Derrel Walters, Author at Lions of Liberty

Standing up

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Derrel Walters Posted in Philosophy of Liberty Leave a comment

Before reading on, please answer the question – How did the United States get in the shape it is today? The answer that you provided to yourself was likely akin to – “because the People never stood against the encroachment of the government.” I often hear people say, “I can’t _____________________ because I’m fearful of the consequences,” “I can’t stop ________________ because…,” “I must do __________________ because…,” etc. Yet those same folks yearn for change and seem perplexed why nothing

Learning Ferguson's Lessons

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Derrel Walters Posted in Current Events, Philosophy of Liberty, Police State 2 Comments

The only mistakes that should be regretted are those from which no lessons were learned. Never let a mistake go to waste. The fiasco in Ferguson, MO, provides the opportunity to learn at least two valuable lessons. The first involves the concept of Divine Right at its foundation. The other regards effective human interaction. 1. Equality Under the Law is Important Show me a situation where accountability is lacking, and I’ll show you a situation where there is great potential for

A Fictional Scenario

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Derrel Walters Posted in Current Events Leave a comment

While perusing the DailyPaul, I happened across a quicklink to a Lions of Liberty article, titled Should I Be Defending Dinesh D’Souza?, written by my colleague Marc Clair. To be honest, I’m not familiar with the D’Souza case, and so, I will not comment on it. However, what piqued my interest was the fictional scenario put forward by Mr. Wissler, namely: Consider a completely fictional scenario, where a country that was almost entirely corporatist, where by virtue of a tangled

Rethinking the State Concept

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Derrel Walters Posted in Philosophy of Liberty 1 Comment

Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher. ~ Thomas Paine, Common Sense As a scientist, it is my job to

The State of the Union

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Derrel Walters Posted in Nullification, Politics, The Constitution 1 Comment

From Merriam-Webster: state – mode or condition of being union – a political unit constituting an organic whole formed usually from units which were previously governed separately (as England and Scotland in 1707) and which have surrendered or delegated their principal powers to the government of the whole or to a newly created government (as the United States in 1789) Although an annual address bearing the name is given, rarely do Presidents speak about the state of the Union –

The System

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Derrel Walters Posted in Current Events, Liberty & Law, Philosophy of Liberty 5 Comments

What is The System? We hear it talked about all the time: “Blame it on The System;” “The System is broken;” “Put your trust in The System;” and so on. Every person has likely made reference to The System at one time or another. However, what is The System? If one had to pin down a precise definition, what would it be? I would define it as: The System – the sum of all the recipes Man follows; the guiding

"Other People"

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Derrel Walters Posted in Philosophy of Liberty, Uncategorized 3 Comments

“People are dumb – present company excluded, of course.” It is not uncommon for individuals to have low opinions of people that they don’t know. How many times have you heard someone proclaim, “people are dumb”? Hundreds? Thousands of times? However, when people express such sentiments they are not talking about themselves or the people they know and like. They seem always to be making reference to those – hypothetical – “other people.” Humans tend to have built into their

On the Issue of Natural Rights

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Derrel Walters Posted in Philosophy of Liberty 11 Comments

Natural rights are nearly as poorly understood as gravity. Just as people naturally attempt to defend their property so does an apple naturally fall to the ground from a tree. However, if one asks a prominent physicist, “what causes gravity?” the answer will, at best, be nebulous and rife with speculation. Analogously, one can ask an esteemed philosopher of liberty about the origin of natural rights, and the answer will likely be just as imprecise. Luckily, natural rights do not

Hey Congress! The NSA aren't the Only People Watching You!

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Derrel Walters Posted in Current Events, Police State 2 Comments

It has been reported that Rep. Justin Amash’s amendment (H.R. 2399: LIBERT-E Act) to: End authority for the blanket collection of records under the Patriot Act. Bars the NSA and other agencies from using Section 215 of the Patriot Act to collect records, including telephone call records, that pertain to persons who are not subject to an investigation under Section 215. is going to be voted on in the House. One of my major concerns since the announcement of the

Brushing the Dust Off of the American Revolution

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Derrel Walters Posted in Current Events, Philosophy of Liberty Leave a comment

The American Revolution reached its apex the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. Many think of the American Revolution as a war fought between the original Colonies and the British; however, that is more accurately called the War for Independence. Over the years, many countries have become independent of parent nations. For instance, Vietnam – then French Indochina – became independent of France circa 1949. Thus, it can be recognized that wars do not necessarily lead to a change