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It looks likely that the next president of the United States will be John McCain, Barack Obama, or Hillary Clinton. There is still a chance that a third-party candidate could come out of nowhere and win, but we know that is unlikely at this point. Although Obama talks of change and sometimes talks of withdrawing from Iraq, we know that we will mostly get more of the same. Of course, Clinton or McCain would be a virtual guarantee of a continuation of big government in every aspect.

In this election, we finally had a libertarian who received some publicity and actually was allowed in the debates. It is obviously disheartening that he didn't get a higher vote total, even if the mainstream media didn't cover him much. Ron Paul reached a lot of people and made a few waves, but Americans, and in particular Republicans, seemed to reject his message.

It seems hopeless at times, as we know that the mainstream media will never willingly change. Government will continue to grow and the whole system has been rigged in favor of the establishment. How could we possibly ever reverse this course?

I learned many things from Harry Browne, but the most important thing I ever learned from him is that we should still be hopeful. It is really amazing how many libertarians think that we are doomed. While there are certainly no guarantees, the chance of gaining back liberty and drastically reducing government in our lives is quite high in the long run. As Harry used to say, "human nature is on our side."

Go ahead and find a nice mall and walk around it. Look at the people talking on their cell phones, drinking their Starbucks, and carrying their shopping bags. Look at them getting in and out of their SUV's and playing with their iPods. You may think they are spoiled brats, but really it is a sign of how much wealth our society has and how far we've come. Now we may go through some rough times in the near future and people will certainly have to cut back and save more money, but do you really think people are going to give up this lifestyle?

There is a reason that Ron Paul drew strong support from young people. His young supporters know that Social Security is bankrupt and that they would be much better off with far less government. But even many young people that didn't support Paul understand that they shouldn't depend on Social Security and all of the other promises made by government.

It is unlikely that we will elect a libertarian president any time soon, but that doesn't mean that all is lost. It is the opinions and values of the people that will ultimately count. Although too many people buy into the falsehood of elections and think that democracy means freedom, even these people want to run their own lives and make their own choices.

The best hope for freedom in this world may still lie with Americans. Although the U.S. government has become an empire on the verge of bankruptcy, there is still a strong sense of individualism in this country. We have a high degree of religious freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of press (yes, there are exceptions).

In the last year, the libertarian movement has grown by leaps and bounds, thanks in large part to Ron Paul's presidential run. The strongest support is from the youth and we have every reason to believe that this is a trend that will continue. The government education system has become such a joke that most kids don't even pay attention to what is taught in school. Sure, they probably aren't learning to read and write as well as they should, but at least many of them are coming out of high school not believing that the government is the answer to all of their problems.

With the open communication of the internet, how can this move towards liberty be stopped? We have the truth on our side and now we just have to communicate to others on how much better their life would be without big government.

Most comedy shows ridicule politicians to no end and the populace has very little respect for politicians. Their respect for government as a whole is not far behind. The groundwork has been laid. We must build on this. It will not happen overnight, but it can happen.

The idea of liberty is becoming fashionable again. The empire is dying and we will be there to pick up the pieces. We must be consistent, truthful, radical, and unashamed of our ideas. We can win our freedom and we will show the rest of the world how great life can be. We will no longer spread democracy at the point of a gun. Instead, we will spread freedom by example.

March 7, 2008

The Best of Geoffrey Pike