Ernest Hancock on Libertarianism and 'Living Free in an Unfree World'

The Daily Bell is pleased to present this exclusive interview with Ernest Hancock.

Introduction: Ernest Hancock is publisher of the online news, investigative reporting and opinion web portal www.FreedomsPhoenix.com that began in 2005 and hosts the radio show “Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock” that started in early 2003. Since 2001 Ernest Hancock and his www.FreedomSummit.com partner Marc Victor have promoted the cause of liberty by presenting “The Great Minds of the Modern Freedom Movement” to their friends and fellow truth seekers at an annual gathering in Phoenix, Arizona. Ernest Hancock and fellow activists in Arizona are the creators of and steady national influence in the Ron Paul r3VOLution logo/individual activism campaign that helps represent the next American Revolution… with LOV3.

Daily Bell: Give us some background on yourself. How did you become a libertarian?

Ernest Hancock: I remember I didn't come at it from a traditional economics background. But it was May of 1988 that I started paying attention to how government actions impacted my young family of six. My father manufactured a touring motorcycle camping trailer called the Alcan Traveler that was getting excellent reviews in magazines. Distributors in Europe needed just such a high quality unit to rent to tourists from all over the world who would be taking advantage of Western Europe's removal of travel restrictions. Traveling from Spain to France like you were motoring from Arizona to Colorado would open up a whole new industry of tourism. Large touring motorcycles with a high quality light camping trailer exploring the narrow winding streets in villages and towns across Europe had a lot of appeal and generated many letters to my father's small company. But he wasn't interested in complicating his life at the time and was satisfied with his domestic market. But I was interested.

I was busy with my own business but wanted to help my father. I was also influenced by the rhetoric coming from the daily news that America's trade deficit was going to be the death of our standard of living and that every manufacturer should seek exporting opportunities. Young and naïve, I didn't know that I should have avoided the government as much as possible. Instead, I sought out government agencies that would provide me the information I needed. Tariffs and duties varied greatly country to country and I was looking for a simple list. That search provided me the foundational understanding of how government in general really works.

My research led me to read the new Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Immediately I understood what was going on. This inch thick 'book' detailed how all commerce would be monitored and controlled via the federal government. The government schools had at least taught me how to spot fascism, and this law was dripping with it and I wished to understand how they were getting away with this.

The short story is... Election law (along with a lot of help from the media). Competition is eliminated before it even starts. In 1990 I ran for the state legislature as a write-in just so I could get standing for a federal lawsuit that I filed July 3rd 1991 that challenged 44 Arizona election laws. I did it pro se, presented an oral argument in front of the 9th Circuit Court, benefitted from a lot of press, changed some laws, started meeting my first libertarians and have been an activist ever since.

I was asked the same question by Walter Block in 2002 as part of a project he was working on that would become his new 2011 book I Chose Liberty – Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians and the article can be found on LewRockwell.com under the tile "Being Libertarian – I Only Seek The Truth."

But the short answer is, I insisted on the truth. And while there may be some debate on what is 'The Truth,' I knew that truth wasn't the lies everyone I loved was immersed in.

I remember the primary emotion that dominated my mind was 'worry.' Worry motivated me to act so that I could put my mind at peace. Fortunately, my wife was involved daily at every step and was very supportive of the effort to understand what was happening and what could be done about it.

Daily Bell: Tell us how you founded FreedomsPhoenix.com.

Ernest Hancock: In late 1993 we started getting our first email accounts. I immediately understood that vertical dissemination of information would be replaced with an unlimited number of 'Wayne's World' type shows from basements all over the planet; it was just a matter of time.

In the spring of 1994 gun rights activists invited Larry Pratt from Gun Owners of America and Sheriff Richard Mack to come speak at an event about gun rights that were being focused on at the time. We had just started to network with other libertarian gun rights activists from all over the country using various Bulletin Board Services (you would call a phone number and upload/download emails on a server sitting on a desk in someone's home) and the AltNews lists that existed on 'The Internet.' We discovered that Mr. Pratt was less informed than we were about GOA's positions being advocated with politicians across the country. It was at that moment that I understood that nothing could replace the instantaneous reporting of an informed activist in the presence of news being made in real time.

By 1996 the main structure, philosophy and features of FreedomsPhoenix was already well developed in my mind. But we were limited by technology. 2400 baud modems would soon be replaced with 14,400 modems but we were still a long way from streaming HD video. Some of my friends would begin making simple web pages and were even getting awards for their efforts. We were successful in using the Internet to provide "The injection of the libertarian infection into the bone marrow of American politics... for which there is no cure," but even though our audience was limited there was lots of evidence of our influence in Arizona politics and media. In 1995 we would be recognized by the Olde Media for our use of the Internet, but it wouldn't be until 2002 that the majority of the political candidates would have a full presence on the World Wide Web.

In 2004 the Howard Dean campaign for the Democratic nomination for POTUS provided a glimpse of what might be possible using the Internet. But it wasn't until June of 2005 that I asked a webmaster friend of mine to meet me for lunch to ask him some questions. Earlier that same year YouTube had launched and broadband Internet service started to become widely available in major cities. It was at that meeting that I detailed what my eventual goal was and how I wanted FreedomsPhoenix to function. After getting past all of the techno-babble I understood that the answer was "Yes... we can do that." From June to October we worked on developing the site and then opened it up for beta testing to our friends for a few months as we entertained ourselves and slowly added layer upon layer of totally original coding. Any and every feature I could think of that would make my sharing information easier was added for me and every user to make use of. Highlights of the features can be viewed at our Video Tutorial; you'll be surprised. The ten-minute video tutorial goes by very quickly and you'll be shocked at what tools we have made available. Seven years ago my senior editor, Powell Gammill, would write our 'About Us' and I don't think it has changed since.

The initial impact that an anarchist libertarian gets from reading FreedomsPhoenix is that we allow the expression of opinion and news from the hard right to the hard left. This was always the plan. From my experience with email lists for a decade before starting FreedomsPhoenix I understood that the debate between libertarians (the majority of our readers and all of our staff) and everyone else was the most educational and entertaining way of presenting the news and opinion. Another benefit was that many of these writers that I disagree with on FreedomsPhoenix have audiences that they bring with them to get their 'libertarian injection.' Having your cortex brushed daily with a libertarian perspective on the news is very effective over time. The most disagreeable writers are often hammered in the comment section with good libertarian arguments that readers and supporters of the writer are exposed to for the first time in many cases. In seven years I have deleted the accounts of about five people for advocating open violence (likely government agents). We've been very lucky that the structure of the site is not optimized for net trolls to invade us and they usually go away fairly quickly. But you can always tell when it's election season.

Daily Bell: What's your vision for it going forward?

Ernest Hancock: The Video Tutorial will give you an idea of where we are going.  Right now we are able to translate FreedomsPhoenix into 39 languages. HarheaPhoenix.com is our Arabic version of FreedomsPhoenix (harhea is Arabic for 'freedom') and we translate HarheaPhoenix into Arabic. The stories we place there are ones we think may be of interest to the LOV3olution in Arabia. Over a year ago we made every effort to share our LOV3olution experiences with the activists of the Arab Spring. We worked with the International Society for Individual Liberty to get an Arabic version of "The Philosophy of Liberty" so we could produce thousands of DVDs in the region's DVD format. They were shipped to Alexandria and Cairo and were passed out at protests all over the Arabic speaking world (Saudi Arabia now ranks second in viewing the Philosophy of Liberty).

The future?... 'We're Going to Space, and Government is NOT invited'

Daily Bell: Tell us how you became co-founder of The Freedom Summit?

Ernest Hancock: I met my FreedomSummit partner, Marc Victor, in 1994 at an Arizona Libertarian Party candidate function when he was fresh out of law school. He had just spent years under the influence of Professor Butler Shaffer and was ready for battle. Marc was very critical of a candidate's incrementalism on an issue and wished to fully express himself to the AZLP's County Chairman (me) and the State Chair (Rick Tompkins – Rick would later seek the LPUS Nomination, in 1996). We were both so pleased with Marc's position and arguments we were both smiling the whole time. Marc misunderstood our smiles and went into full trial mode... we just let him go. After a couple of minutes we explained our agreement and pleasure and were able to convince the candidate to change his rhetoric. Marc went on to start his own successful criminal defense practice.

In late 2000 or early 2001 I was very busy running our family pizza restaurant and my activism was limited to a few headlines a year for important concerns. Marc called to discuss our creating a conference that we would like to attend. We hoped that we wouldn't lose money but quality was our primary motivation. Libertarian oriented speakers made up a very small percentage of the conferences available to us and we would have to attend many to see even a few of the people that we wanted to meet. Our first FreedomSummit in 2001 was three weeks after 9/11 and we both knew what was coming... a Police State fueled by hate, fear and a seemingly unlimited access to resources.

"Where the Great Minds of the Modern Freedom Movement Come Together," the FreedomSummit is "a stimulating periodic update on the current status of freedom in our world from several varied perspectives. Rather than seek to present either an optimistic or pessimistic outlook, the Freedom Summit strives to present an honest and very straightforward assessment of the current status of our freedom."

The Freedom Summit is our warning to our friends and family and a tool for us to get informed and network with the new 'Modern Freedom Movement.' It is also one heck of a party.

Marc and I shared a vacation this past summer and we decided that we would skip 2011's FreedomSummit. We need to think about it for a while to be inspired. The events we were warning our attendees about have come to pass and now we need to think about what value we can be to our friends before we plan the next one... we're working on it.

Marc and I expect that our next FreedomSummit will be even more fun and educational in a totally different way... please stay tuned.

Daily Bell: Please tell us a little more.  

Ernest Hancock: "How Many Minds Can I Free? It really hasn't been more complicated than that. Arizona is well known for our activism and the cultural shift it has produced. The Ron Paul r3VOLution was simply an exporting of a method that has worked well for us here in Arizona. By allowing activists to do whatever they want, good ideas get supported and bad ideas fade away. But we don't make a predetermination for another's ideas. We supply them with experience, media/communication access and equipment and see what happens. This has produced some pretty amazing results.

Individuals and groups that approach us with, "What you should do is..." are encouraged to take advantage of our helping them bring their ideas to fruition, but very rarely do we embrace another's idea while we have a long list of our own to choose from.

Our next project has been sitting on the shelf since 2003 waiting for the right time... which is right NOW!

This will be a good example for Daily Bell readers. You'll get to watch a concept develop and take off right in front of you.

I'll take the space to explain later in this post. This will be fun to watch happen.

Daily Bell: What drives you most these days?

Ernest Hancock: Grandchildren.

My wife and I are both 50 and married 27 years. We have 2 boys and 2 girls from 22-26 yrs. We have a granddaughter and grandson and two more grandchildren on the way. My wife Donna and I discussed our goals before getting married and I remember the focus on being able to enjoy grandchildren. My whole adult life was in preparation for Right Now. We knew that we had to raise self-sustaining children capable of being good parents with the motivation to pursue their own happiness.

We are very happy. But we know that troubling times are ahead and we are preparing our family as best we can. But my goal is to still enjoy my grandchildren and be a positive influence in their life while protecting them from those that would enslave them.

Daily Bell: What are you most worried about today?

Ernest Hancock: Not being as ready as I need to be for the economic collapse when it comes. I often share with my radio audience that our goal should be to maintain our humanity when things get really bad. People do desperate things when they are hungry.

Daily Bell: What do you think of the Libertarian party? Give us the roundup. You've been very active.

Ernest Hancock: I've been County Chairman in Maricopa County, I've run for State Legislature twice, US Congress three times, Secretary of State twice, County Recorder once and against John McCain for US Senate in 2004 (because he said he was a libertarian.) I've run for National Chair of the Libertarian Party four times – '04 – '06 – '08 – '10. And every single race had a goal that we set and met.

The Libertarian Party of the United States was a nexus for activists before the Internet took off but has always been seen as too timid for Arizona activists. L. Neil Smith put it well in 1993 at the Salt Lake City LP convention, "Those Nerf Libertarians with their Foam Core platform," and it's only gone downhill from there.

My motivation to run for LP chair in 2004 was in direct response to the party making excuses for war while I was doing my best on the radio in a major media market five days a week trying to explain why libertarians are against war. 2006 was the stripping of what was left of the platform. I made that an issue and warned that they would open the door for anyone to be more libertarian than the LP and a few months later Ron Paul eclipsed the LP and I doubt that they will ever recover. In 2008 I protested the compromising of the party to make accommodations for Barr and to warn them that there was no way in hell that the LOV3olution would come near that campaign. 2010 was a full court press to make it very clear what W.A.R. stood for. I have no personal problems with Wayne Root but he represented exactly what is wrong with the LPUS. They worry what everyone that shouldn't matter thinks and they have lost the entire Generation Next.

I did what I always do. I make myself clear, I document the effort for others to learn from and I move on. I don't think the LPUS will recover any time soon from the direction they've taken. The libertarian activists stopped waiting for the Libertarian Party to join the libertarian movement a long time ago.

Daily Bell: Are things getting worse or better in the US and the Western world generally?

Ernest Hancock: Both. The olde institutions are failing but Generation Next is quickly learning why. FreedomsPhoenix covers a lot of subjects and has hundreds of individual 'Categories' filled with wondrous things to look forward to. It always surprises people that there are two private space stations in orbit right now for over two years and they never heard about them. Take a look at just a few of the stories in the following categories and feel better.

Space Travel & Exploration

Science, Medicine & Technology

Techno Gadgets

Daily Bell: What has gone wrong in the US? It's acting like the worst kind of empire now, a thuggish one.

Ernest Hancock: It's us. We're confused and afraid, but that's changing. I've been spending a lot of time with Generation Next for many years. They are waaay more informed than I ever was at that age and they have so many more resources for information. They also are much less materialistic and only need to be able to communicate with their friends... every second of the day, to be content. But I see this evolving into groups that spend more time in each other's presence... video texting the next government abuse in front of them.

Daily Bell: Is there a power elite of sorts that is driving the world toward global governance?

Ernest Hancock: Radio callers use to often say, "They? Who's they?" My response is, "There are those that just wish to be left alone... and there are those that just won't leave them alone. Which one are you?"

Soooo, is there a group of individuals and groups of groups and powerful individuals that JUST WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE? Yep! But we are the enablers.

Daily Bell: How do you stop something like that?

Ernest Hancock: Please allow me to explain WalletVoting.com in just a minute. But first, a perspective to help me make my points.

Ron Paul has spoken at three of our FreedomSummits. Two of those speeches were before his 2008 Presidential run and one was in 2009. As liberty activists, we understood how rare Dr. Paul was and that he was certain what was coming and that it was only a matter of time. Many of us had the same opinion based on whatever our experiences were. Many academic libertarians lacked the 'rubber meets the road' interactions that give many the confidence to say and do things that would demonstrate how convinced they are about future events. So when Ron Paul filed his Exploratory Committee paperwork in January of 2007, a few of us already knew where this was going. I opened a warehouse space for eight weeks of sign production in late February of 2007, invited my activist friends and explained what was coming, why and how we could spark it. I had no desire to be involved in the voting process; my only goal was to get Ron Paul in the debates and keep him there for as long as possible. We made signs, sent them all over the country to libertarian activist friends and asked that they send us back raw video for us to make YouTubes... BOOMshakala the LOV3olution was created.

For a year and a half I would travel the country teaching young activists how to produce the signs cheap but this wasn't my primary goal. My primary goal was to eliminate the fear. We had become so indoctrinated with fear that the very idea of putting up a sign on some chain link fencing in view of the highway without a government permission slip would literally cause many to hyperventilate from fear. Fear is the most powerful weapon being used against us. Eliminate the fear in your life and you become much more creative, happy, and love becomes a much larger part of your life. Once this happens, you don't want to go back.

I'm often asked how I knew what was going to happen. Experience, paying attention, being involved at a foundational level provided me the confidence. In speeches I often say, "How did you not know?" but I know why. It is because most of us are afraid. I think that often it isn't fear that we're feeling, it's worry or regret or indecision. And when individuals are forced to act to survive they'll worry less, have fewer regrets and become decisive. And Big Bad Bubba Government fears larger numbers of people getting over this mental hurdle, in my opinion.

WalletVoting.com was created in my mind back in 2003 when I first started my radio show "Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock" that aired during morning drive Monday through Friday here in Phoenix. When I sold my restaurant I was encouraged to go on the radio so that libertarianism could be defined by a libertarian instead of Republican and Democrat politicians or the media. I started just before the invasion of Iraq and I made myself very clear. We originally committed to a 13-week contract, thinking that we would get to say whatever it was we thought we needed to and use the Internet to archive the shows on many subjects. It turned out to be popular enough to have me bouncing across the radio dial here in Phoenix until I decided to commit myself to FreedomsPhoenix and build my own studio that would interface better with what we do. WalletVoting was a clear realization that I had and I knew that its time would come. 

Even though I had already stopped voting myself in 2002 (but would still run for office), I was convinced that the audience desired something they could do to impact their future... WalletVoting.

At the December 2010 FreedomSummit we had a late evening party on Saturday and the creative juices flowed. A friend had pointed out that earlier that day he had witnessed a gun show vendor offering a discount for ammunition if you paid in silver. Hmm... Silver for Bullets, Silver Bullet, Lone Ranger, Silver Bullets kill Werewolves, Coors Light Silver Bullet campaign, the Song used is 'Get All Aboard the LOV3 Train.' Within two minutes an entire campaign was developed by anarchist libertarians. Graphics would be created with Ron Paul's face photoshopped onto the Lone Ranger while Bernanke would have his face morphed into werewolves. Many of us had already started buying old 90% silver dimes and quarters for wealth retention and soon a couple of young local activists (Drew Phillips and Nick Barnett) would laminate a silver dime into a credit card sized card as an educational tool for understanding inflation and the power of using silver in transactions and as a marketing piece for businesses. Take a look at the stories at WalletVoting.com and you'll get the history and future of what's coming. Here is a segment of the radio show where we first announced what we were going to be doing. A listener in Maryland heard the show and developed an early version of the Silver Calculator App in 10 days and we have been improving the concept since then.

And then the "Moneylith Project" was born ("viral video" in production now).

On Wednesday, March 28th 2012 we launch version 3.0 on DailyPaul as part of a fundraising effort for them and as a promotion of the concept. We just got artwork for several European Countries and a request that we update the SmartPhone Silver Calculator to include foreign currencies.

Daily Bell: What kind of money do you favor? Gold and silver? Competitive currencies?

Ernest Hancock: Got Chick Chick Chickens? After you take care of that food thing you might want to stock up on something you can barter. Toilet paper is a popular example but for my radio audience I joke that I'm stocking up on Tampons. "All menstruating women must come to me." It helps to get them thinking about what would be of value and can be easily traded. Stories of post WWII Germany using nylon stockings and chocolate come to mind. But after you've got the food and equipment thing taken care of, I've been advocating for 90% silver US minted coins. The premium is very low and sometimes even under spot. They are easy to trade and come in various denominations. Those with lots of money need to ask someone else :)

Daily Bell: How do you see the monopoly central banking system that the world uses now?

Ernest Hancock: Cadaverous.

Daily Bell: How did such a system evolve?

Ernest Hancock: One of the reasons that I am so optimistic is that it took generations and trillions of dollars to indoctrinate, confuse and hypnotize us into inaction and acceptance of this total mess. Central planning and coercive governments in general are being repudiated by Generation Next for being irrelevant and increasingly harmful and violent.

Daily Bell: Is it a stable system?

Ernest Hancock: No. It is surprising that it has lasted as long as it has. But this just means that the collapse will be that much worse for the bad guys. I don't think most people will suffer as much as is feared. Once support of a government goon in every nook and cranny is rejected by nothing more than popular opinion we can start to rebuild a society that I can feel comfortable leaving to my children and grandchildren. It is for this paradigm shift that I focus my efforts.

Daily Bell: What do you think of the European Union?

Ernest Hancock: I don't.

Daily Bell: Is it collapsing?

Ernest Hancock: They are in the same situation that we are. Once the people 'Declare their Independence' in their minds it's all over for the collectivists. I'd like to see a study done to determine how many people would have a net financial benefit from a total "Fight Club" reboot. I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of people in the western societies wouldn't come out ahead financially once all of the debt and unfunded mandates were lifted from their personal balance sheets. But I don't care enough to even look. The worse things get the more 'They Them Those' try to consolidate power. The more TTT tries to consolidate power the worse things get. I make it clear to anyone who will listen that the main goal now is to keep breathing in and out for as long as we can and just survive this thing. I don't have any clue how we will stop the collapse, or if we would want to.

"In the End Freedom Always Wins; it just gets really messy first."

Daily Bell: What about China and the BRICS?

Ernest Hancock: Same. Everyone followed our example and will have the same problems for the same reasons. But then there is the Iceland exception, which only proves the rule.

Daily Bell: Where is the US headed?

Ernest Hancock: I really don't worry about the United States. I'm concerned with the people. Everyone is always soooo worried about the ship of state that they totally forget about the people. While the politicians and the bankers argue over control of the Wheel House, I'm doing my best to inspire others to start building life boats out of cabin doors, learn to live on icebergs, get on another ship... anything but worrying about who your next ruler/captain is going to be.

Daily Bell: Is the US in a depression?

Ernest Hancock: Yes. Creating trillions of dollars was done for a reason, and the resulting price increases we are experiencing is starting the boulder rolling downhill.

Daily Bell: Will we soon have global money? Is that a good thing?

Ernest Hancock: Yeah, gold (or silver, or oil, or salt or...)

Before the 2007 legislative session started here in Arizona I was contacted by a state senator that was very concerned about the "Amero" replacing the dollar and our losing our national sovereignty. I have a reputation for creative legislation and she asked if we could help. My first comment was, "Amero?... hell, they're going straight to the 'Worldo'." Consolidation of everything is an obvious goal of TheyThemThose that won't leave me alone.

My senior editor, Powell Gammill, and I went to meet with her and we drafted legislation that resulted in Arizona minting gold, silver and copper one ounce rounds "in quantities to supply all public demand" in the form of commemorative medallions to celebrate our 100 years of statehood that was celebrated this last month on Valentine's Day. This state senator would also become a co-chair for Ron Paul in Arizona. Well, it passed, and the coins were produced but like all government involvement, corruption and ineptness got in the way.

Whatever is traded, I don't need a government or governments to tell me what it should be. The best that they can do is enforce whatever private contract was agreed to.

Daily Bell: Will we soon have a regional or global war?

Ernest Hancock: There is a documentary that I think should get widely publicized. "Sir, No Sir" shows a very important part of our history that has been stricken from our culture. It tells the story of how it was the soldiers in Vietnam that stopped the war by refusing to fight it. Over 5000 officers (admitted by the Pentagon) were killed by their own men to avoid going into the field. The documentary went on to explain that the constant bombing of Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam was due to the soldiers refusing to fight and Nixon's attempt to use the bombing as a negotiating tool. Well, I see the Drone Army/Air Force as the same thing. Who needs soldiers when you can kill people with your Xbox 360?

The United States government is already in a Global War on Terror and the battlefield is Planet Earth.

Daily Bell: Does a power elite seek depression and war to move the world toward a New World Order?

Ernest Hancock: Sure as hell seems like it.

Daily Bell: How can people protect themselves and their loved ones?

Ernest Hancock: Network with people of like mind. 'Communities' of friends and neighbors that are willing and able to share skills and resources have the best chance of surviving what is coming. Some are planning to stockpile where they are, others are preparing a retreat, others are moving out of the United States. But if I had to make a simple suggestion... Food and water, you don't want to get too cold or too hot... you know, the basics of continuing to breathe in and out. We cover such things on FreedomsPhoenix a lot, off grid living and outdoor survival. The most interesting stories come from people that have actually gone through such turmoil. Often they are supportive of staying in the cities for all of the resources that are available. A rural retreat is a target that is eventually zeroed in on... so you'll need a defense.

My goal isn't to just survive but to maintain my principles and my basic humanity. I hope to avoid violence with preparation.

Daily Bell: What should people do? Should they be active?

Ernest Hancock: Prepare for the worst. Help others do so and be an inspiration. Be a good neighbor, friend and family member.

Daily Bell: Recently there have been criticisms of libertarians for proposing unrealistic and unworkable solutions. What say you?

Ernest Hancock: "Freedom's the Answer... What's the Question?"

Daily Bell: How do you feel about Austrian economics?

Ernest Hancock: Anthony Gregory was very patient with me and answered many of my questions about Austrian Economics. I was looking for a base moral principle that Austrian economics was based on and Anthony informed me that Austrian economics is more of a science that doesn't make a moral judgment about certain actions as much as it simply explains what happens when you turn economic dials this way or that. Good to know. I'll bet that if I studied Austrian economics more I would find that the 'science' supported the idea that coercive force via collective actions produces 'bad results' in the economy, but then you'd have to make a moral judgment on what was "bad." I am not well read on the subject.

Daily Bell: Where do you go from here?

Ernest Hancock: 2012 has me focused on the Silver Dime Card Project, DontTreadOnMeme.com and promotion of the Silver Calculator App. My goal is to do for silver what I did for the LOV3olution... awareness.

Smoother transition when dollar collapses: That's the big goal of this little card.

Daily Bell: Where does the Libertarian party go from here? Is it becoming more or less relevant?

Ernest Hancock: Electoral politics in general is rapidly becoming irrelevant. What was left of the LP as a possible voice for the movement was abandoned in 2006 with the stripping of what was left of the Party platform. Libertarianism is growing rapidly and the LPUS isn't even on the radar screen in the mind of Generation Next... now that took some effort.

Daily Bell: What do you think of Ron Paul's chances?

Ernest Hancock: Chances to what? I was never in this to "Save the Republican Party". This has been promoted as a goal to me more than a few times and all I say to them is, "I have no desire to save the Republican Party... I'm looking for a wooden stake and a mallet". But in reality I just can't muster up enough 'give a crap' about politics. I support Dr. Paul for the same reasons I ran as a non-voter against McCain, to free as many minds as possible. We're not going to be voting ourselves free any time soon.

Daily Bell: Should he run as a Libertarian?

Ernest Hancock: No.

Daily Bell: What about Rand Paul? What do you think of HIS politics?

Ernest Hancock: Next. I haven't paid a moment's attention since he met with Bill Kristol.

Daily Bell: Should the US be involved in wars around the world? Why is it?

Ernest Hancock: No. Profit & Power.

Daily Bell: Should the US close down its bases overseas?

Ernest Hancock: Yes!

Daily Bell: What made the US the enforcer of the world?

Ernest Hancock: Federal Reserve. Without the ability to create trillions of dollars this Empire would not have been possible.

Daily Bell: Are you encouraged by Ron Paul's progress with his campaign?

Ernest Hancock: Very much. But I know they expected the Republicans to play fairer... and many of us didn't.

Daily Bell: Do you think his support has been fraudulently undercounted?

Ernest Hancock: YEP!

Daily Bell: Are libertarians the most popular voting bloc in the US?

Ernest Hancock: Popular? Likely not.

Daily Bell: Why can't democratic and republican libertarians be brought together as a voting bloc?

Ernest Hancock: 2006 campaign – this is what I think:

Daily Bell: Is voting a kind of false paradigm anyway?

Ernest Hancock: It's a definite fraud.

Daily Bell: Does society function better with small -- very small -- interlinked entities?

Ernest Hancock: All the way down to the individual.

Daily Bell: Is the US salvageable?

Ernest Hancock: Generation Next? Yes! The Government? No!

Daily Bell: What is YOUR vision of a political system?

Ernest Hancock: Ernest Hancock: A non-coercive one that I can leave when I want to.

The reason my radio show is named "Declare Your Independence" is because the DOI didn't say what kind of government to have... just how to tell when it was a bad one. If it's not defending individual rights it is time to alter or abolish.

Daily Bell: Is it realistic?

Ernest Hancock: Humanity marches on. We'll get there sometime somewhere. I think our communication abilities now and our understanding of central banking will give us a better chance in the future.

Daily Bell: Any other points you want to make?

Ernest Hancock: Make one transaction a month in silver. When we shop on Craigslist, etc. we always ask if they take silver and about 20% will. We trade a dozen of our chicken eggs for a silver dime. Go check out the links to the Silver Calculator App for your Smartphone... very nice.

Daily Bell: Any other ventures you're embarked on you want to mention? Books or videos in the works?

Ernest Hancock: If you subscribe to our FreedomsPhoenixEzine you'll get all of the back issues. Check it out please.

Daily Bell: Resources you want to point to?

Ernest Hancock: WalletVoting.com

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Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock - Radio Show

DailyPaul / FreedomsPhoenix – Ron Paul Dime Cards

Daily Bell: Thanks for your time and great work.

Ernest Hancock: My pleasure. Peace.

We thank Ernest Hancock for sitting down for an interview with us. We feel fortunate to have caught up to him for as long as we did. Anyone who reads this interview will soon develop an insight into Mr. Hancock's life: He never seems to stop moving.

This is a man who decided on his passion in life and has spent his time and energy pursuing it. Along the way, he's had a political career, founded a successful annual freedom gathering and built a web site that is seen around the world.

One comes away from this interview, in our view, energized by a vision that is held by a man who is a builder not a tearer-down. He's built a family, a number of businesses and held onto a vision of a freer society where his sort of ambitions and realizations shall be commonplace. In fact, there are many Ernest Hancocks in the world today, a number of them energized by the Internet and the numerous opportunities it offers.

This is one reason we're so optimistic generally about the freedom movement and what we call the Internet Reformation. There are thousands, millions, of motivated, smart people who have been energized in the past decade by a vision of a better life for them, their families and their communities. Ernest Hancock speaks on their behalf in this interview. But he is not alone by any means and neither are you.