Shutting down alternative views is a bad idea for too many reasons to fully list. Stephen Lendman's support of Hugo Chavez's silencing of critics with the closing of a privately owned TV station is very instructive and we should not allow this to to go unnoticed.

 

Libertarians don't fear alternative views because the comparison is very instructive. And if I were to suspend the writings of Stephen Lendman here on FreedomsPhoenix because I disagreed with his views and socialist opinions the libertarian message would be far more damaged than the socialist message. Stephen himself will attest to the great pains we have gone through to make his material available to the readers of FreedomsPhoenix. Stephen uses a Mac computer and his interface with the site has had to be customised several times to accomodate his computer abilities and limitations. This process has also benefitted us by allowing us to be more available to many formats and desires of editing interfaces but at least as important was our editorial policy to allow any serious writer to share their view. Stephen does a great deal of research and definately does his best to cast socialism in as good a light as is possible. His articles are long and detailed. But after reading only one or two you fully understand what it is that he advocates.

 

This is very helpful to me as Publisher of FreedomsPhoenix. As a talk show host I am very familiar with supporters of various forms of central planning that only know sound bites and catch phrases but are not able to articulate any foundation for their claims. I find it very easy to quickly expose their desire to MAKE others support what it is that they 'feel' is important. The definition of "Freedom" is unknown to many and I am at least able to get agreement from almost everyone I come into contact with that libertarian philosophy deserves some thought. (Memorial Day Show here) The idea that you own yourself (or someone else does) is very appealing because it is the truth. Those that advocate for anything else are easily exposed as not having your interests in mind,... they have theirs or another's.

 

 

But until then, Stephen Lendman’s opinions will be published here for us all to have access to a mind that helps us understand the thought process behind such thinking. Of course Stephen’s support of Chavez and the central planning he represents will be defended to the death of many no matter what is done in defense of this philosophy, and we need to witness it and comment when motivated to. But I see no difference from a libertarian perspective between the top down “Comply or Die” mentality of Chavez when compared to Bush’s central planning.

 

Stephen is a seasoned and committed socialist that is not likely to change his views much. But I hope his readers are exposed to enough information here on FreedomsPhoenix to understand why libertarians welcome the comparisons between the different philosophies given a voice here and understand how simple it is to see that you either own yourself or someone else does. Chavez and Bush are very certain that they know what is best for the people they claim to be theirs to control and regulate. Sending you to a Free Speech Zone or taking your TV Station away puts you in the same collectivist club. Individual empowerment through technology and humanity’s experience with just about every form of collective the bad guys have come with are our greatest defense against the mass murders of governments. The latest “Do What We Say,.. or we’ll kill you” justification for control over populations in the form of some new mindless and faceless gang of “Rulers” will continue until these “Gangs with a Flag” are made irrelevant in the minds of individuals.

 

The evolution of the mind of humanity is certain. The more individuals are able to be informed, the more that information becomes realtime, the more technology provides for self sustaining off grid living and the more we all understand the corrosive effect of coercive governments, the sooner we’ll all see what the future holds for us. And if we can’t find freedom on this planet,… well, the universe is a very big place to look. And humanity is always looking.