Dale Franks
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Henke
Jonathan Henke is an American political blogger. Currently, he is an internet strategy and communications consultant.Henke, a proponent of the modern American political philosophy of neolibertarianism, began blogging at with co-contributors Dale Franks and Bruce McQuain in 2003...
as well.
Franks served as a Security Policeman
Security police
In some countries, including the United States, security police are those persons, employed by or for a governmental agency, who provide police and security services to those agencies' properties....
in the United States Air Force from 1984 to 1993, in variety of assignments both in the United States and Europe, where he also was assigned to the staff of the Headquarters of Allied Forces Central Europe. While it is not well known, the Air Force Security Forces
Air Force Security Forces
United States Air Force Security Forces are the Military Police, Base Security and Air Base Ground Defense forces of the United States Air Force...
, formerly known as Security Police
Security police
In some countries, including the United States, security police are those persons, employed by or for a governmental agency, who provide police and security services to those agencies' properties....
, also serve as the ground combat branch of the United States Air Force. As such, Franks is a graduate of the USAF Air Base Ground Defense
Air Base Ground Defense
Air Base Ground Defense is the operational term used by the United States Air Force to denote ground combat operations in defense of U.S. Air Force bases. This specialty is filled by members of the Air Force Security Forces, who serve not only as Police/Law Enforcement officers, but as ground...
(ABGD) course at Camp Bullis, TX, where he was also trained as an M60 Machine Gun Specialist, and Franks remained an ABGD Specialist for his entire tour of service in the USAF.
From 1993 to 1996, Franks was the host of The Business Day, a daily, four-hour business and financial news program on KMNY Radio in Los Angeles, California. From 2002–2004, he was a contributing writer on military and international affairs for TechCentralStation.
Since 1996, in addition to broadcasting, writing, and speaking on various topics, Franks has also been a technical training instructor on a variety of computer software and technology subjects. He has also been involved with information technology as a web designer, programmer, and technologist, serving as the corporate knowledge specialist for Microsoft Outlook at Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation
SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...
, which was, at the time, the largest employee-owned corporation in the United States. Additionally, he is the author of a number of software user guides used for classroom training by one of Southern California's premier computer training and consulting firms. Franks has also written one book, SLACKERNOMICS: Basic Economics for People Who Find Economics Boring.
Since 2003, Franks has been one of the primary thinkers behind the creation of the political philosophy of Neolibertarianism (as originally developed by Jon Henke
Jonathan Henke
Jonathan Henke is an American political blogger. Currently, he is an internet strategy and communications consultant.Henke, a proponent of the modern American political philosophy of neolibertarianism, began blogging at with co-contributors Dale Franks and Bruce McQuain in 2003...
) and is credited with articulating the basic tenets of the modern Neolibertarian philosophy. In Franks's writings, he has defined the basic tenets of Neolibertarianism as follows:
- When given a set of policy choices,
- The choice that maximizes personal libertyLibertyLiberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
is the best choice. - The policy choice that offers the least amount of necessary government intervention or regulation is the best choice.
- The policy choice that provides rationalRationalityIn philosophy, rationality is the exercise of reason. It is the manner in which people derive conclusions when considering things deliberately. It also refers to the conformity of one's beliefs with one's reasons for belief, or with one's actions with one's reasons for action...
, market-basedFree marketA free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
incentiveIncentiveIn economics and sociology, an incentive is any factor that enables or motivates a particular course of action, or counts as a reason for preferring one choice to the alternatives. It is an expectation that encourages people to behave in a certain way...
s is the best choice.
- The choice that maximizes personal liberty
- In foreign policy, neolibertartianism would be characterized by,
- A policy of diplomacyDiplomacyDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
that promotes consensual government and human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and opposes dictatorshipDictatorshipA dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
. - A policy of using US militaryMilitaryA military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
force solely at the discretion of the US, but only in circumstances where American interestsNational interestThe national interest, often referred to by the French expression raison d'État , is a country's goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural. The concept is an important one in international relations where pursuit of the national interest is the foundation of the realist...
are directly affected.
- A policy of diplomacy
Most recently, Franks has become an advocate of Network Neutrality
Network neutrality
Network neutrality is a principle that advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the Internet...
, arguing that broadband Internet access providers should be completely deregulated, while, at the same time, regulating the network providers only in respect to treating them as Common Carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
s, in much the same way as telephone service providers are.