Colbert’s Talk to Congress

By: Terra

Colbert satirically, yet very effectively, explains  issues dealing with immigration:

 

Happy Birthday to Samuel Adams!

Happy Birthday to Samuel Adams, American founder and political dissident.

A few short quotes from the man:

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom — go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”

“Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can.”

“Courage, then, my countrymen, our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.”

“It is not unfrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty, — to oppress without control or the restraint of laws all who are poorer or weaker than themselves.”

“If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need of its experienced Patriots to prevent its Ruin.”

“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds…”

 

Hypocrisy of Unions?

By: Terra

Check out this recent excerpt from the Daily Show. “The UFCW of Nevada pays temporary workers minimum wage to demand fair treatment and wages from Wal-Mart.”

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-september-20-2010/working-stiffed

 

Hyperinflate Our School Loans Out of Existence Petition Video

On September 17th Mason Liberty approached students with a petition calling for an increase of inflation by 50 % every month, for the next year, so that students would not have to pay back their school loans.

 

Bryan Caplan on Open Immigration

For anyone that didn’t get a chance to see Bryan Caplan’s lecture from a couple of weeks ago which he did for the GMU Economics Society and the Future of Freedom Foundation’s Economic Liberty Lecture series, definitely take a look. In my opinion it is the best case for open immigration (or substantially more open immigration) that I have heard so far.

 

My Journey Through UK Immigration

First, a little introduction. I’m spending this year studying abroad at the London School of Economics. That’s the reason for this story, a story about my struggle to simply enter the UK to study.

The story begins in April when I was first informed about some basics of the visa application process. A student only needs to apply for a student visa(known as a Tier 4 PBS) if they are staying for a period of more than 6 months, which means that those undertaking a year-long session(like the LSE General Course) always require such a visa. On top of this, one cannot apply more than 90 days before entering the country. This number is not flexible, so 91 days before has your application thrown out.

The process of applying for a UK Tier 4 PBS visa is long and complex. It starts with a detailed form asking all identifying information. It goes on to a series of questions to address your suitability to enter the country. These include whether you’ve ever had a traffic violation (which they request an explanation of) and whether you could be considered a “person of good character”. Having a clean record, I answered all of these easily, but the fact that such questions exist is unnerving. What if I’d gotten a speeding ticket at age 16, would that cause a rejection? On top of all of this, they require a £200 fee to simply complete this step. You then schedule an appointment to have biometrics taken.

The UK requires each applicant to be photographed and have fingerprints taken before proceeding with the application process. After completing this step, one has 2 weeks to have the application at the nearest consulate. This is the fun part. The application is 11 pages long, asking for all the understandable details about what you’re studying and when you’re entering. The part I took issue with is their requirement to produce evidence of “maintenance funds” or funds used to pay for necessities while there. Their stated reason for this is that they don’t want foreign students seeking government aid while in the UK. That may be understandable; the problem is with what is required as proof. For an LSE General Course student, this amount of funds is over $11,000

Many students, myself included, use student loans to pay for housing (the primary part of maintenance funds). The UK does allow students to use loans as evidence of funds, but the funds must be dispersed to the student. This adds a major layer of bureaucracy, as it forces the student to provide a letter from their school saying that the funding is available. They also require that funds shown in bank accounts be there 28 days prior to processing, which is generally twice the length of the entire application process. Upon application, I was initially threatened with denial on these grounds, although the funds were proven to be available to me. By saying denial was imminent, I was forced to give up on the plans to be able to be in school this year.

This was crushing, I was forced to scramble to return to school with less than a week’s notice, try to find a place to live, and get into classes. A very rough week passed…until the Friday after my return to DC. At that point I received an email from the consulate saying the visa was approved and in the mail. This was completely unexpected, I’d already settled into the idea that I was staying in DC. After some scrambling and frantic emails to LSE and my administration, all was back on track. I fly out on the 24^th.

The sad thing is, through all of this paperwork and stress and travel, I’m one of the lucky ones. I know of multiple classmates in the program who were denied on technicalities. The problem is with the system itself. Yes, keep people who do harm out of the country, deny those who have committed violent crimes or fraud. But don’t deny people because you think they MAY seek government assistance to pay for necessities. Simply, say up front that foreign nationals aren’t eligible for such benefits, or, better, change the system to eliminate such benefits entirely. Surely, that would solve some of this immigration “problem” and much more.

Do you have a story involving liberty that you want to share on the blog? Email us at mason.liberty@gmail.com !

 

The French Veil Ban and the Dangers of Unlimited Democracy

By: Danny

When government is not strictly limited, individual liberty can erode extremely fast, even under democracy.

The French Senate has just passed a bill banning the Islamic veil. The vote passed almost unanimously 246 to 1, and almost 82% of the French people support the bill… This is not the decree of a king or dictator but the undeniable “will of the people.” The full implications of Rousseau’s philosophy of the General Will in practice.

Absolute democracy which allows for the majority to vote away the rights of a minority can never be just. As Thomas Jefferson said (though somewhat hypocritically given his history as a slave owner…), “A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” Thoreau, in his essay Civil Disobedience, also realized the injustice of unlimited majority rule, “A government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it.”

The French facial veil ban is absolutely ridiculous, more ridiculous though is that people are allowed to vote away the rights of others in the first place. This is a clear reminder, especially to those who would tend to romanticize unbridled democracy: Dictators are not the only tyrants.