Learn more about Better Ballot SC here.

Learn more about the South Carolina Libertarian Party here.

Thanks to Parenting Porcupines for letting us use their channels to publish this content. 

Learn more about Better Ballot SC here.

Learn more about the South Carolina Libertarian Party here.

Thanks to Parenting Porcupines for letting us use their channels to publish this content. 

Check out Part 2 on Episode 65.

This has been a topic of conversation in South Carolina for several months now. Last year, 2021, our legislature passed, and our governor signed, a bill that would allow for Death Row Inmates to choose how their execution would be carried out if lethal injection drugs were not available. They could choose either the electric chair or a firing squad. Yes, you read/heard that correctly- a firing squad. On March 18, 2022 (last month) the South Carolina Department of Corrections announced that it had finished its preparations, and that it is now able to carry out execution by firing squad. 

And so here we are. It was announced on April 15 that Robert Bernard Moore, who was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1999 killing of a convenience store clerk, had chosen the firing squad as his method of execution and the date was set for April 29. Yesterday the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a temporary stay of execution, blocking South Carolina from carrying out its first ever execution by firing squad. Moore’s attorneys cited pending litigation in which they are challenging the constitutionality of the State’s execution methods. As they should. 

So I (Kasie) wrote two blogs on this for the SCLP. One, last February (2021) I was crazy pissed. Here’s the link. The second was today, and while I was less angry with lawmakers, I was just as angry with the hypocrites (link). This afternoon, sitting by my neighbor’s pool, I talked about the topics of both blogs with H. A very astute nearly 14-year-old, HB observed:

• The state gets shit wrong a LOT. So how can we trust them to get this right? (I, Jessica, personally know a Death Row survivor. Charles Wakefield, Jr. was framed, charged, convicted and sentenced for a crime he did not commit. He spent 35 years in prison waiting to be executed before finally being paroled. He is actively working with a group of attorneys to clear his name. You can read more about his story here, and be sure to check out the Murder Etc Podcast)
• The punishment doesn’t fit the crime here. Why haven’t we appealed the sentence?
• Addiction is a sickness. Shouldn’t we try to help people who are sick?

Okay, so on the taxes bit, we just want to mention this having been the week we supposedly rendered unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. And yet …

Read more on our blog

Support for one another:

• What do we mean when we say “support one another”
• Have you been supported by other moms, and how?
  • Kasie – my best friend Jessica had a daughter almost 10 years before me so I go to her for almost everything: “Is this normal?” I haven’t always been great at supporting others. I am working on making myself more available and making time to reach out and connect.

Provides support for our children: Supporting one another creates a network by which we can better support our children.

• “Indirect support” can create an environment where a mother is encouraged and empowered by other moms, which can have a positive impact on the mental health of the mother. What are some examples of indirect support you have received?
  • Melissa – I’m a member of a few parenting FB groups. They can give you reassurance that you are not the crazy one. Especially when you are trying to do things differently than everyone else. I.E. limits on screen time, free-range, home/un schooling.
  • Kasie – our neighborhood moms have a good amount of dialogue around schools, teachers, activities, and other suchness. Sharing the things we learn and hear and know gives us a wider (longer?) list of possibilities for our kids.
• “Direct support” creates an environment whereby “the village” has a more constant and visible role in the childrens’ lives.  Examples may be friends and family who actively participate in the lives of the children, providing role models and reinforcement. What are some examples of direct support you have received?
  • Kasie – we have coaches and dance instructors (hired help?) but also neighbors who have a sense of who Hollie is and what she’s good at and what our values are. My mom and sister are influential in H’s life, too.
  • Melissa – My mom and Grandmother take my kids for sleepovers quite often. When #3 was born my MIL stayed at my house for 3 months to watch her while I adjusted and went back to work.

– How do you build your village? 

– How do you  invest in your “village”? 

– How does this support/encourage us to live the message of liberty? 

• Kasie – we built our village with Friday afternoons on the driveway. We invited neighbors over to join us and they became our network. It’s a valuable activity to invest in friends and spend time with them. Our monthly SCLP meetings I LOVE for Hollie to come so she can get to know ya’ll and Casey Crowe and we saw Victor at Beef’s on St Patrick’s Day and she greeted him like an old pal.

It is easy to get wrapped up in the neverending day-to-day hustle and bustle, but building and investing in your village is absolutely one of the most beneficial things we can do for ourselves and our children.

Read more on our blog

Of course we all know the names like Martha Washington, Harriet Tubman and Betsy Ross, but there is a long list of women whose names you will not find in any history book, but whose contributions to liberty and freedom were just as (if not more) valuable than some of the “big names”. So let’s talk about them, shall we?

During the American Revolution George Washington managed to build a robust network of spies within townships to observe and report on the goings-on of the Tories and the British armies. One of the most notorious of these spies is Hercules Mulligan, a tailor, and his slave. While working as a tailor to the British soldiers and officers he would gather valuable intel, which he would then use his slave, Cato, to transmit to Washington. On more that one occasion this saved Washington and the troops. But we are not here to talk about the men.  

What is not commonly talked about is that the success of these networks was a result of the women who used their roles as homemakers to gather intelligence to pass through their network all the way to the General. Among these notable women are Anna Strong and Agent 355 (which translates from the code they used into “Lady”) of the Culper Ring. Some believe they may have been one and the same person, but some speculation is that Agent 355 was perhaps a servant or slave of either the Strong family or someone else from Sautucket (where the Strongs were from). To this day no one knows for sure because the identity of Agent 355 was never disclosed.

Anna Strong was an important part of this ring. While her husband was imprisoned she is credited for assisting Washington’s couriers and smugglers, signaling them by hanging a specific petticoat on her clothesline which was visible from the sound where they would row into Setauket. 

Agent 355 is believed to have been a young woman, or perhaps a servant/slave, as she allegedly had ocassion to gather intelligence from Major John Andre. It is unfortunate that we will never know her identity. 

Lydia Darragh is perhaps the most badass of the lady spies. In the Fall of 1777 the British forces had gained some big wins over Washington’s troops. Lydia used her comfort within her community to spy on the British troops and officers. She would give the intel to her younger son who would then smuggle her coded notes to her older son, who was a soldier. In December of 1777 some British officers took quarter in the Darragh home. During one of their meetings, where they had ordered all the family members away, Lydia hid in a closet in order to spy on the meeting. She learned of the British intent to attack Washington and his troops, and used her role as homemaker as a cover to make a journey “for flour”, during which she evaded checkpoints to get word to Washington’s troops about the plan. Talk about one cool mama!

Nancy Hart is another name you likely do not know, but should. In addition to serving as a spy Nancy Hart is credited for capturing multiple British loyalists, killing at least one, and overseeing the hanging of several others. She would dress as a man and pretend to be incapacited to gain entry to British camps in order to spy on them, and many historians believe that she may have been present in at least one battle during the war. She stole and smuggled weapons belonging to British troops, and captured at least one Tory spy. The legend is that the Cherokee referred to her as “Wahatche”, which translates to “War Woman”.

Not only were there women who were instrumental as spies for George Washington, but some were also soldiers. Legend tells us that  Prudence Wrightwas a commander of an all-women Militia, which dressed as men and carried their husbands weapons into battle. 

Catherine Barry, a South Carolinian, is another woman who defied the societal gender roles to fight alongside her husband. She is credited with being a spy and a soldier, and according to history was instrumental in the Battle of Cowpens. 

There are so many more incredible women in the history of our Country. Women who fought alongside their husbands in the name of Liberty. Women who were willing to risk everything for the cause. These women were just like us. They were wives, mothers, and daughters, and they should be an inspiration to us all. 

Read more on our blog

Thing is, gender roles are inherited via the patriarchy and many (if not all) have no basis in physical, mental, or emotional truisms. So we’re going to talk about that tonight, since it’s Women’s History Month and anyone thinking, “when is it men’s history month?” the answer is, “literally every other month. Even February.”

So, gender roles are the social expectations for how individuals are supposed to dress, act, speak, and conduct themselves based on their assigned sex. For example, females are expected to be accommodating and nurturing – motherly – simply because they are women.

This study organizes those characteristics into two categories: 

1) agency: assertiveness, independence, instrumental competence, leadership competence, and 

2) communality: concern for others, sociability and emotional sensitivity

The challenge with gender role stereotypes is that they are broad – general – and rarely apply in their entirety to any single individual. Because individuals are unique. As early as we recognize the social “norm” gender roles, we also experience negative consequences for refusing to conform to them. This articletalks about the gender reinforcement, punishing, and modeling that perpetuates the roles.

• What are some traditional gender roles in place in your home?
• What are some non-traditional gender roles in your home?
• Are gender roles limiting (dangerous?)? If so, how?
• How do you talk to your children about gender roles?
• Does the recent social media rejection of gender as social concept play a part in your family conversations?

Gender role reinforcement is a patriarchal technique to maintain a male-dominated social structure. This article talks about the negative effects of strict patriarchal reinforcement on both girls and boys, in terms of identity, relationships, and even self worth and future mental health.

• Is there a sense of “the patriarchy” in your house? How is it treated? How is it discussed?
• What’s the answer? Should we reject patriarchy in all its iterations? Recognizing the poison of assigning superiority to one gender based solely on a characteristic they cannot take blame for? Or should we work within this dominant (default) system and just try to raise better humans regardless of gender/role?

Read more on our blog

Sigh.

As parents we can all agree that there are certain things we hope for our children, and that we try our best to instill in them. Among them are that they are respectful, kind, and generous. So let’s go ahead and address the elephant in the room. FORCED SHARING DOESN’T WORK. Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, we said it. No, we are not sorry. 

We have all been there, at the play date with the kid who has more “things” than they know what to do with, and a mom that intently reminds them to share every toy they pick up. Depending on the age and developmental maturity of the child, they may not even fully understand what they are being commanded to do. The truth is that children begin to learn the concept of sharing at around age 3, but are not developmentally capable of truly grasping the concept of sharing until roughly 4-5 years old according to most child psychologists. 

There are plenty of articles available where there are suggestions for age-appropriate methods to teach your children to share over time, but that is not what we want to chat about. Let’s talk about what happens when you force your children to share, whether before they are capable of understanding the concept or simply because they do not want to. 

• Consent is not important
• The child is not being given an opportunity to benefit from the positive feelings that stem from being generous or voluntarily doing something good
• The child may be viewed as a “bad kid” if they don’t share with other children
• The child is not allowed to control the property that may be important to them

So let’s talk about why these are important. Consent is a topic we have discussed before within our “Boys will be Boys” series. While that conversation was more specifically geared toward sexual assault and other physical touch, consent is something that is learned very early, and that is learned in these fundamental concepts. Respect for consent (whether received or given) is an important lesson. 

Sharing is not generosity if it is forced, but rather it is simply a mandated reallocation of the use of certain goods and resources. This is why government (entitlement) programs are not beneficial to society as a whole. Instead of creating a society in which people who have extra share freely with those in need, a system is created where a government determines how much of what you have is enough, then takes the rest to distribute to those it deems “in need”. There is nothing voluntary about something that is forced. 

In past episodes we have talked about the importance of extending the same liberty to others that we wish to have for ourselves. By giving our children opportunities to make decisions as to how they will use or share their things allows them to experience the benefit of generosity and empowers them to share as they see fit. 

Generosity is one of the best qualities we can instill in our children. If you have been around for a while you know we talk a lot about concepts of cooperation, accountability, and personal responsibility. These things, combined with generosity and the non-aggression principle (the NAP), are the building blocks of voluntaryism. Voluntaryism is a rejection of the State whereby members of a community self-regulate to ensure the success of the community as a whole. 

Teaching our children these foundational principles ensures that we are raising the next generation to be free-thinking individuals capable of being independently generous without being mandated to do so.

Read more on our blog

It is a big conversation, and one that cannot be condensed into an hour long podcast episode. While we don’t plan to tackle the entirety of the issue in our episode either, we can certainly discuss one piece of it, which is gender inequality and the pay gap. 

There is a great blog post on Salary.com that summarizes various pieces of the conversation, and that provides links to various sources of information such as the Department of Labor blog, reports from the World Economic Forum, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

According to most studies, which rely on data related to similarities in education and years in the workforce, most women are shown to make roughly $0.80-$0.85 per dollar compared to  their male counterparts. Some show ranges of 28%-33% roughly.

What are some of the possible causes of this?

• Women less likely to negotiate a higher salary?
• Women taking more time off to tend to family obligations?
• Women entering lower-wage fields (like education)?
• Women getting behind in their careers with extended time out of the workforce?

While the overall statistics and general data comparisons in most of the studies available do support the existence of a significant pay gap between women and men, they do not account for specific metrics which are also used in the overall valuation of an employee’s contributions. This 256-page report by the US Congress Joint Economic Committee really dives into various measurables used in these studies, but also acknowledges that some of the differences are still unexplained. 

While two persons may have the same level of education and/or hold the same job title, the salaries associated with their positions can vastly differ based on various criteria such as job performance and overall profitability related to the work they do, which may account for some of the unexplained differences in statistics from various studies. 

• What has your professional experience been?
• Have you experienced this in your career, or have you seen it first hand?

In that same report by the US Congress Joint Economic Committee there is a list of suggested solutions for fixing the pay gap. It is no surprise that all of them involve legislation and regulation, but is that the answer? There is undoubtedly discrimination in many workplaces and companies, so what can we do to change the dynamic?

This gap was exacerbated by COVID and women make up a higher percentage of those 2021 exits from the employer workforce (link). They also make up a higher percentage of new businesses being created. So what does that tell us about women and the traditional work environment?

How are you talking to your kids about this topic to prepare them to enter the workforce one day? How are you teaching them to be part of the solution?

Read more on our blog

1. The film the left doesn’t want you to see; blows the lid off what’s reallyhappening in the child sex trafficking (Hollywood customers, Democratic Party donors and operatives)
2. Q Anon conspiracy-riddled fabrication, distorts a very real issue and exploits the children who are truly victims of the heinous crime of trafficking; glorifies one operative (Tim Ballard) with questionable credentials.

The truth is, it’s just a film. Yes, there’s a glorified hero. Yes, there are children depicting the trauma and tragedy of child sex trafficking. Is this the match to light the pyre on the democrats child-trafficking-youth-extension-plot-of-supreme-evil? No. This is clever (?) marketing.

Get the right to claim it’s a “real” story, that it reveals truths only whispered about in conspiracy echo chambers; get the left to claim it’s right-wing propaganda. Both sides will shout until they’re hoars and then they’ll all go see the film.

Meanwhile, Jess and Melissa didn’t see anything about the film because it wasn’t in their internet neighborhoods. We recently talked about how the internet is a wide enough place with smart enough algorithms that we are all living inside customized echo chambers. These are your internet neighborhoods. Mine (Kasie) are:

• Heavily GenX
• Libertarian politics
• Taylor Swift
• Drinking. Lots of Drinking.

The second separate-but-equal internet brew-ha-ha is Barbieheimer. The release of both Oppenheimer and Barbie on the same day (July 21) spawned an internet frenzy around seeing both films to get the film equivalent of sweet-and-savory. Again, this was only part of certain internet neighborhoods. Me and Charlie never saw it, but it was everywhere for Hollie. Who, incidentally, isn’t old enough to see Oppenheimer.

So how does it work? It’s a little bit like the Crisis Cycle in a prior episode. Movie promoters (savvy marketers) identify specific internet neighborhoods through influencers and podcasters. They put the movie’s talking points in those influencers’ space (some of them are probably paid) and then let the frenzy begin. And the more likes, shares, and discussions spawned, the more traction the idea of the film gets. This, as it turns out, translates into ticket sales.

Not convinced? Sound of Freedom – an indie film – has grossed $155 million since its July 4th release. Barbie is on the cusp of $1 billion globally and Oppenheimer is close with $500 million. Like they say, sooner or later that adds up to real money.

Harnessing the echo chambers, it turns out, is a winning marketing strategy. It’s a strategy that will likely shift into high gear as primary season approaches. We’re already seeing Robert Kennedy Jr. make the podcast rounds since mainstream media (MSM) is ignoring him but good. And we’re waiting for the deep bench of Republican primary candidates to get a clue as to how to put themselves in the right echo chambers with Trump sucking up all the air in MSM.

So what’s the appeal? Most listeners believe the niche operatives (podcasters and influencers) are more honest and less biased than MSM. You read that right. Even when they know they’re listening to a podcaster with a lean (er… Meghan Kelly) listeners believe the podcaster is more fair. More truthful. And not beholden to big corporate interests. And YET where are the rules and regulations determining who pays Kelly (Joe Rogan, Russell Brand, all of Barstools)? There aren’t any. So our podcasters are beholden to advertisers just like traditional media and yet we still claim they’re honest, direct, and trustworthy. Why?

Because we want to believe them. We agree with them. And so we want to believe them.

Content creators stoke the rage fire to keep you engaged. They want eyeballs. They want likes, shares, followers, patrons, supporters, and merch buyers.

Content creators make money three ways:

• Streaming itself – YouTube and TikTok both pay creators, Twitch enables in-app tipping
• Merch – popular creators have t-shirts, coffee mugs, hoodies, plushies, etc.
• Patrons – behind the scenes, exclusive interviews, etc. Patrons support for extra access to the creators.

If you’re not buying merch or paying as a patron, you’re at least contributing to some metric that gets the creator paid.

AND until FTX (the digital currency exchange that imploded) we haven’t seen content creators have to pay for saying crazy shit. 

Read more on our blog

The Libertarian Party is a big tent. Someone told me last week he thinks everyone’s a libertarian, they just don’t know it. The Party appealed to me (Kasie) because it’s a place to be socially liberal (marry who you want, wear what you want, etc) and government-conservative (we don’t need laws for every damn thing, ya’ll). But here’s the thing: all big tents got clowns and ours like to show their asses.

Twitter controversy, LPNH is ridiculous. Explain the basics.

Our biggest problem in elections, cycle after cycle, is voters not knowing enough about Libertarian principles to support our candidates. When social media messaging like LPNH’s bullshit hits like it did this week, it’s the rest of us that have to sweep up the shrapnel.

At a time when we need real leadership, what we have is memes and hot takes. Is social media really a place for leadership? For discovering new ideas and exploring potential political fixes?

Every party has fringe members – the extra-woke left, the racist-as-hell right, and our big tent isn’t any different. But shouldn’t we be?

Shouldn’t our principles about granting liberty to others as well as ourselves mean we’re tolerant of the worst of us? Or should those principles mean we don’t accept people who reject others on racist, homophobic, or sexist reasons?

How do we get the right message out when so many wrong messages are louder? More obnoxious? More inflammatory?

Read more on our blog

I grew up in, what was, a very small southern town. It was not unknown that there were some power-seeking police officers patrolling the streets, so when it came time for me to start hanging out with friends independently he gave me a “pocket constitution” and made sure I understood my rights. While he instilled in us (my brother and me) a deep respect for law enforcement and the part they play in our “civilized society”, he was also sure that we knew our constitutional rights and how to demand respect for them from “authorities”.  

I once had the occasion to use this knowledge, which was pretty shocking to the officer who pulled my friend and I over because “there were bumper stickers on the back window”, and who insisted he search the vehicle based on this “probable cause”. He wasn’t keen on being educated by a 16-year old girl who quickly told her friend not to comply and to demand he obtain a warrant should he wish to search the vehicle. Not because we had done anything wrong or had anything to hide, but because the cop was an overzealous powerdrunk asshat who just wanted to bully some kids, and I didn’t intend to aid him with any ease. 

That was where it all started for me, and why today every time there is a news story about someone being killed by use of excessive force at the hands of police officers I get angry. 

Education and Training Reform

There is something very unsettling in the lack of substantive requirement for education and training for Law Enforcement Officers (hereinafter “LEOs”). The Greenville, SC website outlines clearly the requirements for becoming a police officer in South Carolina. “Once employed as a Police Officer in Training, you will attend the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia for 12 weeks. Certified Officers from other states and Military Police may qualify for a 6-week legal portion or a challenge test. The Field Training Program (FTO) is 600 hours. This may be shortened to compensate for prior experience. The probationary period is typically 1 year.”

In contrast, attorneys complete at least 4 years of college to earn a bachelor’s/undergraduate degree, then roughly three years of law school, and oftentimes clerkship. Upon completion they must take an exhaustive Bar Examination in order to earn a license to act in defense of the rights of individuals under the laws. These are the same laws that our LEOs are authorized to use force to uphold should they feel force is necessary, and in some cases such force being lethal. Attorneys go through 7 years of education to understand and argue the laws that LEOs are allowed to enforce, with a badge and a gun, after 12 weeks of academy and 600 hours of field training. 

“One study found that of the 833 hours the average police officer receives in training, 73 of those hours cover firearms skills but only 18 (just 2%) are spent on conflict deescalation (link).” 

Mental Health Resources and Deescalation Training

In January, in the Huntington Park area of Los Angeles, a man named Anthony Lowe was shot and killed by police officers. Anthony was a double amputee who was wheelchair bound. In Deleware, 28 year-old Jeremy McDole was shot by police who approached him, guns drawn, demanding he relinquish his own weapon.

• End pretextual stops, overcriminalization, and the war on drugs
• End no-knock warrants
• End Civil Asset Forfeiture
• End Cash Bail
• End Qualified Immunity

Legislation

In May 2022, Governor McMaster signed into law some police reform efforts (story) (bill) (editorial):

• Bans putting an untrained officer on duty alone
• Expands on what qualifies as police misconduct
• Bans chokeholds across the state (outside of circumstances in which the use of deadly force would be allowed)
• Requires standards be written for law enforcement agencies and penalizes agencies that break those standards
• Expands the definition of “police misconduct” to include failing to intervene or report when a fellow officer engaged in abuse of authority
• Requires law enforcement agencies to quickly document and report misconduct

Then, in June 2023, HB 3532, the so-called “catch-and-release” bill that makes it harder for violent offenders to be released on bail and/or bond, became law. It requires judges to take into account the accused’s prior record before setting bail.

Read more on our blog

1. Are we the beneficiaries of our ancestors’ disdain for authoritarianism, or are we just looking for authority of a different kind?

Photo by Vincent M.A. Janssen on Pexels.com

Living in the US we are taught from very early in our education about the revolution and the freedom our founding fathers wanted. It is human nature to question and challenge authority, but we are freer to do that than in other places in the world. 

1. When is violent uprising warranted, and when do we settle for peaceful protest?

Peaceful: Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks

Violent: Jan 6? Black Lives Matter? Ruby Ridge?

Note- The Peaceful are celebrated while the violent are not. Why?

1. How old should we be before we’re expected to revolt and/or enact change?

Our founding fathers were in their late teens and early twenties when they began their mission to stand against the King in an effort to establish a society founded in liberty. 

1. Are we willing to engage in a complete overthrow of the system for the possibility of something better?

Read more on our blog

In Season 4, Ep 3, we talked about the death of Mallory Beach, and how we use the story as a cautionary tale to talk to our kids about being careful of the company one keeps. For those unfamiliar with the story you can go back and watch that episode, or better yet go check out Mandy Matney’s “Murdaugh Murders Podcast”. Mandy has done an incredible job of covering this unbelievable story from start to now. 

In a VERY broad overview- In February 2019 Alex Murdaugh’s son, Paul, was intoxicated and involved in a boat accident that claimed the life of a young woman named Mallory Beach. This accident set off an incredible series of events and revelations that shone light on decades and generations of corrupt power in the LowCountry of South Carolina. Shortly thereafter, Mallory’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murdaughs, among others. It has been revealed that Alex Murdaugh tried to influence the other parties involved in the accident as well as the investigation into the accident.  

Two years later, in June 2021, Alex Murdaugh found his wife and son, Maggie and Paul, murdered on the grounds of their hunting lodge, Moselle, in Colleton County, South Carolina. 

In September that same year Alex called 911 claiming that he had a flat tire on a back country road, and someone stopped and shot him. It was later revealed, by admission from Alex himself, that it was coordinated so that Alex could appear murdered in order for his older/surviving son to collect an insurance policy. 

In November of the same year Alex was indicted on 19 financial crimes, with 99 charges,  including fraud and embezzlement. It was discovered that he had stolen millions of dollars from his clients, his law firm, financial institutions, and those closest to him. Others are going down with him, but we won’t go down the rabbit hole. 

In the summer of 2022 Alex Murdaugh was charged with the murder of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh after high velocity blood splatter was found on his clothing from the night of the slayings. 

Now we are sitting through “the trial of the century” in South Carolina.This doesn’t even account for the death of Stephen Smith, or the mysterious death of housekeeper Gloria Satterfied (in which Alex committed more insurance fraud to collect money from his homeowners insurance for his housekeeper’s family, then kept it all for himself). There is so much more in between those lines, but that should get you pretty much caught up- at least enough to keep track.  

In our episode last year we talked mostly about the boat crash that claimed the life of Mallory Beach, the impact it had on the other people on the boat that night, and how we use it as a cautionary tale for our kids about choosing friends wisely, and how to remove yourself from dangerous or potentially dangerous situations. 

Now we have a trial where a man who was once one of the more powerful men in our state, and one of the most powerful in the LowCountry, is finally being held accountable for years of corruption and abuse of the system, and defrauding those who trusted him. He is being represented by two high-powered attorneys, one of whom is an elected Senator in SC with a lot of powerful contacts nationally. 

Alex’s attempts to drive the case and establish stories are clear throughout every witness statement that has been provided related to any of the events in this saga. Throughout all the incidents outlined above Alex tried to write his own narrative. At the hospital after the boat crash he tried to create a story with the witnesses to lessen the likelihood that his son would be the focus of any investigation. He did the same with investigators the night of Maggie’s and Paul’s murders. He did it with his mother’s caretaker to make sure she was clear on his alibi. 

National media handling of the case and coverage has been either biased or entirely founded on ignorance. Is there a lesson in this? 

A damning piece of evidence in this case is a Snapchat video Paul Murdaugh posted moments before the murders. Alex had said he was at his mother’s at the time Maggie and Paul were murdered, but his voice is heard (and has been confirmed by multiple sources close to him) on the video. Other videos Paul took show Alex in different clothing earlier in the day, and which has yet to be found. 

Why Harpootlian? Circuit Court Judges are chosen by legislature, so having a high-powered senator as your representation would certainly guarantee your judge is friendly to you, right? Is it fair that power and privilege would allow you to manipulate the system in such a way? How has Judge Cliffton Newman handled the case, and what does it teach our children? 

Innocent until proven guilty- how do we explain to our kids that even someone like Alex Murdaugh deserves representation and a fair trial when he has done so many horrible things to so many good people, and when his lies are stacked on lies and create a mountain that would dwarf Everest?

Read more on our blog

I (Jess) attend a progressive Baptist church, much more love-based and mission driven than the fire and brimstone Southern Baptist Church in which I grew up. Our pastors often talk about responsibilities we have to our communities in our mission to live and serve in the example of Christ. It is a shame that we live in a world where loving your neighbor, the simplest of commandments, is considered “progressive”, but I digress. 

Our Young Adults bible study group is currently working through an interesting book titled The Righteous Mind, Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion written by author Jonathan Haidt. I have not gotten very far into the book, but it provides a summary of the various political parties and the general messages people share in relation to them. Admittedly, I was very curious (probably more skeptical) when we began the study, and jumped ahead to read what “research” had told them about Libertarianism. 

While the author has done a good job of breaking out a lot of policy-related principles, and our disdain for the misuse of government authority, he has left out two of our core and guiding principles that are the most important. The first is the Non-Aggression Principle (the NAP), which is the cornerstone of Libertarianism that rejects the use of force to achieve social or political goals. In short- Don’t hurt people and don’t take their stuff. The second is free will, or the freedom to make the decisions about your own affairs (so long as they don’t infringe on the rights of another). 

So I (Kasie) attended a BIble study last year with a good friend and a group of women who were interested in studying the role of women in the foundation and perpetuation of the Christian church since its founding (i.e. Jesus’s time). We discovered through study that Jesus relied heavily on women in his practice and ministry and that the role(s) of those women have been, over the years, mangled by patriarchal interpretations of Christ.

Now, I am sure you are wondering what any of this has to do with Jesus and talking to our kids about the intersection of politics and religion. The answer is simple… Jesus was a Libertarian, and both the Non-Aggression Principle and the concept of free will support this statement, even in the most elementary of ways.

There are many examples written in the Gospels, but these three examples are simple and relatable when we are having conversations with kids about the correlation between core Libertarian principles and the teachings of Christ/Word of God:

1. God’s love is not contingent upon compliance, but rather it is given freely and humans were given the freedom to choose whether they accept his love and his grace
2. The Ten Commandments include not killing and not stealing (which sounds an awful lot like the NAP)
3. There are numerous accounts of Jesus healing the sick and feeding the poor without mandate, support, or even permission from the government
4. He even turned water into wine, making him, quite possibly, the most notorious bootlegger ever (that is a joke, guys) – yeah, but I know of Bible study in Spartanburg called What Would Jesus Brew. They meet at a brewery.

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Do you find yourself trying to model your children’s childhood experiences after your own? We are not our children’s tour guide through life. Are we using our parents’ strategies/styles? 

Do you consider your parents role models in how you raise your kids? We all take things from our parents. 

Do you have a vision for the kind of parent you want to be? The vision is less “what kind of parent do I want to be” and more “ Who do I want her to be, and what can I do to build my child up”. 

Do your wishes drive you to push your kids into extra-curriculars?

Are those visions determined by your kid’s specific needs?

Did the LP influence your parenting? If so, how? Having like-minded peers who support your ideals and principles. 

As a family unit how are you function? Is a more important conversation than “are you a good mom”

In the end, it’s our kids’ success that determines whether or not we were good parents. True or false? When do we say the people we know — our siblings? — are not our parents’ fault? But the result of their own choices? 

Can we, as parents, take responsibility for our kids misbehaving? Should we? How about accepting responsibility for their social or political views? 

How can we possibly know what to do without patching together a network of experts, instructions, peer pressure, and instinct?

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Photo by Andy Barbour on Pexels.com

Occupational licensing is the process which one must go through to be permitted to perform specific services. The idea behind occupational licensing is to have a mechanism by which the State can “protect the public” by regulating certain types of business and certain industries. If you are interested, SC Code of Laws Section 40 is the section of the SC Code which addresses this process. 

There are/have been three Bills in South Carolina related to Occupational Licensing Reform. In May, our Legislature passed, and our Governor signed, House Bill 3605 called the “EARN AND LEARN ACT”. This revision to the Code Section 40 was to go into effect immediately upon signature of the Governor, and it does three things: 

1. It tightens the process for investigations of complaints against someone’s license and provides more visibility into the process:

This theoretically adds a layer of accountability, but you’ll forgive us if we are skeptical. There are plenty of things in place to hold our government responsible for its actions, yet here we are, week after week, talking about how the government has failed. But, I digress.

1. Prohibits the denial of a license to someone with certain prior criminal convictions:

As decided by who? There is no specification as to what “certain” prior convictions qualify and which ones disqualify a person. While it may seem this is a step in the right direction toward Criminal Justice Reform, it is never a good idea to leave something so important, without specific parameters, up to Bureaucrats. 

1. Allows for one, who has met all the licensure requirements for training, education, and testing, to work in a field while awaiting the completion of the licensing process.

The second Bill is Senate Bill 165. This Bill is currently in the Senate, out of committee and pending vote. If passed in the Senate, it will go to the House, then to the Governor. This Bill is very similar to House Bill 3605, but has more emphasis on the denial based on criminal conviction. 

This Bill (165) provides stricter parameters for those decisions by clarifying that denial cannot be based on a prior criminal conviction unless it is a conviction related to a crime in that field of business where the individual is seeking licensure. This bill repeals, in its entirety, the previous sections addressing the issue. This Bill also allows for apprenticeship as a qualification standard. 

The last, and perhaps the most impactful of the three, is House Bill 3515, also called the “ENTREPRENEUR FREEDOM ACT”. This Bill is in Committee, but my sources say that it is highly likely to die there. Do you wonder why? This Bill (3515) provides for the deregulation of a number of professions requiring licensure: 

HAIR BRAIDING PRACTITIONER 

EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS

DIETITIANS

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

PSYCHOLOGISTS

SOCIAL WORKERS

SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS AND AUDIOLOGISTS

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS

LICENSED PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL SPECIALISTS

GEOLOGISTS

AUCTIONEER

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On February 24, 2019 Paul Murdaugh and five of his friends were attending an Oyster Roast, traveling by boat. After stopping at a gas station to purchase booze with his brother’s ID he and his friends took his family’s boat. After a few hours at the Oyster Roast they took to the waterways, stopping in Downtown Beaufort for a beverage at a local bar. An allegedly already intoxicated Paul Murdaugh was served shots before heading back to the dock. He and his friends hopped in the boat and took to the water. Shortly after he ran the boat into a piling near Archer’s Creek Bridge just off Parris Island. 

Years of corruption, drugs, fraud, malpractice, and death have come to light after the accident as Patriarch Alex Murdaugh, despite all his efforts, could not stop the unraveling that began that night. 

The Murdaugh family holds a lot of power in the South Carolina LowCountry, and they have for generations. People are drawn to power and privilege, so much so that they sometimes look past shortcomings of those who hold it and the dangers created by the illusion that by association they are “untouchable”. The truth is that all the power and privilege in the world can’t make any of us invincible. 

The thing about “power” is that the holder only has so much as those around them will allow them to have. The community allowed the Murdaugh family enough power and privilege to escape accountability at every turn. Sounds a lot like a certain government we all know, huh?

• How do we talk about “power” with our kids? What responsibilities accompany it?
• How do we talk about “privilege” with our kids?

The story that is being written in our own backyard has opened the door for many conversations with our kids. Every new piece of information in the story sets the scene for a new chapter to be penned. Privilege and corruption are prevalent conversations out of the story, but most importantly is the conversation around the importance of choosing your company wisely, and how the decisions of the company you keep can have serious consequences for you. 

• Eventually the bad choices of the company you keep will have a direct impact on you.
• How are you talking to your kids about resisting bad influences and making sound decisions?

In Libertarian circles we talk a lot about voluntary association, and if nothing else comes out of this story it has certainly provided a strong cautionary tale for parents to use in conversations about the importance of being careful when choosing what company you keep, and the importance of resistance against negative influences.

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So it’s been a while since we did a live show and that’s because some crazy shit has gone down in the last few weeks. We went to the Libertarian Party national convention in Reno (Kasie and Jess and Melissa’s husband) which was kind of a shit show and then we all had covid. Well, again, Kasie and Jess. Then, fresh off covid, we had our South Carolina state convention to nominate candidates for political office in this state and lo and behold Jessica Ethridge was nominated to run for Lieutenant Governor on a ticket with journeyman candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves who was looking for a political home and seems to have finally found it with the SCLP. Congrats to Dr. Reeves and Jessica.

Check out their website here!

In addition, our own journeyman candidate, Melissa Couture, is throwing her hat in the ring for school board which is a race she didn’t need state party approval for, but is not her first time on the ballot. So congrats, Melissa.

This episode we talk to both Jess and Melissa about being candidates, taking the LP message forward, fighting off the stigma of national LP bullshit and finding balance between work, family, and public service.

We also talk about elections as voluntary service to your community, not launchpads for international stardom and riches.

We talk about the real issues facing voters in our state and how we keep being distracted by the bull shit distracting us from solving real problems as community participants.

Finally, we’ll touch on some of the anticipated learning we expect our campaigns will bring and we can circle back to these fears in December.

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In October 2021 the FDA received a whistleblower complaint regarding conditions in Abbott Laboratories. There was no action until late December, when the investigation was initiated, followed by inspection in January 2022 and recall following in February. Abbott holds about 43% of the market share, according to a 2011 USDA Report (most recent data available). Abbott is also has exclusive contracts with many states’ WIC programs and USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) which provide nutritional services to low-income families. 

• Only three major companies control the vast majority of the baby formula market
• Roughly 98% of baby formula distributed in the US is manufactured domestically
  • Due to regulation it is very difficult to import any supply from international providers
• The shortage is disproportionately impacting those low-income families relying upon government assistance to provide formula

Of course the government’s response to the problem it created was to throw more money at it. This week congress approved a $28 million emergency spending bill to assist low-income families with purchasing baby formula. Because let’s not address the root of the problem, right? This is a perfect example of how regulation can stifle competition and cripple the market.

Baby food isn’t the only market that’s being unveiled as crooked, crony, government shenanigans. Supply chain woes caused by covid have revealed broken systems in:

• Meat packing
• Student loan services providers and college ed (link) – so-called “scam schools” like the Marinello Schools of Beauty were found to be over-charging and under-providing and so $238M in loans to such schools were “forgiven” – meaning the students and the schools are off the hook. But guess who’s on it? Taxpayers.
• Big tech
• Crypto
• And every Libertarian’s favorite, the fed (link) – who “hiked” interest rates by a ½ point in a continuing effort to control the economy. Cuz yeah. Central control of the economy is a real thing, right? right?

And those war- and inflation-driven problems in the energy sector (link) and retail (link)

Thankfully, there’s the Democrats to blame “greedflation” (link) or corporations and swiftly prepare legislation that would limit profits. Cuz yeah. That’ll work. ::facepalm::

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• Are your kids in-person or virtual, and what has the experience been like so far?
• How are your schools handling contact?
• Are we better at it than we were last year?

We are hearing so many tales of unruly parents like this story of parents yelling at school board members. But also hearing stories like this one from 2020’s election cycles when parents began running for School Board seats to make a difference.

• What are the concerns and complaints you are hearing from other parents?
• What are the concerns and complaints you are hearing from your kids’ teachers and staff?

We are not unsympathetic to people who work in this environment when they feel their own health is at risk, but this year we know much more than we did last year about this virus and ways to prevent transmission, and also you can be vaccinated if you choose to do so. As Libertarians, we’re generally opposed to mandates, so we believe people should do what they think is right, and it should be voluntarily. We talked in our last episode about being part of a community and the respect we owe to one another. 

Masks have been a very hot topic in that regard, especially as it relates to school. Is “masking up” a choice each parent should make for their own kid? Why or why not?

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Branding matters for consistency and professionalism. BUT great branding can’t cover up bad positions. And no by needs that many palm cards, handouts, banners, and other suchness. We need metrics for realistic purchases of these kinds of materials.

What are the relevant milestones? Do we now know what to expect in engagement on social media, event attendance, etc? What are unrealistic expectations for engagement or attention?

What do voters care about? How do you earn their trust enough to be able to ask them?

What did we learn crafting positions on all these topics?

How much support (money, volunteers, media coverage) do we need?

If someone is thinking about running for office, why would you tell them NOT to? Why would you tell them they should?

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While all demographics were affected by the pandemic, the lockdowns, and the raging debates over vaccines and mandates, we represent a very specific group: working moms. We are (mostly) on the millennial-side of GenX – in our 40s – and have kids in elementary and middle school – two high schoolers now. Melissa works part-time from home, Jess full-time from home, and Kasie full-time outside of home (but it’s academia and there’s lot of flexibility). We were fortunate to stay employed during COVID, but our experiences are not unique: overwhelmed, confused, angry, frustrated, sad, scared, and fed-up. 

If you hadn’t had the “I’m the only grown up in the room,” realization before COVID, no way you came out the other side of it without at least once saying, “Why are all the so-called adults idiots?”

So tonight we’re talking about the impacts of the COVID crisis – and make no mistake it was the perfect storm of crises – on working moms.

Let’s break it into categories of crisis.

• Your family. Your kid’s schooling.
• Your employer. Your job.
• Your mental health. Your coping mechanisms.
• The aftermath: what has irrevocably changed and what has (frustratingly or thankfully) gone back to “normal.”

Your Family: what did you learn about the people you live with? Do you like them? Are they fun? My sister accused my family of having a “covid bubble” wherein we got really close, established inside jokes, and actually like one another. It’s alienating, she said, to anyone who’s not us. What about school? What did you learn about your kid’s school? This created a surge in school board candidates and elections. The near-total incompetence of the government-run school system was on display. Our superintendent resigned this year under pressure that began during COVID.

Your employer: how did your business handle the lockdowns? What was the effect on your job? On company culture? On your industry? Has it been easier or harder since then to get back to pre-pandemic levels of productivity? We know a lot of industries are still recovering from the pandemic-caused supply-chain disruptions. Our legislators are quick to make laws forcing industry to recover, but these things have to work themselves out. Who should solve the problems the pandemic caused?

Your mental health: What did you learn about your own ability to cope during COVID? I’m a social person, so not seeing people nearly crushed me. We started having socially-distanced driveway happy hours. Every day, not just Fridays. It really helped us to see our neighbors and friends during COVID. Our family was a spectrum of caution. Some didn’t care one bit, or at least thought the risk was worth it to be together. Others were very cautious. I need exercise, too. It keeps me sane. So my daily walking habit with my friend and neighbor helped a lot. We played a lot of golf, Charlie and me. 

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Sadly, a chamber full of old white men were able to draft and pass legislation that is a gross violation of womens’ rights to make medical decisions about their bodies. Thankfully, the South Carolina Supreme Court recently ruled that such a ban violates the right to privacy for women, and they nixed the whole thing. Now, these statements are always ones that get folks worked up, so before we spiral into an abyss of hostility, let’s talk about this like reasonable people. 

One of the things people often say is that the “purpose” of these bans is to “protect the sanctity of life” or the “rights of the unborn”. While it is certainly true that life is sacred, and we can have all sorts of conversations about when life begins, it is not the place of the government to be an enforcer of morality. There are instances when women are not given a choice in getting pregnant, and forcing them to carry a pregnancy to term is cruel. 

For example, if a woman (teenaged or otherwise) becomes pregnant as a result of being raped would you stand face to face with her and tell her that she must carry to term a pregnancy that is the result of one of the most violent acts a human can take on another? Where do her rights begin in this situation? 

OR- what if a woman finds out mid-pregnancy that the child she carries will almost certainly claim her life if she carries to term? Where do her rights begin in this situation? 

Another reason many support these bans is because they are concerned with late-term abortions or partial birth abortions.The fact of the matter is that this is not the norm. Women are not just getting pregnant for fun, carrying a baby for 7-8 months, then having an abortion. I have been pregnant twice, and I can tell you that the idea of this happening with regularity is absolutely absurd. 

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The latest crisis to obsess some digital parts of the USA is the imminent takeover of Twitter by the billionaire Elon Musk. Musk has said he will remove the restrictive censorship policies at the social media platform and work to develop the technology so the service acts more like a public square. So we can unpack that a little, I mean, everyone is talking about it.

But let’s also talk about social media in general and how young it is and how we don’t always get the business model or understand the real opportunity or risk of social media. 

Then let’s talk about how online outrage seems to be our new favorite thing to do. We love to be caught up in the drama of the celebrities-said-and-then-we-said-and-you-should-be-mad-because. Okay. It’s exhausting. That’s not even all the things that belong in that hyphenated hysterical expression. Here’s a quick where you stand:

Have you recently received via text a tiktok video?

Are you aware Johnny Depp has been testifying this week?

Has anyone ever called your attention to a drama unfolding and you realized, too late, that it was on Facebook?

Do you have rules for your own social media usage?

What about rules for your kids’ social media usage?

What’s the right way to contextualize what they/we are seeing online?

How can we get back into the real world and put perspective on the shit happening online?

It’s all a business, right, so does knowing the business side of it help? Or does our logical business brain just annoy those social media junkies? (LOL)

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The founding principle of Libertarianism is… wait for it… Liberty. Freedom of choice, of association, and of all things. It is the idea that so long as you are not infringing on the rights of someone else you should be able to live your life, do with your body and your property however you see fit. 

It is vitally important to a free society for its people to understand what the concept of liberty means, but we often forget the topic of responsibility. You cannot have one without the other. 

We have covered the topics of Personal Responsibility and Accountability in prior episodes. In that same vein is the topic of “Community” and why this concept is equally important. In being free we all have a certain level of responsibility to one another and to our communities, to share the resources we have available to us that contribute to the overall health of our communities. 

Do you remember 9/11/2001? Where were you when you heard the news? 

What was your initial reaction to the event? To the war that followed?  

I lectured this week in my Strategic Management class on 9/11. Many of my students were just one and two years old when 9/11 happened so I spent a lot of time connecting the emotions of 9/11 — shock, sadness, grief, fear — to the pandemic and its impact on their generation. They’re the same age we were. Just beginning their lives albeit under this cloud of terror and authoritarianism.

How do we utilize creative outlets for expression and to expand our children’s educational experience? What arts exposure do our kids have and how do we contextually use it?

For years, Hollie and I have attended Dracula at the Columbia ballet. Partly because it’s vampires and partly because it’s ballet. She’s been dancing since she was three and while it’s not a career-choice or even something she’s particularly passionate about, she loved the art of ballet. And we love stage performances. We’ve also done touring Broadway shows and theatre camps and live music of all kinds.

Why is an exposure to arts important for kids?

Are you satisfied with the opportunities for arts your kids get through their school? In your community?

If you have never heard the story about how Kasie and Jessica became friends, here is the Cliff’s Notes version:

The two embarked upon the journey that was the 2020 Libertarian Party National Convention in Orlando, Fl. During the 8 hour drive they learned of their shared parenting styles, a shared love of all things Clemson Football, and a shared (and possibly unhealthy) obsession with Hamilton. 

It is indisputable that Lin Manuel-Miranda has captured audiences with his lyrical and melodical genius, which has led many to a newfound curiosity, possibly obsession, about our founding fathers. Played by an all-minority cast, LMM reached audiences who would never know much more about the “old white men” they see on our money and in history textbooks. Watching Hamilton’s incredible cast doesn’t erase the dark side of our Founding Fathers’ history, though. 

We all know their remarkable (favorable) accomplishments, including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Built an army and defeated the world’s biggest Superpower (at that time)
2. Created a new society allowing for social and financial prosperity through liberty
3. Created new financial system
4. Created complex legal systems to allow for fair and equitable justice
5. Built a whole new progressive system of government

We have covered some ground on the topics of Accountability and Personal Responsibility. These ideas are important to a free society. Stemming from these topics is the concept of fiscal responsibility. That term is most commonly used when discussing government finances. Unless you have been living under a rock you know that balancing taxation and spending are not exactly the strong suit of our government. 

According to the Congressional Budget Office the US government budgeted for revenue in 2021 of $3.8 trillion with spending budgeted for $6.8 trillion. Quick math, that leaves us saddled with debt in the amount of $3 trillion. According to the US Debt Clock our national debt is more than $28 Trillion as of 7/31/2021, and rising as we breathe. 

Are your kids aware of government spending- State or Federal? Do you have discussions in your home? 

This is about patriarchy, purity culture (and the toxicity thereof), and how we talk to and teach our kids about boundaries (sexual or otherwise).

Let’s start with a few truths:

1. Patriarchy is a social construct that values men over women, boys over girls, and relegates women and children to the lesser position after Father and Husband. It is not Christian — it exists in non-Christian culture; it is not American — it exists in Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and European cultures as well.
2. To identify patriarchy and want to reject it, in your home, your relationships, and especially with your children, does not mean you do not value men, love your male partners, friends, and children, or that you want to be asexual or homosexual.
3. Patriarchy is not just damaging to women and girls, it is the source of toxic masculinity, it puts an unfair burden on men to provide, lead, and make decisions on their own, without the benefit of partnership with their wives.

That said, there are a dozen manifestations of patriarchy that are so damaging as to be handicapping to children. In this episode we are taking on one specific one, courtesy of our guest, Cayce LaCorte, whose viral TikTok rant on virginity being a construct of the patriarchy got her noticed by, among others, Buzzfeed.

Welcome, Cayce, to the show.

Our first episode in the Don’t Violate my NAP was on bullying. You can find it here.

This time, we’re talking about discipline. 

How and when do you discipline your kids?

Something that gets everybody weighing in — how do I discipline my child? Let’s start with why.

• Why do we discipline? (from this blog)
  • To grow responsible adults
  • Help them manage anxiety — they don’t want to be in charge, freedom is overwhelming
  • Encourage good choices and build decision-making skills
  • Teach kids to manage their own emotions
  • Keep kids safe — the “not yours” vs. “no!” strategy

Our guests are:

Jason Lyon, also known as “Mr. Murica”, host of The Bearded Truth on Muddied Waters Media. Jason has  participated in many activism opportunities, worked as a grass-roots director at a large liberty-leaning think tank, and is the father to two precious girls. 

You already know Casey Crowe from prior episodes. He’s the chair of the Lexington County LP and member of the state party’s IT committee. Casey is yin to our yang, and always a voice of reason. Using his steady hand and calming demeanor to raise his own little porcupine. 

As we kick off Season 3 in the middle of Pride Month we thought it would be a fitting time to address how we are discussing the topics LGBTQ+ with our kids. This is a hot topic, and one that tends to become very divisive. We hope in this episode to give you some insight into not only how we talk to our kids about these topics, but how we talk to one another as well.

We are excited to have Ashley Shade join us for this episode. Ashley is the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts. She is also the Chair of Outright Libertarians, an organization that seeks to serve as a bridge to the GSM Community from the Libertarian party, that works to educate the GSM Community, and that tirelessly serves the GSM Community by making sure that the rights of the Community are always included in any conversation about the Party’s Platform or policy discussions. Ashley is also a Transgender woman. 

What was your first experience with an LGBTQ+ individual? Did your parents talk to you about them?

What do your kids ask about in regards to LGBTQ+ community? Have you discussed the community in your family?

Kasie’s family is flying their Pride flag all month on the front of the house and her daughter, Hollie (13) wanted to make sure we mentioned normalizing LGBTQ+ and that might mean by not having “the talk” about it, but simply accepting individuals for who they are.

We recapped a little of S3E1 with Ashley Shade in terms of “being gay is about who you love, being trans is about who you are,” and some other key learning we got out of that episode.

We’d hoped to visit with AJ Campbell. AJ is a fierce Libertarian, serving as the Chair of the Libertarian Party of Tennessee, and she is also a badass mom of a Trans son. But internet connectivity was spotty so we’re going to have a special recorded episode with her so we can edit out any connectivity problems and create a seamless show.

Episode art: Photo by Cliff Booth on Pexels.com

So, Hollie’s attending Girls Rock Camp again this summer (hopefully) for the fifth year. Her first year she heard the word “consent.” She was nine. And, yes, it was in the context we think of it in: sexuality. I wasn’t in any way worried about this, in fact, I was grateful. What they taught her was that no one should touch her without her permission. That means friends’ hugs, family members’ hugs, and especially those creepy behaviors we sometimes excuse away when little girls worry about them.

“He does that because he likes you.”

With “that” meaning chase you on the playground, sit too close to you on the floor, hit you, pull your hair, hug you, or even kiss you without your permission.

We say, “Boys will be boys,” and this episode is about why that’s exactly the wrong approach.

Libertarians are consent culture in action. You cannot tax me without my consent. You cannot enter my home, seize my property, or require me to send my child to school without my consent.

As moms of boys, I think Jess and Melissa are uniquely qualified to talk about what the word “consent” means in their house and how they’re talking to their sons about it. Because, honestly, I can’t fix what the boy does or says to Hollie. I can only control how she responds.

So:

• Is the word “consent” part of the vocabulary?
• What are the definitions you give for it?
• What examples do you use to help them understand?
• When did it become part of the conversation?

We think of consent as being part of a sex conversation and that may be why people shy away from it. This article offers some advice, breaking it down by age. Since our kids are all over the age of 5, we’ll start with ages 5-12:

• The way their bodies change is great, but can be confusing.
• Encourage them to talk about what feels good and what doesn’t.
• Teach kids to use safe words during play, indicators that they need help to get out of a tough situation.
• Teach them to stop play now and then to make sure everyone’s okay with what’s happening.
• Don’t tease kids for boy-girl relationships
• Teach them their behavior affects others
• Then for teens:
• The good touch / bad touch is still really important here, so keep that dialogue open
• Keep building their self esteem, reminding them of their value
• Keep having the sex talks and ask things like, “how do you know a partner is ready to kiss you?”

We play a sort of broken version of The Newlywed Game where we try to guess what our spouse would say about certain things. One thing was for sure: these guys support their Libertarian wives. 

Thanks to Brian Couture, Michael Ethridge, and Charlie Whitener for guesting on the show.

Episode art: Photo by Giftpundits.com on Pexels.com

Episode art: Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

It is a fact of life that we will all experience loss in our lives. Loss of loved ones to death, loss of a job or other opportunity, and loss of relationships are things that are not new to any of us who have made it well into adulthood. As adults we are seasoned in dealing with loss (well, most of us are generally at least somewhat prepared to have to deal with it), but we don’t always consider how loss impacts our children. 

This article was especially insightful, and in the article “10 Ways to Help a Grieving Child” there are some really helpful suggestions. 

Is it sometimes difficult for adults to remember the range of emotions we felt as children in various experiences we might have had? 

• What is your earliest memory of experiencing grief?
• What are some ways we can relate to our children as they navigate these difficult emotions?
  • How do you listen?
  • How do you acknowledge?
  • How do you reassure?

How do we find comfort?

Jess: When we planned to discuss in this week’s episode how we help our children through grief we had no idea how the topic would change in tone and cadence. When we initially planned this week’s episode I (Jessica) had just buried my grandfather, and was mourning the loss. I was also helping my children grieve the loss of their last living great-grandfather, which is something I am still working on, but this week we are also grieving as a nation. 

As we discuss the topic of personal/individual grief it is also important to discuss community grief. This week Officer Derrick Chauvin was found guilty on three separate charges related to the death of George Floyd. Moments before the verdicts were read to him in open court the news broke of another officer-involved shooting in Columbus, OH, where 16 year-old Ma’khia Bryant was fatally shot by a police officer in an altercation outside her foster home. In the bodycam footage of the incident, Bryant appeared to be brandishing a weapon and attempting to inflict bodily harm or death upon another teenage girl. 

• Are your kids aware of these events?
• Have you had conversations with your kids about this week’s events?

We can discuss the particulars of the incident. We can dissect who we think was right and who was wrong, this person’s character and that other person’s intent, but the common theme is grief as a community. 

Grief that a man was killed by an officer who was sworn to protect and serve, and grief that a young girl lost her life at the hands of an officer who was trying to protect another child from injury or death. Perhaps the death of Ma’khia Bryant hits a little differently for our kids since she was just a kid too. Our kids need to understand that it is ok to feel the range of emotions that accompany difficult situations whether impacting them individually or those that impact their community. They need to know they are supported, but more importantly how to support one another in grief as well. Let’s teach them well.

Episode art: Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Tonight we take on all those insecurities in modern parenthood. Namely: How do you know that you are doing a decent job? Well adjusted, kind, respectful, positive feedback from others. 

Do you find yourself trying to model your children’s childhood experiences after your own? We are not our children’s tour guide through life. Are we using our parents’ strategies/styles? 

Do you consider your parents role models in how you raise your kids? We all take things from our parents. 

Do you have a vision for the kind of parent you want to be? The vision is less “what kind of parent do I want to be” and more “ Who do I want her to be, and what can I do to build my child up”. 

Do your wishes drive you to push your kids into extra-curriculars?

Are those visions determined by your kid’s specific needs?

Did the LP influence your parenting? If so, how? Having like-minded peers who support your ideals and principles. 

As a family unit how are you function? Is a more important conversation than “are you a good mom”

In the end, it’s our kids’ success that determines whether or not we were good parents. True or false? When do we say the people we know — our siblings? — are not our parents’ fault? But the result of their own choices? 

Can we, as parents, take responsibility for our kids misbehaving? Should we? How about accepting responsibility for their social or political views? 

How can we possibly know what to do without patching together a network of experts, instructions, peer pressure, and instinct?

Episode art: Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Pexels.com

From “experiments in independence” to “gross negligence” there are a LOT of ways to see so-called “free range parenting.”

In this article for NPR, a certain mom pushes back against haters by reminding them that numbers of missing children are actually at an all-time low while perceptions of the dangers of kidnapping are elevated.

We’re in an era when being overprotective is what’s expected and fostering freedom is seen as bad parenting. The organization Let Grow was founded with the intention of opening these conversations up for deeper debate.

• Why do we think the world’s too scary for our kids to navigate?
• What does it do to kids to curb their freedom?
• How can parents responsibly “let grow” without risking ridicule or legal persecution?

In what can only be called irony, there are schools setting up “free play clubs” with no supervision or scripted activities. Aren’t those gangs? The NPR article from above mentions this. So …

• Do we need organized permission to allow our kids to be free?
• Why do we need consensus, support, or organizational planning for this? Isn’t it intuitive?
• Are the social shaming or visions of disaster enough to persuade us to subjugate our kids?

According to Let Grow’s interactive map, South Carolina’s laws are actually some of the most supportive of children’s independence.

I love this blog talking about parenting out of habit and saying things we think might be helpful, but mostly just because they were said to us.

• How many of our rules are about habit?
• How many of the restrictions we place on our kids are about what’s expected instead of what’s best for them?
• How many rules are about what we’ve been told is best, not necessarily what’s been proven?

If one more person told me to put Hollie on a schedule when she was a baby I would have decked them. The daycare wanted me to put her down for a nap on Saturdays and Sundays at the same time. Um. No. I ran her until she passed out because I had better things to do than beg her to nap and listen to her cry and deny her time with me playing to maintain some weird ritual.

• Were you the mom that planned the weekend around the kid’s nap time?
• Are such things an infringement on their personal freedom?
• When do you trust them to make the right choice? To use their best judgment?

And finally, 6 pros and cons of Free Range Parenting.

Episode art: Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

In Season 1, Episode 14, we covered the first part of this conversation which focused on the need for open discussion about Mental Health. If you haven’t watched it you can watch it here.

Equally important a discussion is one about how we support our children and why focusing on mental health is important. Mental health and wellbeing have become more present in all parenting conversations with articles published regularly that outline the challenges kids are facing, and the impacts of the pandemic.

A recent article published in the Dayton Daily News provides some pretty alarming statistics. But the importance of mental health isn’t just true in just pandemic or time of societal strife.

We saw the need for the conversations before the pandemic with the rise of school shootings from Columbine to Sandy Hook, and more recently (and more locally) Townville Elementary here in the Upstate of South Carolina. In all of these stories, a common theme of parents not understanding how to talk to their kids about what help they needed emerged. Parents not being equipped to have mental health conversations with their kids.

For far too long, the discussion around mental health has been discouraged, and mental illness itself has been stigmatized in a way that is grossly detrimental to the health of a society as a whole. 

1. What challenges have you faced in raising your children, or seen in the children in your circles and families?
2. How do you talk to your kids about their mental health?
3. How do you support your children to make sure their mental health is nurtured in the same way as their physical health?
4. How do we, as parents, ensure that the next generation shatters the stigma and works toward a future where people care for one another?
5. How do we support each other as parents in recognizing mental health crises and managing them?
6. How is all this important as we work toward a free and voluntary society?

Regardless of your experience with kids who have mental illness or other challenges, you can support your community by allowing for discussion without judgment and fostering an environment of support.

No one is suggesting that not talking to your kids about their mental health makes you a bad parent or that the parents of the kids who commit atrocities like Columbine, Va Tech, Sandy Hook, or countless others are bad parents. Ya’ll know we don’t judge like that.

What we are passionate about is awareness. And being armed with the resources, links, friends, support, and compassion you need to usher in a new era of mental well being. Teach your kids about being healthy not just through diet, exercise, and standing up to bullies, but through recognizing their own challenges, struggles, and developing the awareness and courage to ask for help.

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Wanna send us your money? Give it to the SCLP for now. We’re still deciding how and if we’re gonna make this a thing.

Episode art: Photo by C Technical on Pexels.com

When Hollie was little, I used to send kids home when they asked for food. They could have water and they had to drink it in the kitchen. Sometimes I made popcorn. But they had to eat it in the kitchen.

We leave cookies and candy on the bottom shelf of our pantry, easily accessible by Hollie and her pint-sized friends. But Hollie knew how much she was allowed to have. The others? Not so much. They were denied access to snacks and candy and would binge. I mean, BINGE the food if it was made available.

I told Hollie it was my intention to be the meanest mom in the neighborhood. Want a soda? Go home. Juice? Go home. Snack? Home. Home. Home. And I told Hollie that under no circumstances should she ask for or accept snacks anywhere else. If she was hungry, she should come home.

Is that the kind of mean we’re talking about? Or is it more like: Hollie wants to quit swim and I won’t let her.

When does “being mean” cross over from teaching manners and resilience to neglect and abuse? No one is suggesting that you should say ugly things, hurt your children, or deny them basic freedoms and comforts.

What we’re suggesting is that parenting requires a kind of distance. The kind that might mean your kids don’t always like you. 

And it’s a good thing they don’t always like you. If they did, you’re doing it wrong.

Kids don’t like what’s good for them:

• Vegetables — how do you make your kids eat?
• Homework — how do you look over their school and study habits?
• Exercise — how do you ensure they’re getting enough?
• Outside time vs. screen time — how do you keep a healthy balance of each?
• Money — how do you teach them to earn and then spend (not the reverse)?
• Manners — how do you instruct them to be politely inquisitive and not nosey or naggy? Eat like clean, rational humans, not neanderthals?

What role does obedience play in these interactions?

How much free will are your children exercising at any given time?

How do we rationalize liberty and parenting? 

Kids don’t know what’s best for them, they have limited experience. It’s our job, as parents, to leverage our own experience to direct theirs. And that can sometimes feel like bossing them around, being authoritarian, or hard work to maintain discipline and resist the temptation to be liked.

Episode art: Photo by David McBee on Pexels.com

All right, in the first place, we think of this as “Don’t hurt people. Don’t take their stuff.” And we think about “stuff” as including property. After all, the founding fathers wanted “life, liberty, and property” as the inalienable rights.

Turns out property is a limited commodity and so not inalienable, but whatever.

Now, though, property rights tend to be applied primarily to the land upon which you live, the assets which you possess, and the nouns you have dominion over — people, places, and things — where you are in control of the treatment and destiny thereof.

To this point, Exhibit A: Family buys land, decides to live on it during the pandemic because, you know, self sufficiency and covid restrictions and all that. (this link) The county decided — you read that right — the county acting on behalf of all its citizens decided that this man, who bought this property, needed to register his residence, and pay appropriate taxes on the dwellings that were not there.

Because let’s be honest, these power grabs are always about paying the appropriate taxes to have the inalienable rights we’re told we already have.

“Before I could go to court, they showed up at my property, the building inspector and the code enforcement officer, and told me that I had to be off my land or they were going to seize my vehicles and my assets…”

So not only is the county making decisions about what he can do with his own property and what dwellings are fit to live in, they are threatening his compliance by seizure of the very properties it deems unworthy of the man’s living.

What the actual … ?

Try this statement: “Leslie joins a growing list of cases involving homeowner’s rights, at a time when compassion could go a long way.” Looking at you, Polk County, for being the dicks on today’s podcast.

So let’s talk about this for a second. Whose land is it? What rights do you actually have on your own land?

Then let’s talk about city and county ordinances and who they benefit and why they’re passed.

Then let’s talk about HOA ordinances and other low-stakes, but ridiculous threats standards that have us all running scared to build a deck or paint our front doors orange.

When do you rights begin and your neighbor’s rights end?

What are the mechanisms for determining whose rights supercede another’s?

And finally, because this is the whole point of the broadcast, how do you explain this shit to your kids?

Episode art: Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

It’s a pretty common story in this day and age. Kids graduating high school with the expectation is that they will go to college and get a degree. Whether because their peers are doing it, their guidance counselors are pushing them toward it, or because their families have the expectation, more and more kids are opting to go to college upon high school graduation. 

Placing value on vocational training, trade school and community colleges has seemingly become a thing of the past as more and more people are placing more value on those degrees than the alternative. 

For decades alternative paths (which used to be primary) have become more stigmatized and yet, kids are borrowing more and more money to fund what amounts to a rite of passage, while our government continues to subsidize public universities (link). 

All the while there are shortages of qualified workers to fill skilled positions such as plumbers, electricians, welders, etc., many of which are respectable trades wherein workers make six figures a year (link).

TV Personality Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs and Deadliest Catch) has been a huge supporter of trades and community college. His foundation Mike Rowe Works is working to promote those opportunities available. Rowe, and allies promotethe means to achieve success in needed, high-paying fields without racking up tons of college debt. 

A good bit of this comes down to: How do we measure the success of a society? Is it intellect, thinking, and innovation? Or is it productivity, stability, and functionality? And, further, are these two things mutually exclusive?

As we push college on kids without providing them all their options we are creating a vacuum where they are amassing huge amounts of debt for a degree that qualifies them for a job that is no longer available. Without additional education (masters, doctorate, etc.) some degrees are largely worthless as far as the marketplace is concerned. 

Is the purpose to get a job? Or to think? Universities used to be about higher-education, learning to think critically, preparing our privileged students to take on the big intellectual challenges of society. But needing enrollment for revenue, and needing to prove Return on Investment (ROI), universities have swung far toward the public education purpose of preparing people for work. Even going so far as to measure their success on job placement statistics.

As parents, if we aren’t talking to our kids about all their options are we doing them a disservice? Are we doing a disservice to our communities?

The answer is yes, we are. We are allowing them to incur great debt before they even purchase their first home, while robbing our communities of tradespeople it needs. When your pipes burst you don’t call a doctor. When your electrical panel shorts out you don’t call a doctor. When your transmission goes out you don’t call an accountant. You call a plumber, an electrician and a mechanic. 

When we consider education, we must consider skills in two categories: 1) applied skills — those which earn us employment, make us useful, and are in demand, and 2) provisional skills — those which make us capable of growing, learning, advancing, and innovating. Then find the right programs, at the right time, to deliver both applied and provisional skills. We cannot advance our careers if we only know what we need to know to be certified right now. And we cannot find work with accolades like “adaptability” and “potential.”

These options are not mutually exclusive either. Many high schools partner with local vocational schools to provide kids with opportunities to get training while in school. Why aren’t more parents talking to their kids about these options, or why aren’t they talking to their schools about adding them? Why are we not promoting the option of going to a community college to get a two year degree in a skilled field before transferring to a university? 

Episode art: Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Social Security and how we’re never gonna see that money. “Benefit” and other euphemisms for how social security fucks us.

Even former Texas Governor Rick Perry called it a ponzi scheme. So it’s not that hard to understand. Here’s the basics of how it works:

Current workers pay, former workers accept the money.

BUT a ponzi scheme is illegal and if the government does it, it’s not illegal. Great logic, right? (link)

But the bigger question, and one for which Social Security is just a single example, is “What is government’s role?”

Libertarians are known for wanting government to have little (NO right, Jess?) role in civic life. We have anarchists in our midst. We believe humans will collaborate to care for one another and organize a fair and just society without the interference of arbitrary power structures like government.

That said, our new media is on fire with stories of Ted Cruz abdicating his throne as king of Texas. Oh, wait, he’s the Senator. One of two. A state’s representative to the federal governing body. He has no power in Texas. Be gone, Ted, before someone drops a house on you.

Why is everyone so pissed at him? It’s not like he can actually save Texas from snow.

Not even Elsa could save Texas from snow.

The failures in Texas are all state government- and regulator-caused.

Does our news media not know Ted Cruz has no power in Texas?

Who doesn’t know that Ted Cruz couldn’t have fixed the snow storm?

This seems as easy to understand as “social security is a ponzi scheme” but maybe we just know more than the average citizen. Or reporter. Or news editor.

So let’s get at this thing:

Why do people think government can solve everything? Because government tells them it can.

Why do people wait for government to fix their circumstances? Because government tells them it will.

Why do we blame each other when it’s government’s fault that processes slow down, systems get corrupted, and shit doesn’t get done? Because government doesn’t take blame. Ever. They have no accountability.

And let’s be clear about the institutions that are supposed to provide accountability — voters, the media — are failing to do so.

Episode art: Photo by ROMAN ODINTSOV on Pexels.com

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and the GenXer in Kasie wants to reject the Hallmark Holiday on principle. 

• According to this link science says it’s perfectly okay to swear in front of children.
• And this article that argues it’s time to get the eff over it already, we can all be caring and loving and still let off some profanity now and then.
• This article gives us stages of cussing. Let’s discuss:

1. Adorable little shits — babies don’t know what’s going on. Score: A
2. Foul-mouthed mimics — toddlers repeat what you say, sometimes with hilarious mispronunciations and uses. Score: B+
3. Shocked sweary sponges — elementary school kids have a complicated relationship with swearing because they know it’s not supposed to be done by them. Or you. Score: B-
4. Evolving curse machines — as they grow toward teen hood, they may use swearing on the sly to gain street cred with their friends but are likely to hide the habit from you. Score B.
5. Luck pushing years — as tweens and pre-teens, you’ll see them try to see what they can get away with. It’s harder to reprimand when they know you do it. So should you just let them? Score: C
6. All bets are off — as teens, they’re likely to aim those cuss words right at you. So isn’t it better to teach them who the real target is? The government. Duh. Score: A.

We get real about what others think of us and how that changes or influences our behavior. We talk about being authentic and wearing a mask and how common that “mask” is in Southern society. We talk about whether not our “mask” person is who we really are.

It gets deep.

Episode art: Photo by Kaique Rocha on Pexels.com

Last week, we talked about how licensing laws and ordinances impede entry into the market for so many, even kids. What happens once you have made your way through the red tape? Entrepreneurs pay a premium for choosing freedom.

Some notes on tax rates here.

Every wage we earn and everything we do is taxed, and that taxation is forced upon us without any “opt out” box to check. While we elect the people who make those tax rules, do we really think they were considering us when they designed these schemes?

We don’t often hear about kids being taxed in their entrepreneurial endeavors, but it does happen (link here)

How are we talking to our kids now about taxation to prepare them for entry into the market, or are we?

What age is too young to start talking about this with your kids? How do you approach the conversation in an age-appropriate way? 

How do we encourage our children to take entrepreneurial paths when these are the statistics they will be working against (link):

• Majority of small business owners spend more than $1,000 on the administration of federal taxes:
• 15% of small business owners spend more than $10,000 on the administration of federal taxes.
• 16% spend $5,001-$10,000.
• 33% spend $1,001-$5,000.
• 15% spend $501-$1,000.
• 21% spend less than $500.

Entrepreneurship offers “freedom” but it’s also really hard. As many resources as are available for entrepreneurs, at the end of the day, you gotta build the business. You gotta have a product worth buying and a sales force able to sell it.

There’s a kind of romance on entrepreneurism — how wonderful it is to be in charge of your own destiny — but what if it wasn’t the exception, it was the rule?

What if we didn’t expect companies to be surrogate parents?

What if we didn’t tie medical and dental, retirement and other “40-hour-per-week” benefits to someone else’s company? What if we were all independent contractors?

Episode art: Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

Topic: Kids getting policed for not having a business license

It started with a meme. As Libertarians, we know the best way for government to help business is to stay the fuck out of it. So why are they all up in everyone’s right to make a living and support their families? Why does government think it needs to regulate everything from hair weaving and ladyscaping to taxi driving and food preparation?

Our take: Business licensing prohibits entrepreneurship.

So here’s the story on the lemonade stand aggressively trying to refresh the neighborhood at the market-monopoly rate of 75-cents-per-cup. So what are the regulations for? To protect citizens from unscrupulous business persons? Like 7-year-olds?

How about to ensure the government gets its fair share of your efforts?

In business, we analyze industries using Porter’s Five Forces (I won’t business nerd to death you guys with this, but…) one of the forces is “threat of new entrants” and the other is “threat of substitutes.” Unregulated markets have low barriers to entry and a high threat of substitutes. It’s not just Red Bull and Monster Energy, it’s every carbonated beverage calling itself and “Energy Drink” and the others have to compete. Which is what they’re supposed to do.

But take the case of Uber in London — Cabbies are unionized there and the union put enough pressure lawmakers that they raised the barriers to entry to Uber couldn’t operate. Think about how Air BnB gets around the Hospitality Tax so many cities love to impose via hotels. Regulations are in place to limit competition, not encourage it.

And them that makes the regs wins. 

This week, it was Robinhood, the app for day-trading and gamifying stock market portfolios to interest younger investors. It’s a self-proclaimed “democratization of investing” and yet when thing went wonky this week for the regulated industries — fully within regulations, mind you — Robinhood was pressured to limit the access its investors had to Gamestop stock.

Them that makes the gold makes the rules indeed.

But … kids?

These cops decided to support the young entrepreneurs instead. 

And true free enterprise is represented when big-time Lemonade Dealer Countrytime decided to get behind those neighborhood stands (link here).

So should neighbors be pissed about the traffic and call the cops?

Should the city be worried about other businesses taking that lax enforcement as the possibility that they can get away with handy-manning, lawn-cutting, and car-washing without expecting law enforcement to shut their operation down?

What about those fundraising “businesses” (cheerleader car wash) that don’t have permits?

And that freedom to assemble that also shouldn’t need a fucking permit?

Can we call city and county permitting what it really is? A cash grab? Authoritarianism? Busy-body-ness?

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Show notes are out on the blog here.

Watch the YouTube video, like, subscribe, comment, and share to spread the message of liberty.

Show notes are out on the blog. Click here.

Watch the YouTube video and like, share, comment, and subscribe to spread the message of liberty.

Show notes are out on the blog. Click here.

Watch the YouTube video and like, comment, subscribe, and share to spread the message of liberty. 

Watch the YouTube video and subscribe, like, share, and comment to help spread the message of liberty!

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