Harry Browne in WorldNetDaily


On Civil Rights: Remove government power to fight victimless crimes

Victimless crimes can’t be enforced as crimes of violence can. Since there’s no victim, no one files a complaint. So the government attacks such offenses with informants, sting operations, and all the other trappings of a police state. But it doesn’t stop gambling, prostitution, and drug traffic. We must take away from government the power to prosecute victimless crimes-and render the government powerless to enter any area of your life for which it has no explicit constitutional authority.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On Civil Rights: Bank rules against drugs hurt privacy

“Know Your Customer” [bank rules to fight drugs] is just one more step toward giving the government complete access to your financial affairs.Politicians [reassure us]: “If you’re not guilty, you have nothing to fear.” So you do nothing to protect yourself from snooping in your bank account, or from asset-forfeiture programs. [Until] the drug warriors swoop down on you. It is the innocent -- not the guilty -- who have the most to fear from the avalanche of laws and regulations.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On Foreign Policy: Military involvement often fails even when US “wins”.

North Korea remains an apparent threat almost 50 years after Truman’s involving America there. North Vietnam today controls all of Vietnam- despite the death and destruction unleashed by Johnson & Nixon. And in spite of America’s great “victory” in Iraq, Saddam remains on the throne. So what did all those interventions achieve? And what will the destruction of Yugoslavia achieve? Peace is always promised, but never arrives, no matter how much killing is justified by the search for peace.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On Foreign Policy: Illegal war actions set precedents for more future wars

NATO has violated its own charter by waging war when none of its member nations has been attacked. How will this war set a precedent for future wars? When Truman illegally committed American troops to fight the Korean War, that made it easier for Johnson to illegally commit troops to Vietnam -- which made it easier yet for Nixon to illegally bomb Cambodia.These precedents removed all possible restraints on Clinton. How easy it will be now for the next president to bomb presumed drug fields in Mexico?
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On Principles & Values: Morality governs personal behavior, not military action

Isn’t your morality something that is supposed to govern your conduct, rather than decide the fate of others? “Collateral damage” is justified by saying, “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.” But it’s always someone else’s eggs that get broken. Your concern for [refugee Kosovars] entitles you to do-on your own-whatever you can for those people. But it doesn’t entitles you to condemn innocent people to their death-or to force the rest of us to pay for those executions.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On War & Peace: Feel moral imperative? Do it, but don’t force others to.

If you feel that your ability to consider yourself moral hinges on your doing something [about Kosovo], then do it. But do you consider it moral to condemn to death other people, who are as innocent as you are, to satisfy your moral outrage? Do you consider it moral to force Americans who don’t agree with you to pay for the instruments of death and destruction that are currently raining down on the guilty and innocent alike in Yugoslavia?
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On War & Peace: We bomb for morality; can US get bombed for immorality?

What happens when China decides some future Branch Davidians are being oppressed by the American government? On what moral basis could you argue that China has no right to rain bombs on innocent people in Texas, in order to make our “mad dog government” pay a price?
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On War & Peace: If Milosevic is a threat, post a bounty for his death

If Slobodan Milosevic truly were threatening America, an American President could post a reward of, say, $250 million -- to be given to whoever in the world succeeded in assassinating him. But, whatever he really is, we know one thing for certain: Milosevic isn’t threatening us.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Murdering for morality” Jun 3, 1999

On Budget & Economy: Neither Dems nor Reps “reign in spending”

The last four budgets passed by a Democratic Congress enlarged the federal government by 14.4%. The four budgets the Republican Congress passed have enlarged the federal government by 13.9%. This could hardly be called “reigning in spending.” In fact, the first three Republican budgets increased spending faster than the Democratic budgets.
Source: WorldNetDaily “Truth about Parties” 3/23/99 Mar 23, 1999

On Technology: Y2K, like Internet, will be solved by free market

The Y2K problem has been exaggerated by people who don’t understand the free market. It seems dangerous because millions of companies have to deal with it. But widespread problems offer big profits, so now there are products to fix the date problems. The Internet flourished similarly. If in 1994 someone had said there would be millions of Web sites in 1999, you might have assumed he didn’t understand computers. Websites abound & Y2K is being handled because the computer industry is the freest in America.
Source: WorldNetDaily, “You will survive Y2K” Jan 11, 1999

On Environment: Agrees with goal of cleaner environment, but not via govt

I resolve to identify myself with the social goals someone may seek -- a cleaner environment, more help for the poor, a less divisive society -- and try to show him that those goals can never be achieved by government, but will be well served in a free society.
Source: WorldNetDaily “New Year’s resolutions” Dec 31, 1998

The above quotations are from WorldNetDaily conservative opinion website.
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