Liberty Watch doesn�t make a point of interviewing 14-year-olds � unless they�re as precocious as Cody Cunningham. A former Liberty High School student, Cunningham is now homeschooled, an educational option that allows him to learn a great deal more about U.S. government, history and politics than he would if he remained enrolled in a public school in Clark County, Nev., where fingerpainting a diversity mural with a group of other bored students would likely take precedence.
A Led Zep fan, Cunningham has plans to run for Nevada State Senate in four years when he turns 18. Before then, however, he is organizing an event on April 15 � that�s tax day, people � called the �You Are Not Free March.� The march takes place on the Las Vegas Strip at 4:45 p.m., and its objective is to protest the Global Tax and the Federal Income Tax �because we believe they are just a few steps toward tyranny and world government.�
Liberty Watch met Cunningham, a.k.a. �the Ron Paul kid,� at the Libertarian State Leadership Alliance�s 2008 Leadership Conference, which took place Feb. 15-18 at Sunset Station, to discuss his upcoming protest and to prove to you, dear reader, that there�s hope for today�s youth.
Check out how articulate this teenager is!
We hear you�re organizing a protest on April 15.
On April 15, what I�m doing is leading a protest against the U.N. and the federal income tax. My opposition is against [Democratic Presidential candidate Barack] Obama�s new U.N. bill that allows for the taxation of the world and that allows for the re-implementation of the U.N. gun bans. And April 15 is tax day. I�m in opposition to the federal income tax, and I want to get that abolished. My proposal is to abolish the federal income tax, replace it with nothing, and come up with some legislation to replace Obama�s bill � to repeal it, or get us, the United States, out of the U.N. altogether.
We don�t know if you�ve been paying attention to the news lately, but there are more incidents of school shootings going on � this time in Northern Illinois. What are your thoughts on the issue of guns and college campuses?
I actually called in to a CSPAN show about a year ago and talked to the president of the Brady campaign, and he made a point that someone may get bad scores on a test, may get aggravated with a girlfriend or a teacher, and then go out and shoot someone. But I said that�s only a problem when there�s a gun-free zone, because everybody is unarmed except for the one person who acquires the gun or rifle and decides to bring it on campus. So wouldn�t it make more sense to at least have people who are licensed to carry weapons in that area? I mean, I�m not really for gun control, but if we have to put up with it, then I�m fine with a little bit of licensing. And you know what? Why must we give up our rights completely? Why is that? The Brady guy said he�s only asking for regulation, but what he really wants is to ban our guns. So I�m for guns on campus.
Fourteen is an age when most young men and women get a lot of peer pressure. As a teenager who's actively involved in spreading the Libertarian message of freedom, how do you interact with your peers?
Well, I don�t let them lead me; I lead them. That�s basically what I do. I wouldn�t say I�m a leader completely, in that I�m always the best. I just like to stay away from the sheep pack. I stay away from anything I don�t feel is right. No matter what people say, I have my own beliefs.
What bothers you the most about the Federal Reserve? Is it the way they constantly print money?
Well, basically what aggravates me about the Federal Reserve is that what it really is is legalized theft. Through inflation, they�re stealing our money. That inflation is only paid through another theft by the IRS, through your federal tax. I�ve gone to work before; I�ve paid a federal income tax. Honestly, why must we submit ourselves to a system that is enslaving us monetarily?
Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Vin Suprynowicz makes the case that child labor laws actually stunt the intellectual growth of today�s young people. What do you think of today�s child labor laws?
I think child labor laws are the most horrible things ever. I want to go to work. I want to get paid. I have to get a work permit. I have to get permission from the government that says I can work; that�s how horrible it is. So I have to spend money to get money. Why is that? There can be labor laws to protect children from sweatshops and things like that, sure. But if a child wants to voluntarily go to work, why not? It�s just common sense. Letting kids go to work would create more revenue and more commerce.
Tell us about your thoughts on the issue of homeschooling versus public or private education.
Well, private school is better than public school, but I still say that homeschooling is the best out of all of them. The way I�m homeschooled is that I read things on my own, and then I do homework. So I�m teaching myself. I don�t have to listen to anybody else tell me what to do, how to do it. It�s all independent. Some people are much better at doing those things on their own; some people do better in a public system where they do what they�re told and they can socialize and things like that. When I was in public school, it was �don�t do this, don�t do that.� When you�re homeschooled, you feel free to do things. The environment that I was in at Liberty High was one of the worst public school environments. I had to submit to a dress code that was red, white or blue � no lettering, no stripes, no nothing. My principal says it�s for safety and security. My argument to her was: OK, red, white or blue. Say I step onto her campus wearing red, white or blue, and I don�t attend her school. I just defeated the whole purpose! You just wasted all that time trying to enforce rules when someone can get around the system without any extensive thought or effort. What I don�t understand is why we sacrifice liberty for security � even on high-school campuses. It was a severe bureaucracy, too. We had two deans � Dean of Students, Dean of Admissions. We had a Vice Principal and a Principal. We�re paying all these people just to tell other people what to do. That�s all it is. Most of the teachers didn�t really care, and the ones that did couldn�t get the students to listen because the students thought they were like all the other teachers who didn�t care. So the public-school system is completely horrible. They say, �Oh, we need more funding.� No, we should de-fund that. If they�re running scared, they�ll start shaping up. They�re finally going to improve their education standards. If not, parents are going to increasingly homeschool their kids, and public schools will stop getting revenue.
What do you think of the Pledge of Allegiance?
I think it should be completely optional. I don�t believe in God, but I don�t believe in Darwin�s theory of evolution either. I feel that anyone should be able to say �under God,� and that anyone should remove it if they want to. It�s everyone�s personal choice. Everyone has the freedom of speech. It shouldn�t be forced or imposed on anyone. I�ve actually gotten flack from supervisors for not standing up for the pledge. They said I disrespected the country and disrespected anyone who fought for that flag. They said I could move to a Communist country.
Have you ever been punished for refusing to submit to authority?
I led a strike against the dress code. A piece of paper was sent out to the parents, and it was a joke � the whole safety and security thing. That�s how I get into trouble: I speak my mind to authority figures. I was eventually suspended for speaking out.
At 14, what advice, if any, do you have for other young men interested in the opposite gender?
Look for women who can be good friends and are fun to be around. But most of all, look for the ones who are sad and depressed and need a really good friend.
Huh?! [Laughter ensues.]
Believe it or not, in the end, she�ll become one of the best girlfriends you�ll ever have!
All right. We�ll take your word for it, Cody.
For more information about the �You Are Not Free March� on April 15, visit
www.myspace.com/youarenotfree.
