This was Cramer’s latest attack on the unvaccinated and their defenders, and this latest broadside seems to have caused him quite a bit of frustration from the pushback he’s received to it.

This comes on the heels of his latest Twitter trending fiasco, where called for the military to run a universal mandatory vaccine program, with those who refuse being required to stay home.

Twitter users have been pounding Cramer over his statements. Juanity Broaddrick called him a crook and shared a very unflattering video.

Cramer’s statement about government has the “right” to force people to obey is a common error in thinking that is sadly reflected in the thoughts and words of many Americans. Even conservatives frequently use the term “states rights” which implies that a state, or a government, itself has rights. But that’s not true. Only people have rights. States, and/or governments, have powers. Those powers are strictly limited, and must be enumerated.

This may seem like an argument over semantics, but it’s important. A right is a guarantee, something that cannot be abrogated or taken away. A government cannot have a right, because a right is unalienable. Even the Constitution itself can be amended. Thus government, or a/the state, can never be said to have rights. Only people have rights that are unalterable, unalienable, and unbridged.

Jim Cramer is wrong. And stupid.

The post Jim Cramer Says Gov’t Has “Right” To Force You To Obey appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

Today’s school-aged parents are parents of my generation. We’re accustomed to changing technology—at least in our adult lives. Sometimes however, we seem to recollect our own childhood education experiences as the continuing norm when that just isn’t so. When we were school-aged, we went from a period of no public internet to dial-up internet. Our idea of research was to randomly browse a ProQuest archive for as long as it took to find something relevant, because searching was an emerging art. This isn’t the world today, and we should stop acting like it where our children are concerned.

I’m not an expert, but I am a parent. I’m a parent who cares about and is committed to my children’s success. I’m one of many who have been on the fence about, but am now leaning towards and preparing for homeschooling. In exploring this idea and making preparations to execute it, here are some of my findings.

Homeschooled kids have largely been stereotyped as being socially awkward and not prepared to handle the real world. However a new Harvard study has found exactly the opposite; Homeschooled kids are more well adjusted and engaged than their public schooled peers. This is because homeschooled kids are more self-sufficient, and thrive on how to think than what to think.

If you think as a parent you are unfit to teach your children, this is merely a confidence problem you have to overcome, rather than an ability problem. This is especially true since we live in the age of information, whereas the self learning experience is a far cry from what it was when we experienced gradescool. 

Where exactly are your kids with education? How do you know where to start? The easiest answer is simply to let your kids show you.

For literacy, start with your child journaling. Whether a real journal about their day, or imaginative stories, they’ll show you exactly where they are. The words they misspell are their challenge words. They clearly know what the word means if they’ve used it accurately in context, so now it’s time to teach them how to spell it. Then it’s time to teach them similar words, and their meanings, that follow the same spelling rules while you’re on that theme. Then teach them a few alternate synonym word choices to that word. Encourage them to use these new words in their future writing. You’re creating a literacy web, while you should be challenging them to expand.

Once you have expanded literacy, you’ve given them the opportunity to learn whatever they would like if you have fostered an environment of curiosity. Raise a self starter and they will learn.

Mathematics is a challenge for me, but lucky for me I’m good with money. Coincidentally, money is a great way to introduce any mathematical concept visually all the way up to Pre Algebra. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Decimals, Fractions and Percentages can all be visually taught with pocket change. It’s crucial to visually teach these concepts with real world tangibility before moving to written mathematics. Teaching the “why behind the what” with something as motivating as money is a great way to introduce new concepts. As for that later Algebra stuff… well, I have a few years to figure that out.

If you’re still stuck on the social aspect part, then there’s a good chance that you’re actually shallow and you should work on that. You weren’t really socialized so much as you were part of a hierarchy, and lucky you for not having been at the bottom of that hierarchy like I was. Getting pushed didn’t do much for me socially. Getting a concussion in a classroom only to have the school lie to my father about it (zero tolerance bullying) didn’t do much for me socially. Getting put in choke holds in the locker room didn’t do much for me socially.

Sunday school did a lot for me socially. If it weren’t for Sunday School, I’d be far worse off socially. If public school is where I gained my social skills, I’d probably be a psychopath right now. I understand religion is a debatable topic in libertarian circles, but community churches certainly engage in the community service and voluntarism that libertarians espouse. Sunday School is where these concepts were introduced to me and where I first engaged in them. 

Regardless of how one feels about religion, your child will fare far better socially by going to Sunday School than public school. Or any club or sports team. There are far more beneficial ways for your children to learn constructive social skills than public school. Even just a few short hours a week of constructive social activities far outweigh hours long days of public school where kids are exposed to negative behaviors and interactions. Even the kids who bully other kids aren’t getting anything positive socially, because that behavior won’t get them far in the real world, even though schools effectively enable it by pretending it doesn’t happen.

All in all, you as a parent are your child’s best teacher. There are resources out there to help you that didn’t exist when you were your child’s age. If you are committed, your children will be better off learning from you. 

The post Considering Homeschooling? You’re Far From Alone. appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

Grace Carr on April 22, 2019

The United States is suffering one of its worst outbreak of measles on record as health officials reported on Monday 71 new cases of measles in the past week.

The explosion of cases marks a 13 percent increase, according to health officials who say the outbreak is the second worst in nearly 20 years, Reuters reported. The more than 70 new cases come after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 626 measles cases as of April 19. That rate marks a five-year high, according to CDC officials who expect the number of cases reported in the current outbreak to surpass the 2014 outbreak.

Measles is an infectious viral disease that causes fever and a red skin rash. The virus can be dangerous and even fatal for young children, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms do not appear for roughly 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus.

Debunked theories that vaccines cause or can cause autism have influenced parents’ decisions not to vaccinate their children.

The CDC maintains that there is no relationship between vaccinations and autism. “Many studies have looked at whether there is a relationship between vaccines and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with ASD,” the CDC’s research page reads. (RELATED: Portland Faces Emergency Measles Outbreak Due To Large Population Of Anti-Vaxxers)

Between Jan. 1 and April 11, there have been 555 measles cases reported by the CDC, according to Reuters. Cases of measles have cropped up in Iowa and Tennessee, two states that previously had not seen cases in 2019.

Despite the worsening epidemic, New York, West Virginia and Texas are considering bills to loosen restrictions on vaccine regulations. Over half the measles cases reported in 2019 have occurred in NYC, according to Reuters.

2018 saw the second highest number of measles cases since the start of the 21st century, according to a CDC report. The number of unvaccinated U.S. children under two years of age has also quadrupled from 0.3 percent to 1.3 percent since 2001, the CDC reported in October.

The number of measles cases reported around the globe is rising. The World Health Organization reported a near four-fold increase in the number of cases reported in the first quarter of 2019, Reuters reported.

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The Pro-Vaccination Argument

Libertarians believe that an individual shall not harm another individual and that one can and should be able to live their lives however they please – so long as nobody else is affected without consent. Therefore, since it has been well documented for years that vaccines prevent diseases, wouldn’t an unvaccinated person be non-consensually exposing his or her immediate surroundings to possible diseases? Even if the adults around them are vaccinated, infants and pets could be exposed to a disease. However, this argument echoes socialism by alluding to aspects of having a ‘responsibility to society’ enforced through law. Regardless, many cases of the recent outbreaks were reported among vaccinated persons.This arguement focuses around the point of not making anybody else suffer for your own decision.

The Anti-Vaccination Argument

It’s simple. Libertarians believe that you own your mind, body, and life. Therefore, libertarians believe that you have the right to refrain from putting something into your body that you do not want to. If consistent, this principle would support the anti-vaccine argument. The Libertarian Party’s official website reads,

Libertarians believe that each person has the right to make their own medical decisions. Libertarians support removing government meddling from healthcare.

Furthermore, since this is a debate that includes parental privilege, let’s see the party’s stance on education.

Libertarians advocate free-market education where parents, teachers, and students, not the government, should make their own choices on education.

The site would continue to add, “Every child is different. Every community is different.” Many non-libertarians would scoff at the notion that parents should dictate the educational experiences for their child from the time they are born until the day they become an adult. If this principle remains consistent, shouldn’t parents be able to also dictate the healthcare for their child, meaning the ability to hold their kids back from vaccinations?

In conclusion, there is a libertarian argument to each side of this issue. Nobody is any less libertarian for believing one side over the other. At this point, only time will tell if vaccines are truly harmful.

The post The Libertarian Argument to Both Sides of the Vaccine Debate appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.