Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/13/2008 11:06 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/13/2008 11:06 PM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
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Columbia College Students Learn to Breathe Free~By Al Segalla
On January 31, 2008, the Associated Students of Columbia College sponsored a political forum featuring speakers, plus information about California's seven ballot propositions. Domnic Torchia and Joseph Day represented the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively. The Barrack Obama Campaign sent Jay Bell. I spoke for the Libertarian Party....
We also had a table, staffed by Barbara "Miss Joy" Waymire, CLP candidate for the 25th Assembly District. She administered the Nolan Chart quiz to about 30 people. Most found it interesting.
My talk generated the most audience response. Many students agreed that we must end drug prohibition. Many agreed that we must end government welfare handouts -- for both corporations and individuals.
I demonstrated the safety of electrical appliances that are assured by Underwriters Laboratories -- a non-governmental quality assurance firm – by clenching an electrical cord between my teeth! I offered UL as a successful model for the protection of public safety in lieu of government regulation, which must lessen if we are to restore liberty.
Regarding law and justice, I compared common law to regulatory law; the former protects individual rights, unlike the latter. Pollution should be a trespass problem, not a regulatory one. Private ownership, not regulations, saved the once endangered buffalo.
I discussed my political awakening during the 1964 Goldwater campaign, which a few audience members in this college crowd still remembered. I recalled flying gliders in Fremont back then, and how clear the air suddenly became when climbing over the smog -- much like the clarity of vision expressed in libertarian principles, which are clear, reasonable, and the basis for all prosperous civilizations throughout history.
I ended by inviting everyone to join me in climbing out of the collectivist smog, and breathe the free, clean air of libertarian principles -- and then follow those principles to build a better America and a better world.
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Al Segalla's email is: alsegalla@mindspring.com.
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