By way of introduction...

In this, the inaugural post on my obscure corner of cyber-space, I guess I should take a minute to explain why I should bother. Alas, after materially less than a minute of thought, I am utterly convinced that I shouldn't. You see, the longer the time that I spend on this Earth, the less respect that I have for the majority of its inhabitants. In a time when the individual, through technology, can accomplish more than our forefathers would (or indeed could) have dreamed of, society itself has decayed into collectivisation and stagnation.

We live in an age where we can have many thousands of great works of literature accessible at the click of a button, and yet most people don't read anything beyond that required to go about their daily lives. The government controls over 40% of all economic activity in the country, and dictates everything (in Australia, at least) from what speech is allowable, to who should have the ability to marry, to what drugs I can consume, to how I invest my own savings for my own retirement, to even (if the current government has its way) what websites I can read.

The government can fine me for deciding that no candidate represents my values and I therefore do not wish to vote; for not wearing a helmet when I ride a bike or a seatbelt when I drive a car, or even for failing to purchase health insurance.

The government has robbed people of their personable responsibility as well as their liberty, and in doing so has created a society that embraces mediocrity, scorns success and risk taking, and encourages a sense of entitlement whereby people believe that the rest of society is responsible for providing for every facet of their welfare. Our society is decaying; the vibrancy and dynamicism of free-thinking and risk-taking which is the cornerstone of beautiful, unfettered capitalism is buried under a heap of taxation and regulation, overseen by incompetent bureaucrats, and politicians beholden to special interests.

So, whilst I'm going to be ranting on this obscure corner of the internet for quite some time, I do so without hope of ever seeing any meaningful improvement in society in my lifetime. This blog is essentially my howling at the moon in despair as the world around me becomes increasingly unintelligible.

In case you haven't realised, in terms of politics, I'd class my self as pure-blood libertarian; an advocate of genuine laisseze-faire economics, and a state who's sole role is the protect individual rights; a republic as distinct from a democracy.

I live in Australia, but spend a substantiative portion of my life studying US history and politics and spend a reasonable amount of time there either working or travelling. I have no partisan political affiliation, although I have a degree of respect for the Liberal Democratic Party in Australia (although somewhat less so after they changed their name from the decidedly more inspiring "Liberty and Democracy Party") and (to a much greater extent) the US Libertarian party as well as some very small elements of the libertarian wing of the Republican party, despite the remainder of that party consisting of bible-thumping bigots and agrarian socialists.

Anyway, now you know what I'm all about, welcome to my little corner of the world...