High taxes, sometimes by diminishing the consumption of the taxed commodities, and sometimes by encouraging smuggling, frequently afford a smaller revenue to government than what might be drawn from more moderate taxes.
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Category: Free Markets
Would certifying Issue 2 destroy Ohio values?
Would certifying Issue 2 destroy Ohio values? No, it would not. In fact, one could conclude that with the passage of issue 2, Ohio would return to core American values of personal freedom and responsibility.
Building on the values of our nation’s founders shouldn’t scare the citizens and families of Ohio. After all, the values taught within your family are up to you, and not through authoritarianism of your government. The stigma of marijuana consumptions has changed immensely over the last few decades, and the choice to consume is completely personal. The harms of marijuana prohibition have had an enormous impact on our society and destroyed families through mass incarceration of Americans, for many times, victimless crimes.
The war on drugs has been incredibly harmful to our community. Although I suspect it’s called the “war on drugs” to convey the image of a evil drug dealer in a crime movie make no mistake, like any war, it has impacted, and continues to impact co-workers, neighbors, and family members. It doesn’t sound so fun to support if it’s called “the war on your uncle and cousins.”
In the year 2022 there were 208,192 people arrested for marijuana possession according to the FBI’s crime data explorer. The real numbers may be even higher, as not all agencies throughout the country report data to the FBI.
Many of us personally know how some of the existing marijuana possession laws can cause a life to spiral and ruin family structures. Once someone’s record is stained by drug charges, the path to gaining employment and decent housing can become nearly impossible, thus thrusting many into the black market and shadows of our society and economy beginning a horribly viscous cycle.
While I believe that there are many other factors of the drug war, and criminal justice reforms need addressed, I hope that those who are tasked with serving and protecting their neighbors can focus on harmful and violent crimes in our communities. I understand that issue 2 is an important step in the right direction, making a simple step forward within the constraints of a ballot initiative.
I encourage everyone to vote yes on Issue 2 on Tuesday November 7th. Let’s make a move against the recent onslaught against our rights and take a step towards returning to American values. Let’s take one step towards the American ideals of personal privacy, liberty, and freedom. Vote yes!
Sincerely,
Joshua A Umbaugh
Chair
Libertarian Party of Montgomery County Ohio
https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/arrest
Valuable Mercatus Center Study Surveys Progress and Setbacks in the Struggle Against Exclusionary Zoning
Exclusionary zoning is the most important property rights issue of our time, a stifler of economic growth, and a major obstacle to opportunity for the poor and disadvantaged. While liberals, conservatives and libertarians all have compelling reasons to oppose it, there are also powerful NIMBY factions on both right and left defending it.
Anarchy in Central Park
New York politicians got out of the way for once, and something beautiful happened.
Politicians usually want to control more things. My town has been the worst example of that. Progressive politicians add so many rules they make it nearly impossible to do anything new.
Zoning Police Criminalize Kindness in Oregon
A town clamps down on distributing clothes, personal care items, and food to the homeless.
Crevola does not operate a home-based business. The people who visit are guests, not customers, and no money changes hands.
The city doesn’t care. It says the code allows people to use their property only for a list of predefined activities. There is no room for innovation.
https://reason.com/2023/07/08/zoning-police-criminalize-kindness-in-oregon/
Tesla Solar Factory Not Living Up to New York’s $1 Billion Investment
The enormous expenditure on a private company is dispiriting for many reasons, not the least of which is Musk’s public rhetoric on subsidies. In the past, he has spoken quite eloquently about the problems with taxpayer funding for private projects, saying in 2021 that “the role of the government should be that of a referee, but not a player on the field.” And yet he and his companies have benefited significantly from government largesse, to the tune of billions of dollars since 2010.
https://reason.com/2023/07/07/tesla-solar-factory-not-living-up-to-new-yorks-1-billion-investment/
Should We Abolish Zoning?
Houston is not a free-for-all. It requires a minimum number of parking spaces for different uses, which encourages sprawl. Its complex development code limits how many homes you may build on an acre. But it has no zoning, and its density restrictions are less severe than in almost any other large city.
The surprisingly strong argument for abolishing zoning is the rare case of successfully moving the “Overton window.” It should make all of us more sympathetic to fundamental reforms.
Arkansas Business Owner Sues Over Government Garbage Monopoly
X-Dumpsters owner Steven Hedrick rents roll-away dumpsters to people, but now his city forces residents to contract with the county.
In his lawsuit, Hedrick contends that the ordinance constitutes a monopoly, which “violates the anti-monopoly clause and the due process clause of the Arkansas Constitution.” Article II, Section 19 of the Arkansas Constitution states that monopolies “are contrary to the genius of a republic, and shall not be allowed.”
https://reason.com/2023/08/28/arkansas-business-owner-sues-over-government-garbage-monopoly/
Africa’s Planned Cities Need Unplanning
Nigeria’s shantytowns are more functional than its centrally planned gated communities.
This comparison speaks to a paradox I’ve found with African real estate. The more “formal” a project is—with master plans, institutional investors, and government involvement—the more slowly it materializes. The more “informal” it is, with minimal rules other than how locals self-govern, the more quickly it becomes a real city.
https://reason.com/2023/09/02/africas-planned-cities-need-unplanning/
On the Mercantilist and Monarchial Origins of the Concept of the ‘Balance of Trade’
As Adam Smith explained so brilliantly, if the goal of economic policy is – as it should be – the achievement of prosperity as great as possible for ordinary people, mercantilism fails. It impoverishes ordinary people rather than enriches them.