UNR Students for Liberty » Local/Nevada

F. The. Police.

Barry Belmont — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:11:47 +0000

It’s shit like this…

So long as police (or anyone for that matter) are capable of initiating violence against innocent individuals without fear of reprisal, we will never be free.

Smarmy, Pseudo-Intellectual, Quasi-Socialist College Students, Or, Why People Really Don’t Take the Budget Cut Protests Seriously

Barry Belmont — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:35:06 +0000

And so the debate rages on. Splayed across the collective discussion being had here-and-there in the state is the “budget cuts” to higher education. And invariably in any such discussion a certain character arises whose demeanor is that of the “Smarmy, Pseudo-Intellectual, Quasi-Socialist” (SPIQS if you will) described in the title. Over at The Sagebrush‘s coverage of the University’s recent decisions, a certain “Mark” presents the SPIQS case with all the fallacious bells and logical-pitfall whistles:

Let’s just break that down a bit to see where he, and all those like him, are mistaken and where we can go from there.

Nevadan’s would rather let the fabric of their society crumble than pay a little more in taxes. Besides the obvious poor choice to mix metaphors, the author is mistaken in presenting this as the logic behind the cuts. I am sure that most people (at most times, in most situations) are not in favor of seeing “their society crumble” and we shouldn’t pretend like this is their decision in the matter. [In fact, we should be pretending to know what the "society" wants simply by writ of the actions of a body of governmental officials, but that's a discussion for another day.] Presumably the people of Nevada have deemed that state funds should go to place A instead of place B for a myriad of reasons. It’s comparable (though by no means analogous, as seen in the next paragraph) to why you decide to buy Taco Bell over Del Taco.

Unfortunately, without market signals, this decision will be more prone to be “incorrect” in that it does not provide an optimal solution to problems. This is the problem with public funds to begin with: how do you decide what gets funded and what doesn’t? Do you think state leaders really know how many Taco Bell’s there should be in any particular county? Probably not, that’s a decision made by the collective actions of free individuals. But if state leaders lack the necessary knowledge and skills to plan something as simple as the number of Taco Bells, what makes you think they are capable of knowing the exact dollar amount that should go to make Nevada more prosperous in five, ten, twenty, thirty years down the line?

We shouldn’t pretend that this knowledge is readily available to them, anymore than it is to us. The only difference is that when we make a mistake, we pay for it. If Taco Bell overestimates or underestimates the number of stores to have in Nevada they suffer monetarily and risk going bankrupt. No such incentive exists for those playing with the public funds.

We’re [going to hell in a handbasket] … Let’s finish the job by destroying the university system too. This is the sort of self-importance I was lambasting in my previous article. It is the idea that it is Glorious Higher Education that makes this “morally depraved backwash” of a state worth residing in at all that I find so utterly and unforgivably repugnant. The only thing keeping this dinghy afloat across this salty lake of shit and tears and murder and disease is the Great and Almighty Higher Education System!

No. Nevada is a state just like any other. It’s got its good communities and its bad. It’s got things to do and boredom that ensues. The people aren’t particular remarkable nor are they particularly unremarkable: we’re all just people going about, doing our own thing. But what SPIQS seem all too ready to forget is that it is people doing their own thing that finances their lovely State to begin with. The State does not create wealth, it merely takes a portion of that earned by its residents (good ol Pete stealing from Pauliwall). It takes from the coffers of others to fill their own. Put more clearly, the public just taxes the private sector to get its money.

And the private sector succeeds because there is an incentive to do so: money. There is a profit to be made by those doing good work. That’s why the top universities in America are all private institutions. What incentive exists in the public sphere to do anything so well? Why should the universities should be publicly funded? Because it (and vicariously, you) are so gosh darned important?

Why would anyone in their right mind want to move their company or their family to this morally depraved backwash? Well maybe because it isn’t a morally depraved backwash? In fact, companies have plenty of incentives to be moved here (through easy an easy tax system, relatively fair property management, etc). And families don’t exist in a vacuum, businesses have customers and employees and customers and employees are the same people who have families.

As for the morally depraved part, I’ll leave it to higher minds than mine to sort through the truth or falsity of such a claim (though I must admit, the statistics lean in your favor). However, if it really is such a cesspool, it would seem to have very little bearing on the amount of state government intervention in the lives of citizens as there appears to be no correlation between state action and crime rates that I can find upon a superficial first glance.

The rugged individualism Nevadans pride themselves on looks more like rugged ignorance to anyone with a brain. I forgot that it was only the “enlightened” folks who understand that coercive intervention within the lives of private citizens was the utopia we’ve all been looking for. Individualism (in both the rugged and non-rugged varieties) and its proponents are insouciant on matters of ignorance in the respect which you seem interested in.

Let’s say for the sake of argument that organizing in communes to pursue common goals for the ‘greater good’ really was a viable strategy and led to greater prosperity for all involved: if people take part in this society, their lives will be better. Do you then have the right to force people into these communes? Well the ‘ignorant’ individualist would have to say no because its simple philosophy is literally one of letting others do as they please, so long as they respect this lenience in regards to all others. I fail to see how this “live and let live” attitude would not attract most everybody…from the ignoramuses to the big-brained-Mark’s of the world.

There is no hope for this sinking ship. Finish your education and get out while the getting is good. Let these rugged individualists have the satisfaction of winning and see where that gets them. This, unfortunately, is quite telling it its Us vs. Them dichotomy. It’s fatalistic, bemoaning, and childish in that you unreservedly feel there is no solution but to up and leave (convincing others of your opinion, shaping the world with your own hands is utterly out of the question). You can’t be bothered to live around these morally inferior ‘individuals’ and they are just plain too dumb to understand the correct course of action (which is what exactly, in this situation?).

These last lines express the fingers-in-the-ears-la-la-la of prepubescent hubris all too well. It expresses the total unwillingness on Mark’s (and by and large, the entire SPIQS community) to listen, consider, and digest different points of view. So convinced are SPIQS of their position that to even engage in a debate would be detrimentally futile. After all, if you are absolutely correct (and absolutely certain in your correctness [and absolutely unwavering in your certainty]) then what is there to be gained by dialogue? The fortifications of their minds, they feel, are so impervious that there is little reason to walk the grounds, not to mention make nice with the neighbors, the castle shan’t be stormed.

Hopefully, Mark (or any other interested SPIQS) will read this and reflect. We are all on a journey toward the truth, we’re all walking the same path. There’s no sense in stepping off of it to set up camp, claiming that that’s as far as you wanted to go anyway. We’re only on this earth for a short time and we might as well make the best of it. And I would suggest that being a smarmy, pseudo-intellectual, quasi-socialist college student is probably not the ideal way of spending that time.

But what do I know? I’m just a fiercely idealistic individualist trying to engage in discussions with as many people as I can to get even one step closer to understanding the true nature of the world and all the people in it.

Pretentious College Students, Or, Why People Don’t Take The Budget Cut Protests Seriously

Barry Belmont — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:17:15 +0000

It seems like not a day goes by where one is not inundated with the doth-protesting-too-much of college students on the cuts to higher education in Nevada. What strikes me most about these complaints is the self-righteous presumption that these students are ‘owed’ a college education, that they deserve a college education funded through the taxes of their fellow citizens. Showing this attitude in stark banality is this faceless protestor and their hand drawn sign:

This sign holder has such an inflated sense of importance, such a reprehensible sense of self-worth, such a disturbing sense of entitlement that I am left at a loss for words. Cutting our budget is cutting my dream. Our budget meaning the State’s budget meaning the taxes of its inhabitants meaning money taken from innocent people under the threat of violence. These protestors must actually believe that this money should belong to them, to pursue their own ends. They, with their blossoming college educations, know what this state and its inhabitants need more than those whose funds they are plundering. They are, in their opinions after all, the up-coming leaders of the world.

Which brings us to the sad point of contention. These people–these, people–must truly think they cannot accomplish such things on their own. They must truly think they are so helpless that achieving greatness (obtaining a college degree) can only be accomplished by writ of that omnipotent GodPower The State. But if such is the case, then how can they justify their protests? Either they are gifted and talented people (who therefore are likely able enough to support their own endeavors) or they are the weaklings suckling at the teat of bloated Mother Government (and why should coercive funds be so wasted?).

And hence, the reason the vast majority of the population of the state does not care about the cuts to higher education is because of the participants in higher education themselves. The protesting students uncomfortably mix an inflated sense of entitlement (being that they are sooooo important to the future of the state) with a childish weakness unbecoming of anyone who will one day grab the reins of the world. The people who make our higher education system better are those busting their ass studying in the library, writing reports, doing research, coding for hours–the unseen movers of knowledge.

And not the people holding up little crappy signs begging Peter to be robbed for the sake of Paul.

Let Apathy Reign

Barry Belmont — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 04:39:32 +0000

In a recent opinion article in the Sagebrush (see cut-out below), GSA President Matt Smith goes through a laundry list of reasons why he perceives students are not becoming more actively engaged in local politics (from Don’t Have The Time to Major’s Not in Danger) without even coming close to addressing the real reason people don’t get involved in political matters: They just plain don’t care.

But Mr. Smith is not alone in his complete obliviousness to strident apathy of the general population, most everyone who cares to discuss such issues overlooks this incredibly pertinent fact. And yet it is only ever one side that cares to cast blame on the other, only the active have the inflated sense of righteousness to say that the Apathetic should be ashamed of their lack of action. Meanwhile, the Apathetic do not bother to point out that it is in fact the actors on stage (and not the sedated audience) that move the plot forward, whether it be to tragedy or farce.

In fact, if we were to examine the situation with an air of skepticism towards the typical claims, it would take but a moment to note that, much to chagrin of most of the platitudinous protestors, the University has never looked better. Nationally ranked, important colleges accredited, test scores going up. And this is all after considerable cutting and accommodation (stuff that’s been happening since even before I attended [and graduated from] UNR). This is because UNR is a good school with smart people at the helm making difficult decisions during difficult times.

And that’s why the rest of us can sit back and not give a damn. The people are good at these sorts of things are handling them. It’s the same principle that gives us electronics we don’t need to really understand, food we could never grow ourselves, and houses we could never build. We can have apathy in the vast majority of the world because the rest of the world has vast apathy of itself. This allows us to become focused and specialized and productive in ways the world has never seen. A keen understanding on the inner workings of memristors, the genetics of wheat strains, or even making a funny homevideo will better the human condition orders of magnitude above giving a single thought to political matters.

So let the apathy on such matters rise. Leave the movers and shakers of the world to move and shake it in the ways they would like to not only as some quasi-political-leader would have them. Let people alone to do their thing, to live their own life. And most importantly, do not get so self-righteous in your demands that they do as they wish.

Live and let apathy reign free.

Protesting Budget Cuts, Or, How To Be Completely Ineffective

Barry Belmont — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:36:55 +0000

Oh public higher education…the trouble you get yourself into. Rather than embracing the streamlining of a bloated and inefficient system, rather than planning reasonably for the future, rather than shouldering responsibility, we had yet another ‘budget cuts’ protest up here at the northern end of the state. A short video of how it all went down can be seen:

What these protestors seem to not understand is how utterly and pointlessly ineffective their protesting is. Singing, dancing, drumming, humming, chanting, shouting, holding up hand drawn signs, and taking eight hour bus rides is not how you convince anybody of anything. Sure it may be fun, but if you think it does one single thing in your favor you’re absolutely wrong.

In fact, imagine if you had been effective, if somehow the governor was convinced by hearing a drum circle singing songs about Nevada’s higher education: Is this really the type of person you want in charge of a state government? Do you really want your governor, the person at the helm, to be so fickle and easily persuaded of the falsity of his opinions, methods, and approaches, that he would drop them immediately after hearing something that rhymed shouted over a megaphone? It would be insulting if such a protest worked.

Now consider the converse, the fact the protest didn’t (and won’t ever) work simply highlights how ridiculous the whole approach is. These protestors are supposed to represent the best and brightest that Nevada has to offer. Nevada’s future if you will. If this really is the case, then it is indeed a bleak future. People with the time to waste drawing signs and sitting on the steps of the state congress are not the people I trust to be paving the road to the future.

And hence, we can only conclude that protesting the budget cuts is (has been, and will forever be) a waste of precious time. If you want to go and sing and dance and have a good time with your friends shouting at politicians and making pretty signs and walking in lines to show how much your education counts for something, by all means, be my guest. Have fun, that’s a good enough reason to do anything. But don’t pretend like you’re making a damn bit of difference.

The rest of us will attend our classes, do our homework, study for our tests, get our jobs, and shape the world.

Our First Political Cartoon

Barry Belmont — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:18:16 +0000

The Nevada Sagebrush has done us the honor of parodying our parody and taking the caricatures, the issues of black and white, and absurdity to another level entirely. In a word: awesome.

“What do you mean we’re not getting ASUN club funding?

The ASUN’s New $75 Fee

Barry Belmont — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:31:34 +0000

Hmm…this seems like the sort of thing that should be discussed more, the sort of thing that shouldn’t be fast-tracked so easily, the sort of thing that shouldn’t by-pass the student vote. The sort of thing that a maybe a few people should try to do something about.

Wednesday. Senate Chambers in the JCSU, 8:30 PM.

A[g]UN – Updated

John Russell — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:45:36 +0000

I thought I would add my two cents into Barry’s recent rages… err posts of the ASUN by simply demonstrating the type of demographic our STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES (directly elected from the student body, not appointed) hold within A[g]UN. Below is an unverified and thrown together list of our current senators and others who are members of Greek organizations. Just like in real politics how it is generally the global elites and special interests who control the political sphere, so it is with the Greeks who dominate UNR’s:

[UPDATE 1] – Added 2 more senators who are apparently Greek
[UPDATE 2] Here are the most accurate and up-to-date ASUN members who are also in the Greek community:
[UPDATE 3] – Found an official tally of Greek members at UNR, which bumps up the projection to 7% representative of total undergraduate population.

[g] Eli Reilly President
[g] Charlie Jose Vice President
Gracie Geremia Speaker of the Senate
[g] Sean Hostmeyer Senator
[g] Mathew Neben Senator
[g] Daniel Neiman Senator
Ryan Quinlan Senator
Jessica Purney Senator
[g] Ciara Villalobos Senator
Haley Anderton Senator
[g] Thomas Lavelle Senator
[g] Brandon Bishop Senator
Mitch Bottoset Senator
[g] Shirley Diaz Senator
[g] Patrick Kealy Senator (Inactive Greek)
[g] Lea Moser Senator (Inactive Greek)
[g] Jacob Neely Senator
Ann Newsome Senator
Christine Lemon Senator
[g] Will Wagner Senator
Kimberly Anichowski Senator
[g] Renee Freeman Senator
[g] Geramye Teeter Senator
[g] Christina Hernandez Senator

Oh, feel free to post all the corrections and the mistakes I made… it’s close enough…

The Placation of Taxation

Barry Belmont — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 23:40:05 +0000

On the Fourth of July, the UNR Students for Liberty were invited to the Reno Tea Party to participate, mingle, and even give a speech. It was a fun time had with a bunch of interesting people (around 2000!) and we were thankful to be a part of it. As there has been a few requests for it, below is the text of the speech Barry Belmont gave, please do enjoy:

The Placation of Taxation

Now, perhaps more than anything, attempts are made to placate people like us, to pacify us, to mollify the groups with which we freely associate, ‘to appease and to please all our well meanings deeds seem to all go up in smoke.’ Many, including politicians and citizens, seem to think that conciliatory action is always the soundest strategy towards greater liberty, that somehow middle-of-the-road decisions that no one in their heart of hearts actually believes is correct is what should be done, as if one could simply take an average of ideas and declare it to be right.

The placation of “your taxes in action” is used by many people, probably even a few of us in attendance, as an off-hand rationalization both for the ability and inefficacy of government. It is used when pointing at roads and National Parks but also at videos of police brutality and whenever we read a story about a politician engaged in illicit (most likely extra-marital) affairs.

Taken in the name of bettering the situation of everybody and reconciled with the notion that it accomplishes this laudable (if not essentially justified) goal, taxes are when one group of people, we call them the State, decides to take from another set of people in the name of giving both to themselves and to yet another set of people, perhaps even “given back” to the very same people from whom they were taken in the first place, albeit, by definition, at a lower value. It is claimed that a group of people could not come together and build a school or a road and that it takes the concerted effort of the State (a group of people). This, in essence, means that since people were not willing to pay for it on the free and open market, the State will provide it for them, by taking from the free and open market valuable resources, manpower, and time all without any incentive to be efficient nor any indicators on whether their decision is the “right” one.

What this means is that since people are not willing to pay for it on the free and open market and no people are willing to sell for it, that no one really even “wants” one in any meaningful sense, that’s why you don’t see space shuttles, egg beaters that beat only to the preludes of Chopin, or chopsticks that turn into golf clubs on the free market. But this does not appear to be true of anything the State provides. Even without a State I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of us would like schools and roads and thus there would be a market for it.

Therefore, all taxes accomplish is to pay for an apparatus that uses force to take more taxes. This apparatus also builds noble institutions so that many do not actually notice this fact until its too late. But it’s not too late. Not yet.

That is why I can no longer allow the evil of taxes to hide behind the everyday banality we ascribe to them. They are not just a mild inconvenience, they are not just a little off the top to help out the less fortunate, they are not just club dues that help build an awesome clubhouse, and they are not just a small tithing that we pay to the greater glory of the great and glorious State. They are a theft. They are stolen from you and I. Taxes are an invasion of property which is the very cogwheels for the liberty destroying machine of the State and they must be stopped.

Many who are not in attendance with us now may view us as “crazy” or “loons”: it is simply ridiculous to protest taxes, downright silly to do what we’re doing. But no matter how absurd, no matter unlikely it is that it will be this protest that will change anything, no matter how futile the fight may be, no matter how our fellow citizens may view us, we will resume the struggle. Why? Do we really think we can empty this ocean of evil a few cupfuls at a time? Do we really think by swimming against it, we will really be able to turn back the tide of growing government?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be placated anymore. For that reason, I will stand forth in the name of freedom, stand with those willing to fight for it, and stand and rise against all those opposed. And that is why on this day, this day of all days, we must always remember and take up as our own the motto Ludwig von Mises ascribed to himself: Do not give in to evil, but proceed ever more boldly against it.

Oh, Nevada.

Mary Hunton — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:49:00 +0000

Of all the states I’ve been to, I’ve got to say that I am completely and utterly in love with my own. Nevada is simply the single coolest state in the country, hands down. We’ve got sagebrush, crazy weather patterns, some of the world’s worst drivers, and, you guessed it, more sagebrush. There’s no denying it, the Silver State leaves much to be desired when it comes to predictable summers (why the hell is it still so cold!?) and green shrubbery, but what it lacks in pleasant aesthetics it makes up for in badass laws.

Nevada gets a lot of crap for being the only state with legalized prostitution and gambling, and our gun and alcohol laws appall the more “sophisticated” states, but clearly everyone else is looking at things in the complete wrong way. Prostitution is nothing more than a profession and gambling doesn’t hurt anyone but the poor sucker throwing all of his money into the slots. Making guns harder to buy won’t stop people from being shot and keeping alcohol confined strictly to liquor stores is doing nothing but making alcoholics drive a little bit further for their fill.

I’ve been through a good few states, and being from Nevada always gives me a little bit of an edge. I can’t even accurately describe the horrified looks I’ve gotten when, upon being asked if I’ve seen a prostitute, I not only say yes, but proceed to explain where the actual brothels in Elko are. It gets even worse when I then tell them how if one were to go to the clinic on Friday, more than half of the people in the waiting room are, in fact, prostitutes waiting for their mandatory weekly check up.

“That’s disgusting!” they tell me.

“No,” I say. “That’s a way of life.”

Of course prostitution isn’t the most ideal way to live life, and no little girl in Nevada grows up and actually aspires to be a hooker when she grows up. It’s more the fact that she can if she needs to that makes it acceptable. It’s her body. If she wants to sell it she has absolutely every right to.

The same goes for gambling. The casinos basically keep Nevada’s economy alive, and if people want to put their money in on it there is no reason they shouldn’t. It’s not like it hurts anyone other than themselves in the long run (and sometimes it pays off. I won’t lie, I love it when my parents hit it big–they get really generous and slip some into my bank account without telling me). Not to mention, let’s face it, if gambling was really such a horrible thing, would over thirty million people visit Las Vegas every year for it? I didn’t think so.

But just because Nevada is the only state with legalized prostitution and gambling doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen elsewhere. The lottery, for example, is still a form of gambling, and Indian reservations around the country have hopped onto the casino bandwagon. Prostitution is also country wide. Just because it’s not legal doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen. Girls sell themselves off on the streets all the time under the nose of the law. And people think it’s a bad idea to keep prostitutes under a safe roof with regulations as to who can and cannot see them?

Let’s face it: Nevada certainly isn’t the most ideal place by any means, but where is? For all intents and purposes, Nevada’s got its head in the game. Not many other states think it’s okay for you to do what you want with your body or your money. At least we’ve got that one right!