Rebutting Leftist Talking Points

A quick reference for resources on several currently divisive topics.

Slavery in the U.S.

• Was our system founded to only support white men? This is not true according to leading abolitionists and civil rights reformers. You can also read the words of the founders to see what they thought about it. Martin Luther King Jr and Frederick Douglas used the founding documents and principles to advance the cause of liberty for African Americans:
  See: The Founding Fathers and Slavery  AND “Black History Issue 2001”
• Beyond this, the speed that the U.S. addressed the issue of slavery was very fast. It was only 20 years after the signing of the Constitution that international slave trade and slave importation was made a Federal crime. In 1820, only 13 years after that, the Missouri Compromise made it certain that slavery would not be implemented as a practice in new territories that were attempting to join the Union.
  • Many will point out the Three-Fifths Compromise as an example of racism from the founding. This is specious though and a closer look will make this clear. The Northern states and the cause of abolition was perpetuated by this compromise as the Southern states would not get their desire for more representatives in congress. Hence the south would have less say in federal legislation that would be deleterious to slavery.
• This is not to mention the bloodiest war in U.S. history was instigated and fought over the issue of slavery.

Have we moved beyond the antiquated philosophies of the founders?

• “It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary.”
  – Calvin Coolidge in “The Inspiration of the Declaration.” (Speech on July 5, 1926 at the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence) I’ve quoted this in several other article…

Should we vote for anyone as long as they are perceived as “not a politician” or not part of the corrupt “system”?

• “It is the height of political naiveté and historical ignorance to believe that anti-establishment populism and the cause of human liberty are united in the same struggle. They are not.” See: “Hating the Establishment is Not the Same as Supporting Liberty”

Are monopolies the natural result of too much private sector freedom and not enough centralized intervention?

• Many economists point out that monopolies are often created by too much government intervention and NOT the opposite: See the entry on “Monopoly” in the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics for a thorough introduction

Bernie Sanders and Socialism in general:

• Articles by the Foundation for Economic Education: “Bernie is Wrong: Trade is Awesome for the Poor and for America” . Are the Rich getting richer at the expense of the poor? “Bernie Sanders and the Fixed Pie Fallacy”. AND “3 Kinds of Economic Ignorance” AND watch this video, “Democratic Socialism is Still Socialism

Guns:

• • 14 Things Everyone Should Understand about Guns – Very good article as an introduction to guns, gun-safety, terminology, law, and culture.
  • Gun ownership and use is currently MORE regulated at the Federal level than driving cars contrary to what is commonly heard on the topic: “Okay, Let’s Regulate Guns Like Cars”
    • If you are thinking that the Federal government does not have enough oversight or say in gun related law please refer to the United States Code Title 18, Part I, Chapter 44, Section 922 for the pages and pages of laws that are already there (found here: https://www.gpo.gov/…/USCODE-2…/html/USCODE-2009-title18.htm)
  • An Assault weapons ban has already been tried- The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Found here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c103:1:./temp/~c103VrFZMI:e644150🙂 made it illegal to manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon in the U.S. for 10 years until expired in 2004. “That the law did not have much of an impact on overall gun crime came as little surprise…For one, assault weapons were used in only 2 percent of gun crimes before the ban. And second, existing weapons were grandfathered, meaning there were an estimated 1.5 million pre-ban assault weapons and 25 million to 50 million large-capacity magazines still in the U.S.” (Found here: http://www.factcheck.org/2013/02/did-the-1994-assault-weapons-ban-work/)  Most murders are committed with handguns and the only way to re-try this 1994 assault weapon ban again with supposed “better” results would be for the Federal government to take pre-existing (grandfathered- previously legal) guns away from millions of Americans, which will likely never be possible.  As the article above shows, criminals still found ways to get their hands on alternative, non-banned large capacity magazine weapons and crimes committed with these sorts of guns increased even as crimes with assault weapons slightly decreased. Basically, criminals either ignored the laws or committed the same crimes by different means.
  • “Statistics and Gun Laws”– (My article) A statistical analysis on states that are lenient on guns and have a large population of concealed carriers vs. states that are stricter on guns and have enacted greater gun control. This was written in attempt to show the usefulness and limits of statistical analysis. It was also written with the purpose of helping our national legislators tap the brakes by thinking prudently and not merely in reaction to national tragedies.
  • “Comparing Murder Rates Across Countries”
  • “Comparing Death Rates from Mass Public Shootings and Mass Public Violence in U.S. and Europe”
  • “Fewer Than 1 Percent of State Prison Inmates Obtained Their Guns… From Gun Shows…”
  • Guns Saving Lives
  • “Murder and Homicide Rates Before and After Gun Bans”
  • “White House Cant Name a Mass Shooting that Would have Been Prevented by Gun Control Legislation”
  • Gun Facts and Statistics (great resource as a quick reference to stats and facts)
  • U.S. Gun Laws state-by-state
  • “…Gun Violence Declining, Except in Gun-Free Zones”
  • “America’s Faulty Perception of Crime Rates”
  • Blackstone’s Commentaries and our English Heritage–  (My article)On the idea of self-protection as a natural right from English Common Law.
  • Memo from Columbine Massacre– (My article)
  • Guest Contributor- Mass Shootings Are a Real Issue, and We Need a Real Solution
  • Godless America- Predictions from the Bible and the Founders – (My article)
  • Democrats do not care about Due Process as they did when the Patriot Act was passed – They flip-flopped their position and do NOT care about rights when it comes to a proposed “terror list”. Pro gun control Democrats can be defined as demagogues: “a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.”
  • The Second Amendment isn’t about Hunting or Self-defense, but Revolution
  • 7 Gun Control Myths that Just Won’t Die
    • The “Gun Show Loophole allows anyone, even criminals, to get guns (LIE)
    • Nobody’s demanding confiscation of guns (LIE)
    • Buying a gun is as easy as buying groceries (LIE)
    • Concealed carriers don’t prevent mass shootings (LIE)
    • The second amendment only applies to muskets (LIE)
    • Gun violence is skyrocketing (LIE)
    • “Gun free zones” prevent gun violence (LIE)

Bathroom policy: (…no, really)

• The actual bill
• Myths vs. Facts for HB2 – from NC Government
• “Unequal Protection” – Stanford Law Review
• “Unnecessary and Inappropriate Constitutional Conflict in North Carolina”
• “North Carolina’s Bathroom Bill and the Constitution”
• Disney’s Religious Liberty Hypocrisy Exposed
• 1. War on North Carolina’s HB2 and Bathroom Policy
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
  • Part 4
  • Part 5
  • Part 6
  • Part 7
• 16 ‘Pro-LGBT’ Businesses That Operate in Countries With Poor Human Rights Records
• Liberals’ Double Standard on Bathrooms, Boycotts, and Religious Freedom
• Judicial Activism documented
• Transgender Activism has Produced a Legal Absurdity
• “A Former Transgender Person’s Take on Obama’s Bathroom Directive”
• Liberal Groups Continue to Repeat North Carolina Bathroom Bill Lies
• Federal Court: Schools May Not Provide Separate Bathrooms Based on Biology
• “A User’s Guide To Free Expression And Bathroom Sanity”
• “Gender Ideology Harms Children” – American College of Pediatricians