BIOGRAPHY

I am a CPA and freelance writer who is devoted to the causes of liberty, individualism, and the free market. I embrace the right to keep and bear arms; recognize the superiority of the Articles of Confederation; subscribe to a motley assortment of minor conspiracy theories; and believe that government is evil, immoral, corrupt, and unnecessary in a free society. I am also an ardent lover and student of Austrian economics, the pro-market, anti-statist school of economics which exalts the accountant as being necessary to capitalism. Also, I proudly wear the title “Queen of Political Incorrectness”, given to me by my friend Tom DiLorenzo.

I’m a theoretical Rothbardian because it was Murray Rothbard who wanted to systematically smash statism and fulfill the dream of liberty and prosperity for all of mankind. Other influential thinkers are Ludwig von Mises, the great Austrian praxeologist; Lysander Spooner, the 19th-century market anarchist; Albert Jay Nock, the anti-State libertarian; Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, the acclaimed conservative historian; Frederic Bastiat, the 19th-century economist; C.S. Lewis, the Christian philosopher; and the great figures of the “Old Right”, including H.L. Mencken, Garet Garrett, Frank Chodorov, John T. Flynn, and Robert A. Taft. Also, I am drawn to the cultural conservatism of Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk.

To me, the most glorious prose master to ever pen a word is H.L. Mencken, the most prolific, brilliant, and politically incorrect commentator this world has ever known. I discovered Mencken during junior high school, and I knew I was on to something big, even then. But it was many years before I came across folks with whom I could share my Mencken discovery. Mencken helped to set the stage for me in regards to my thirst for knowledge. As Mencken's creed says: "I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant."

I love life, and I put my heart and soul into everything I do. My main interests, in regards to my writing and reading, lie in the areas of libertarian theory, raw politics, political philosophy, history, economics, literature, business history and defense of the free market, general anti-war/anti-state thought, and finally, accounting, and finance from an Austrian perspective. I especially like to focus on and combat notions such as tyranny, coercion, the omnipotent State, the Nanny State, and especially, lifestyle fascism. I also like to delve into sports, music, health and conditioning, and pop culture topics every now and then.

Most often, LewRockwell.com is where I pen my material for the web.  LRC, the premier libertarian site on the web, stresses paleolibertarianism as opposed to left-libertarianism or libertinism. Before I get folks asking for a definition of the paleo philosophy, what sets paleolibertarians apart from the rest of ‘em is their emphasis on cultural conservatism and the natural order. As Lew Rockwell states:

Paleolibertarianism holds with Lord Acton that liberty is the highest political end of man, and that all forms of government intervention--economic, cultural, social, international--amount to an attack on prosperity, morals, and bourgeois civilization itself, and thus must be opposed at all levels and without compromise. It is "paleo" because of its genesis in the work of Murray N. Rothbard and his predecessors, including Ludwig von Mises, Albert Jay Nock, Garet Garrett, and the entire interwar Old Right that opposed the New Deal and favored the Old Republic of property rights, freedom of association, and radical political decentralization. Just as important, paleolibertarianism predates the politicization of libertarianism that began in the 1980s, when large institutions moved to Washington and began to use the language of liberty as part of a grab bag of "policy options." Instead of principle, the neo-libertarians give us political alliances; instead of intellectually robust ideas, they give us marketable platitudes. What's more, paleolibertarianism distinguishes itself from left-libertarianism because it has made its peace with religion as the bedrock of liberty, property, and the natural order.

I have also appeared in The Free Market publication, Liberty Magazine, the Washington Times, Mises.org, Laissez Faire City Times, Etherzone, SpintechMag, MensNewsDaily, WorldNetDaily, Strike-The-Root, Anti-State, Pravda, Yahoo Op-Eds, and scattered smalltown, USA newspapers. I also publish for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy as I form a new relationship with this excellent, free-market outfit. I also appear on internet and radio talk shows, and carry out speaking engagements when the opportunity arises.

In addition, I am a Member of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy Board of Scholars. The Mackinac Center is the country’s premier, state-based, free-market think tank, and the folks there are relentless in terms of nipping at the heels of burgeoning statism. Lastly, I am working on my first book, due out.........whenever I can find enough time to get to it.

Personal interests of the brisk variety include nutrition & fitness and varied athletic competition, cycling, tennis, racquetball, bodybuilding, and following professional sports. I am also a motorcycle enthusiast who rides a Harley. Alas, I like audiophiling (iPoding), computers & technology, dogs, photography, and art. To me, a day without a full docket is a day not lived.

Click here to read my essay contribution to Walter Block's How I Became a Libertarian autobiography archive.