IntelliHub April 1 2013

Meaningful change in the direction of human freedom will not come from violent revolutions or the political process but through the circumvention of state power.

The odds against the liberty movement succeeding in America are admittedly daunting and almost overwhelming. Nearly every day there are war drums beating, new police-state bills rushed through Congress, calls for disarming private citizens, and QE infinity. It would be easy, even understandable, to give up and resign ourselves to the fate that awaits all empires.

While I staunchly supported former Congressman Ron Paul’s presidential runs, cheered Senator Rand Paul’s epic filibuster, and root for the occasional good guy like Congressman Justin Amash, politics and politicians offer little hope to those of us who frankly see no need for them. But whenever I think that the DC Leviathan will never be slain, the free market of technology and private innovation shows a path to a better and freer future.

3D printers come to mind. While I know shamefully little for someone from my generation about the marvels of modern technology, thanks to the division of labor I wasn’t too shocked to see someone like Cody Wilson make a semi-automatic rifle with a 3D printer.

Just think about what this concept alone means to the future of gun-grabbers. This technology could potentially allow millions of people to download and print their own weapons with incredibly low costs, further empower the right of self-defense, and most importantly, making it very hard for governments to regulate, ban, and confiscate them. The more guns that are in private hands, and the less the state knows what we’ve got, the better.

3D printing obviously has other societal benefits, like prosthetic limbs for veterans and exoskeletons for children with crippling diseases. They are even being used to build an entire house in Amsterdam.

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