I'm a 22m from Euclid Ohio, most interested in music (ranging from rock to classical to jazz to metal to whacky creative-people music you never of heard in your life), Austrian Economics and Libertarianism (extreme minarchism for me). I may like individuals, but I generally dislike groups and collective thinking. I've been into music for most of my life, taking piano and viola lessons at an early age. As a serious musician, I've been playing drums for 11 years and guitar for 8 years. I did alot of self-teaching, but eventually I went to college for music theory, composition, jazz band (afro-caribbean ensemble to be exact) and guitar lessons.

I first got into Libertarianism when I discovered a sole brave Republican (while truly Libertarian but under the R ticket) congressman by the name of Ron Paul. I had previously considered myself generally liberal, but was amazed to find someone with an R next to their name advocate "socially liberal" positions such as the abolition of the drug war, the abolition of the patriot act and getting out of war. I disagreed with him about some economic issues but always found him to be loads better then most Democrats, and I always believed strongly in social freedom.

In short, I have always been "socially libertarian", but it took time for me to grasp the economic side of things. Ron Paul educated me alot about the major problems with the Federal Reserve system (which should be abolished) and got me into economics in general. To this day I consider Ron Paul to pretty much be the only person in congress with principles. He's the "Mr. No" of congress, and damn well should be. After a while of being into Ron Paul I took up his suggestions to look into Murray Rothbard and Ludwig Von Mises.

What really got me diving head first into Libertarianism were the books "For A New Liberty" by Murray Rothbard and "Human Action" by Ludwig Von Mises. In the process, I learned alot about economics (of the Austrian School) and went from a "Civil Libertarian" (the "bridge" between a leftist and a libertarian) to a pretty hardcore Minarchist. While I was already half-way there, "For A New Liberty" forced me to look at government in a drastically different way, and to redefine the political spectrum. It also made me draw connections that I did not see before, by defining social issues in economic terms.

For example, I can find myself argueing for things such as the abolition of the drug war in strictly economic terms (for it violates the free market right to buy, sell and obtain the product - it also wastes billions of tax dollars each year, only to have drug use continue anyways). I can also make many Republicans/Conservatives look like economic "liberals" if not socialists by grilling them on economics, which is SUPPOSED to be their strong point but is clearly only a vague tendency rather then a true matter of principle (like their massive spending increases, currency devaluation and foreign welfarism). "Human Action" functioned to educate me about economics, and to view it in terms of none other then human action. As time goes on, I start to agree more and more with the anarchists within libertariansm. I am really a hair away from being an anarcho-capitalist at this point. One work, as suggested by Rothbard, that really got me thinking is "No Treason: Constitution of No Authority" by Lysander Spooner.

The criticism of left and right can be summed up as follows: The left wants to tell me what to do with my money, and the right wants to tell me what to do with my body. The left thinks the government should heavily control the economy, and the right thinks the government should heavily control social behavior. The left idolizes equality and egalitarianism. The right idolizes war and the military. Or, another analogy is that the left is maternal government and the right is paternal government. Left = Welfare State. Right = Warfare State. Merge the two at the power "center", and we have a welfare/warfare state in which both social and economic matters are dictated by people in ivory towers. In a purely leftist world, I have no possessions and my economic life is competely planned by the government. In a purely rightist world, I have no ownership over my own body and my social life is completely planned by the government. The conclusion is that everyone has a natural right both to self-ownership and possession. It should then be clear why Libertarians consider left and right to be a false choice, two sides of the same evil coin. Viewed under this light, the quarrels between left and right are distressingly beside the point.

"For A New Liberty" can be read for "free" in public domain at: http://www.mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp "Human Action" can also be read for "free" in public domain at: http://www.mises.org/humanaction.asp "No Treason: Constitution of No Authority" can also be read for "free" in public domain at: http://tmh.floonet.net/articles/notreas.html

Composition, Guitar, Drums, Libertarian studies. I'm particularly active at the Bill Maher message boards at: http://boards.billmaher.com/

Guitar and Drums

I'm an individualist.

Books: "For A New Liberty" by Murray Rothbard, "Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine, "The Myth of Mental Illness" by Dr. Thomas Stephen Szasz, "Human Action" by Ludwig Von Mises, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert Heinline, "No Treason: Constitution of No Authority" by Lysander Spooner, "Repent Harlequin, said the Ticktock Man" by Harlan Ellison, "Psychology and Religion: East and West" by Carl Jung, "Road to Serfdom" by F.A. Hayek, "1984" by George Orwell, "Pagan Christs" by J.M. Robertson, and "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov.

Music: I can go on forever about music, but this may give an idea of what I'm into. Frank Zappa, Jean Claud Debussy, John Coltrane, King Crimson, Johan Sebastian Bach, Thelonious Monk, Steve Vai, Rush, Charlie Parker, Liquid Tension Experiment, Chick Corea, Mr. Bungle, Yes, Frederic Chopin, Led Zeppelin, Ravi Shankar, Alice In Chains, Wes Montgomery, Megadeath, Dave Brubeck, Maurice Ravel, Scepultura, Al Dimeola, Pink Floyd, John McLaughlin, Satchmo (Louis Armstrong), Mahavishnu Orchestra, Toru Takamitzu, Death, The Police, Miles Davis, Cream, Igor Stravinski, Bella Fleck, Weather Report, Santana, Victor Wooten, Arachnoid Space, The Soft Machine, Jeff Beck, Primus, Testament, and Trilock Gutru.

Liberty, Property, Individuality, Principles, Music, Food

The role or lack thereof of government in society, and musical structures and sounds.

Perhaps recording a song with a few friends, or reading a book.

When I was 3 years old, I (purposefully?) pooped in the cereal bowl in pre-school.

You are interested in music, libertarianism and philosophy.