualist Feminism: A Voice for Gender Sanity." 2000.
Ethical Spectacle. "Mackinnon: Pornography is Oppression." 1995.
Wendy McElroy. XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography. 1995.

[Updated Feb 7: Added ALF newsletter.]

Links mentioned at tonight's meeting

2006-01-26T23:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone that attended our meeting this evening; it was a very enjoyable discussion. Here are a few links that were mentioned:

Randy Barnett. "The Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause." 2001. 68 U. Chi. L. Rev. 101.
Randy Barnett. "An Originalism for Nonoriginalists." 1999.
Randy Barnett. "Pursuing Justice in a Free Society: Part One - Power vs Liberty." 1985.
V for Vendetta trailer.

Also, we encourage everyone to consider writing a pro-liberty opinion piece for the Gonzaga Bulletin.

January Meeting's Recommended Reading

2006-01-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

We will meet at 9:00 PM on Thursday, Janurary 26 in AD 135.

David D. Friedman. "The Weak Case for Public Schooling." Liberty. 1993.
John Stossel. "Stupid in America." Reason. Jan 13, 2006.
Symposium. "Let A Thousand Choices Bloom." Reason. December 2005.
Reuters. "UCLA students urged to expose 'radical' professors." January 20, 2006.

Please check the blog regularly, as this post will be updated with more readings and further information about club activities for the first meeting.

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (12/2/05)

2005-12-03T08:45:00.000-08:00

Club member Jonathan Dingel criticizes the fair trade movement in an opinion piece.

Club member Trevor Skelton criticizes those who wear Ché Guevara t-shirts in a letter to the editor. Check out the Campus Libertarians' Ché table in Crosby on Monday.

Trevor's Trailer Tip

2005-11-11T00:44:00.000-08:00

As mentioned at this evening's meeting, Trevor recommends watching the trailer for the forthcoming V for Vendetta film.

November Meeting Reading Materials

2005-11-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

The next Campus Libertarians meeting is at 9pm in AD 135 on Thursday, November 10th. We will discuss fair trade.

Oxfam. "Rigged Rules and Double Standards."
Oxfam. "Mugged: Poverty in your coffee cup."
Arvind Panagariya. "Think Again: International Trade." Foreign Policy. Nov/Dec 2003.
Jeffrey Eisenberg. "Free Trade Versus Fair Trade."
Jonathan Dingel. "Fair Trade Coffee: A Simple Supply and Demand Analysis." 8/20/2005.
James Bovard. "The Myth of Fair Trade." Cato Policy Analysis No. 164. 1991.

Articles mentioned at last night's meeting

2005-10-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the articles that various members mentionedat last night's meeting:

Ayn Rand crack: The Onion - "Greenspan Retiring"
Bush asks Onion to cease and desist: NY Times - " Protecting the Presidential Seal. No Joke."
Wal-Mart is eco-friendly: Philadelphia Inquirer - "Wal-Mart Packaging"

Meeting Tonight

2005-10-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that our meeting will be held today (the 27th) at 9:30 in AD 135.

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (10/21/05)

2005-10-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Club member Robbie Cowan argues against the War on Drugs in a Bulletin op-ed contribution.

Reading Material for October 27

2005-10-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

Our next club meeting will be held the evening of October 27th. The topic for discussion is "Che Guevara: The Man Behind the Myth."

Recommended reading:
Alvaro Vargas Llosa. "The Killing Machine: Che Guevara, from Communist Firebrand to Capitalist Brand." The New Republic. July 11, 2005.
Alvaro Vargas Llosa. "Ten Shots at Che Guevara." Investor's Business Daily. October 7, 2005.
Humberto Fontova. "Don't Shoot! I'm Che!" Men's News Daily. October 10, 2005
K. Boyd. "Che Guevara: Coward." February 1, 2005.
Anarchist Federation. "Che Guevara."
Randall McElroy. "Torture and Tyranny: The Real Che." May 1, 2005.

Economic Freedom Indices

2005-10-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

The reports on global and North American economic freedom that Trevor Skelton mentioned at Thursday night's meeting are available at freetheworld.com

October Meeting Reading Material

2005-10-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

The following articles are recommended reading for Thursday's meeting.

Terry L. Anderson and Donald L. Leal. "Enviro-Capitalism vs. Environmental Statism." Regulation. 1994.
Patrick Michaels. "Garbage In, Legislation Out." August 5, 2002.
Terry L. Anderson, Vernon L. Smith, and Emily Simmons. "How and Why to Privatize Federal Lands." Cato Policy Analysis. November 9, 1999.
Birgir Runolfsson. "Fencing the Oceans." Regulation. 1997.
Indur M. Goklany. "Cleaning the Air." November 23, 1999.
Paul Driessen. "Eco-Imperialism: Threat to Africa's Future."

The meeting is Thursday at 9:00 pm in Admin 135.

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (10/7/05)

2005-10-08T07:21:00.000-07:00

Senior club member Jonathan Dingel responds to Mark Stock's concerns about church and state by recommending the separation of school and state.

Junior Robbie Cowan defends Wal-Mart from Brady Smith's charges.

October Meeting -- 10/13 at 9 PM

2005-10-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Campus Libertarians will hold a regular meeting on Thursday, October 13th at 9 PM in AD 135. The topic for discussion will be environmental policy. Anyone who cares about liberty in public policy is encouraged to attend Campus Libertarians meetings --regardless of party affiliation!

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (09/23/05)

2005-09-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Junior Robbie Cowan continues his debate with Mark Stock about the health of the news media market. In another opinion piece, senior Jonathan Dingel criticizes federally mandated Constitution Day.

September Meeting

2005-09-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Campus Libertarians will hold their first meeting of the year on Thursday, September 22 at 9 P.M. in AD 135.

Anyone who cares about liberty in public policy is encouraged to attend -- regardless of party affiliation! Whether you are committed, questioning or somewhere in between drop by and see what our club is all about. For questions or more information contact KB Dusenbery at libertarians@gonzaga.edu

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (09/09/05)

2005-09-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

Campus Libertarians club member Robbie Cowan refutes the claims of a media monopoly in a Bulletin opinion contribution.

New Club Officers

2005-09-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

The Campus Libertarians held their election this evening and chose officers for the 2005-2006 school year.

President: K.B. Dusenbery
Vice President: Ryan Langrill
Secretary: Erin Comben
Treasurer: Ann Foreyt

Club Meeting (9/7/05)

2005-08-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

The Campus Libertarians' first meeting of the 2005-2006 school year will be held at 7:30 pm on Wednesday, September 7th in Ad 128. The agenda includes electing club officers for the year.

GSBA Newsletter

2004-12-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, the GSBA Newsletter was released on December 3. It included an article about our club on page three:

As an issue-advocacy group, the Campus Libertarians avoid spending their resources on campaigning for individual candidates and instead focus their efforts upon spreading the information about the ideals and policies advocated by libertarian thinkers to students at Gonzaga.

Early in the year, the Campus Libertarians' presence was reflected by appearances in the Gonzaga Bulletin. President Jonathan Dingel lamented that neither George W. Bush nor John Kerry favor limited government in a September 3rd opinion piece. In an October 8th story on a local Libertarian Party meeting, the Campus Libertarians' campus activities were noted. And the October 15th edition of the paper had extensive coverage of a debate between the Campus Libertarians, College Republicans, and Young Democrats about the US government's conduct of the War on Terror.

That debate was the first of three in a series sponsored by the three political clubs in an effort to raise voter awareness for the November 2nd election. The Campus Libertarians held their own in these exchanges and succeeded in forcing some students to reconsider their beliefs in light of an opinion not locked into the Republican/Democrat binary.

Gonzaga students tired of the bipartisan consensus will continue to hear fresh ideas from the second-year club throughout the school year, as the Campus Libertarians continue to highlight flaws of the political status quo.

For more information about the Campus Libertarians, please visit http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~libertarians

Copies are available at newstands on campus.

Justice Club Promotes "Fair Trade" Campaign

2004-12-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

We promote free trade. Click for full size.

Happy Holidays from the Campus Libertarians

2004-12-13T10:36:00.000-08:00

Five members of the GU Campus Libertarians volunteered at Habitat for Humanity on Saturday morning. That event concluded the fall semester for the club. Thank you to those who came out to help.
The Campus Libertarians will return to action when school resumes in 2005. Look for us at the club fair during the last week of January.
Happy Holidays to all.

December Reading

2004-12-02T08:28:00.000-08:00

The next Campus Libertarians club meeting will be on Thursday, December 9, at 7:00 pm in Admin 130.
The topic for December's recommended reading is the debate between anarchists and minarchists.

December 2004: Anarchy vs Minarchy
Selections from David Friedman's Machinery of Freedom: Chapters 29, 41 & 42.
Liberty magazine: Does Freedom Mean Anarchy? & What's Right vs. What Works

Poster: Medieval Peasant Parody

2004-11-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

The Take Back Your Time movement has plastered our campus with silly posters that say "medieval peasants worked less than you do." Not only is their cause based on apoor understanding of human motivation, but the argument that Americans are working more just isn't supported by statistics. Nonetheless, the movement is seeking to impose French-like labor legislation upon the United States. In order to combat this silly cause, we created a poster parodying theirs. Thanks to Secretary Kirsten Dusenbery for the artistic effort.

Look for these around campus!

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (11/19/04)

2004-11-19T18:35:00.000-08:00

Club member Robbie Cowan makes the case for legalizing prostitution in today's edition of the Bulletin.

November Meeting Summary

2004-11-19T18:31:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone that attended our meeting last night. The discussion of various issues, including the war on drugs, was quite productive.

A couple of reminders - our next club meeting will be December 9th. Our club service project at Habitat for Humanity will be December 11th.

November Meeting

2004-11-17T17:35:00.000-08:00

Brief reminder - the monthly club meeting is tomorrow night. That's Thursday, November 18th, at 7:00 PM in Admin 130.

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (11/12/04)

2004-11-13T13:20:00.000-08:00

President Jonathan Dingel criticizes conservatives like David Frum for trying to shape citizens' morals and diets from their seats of power in Washington DC in a Bulletin op-ed.

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (10/29/04)

2004-10-31T11:01:00.000-08:00

Club member Robbie Cowan endorses Michael Badnarik in a Bulletin opinion piece.

November Reading

2004-10-27T19:05:00.000-07:00

The next Campus Libertarians club meeting will be on Thursday, November 18th.
The area of focus for November's recommended reading is the War on Drugs.

November 2004: The War on Drugs

Sheldon Richman, "Do Americans Really Want Freedom?" March 2002
Jacob G. Hornberger, "The Drug War’s Assault on Liberty," March 2001
Doug Bandow, "Forget the War on Drugs Already," January 1, 2004
Scott McPherson, "The Drug War Helps Terrorists," July 2003
James Ostrowski, "Thinking About Drug Legalization," May 25, 1989

Website Update

2004-10-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Check out the club website at http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~libertarians/. A photo gallery from Thursday night's debate against the College Republicans and Young Democrats has been posted. Remember to attend Tuesday night's town hall format debate at the Spokane Room, 7:30 pm.

A Case for Badnarik in WA

2004-10-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Lott at the American Spectator makes the case for conservatives voting for Michael Badnarik in Washington:

At first glance, the choice is between a candidate who would spend a lot more money, chip away at taxes, and at least whisper the right sweet nothings about Social Security reform and a candidate who would spend a whole lot more, raise taxes, and let some other president deal with the problem when Baby Boomers start to retire...

But I live in Washington state, which will not cast its votes in the electoral college for the president unless Kerry's campaign implodes. A vote for Bush here is wasted; it amounts to cheerleading for an administration that could use a stern talking to.

No thanks. I'm voting Libertarian for president this year, and I encourage all small government conservatives in solidly Kerry states to do the same. The logic behind this tactical voting is simple: If your vote won't count toward Bush's victory anyway, why not vote for a party -- even a fringe party -- that advocates a much smaller government? It would be our own small way of standing up to be counted at a time when so many of our elected leaders have decided to sit this one out.

Upcoming Debates

2004-10-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

The Campus Libertarians will be debating the College Republicans and Young Democrats on the topics of fiscal policy and outsourcing tomorrow (Thursday) night at 7:30 pm in the Spokane Room of the COG.

The third debate in this ongoing series will be held on Tuesday, October 26th, at 7:30 pm in the Spokane Room. That debate will adopt a "town hall" format and be driven by questions from the audience.

Please come to both debates to hear our view contrasted with those of the Republicans and Democrats.

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (10/15/2004)

2004-10-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

October 15th's Gonzaga Bulletin featured a plethora of stories involving libertarians.

The primary feature of interest was the story covering Tuesday night's debate between the Campus Libertarians, College Republicans, and Young Democrats. A nice bit from Trevor Skelton's opening address is included in the article.

President Jonathan Dingel was quoted in stories on political polarization, the electoral college, and the last presidential debate. Unfortunately, two of the stories improperly identified our club as the "College Libertarians."

The weekly comic drawn by Chris Dreyer was perhaps the brightest highlight of this Bulletin edition:

Gonzaga Bulletin Highlights (10/08/2004)

2004-10-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here are highlights from the October 8th edition of the Gonzaga Bulletin:

The GU Campus Libertarians are mentioned in a page two news story about a recent Libertarian Party meeting in Spokane.

Michael Badnarik is the first candidatae mentioned in an article listing the third party options available to Washington state voters.

Jesuit John Mossi opened an opinion piece about the Church's teachings' relevance to the election with this paragraph:

Imagine you are seated at your family Thanksgiving dinner. Two topics that can add extra spice to the cranberry dressing are politics and religion. As the platforms of Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians are discussed, the emotional barometers begin to rise. Add the Tabasco hot sauce of religion and the turkey gradually morphs into a burnt offering.

Highlights from today's Bulletin will be posted once the online edition is available.

October Reading

2004-10-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

The next Campus Libertarians meeting is on October 21. The recommended reading for discussion is:

October 2004: An introduction to libertarian theory and the voting dilemma

David Boaz, "Basic Political Choices," Libertarianism: A Primer, 1998
Sheldon Richman, "Young People Aren't Skeptical Enough!" November 2000
David Boaz, "The Market Process," Libertarianism: A Primer, 1998
Tom G. Palmer, "What's Not Wrong With Libertarianism," Critical Review, 1998, PDF
Loren E. Lomasky, "The Booth and Consequences: Do Voters Get What They Want?" Reason, November 1992
Bob Murphy, "Picking Neither of Two Evils," September 15, 2004
Jacob G. Hornberger, "In Support of Voting," September 22, 2004
Brian Doherty, "A Case for Kerry," Orange County Register, July 25, 2004