Waco: will the truth

August 1993 Vol. 6, No.6 $4.00 ever come out?

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4 Letters Liberty's readers sift through the ashes of Waco, defend the Gulf War, and offer curricular and editorial advice. 5 Reflections Liberty's editors join the Gay March on Washington, applaud Lani Guinier's hair, excoriate Clinton's Big Mothers and Big-Non-Mothers, and rail against mischief - general and specific. 16 Medianotes Liberty's editors praise Clinton's appointment of David Gergen, analyze Paul Harvey, and celebrate the weirdness of cable tv. Features 19 The Ungreening of the Media It's been a long time coming, but the morning after for the media-environmentalist tryst has finally. arrived. Jane Shaw reports. 22 Wednesday, January 27 A poem by Marc Ponomareff 23 Death and Bureaucracy in Waco, Texas Loren Lomasky defends Janet Reno and the FBI, on grounds that bureaucratic ineptitude made disaster in Waco inevitable. 28 There's No Kill Like Overkill R. W. Bradford reconsiders the case against the perpetrators of the Waco holocaust, concluding that maybe, just maybe, they aren't guilty of mass murder ... 34 Operation No Hope Jesse Walker explains how the U.S. military attempt to feed the starving children of Somalia ended up killing them. 39 NPR: Radio for the Self-Lobotomized Glenn Garoin spent a week listening to socialized radio. Read this and change the station. 47 Government vs Wildlife John McConnack dispels the myth that wildlife protection is not a matter for the market. 52 Karma Accountant A short story by J. Orlin Grabbe. 55 Up, Up and Away! John M. Taylor knows just what to do with hot air. Reviews 57 Lies, Damn Lies, and AIDS Research Brian Doherty discovers that the truth about AIDS has little to do with l-ITV. 61 Notable and Quotable David Boaz finds omissions in the new Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. 63 Nightmare Fantasy Stephen Cox explores the Nazi's triumph. 65 Booknotes Cheap thrills, expensive lies, marginal costs and priceless criticism. Departments 66 Classified Ads The market asserts itself, in 8-point type. 69 Notes on Contributors The people behind the words, in as few words as possible. 70 Terra Incognita The real world finds ways to make satirists obsolescent. August 1993

Good Thing?" April 1993) that schools [~======L=e needn't waste time teaching tolerance to­ =tt=er=s======:::.J wards gays and lesbians. For now, fundamentalist parents can for automatic weapons. I didn't hear any. The Voice of Experience choose to send their offspring to private Surely, at this final moment, if they had R.W. Bradford's essay on the Waco Christian schools (as they have done to so many automatic weapons, they might tragedy ("Mass Murder, American­ avoid "race mixing"), where the curricu­ have used them. Style," June 1993) is the only one I have lum mimics the cartoon you ran to ac­ The press reported that the Davidians read that identifies the government as­ company Cox's article-equating gay believed Koresh to be God. The propaga­ sault in Waco as murder - which it sure­ and lesbian relationships with incest and tors of this story forgot that around this lywas. Satanism. time of year, nineteen hundred and nine­ Shortly after the Waco murders I In short, until you succeed in abolish­ ty-three years ago, a man was crucified drove to Missouri to attend a reunion of ing public education I'll continue to de­ when others alleged that He claimed to the U.s. Army Chapter of the "Chosin mand that schools, for which my ,tax dol­ be God. Few," who fought out of the Chinese trap lars are taken, teach that gay people are When Joseph Smith'was hung and an at the Chosin Reservoir in November­ not vermin. December 1950. En route to Missouri I early Mormon settlement burned, Brig­ Stephen Miller found few who condemned the FBI, with ham Young led a hardy band of young New York, N.Y. people often saying: ''I feel badly about survivors west where they settled around the children, but they were nuts, you the Great Salt Lake in an area so remote" Give War a Chance know," as though death is a rational sen­ that no one would come to persecute Once again, Robert Higgs fixates his tence for those who chose to march to the them. harsh rhetoric on the Gulf War ("George beat of a different drummer. It seems to me that David Koresh Bush: RIP," June 1993). He asks, "Two Only at the reunion (and among a must have had a similar idea when he years after the war, what can anyone say few truck drivers encountered during the settled on the plains outside Waco. I in defense of waging it?" The only benefi­ trip) did I find men who felt as I felt. Men guess he didn't travel far enough. ciaries, he concludes, were "oil-patch bil­ who knew death and destruction, men HarryJ. McArdle lionaires." who could recognize lawless killing Sound Beach, N.Y. Apparently, Mr Higgs recognizes no when they see it. I am proud to have distinction between the comparatively been with them, but deeply ashamed of Fatal Intolerance mild authoritarian reign of the Sabah my government. Bradford's essay and The characters of people and institu­ family and the despotic rule of Saddam. Cox's "Darkness at Noon" (June 1993) tions are revealed most clearly when they That the Sabahs need little more than a represent Liberty at its best. are under stress. The Branch Davidian police force to retain power, while Sad­ Raymond Radke pogrom is so riveting because it unveiled dam uses almost unimaginable brutality Ferndale, Wash. so clearly the stupidity and the inhuman­ to sustain his power, matters little to ity of the present American regime. Higgs. That Kuwait has started no wars The Press Plays Ball at Waco Those people would be alive today if with its neighbors, while Saddam is di­ As an American, believing in freedom we did not have a President and Attor­ rectly responsible for approximately one of the press, I'm shocked at the behavior ney General more concerned about dem­ million deaths is, I gather, insufficient of our news media, which regularly pub­ onstrating their good intentions than reason for Higgs to conclude that an inde­ lished information they knew to be false. about gathering facts, drawing rational pendent Kuwait is vastly freer than it From the beginning we were told that conclusions, and taking prudent actions. would be under Saddam. the authorities feared mass suicide. Why? The Davidians would be alive today The answer to Higgs' question is The group did not extol suicide. There if the fires ofbigotry, hate, and intoler­ clear. Syria and Palestine have concluded were no suicide threats. Clearly, the story ance had not been stoked so high ­ the U.S. just might have the will to broker was generated by the authorities to mask stoked not by Koresh, but by the anti­ a settlement with Israel and are sitting their intent. Why did the press play along religious bigots of our secular cultural down to talk about it, an encouraging so willingly? elite. first step to peace; the repulsing of any ty­ During the final siege, the news me­ Thank you again for your courage rant's aggression has direct benefits (for dia gave us a clear video of tanks breach­ and eloquence - and for reminding us the Kuwaiti people) and contributes ing the walls of the compound. I heard just how far from the cultural main­ something to the cause of freedom every­ sounds of rifle fire and listened carefully stream we libertarians are, and just how where; and while the outcome is undecid­ far we have to go to create a society in ed, the Kurds are enjoying a modicum of which Waco-style holocausts will never autonomy and may yet gain their inde­ Policy happen again. pendence. Letters Greg Johnson Lyndon Cramer We invite readers to comment on articles Athens, Ga. Ashland, Ore. that have appeared in liberty. We reserve Curricular Advice LP - The Place To Be the right to edit for length and clarity. All When the great majority of brutal Jane Shaw's suggestion ("Just say'no' letters are assumed to be intended for publi­ gay-bashings are no longer perpetrated to the Libertarian Party," June 1993) that cation unless otherwise stated. Succinct, by gangs of insecure males still in high libertarian political activists might better typewritten letters are preferred. Please in­ school, then perhaps I'll agree with Ste­ abandon the Libertarian Party and focus clude your phone number so that we can phen Cox ("Isn't Multiculturalism a verify your identity. continued on page 69 Crumbling down - How delightful to see the he worked for the Nixon, Ford or Reagan White Houses. In Clinton administration crumbling before our eyes. The nation fact, the "tradition" began with Gergen. Nice to see he has desperately needs another failed presidency. My only fear is settled in so quickly. -JSR that with about three and a half years to go, President Clinton may be troughing too soon. -SR Accounting for waste - The General Account­ ing Office has issued a report saying that in the 1980s the Never having to say you're sorry - The Defense Department understated the cost of new weapons, Pax Americana ushered in by the fall of the U.S.S.R. is be­ overstated their capability, and exaggerated the Soviet threat. ginning to look a little peculiar: in June, American armed forc­ Imagine that. -SR es were bombing civilian populations on at least three differ­ ent continents. Being the only superpower does have its Justice not delayed - On May 24, Major General advantages! -RWB Harold Campbell, a two-star general at the Salsterberg Air Base in the Netherlands, described Clinton as "draft-dodging, Put him out of our misery - As we go to gay-loving, pot-smoking, womanizing commander-in-ehief." press, the President's approval rating is around 360/0, close to For this brazen display of public candor, Gen. Campbell was Jimmy Carter's 340/0 rating when he left office. For another charged with violating Article 88 of the Uniform Code of perspective, Richard Nixon's had sunk to 24% when he re­ Military Justice. The wheels of military justice grind exceed­ signed. Using this figure one can calculate the Presidential ingly quickly and exceedingly coarsely. On June 18, Gen. Resignation Index (PRI): the current approval rating minus Campbell was found guilty, reprimanded, fined, and mus­ 240/0. I suggest that when the PRI reaches zero or below, the tered out of the service. President ought to resign. Why should we be saddled with an There are reasons for the swift resolution and harsh pen­ ineffective Chief Executive for three and a half years just be­ alty, in comparison to ordinary criminal or civil courts. For cause of a Constitutional technicality? Let Al Gore have a shot one thing, the verbal opinions of officers in the military are at it. 12 points and counting. -J5R not protected by the First Amendment, since the officers have voluntarily given up the right of free speech when they join Think of it as symbolism in action - the armed services. For another, Gen. Campbell could not Three months into the Clinton years, the Statue of Freedom make the sort of defense he'd have made if charged with slan­ has been removed from the capitol dome. No, it's not what der - that is, he could not defend himself on the grounds you think; it just needs to be cleaned and refurbished. Cctpitol that he had told the truth - because Article 88 makes "con­ Police are maintaining a round-the-clock guard to protect temptuous words" toward the president an offense subject to Freedom while she sits on the Capitol lawn. Too bad they court marshal, whether those words are true or not. can't do the same thing inside the Capitol. -DB For those of you unfamiliar with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, here is what Article 88 says: "Any commis­ Left and right: the prospects for bar­ sioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the becue - Recent events in Waco and Philadelphia have preSident, vice president, congress, the Secretary of Defense, clarified the political spectrum immensely. Left-liberals are the secretary of a military department, the Secretary of those who believe the government should immolate cults that Transportation or the governor or legislature of any state, ter­ espouse the amassing of weapons, deviant interpretations of ritory, commonwealth or possession in which he is on duty or the Bible, and religious apocalypse. Conservatives are those present shall be punished as a court martial may direct." who believe the government should immolate cults that es­ Sleep well, America. You are safe against the threat that a pouse vegetarianism, black separatism, and "organic hy­ military officer might speak ill of the Secretary of giene." Liberals are considered advocates of big government Transportation. But the threat of unbridled insubordination because they prefer their combustion handled by federal au­ remains: a General can utter unpleasant words about the thorities; conservatives, by contrast, are willing to leave the Secretary of Health and Human Services with complete im­ fiery business to the locals. -JW punity. -RWB David go liath - When David Gergen entered the Tit for tat - I don't comprehend' the incredible fuss Clinton White House a potential political problem arose over everyone is making over the alleged assassination attempt his membership in an all-male club, the Bohemian Grove. Not against former President Bush. Why exactly is it supposed to to worry, he resigned his membership in all clubs as per the be permissible for George Bush to try to kill Saddam Hussein, "White House tradition." Funny thing, he didn't resign when but not for Saddam Hussein to try to kill George Bush? Ifany- Liberty 5 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 thing, we should be thanking Saddam for his courtesy; by enjoying my paltry thousands. When wealthy people decide waiting for Clinton to take office before making his move, he that material success isn't enough in life, why do they always spared our nation the ignoble prospect of a Quayle administra­ start talking about reducing economic growth, which won't tion. I sincerely hope that all the deranged loners of this nation hurt them much but will leave the rest of us stuck at a materi­ will take this to heart, and hold off killing Clinton until the al level they've long outgrown? -DB possibility of an Al Gore regime has similarly passed. -JW Out Of the closet, endlessly rocking - It Stirred, not shaken - PepsiCo came under assault: is no surprise that numerous "'moral" busybodies blustered syringes were "'found'" in Pepsi Cola cans across the country, and fulminated about the gay rights march in Washington on in cans packaged at diverse plants. The pattern was easy to de­ April 25. What is surprising is that some of my libertarian termine; so easy, in fact, that even·. the government figured it friends, while presumably not objecting to the notion of out. Not long after the first news·reports of the syringe· '"dis­ equality under the law regardless of sexual orientation, man­ coveries" aired, federal agents began arresting numerous aged to express absolutely visceral disgust with the proceed­ '"copycat" syringe-droppers for filing false charges. ings. They seemed to think that the march was somehow an Many people dismiss the severity of such crimes because of affront to civilized society, irrespective of the justice of the the size of the corporate victims. But this is one area where size demands being made. truly doesn't matter. "'Big Corporations" are made up of people: Mind you, given the nature of such huge gatherings, what workers, management, stock-holders. Fraud against the one is these demands were was uncertain. I suppose that many, fraud against the many. And, besides, when this type of fraud perhaps most, of the people there thought they were march­ occurs, consumers also suffer. Consider the number of Pepsi ing in support of the usual leftist conflation of progressive drinkers who wasted precious cola because, in order to deter­ causes, from remembering Oliver Tambo to supporting sin­ mine whether the cans contained syringes, they had shaken the gle-payer-national-health-care fascism. But certainly not all cans before opening. - TWV participants looked at it this way. So what was I, neither leftist nor gay, doing there? And How to cut the deficit while increasing why did I find it both ennobling and liberating? After all - as the deficit by $3 billion per day - The some of my friends related with a shudder - men were kissing Senate finally enacted President Clinton's "'Budget Deficit and dry-humping each other in public, women were going topless Reduction Act." The measure will reduce budget deficits by whether men thought they were sexy or not, fetishism was publicly $500 billion during the next five years by·· increasing income displayed, and many marchers showed disrespect toward people ad­ taxes on the wealthy and taxes on gasoline, tobacco, and alco­ vocating their murder. Shocking! Don't they realize that C-SPAN hol for everyone. The tax increases begin immediately, if not was there? How can they expect their political cause to be taken se­ retroactively. As for spending cuts, they are scheduled to begin riously if they misbehave and curse on C-S PAN? in earnest in 1997. (Unless Congress changes its mind some­ Sometimes I think that it's hatred of homosexuals, not time during the next four years.) merely respect for the civilized verities, that motivate the This Act comes only three years after the "'Budget Deficit screeds of my otherwise (classical) liberal companions. They Reduction Act" of 1990. It also was designed to reduce the even seem reminiscent of those right-wingers who might budget deficit by $500 billion over the next five years by rais­ stand up for the rights of the Aryan.Nation, Posse Comitatus, ing income taxes on the wealthy and increasing taxes on ~aso­ and the Branch Davidians, but sneer at any request by homo­ line, tobacco and alcohol. Spending would be cut, with the'first sexuals for that same "live and let live" treatment. major reductions occurring several years into the plan. I don't see why I should stop behaving the way I wish in In an action that got far less publicity than this year's public simply because someone is pointing a camera at me. I "'Budget Deficit Reduction Act," Congress also passed a meas­ don't think that any busybody'S desire not to see me kiss a ure authorizing an increase in the J;lational loved one in public should dictate whether I debt of $270 billion. This was needed to cover Liberty's Editors can do so. And I don't see what's wrong with the deficit for the next 90 days. Imagine how assembling in public to declare who you are much the national debt would be going up if Reflect sexually. Congress hadn't passed both the 1990 and And hetero though I am, I was accepted CAA Chester Alan Arthur and welcomed all weekend long by both 1993 measures! -RWB DB David Boaz RWB R.W. Bradford friends and strangers, an experience I found Lean back and enjoy it .- BD Brian Doherty both uplifting and symbolic of what freedom Writing in the Washington Post, Norman DF David Friedman is all about. Yes, liberty is more than just buy­ Lear defends Hillary Clinton's recent mean­ BK Bill Kauffman ing and selling your justly earned property. dering thoughts about "becoming part of an RK Richard Kostelanetz And yes, liberty is more than just behaving ethically based spiritual community that links LEL Loren E. Lomasky yourself as long as you fit the definitions that us to a higher purpose" and "redefining what SR Sheldon Richman everyone else around you has imposed. it means to be a human being in the post­ JSR James S. Robbins All weekend I saw inspiring examples of modem era." "'Let's face it," Lear writes, "we JSS Jane S. Shaw citizens claiming public space for their own SS Sandy Shaw are not a nation enjoying its material suc­ ATS Aaron T. Steelman in such numbers that the state was powerless cess." Well, Lear may not be enjoying the cen­ TWV Timothy Virkkala to stop them. The throngs of people filling timillions he's made from TV sitcoms, but I'm JW Jesse Walker D.C.'s Dupont Circle area became so thick 6 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 that enforcement of nudity and public drinking laws became icit and avoiding the old scams of the "twelve long years" of hopeless. People on the subway spontaneously shouted, Reagan-Bush trickery. So now that they have the presidency cheered, whooped, and clapped hands with strangers merely they defend budget fraud on grounds that Reagan and Bush because they felt part of a community united by something. did it too? This something could have been anything - blue eyes, It is also interesting that the same Democratic Senators and weight, admiration for actor Norman Fell - that made them Representatives who reply to criticism of their chicanery by ob­ all co-conspirators, all friends, The aura of spontaneous and serving that Reaganand Bush did it too never mention that they self-chosen community elicited awe in this libertarian: I felt had helped write the Reagan and Bush budgets, that they had privileged to be part of this community. And I chose to be convinced Bush to make his "historic compromise" on the bud­ part of this community not because I'm not a social conserva­ get in 1990, and that they themselves voted for the Reagan and tive, but because I love sex (most of the time) and love to Bush,budgets. shock (sometimes) and love watching people get together in Every time Clinton and his apologists put out this line, a charm, wit, and affirmation of the value and joy of their own thousand voters switch to the Republicans, who seem to have lives (all the time). learned from their experience. And ten thousand voters And that's why, political message be damned, this event switch to Ross Perot. was worth celebrating. Because before politics there is self­ I haven't switched to any new brand of politics, but my chosen community, nudity, public displays of affection, and peanut butter jar overflowed long ago, and the weight of pen- joy. No matter what specters haunt the gay community, no nies threatens to break my floor. -CAA matter the emotional or biological dangers associated with gay lifestyles, gays freely choose how they live. In a civilized The progress of democracy - Seventy-two community there is no reason for imposing dangers on them, years ago, the winning presidential candidate refused to leave no call for hate, violence, and prejudice motivated by visceral his home to campaign for office, limiting his activities to occa­ and unreasoned aversion. The preservation of civilization de­ sional meetings with reporters on his front porch. Today, the pends far more on suppressing hate, violence and prejudice president is a guest on a call-in radio program in Waxahatchie, than on suppressing those people who choose to make love Texas, hoping to increase his personal popularity. -CAA with members of their own sex. -BD Hair today, gone tomorrow - It is hard to Akayev in '961 - Imagine a sanctuary in the moun­ miss the Clintons' dramatic shifts in emphasis following the tains, a place without government regulations, a place without many political snafus of the new administration. But no one income taxes, and where your taxes from previous years are seems to have noticed the most striking: the Clintons' commit­ refunded. No, not Galt's Gulch - Kyrgyzstan! Since his elec­ ment to Interesting Hair has been completely abandoned. tion with 93.5% of the vote, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev Evidence? They dropped the nomination to Chief Shyster for has pursued aggressive free-market reforms. He dumped the Procrustean Racism (or somesuch) of Lani Guinier, the wom­ inflationary Ruble to start his own currency, the Som, which an with the most interesting hair in Washington, D.C. This he plans to back with gold by 1997. (It is currently kept afloat troubles me, because I had expected the new Democratic ad­ by IMF dollars.) He is also seeking to privatize industry, lower ministration to have one sure postive effect: a rise in aesthetic corporate tax rates, disband the armed forces, and push consti­ standards. And now even this hope is dashed. - TWV tutional reform to weaken the central state. Treasury Secretary Bill Clinton hasn't been Lloyd Bentsen described this as "a bold and courageous re­ Harding vs Clinton - around long enough for me to decide just how bad he is, but form program that should be a model for all states of the for­ I'm afraid I'm already beginning to miss the Bush years - a mer Soviet Union." And not only there! Maybe Secretary disturbing sign. Thus far, Bentsen can pick up a few tips. -JSR Clinton's saving grace has Choosy voters choose . .. been that the mass death on In January, I put a peanut butter jar ~.~~ his shoulders - the as­ next to my television. Since then, sault on the Branch I have deposited a penny into Davidians in Waco, that jar every time I have ~ Texas - is nowhere heard an apologist for near as large as the Clinton's budget chicanery Panamanian and respond to criticism by Iraqi bloodbaths of saying, "Well, this is the his predecessor. If same sort of thing Clinton leads us Reagan and Bush did into the Balkan for twelve years." quagmire, that The audacity of last support for Clinton's apologists is his relative astonishing. Clinton was good name elected on a platform of will disap­ reducing the.budget def- pear like so 7 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 many campaign promises. planning to raise taxes, getting confused a~out h~alth ca~e, This would, of course, only continue a well-established po­ dropping the Bosnian hot potato(e), and Importing DaVId litical pattern that could be mathematically expressed as Gergen for a political makeover, the private sector create~ follows: 425,000 jobs. Not surprisingly, the President has taken credIt Y2=Yl+x for this. -JSR where Y2 represents the disgustI feel with whoev~r is curre~tly Lani and Leoni - Lani Guinier, Bill Clinton's ex­ president, Yl everything wrong with the last chief executive, nominee for assistant attorney general for civil rights, certainly and x more disaffection than a mere variable can express. has some screwball and pernicious ideas. She believes that all Jimmy Carter, by any objective standard a moraliZing, economi­ white people think alike and that all "authentic" blacks do too.. cally ignorant disaster, started to look remarkably good once She also thinks that racial minorities should be guaranteed not Ronald Reagan moved to Washington. Reagan, in tum, was only proportional representation in any legislature, but also made retrospectively palatable when George Herbert Walker their "fair share" of legislation. Bush stepped to the plate. Will the trend continue? But let's be honest: This woman who drew the fire of con­ The real problem, of course, is the presidency itself. I won't servatives and liberals alike (such as those at The New Republic) mince words: it's fundamentally odious. There is something is onto something when she attacks standard democratic pro­ about the office that corrupts even good men; even Thomas cedure. She writes, for instance, that majority rule is "illegiti­ Jefferson, a hero of mine in his capacity as a private citizen, mate" because those who are "outvoted ... don't count." That managed to become a statist during his eight years in power. is absolutely correct. That was recognized 40 years ago by the Perhaps this is why I prefer lame executives like Ford and brilliant libertarian legal theorist Bruno Leoni. In his lecture Carter to the likes of Bush, Reagan, Nixon, Johnson, and "Voting Versus the Market," Leoni attacked democrats for ar­ Roosevelt. Anyone who easily fits the role of Leader of the guing that under majority rule every vote has e~u~l weigh.t. World's Greatest Superpower is creepy, period. These people Leoni pointed out that democrats believe that majority rule IS exercise power with ease; they set up internment camps for the best alternative to unanimity, which usually cannot be Japanese-Americans, bomb Cambodian civilians, impose com­ achieved. But, he wrote, that is like saying that 51 voters out of mand economies with the flick of the wrist. By contrast, any 100 are "politically equal" to 100 and that 49 are "politically ethical person saddled with so much power shifts about uneasi­ equal" to zero. Thus, says Leoni, "we give much more 'weight' ly, unsure as to what to do or how. This makes for poor leade~­ to each voter ranking on the side of the winning 51 than to ship, but then, it ain't political leadership that's gotten this each voter ranking on the side of the losing 49." Leoni was try­ civilization as far as it has, and 1 don't expect much better to ing to show that the market is superior to majority rule, ~om~­ come of politics anytime soon. thing Guinier presumably would not endorse. Her solution IS By this standard, the best president of this century was supermajorities or concurrent majorities (in which ~ m~jori~y probably Warren G. Harding. Best-remembered today for the of a minority voting bloc would have to vote for legislation m Teapot Dome Scandal - a relatively small blot next to the S&L order for it to pass). Leoni would reject both as phony reme­ debacle or Iran-Contra - Harding spent most of his time in of­ dies. He argued that supermajority rule would not change th.e fice playing poker, getting laid, and ultimately, dying. His pri­ principle of unequal weight that he had already elaborated; It mary legislative program was to undo a few of the most awful would just change the numbers. legacies of his immediate predecessor, Woodrow Wilson, who Leoni opposed voting because, unlike in the market, the los­ between World War I, the Federal Reserve Act, the Income Tax, ers always get something shoved down their throats. That's the Palmer red raids, the official introduction of racial discrimi­ why Guinier takes the position she does: she ~ants blacks (at nation into the federal bureaucracy, and a ton of cartelizing eco­ least "authentic" ones) to be able to shove things down the nomic regulations was probably the worst president to slither throats of whites, no doubt as restitution. Leoni, concluding through the Oval Office. He's the man to beat. Is Slick Willie up that "no rule for decision making is really apt to give equal to the challenge? -}W weights in the sense ofequal possibilities to eachand all the vot­ Jobs gridlock contin~es~ -. While ~e President ers," wanted essentially to abolish legislation. Guinier doesn't was busy in April and May gettmg his hair cut, rolhng over on want equal weight accorded to all, so. that she would be un­ Chinese trade sanctions, jogging, holding challenging meetings moved by that reasoning. Were she a person of principle about with children, shafting Lani Guinier, covering up Travelgate, minority rights, she would advocate freeing everyone from the tyrannyoflegislation, majorities and minorities alike. -SR The wymmin vs the woman - This election cycle was supposed to be "The Year of the Woman." But it has turned out more weirdly androgynous than anyone could have imagined. During the campaign for the Senate seat vacat­ ed by Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen, Republi~a~ candidate Kay Bailey Hutchison came under a barrage of cntl­ cism. Hutchison, a strong supporter of abortion rights and state legislation to promote equal credit opportunities for women, was not attacked by conservative religious groups. "I don't especially like being a government elnployee, No, she was the target of feminists. Gloria Steinem went so far but underworked is better than underemployed." as to call Hutchison "a female impersonator," while Cybill 8 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

Shepherd attacked her on the grounds that she "is no good for batim excerpts from her law review articles. In one she stated women and children." These attacks came even though that "the Senate Judiciary Committee should begin evaluating Hutchison was opposed by, of all things, a man, Bob Krueger. federal judicial nominations with reference to specific goals for Although Hutchison did win - by a landslide - it is instruc­ increasing non-white nominees." (I insert this in case anyone tive to note who had wanted her to fail. Apparently, "The still thinks Guinier was not advocating racial quotas.) Year of the Woman" was supposed to read "The Year of the By now Clinton musthave known something ofheroutlook, Leftist Democratic Woman." -ATS and the May17Political Hotline reveals thathe did. The President said he believedGuinier "willnot use the Civil Rights division to With friends like these . .. The Lani Guinier epi­ implement her contraversial theories . .. I think she has every inten­ sode stands as another example of what it is worth to be a tion of following the law of the land as Congress writes it./1 This "Friend of Bill" - namely, nothing. The President has dis­ was two weeks before the President claimed to have discovered played a breathtaking willingness to chuck people overboard thatGuinier's "center"wasnothis own. at the slightest hint of political risk, seemingly without realiz­ A few days later when ABC's Brit Hume noted that Ms ing that the long-term consequences of this faithless behavior Guinier had some "rather striking views about voting rights" include alienating the voting public and shrinking his circle of and asked the President if he was familiar with them, Mr political allies. Clinton praised Guinier's experience in civil rights law, but More importantly, the President showed his contempt for added, "1 expect the policy on civil rights laws to be made by the American people by claiming not to have known that Lani Congress, and I expect the Justice Department to carry out that Guinier had espoused radical views on the issues of race and policy.... The president and attorney general will decide all the political process. He prevaricated in his usual legalistic matters of executive discretion." In other words, Guinier's poli­ way, by saying that he "hadn't read all of her articles"; but of cy input would be minimal. But why? When Hume persisted course he need not have read any of them to know something in asking if Mr Clinton knew of Guinier's opinions, the was up. Setting aside for a moment that Mr Clinton had President turned away. known Ms Guinier at law school; that they had crossed paths This represents only a small amount of evidence that in Arkansas when she helped the NAACP sue then Governor President Clinton knew all along that Lani Guinier advocated Clinton over racially segregated schools;, and that they had controversial racial policies. H Ms Guinier would reveal the maintained social contact throughout. Even given what was background to her nomination (when was she interviewed? By printed in the popular press, how coulq Clinton not have whom? What questions were asked? What documentation re­ known? quested? etc.) we could reach a definitive description of the Guinier's general frame of mind was revealed in a quota­ events. Until then, the Guinier episode stands as a case study tion reported in Business Week, March 1, shortly before Janet in the Clinton Method: make a mistake; deny everything; Reno was confirmed as Attorney General. Referring to Justice throw someone to the wolves; claim ignorance. -JSR Department reform, Guinier said that "the house-cleaning will have to take place with a pitchfork, not a broom./1 Kids held hostage - The New York City school Perhaps Mr Clinton thought this was just exuberance, not to board elections illustrated several problems with a monopoly be taken literally. school system run through a more or less democratic process. The April 3 National Journal reported that a conservative First, unlike monopoly schools run by undemocratic sys­ group, the Institute for Justice, urged Clinton not to appoint tems - as in communist countries but also some Western Guinier, because it would mean "a countries such as France and Japan, return to the disastrous and divi­ where there's very little public con­ sive policies of racial quotas and trol over the education ministries ­ forced busing./1 activists can force their agendas on Of course the President cannot the schools, diverting them from a be expected to listen to conserva­ strict focus on education. This was tive groups who are likely to op­ classically the case in New York, pose his nominees in any case. But where the ruling establishment's at­ what about the Washington Post? tempt to impose the multicultural, The Post reportedon Apri113, 1993, pro-gay "Children of the Rainbow" that Guinier was edging out curriculum on all schools created Washington lawyer Joe Sellers [an fierce opposition, leading to the re­ attorney with the Washington moval of Superintendent Joseph Lawyers Committee for Civil Fernandez. Emboldened by popular Rights] for the civil rights job at the opposition to the Rainbow Justice Department. Quoth the Post: Curriculum, the Catholic Church "Some of Guinier's law review teamed up with Pat Robertson's writings were said to be too contro­ Christian Coalition to try to take versial, butapparently not so./1 over the city's 32 community school The May 17 Connecticut Law boards. The cultural elite fought Tribune had a lengthy review of back, pulling together a coalition in­ Guinier's writings, including ver- cluding the United Federation of Liberty 9 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

Teachers, key supporters of Mayor David Dinkins, People for bundle of joy that she warehoused him with underpaid the American Way, and gay activists. The two groups fought wetbacks. bitterly for the right to impose their own moral and cultural Muckraker Ida Tarbell, grand dame Alice Hay Wadsworth, values on New York's one million schoolchildren. In the end, and other foes of female suffrage worried that women who it was a draw. One report said that the religious right elected engaged in -let's be decorous and call it "public service" ­ 51 of 87 endorsed candidates, while the cultural elite elected would lose their peculiarly feminine qualities. They were, in 50 of 84 candidates. Schoolchildren will continue to be pawns my view, silly to reject the franchise, but in other ways they in a political struggle. were prescient. There is no discernible difference between the A second problem the campaign illustrated was the irrele­ women who claw (or, in Hillary's case, sleep) their way into vance of politics to most people. After a bitter· and well­ the Corridors of Power and their male counterparts. publicized campaign, including several front-page news sto­ The tender and humane - all right, nurturing - qualities ries, turnout increased from the normal 7 percent to 12.5 per­ associated with womanhood have manifested themselves only cent of the electorate. It seems hardly necessary to point out at the political fringe: I think of the heroic "little old.ladies in that letting parents choose the schools their children will at­ tennis shoes" who constituted organizations such as the tend would end this political warfare over who gets to propa­ Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; or the gandize a captive audience of impressionable children. -DB black churchwomen of the Deep South who slew Jim Crow; or dissenters such as the late (American-trained) German Green Your mother wears combat boots - Willis Party celebrity Petra Kelly. R. Jones, an opponent of the Child Labor Amendment of the The only national lady politician we have who is worth a 1920s, insisted that "fathers and mothers are better prepared damn is Colorado Representative Pat Schroeder, irrepressible to pass judgment upon the needs and the welfare of their critic of the military-industrial complex. Many Beltway children than this Congress is, or than the Children's Bureau. I feminists dislike Schroeder because she is pleasant, reasonably know not who the Children's Bureau is composed of: I have attractive, and draws happy faces on her personal heard intimations that there are not many mothers connected correspondence. She's a real person, quirky and idiosyncratic with it." and - has this word been proscribed yet? - womanly. Nice shot, Willis. The Children's Bureau's mission - to The First Couple, by contrast, are the archetypes of the new gather the nation's tykes unto the bosom of Mother unisex politics. Bill is a lying bastard and Hillary is an Government - has been adopted and enormously expanded imperious bitch. You've come a long way, baby. Meet the new by the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services boss - same as the old boss. -BK and big business-subsidized auxiliaries such as the Children's Defense Fund. A modest proposal- President Clinton demanded The years roll by, but the faces never really change. Little that those who criticize his budget proposals come up with cuts Justin and Tiffany are menaced by a new generation of child of their own. Here are a few places to wield the cleaver. At the savers, led by co-President Hillary Rodham Clinton and HHS International Trade Commission, General Manufactures Secretary Donna Shalala. There are ... well, not many mothers Division, Instruments and Precision Manufactures Branch, the connected with it. government employs a full-time analyst to look into the vola­ No, let us commit candor, the most heinous crime under tile trade in "watches and clocks, dolls, toys, magic tricks and our hate-thought statutes. Hillary has surrounded herself with puzzles." In the Miscellaneous Manufactures Branch, another the most fearsome crew of bull dykes this side of American analyst keeps an eye on "arms and ammunition, games, sport­ Gladiators. The handful of procreative women in the Clinton ing goods, fishing tackle, fairground amusements and traveling orbit are mostly in the mold of the hapless Zoe Baird, the circuses." Either combine these two positions, or, for added $500,000 a year corporate shyster who cared so little for her savings, cut both and give the work to the person in charge of "typewriter ribbons, ink pads, date stamps, zippers, snap fas­ teners and buttons." That should obviate the need for the ener­ gytax. -JSR Realigned powers - Hardly a man is now alive who remembers that at the dawn of the Cold War it was liberals who launched a global crusade to contain and confront commu­ nism and conservatives, still under the sway of the Old Right, who opposed that idea as "glo­ baloney." After the liberals' test case in Vietnam went so bad,ly awry, most of them bailed out and spent the\next two decades opposing U.S. intervention in the Third World (though they did not call for dismantling our worldwide.net­ work of alliances). Meanwhile, conservatives had been lured away from the Old Right by William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review to en­ list in a globalist conservative campaign against 10 Liberty Modern editions ofclassic worksfor today's readers. NEW THE MORALS OF TS AND RELATED ESSAYS By H. B. Acton Edited by David Gordon and Jeremy Shearmur Acton demonstrates a command ofclassic authors and enduring questions while simultaneously addressing contemporary con­ cerns about the connection between commerce and moralzty. His defense of market orders is thus neither facile nor oblivious to critical questions. It manifests instead an abiding wisdom that is as positzve a~ it is deep. - Douglas Den Uyl, Bellarmine College The morality of buying and selling has long bothered man's conscience. Acton offers a historically and philo­ sophically informed defense of a market-based society, asserting that a free market is a necessary condition for the pursuit of human (moral) excellence. 257 + xxvii pages. Foreword, editor's note, bibliography ofActon's writings, index. Hardcover $25.00 0-86597-106-4 Paperback $ 7.50 0-86597-107-2 ------ALSO AVAILABLE ------

THE LIMITS OF STATE ACTION THE ETHICS OF REDISTRIBUTION By Wilhelm von Humboldt By Bertrand de Jouvenel Edited by J. W. Burrow Introduction by John Gray uNearly two hundred years after its origination, The UThis seminal little work ... is an important Limits ofState Action remains an unsurpassed contribution to discussion about the redistributionist statement of the case for classical liberalism." state and its implications for liberty." - Hillel Steiner, University of Manchester -John Gray, from hIS new Introduction Hardcover $25.00 0-86597-108-0 Hardcover $12.00 0-86597-084-x Paperback $ 7.50 0-86597-109-9 Paperback $ 5.00 0-86597-085-8 ------Please send me the following titles: ------D Enclose~ is my check. o Please send me a catalogue. Quantity Title HelPB Amount Name _

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To order by phone, call 800-955-8335; fax 317-577-9067. Total Prepayment by check, VISA, or MasterCard is reg uired on all orders not for resale. We pay book rate postage on orders prepaid by check. Please allow approximately.four weeks for delivery. !IB~ ------LIBERTY FUND ------______8335 Allison Pointe Trail, Dept. R303, Indianapolis, IN 46250-1687 _ Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 communism. Conservatives charged that liberals weren't real­ der - perhaps simply because trade over long distances was ly for peace, they were just soft on communism. too perilous to get the ball rolling - failed to develop the Now there seems to be some evidence that the conserva­ traditions, institutions, and wealth that led to greater produc­ tives were right. Liberals were more skeptical than conserva­ tivity and leisure for reasoning, musical and literary develop­ tives about Desert Storm, but they have been more eager than ment, and technical innovation. conservatives to send American forces to Somalia and Bosnia; All Americans (and most of the rest of the world's popula­ witness such prime examples as New York Times columnist tion) are products of the cultural evolution made possible by Anthony Lewis and the leftmost member of the U.S. Senate, the extended order. But we cling to the idea that our ances­ Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). Columnist Stephen Chapman tors created their culture. (If we take this one step further we writes that the difference between modern liberals and con­ hold the "fatal conceit": the mistaken idea that human intel­ temporary conservatives is that conservatives want to send lect shaped the world and can improve it.) Thus, we have U.S. troops anywhere American interests are at stake, while people who take inordinate pride in their ethnic ancestry be­ liberals want to send troops anywhere American interests are cause its achievements make them feel superior and we have not at stake - and it turns out there are even more of the people who feel a need to fabricate a more complex culture to latter. keep themselves from feeling inferior. The debate over intervention in Bosnia shows liberals and According to Hayek, this is a big mistake. Geniuses didn't conservatives reverting to type. Liberals see a problem and call create the complex cultures; the complex cultures created the for action by the U.S. government. Conservatives see a prob­ geniuses, and the complex cultures existed only as a result of lem and point out that government action is likely to be both the extended order. -J55 futile and counterproductive. If voters who supported peace candidates in the 1960s and 1970s were truly for peace and not Gang aft a-gley - Coercing people to reduce risky justopposed to fighting communism, then we may be in for a behavior: does it work? Two recent studies indicate that it major realignment of the peace movement in American poli­ doesn't. One study on the effect of mandatory motorcycle tics. Could the Old Right make a comeback? -DB helmet-use laws reported that the lower rate of death due to head injury was countered by a higher crash.rate, resulting in SO how do you explain Phil Donahue? comparable overall death rates. In another report, the - In my view, today's emphasis on multiculturalism stems Highway Loss Data Institute (funded by the private Insurance from a mistaken assumption that the advances of Western civ­ Institute for Highway Safety) reported, based upon a compari­ ilization (things like movable type, navigational devices, com­ son of 21 vehicles, that relative claim frequencies increased for mon law, and Paradise Lost) came about because Westerners 16 airbag-equipped vehicles (versus cars with no airbags, but were somehow "better" or "smarter" than those whose cul­ with seat belts) and that for 18 of the cars, the relative collision tures didn't produce such things. This idea is so threatening to (damage only) claim frequency increased relative to their per­ those who consider themselves as coming from non-Western formance when seat belt equipped. One possible reason for cultures that it has led to bizarre constructions such as the in­ this is that people have their own ideas of what level of risks sistence that Pharaonic Egypt was peopled primarily by black they are willing to accept. If the government coercively re­ Africans, the idolization of American Indian cultures for their quires reducing that risk, then people may increase risk taking spirituality and sensitivity to nature, and denigration of to get back to their own chosen level. Europeans for cruelty and discrimination against women (as The greater risk-taking may also be a mechanism for if they were unique in these respects.) avoiding coercive manipulation. In experiments with animals, If I read Hayek's The Fatal Conceit correctly, this assump­ scientists have discovered that avoiding manipulation by the tion is completely wrong - backwards, really. Vasco da experimenters can be a powerful motivation. In one study in Gama and Mozart (to pick at random two dead white males which mice could increase or decrease their own cage light who contributed to the advance of civilization) were smart, of levels, the mice would always try to undo whatever the ex­ course, and more talented than many of their peers. But they perimenters did. The mice decreased the lighting when the weren't necessarily smarter than their counterparts in other experimenters increased it. Mice, of course, like the dark. cultures. Rather, they didn't have counterparts, because they Even so, when the experimenters decreased the lighting, the were products of the culture that evolved as a result of what mice would increase it. Hayek calls the extended market orde~. And so it seems· that the best laid schemes of mice and The extended order, which relies on prices and impersonal men go often awry. Well, coercive schemes, anyway. -55 rules of conduct, freed people from having to depend for their livelihood on small groups with limited resources. Beginning A Cabinet that makes sense The with trade around the Mediterranean (Hayek guesses around Libertarian Party has appointed a "shadow cabinet" of liber­ 750 to 550 B.C.) people discovered and, over time, developed tarian-oriented individuals: rules and customs that allowed them to deal with others with­ Agriculture: James Bovard out face-to-face contact or common goals. These relationships Commerce: Richard W. Rahn permitted division of labor, specialization, private property Defense: Earl C. Ravenal and expanding opportunities for invention and wealth. Education: John Taylor Gatto (Something s,imilar went on in the Far East but, according to Energy: Richard L. Gordon Hayek, the power of imperial China stifled it.) Health & Human Services: Henry N. Butler Cultures that were not able to take part in an extended or- Housing and Urban Development: William Tucker 12 Liberty Un­ ~/common policy sense.

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Available atbookstores orcall toll-free 1-800-767-1241 Cato Institute (Noon-9:OO p.m. Eastern time, Monday-Friday) 224 Second Street, S.E. Distributed to the trade by National Book Network Washington, D.C. 20003 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

Interior: Jane S. Shaw income families and does not want to. (If she wanted to, she Justice: Manuel S. Klausner could enroll in another program which pays for food and day­ Labor: Richard K. Vedder care, too.) Naturally, an additional $50 per week from the gov­ State: Leon T. Hadar ernment is more attractive than asking us for more money. Transportation: Thomas Gale Moore This situation illustrates three points that I've known intel­ Treasury: Ron Paul lectually but haven't actually experienced until now: Veterans Affairs: CottonM. Lindsay 1. Most transfer payments in this country do not go to the Pretty impressive group of people,isn't it? poor. Only about one seventh of all money transferred by the Members of the shadow cabinet will review actions of government is spent in means-tested programs. Clinton's cabinet and m.ake public comments on them. The 2. The costs of most programs clearly outweigh the bene­ hope is that someone in the media will pay attention, and the fits. My son might have marginally better lunches as a result cabinet members will find their way onto radio talk shows, of this program. (He might also have marginally worse din­ and (perhaps) even have an influence on public opinion. ners, because he won't be as hungry and his parents won't be It's too early to know how effective the shadow cabinet as concerned about his diet.) In any case, the cost, at $1.85 per will be, but this looks like one of the best ideas the Libertarian day per child plus the costs of administration and monitoring, Party has come up with in a long time. -CAA far exceeds whatever benefit there might be. 3. The supposed beneficiaries of such programs (malnour­ Don't let Hillary find out - Forget nanny ished children in this case) are rarely the prime beneficiaries. problems. Supreme Court nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg has One clear winner is the babysitter, but then there is the college a bigger skeleton in her closet. When she and Judge Robert graduate who comes sniffing around and the administrators Bork served together on the District of Columbia Court of hired to oversee the paperwork. The sponsoring organization, Appeals, they voted together 900/0 of the time. -JSR Child Care Connections, used to be staffed largely by volun­ teers; with the advent of federal money, they weren't needed Big Mother is watching - I have an excellent ~y more. But what's a mom to do? -JSS babysitter who keeps my son in her home two afternoons a week. One day she asked me to fill out a form enrolling my Welfare and immigration: the other half child in the Child Care Food Program. ofthe argument - Many libertarians who favor free This government-funded program reimburses her for serv­ immigration in principle have serious reservations about its ing "nutritious, well-balanced meals." By joining this program implications in the world as it now exists. A Mexican who my babysitter will receive $1.45 for each meal she serves and leaves Mexico to accept a better paying job in the U.S. makes 40 cents for each snack. In return she must prepare weekly both himself and the rest of us better off, but one who leaves a menus, submit them to the sponsoring organization, Child job in Mexico to go on welfare in the U.S. makes himself better Care Connections, and serve nutritious food such as 1000/0 off at our expense. Thus it is sometimes argued that the elimi­ juice and whole wheat bread. From time to time someone will nation of barriers to migration only makes sense if we first come by and .check to see if she is, indeed, prOViding nutri­ eliminate government redistribution. tious, well-balanced meals. One possible reply is that at present immigrants do not in I've received similar sheets before, at preschools, but they fact come for welfare - that on average they receive less from always have a way of "opting out," usually by paying the full government relative to the taxes they pay than those already price for meals. This sheet offers no opting-out privilege. here. Julian Simon has made this argument, and provided a My babysitter has only middle-class or affluent clients. We good deal of evidence for it. Its principle weakness is that it were already paying for our children's meals, content with describes the people who immigrate under our present immi­ what she served. She does not take in children from low- gration laws -laws which make it hard for the sort of people who would go on welfare to immigrate legally and risky for illegal immigrants to apply for welfare. The situation might be 'Bureau of quite different in a regime of free immigration. M; S.J ;"9 Ptlt-Jon S I A second answer is that the argument, although correct, tells only half the story. The redistributionist tendencies of modem states are an argument against free immigration, but also an argument for it. The argument against takes the level of redistribution as given and points out its effect on who mi­ grates where and why. The other half of the argument revers­ es the causation by considering the effect of migration on levels of redistribution. The harder it is for people to move from one country to another, the more attractive redistribu­ tional policies are. The possibility of redistribution tends to in­ crease inefficient migration, but the possibility of migration ...... ~;)II' tends to decrease inefficient redistribution. Consider a government in a world of free migration, try­ "She said she'd decided to give up all her bad habits, and the ing to decide whether to increase or decrease the level of "wel­ next day she was gone!" fare" payments. Giving people money may be politically 14 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

attractive, but collecting the taxes to pay for it is not. A 10 per­ "Congratulations. You have been chosen as my college for cent increase in levels will attract indigents from abroad, next year. You are very fortunate in this selection, as many swell the welfare rolls, and increase costs by much more than others were considered. Please send a ten dollar confirmation ten percent. A 10 percent decrease will cause some indigents fee.") presently on welfare to migrate to countries with more gener­ The heights of the "higher education" scam are astound­ ous policies, reducing costs by much more than ten percent. ing. Consider the idea that publicly funded universities should The existence of easy migration makes welfare state policies compete with the privates in hiring star professors who give less attractive, with the result that levels of redistribution are "reputation" in a self-propelling myth, all at the expense of likely to be lower. taxpayers, most of whom care not at all if their state universi­ While I have not seen this argument used in discussions of ty's Egyptology Department rivals Harvard's. If public univer­ international migration, it is a commonplace in discussions of sities are to exist at all, they should be teaching institutions, interstate migration. American supporters of the welfare state much as publicly funded junior colleges have always been. If routinely argue that welfare ought to be Federal rather than only to get perspective on the myth of private universities, state, precisely because state welfare is held down by the consider that private preparatory schools never acquired a threat of interstate migration. Indeed, one possible explana­ comparable social cachet. (Imagine your state assemblyperson tion for why the U.S. moved more slowly than European asking for money to support his local public high schools to be countries towards a welfare state is that European redistribu­ "competitive" with the nearby private preparatories.) tion was by national governments with control over immigra­ So successful is this higher-education myth that few con­ tion, whereas American redistribution was largely by state sider that universities may not be worth the money paid out. governments without such control. Many 18-year-olds would rather not be in college full time, or The argument is also relevant to future trends in Europe. may prefer postponing it, some no doubt out of a distaste for The European Economic Community is currently moving to­ the paramilitary authoritarian structure of universities; so wards complete freedom of internal migration. If the argu­ that parents' money spent contrary to their children's prefer­ ment I have given is correct, one result will be to put pressure ences is often wasted. on national governments to reduce their level of transfer pay­ Indeed, there are reasons to doubt the practical and even ments. The result will be either a reduction in the European social value of expensive higher education. Even for the full­ welfare states or a transfer of authority for redistribution from time student, so much learning takes place outside the class­ the national to the supra-national level. -DF room, and the smart student learns that the best "education" happens after he or she graduates. Look around and you can The big scam - The assumption that higher educa­ observe that most people at the top, not only in business, but tion was necessary to beat the post-Sputnik Soviets has thank­ even in the cultural professions, did not go to the best fully fallen into history's dustbin, but the idea that a full schools. The explanation for this discrepancy is so simple it is college education is necessary for success in this world is still almost obvious - the competition for getting into college, not with us, as is the notion that the "best" education is a prereq­ to mention excelling there, has little to do with the competi­ uisite for the best success. These two beliefs, taken together, tions of post-graduate life. That last truth means that the most constitute a powerful myth, whose power enables a class of affordable college might ultimately be no less beneficial than scam-artists to fleece the American people on a grand scale. Out of a belief in this myth parents are instructed to scrimp and invest from the time their children are born. The state is asked to support this myth, with loans (that are often not paid back) and with out­ right grants. Exploiting this myth, univer­ sities have raised tuition at a rate far faster than most people can raise their incomes (unless, of course, they be college profes­ sors, which is to say scam-beneficiaries), channeling ever larger salaries not only to professors but to an ever-expanding ad­ ministrative apparatus. Universities have succeeded in creating among their customers a false competition for limited places. And why not? The par­ ents of those selected to fill them will pay whatever is demanded and perhaps even make surplus"donations" as well. (At the end of high school, I thought of writing the universities to which I had applied: O?'NtON -POLLS ---:s:--___ Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 the one threatening to break the parental bank. Jasper Crane in 1952, was "Sure. Mises, Hazlitt, and Hayek Don't over-estimate the purported social value of the pur­ are also sound economists." portedly better schools. As a self-employed alumnus of a sec­ Rose Wilder Lane preferred Watts because she considered ond-level Ivy college, I've noticed that of the hundreds of peo­ the others all to be soft on some political questions. Mises was ple who have supported my literary and art activities in the a democrat, Hazlitt liked the British parliamentary system, past thirty years, only four went to my college; and of those and Hayek compromised with the welfare state. Watts, like four, only two paid me, each only once. Had I expected to sur­ Lane herself, harbored no such softness. vive on IIold school ties," I would have died professionally Orval Watts was an important figure in the days when the ages ago. idea of liberty was at its nadir, the dark, dark years from the Alternatives to higher education exist; indeed, they were mid-1930s, when free enterprise was viewed as a failure and once fairly common. The legal profession, for instance - to dictatorship aka "planned economy" seemed like the wave of consider briefly another, even more notorious contemporary the future, to its resurgence in the mid-1950s. Being an academ­ scam - used to have an alternative entrance route into its ic libertarian in those days was to take a road to obscurity; his government-licensed ranks. Instead of going to an accredited academic career that began at Harvard ended at Northwood law school, the aspiring lawyer could clerk for several years Institute in Midland, Michigan. Along the way, his affiliations before being N qualified" to take the state bar examination. included the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Southern Abraham Lincoln, in fact, was admitted to the Illinois bar after California Edison, and the Foundation for Economic Education. years of private study only. The ultimate effect of abolishing Orval Watts trod that road with courage and good humor. such alternative routes was, of course, not the preservation of I first met Orval Watts in 1965. I was a high school kid, im­ professional standards (whatever they might be) but re­ bued with libertarian ideas gleaned from Ludwig von Mises, stricting entrance to the profession to those with sufficient re­ Ayn Rand, and the Foundation on Economic Education. I sources to invest in at least three years of post-graduate somehow learned of a series of lectures held at the schooling. Just as anyone who has clerked for several years Northwood Institute. Along with a couple friends (one a had sufficient experience to become a lawyer, so anyone who proud possesser of both a drivers license and permission to has worked for long as a doctor's assistant could practice med­ use his parents' car), I made the lSD-mile drive several times, icine, including not only the dispensing of prescriptions but to hear the likes of Slyvester Petro, Ben Rogge and LudWig the referring of more serious illnesses to specialists. And this von Mises lecture. Watts had organized the lectures and was goes for many another occupation, as well. always in the audience, asking tough questions, defending the Costs in higher education will continue to rise until the most radical libertarianism, brooking no compromise. He was customers wise up. Nothing would undermine this scam more the first hard-core libertarian I ever met. than the state refusing to give loans and grants; nothing On March 29, four days after his 95th birthday, Orval would kill the scam more quickly than an expensive uni­ Watts died. Although he left us fewer books of lesser import versity's discovering that it did not have enough applicants to than did his contemporaries, Rand, Lane, Paterson, Mises, fill the available places. -RK Hazlitt and Hayek, his energy and robust intellect played an important role in the renaissance of libertarian thinking, leav­ v. Orval Watts, RIP - "Orval Watts is a trained ing an important mark on both individuals and institutions. economist, sound and consistent. Is there another one?" The We should remember him with affection and admiration. answer to Rose Wilder Lane's question, posed in a letter to -RWB

Tubes crossed - The greatest mystery of cable is Clinton, the nominally Republican David Gergen revealed how so many programs wind up on the wrong channel. The that he had voted for Bill Clinton because "we needed to get best science fiction program being produced today isn't on the country moving in a positive direction." Gergen has been, the mediocre Sci Fi Channel; it's Mystery Science Theatre 3000 for the past several years, the house rightwinger on the on Comedy Central. My favorite cartoon character never MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, supposedly balancing out the left­ shows up on the Cartoon Network - he's Pat Buchanan and wing views of Mark Shields. There we have it: the he's only on CNN. And despite all the funny stuff on Comedy government-run television "news" program gives us a range Central, for real laughs you have to tum to the live of opinion that runs all the way from Bill Clinton to Bill Congressional coverage on C-Span. -JW Clinton. -RWB Gergen and Shields - In a press conference a few Good day! - Since leaving the dissolute coast for the days after his appointment as "counselor" to President heartland I have become a regular listener to America's most 16 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 beloved radio personality. At 12:07 each afternoon the dulcet uct. What is Harvey doing right that we're doing wrong? A baritone cadences of Paul Harvey waft into my home or car correct answer could prove infinitely more rewarding than or office. He's a welcome guest who supplies me with tidbits any bout of wrangling over the fine points of libertarian of news, corn pone humor, and the names of people who doctrine. have been married - to each other no less! - for an improb­ And while you're pondering this conundrum let me tell ably long time. But another reason I welcome Harvey is that you about an endearing Ozarks couple who recently celebrat­ the causes he advocates are to a surprising extent those that I ed... -LEL also support. Harvey abhors the Clinton proposed tax increase. On a Clinton's gain is journalism's gain - H.L. daily basis he excoriates the profligacy of our elected masters Mencken once proposed an organization of drama critics who and urges his listeners to inundate Congress with the mes­ have never written plays. Only two individuals, he said, sage "Cut spending first!" Nor does he have much truck with would qualify for membership: he and George Jean Nathan. American adventures abroad. On recent broadcasts he has Later, after Mencken's and Nathan's sex comedy Heliogabulas highlighted anti-American riots in Somalia and the wayward­ was produced, the theoretical organization was reduced to no ness of food drops in Bosnia as symptoms of folly in parts of membership at all. Mencken's jape was aimed at drama critics who had writ­ ten plays and hoped to get them produced. It seemed to him that a critic could not be counted on to give an honest evalua­ Why is the public so receptive to pitches for tion of a play if its producer were a potential buyer of the crit­ radically limiting the scope of government as ic's services. It seems to me that the same sort of thinking ought to ap­ enunciated by Paul Harvey but virtually oblivi­ ply to the relationship between politics and the news media: if ous to those same proposals when presented by a news reporter or analyst is to have any credibility, he must overtly libertarian sources? maintain some sort of critical distance between himself and the politicians about whom he writes. A newsman who is lust­ ing after a political appointment cannot be expected to write about politicians without having a very obvious apple to the globe where we simply have no business. Throw sand in polish. the gears of the Washington pork machine and restrict de­ Plainly, newsmen ought to maintain a critical distance be­ fense operations to bona fide defensive operations: these tween themselves and politicians, and ought not hop easily pleas are Harvey near-constants. They are almost as ubiqui­ from one occupation to the other. But, no, I am not disturbed tous as the pitches for custom-crafted golf clubs and the in­ by Bill Clinton's appointment of David Gergen as a "special comparable Royal Dirt Devil. Now don't get me wrong. I'm counselor." What is disturbing is that any news organization not saying that he could pass an ideological purity test ad­ would ever hire Gergen as a reporter or analyst or editor in ministered by the idealogues of the Libertarian Party. Still, the first place. Before he became an editor at U.S. News & the core of the Harvey creed is unmistakably libertarian. World Report, he was a member of the White House staffs of Good news to have so redoubtable an ally? Of course, but presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan. In those Republican it raises the question: Why is the public so receptive to pitches White Houses, he did the same sort of work that he is doing for radically limiting the scope of government as enunciated for Democrat Clinton: public relations (i.e. advising his em­ by Paul Harvey but virtually oblivious to those same propo­ ployer how to deceive the press). sals when presented by overtly libertarian sources? For each By all accounts he was very good at his work. "We had a person who cast a Marrou vote this past November there are rule in the Nixon operation that before any public event was a hundred regular Harvey listeners; for each reader of Liberty put on [Nixon's] schedule, you had to know what the headline there are ... no, the figures are too depressing to recount. out of that event was going to be, and what the lead para­ To be sure, not everyone who tunes in the Harvey broad­ graph would be," he told reporter Hedrick Smith. "You had to casts shares his politics. Some who care not a jot for things think in those terms, and if you couldn't justify it, it didn't go political may be fired by a passion for data concerning the on [the president's] schedule ... You had to learn how to do matrimonial histories of nonagenarians. Still, one can reason­ the editing yourself." ably infer a significant correlation between the size of the au­ Such work takes a considerable amount of skill and has, I dience and receptivity of the message. Why then have overtly suppose, many admirable qualities. libertarian sources proven themselves so incapable of capital­ But the fact that David Gergen chose news manipulation izing on this sentiment? as a career and aspired to return to this work precludes his No, I am not using a columnist's clever ploy of raising a having any credibility as a journalist. His qualifications for his question as the prelude to a dazzling display of punditry. job consisted of skills in spin doctoring, finding scapegoats for Alas, I have no prescription to offer, only a suggestion con­ his boss's gaffes, manipulating reporters, and projecting a fa­ cerning the direction in which we might do well to invest our vorable image of his employer. All these talents ",Tork against energies. If it's not the message that's inherently unsaleable, the skills of a good reporter or editor, whose goal is to discov­ then one must scrutinize the messenger. Libertarians wax elo­ er and write the truth. quent in praise of entrepreneurship, but perhaps our problem As a journalist, Gergen was exactly as credible as Joseph is not being entrepreneurial enough in marketing our prod- Goebbels would have been if he had returned to journalism af- Liberty 17 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 ter his job with Hitler. U.S. News & World Report showed pre­ have no other principles except this abiding ambition, though cisely the same judgment in hiring him that it would have he cloaks his mission in a few characteristic themes. shown if it had hired Goebbels. (Save your angry letters, Exactly the same can be said of Bill Clinton. After 16 years Gergen apologists: I am not saying'that Gergen is another in public life, it's not clear what his purpose is, except the ac­ Goebbels, only that Gergen's credibility as a journalist is pre­ cumulation of personal power. He has changed his position cisely the same as Goebbels'.) on practically every issue. He was against abortion, now he's Of course, the insights that a person might gain as a spin for it; he favored a middle class tax cut, now he wants a mid­ doctor for a politician could serve a political reporter very dle class tax hike; he thought it was a moral crime that we well, just as experience as a shoplifter might serve a store de­ don't open our borders to Haitians with AIDS, now he favors tective well. But just as the thief who becomes a protector of keeping them out. property always has a suspicious air about him, the spin Yet the press has not had a word to say about his purpose­ doctor-turned-journalist always has a distinct odor of lessness.. It maintains the public fiction that he is trying to mendacity. provide a new vision for America. How else can we interpret A convicted thief could eventually gain reasonable credi­ the press's reference to his proposed tax increases as "Bill bility as a detective, if he demonstrated honesty on the job, so Clinton's deficit reduction plan"? Or its referring to his plan could spin doctor converted to journalist. But when the detec­ for a government takeover of medical care as "health care tive returns to a life of crime, he destroys whatever credibility reform"? he may have gained. The same is true when a news manipula­ For all Clinton's unhappiness with the press of late, it can tor-turned-journalist returns to his old ways. hardly be said that the press has examined his record or his Any political reporter or analyst who is genuinely commit­ character very closely. Sure, the press no longer treats him as ted to his craft should take an oath: "Because my highest duty a hero, as it did during his campaign, when it engaged in a is to tell the truth as I understand it, I shall never aspire to or conspiracy to sweep certain unfavorable stories about him accept any appointment as a media advisor to any elected under the rug. (Can you imagine the press ignoring the tape official." recorded evidence of his mendacity that Gennifer Flowers So Clinton's appointment of David Gergen is a very posi­ made public if her ex-inamorata had been George Bush?) tive development: Gergen is no longer masquerading as an Bizarrely, Clinton has interpreted the press's mild curiosi­ honorable journalist. Clinton gained a sophisticated and skilled ty about some of his more flagrant violations of public trust liar, and U.S. News & World Report unloaded one. -CAA (such as his firing the White House travel staff so he could re­ place it with a travel agency owned by a relative) as extreme Calling Lord Random/actor - Last night I hostility. He mistakenly believes that the media ought to saw an ad for nuclear energy. It featured the de rigeur attrac­ snuggle like a lapdog. tive young woman, sitting before the camera to tell us that, al­ In late June, under the tutelage of David Gergen, his new though in college she had opposed nuclear power, she now P.R. man, Clinton decided to try to buddy up with the press, knew that fission means clean air, blue skies, and a happy so that it would cease its occasional bouts of honest reporting planet. She'd changed her mind. We should too. Etcetera. and return to those glorious days of hagiography on the cam­ Fade to black. paign trail. Next commercial: a strikingly similar feminine voice ex­ But why is the press beating up on Perot? claiming "I'm too young for gum disease!" Either (a) someone Probably because it fears that he may someday be elected. in the CNN Headline News hierarchy has a perverse sense of He doesn't play by the usual political rules. He is not behold­ humor, or else (b) wow man, that was, like, way too cool. It en to a party organization, to elected legislators, or to anyone doesn't matter which, my reaction stayed the same: I laughed else. In sum, the press fears Perot for exactly the same reason -hysterically. the public likes him. These synchronicity-laden media moments are not rare; I The Perotphobia is quite understandable. The network of could write pages of anecdotes from both sides of the broad­ obligations each President brings to his office acts as a brake cast booth. But I'll limit myself to one favorite juxtaposition. A on his power and lowers the risk that he will do something religious broadcaster is making a plea for aid for starving lep­ really bizarre. The knave you know is always more palatable ers. The screen is filled with images of men, women, and chil­ than the knave you don't know. It's pretty plain that he sees dren missing fingers, toes, limbs. Give us help, intones the himself as the savior of America, and he could quite easily narrator. Give these people help. (Pause.) We'll be right back justify to himself (and many of his followers) grabbing virtual after these messages. dictatorial power by declaring some sort of "state of emergen­ Fade to black. Silence. Then, a booming voice: I LOST cy" in response to Congress not acting the way he wanted it THIRTY POUNDS IN TWENTY DAYS! -JW to. Ross Perot is just plain scary. On the other hand, it is easy to underestimate just how No end in sight - On June 22, the Washington Post scary the election of a Republican or Democrat is. As headlined a front-page feature: "A Year Later, Perot's Purpose President, Ronald Reagan empower.ed police to stop and Is Still Unclear: Questions Linger About Presidential search automobiles and keep any cash they find, on grounds Ambitions." that cash is prima facie evidence of drug-dealing. As President, My first inclination was to remark on the unfairness of the Bill Clinton has appointed his wife "health czar," in the pro­ press: Perot's purpose seems extraordinarily clear. He wants cess of enacting a complete government takeover of medical to be president, the big cheese, the boss of bosses. He seems to care. How much scarier could President Perot be? -CAA 18 Liberty Progress Report

The Ungreening of the Media by Jane S. Shaw

It's been a long time coming, but the morning after of the media­ environmentalist tryst has finally arrived.

There is good news on the media front. After two decades of headlines about "killer chemicals," accolades to professional scaremongers like the WorldWatch Institute, and subservience to environmental lobbyists, the Washington Post and the New York Times have turned over a new leaf. Two relative newcomers to the environmental beat, Keith Schneider l,2-dichloropropane). or massive shifts in agriculture but at the Times and Boyce Rensberger at One stunning article (March 22) de­ will be beneficial or neutral in its the Post, are re-evaluating the environ­ scribes how the garbage that was effect. mental record and challenging envi­ washed up on eastern beaches in the In April, a front-page story by ronmental rhetoric. summer of 1988 led to an expensive Rensbergei3 pointed out that the Widely talked about (in the circles ban on ocean dumping - even though ozone problem"appears to be well on I travel in) was Keith Schneider's five­ ocean dumping had nothing to do with the way to solution." He credited the part series in March headlined "New the waste! It was caused by overbur­ Montreal Protocol, an international View Calls Environmental Policy dened sewage systems. In fact, agreement to phase out chlorofluoro­ Misguided."l He reported that, ac­ Schneider pointed out, officials "have carbons, but he also discounted popu­ cording to some scientists and public closed beaches more often than they lar assumptions about ozone loss. He health specialists, some of our envi­ said that researchers report that "the ronmental laws are "based on little if did before 1988." problem appears to be heading to­ any sound research about the true na­ At the Too ture of the threat." Furthermore, they Post, ward solution before they can find Over at the Washington Post, Boyce were approved without "even rudi­ any solid evidence that serious harm mentary cost-benefit analyses," and Rensberger wrote two articles this was or is being done." some were even "devoted to the spring challenging global environmen­ While much of the material in wrong problems." tal scares. "'Greenhouse Effect Seems these articles could have been found Gaining steam, the series then de­ Benign So Far" was the headline on a on the editorial pages of The Wall tailed costly flaws in toxic cleanup story2 that is the antithesis of most na­ Street Journal over the past few years, programs, questioned the reliance on tional coverage of global warming. they represent a major turn-around animal tests to determine chemical Rensberger cites scientific evidence for the nation's left-liberal media. carcinogenicity, reported on the rebel­ that what warming has occurred dur­ They signal that the elite press is no lion by city mayors against the high ing the past century took place at night longer simply going to publish the en­ costs of regulations, and even rather than during the day and - at vironmentalists' press releases or treat published a chart estimating how least in the northern hemisphere ­ environmental stories as simple con­ much it costs to avert a single prema­ during spring, fall, and winter, rather flicts between good environmentalists ture death through various regula­ than summer. Both these findings and evil capitalists. tions (e.g., $653 million per death imply that greenhouse warming (if it Of course, there were important averted from drinking water limits on occurs) will not lead to severe droughts precursors to these two reporters' Liberty 19 Volume 6, Number 6 Au ust 1993

work. Gregg Easterbrook has been environmental string has been played mors. Most tests of Alar had turned up quietly debunking doomsday myths, for out, both politically and journalistical­ nothing, but in EPA methodology, one several years, first in The New Republic ly. As the environment gets cleaner and positive test of tumorigenicity can trig­ and more recently in Newsweek. But safer, there is less and less actual clean­ ger action. EPA staffers were consider­ until now no one rallied around him up to be done. Remediation also gets ing initiating proceedings against Alar, (one of the most deflating experiences much more expensive, and the dispari­ but in the view of the Natural for a reporter is to be too far out front on ty between achievements and costs in­ Resources Defense Council they a story). The monolith began to crack on creases. This disparity is most obvious weren't acting fast enough. February 7, 1993. Writing in The New in the Superfund program, which even As Michael Fumento outlines in his York Times Magazine,4 Raymond Bonner, environmental activists criticize (not to book Science Under Siege? NRIX built a a reporter widely viewed as left-wing, the point of recommending abandon­ case against Alar by enormously puff­ condemned the World Wildlife Fund ment, however). But Virtually all envi­ ing up the estimates of risk based on for deliberately misrepresenting the ronmental programs are riddled with highly selective data. NRDC charged state of elephant populations in Africa costs out of proportion to benefits. The that eating apples or drinking juice 1990 Clean· Air Act amendments, for from apples treated with Alar would example, will force industry to pay at lead to 240 cases of cancer for every The Washington Post now least $4 billion per year to prevent acid million children - by the time they rain, even though a la-year govern­ were six years old! NRIX enlisted a suggests that greenhouse ment study (costing $540 million itself) public relations firm to conduct the warming (if it occurs) will not showed that damages from acid rain campaign. CBS's 60 Minutes broke the lead to severe droughts or mas­ are minimal. Other provisions of the story and actress Meryl Streep ap­ Clean Air Act are estimated to bring peared on the Phil Donahue show to sive shifts in agriculture but the total annual cost to $21.5 billion per warn parents against giving their chil­ will be beneficial or neutral in year.6 dren apples that might be tainted with its effect. Journalistically, it's difficult to come Alar. The furor led school systems to · up with new "scoops" identifying stop selling apples in their cafeterias frightening pollution ills. The nation (including places like Los Angeles, -just had a brush with one - electro­ which cannot protect its children from in order to reap millions of dollars in magnetic fields, which supposedly gunshot wounds and knifings). donations from the public. cause cancer "clusters." And fears Uniroyal, the manufacturer, quickly In Keith Schneider's case, one impe­ about cellular phones set off a momen­ tus for skepticism was his acquaintance tary frenzy on talk shows after a man with the late Warren Brookes. Brookes, charged that his wife had contracted a The 1990 Clean Air Act who wrote for the Detroit Newseditori­ brain tumor from acellular phone. But al page and had a syndicated column, these scares seem to have fizzled out. forces industry to pay $4 bil­ began delving into environmental is­ lion per year to prevent acid sues in the late 198Os. He tapped into a Alar - The High-Water Mark rain, even though a 10-year rich vein of hyped-Up risks, excessive If journalists covering these issues costs, and regulations that caused are more skeptical, this may be the re­ government study (itself cost­ harms rather than reduced them. He sult of the 1989 scare over Alar, a ing $540 million) showed that began to point out the discrepancies be­ growth regulator for apples. In retro­ damages from acid rain are tween the claims and the facts in cases spect, the Alar scare was the high­ from asbestos to radon. While Brookes water mark for environmental fanati­ minimal. garnered respect from scientists and cism. The hysteria over Alar was testi­ skeptics by the time he died suddenly mony to environmental activists' in late 1991, much of the journalistic power to arouse fear and to change pol­ announced it would stop producing world was still scornful. Schneider, icYi but it was based on such flimsy evi­ Alar. however, recognized that Brookes was dence that it drained the environmental But the NRIX went too far. Even "clearly on to a big story," as he said movement of credibility. government regulators were stunned. later. After his series ran in the Times, Behind the Alar scare lay the fact A joint statement by the FDA, the EPA, Schneider telephoned Tom Bray, who that by 1989 the EPA was running out and the Department of Agriculture said had been Warren Brookes' boss at the of pesticides to ban. Alar, which EPA that the NRDC claimed cancer risks 100 Detroit News, and acknowledged his regulates as if it were a pesticide, caus­ times higher than estimates that the debt to Brookes for helping him recog­ es apples to stay on the trees longer, EPA's scientific advisory board had re­ nize the story.s giVing them more chance to ripen natu­ jected in 1985. Furthermore, Bruce rally rather than in warehouses and to Ames, a prominent biochemist at the The Environmental String avoid falling from the tree prematurely. University of California at Davis, point­ Runs Out Alar became a "possible carcinogen" ed out in a letter to Science 8 that people A change in the approach to envi­ because on one test, when fed to mice eat far more natural pesticides, by ronmental issues was inevitable. The in almost lethal doses, it caused tu- weight, than they do synthetic ones, 20 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

and the use o~ Alar (a growth regulator, to comment on in The New Republic.12 most shameless manufacturers of fake remember) actually reduces the use of Since the "consensus" on global warm­ crises). This time, however, reporter pesticides in the orchards and limits the ing is turning out to be 180 degrees Jeremy Bernstein reported on the battle toxins from molds that develop when away from what Gore imagines, Gore's being waged by the citizens of Aspen, apples fall on the ground. He noted that standing and thus his doomsday fears Colorado, against the EPA. They were the loss of Alar could mean that fewer are likely to fall. trying to get a trailer park delisted as a fresh apples will be available during Superfund site. According to the EPA, the year and at higher cost, and parents What Next? the soil had too much lead from old may substitute less healthy foods for So what is in store for the environ­ mines and officials wanted to clean up their children. Two years after the mental beat? In a while, we should start the site - which would, of course, in­ furor, even a United Nations advisory to see articles questioning or debunk­ volve moving "tens of thousands of committee decided that Alar is not a ing the environmentalists' doomsday cubic yards of dirt, with its attendant carcinogen and stated that it is safe to claims. But that won't be all. I think we dust," Bernstein pointed out. (And he eat as a trace residue on food. 9 will see environmental reporters doing noted that the blood-lead levels of the The campaign against Alar was so residents were below the national successful that the head of NRDC's average.) public relations firm wrote a memo for Resistance to the EPA was pretty NRDC describing the campaign and its We will soon see environ­ rare in 1991 (or at least it wasn't report­ effectiveness as a fund-raiser. When ex­ ed much). But that will change, now cerpts from the memo were published mental reporters doing what that the EPA is going after people who on the editorial page of The Wall Street journalists do best: writing put fill dirt into "wetlands." Journal,lO a lot of people must have felt sympathetic stories about vic­ You may remember that during the duped. Perhaps that was why, a few 1988 campaign George Bush promised months later, 60 Minutes attacked envi­ tims. But these will be victims "no net loss" of wetlands. Once in of­ ronmental groups for refusing to admit of environmental regulation, fice, he actually set about accomplish­ that acid rain in the u.s. is a trivial not pollution! ing this. In 1989, government officials problem. came up with a description of wetlands Similarly, the elevation of super­ that was so broad that it included land environmentalist Al Gore to the vice that is rarely wet. (To be a wetland, it presidency may be the high-water mark what journalists do best: writing sym­ had to be occasionally wet and had to for global environmental issues. During pathetic stories about victims. But these have vegetation typical of wet soil.) In the campaign, people like me worried will be victims of environmental regula­ Dorchester County, Maryland, the that Gore would be the Clinton tion, not pollution! number of acres of wetland nearly trip­ Administration's environmental neme­ Newspapers have blithely ignored led, and since then, people have gone sis, pushing Clinton toward ever more the fact that environmental regulations to jail for putting fill dirt on dry land. stringent and dopey regulations. kill. The reason may partly be the lack William Ellen, a marine engineer, was But Gore's book, Earth in the Balance, of identifiable victims. In 1989 two jailed for six months for pouring two while confirming his credentials as an economists, one from Brookings and truckloads of dirt on land the Army environmentalist, may have under­ one from the Harvard School of Public Corps of Engineers considered wet­ mined his reputation as someone for Health, reported that the congressional­ lands - even though he was building journalists to take seriously. While he ly mandated tightening of fuel econo­ duck ponds and actually adding 45 discusses many environmental issues, my standards would increase the acres of wetlands to the property! The global warming is one of the biggest number of highway deaths because it New York Times has yet to write about and he treats it as a fact. Then he criti­ would force manufacturers to build Ellen (The Wall Street Journal conducted cizes journalists for emphasizing "con­ lighter cars, which are less safe. In fact, an unsuccessful editorial crusade to get troversy and disagreement" among they estimated that the standards pro­ him pardoned), but Keith Schneider scientists. Says Gore: "In this case when posed for the 1989 model year would has done a more general story on the 98 percent of the scientists in a given cause between 2,200 and 3,900 addi­ environmental backlash that is field share one view and 2 percent disa­ tional fatalities over the next ten building. gree, both viewpoints are sometimes years.13 Press attention to the study, As the governmental stick gets presented in a format in which each ap­ even after the District of Columbia heavier, and as it is applied more often, pears equally credible."n While the 2 Circuit Court remanded the standards more reporters will have to pay atten­ percent should still be heard, "their the­ to the National Highway Safety tion. It will take a long time before ory should not be given equal weight Transportation Administration for re­ newspaper readers will absorb the mes­ with the consensus now emerging in view, was skimpy. sage that most of the scares of the past the scientific community about the Such ignorance will not continue ten years are exaggerations and that the gravity of the danger we face." It once identifiable and sympathetic peo­ remedies rnay be worse than the prob­ sounds as though he wants journalists ple start to get hurt. I first noticed a lems. But the process of education has to take sides, a point that Gregg change in a November 25, 1991 14 article begun. 0 Easterbrook found disturbing enough in The New Yorker (ironically, one of the notes on page 54 Liberty 21 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 Poem Wednesday, January 27 by Marc Ponomareff

On January 27, 1837, the poet Alexander Pushkin was mortally wounded in a duel with Georges d'Anthes. The thunder of the Lepage pistols reverberates to this day, intruding into the thoughts of all who read and admire romantic poetry.

A foot-print in the snow appears To become a winged omen Blue, for reasons unknown to men And, in flight, to steal from man his Who, wary of science, shed tears Nerve and reason -A commotion: Upon both manuscript and pen; Heeckeren, angry, shook his fist; To fathom such wonders is not And Danzas clenched his jaw, and turned Their place - to notice them, their lot. Away. The shrouded sun still burned; The mind's eye, gazing west, arrests Its light made pale the poet's skin, The philosophic commonplace - While d'Anthes glowed from brow to chin: An incontrovertible fact: His face - as sleek, firm-cheeked, and round, Of far more interest is it to And void of thought, as any plum - Trace innumerable holes of blue, Bent over the two proffered guns. Their scattered shapes converging at The crow inclined its head; no sound A twenty-yard-Iong path, snow-bare, It made while widening its eye, Above which dusk has blurred the air. In which lay clouds, refracted sky. The poet stood, his fear in check ­ Amongst the trees, huge shards of ice Hereitwas that guns, discharged, had Dropped and shattered with each step Made shards of time, tranquility, Our hero took; a sound heard thrice; And common sense. God must be mad. Like nails pulled from a packing case, They marked the ten-yard boundary: They screeched while being tom from place, The seconds - Colonel Danzas and And something dark, from distant weald D'Archiac - let fall from hand Released, bore down upon the field. Their carricks; yet the heavens failed The creak of wings, of Death set free, To open; no thunderbolts fell like hail A chilling of the air - unheeded. In time to stop the pointless act ­ Across the snow, four boots proceeded: Composed, as are most villainies, Five paces reached the boundary ... Of trivial details, dregs and lees, A shot ... and nothing more is heard. Yet no less monstrous for this fact. Nearby, with mouth agape: a bird. The poet, on a snowdrift, coughed. A large, bearskin pelisse, though soft, Enwrapt his frame in folds of ice T::Uld fill me with the utmost pain Which crackled like a scripted poem: To write of lead inside his breast: That lyric he'd attempted twice This pen can only twist in shame, To finish before leaving home ­ And cease. God grant him rest. Forever? He wondered ... Perhaps. But first -I must pursue those tracks, A raven clicked its beak: two taps Now in retreat, and leading back Resounded from the tallest pine In haste from whence they came: foot-prints And echoed - somehow keeping time ­ That, in fading light, have purple tints, The energetic tamping tight The last of which, with myriad Of bullets into barrels black. Whorls, surrounds one crimson dot - not The poet exercised his craft: A cipher, nor clipped Morse, this spot­ Both b~rd and pistol were like night; But punctuation mark: the period. Both gave the same, sharp cry; one sensed My representative, the crow, Their power to traduce the sky, Looks on ... The foot-print fills with snow. 22 Liberty Interpretation

In "Defense" of Janet Reno by Loren E. Lomasky

She just couldn't help herself. Once ATF attacked the Davidians, bureaucratic ineptitude made the outcome inevitable.

Perhaps a well-placed Deep Throat itching to settle a score will provide details of the decision-making processes that preceded the fateful raid of April 19. Otherwise it's not likely that we shall ever know except in air-brushed outline what really generated the conflagration that con­ sumed David Koresh and his little troop of soldiers for God. Even before the killing flames had subsided a had every incentive to join their wag­ cede in what quickly became the offi­ chorus of weepy, self-exculpatory ons in a tight c~rcle of deniability cial line. From Bill Clinton on down­ "it's tragic what happened but we against outsiders who might suggest ward, each of the players resolutely had no alternative" statements rolled that something had gone very wrong accepted "responsibility" for his or like a river of phlegm out of Texas in Justice Department circles. her role in the drama. But to accept re­ and Washington. The harmony with The president had already incurred sponsibility was not by any means to which they were delivered presents a annoying wounds while lurching un­ admit wrong-doing. Wrong aplenty remarkable counterpoint to the ca­ steadily toward the appointment of an was done, they agreed, but exclusive­ cophony of blunders that for two attorney general: although he must ly by the crazed would-be messiah months had played itself out around have been tempted to dump the mess and priapic defiler of young gids, the Branch Davidians' compound. entirely on the head of his third choice David Koresh. Despite a series of To be sure, FBI agents groused off for the office, that would have been blandishments and general conces­ the record about the amateurishness fatal for what remained of his image sions, Koresh perversely insisted on of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, as the coolly efficient administrator. immolating himself and his benighted and Firearms operatives who precipi­ Nor could Janet Reno pass the buck to followers - frequently though inac­ tated the crisis, and Congressman Justice Department underlings who curately described as "hostages" ­ Conyers supplied for the TV cameras had advised and reported to her with­ rather than allow impartial mecha­ some particularly graceless and unin­ out confessing herself abjectly incapa­ nisms of law enforcement to proceed. telligent lashings out at Attorney ble of exercising the leadership Officials whose sworn duty is to up­ General Reno. (One rubbed one's eyes attached to her high office. The FBI hold the law could not act otherwise, in disbelief; was that really Rush and its director William Sessions had finally, than to undertake decisive ac­ Limbaugh declaiming against overly sweated through months of discredit­ tion. And so the denouement, though abrasive treatment of a Clinton cabi­ able revelations. The erstwhile terribly unfortunate - one cannot ig­ net member?) But neither in the im­ "world's premier law-enforcement nore charred crisps that had formerly mediate aftermath of the slaughter agency" wished to risk no further been children - was something for nor subsequently was there any real charges of mission failure or willful which they could not responsibly be prospect of a general airing of dirty breaching of lines of authority. As for blamed. governmental laundry. All the key BATF, the less said the better. Indeed, by catches in the voice and players and most of the minor ones Thus all parties had reason to ac- discreet wellings in the eye they ad- Liberty 23 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

vertised their personal sensitivity and The upshot is a conspicuous ab­ lying. The government is murdering its the terrible emotional costs they them­ sence of public probing. I have heard citizens." In support of this indictment selves had been obliged to bear. no suggestions that this might be an he supplies datum upon datum dem­ Proving particularly adept at this rite appropriate circumstance for the ap­ onstrating that information readily of cleansing was Janet Reno who stoi­ pointment of a Special Prosecutor to available to the drama's prominent ac~ cally made her passage from one net­ seek out malfeasance in the executive tors was sufficient for them to be able work news interview program to the branch. Nor does it seem likely that to ascertain that the siege and culmi­ next as so many Stations of the Cross. any new Woodwards or Bernsteins nating assault were likely to yield Not recrimination but sympathy was will build reputations on the soot and scores of deaths, either by cultists' her due, indeed the due of everyone ash of Waco. The smart money is on a mass suicide or directly c<;>nsequential except Koresh and his non brain­ perfunctory inquiry custom-designed on the demolition of the compound. washed adult confederates. to clear all fry large and small. Yet they proceed unchecked. Ergo, Although it is possible that this re­ H that is so, then we may never be murder. counting of events will eventually able confidently to explain why on a This is to assign to governmental blow up, so far it has proved breezy spring day in Texas seven officials both too much blame and too thoroughly stable. No one whose voice dozen individuals met death by fire. much credit. The task of assembling a has any carrying power is inclined to Specifically, there is ample reason to cast of hundreds to conspire in a mass­ tell the story any differently. 'Con­ expect officials to dissemble concern­ killing and providing a script that af­ gressional Democrats re~ognize the ing who advised whom to do what: fords each a "plausible deniability" al­ need to show at least minimal solidari­ lowing him to keep a poker face as he ty with one of their own. Republicans, methodically carries out his assigned of course, acknowledge no such imper­ sanguinary role is the work of a master ative, but their niche in the political Wrong aplenty was done, administrator. Does anyone really be­ ecology requires that they not display Clinton agreed, but exclusively lieve that this describes Janet Reno, the themselves as soft concerning what at by the crazed would-be messiah small-time prosecutor of Florida hoods least superficially has the appearance and priapic defiler of young whose prime qualification for elevation of a straightforward law-and-order to the attorney generalship was for­ issue. Moreover, prudent regard for -girls, David Koresh. bearance from employing illegal alien the politics of gender makes them f' nannies? No - unless her accomplish­ wary of engaging in another episode ments· also include world-class thespi­ of female-bashing; far wiser to direct the so-called responsibility issue. Even an talent. I watched her struggling to one's fire at presidential haircuts and the issue of the fire's cause may never draw on reserves of dignity and con­ improprieties in the appointment of satisfactorily be resolved. FBI raiders trol as she responded to probing ques­ low-level White House flunkeys. who "saw" it being set by residents of tions from Ted Koppel. Despite the Nor should we expect the press to the compound may be in the grip of outrage one felt in the aftermath of the be assiduous questioners of the official wishful thinking. Or, like the good sol­ disaster that had just played itself out line. Whatever degree it stands in an diers they are, they may be brazening in Waco, a disaster that she had admit­ adversarial relation to office holders is out a lie crafted by their superiors. As tedly in one manner or another orches­ as nothing compared with the con­ for the reports offered by the com­ trated, it was difficult not to feel tempt it holds for all varieties of low­ pound's survivors, how much confi­ sympathy, even pity for the woman brow Protestant religiosity excepting dence can one reasonably place in the with the glazed eyes and the raspy possibly that which emanates from testimony of persons who a few days voice. She reminded me of one.of Joe Black churches. Their every instinct is earlier had professed to see in David Louis' sacrificial "bums of the month" to tell the story of the Branch Koresh the visage of the returned mes­ being taken apart in the ring, remarka­ Davidians as yet another episode of siah. Like another killing in Texas ble only for her ability to absorb pun­ millenarian Bible-thumping reaping some 30 years earlier, Waco is prime ishment and somehow keep on the whirlwind. And mouthpieces for grist for the mills of conspiracy­ standing. A mass murderer or an over­ mainline religious denominations, de­ mongers. matched pug? nominations which for most of this Nonetheless, and with due ac­ Remember, the Waco disaster was century have been losing members to knowledgement of the mendacity that produced by the same folks who gave less conventionally respectable church­ lurks in Washington corridors, the "ex­ us the Challenger spacecraft's defec­ es, showed themselves much less in­ pose" offered in the previous issue of tive O-rings, secret Bible-toting mis­ clined to suggest that Waco represents Liberty by editor R.W. Bradford (to sions to the Ayatollah, WIN buttons, a dangerous breach of our nation's which senior editor Stephen Cox joins decimation of the S&Ls, the light at the constitutional commitment to religious a qualified concurrence) is even less end of the tunnel in Vietnam, toleration than they are to make it plausible than the Clinton crowd's dia­ Watergate, the tax code, schemes for clear to all who may be interested how metrically opposed version. Bradford making Fidel Castro's beard falloff, distant they are from the Koreshians: surmises that "this isn't just business mangled bodies of Marines in "They are a cult; we are a religion!" as usual. The government is not just Lebanon, the War on Drugs, and doz- 24 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

ens of their ilk. Shall one ascribe to moral character, people possessed of more exceptional than individuals them Mafia-quality professionalism in virtue and vices, ambitions and inclina­ who, through lack of imagination or killing? I confess that I lack the nerve to tions not appreciably different in kind opportunity of insight, find themselves make such a leap of faith. or degree of one's own, will be led caught up in a lockstep dance in which Let me, therefore, suggest an alter­ through a chain of circumstance and the commonplace motivations and ac­ nate explanation. Hannah Arendt institutional transmission mechanisms tions of each become the enormity of noted that one of the most striking fea­ to generate horrible outcomes. all. It is not that the evil result was un­ tures of the bureaucracy of genocide is Although the evil of the banality has a forseeable or could not have been the "banality of evil" it displays. The history virtually coeval with that of averted. Rather, the claim is that peo­ human monsters who stained their human race, its first theorization was ple distinguished by little more than a hands with the blood of millions supplied by the seventeenth century certain stolidity of character - who weren't the Mephistophelian figures of are, in a word, banal - will regularly incalculable menace that we naturally fail to exhibit the vision and the assume are uniquely qualified to fill strength necessary to break out of their that role. Instead they were essentially fatal lemmings' march. Once the mech­ accountant-types whose sums ranged anism is set in motion inertia will take over cattle cars and corpses and canis­ care of the rest. ters of Zyklon-B rather than income re­ I Waco remains shrouded in evasion ceipts and depreciable properties. and obfuscation, but the most likely Many readers of Eichmann in hypothesis I can attach to the gro­ Jerusalem were morally outraged, tak­ tesque series of events is that it is an in­ ing Arendt to be concurring in the ex­ stance of banality. Let me spell this culpatory plea that these second and out. third-tier Nazi officials were "just fol­ Why on February 28 did BATF lowing orders" and thus at worst launch an ill-fated assault to serve an quasi-mechanical transmitters of ill-judged search warrant? Particular evil rather than its fully guilty ini­ decision-making details aside, we may tiators. But although this outrage observe that this is precisely the sort of is understandable, it rests on a interdiction the agency has been de­ misreading of Arendt's thesis. For signed to perform. Its existence and what she called into question was the careers of its functionaries are not the culpability of the little man in predicated on separating people from the glass cage but rather the anti­ weapons (and from illicit alcohol or to- theological doctrine maintaining that bacco products, presumably not rele­ great villainy demands great Villains. (I vant in this context) from which they call it an anti-theology because it is the do not wish to be separated. inverse of the doctrine that a world dis­ Thus, coercive means are re­ playing complex and beautiful patterns quired. Most of the people with of orderliness bespeaks a Creator of in­ whom BATF has dealings are in- finite goodness and intelligence; the clined to respond in conventionally counterpart of the banality of evil is the rational·ways to displays of coercive banality of spontaneous mutation and force. That is, the more massive the Darwinian natural selection.) Arendt firepower arrayed against them, the argued, convinc.ing~yI think, that.un- ~\. ,' ... more likely they are supinely to ac­ speakable atrocity Isn't the province ~ .\\, ',~ ',. \. quiesce to BATF's demands. One agent only of prodigies of fiendishness but acting alone may meet resistance, but - and to embrace this conclusion is so five acting together are more likely to dispiriting that one can appreciate the procure a cowed submissiveness, and a comparative attractiveness of the anti­ dozen more likely still. So if sketchy re­ theology - that banally ordinary indi­ philosopher Thomas Hobbes, whose ports filtering back to the bureau indi­ viduals are capable ofperpetrating the depiction of the State of Nature illus­ cate that an eccentric gun-toting flock most extraordinary crimes. trates how people who want nothing of sectarians commanded by a rock-/n­ I don't see any Eichmanns in the more than to get by are ineluctably led rolling messiah is inclined to be obdu­ Clinton administration. (Myopia? I to the waging of a War of All Against rate, confronting them with a full­ hope not.) It is not' the banality of evil All in which life becomes "nasty, poor, fledged invasion army of 100 agents that surfaced in Waco but·rather what brutish, and short." may seem to be a remarkably good we might call the evil ofbanality. What I Murder, definitionally, incorpo­ idea. mean is that under certain conditions, rates malicious intent. But the raw ma­ In practice, of course, the idea was men and women of thoroughly prosaic terial of the evil of banality is nothing remarkably stupid. But this is part of 25 "Janet Reno" by John Bergstrom Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au ust 1993

BATF's course, nothing more than the likely that the sectarians would have voured by fire?" Why was no fire fight­ product of routinely lethargic bureau­ given way. Some lives would have ing equipment on the scene? Policing cratic thinking. A governmental bu­ been lost, but once federal authorities child abuse is not under the aegis of reau, unlike for-profit concerns, is not decided that the internal doings of the federal law enforcement agencies, so under the discipline of market forces Koreshians was their business, that why was rumored abuse cited as a ra­ that tend to reward perspicacity and was virtually inevitable. Wholesale tionale for deciding then to bring the weed out dull insensibility. And labors slaughter, however, might have been siege to an end (and for BATF's initial on behalf of the state, especially when averted. engendering of the crisis)? And how those labors are backed by badges and But.the ingrained habits of burea­ does six hours of gassing children guns, are very forgiving of mistakes; a cracy rendered even this second-best show solicitude for their welfare? Do display of overwhelming force majeure outcome unattainable. Once rashness these otherwise inexplicable loose ends redeems dubious planning. Only this had claimed its handful of victims on not evidence a murderous conspirato­ time it did not. each side, timidity predictably set in. rial design? Once BATF incurred (and inflicted) Justice department officials realized "Sometimes," Sigmund Freud once casualties, the die was cast. I don't that something hadn~t gone as it reminded his overly-sophisticated dis­ mean this as a denial of causal possibili­ ciples, "a cigar is just a cigar." And ty or even rational advisability. For sometimes what appears to be mind­ much could have been salvaged if fed­ less incompetence really is. By the time eral officials had immediately backed Day 52 dawned nothing was more cer­ off, if they had apologized to the Branch If it was the evil of banality tain than that the Koresh affair would Davidians for initiating violence and that devoured the Branch have a ghastly conclusion. All that re­ promised to investigate BATF and dis­ Davidians, then the crux of the mained to be determined was exactly cipline responsible parties. But of all when and how it would transpire. potentially advisable responses, this problem is with the levers of It is a mark of our political culture was the least likely to be adopted. power themselves. that when there is a problem, any Almost certainly it received no serious problem, it is expected that office hold­ consideration in the corridors of power; ers will "do something." That they probably it wasn't even mentioned in may be odd-on favorites thereby to passing. For to reverse course would should, and up and down the chain of make things worse rather than better is not only have been an admission that a command each was loath to take deci­ no bar to action. The Koresh holdout terribly wrong choice had been made, it sive action which, should it once again was indeed a problem. And so when a would have been to "reward resistance." misfire, could jeopardize promotions frustrated; perplexed, and increasingly Nothing is more antithetical to the dis­ and even pensions. So a period of desperate attorney general contemplat­ position of the governmental jugger­ buck passing and postponement of ir­ ed the prospect of her first major test in naut than to excuse failures to obey. reversible action set in. What followed office stretching on and on like a bad The role of state agencies is to com­ were the two months of siege and dream that would haunt her until she mand and of citizens to obey, regard­ ratcheting up pressure on the trapped was ignominiously escorted back to less of the wisdom or lack of same of cultists. No matter that it afforded Florida, it is completely understanda­ official edicts. A government may pa­ time for the initial terror to crystalize ble that she would grasp at whatever tiently negotiate with and proffer into a conviction that they were in­ expedient might be proposed for draw­ bribes to foreign despots, but it loses deed confronting the pitiless ing it to a conclusion. face if it conducts diplomacy with its Antichrist against whom death was Janet Reno is, I'm persuaded, ex­ own citizens. So there was in practice preferable to the apostasy of submis­ ceedingly conscientious. She surely no doubt that once the first coercive sion. I don't believe that it's an excess l1!ust have listened attentively to the thrust had been repulsed, further and of charity toward federal officials to FBI's lengthy logistical briefings. more intense coercion wouldfollow. suppose that not one of them desired Nonetheless, it appears that most of No one not present in the com­ the reaction, but step by banal step it what she understood she misunder­ pound can say with assurance what ef­ nonetheless emerged. stood. For example, Reno was in­ fect the fire fight with BATF provoked The fatuity of the compound's formed that the siege was being among the Branch Davidians. storming has been noted in these managed by the FBI's elite Hostage Probably, though, their spiritual idio­ pages and elsewhere. Whom was the Rescue team. Her lawyerly mind in­ syncracies did not render them im­ FBI trying to fool by blaring "This is ferred the presence of hostages. But to mune to anxiety that nearly anyone not an assault" through loudspeakers be a hostage is something imposed on would feel at having become the target as it launched its predawn assault? one involuntarily, and since the adult of overwhelming governmental power. Why first shut off the compound's Koreshians clearly had entered and re­ Like other character traits, a propensity water supply and then choose a day mained in the compound of their own toward martyrdom isn't innate but has with 30 mile per hour gusts for a free will, it must be the children who to be learned. So if an assault in force showdown against a man who had were being held hostage. Child abuse! had immediately been launched, it's predicted an "end with people de- What she did well understand, 26 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au ust 1993

though, was who pays the piper. Her BATF had designed with infinite clev­ fairs, but its remediation is straightfor­ boss had not enjoyed a sparkling first erness a ploy to provoke a festering cri­ ward: We must be more vigilant in en­ hundred days. Not least of the burdens sis with the sectarians it could hardly suring that those who wield levers of he had borne was filling the post she have chosen better. And if the Justice power possess at least an ordinary de­ now occupied. He would, then have Department had been advised by a gree of virtue and sensibility. Electing made it clear that he hoped for some­ team of world-class experts on the the­ and appointing decent people will pre­ thing positive finally to come out of the ology of .American primitivist millenar­ vent tragedies like the one that played attorney general's office. Time to act! ianism it could not more effectively itself out in Waco. And so when the FBI jerry-rigged an have engineered in the minds of sectar­ But if it was the evil of banality that operational plan to resolve the protract­ ians confirmation of the belief that ar­ devoured the Branch Davidians, then ed embarrassment, Reno was not dis­ rayed against them was a pitiless the crux of the problem is not the peo­ posed to scrutinize the details too Satanic force, that they were the saving ple who wield the levers of power - meticulously. "A ring of snipers!" "M_ remnant who the prophesies had fore­ 60 tank!" lies tear gas!" They excitedly told would be chastened and purged proposed and she wearily nodded her by fire, that their souls and those of assent, just as several weeks earlier she their children were their dark foe's The task ofassembling a cast had somehow been persuaded to sign quarry, and that when the Antichrist of hundreds to conspire in a off on a mega-decibel stereo system 1urched toward them in the guise of a a through which to beam into the com­ metallic monster crushing their habita­ mass-killing and providing pound the slaughterhouse strains of ter­ tion and spewing noxious vapors, script that affords each a iiplau­ minal pig squeals and Golden Oldies. righteousness demanded that they be sible deniability" is the work of How liberating it must have been faithful unto death, faithful as had been a master administrator. to an FBI that had itself been weather­ Daniel in the lion's den, Hannah with ing a series of discomfiting revelations her children, Stephen, Peter, and, ar­ and political attacks now to be able to chetypically, Christ nailed to His cross. dish it out against sitting-duck targets The cultists, then were given dur­ though no one can confuse the shlm­ and to be the privileged purveyors of ing their final weeks and hours of life bling functionaries of the Clinton ad­ tactics to an attorney general who had good and ample reason to believe that ministration with the Best and the shown herself delightfully amenable to they were the object of a killing con­ Brightest - but with the levers thenl­ buying whatever nostrum they wished spiracy. But we leap beyond the evi­ selves. The tragedies that pop up with to peddle. It was a chance to garner dence if we second their apocalyptic depressing regularity are inherent in musings. An epistemically more parsi­ the system. Their eruptions await only monious explanation is possible and the nexus of circumstance rather than thus preferable: that David Koresh and the extremes of maleficence. An inade­ It does not seem likely that his disciples were the unintended vic­ quately constrained coercive state nla­ any new Woodwards or tims of the evil of banality. It is likely chinery will continue to grind up and that neither Bill Clinton nor Janet Reno spit out the hapless souls who fall Bernsteins will build reputa­ nor the Washington and field opera­ under its wheels; who sits at the steer­ tions on the soot and ash of tives of BATF and the FBI desired a de­ ing wheel is a secondary concern. Waco. nouement of carnage by fire. And yet Vigilance in the appointment and mon­ that is what their individually reason­ itoring of one's governors will be only able yet collectively disastrous choices marginally effective. A melioration procured. that is more than evanescent requires public acknowledgement of their own The ashes of Waco have cooled and fundamental change in the vehicle's professionalism in favorable contrast to scattered, and the television cameras construction and the rules of the road the stoogery uf BATF. Tanks, tear gas have relocated to new scenes of excite­ on which it operates. and TV exposure: it was morning again ment and blunder. It's important, In retrospect, the most sobering as­ in America! And since if anything went though, to keep its consideration alive pect of Waco is not any specialness it wrong - they could - and did - pi­ as a touchstone for ongoing political may possess but what it shares with ously intone that they had been faith­ thinking rather than simply as a speci­ the ravaging of a generation in fully following the attorney general's men for the historians dispassionately Vietnam, drug policies that have filled orders, on the morning of April 19 all to poke over. For the alternative ex­ our prisons to overflowing and ren­ systems read Go. planatory accounts that have been dis­ dered the hearts of our cities unliva­ That's my reconstruction of Waco, cussed in this essay support markedly ble, and scores of other state but I readily concede the surface plausi­ different practical conclusions. If the undertakings: mostly good people try­ bility of a rendering that instead sees reason scores of people perished in ing to do mostly good things create lit­ the government of the United States of Texas is because their deaths were tle corners of hell on earth. In Waco America playing out a murderous ven­ willed by wicked government officials, the flames just burned a bit more detta against the Branch Davidians. If then it is truly a shocking state of af- brightly than usual. a Liberty 27 ReaQPraisal

~ There 4 0 Kill Like Overkill by R. W. Bradford

Does ineptitude excuse murder? Does expedience justify burning chil­ dren? Bradford reconsiders the case against the perpetrators of the Waco holocaust.

I find a great deal of merit in what Prof. Lomasky so eloquently writes. Certainly government is often banal and the evil of this banality was a major factor in the Waco tragedy. And I agree that the task that we who value liberty face is not that of putting new people at the levers of power, but the far more complicated task of building a consensus against the exis­ tence of the levers themselves. The we expect murderers to confess that insight," she found herself "caught up problem of growing govemment they intended to kill? Since when do in a lockstep dance" and was "unable power and of declining human liberty we expect politicians to tell the truth to exhibit the vision and the strength is not simply or even mostly one of about their intentions? necessary to break out of [her] fatal evil men. It is a battle of ideas, espe­ Prof. Lomasky's case that Janet lemmings' march," should excuse cially moral ideas. Reno did not intend the deaths of inno­ what she did. Since when does it take But disagreement always sparks cent children is hardly more than as­ extraordinary "imagination" or "op­ more disagreement, and I find three of sertion, based apparently on the fact portunity of insight" to know that Prof. Lomasky's points singularly un­ that for Lomasky, "it was difficult not killing innocent children is wrong? convincing and worthy of comment. to feel sympathy, even pity for the Lack of imagination and insight The Mass Murder Case woman with the glazed eyes and.the might explain a crime, but it does not Prof. Lomasky finds Reno innocent raspy voice." Indeed, in the same para­ excuse .it. of mass murder because she lacked graph in which Lomasky claims that I agree with Prof. Lomasky that intent to mass murder and is too inept murder by definition requires mali­ politicians and bureaucrats are inept to commit so large and complex a cious intent, he comes very close to and that the killing of the Branch crime. conceding the case: "It is not that the Davidians was a complicated under­ But as I understand the law, intent evil result was unforeseeable or could taking. But I am not convinced that in­ to kill is not necessary for homicide to not have been averted." H the mass eptitude precludes complicated qualify as murder. If, for example, a death of innocents was both predicta­ murders or even complicated mass punk kills someone while attempting ble and avoidable, how can we avoid murders. The politicians and bureau­ to rob a convenience store, he is not concluding intent? Later, he surmises, crats of Nazi Germany were an inept exonerated of murder because he only "How liberating it must have been to lot, yet they managed to create and planned to rob the store and fired his [the] FBI ... now to be able to dish it keep secret an industry of murder, a weapon with the intention of frighten­ out against sitting duck targets." task far more complex than incinerat­ ing people into cooperation. Sitting ducks? Are we to believe that ing a group of buildings with 86 peo­ Further, I am not convinced that killing humans "like sitting ducks" is ple inside. Reno did not intend to kill the inhabi­ not intentional? .Although.Prof. Lomasky rejects the tants of the Waco compound. I am Prof. Lomasky does believe so. conclusion of my argument, he ig­ aware that she says that she did not in­ Somehow the fact that Janet Reno nores the argument itself. I did not tend to. But so what? Since when do "lacks imagination or opportunity of argue that Ms Reno is .a mass 28 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

murderer on the basis of an examina­ lesser crime, perhaps, but a serious Unlike Koresh, Weaver has now tion of physical evidence, the state­ crime nonetheless. had his "day in court," and a lot has ments of witnesses, or expert been learned about the confrontation. testimony. The evidence I cited was her Carnage by Fire Weaver and another survivor of the own confession, and I made that plain I remain unconvinced that neither siege were charged with the murder of in the first two sentences of my article: the FBI nor ATF "desired a denoue­ Marshal Degan. At the trial, federal au­ "Janet Reno, the nation's top law en­ ment of carnage by fire," if only be­ thorities were chastised by U.S. District forcement agent, is a mass murderer. cause past federal attempts to arrest (or Judge Edward Lodge for fabricating ev­ We know this because she confessed to serve warrants to) individuals .or idence (even faking photographs of the it on national television on April 19, groups who hold unpopular views and scene of the siege), hiding evidence that 1993." exercise their constitutional right to the assault on the Weaver family began To support this claim, I enumerated own firearms have ended in fiery death "vith the V·.S. Marshals firing the first statements that she made about the in­ and destruction of all evidence that shots, and Withholding a wide variety formation she had at hand, and ob­ might exonerate the accused. The siege of other evidence from the defense. We served that it was obvious to any of the Symbionese Liberation Army learned that the federal prosecutor had rational person (even an inept politi­ ended with their incineration. Gordon planned to drop the case against cian) that the course of action she Kahl, who had survived an ambush of Weaver if he had shown up in court chose, based on the information she his North Dakota home by U.S. back in 1991. had, could only lead to the death of a Marshals in February of 1983, fled to The case against Weaver sounds ri­ substantial number of people who Arkansas where he was also consumed diculous, if we are to believe the were, by her own admission, entirely by fire in a confrontation with the FBI innocent. Since Prof. Lomasky does not inJune of that same year. challenge this argument, I shall not re­ What would have happened if the view and defend it here. FBI hadn't killed Koresh and destroyed I did not argue that Ms Instead I shall attack it. My argu­ all the evidence? We can only surmise. ment was based on Janet Reno's state­ But we can see why the FBI might be Reno is a mass murderer on ment, III investigated [the situation] concerned. According to Koresh's attor­ the basis of an examination of completely. I did all the -I asked [all) ney, David DeGuerin, Koresh was con­ physical evidence, the state­ the questions, I talked to the experts fident that he would be exonerated in when I had questions ...I made the court after the standoff had ended, and ments of witnesses, or expert best judgment I could based on all the was looking forward to defending him­ testimony. The evidence I cited information that we had after inquiry, self in court. was her own confession. after talking with experts, after trying Consider the case of Randy Weaver, to weigh all the terrible possibilities the eccentric right-winger who was in­ that could take place." volved last year in a similar standoff in I did not consider one possibility: Idaho. Weaver had been accused of sell­ Associated Press report of May 27: that Reno was lying when she uttered ing a sawed-off shotgun to a federal un­ "Prosecutors have spent several days those words. Successful politicians are dercover agent but had not shown up outlining for jurors their elaborate con­ characterized by adaptability, adept­ for his trial in February, 1991. spiracy theory, in which Mr Weaver ness at misrepresenting situations and Explaining that he believed he could not and his family plotted for a decade to motives, and a skill at manipulating get a fair trial, he had removed himself provoke a bloody confrontation with public opinion. It is entirely possible to an isolated cabin in northern Idaho, agents of a govemment they loathed." that Reno paid little attention to the which he and his family had built from Apparently their theory is that in order Waco situation because she was pre­ scrap lumber. There was an uneasy to provoke a bloody confrontation with occupied with political problems in standoff, with Weaver and his family federal police, he isolated himself in the Washington, that she uncritically ac­ liVing peaceably in their isolated cabin, wilderness hoping that the feds would cepted the FBI's plan of action, and that while U.S. Marshals l'Iinvestigated." send a bunch of machine-gun toting she developed the explanation for her A year and a half later, on August agents onto his property to attack him actions - the explanation that amount­ 21, 1992, liThe group [of U.S. Marshals) and kill his wife and son. ed to a confession of mass murder ­ came under fire from the fortresslike As the case developed after only as a public relations ploy, after the Weaver home, apparently without Weaver's peaceful surrender, it disaster had occurred. This suggestion warning, and [U.S. Marshal William] emerged that practically every state­ is, I think, tantamount to Prof. Degan sustained a fatal gunshot ment coming from federal authorities Lomasky's suggestion that the wound," according to Henry E. during the siege of the Weaver cabin Davidians were victims of "the evil of Hudson, director of the U.S. Marshals was contradicted by subsequent state­ banality." Service. A siege began. It ended only ments from federal authorities and that If this is the case, then Reno. is inno­ after Col. Bo Gritz, a war hero who had many "facts" released by those authori­ cent of mass murder, the crime to known Weaver in Vietnam, got the FBI ties during the siege and dutifully re­ which she confessed; she would be to allow Weaver to surrender peace­ ported in the press were simply false. guilty of mass negligent homicide - a ably. The statement quoted above, for exam- Liberty 29 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

pIe, contains two falsehoods. The 1) If there was.substantial evidence • The statements of dissident David­ agents did not come under fire "with­ that Koresh or his followers might react ians and the families of Davidians that out warning"; in fact, they fired the. violently to any attempt to serve him the Davidians possessed fully automat­ first shots. The Weaver cabin was not in with a search warrant, why did ATF in­ ic weapons, whose possession requires any way "fortresslike." It was construct­ form local television stations of the at­ a federal license; ed from scrap plywood, 2x4s and mill tack two days in advance, and invite • The statement by a United Parcel ends. As the siege progressed, the 1i~s the stations to send reporters and ca­ Service driver that Koresh or his repre­ and contradictions continued: FBI and merapersons to accompany the assault? sentative had paid for C.O.D. items Marshal spokesmen variously reported Surely, ATF had to know that seeking with cash; that Degan had been killed by a single publicity in advance of the raid would •A search of Treasury records did .223 caliber bullet from an AR-15 and give notice to those inside the com­ not reveal that the Davidians had ac­ from a .30-06 bullet from an old hunting pound, enabling them to prepare for a quired a license for the possession of rifle; the bullet was reported variously confrontation. automatic weapons; to have hit him in the sternum, the neck 2) In the past Koresh had peacefully •A huge amount of evidence that and the heart, while he was and was submitted to warrants when ap­ the Davidians had acquired items that not wearing a bulletproof vest. During proached in a normal fashion, without could be used to manufacture weapons the week of August 24-30, federal an attack force of a hundred heavily requiring licenses (e.g. 30 cardboard spokesmen repeatedly told reporters armed men breaking into his home, tubes). None of the items purchased that they were holding back because while attack helicopters· hovered over­ were·illegal and none required licenses; they feared Weaver's wife might get head. Koresh also frequently left the • The statement of an AlF agent hurt, it turned out that a federal sniper compound. According to the affidavit who testified that on December 4, 1992, had shot her dead while she held their filed supporting the search warrant, he had interviewed Joyce Sparks, a so­ infant daughter in her arms outside the AlF knew that nearly all the guns in cial worker, who told him that she had cabin on August 23. Federal officials re- the compound were locked up and visited the IIcompound" on April 6, only Koresh had a key. Why wasn't 1992, at which time she spoke to a 7­ Koresh served in the conventional fash­ year-old boy who wanted to grow up so ion? Or, if AIF feared a violent con­ he could get a "long gun" like the older The politicians and bureau­ frontation (as it surely must have, else members of the group. "She said that crats ofNazi Germany were an why did it put together a virtual army during her conversation with Koresh, inept lot, yet they managed to to serve the warrant?), why didn't ATF he told her that he was the'Messenger' wait to serve the warrant when Koresh from God, that the world was coming create an industry ofmurder, a was off in Waco and the Davidians' to an end, and that when he 'reveals' task far more complex than in­ guns locked away? himself the riots in Los Angeles would cinerating a group of buildings 3) The original AlF attack was os­ pale in comparison to what was going tensibly an attempt to serve a search to happen in Waco, Texas"; with 86 people inside. warrant because it suspected Koresh of • The statement of Robert Carvenka, violating a federal licensing law. Does a neighbor, that he had heard the sound violation of a licensing law justify an of automatic weapons fire coming from -peatedly reported that they were under assault of this magnitude? the Davidian property. Carvenka had fire from automatic weapons during the I have read the search warrant and served in the military and could identi­ siege, just as they did during the the affidavit on which it was based. fy the sound of autolnatic weapons fire. Davidian siege. Yet when they searched Here is what it contains: Does this evidence constitute "prob­ the cabin and surrounding area after •A report from a Sheriff's deputy able cause" that evidence of a federal Weaver's surrender, they found not a that one afternoon he heard a "loud ex­ crime was concealed on the Davidian single automatic weapon. plosion in the area" and IIas he drove property? I have my doubts. It is plain that if federal agents had toward the area where he thought the Unless it is now illegal to "asso­ managed to kill Weaver and bum over explosion had occurred he observed a ciate" with a machinist who has used the site, as they did in the cases of large cloud of grey smoke dissipating drugs or to have noise that sounds like Gordon Kahl and David Koresh, they from the ground"; "an explosion" and have "smoke" com­ would have saved themselves a lot of • An anonymous statement that ing from your house, these two bits of embarrassment. "Marshal Keith Butler . . . a machinist evidence seem pretty irrelevant. by trade is associated with Vernon The statements about "child abuse" The Initial Assault Howell Butler has been arrested on and Koresh's haVing sex with young I am not convinced by Prof. seven (7) occasions since 1984 for un­ women are plain!y red herring, since

Lomasky's other argument that IIcon­ lawful possession of drugs ... Two of neither offense violates any federal law. fronting [the Davidians] with a full­ the arrests resulted in convictions ..."; The affidavit does not mention, by the fledged invasion army of 100 agents • Statements that Koresh had re­ way, the fact that these charges had pre­ may seem to be a remarkably good portedly engaged in sex with a variety viously been investigated and dropped idea." There were three problems with of young women and had engaged in by state authorities. the original raid: "child abuse"; The UPS driver's statement that 30 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

Koresh had paid cash for C.O.D. items anxious to cause you trouble, there is tomatic weapons fire. is simply irrelevant: use of cash is not il­ evidence that you acquired the means Does any of this, or all of it taken to­ legal in the United States. Further, to manufacture a product whose manu­ gether, constitute "probable cause" of a C.O.D. deliveries by UPS must be paid facture requires a license and there is violation of federal law and justify an in cash unless the shipper specifically evidence that you had not obtained the armed attack? releases UPS from liability in the event license. Is this evidence - "probable Was AlF motivated by a simple, if that a check tendered for payment is re­ cause" - sufficient for you to lose your wrongheaded, desire to enforce the law? turned for insufficient funds. right to privacy in your home as guar­ In the past few years, A'IF has been tar­ The statements by dissident mem­ anteed by the Fourth Amendment? geted by critics for abolition, and this bers of the religious group are dubious. The statement by Joyce Sparks, the year with Congress searching for ways For one thing, the agent who took the social worker, is both irrelevant and to cut spending, it is especially vulnera­ evidence did not cite any evidence that contains an obvious fabrication. She ble. It is certainly possible that ATF any of the witnesses had staged the raid to generate even passing familiarity good publicity, to prevent with automatic weapons its coming under the bud­ THE WHITE HOUSE or could distinguish be- getary knife. CBS's Sixty WASHINGTON tween an AR-15 (a per- Minutes reported that a fectly legal semi­ huge sexual harassment automatic rifle) and an June 11, 1993 scandal at AlF was about M-16 (an automatic rifle to surface when the raid that requires a license). Mr. Stephen Cox occurred - perhaps A1F University of California As I understand the law, San Diego, California wanted to deflect public at­ this renders their testimo­ tention from this problem. Dear Stephen: ny Virtually worthless. AlF probably expect­ Besides, the testimony of Thank you for your letter. I share your concern about the recent situation near Waco, Texas. I was deeply disturbed by ed its huge show of force the dissidents ought to be the tragic loss of life there. It is especially appalling that to result in a quick surren­ innocent children may have suffered at the hands of David Koresh discounted out of simple and other members of the Branch Davidian cult. der by the Davidians. It is prudence. They had very The compound had been under surveillance for same time, not difficult to imagine strong motivations to and federal agents determined that'cult members were illegally how the story would play stockpiling weapons. The large number of guns and ammunition cause trouble for Koresh. and the presence of children near such weapons led agents to out on television, first on Consider the follOWing begin seizure of the compound. That action provoked the first confrontation, which left four federal agents dead and many the local news, then on a case: other people injured. network "reality pro­ Let us suppose that After peaceful negotiations had stalled, the appropriate gram": stem-faced ATF you and your spouse had law enforcement agencies, in consultation with Attorney General Janet Reno, formulated a plan that was intended to cause the agents get into their bul­ a horrible fight, charac­ least harm to cult members while forcing them out of the let-proof gear, load their compound. Tear gas was used because it causes no permanent terized by fervent anger, damage, and it is effective in evacuating the people from a weapons, and are trans­ ugly words and nasty ac­ targeted area. ported to the remote loca­ cusations, resulting in Aa President, I take full responsibility for the actions of tion; they surround the federal agents in Waco. I have ordered a full review of the case your spouse moving out to be conducted by both the Justice Department and the Treasury fortress and attack; they Department to determine what happened and what can be done in the of the home. Let us sup­ future to handle similar situations better. fire off a few shots, per- pose your spouse goes to haps killing a few evil Sincerely, the Bureau of Alcohol, cultists; they display the Tobacco and Firearms guns found at the com­ and tells them that you pound, while an .ATF are distilling alcohol agent explains that there without a proper license. was sufficient firepower The AlF checks with your supermarket spoke to Koresh on April 6, yet the Los for a war (not mentioning that the guns and learns that you have over the past Angeles riots, which she claims he were perfectly legal), a statement would few years on numerous occasions pur­ warned her would be repeated in Waco, follow from a high-level ATF bureau­ chased sugar and on a few occasions did not begin until the end of April. crat explaining how the ATF had again purchased yeast, and verifies with your This leaves the testimony of the protected Americans from civil destruc­ local utility that you have purchased neighbor. Here we at last have reason­ tion. And then the payoff: the congress­ water. You have acqUired all the ingre­ able testimony that an unlicensed auto­ people who had been considering dients needed to manufacture alcohol. matic weapon was on the Davidian abolishing ATF decide they can make The AlF also checks the Treasury's property. However, the affidavit did cuts elsewhere in the federal budget. records and verifies that you have never not mention the fact that the neighbor acquired a license to make alcohol. had reported the incident to the Sheriff, Waco: In every detail, this situation is iden­ who had investigated the matter, and Some Truth Comes Out tical to the Davidians': there is testimo­ learned that Koresh had a "hell-fire de­ Reproduced above is a letter from ny from an angry former dose associate vice," which simulated the sound of au- President Clinton written to Stephen Liberty 31 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

Cox, who wrote a critical analysis of the lines and supplies of fresh water to the is so dangerous that an international killing of 86 men, women and children compound. treaty prohibits its use inwarfare. near Waco, Texas, on April 19 5) Most bizarrely of all, Clinton's CS may also have played an impor­ ("Darkness at Noon," June 1993). claim omits the facts that, shortly before tant role in the fire that quickly en­ It is an interesting document. the children's deaths, the FBI attacked gulfed the compound. According to its Clinton's statement that the children them with poison gas, and that the "Material Data Safety Sheet," pub~ "may have suffered at the hands of cause of their death was fire that result­ lished by the Chemical and Biological David Koresh and other members of the ed from the FBI assault on the com­ Defence Agency, its flash point is 386 0 F Branch Davidian cult," continues his ad­ pound. There was child abuse at the and its explosive concentration is 0.025 ministration's absurd claim that the "ul­ Davidian property, but the FBI was the grams/liter (or about 1/1200 of an timate rationale" (press spokesman perpetrator. ounce per quart of air). Pouring CS into In the second paragraph, Clinton enclosed buildings for six hours might lies again: "The large number of guns very well result in reaching the "explo­ and ammunition and the presence of sive concentration" of 0.025 grams/liter, Numerous federal attempts children near such weapons led agents or about 1/1200 of an ounce per quart to arrest individuals who hold to begin seizure of the compound." of air. According to Virtually all claims by Maybe this has something to do unpopular views and exercise A1F about its original attack on the with the warnings that it ought never their constitutional right to Davidian property, its purpose was to be used indoors. It also suggests that own firearms have ended in serve a search warrant, not to seize the the CS may have played an important property. Further, the affidavit support­ role in the fire that quickly engulfed the fiery death and destruction of ing the search warrant includes the compound, although AlF has subse­ all evidence that might exoner­ statement from a government agent quently produced an expert who dis­ ate the accused. that the guns were kept in a locked lo­ counts that possibility. cation that was kept secret from the This is the chemical that the FBI children. poured into the Davidian buildings for In the next paragraph, Clinton six hours during the assault on April 19, .makes another curious claim: "Tear gas the chemical that Clinton claims "was George Stephanopoulos' words) for the was used because it causes no perma­ intended to cause the least harm to cult attack on the Davidians was that Koresh nent damage, and it is effective in evac­ members." As if deliberately trying to engaged in child abuse. Clinton was uating the people from a targeted area." contradict the Clinton administration's echoing Reno's attempt to justify the claim that its "ultimate rationale" for The FBI did not use what is commonly final assault on the grounds that the the gas attack was concern for the wel­ refered to as tear gas, technically known children present were being abused. fare of the children, the FBI admitted as chloroacetophenone, abbreviated When pressed for details, she said that that they believed the children inside CN. It used something much more "the children were being forced to live the buildings had no protection from powerful: a white powder, technically in unsanitary and unsafe conditions." CS gas. known as o-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, This justification is false in so many In his final paragraph, Clinton at­ more commonly known as CS. ways that it is shocking that Clinton tempts again "to take full responsibili­ CS is described by The Hazardous would continue to argue for it: ty" for the affair, apparently to try to Chemicals Desk Reference as "moderately 1) Child abuse is not a federal of­ mitigate his attempts to dodge responsi­ fense. If it were, it would not fall within toxic by inhalation" when dispersed into bility during the first hours after the the jurisdiction of the Bureau of the air. Within seconds, it incapacitates holocaust. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. its victims, causing extreme burning, In the meantime, Janet "The-buck­ 2) The Davidians had already been tearing, coughing, difficulty inbreathing stops-here-I-take-full-responsibility" accused and exonerated of child abuse and chest tightness, blindness, dizzi­ Reno continues to bask in popularity. It by officials of Texas, under whose juris­ ness, vomiting, and nausea. According has been so long since a politician took diction such charges fall. to Amnesty International, CS has result­ the blame when something went wrong 3) The children who left the com­ ed in as many as 80 deaths worldwide, that Americans see Reno as a hero, pound after the initial ATF attack but and is "particularly dangerous when overlooking her role in the affair. before the FBI assault of April 19 were used in massive quantities in heavily "You've raised the responsibility and healthy, happy, and well cared for, ac­ built-up or populated areas ... or when accountability of public service to an in­ cording to Bob Boyd, head of Children's launched directly into homes or other credibly high level in a way we've Protective Services in Waco, the welfare buildings." In1985, the Washington Post never seen before," gushed Colorado agency in charge of investigating charg­ reported that Israeli soldiers and police Congressperson Pat Schroeder. "You're es ofchild abuse. in Gaza had "violated the manufactur­ a lot more than a breath of fresh air." 4) The accusation that the children er's printed warnings by firing the gas That's for sure - she was a gust of le­ were subjected to unsanitary. and un­ into enclosed areas such as rooms or thal gas. I wonder what Schroeder healthy conditions conveniently omitted small courtyards. Most experts agree would have said if Adolf Eichmann had the fact that the cause of such conditions that such misuses of the gas can be forthrightly taken responsibility for harmful, especially to small children." It was the FBI, which had cut off sewer continued on page 56 32 Liberty_ n Her Life, Her Ideas, and the Movement She Founded

Eleven Hours of analysis, Interviews with: opinion, interpretation, Michael Berliner Henry Mark Holzer anecdotes, sorrow, laughter, Alan Blumenthal David Kelley Joan Blumenthal Paul KUltz argument, reflection, and Barbara Branden Ronald Merrill revelation about the Nathaniel Branden Leonard Peikoff Mark Breslin John Ridpath remarkable woman whose Roy Childs Robert Sheaffer Edith Efron Kay Nolte Smith writing ignited the Albert Ellis Phillip Smith Antony Flew Renaissance of Liberty! Joan Kennedy Taylor Mary Gaitskill Contents: Allan Gotthelf interviewed by Tape 1: Ayn Rand's Slightly Paranoid Personality: Erika Holzer Jeff Walker Her Psychological Unsophistication, Rand & Happiness & Selfishness Tape 2: The Cult of Ayn Rand (part 1) Tape 3: The Cult of Ayn Rand (part 2) r------,I Please send me the tapes I have Tape 4: The Objectivist Movement: The Palace I.Yes indicated below. I Guard, Personal Engineering Tape 5: The Roles of Nathaniel Branden and D Please send me the follOWing tapes: Leonard Peikoff; the Intellectual Isolation of Objectivists (part 1) I ----______at $9.50 each = __ I Tape 6: The Intellectual Isolation ofObjectivists 0 Send me the complete set (eleven tapes) I (part 2); Ayn Rand's Theory of Concepts; Ayn I at $59.95! = __ Rand and Music; Ayn Rand and the Bankrupt­ cy of American Culture; Rand and Nietzsche Postage & Handling: ~ Tape 7: Ayn Rand as Fiction Writer and as Teacher I I of Writing Tape 8: The Philosophy of Objectivism (part 1) Total: - I I enclose check or money order Tape 9: The Philosophy of Objectivism (part 2); I o Ayn Rand's Jewishness; Rand and Feminism; o Please charge my Visa or Mastercard Rand and the Right I I Tape 10: Ayn Rand and the Founding Fathers; signature Rand's Moral Basis for Capitalism; Alan Greenspan; Rand and Libertarianism I account' expires I Tape 11: Ayn Rand's Influence; Rand on Environ­ name mentalism and Animal Rights; The Ayn Rand Institute vs The Institute ForObjectivist Studies I a~re~ I Each Tape. .. $9.50 city, state, zip send to: I Save 43 l 7lJ! I Liberty PubUshing, Dept. L36 POBox 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368 • Conlplete Set 11 Tapes: $59.95 L ------_ .. Case Studl'

Operation No Hope by Jesse Walker

The U.S. military will go anywhere, pay any price to ... well, in this case to impose the U.N.'s idea of proper government on a Third World country.

On June 5, 1993, Pakistani troops deployed under the banner of the United Nations fired into a crowd in Somalia, killing civilians, including children. It was not the first time U.N. soldiers had fired on Somalis, but it has become the most publicized. The event was only the latest in a series of actions against Mohammed Farrah Aidid, the powerful warlord reputedly guilty of mass murder, Somalia's elected government and secret police - intimidated any real, grand larceny, and, most damning in began two decades of dictatorial rule. potential, or imagined dissidents it the eyes of the multinational force, re­ Barre embraced the rhetoric of could find, often with the help of the sisting the dictates of the United Marxism and the practice of third­ paramilitary "Victory Pioneers." And, Nations. The Pakistanis asserted that world thuggism, sitting atop a corrupt, in classic totalitarian fashion, the cen­ they had been under attack from nonproductive national elite that casu­ tral government declared war on all Aidid's gunmen; the civilians, they ally murdered its opponents. Casting authorities and associations outside said, had been used as human shields. his eyes toward long-disputed Kenyan the state. The intention, in the words Killing them was an unfortunate by­ and (especially) Ethiopian territories, of Rakiya Omaar, was "to dismantle product of defending themselves. The Barre began an intense military build­ the institutions that allowed people to U.S. government agreed. up sponsored by his new ally, the articulate their grievances and that That is certainly possible. It also Soviet Union. In 1977 he invaded provided a framework for the resolu­ evades the real issue. The U.S./U.N. Ethiopia's Ogaden region. Victory t~on of conflict." A Somali herself, mission in Somalia - "Operation seemed assured. Omaar served as executive director of Restore Hope" - was supposed to be But a funny thing happened on the Africa Watch until she was fired for a humanitarian one. Troops were there to protect food shipments, not to way to Greater Somalia: the U.S.S.R. opposing the U.N.'s intervention. fight a war; indeed, we had been re­ switched sides. Suddenly, the East Bloc Meanwhile, though the economic peatedly assured that we were not weapons - and then Cuban soldiers ­ rhetoric and surface reforms shifted being drawn into a violent conflict. were with the Ethiopians. Barre com­ from "socialist" to "capitalist," the sys­ How did this "humanitarian mission" pleted the Cold War do-si-do by moY­ tem itself remained essentially the devolve into the sorry spectacle of ner­ ing into the Western orbit. His nation same: a privileged elite using the YOUS troops shooting unarmed lost its war with Ethiopia, but by 1982 power of the state to live off the work women and children? To answer that was one of Africa's largest recipients of of others. The Somali government and question, one must pose another: how U.S. economic and military aid, receiv­ the private interests that depended on did we get into Somalia in the first ing over $600 million during the '80s. it stole land from indigenous farmers, place'-'- and why? This shift in foreign policy did not camels and goats from herders, and bring an improvement in domestic food from aid agencies. Omaar and The Road to Intervention human rights conditions. Barre's gov­ Alex de Waal give the details: In October of 1969, Major General ernment killed tens of thousands. The [The] "pencil looters" who sit in of­ Mohammed Siad Barre overthrew National Security Service - the hated fices are the same people behind the 34 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

"gun looters" who raid villages, hold ful "income supplement" for any offi­ the dispensers of foreign aid and ad­ up convoys, and start wars.... The cer willing to take part in the system of vice. Pastoralism simply didn't fit into tactics used against the population institutionalized corruption. And some their economic models, which favored are straightforward; storm villages was going to the army, to ration its spo­ sedentary liVing and wasn't capable of (ohen at night) firing guns to frighten radic attacks on the Ogaden region. dealing with the unmeasurable "in­ away villagers, and collect "taxes" at These attacks, in tum, provoked the come" of a herder. Better to ignore the checkpoints on roads and bridges.... Ethiopian government into more repri­ nomads' contributions to the economy In Somalia,. the most poor and mar­ sals against ethnic Somalis, leading to than to come up with a means for ginal rural farmers - the Rahanweyn more calls for aid to the growing refu­ measuring them. Better to give out eco­ and Digil clans and the Bantu peoples - were stripped of many of their as­ gee population. And so the cycle re­ nomic advice that pretended the herd­ sets well before Siad Barre was driven fueled itself. ers weren't there. from power in January 1991. In 1988, Meanwhile, the refugee camps were Individual aid workers protested a traditional leader of a sub-elan of not having a particularly helpful im­ the disastrous consequences of their the Rahanweyn, who had the misfor­ pact on the Somali economy. Nomads, employers' policies, but the agencies tune to border Siad Barre's Marehan who in the past had turned during themselves, by and large, stayed quiet. clan, described his relations with the droughts to the intricate mutual aid Most, despite their status as "non­ Marehan as "total war." He estiInated network of the Somali clan system, governmental organizations" (NGOs), that more than half of the fertile river­ now had another alternative: the ain land once farmed by his people camps. Not only was a strong part of had been seized, much of it at the indigenous economy thus eroded gunpoint. by the camp-aid system, but public The end of0ld1ashioned im­ Lower down the Juba valley, the ex­ health became a greater problem. perialism brought something propriation of land was on a far great­ Former USAID food monitor Michael er scale and had been going on for Maren explains: "[T]he barren Somali new and in many cases worse: IllUch longer. Much of it was sanc­ economy won't support a lot of people tioned as "development." Meanwhile, tinpot indigenous dictators in one place. Out in the desert, one fam­ as the local people became more vul­ who denounce the West even as ily might have eight or ten square miles nerable and destitute, they took work they rake in Western aid. on the confiscated farms for a pit­ . of land for grazing their camels and tance, or turned to pilfering from the .goats at any given time. In the camps plantations and foraging for grass be­ they were packed into a few square yards. Sanitation, which isn't much of tween the banana trees. If. were dependent on government con­ The foreign' aid establishment an issue when you're alone in the tracts, and those contracts meant desert, became a source of disease and played a crucial role in this horror. Not steady income. Despite their rhetoric death. For many of the refugees, the only did Western policymaker's "struc­ about teaching self-sufficiency, most of camps might as well have been concen­ tural adjustment policies" provide the aid agencies were basically in the tration camps. Once they were in, they cover for the looting of the Somali pop­ business of dumping food abroad. And were hooked. The desert was their ulace; not only did U.S. military assis­ if the aid did more to prop up the gov­ barbed wire." tance, like Soviet assistance before it, ernment that was making the aid neces­ This too was at least partly planned. bolster the strength of the Somali state sary than to alleviate the country's Maren comments: against its own citizens; but food aid be­ problems - well, then, that just means came a weapon in a war of deceit that African leaders like to settle no­ more contracts to deliver more aid. It's mads. Nomads make it hard to build paved the way for the current crisis. not that the relief agencies were run by a socialist state. Nomads can't be cynical profiteers. Bureaucratic self­ As the '80s progressed, many ethnic taxed, they can't be drafted, and they preservation had set in, and few groups Somalis began fleeing Ethiopia for .can't be controlled. They also can't be were immune. Somalia, providing Barre with an op­ used to attract foreign aid.... portunity to demand yet more aid from In addition, many African leaders, FollOWing two years of civil war, his foreign benefactors. They obliged. trying hard to be modem, view no­ Siad Barre was finally ousted in early Barre's government claimed its country mads as an embarrassment and a nui­ 1991. During that time, he introduced a was holding 1.3 million refugees; in sance. From Bamako to Nairobi I've military tactic to his nation that would fact, the number was closer to 800,000 listened to Africa's elite discuss no­ subsequently be implemented on a - perhaps less. What was happening mads as if they were vermin. They'd wide and tragic scale: deliberate starva­ to the food sent for the half-million­ rather have their countries symbol­ tion of the enemy. For most of this ized by gaudy, foreign-built hotels time, U.S. military aid to Barre's regime plus refugees who we!en't there? than by poorly clothed people with A lot of it was being sold - a help- continued, despite widespread reports cattle.t of rampant human rights abuses. This view was only encouraged by With Barre gone, the fighting only intensified. Kin-based gangs jostled for ... Alex de Waal and Rakiya Omaar, "Somalia: power, with the forces of Aidid and of Adding 'Humanitarian Intervention' to the t Michael Maren, "Manna from Heaven?: U.S. Arsenal," Covert Action Quarterly, Somalia Pays the Price for Years ofAid," Ali Mahdi Mohammed dominating the Spring 1993. Village Voice, January 19, 1993. struggle. Both militias played the food- Liberty 35 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

weapon card. Appointed envoy in April 1992, Somalis into germ-trap encampments, Sahnoun quickly began to talk with only exacerbated. At the same time, The U.N. Stumbles representatives of all the factions and many farmers have started to have When the Marines first came ashore everyone in-between, down to school­ trouble selling their harvest because in Somalia, we were told that interna­ boys on the street. For once, there was a prices are being undercut by the aid tional intervention in the conflict was a U.N. envoy who earned the respect of shipments. American farmers, their ex­ necessity. Internal order had broken Somalis, who actually lived in ports subsidized, benefit. Somali farm­ down, and regional intervention was Mogadishu, who publicly criticized the ers are hurt. out of the question. Who but the U.N., U.N. bureaucracy, who stood a good Meanwhile, U.S./U.N. efforts to led by the American military, could chance of bringing the warring clan confiscate weaponry have led, not to a bring peace? leaders to the peace table. For months, decrease in violence, but to a concentra­ How about Djibouti? The tiny coun­ Sahnoun worked to break down clan tion of weaponry in the hands of the try to Somalia's immediate north had barriers and get the Somalis to talk most dangerous clans. It's easy to see invited representatives of each of the peace. Then, he was fired. why: those most likely to give up their He had been too critical of his su­ guns were those most likely to use periors in the U.N. hierarchy, too will­ them only for defensive purposes. ing to act without "clearance," too Those most likely to want to hang onto Operation Restore Hope has unorthodox. Maybe he was too their guns but least able to do so were devolved into a sorry spectacle successful. those least responsible for the orgy of With Sahnoun out, the U.N. revert­ violence - bit players on the destruc­ of nervous troops shooting un­ ed to its old policy habits. Less than tive scene. And who were most likely armed women and children. two months later, on December 9, 1992, to use weapons for sinister purposes, the Marines hit the beaches. The mili­ and most able to hold onto them? The tary intervention was underway. biggest factions, of course - most nota­ bly, that of Farrah Aidid. major clans to a peace conference in Operation Restore Hope It's an anti-gun-control cliche that July of 1991, six months after Barre's The mission was called Operation when guns are outlawed, only outlaws fall. At that time, the U.N. would not Restore Hope. By now, the name is a will have guns. Somalia proves the participate. sick joke. point. Or what about Eritrea? The reborn The original justification for the in­ When the media wasn't focusing on nation in what was previously (and, on tervention was to guard aid shipments guns, they were denouncing that other State Department maps, still is) against looters; according to the U.N. Northern Ethiopia offered to send in a and CARE, aid agencies were losing peace-keeping force in 1992, and man­ 80% of their cargo to bandits. But while aged to get the agreement of both Aidid this may have been true of the incom­ The famine itself peaked in and Ali Mahdi- butnot the U.N. petent U.N. operation, private relief the summer of 1992; by the In fact, the United Nations was agencies were only losing 10-20% of doing its best to ignore Somalia for their shipments. The Red Cross, which time the Marines arrived, some much of the civil war, even as reports of declined military escorts, continues to regions were actually seeing mass graves, deliberate starvation, and run a more efficient operation than the food surpluses. senseless violence continued to leak U.N. out. When Ali Mahdi's faction request­ Most efficient of all, but least ed a special session of the General wealthy in resources, were the local Assembly to deal with the Somali mess, non-government organizations; over establishment bugaboo: drugs. Count­ Undersecretary General for Special half the successful relief efforts prior to less news reports, fanned by official Political Questions James Jonahre­ the intervention came from domestic military statements, blamed the drug fused: "The consensus of views here is self-help efforts. (Not surprisingly, khat for driving bandits to kill and steal that it is most unlikely that the General Save the Children [U.K.], which tries to without mercy; racist stereotypes of Assembly could accept the convening strengthen grassroots institutions by drug-crazed, gun-toting black people of a special session.... We would sug­ working through local groups whenev­ grabbing other people's food replaced gest that you endeavor to discourage at er possible, has far outperformed the serious analysis of the Somali situation. the local level any idea for holding a United Nations. The U.N., in fact, con­ But in fact, khat is only a mild stimu­ special session on Somalia." The U.N.'s stantly snubs local talent.) lant. Bandits may be chewing it, but envoys to Somalia (a group that at one The famine itself peaked in the sum­ there is no demonstrable causal link be­ point included Jonah) were universally mer of 1992; by the time the Marines ar­ tween the drug and their behavior, any incompetent, incapable of talking to rived, some regions were actually more than there is between American real Somalis or even trying to under­ seeing food surpluses. By now, the military behavior and the consumption stand the intricacies of the conflict. prime killer in Somalia, after direct vio­ of coffee and cigarettes. Until Mohammed Sahnoun came lence, is not starvation, but disease - a All in all, there was a lot of snide along. factor that the "rescuers," by herding commentary in the American media at 36 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

the start of the operation about how into either massacres of unarmed and Phillips Petroleum - control oil Somalia was "the ideal libertarian women and children, or the callous use development rights to two-thirds of state": no regulations, no gun control, of civilians as human shields, depend­ Somalia. This includes the land of the no drug laws, no welfare - and, hence ing on which reports from the field you Republic of Somaliland, the secessionist no order. Actually, outside of the choose to believe? northern region that declared its inde­ southwest corridor from Mogadishu to pendence in May 1991 but has yet to re­ Baidoa and Kismayu, statelessness Cui Bono? ceive international recognition. These spawned a spontaneous order that Ultimately, in order to determine are politically powerful corporations worked remarkably well. Said Samatar, why American lives are in jeopardy who want their overseas investments a Somali professor of history at defending bad policy in the Hom of protected. Rutgers, wrote about this in the Africa, it's necessary to look past all the Could they have had any influence Manchester Guardian only a few days on U.S. policy in the region? It's very before the operation began: "The rest of likely. In fact, during the initial stages the country is relatively peaceful and of the operation Conoco's corporate well governed by an alliance of tradi­ u.s. efforts to confiscate compound in Somalia was transformed tional elders and local leaders that has weaponry have led but to a into the de facto u.s. embassy. reemerged in the wake of the collapse • The Pentagon has gained yet an­ of central authority." concentration of weaponry in other excuse for demanding publie mo­ For all his centralizing bluster, Siad the hands of the most danger­ nies. With the "humanitarian Barre could never wipe out the associa­ ous clans. intervention" precedent set - interven­ tions that are the lifeblood of Somali tion without even a pretense of serving civic life. Institutions like the guurti ­ the national interest - the search for a the assembly of elders - continue to post-Cold War mission has broken new provide a grassroots, mutual-aid-based obfuscation and ask ourselves who ground. order that murderous governments like really benefits from our Somalia They've also gotten some valuable Barre's could never confer. Operation policy. P.R. If a picture is worth a thousand Restore Hope undermined this relative­ One oft-cited explanation for the in­ words, could a picture of a Marine giv­ ly stable situation. The initial interven­ tervention is the domestic goodwill it ing food to hungry Africans be worth a tion had been directed toward the might have accrued for its originator, thousand dollars? violent southwest corridor, especially George Bush. That is all well and good, • The United Nations has also re­ Mogadishu. The U.N. occupation but does not explain why Bill Clinton ceived a useful precedent. In Somalia, it forced the bandits into the once-stable would be so gung ho to not just contin­ established its right to send a multina­ countryside, where looting and diver­ ue but expand the policy. tional peace-keeping force into a sion of food supplies soared. Some observers have also suggest­ "needy" country without that nation's As the months passed by, Somali ed that Operation Restore Hope was consent - theoretically a legal require­ opinion began to tum against the in­ fueled in part by the neo-conservative ment for such a U.N. action - when vaders. Before the operation even foreign policy elite's growing Islam­ there is "no legitimate government" began, Samatar had warned against ophobia. With the (mis)perception of a available to invite it in. Since the U.N. giving the impression that "the U.S. "global intifada" driven by "resurgent has conferred upon itself the right to was about to recolonize their country." Islamic fundamentalism" so wide­ determine political legitimacy, this In the initial stages of any intervention spread in Washington circles, it is could be very useful for it indeed. in Somalia, he wrote, U.S. or U.N. argued, a subdued Somalia could pro­ Secretary-General Boutros Boutros­ troops would probably be seen as lib­ vide the U.s. with a foothold against Ghali - who served as Egyptian for- erators, heroically driving away the ra­ the alleged threat pacious warlords. If military action and a base from was to succeed, it must maintain this which to defend moral high ground. It must not begin the "moderates" in to take all the trappings of imperial power in Saudi authority. Arabia. Operation Restore Hope did just Perhaps. But that. Local networks were snubbed or there is more to misused in favor of a foreign power this intervention structure with its own agenda. The than that. In the populace was stripped of its arms ­ end, four culprits and increasingly treated as an occupied stand out. nation. Which, it soon became clear, it • First, there's was. the oil card. Four Is it any wonder that this "humani­ Western compa­ tarian" effort was doomed to failure? Is nies - Conoeo, it any wonder that it has degenerated Amoco, Chevron, "Back off, buster -I happen to be a civil servant!" Liberty 37 Volume 6, Number 6 Au ust 1993

eign minister at a time when Egypt sup­ Somalis are apt to see for a long time But getting out is only the beginning. ported Siad Barre's regime - is a fer­ yet, despite these groups' role in bring­ The United States should do something vent proponent of a strong, activist ing the crisis about. Agencies like to help Somalia get back onto its feet ­ U.N. Operation Restore Hope has USAID and CARE have developed a and to prevent new Somalias from helped him toward this goal. perverse incentive to prolong world coming along. • Finally, there are the groups hunger: it's what keeps them in busi­ This is possible. But it will require a Economist reporter Graham Hancock ness. Expect more money to flow into whole new approach to international calls "the lords of poverty." The interna­ their coffers. Don't expect them to im­ relations: a willingness to let third­ tional aid establishment - notable prove the situation. worlders - and, in the wake of the worthies like Red Cross, Save the What To Do? Communist crack-up, second-worlders Children (U.K.), and Oxfam excepted - Somalia is a mess from which the - control their own destiny. is reaping a harvest greater than most U.S. must find a way to extricate itself. The end of old-fashioned imperial­ ism brought something new and in r------, many cases worse: tinpot indigenous dictators who denounce the West even Early Liberty as they rake in Western aid. In Somalia, that aid led to what amounts to a resto­ Indulge your mind with the pleasure and stimulation ofearly Liberty. Or ration of the worst aspects of the impe­ complete your collection of the most exciting libertarian magazine. The first rial past. issue is a reprint; all others are original printings. Enjoy! The u.s. should stop dumping its agricultural surplus abroad under the 48pp., $4.00 Medicine," by Sandy Shaw & Durk guise of "'foreign aid." Ideally, it should August 1987, Pearson • "The Majority vs the Majoritarian: • "The Films ofAyn Rand," by Stephen Robert Bork on Trial," by Sheldon dismantle the federal agricultural sub­ Cox • "Life or Death in Seanle," by Murray Richman • Plus reviews and articles by R.W. sidy nexus that produces that surplus. N. Rothbard • "The Mystery Man ofthe Bradford, William Cate, Stephen Cox and At the same time, it should remove the Libertarian Movement," by Ben Best • Plus others. trade walls that prohibit the importa­ reviews and articles by Ross Overbeek, Butler Shaffer, Ida Walters and others. May 1988, 64pp., $4.00 tion of farm products from the develop­ • "Ayn Rand: Still Controversial After All ingworld. October 1987, 48pp., $6.00 These Years," by David Ramsay Steele & Even more importantly, it should • "The Sociology ofLibertarians," byJ. C. David Brown • "The ACLU: Suspicious stop dispensing economic advice to the Green & J. L. Guth • "The Apostasy of Principles, Salutary Effects," by William P. third world when that advice amounts Robert Noziek," by Ethan O. Waters • Moulton • "The Two Libertarianisms," by "The Rise ofthe State," by Murray N. to urging policies of economic depen­ Ethan O. Waters • Plus reviews and articles dency. And it should stop funding the Rothbard • Plus reviews and articles by by Gary Alexander, Nathaniel Branden, Erika Stephen Cox, William P. Moulton, Mike and Henry Mark Holzer, Jeffrey Rogers World Bank and the International Holmes, Jonathan Saville and others. Hummel, Shddon Richman, Franklin Sanders Monetary Fund, the agencies that dole December 1987, 56pp., $3.00 and others. out such advice as a mandated corol­ • "Libertarians in a State-Run World," by July 1988, BOpp., $4.00 lary of their loans. Murray N. Rothbard • "The Most • "Confessions ofan Intractable Individualist," In the meantime, the U.S. should Unforgenable Libertarian I Ever Knew," by by Jerome Tuccille· An interview with L. Neil phase out the food aid. Maybe give the Karl Hess • "Easy Living in the Bahamas," Smith· David Ramsay Steele on Robert Somalis farm implements, or some by Mark Skousen • Plus writing by Walter Anton Wilson's critique ofNatural Rights camels, or something similarly useful Block, Erika Holzer, Stephen Cox and others. • "Rand-Bashing: Enough is Enough," by Ross to tide them over after the aid ship­ March 1988, 64pp., $4.00 Overbeek • Plus reviews and articles by ments cease. But the U.S. ought to stop Stephen Cox, Tibor Machan, Bill Kelsey and • "Libertarians & Conservatives: Allies or others. subsidizing disease, despotism, and de­ Enemies?" by John Dentinger & Murray sperados in a vain effort to stop world issu~s. adv~r­ Rothbard • "Free Speech and the Future of For information on later back su hunger. tis~m~nton back cov~r. As I write these words, there are over 4,400 American troops in Somalia. Circle each issue you want, and add $1.00 shipping & handling per order That's almost twice the number sent · (foreign orders add SOt per issue). Fill in the appropriate information below. over in December. By the time this arti­ o My check IS enclosed de sees publication, there probably will Charge my: be even more. And there will be more o VISA 0 Mastercard Name incidents in which innocent unarmed Address civilians are shot by the "peace­ Signature keepers." City AccoW\t# This is a quagmire. It could easily State Zip _ become another Lebanon or Expiration Phone # Vietnam. 0 L Send to: Liberty, Dept. B36, PO Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368 ~ Survey

How Do I Loathe NPR? Let Me Count the Ways by Glenn Garvin

Glenn GONin spends 0 week in the never-never land of NPR, and finds it only fit for the self-lobotomized.

Every few years I make an anthropological visit to my sister's home out West. My sister - her name is withheld to protect the guilty - is a lifelong bureaucrat who's never worked for anyone who had to show a profit, and she is deeply suspicious of the whole concept. She'll drive miles across the city to poke through the out-of-copyright videotapes at the public library rather than spend two bucks to rent one at the Blockbuster down the street. She regards any fi­ nancial transaction between two par­ ties not employed by the government as vaguely shady, if not downright illicit. Needless to say, she listens to National Public Radio. Everymoming that I stay at her house, I'm awakened at 6 a.m. by the droning baritone of Bob Edwards, the anchor of Morning Edition. The pro­ gram stays on until 8:30, when my sis­ ter dashes to her car and switches it on there to listen to the final half-hour on her way to work. And in the afternoon I usually have to leave the house to of news. She never watches network thing. And she was dumbfounded avoid being driven to homicide by the television news, and she'll tune in a when the Christie Institute's lawsuit, discordant tinkling of the All Things local program only when she knows which alleged that the entire national Considered theme, which echoes from it's running a story about one of her security apparatus of the U.S. govern­ her radio from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. bureaucratic projects. She subscribes to ment was nothing more than a drug Of course, lots of people have fa­ a local paper, but only for the local arts ring, was dismissed by a federal judge vorite news programs. I don't think listings. before coming to trial. NPR, she said, my father missed more than half-a­ This has led to some grave disap­ had made it all sound so reasonable. dozen telecasts of The Huntley-Brinkley pointments in my sister's life. She is (The fact that the suit was filed by an Report in his entire life. But what still perplexed that the ERA didn't NPR stringer, to my sister's way of moves my sister's obsession with NPR make it into the Constitution, since, thinking, only confirmed its validity.) from the mildly eccentric to the down­ she told me, NPR reported that the Once in a while, I gently hint to my right bizarre is that it's her sole source election of Jimmy Carter made it a sure sister that her worldview might be Liberty 39 Volume 6, Number 6 Au ust 1993

slightly better-rounded if she would politician who read only the works of that you don't have to be a graduate of acknowledge that perhaps Linda Lenin. But somehow they think their the Spiro Agnew School of Korrect Wertheimer is not the final authority own understanding of the world is en­ Journalism to recognize a persistent lib­ on everything under the sun. My sug­ hanced by basing it exclusively on a eral bias in NPR newscasts. The evi­ gestions are always met with scorn. news organization that labors in an an­ dence is all over the place, and it "You can get your news from giant cor­ tiquated, one-dimensional medium and doesn't take a microscope to find it. porations if you want to," she snaps. whose entire staff wouldn't fill the city Take, for example, NPR's coverage "I'd rather get mine from people who room at the New York Times of the battle over Bill Clinton's $16 bil­ aren't motivated by profit. I'd rather This is something of a mystery ­ lion "economic stimulus" package. get my news from people who think like that highly educated, well-to-do people During the week I listened (April 12­ me." (for that is what NPR's listeners are, 16), this was a hot topic. Readers of the For a long time I considered my sis­ mostly) would adapt the kind of intel­ New York Times, the Washington Post, ter a harmless aberration - an upscale lectual isolationism that we would or­ and just about every other newspaper version of the guys you occasionally dinarily associate with survivalist cults in America knew that Senate read about who think they get secret holed up in the Ozarks. Like survival­ Republicans had - against all expecta­ messages from Elvis through their fill- ists, NPR listeners are not exactly nu­ tions - stuck together in maintaining a merous - "There are more people filibuster against the bill, and that it falling off the face of the Earth than was in serious trouble. there are listening to NPR," observes But I'll bet my sister and her friends My sister regards any finan­ Bill McCleneghan, ABC Radio's vice had no idea. cial transaction between two president for research - but, like sur­ All week, NPR portrayed an indom­ vivalists, their very existence is a trou­ itable BillClinton riding a tidal wave of parties not employed by the bling enigma. You always have to public support against a faceless and ­ government as vaguely shady, wonder: Do they know something the more importantly, in the context of if not downright illicit. Need­ rest of us don't? radio - voiceless Republican rabble. Last month I decided to get to the During the first three days of the week, less to say, she listens to bottom of this. I became an undercover NPR ran eleven stories on Clinton's National Public Radio. .NPR listener. To my family and campaign for the package, all of them iriends, I kept up a facade of normality, centered around speeches by the presi­ reading my regular newspapers and dent or Al Core. For three full days, watching television news. But, in the their voices echoed over the NPR air­ ings. But as the years have passed, I've privacy of my bedroom, away from the waves, accusing Republicans of fight­ met more and more people who share world's prying eyes, I got up every ing to withhold immunizations from her fetish for NPR. In fact,. NPR itself morning at 6 and listened to all three poor children and of being anti­ likes to brag about the cultish devotion hours of Morning Edition (the length of progress. Often their soundbites were of its listeners. The network's 1991 an­ the program varies from market to followed by the comments of NPR re­ nual report includes letters from a market). And every afternoon at 5, I porters, adding that audiences were number of hopelessly fixated groupies mixed a stiff drink and settled in for 90 "enthusiastic" or the president's mes­ who regard NPR roughly the same way minutes of Ail Things Considered. My sage "struck a nerve." conclusion: I'd rather be a survivalist. John Hinckley regarded Jodie Foster. For good measure, there was an in­ terview with Cokie Roberts, noted NPR One listener boasts that he and his wife You Don't Have To Be recently drove from Buckhannon, expert on you-name-it, inwhich she al­ Ted Kennedy To Listen lowed as how there's "more than a lit­ W.Va., to Portland, Ore., and back, lis­ to NPR, But It Helps tle racism" in anyone who opposes aid tening to NPR every foot of the 6,500 The charge that NPR's newscasts to cities. And "senior news analyst" miles. Another, from Randolph, Mass., have a leftward spin goes clear back to Daniel Schorr urged Clinton to stand flatly declares: "If I am informed at all the network's origin in 1970. Just two up "in the name of principle" and tell about anything current, it is because I years later, Richard Nixon, angered by those dirty partisan Republicans: "No listen to NPR." what he perceived as programming more Mr Nice Cuy. This is your presi­ With my sister, these listeners share bias at NPR and its television cousins at dent speaking." the peculiar belief that they're better in­ the Public Broadcasting Service, vetoed And where was the Republican re­ formed because they obtain all their in­ their appropriations. He later reversed buttal to all this? Well, it wasn't to be formation from a single source - that his decision, to the eternal dismay of found on NPR. It wasn't until the after­ exposing themselves to an alternative conservatives, who've been braying noon of April 15, the fourth day that I would not only not add to their knowl­ about NPR ever since. "Every time I listened to the network, that I heard a edge, but would actually subtract from tum on NPR, I think I'm listening to Republican voice on the subject of the it. Most NPR listeners, I'm sure, the Democratic National Committee," filibuster. And even then, it was a wouldn't trust an economist who Bob Dole complained last year. Nixon Republican analyst apparently conced­ bragged that he accepted only the and Dole, of course, are hardly arbiters ing that the filibuster would probably scholarship of Milton Friedman, or a of political neutrality. But the truth is collapse, but insisting it was a moral 40 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

victory nonetheless. The theme of re­ But NPR couldn't. In fact, NPR would at least make an effort to be porter Elizabeth Arnold's story was couldn't locate a single academic or more circumspect about coloring their that Republicans had taken advantage politician or POW relative who be­ stories. But it doesn't seem to work that of the fact that Clinton had been "brief­ lieved in the document. The only voice way. Several times I heard them ly" distracted by the death of his father­ that appeared on the radio all week in tripped up by their own reporting. For in-law. (Those bounders!) support of its authenticity was that of instance, one morning reporter Kathy "But the candidate whose discipline Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.) - and that Lohr filed a story about the Operation seldom faltered during a tumultuous was taped off a Nightline broadcast two Rescue training camp in Florida where election year is back on solid footing," nights earlier. anti-abortion protesters learn the tricks Arnold reassured her listeners. The Although NPR couldn't track down of their trade. Lohr solemnly informed next morning she offered more comfort: Morris (the researcher who obtained her listeners that the camp's executive "President Clinton may have stumbled the Soviet document), reporter John director teaches anti-abortion troops a bit ... but he's not ready to take a leg­ Greenberg did manage to find someone islative fall." Actually, he was; the to impugn him. Greenberg interviewed White House was already offering des­ John McAuliff of the U.S.-Indochina perate compromises to moderate Reconciliation Project, who dismissed NPR's 1991 annual report RepubHcans in hopes of salvaging some the document as a fake because Morris includes letters from a number of the stimulus package, and in less has'''been involved in an active polem­ than a week it would be stone-cold ic against people who favor normaliza­ of hopelessly fixated groupies dead. tion of relations [between Vietnam and who regard NPR roughly the NPR took a similarly partisan the U.S.] ... He has a viewpoint." same way John Hinckley re­ course in coverage of another of the Now, if Greenberg had called some week's big stories, the discovery of a conservative think tank or political or­ garded Jodie Foster. document in Soviet archives stating ganization, he might have gotten an ad­ that the North Vietnamese held back ditional comment something like this: several hundred American POWs when IIJoOO McAuliff has been involved in "not to use their own name" when the two countries signed a peace treaty licking the boots of Vietnamese com­ gathering information about doctors in 1973. munists for more than two decades, who work in abortion clinics. But the All week, NPR stories quoted anon­ first as a prominent anti-war activist soundbite from the executive director ymous congressional staffers express­ and now as a professional apologist, himself didn't quite square with her ing doubts about the authenticity of the and of course he can't accept the docu­ interpretation: document. Fair enough; there are a lot ment because it would prove that, for It's just better if they don't know all these years,.he's either been hope­ who's asking for the information. lessly stupid or Willfully deceptive in We can surprise them with informa­ his depiction of the Hanoi government. tion a lot better that way, and they For a long time I considered He has a viewpoint." can't go back and try to cover their n1Y sister a harmless aberration Do you think Greenberg made that trail. So that's important. Use other - an upscale version of the phone call? Do you think pigs have people that aren't as well known as wings? In the NPR dialectic, only anti­ you maybe. [Emphasis added.] guys you read about who. get communists are suspected of partiality. Assigning lesser-known members secret messages from Elvis So the broadcast made no mention at of the group to gather information is a through their fillings. But as all of McAuliff's background. Similarly, far cry from doing it under a false when Robert Siegel interviewed name. Ethically speaking, it doesn't the years have passed, I've met Eugene Terre Blanche, the head of even strike me as a close call. And I'll more and more people who South Africa's Afrikaner Resistance bet that if Lohr were reporting on how share her fetish for NPR. Movement, he introduced him as a pro-choice people sometimes infiltrate "right-Wing extremist." (Accurate, even anti-abortion groups to gather informa­ mild.) But during the interview, Siegel tion for lawsuits, she wouldn't have referred to Chris Hani, the recently condemned the practice. of troublesome questions about its ori­ murdered head of the South African Sometimes NPR reporters were so gin and contents. Communist Party, only as "a popular thoroughly contradicted by their own On the other hand, there are also black public figure." (Especially mis­ stories that it was downright funny. highly qualified people who argue that leading because it appears Hani was My favorite was a story about Clinton the document is genuine, including killed less because of his race than be­ and the news media by Andy Bowers. Zbigniew Brzezinski. And the Harvard cause of his party affiliation.) The thesis of the piece was that "the researcher who found it, Stephen You might think that after two dec­ firs t few months of the Clinton admin­ Morris, was in New York, where the ades of threats from Republicans to lay istration seem to have strained the New York Times the Washington Times, waste to NPR, its reporters (or their ed­ bond between the people and the and ABC's Nightline all managed to itors, if such exist, which I doubt from press" because reporters have been so find him. the windiness of some of the pieces) rough on Clinton. Liberty 41 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

To prove it, Bowers interviewed another. It sounds' to me like what way of introduction. "Hospitals can't some residents of Jefferson City, Mo. Jefferson City wants is not a honey­ afford to buy medicines. The national Said the first one: "Media is doing their moon but a divorce. telephone system is breaking down. typical bashing [of] the guy in charge, Schools can't afford to buy benches, so like always. It's nice to see them do it to A Herd of Independent children sit on the floor. And when you a Democrat." Chimed in another: Minds call the police to tell them thieves are "They baby him. They follow him Laurence Jarvik, a conservative crit­ breaking into your house, the police around, they really don't challenge ic of public broadcasting, once asked say they can't help you unless you give him." Added a third: "I don't believe plaintively: "Why is it that there's room them a ride because they don't have George Bush in his first 100 days made at NPR for a practicing witch, but not a cars." near as many people nlad as Bill practicing conservative?" (By the way, And why is Kenya broke? "One Clinton." this was not - as the uncharitable root of the problem is that most of the Yup, it sounds like the citizens of might have suspected - a reference to people who are supposed to pay taxes Jefferson City are just about ready to Nina Totenberg, but to reporter Margot never do," Zwerdling explained. And it Adler, who actually casts spells and must be the most important root, in his stuff like that.) eyes, because he never identified an­ This, 1 suspect, has a good deal to other. The rest of the story was about a NPR reporters are the kinds do with the ideological leakage into new tax-collection system that has been of people who voted for Michael NPR's news. It's not that the network's blocked by Kenyan President Daniel editorial brain trust meets each morn­ Arap Moi. Dukakis and Bill Clinton, not ing to plot the day's campaign to rid In point of actual fact, Kenya ought as the lesser evils, but enthu­ America of Republican taint. It's that to be able to make its government work siastically, in the firm belief the newsroom is composed almost en­ without collecting a shilling in taxes. tirely of like-minded people who share Until recently, the country was getting that what the world needs is one another's major philosophical pre­ a staggering $1 billion a year in Western better social engineering. cepts. When my sister says that she aid, which ought to have covered the wants to hear news from people who entire Kenyan budget with money left think like me, she's put her finger on the over for doughnuts all around. But in storm the offices of the TV networks problem. 1991, the donor nations began cutting with torches and pitchforks, demand­ Their thinking is apparent both in back because of the breathtaking waste ing fair play for Clinton. Lest there be what they report and their approach to and theft that go on in Kenya's 300 or any confusion, Bowers interviewed it. They believe that government is the so state-owned industries. (One partic­ University of Missouri Journalism fundamental agent of change, that gov­ ularly nimble Kenyan kleptocrat, for­ Professor George Kennedy. He ex­ ernment can and should solve most mer energy minister Nicholas Biwott, is plained just what those untutored problems. They believe most of those estimated by the British government to Jefferson City louts, with their poor solutions involve spending large sums have made off with "hundreds of mil­ command of English, were really trying of money. They believe that taxes are lions of dollars" all by himself.) to say: "There's a fairly widely held not only an appropriate way of raising Ask any foreign diplomat or inde­ sense in the public that there really money, but an important social respon­ pendent economist in Nairobi for the ought to be a kind of honeymoon, that sibility. They believe that, although in­ top five reasons that the Kenyan econo­ simple fairness dictates that the new dividuals cannot always be trusted to my is crumbling, and tax collection will president ought to have a chance to get make correct choices, bureaucrats usu­ be at the bottom of the list - if it's his program up and running before we ally can. mentioned at all. But at NPR, it leads start picking it apart." (I wonder if In short, NPR reporters are the the hit parade. Kennedy thinks the public was well­ kinds of people who voted for Michael H NPR reporters were scandalized served when the news media let the Dukakis and Bill Clinton, not as the by the reluctance of Kenyan cattle­ Vietnam War get "up and running" be­ lesser evils, but enthusiastically, in the herders to keep funding London pent­ fore asking any tough questions.) firm belief that what the world needs is houses for that nation's thieving rulers, By the end of his report, even better social engineering. then imagine how they feel about com­ Bowers seemed hopelessly confused by Their umbilical attachment to the paratively affluent Americans who try what he was trying to say. He quoted a state is most clearly visible when it to beat the tax system. As April 15 ap­ Los Angeles Times poll shOWing that comes to stories concerning taxation. proached, NPR correspondents foamed two-thirds of those responding think NPR reporters will have their eyes put at the mouth about the dire conse­ the press is too chummy with the gov­ out with red-hot pokers before they'll quences of tax evasion. In North ernment. And there were more quotes question the sanctity of a tax - any tax. Carolina, NPR reported, the govern­ from Jefferson City. "There's so much Consider a story filed by Daniel ment will put your name in the paper. we don't know that goes on over there Zwerdling, NPR's correspondent in In Virginia, they'll put it on television. [in Washington]," said one. "The only Nairobi. And stiffing Uncle Sam (who, coinci­ way a reporter is gonna get on the in­ "Kenya's government is close to dentally, funds NPR's sugar daddies at side is by playing the game," declared going bankrupt," Zwerdling said by the Corporation for Public Broad- 42 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au ust 1993

casting) - well, don't even think about jected the idea of a VAT tax, Mr Clinton program for retarded kids, with arms it. "If you plan to miss the deadline or is being forced to consider it again," merchants bubbling on about how they try to do some fancy paper shuffling on Schorr affirmed. Alas, this raised more were learning to make golf clubs in­ deductions," warned All Things questions than it answered. Who, exact­ stead of missile launchers. Not once Considered host Linda Wertheimer in ly, was forcing the president? Did did it occur to Charles to ask a simple her sternest voice, "you may want to Hillary have. hercattle prod out again? question: If it's in the economic interest think again." Was Janet Reno threatening to send FBI of these companies to convert anyway, Her warning was somewhat under­ agents over to the White House to prac­ then why should the government pay cut by the interview that followed, in tice Texas fire drills? them to do it? which a Forbes' editor said the IRS only Schorr, obviously constrained by The reason he didn't ask, I'm sure, audits 1 percent of all tax returns. But national security concerns, wouldn't is that he shares the belief of techno­ Wertheimer did perk up considerably say. But, he consoled, the VAT has its crats that economies and societies, de- when the editor agreed that "if they charms. "What makes ~t attractive," he [the IRS] catch you, they can kill you." noted, "'is what has made it attractive "What do you mean?" inquired to European countries and Canada." Wertheimer excitedly. Her enthusiasm Here the veteran reporter was clearly Did anyone listening to dampened only slightly upon learning the victim of a technical glitch. What he Morning Edition in Portales, that the word kill had been used was trying to say was, what has made it N.M., or Senatobia, Miss., metaphorically. attractive to European coun tries and To their credit, NPR reporters do Canada, compared to being sodomized by a really want to hear Lynn seem to have a vague notion that some herd of rabid camels. As the next morn­ Neary's eight-and-a-fullj min­ Americans don't share their zeal for ing's Post reported, "it would be hard utes on yuppie angst about liv­ taxes. So when the White House floated to find a person, institution or program a trial balloon suggesting that Clinton in Canada that is hated more" than the ing in Mount Pleasant and is considering a value-added tax VAT. Columbia Heights? (VAT), they tried to soften the blow. Undaunted, Schorr continued: "On Bob Edwards interviewed NPR report­ the plus side, a value-added tax could er Patricia Neighmond about how the raise so much money that it might be prived of adult supervision, will quick­ V AT works. Mter she explained that it possible to offer cuts in other taxes." As ly devolve into chaos and bedlam. he spoke, I could almost hear a sigh of Social engineers view the world as a relief echoing from Takoma Park and huge Skinner box through which they Ask any foreign diplomat or . the rest of the NPR ghettos around must guide us pigeons with little re­ Washington. Schorr had saved the day. wards and penalties. independent economist in Most estimates have put the maximum It's a vision enthusiastically shared Nairobi for the top five reasons potential revenue from VAT at around by NPR reporters, who react with ill­ that the Kenyan economy is $68 billion. Meanwhile, estimates of the concealed horror at any suggestion that cost of Hillary's new health program the pigeons might seize control of the crumbling, and tax collection (which is what the VAT is supposed to laboratory. One of the most telling mo­ will be at the bottom of the list fund) range anywhere from $100 bil­ ments of my ordeal-by-NPR came - ifit's mentioned at all. But at lion to $150 billion. Only a steel-trap while Linda Wertheimer was inter­ mind like Schorr's could have per­ viewing a computer developer on what NPR, it leads the hit parade. formed the complex mathematical will happen when computers are functions necessary to turn a $30 billion linked into televisions - the so-called shortfall into a tax-cutting surplus. intelligent TV. He predicted the devel­ entails taxing each and every step of a Literally no subject is safe from opment of literally hundreds of new in­ product's manufacture, Edwards ob­ NPR's love affair with taxes. Even a teractive television networks and served that as the taxes mounted, there piece on how name-brand products are services "that would give the individu­ would be "an increasingly higher price losing market share to generics ended al TV viewer an incredible amount of on the product." with a wild (and, of course, unan­ power to program for their own tastes "Well, it would seem so," swered) tirade by an anti-sInoking nazi rather than have to rely on these pro­ Neighmond replied, apparently hold­ demanding a 40-cents-a-pack tax on gramming guys." ing out some hope that friendly emis­ cigarettes. Replied a perturbed Wertheimer: saries from the planet Zork would The flip side of taxation is subsidy, "Is there any way we can dodge this swoop down and pay the taxes, sparing and NPR reporters never question the bullet?" Earthlings the pain. need for that, either. I listened in The idea that the government might Later that day, on All Things amazement to a story by Dan Charles impede rather than advance societal de­ Considered, Daniel Schorr carefully in­ on a new half-billion-dollar handout to velopment is utterly alien to NPR. One structed his listeners that they military contractors to convert them morning I listened as John McChesney shouldn't blame Clinton for the VAT. into civilian industries. It sounded like reported the announcement that the "The fact is that haVing in February re- a piece on some kind of arts-and-crafts giant cable company Tel would spend Liberty 43 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

$2 billion to build a broad-band fiber­ adventuresome politics is telling Dan wire or are rewritten from the optic communications network - the Quayle jokes. Washington Post, the New York Times, data superhighway that will permit the In fact, NPR's toughest critics these and The Wall Street Journal. Most of them development of the intelligent TV. days come from the left, and they ham­ are event-driven: Clinton makes a McChesney made the astonishing as­ mer away at this very point. Quoting speech, the Labor Department issues ec­ sertion that TCI was undertaking the Democrats instead of Republicans, the onomic statistics, the U.N. issues a new project not because of the incalculable critics argue, offers an alternative in warningaboutBosnia,JanetReno does a roughly the same way that Cheez Whiz photo op. Anybody listening to ABC or is an alternative to Velveeta. CBS radio news would hear nearly all of One of the most savage recent cri­ this, and without the·numbing repeti­ The real secret. ofNPR news tiques of NPR news came from tion. (One day I listened to Morning is that bad journalism is not Charlotte Ryan, a professor of sociolo­ Edition report nine different times that gy at Simmons College and co-director the jury in the Rodney King trial was just an occupational hazard, an of Boston College's Media Research still out, withno new developments.) occasional accident. Bad jour­ and Action Project. She studied every Only once during the week I lis­ nalism happens on the quarter­ weekday broadcast of Morning Edition tened to NPR did I hear a story of any and All Things Considered from significance that didn't appear in all the hour at NPR. Bad journalism September through December 1991, other major news media. On April 15, is policy at NPR. reading the transcripts of 2,296 stories. John Nielsen reported, several days (Her ennui threshold is obviously a ahead of the pack, that the Clinton ad­ good deal higher than mine.) ministration would sign the Rio de billions of dollars in profits it may gen­ "NPR's regular coverage mirrored Janeiro biodiversity treaty that had erate, but because of Bill Clinton's "ag­ that of commercial news program­ been deep-sixed by George Bush. Good gressive promotion of an information ming," Ryan concluded. "NPR stories job. But mostly what the scoop illus­ infrastructure." focus on the same Washington-centered trates is the precarious niche that NPR In fact, the private sector has been events and public figures as the com­ has carved for itself: It shuns the "alter­ trying for some time to get the federal mercial news, with the White House native" label, but it doesn't have the re­ government to permit the creation of a . and Congress setting much of the politi­ sources or the talent to successfully data superhighway. MCI, AT&T, and ,cal agenda. NPR's sources often paral­ compete with the mainstream media. Sprint already have the fiber-optic net­ leled those of Nightline and other Breaking a single story in a week is works in place. But federal rules and network public affairs shows, with a regulations have prevented them from similar tilt toward government sources being hooked up to individual homes. and politically centrist or conservative Whatever you call it, eight McChesney is certainly aware of this thinktanks and publications." - he even touched on the point later in Ryan found that more than three­ of NPR's reporters are fully his report - but that didn't stop him fifths of NPR's domestic stories were funded by corporations or from declaring that the private sector reported from Washington, and only 10 foundations. I wonder what the was acting only because the govern­ percent from the Midwest. The sources ment told it to. most commohIy quoted were govern­ founders would have said, back ment officials. And, if you're one of in 1970, ijthey'd been told· that You Want an Alternative, those people who like their news someday NPR would have a Look in the Thesaurus drawn from and delivered by a politi­ NPR's founders thought they were cally correct mixture of races and sexes, science reporter paid for by creating government-funded under­ then NPR definitely is not for you; you Hewlett-Packard? ground radio. Their original statement may be surprised to learn that Ryan of purpose called for programming that found that most of the network's sourc­ would "promote personal growth rath­ es and commentators were the dreaded hardly going to put the fear of God in er than corporate gain," and "not only Pale Penis People. Peter Jennings or Max Frankel. call attention to a problem, but be an Portions of her study must be taken Not even the most delirious NPR active agent in seeking solutions." with a grain of salt-Ryan is surely staffer would make that claim, of If it had worked out that way, NPR the only person in America who be­ course. The standard - and cleverly news might be a lot more interesting. lieves that Nina Totenberg's coverage hedged - boast of NPR people is the But it didn't. NPR is not a national ver­ of the last Supreme Court nomination one NPR reporter Alex Chadwick sion of, say, a Pacifica station, where an was biased in favor of Clarence made at a recent public radio fundrais­ announcer might analyze the virtues of Thomas - but the week I listened to er in Hartford: "We've evolved past different brands of LSD or urge people NPR, it sounded pretty much the way being an alternative medium to being, I to go naked on Election Day. Instead, she described it think, the dominant radio news organi­ it's a house organ of respectable inside... The vast majority of stories reported zation in the country." the-Beltway liberalism - news written on Morning Edition and All Things To which the only sensible reply is: by and for aging yuppies whose idea of Considered come off the Associated Press So what? Being the dominant radio 44 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

news organization might have meant minutes. And finally I was thinking to Last year, when NPR was running a something in the days when Ed myself, Who cares? It's just too much." long, long, long series of stories on local Murrow was broadcasting live accounts When NPR tries to cover hard people shunted aside by development of Nazi air raids from London. But for news, its stories - even when they in Latin America, several reporters the past 30 years, radio news has been stretch on for six or seven minutes ­ formed a pool. Recalls one: "We bet on on the scrap heap. A poll released earli­ are rarely long enough to rise above the how long each story would go before it er this year by the National Association sort of shallow soundbite once-over for cued a strumming guitar, followed by a of Broadcasters showed that only 16 which television is so justly criticized. grandfather mourning his lost son, then John Burnett's seven-and-a-half­ singing long-forgotten revolutionary minute preview of the special election songs." in Texas to fill Lloyd Bentsen's seat was The infatuation with ethnicism, to the Without taxpayer dollars, typical. He reported that the interim ap­ extent that NPR stories are sometimes pointee, Bob Krueger, would probably barely comprehensible. NPR reporters there wouldn't be any public get into a runoff. But beyond that, it love to have exotically accented English stations to run NPR's pro­ was pretty murky. Krueger "earned in their pieces, even if it's pure gibber­ grams. Of the total $377 mil­ high praise in his two terms as a con­ ish. Here's the way Nexis transcribed a lion spent on public radio in gressman." From who? For what? quote from a Thai official whose tape­ Dunno. His "brief record in the Senate recorded English-language comments fiscal 1991, nearly half was has already come under fire." Why? were included in a report by Mary Kay provided by local, state, and Well, the only thing Burnett had time to Magistad on problems on the Thai­ federal government. Taxes are mention was that Krueger broke with Cambodian border: "We have spent a Clinton over gays in the military. lot of money to neighbor of Cambodia, the lifeblood of the entire Having lived in Texas myself, I don't like you see here, and the business industry. imagine that was terribly unpopular. along the border, like the business [un­ But we've already moved on to the intelligible] with Burma, the same that Republicans. Leader: State Treasurer the people who live along the border, Kay Bailey Hutchison. She's running their trip - their trip, you know? It is percent of Americans consider radio an because "I want to go to Washington the nature of the businessman." I've lis­ important source of news, compared and change it." Into what? Sorry, gotta tened to the same quote three times on with 69 percent for television and 43 move on. There's a candidate named tape and I can't translate it any better percent for newspapers. And just 7 per­ Richard Fischer, a buddy of Ross than Nexis did. cent picked radio as the "most credible" Perot's. He's spent $4 million of his news medium. (By the way, Chadwick own money on this race. What's his THE COLLECTIVISTS ARE KILLING party? What's his platform? Where is he is most assuredly not talking about THE ECONOMY. BUT YOU CAN numbers of listeners when he uses the in the polls? Too bad, we're outta here. PROSPER IN THE BAD YEARS word"dominant." Morning Edition and But if seven-and-a-half minutes is AHEAD WITH THIS FAST TRACK All Things Considered have less than 3 too little for hard news, it is assuredly INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY. percent of the radio audience at any too much for most NPR feature stories. given moment.) Did anyone listening to Morning Edition A professional futures market Newspapers offer their readers in Portales, N.M., or Senatobia, Miss., speculator (and writer on Objectivism depth and eclecticism. Television offers really want to hear Lynn Neary's eight­ and Libertarianism) will soon offer its viewers drama. Radio offers its lis­ and-a-half minutes on yuppie angst private managed accounts to quali­ teners - well, not much. A headline about living in Mount Pleasant and fied investors. No minimum account service, to let them know what they can Columbia Heights? (Sample quote: size. Fees based on percentage of see on the evening news or read in the Violence "sensitizes you to all the other profits. Original, sophisticated, morning paper or find on CNN at any abrasions in the urban environment.") highly-leveraged trading system; fully time of the day or night. Quite aside from being inside-the­ computerized; massive database; NPR reporters argue that they com­ Beltwayism run completely amok, this thirty-five years of experience. pensate for radio's shortcomings by of­ is simply bad journalism. fering longer stories. Whether longer is And now we've come to the real se­ You still have time to preserve and better is a debatable point. "In theory, I cret of NPR news: Bad journalism is not enhance your capital base with our think it's great that there's someone out just an occupational hazard, the occa­ unique recession-proof and de­ there doing long, highly produced sional and inevitable accident that oc­ pression-proof investment program. radio news stories," says one industry curs in every news organization. Bad Extensive documentation is available insider. "But in practice, I don't know. I journalism happens on the quarter­ upon request. was listening to Morning Edition the hour at NPR. Bad journalism is, often, other day on the way to work, and they policy at NPR. GOLDEN HARVEST FUTURES RESEARCH ran this story on a ballet company for How shall we count the ways? 6190 Spring Arbor Road autistic children in South Africa. It The dull scripts, so formulaic that even Jackson, Michigan 49201 went on for seven, seven-and-a-half the reporters pri'vate1y make fun of them. 517-750-2500 Volume 6, Number 6 AUW1st 1993

The star reporters who throw their security prison in Ohio, NPR used the issue of the Democrat's race. And he weight around, getting away with crap opportunity to pass along unattributed didn't. Instead, the Republican em­ that would have a college intern fired in 10 rumors and speculation that Sloat could braced the black vote, spoke frequently seconds. Nina Totenberg (one of the never have gotten past his own editors. of his respect for Martin Luther King, three powerful NPR women - Cokie Sloat started with the observation that and tried to appeal to the social conser­ Roberts and Linda Wertheimer are the "I think [the atmosphere at the prison] vatism of rural black voters by pointing others - to whom some male reporters has grown a little more tense overnight. out that his opponent was a liberal refer collectively as "the fallopian jun­ I have nothing to base it on, but it's just from the city. The Democrat, by con­ gle") reported one moming on a top­ a feeling." He bottomed out by men­ trast, made race an explicit issue; he less dancer suing a Dallas club for age tioning that six inmates had already campaigned in large part on the plat­ discrimination. She introduced her been killed and he had "heard rumors form that black people could only be story with a crack about "sagging that some of the bodies were mutilated. properly represented by a black con­ hopes." I'd call that stupid and sopho­ Now, nobody will confirm that." gressman. He won. moric; if Clarence Thomas had said it, Sloat's rumormongering, though, The practice of putting reporting posi­ I'll bet Totenberg would have called it was model journalism compared to the tions up for sale. NPR people prefer to something much more serious. (In interview Edwards did with Cokie use the euphemistic term "underwrit­ Totenberg's defense, she's certainly not Roberts the day before. Supposedly this ing." Whatever you call it, eight of the first allegedly feminist NPR report­ was an interview about the Republican NPR's reporters are fully funded by er to use language that would be derid­ attack on Clinton's economic stimulus corporations or foundations, confirms ed as sexist swill coming from a man. package (Roberts being so much more an NPR spokesperson. I wonder what Susan Stamberg once opened an inter­ knowledgeable about that than an actu­ the founders would have said, back in view with novelist John Irving: "Mr al Republican), but Roberts quickly 1970, if they'd been told that someday Irving, on the basis of your brilliant shifted the subject to a special congres­ NPR would have a science reporter writing, and your photograph on the sional election in the Mississippi Delta. paid for by Hewlett-Packard? dust jacket of Carp, most of the women "There's a black candidate versus a NPR officials insist that the outside on our staff have told me they'd like to white candidate," Roberts said. "And funding has no impact on the way they run away with you.") this is where you really see the words report the news. But of course it does. Circle-jerk journalism, when reporters 'city' or 'inner city' become something NPR has eight, count 'em, eight report­ interview reporters. I don't recall the last of a code word for race. The white can­ ers on its science desk. But it has no time I picked up the Post and found a didate, who's a Republican, is saying labor reporter, no crime reporter, and front-page interview of Ann Devroy by that his opponent is a liberal from the until a few weeks ago had no Pentagon David Broder. The Post - and, as far as city, as opposed to himself, who's a reporter. Can you guess which desk I know, every other news organization conservative from the country. And has seven "underwritten" reporters? in America - reports the news by re­ that's just sort of a way of letting peo­ Underwriting also accounts for the porting the news rather than interview­ ple know that the opponent is black." fact that NPR has a full-time reporter in ing other reporters about the news. I don't think a deaf, dumb, and Kenya doing stories about tax collec­ That's not the way it works at NPR. blind Martian could have gotten this tion, while it relies on a stringer to Eight times in five days I heard NPR story more ridiculously wrong. First, cover South Africa, where one of the reporters interview other reporters ­ the Democratic candidate had just sur­ most exciting stories of the decade is usually other NPR reporters. And I'm vived a brutal and highly publicized unfolding. Daniel Zwerdling, the not counting four interviews with re­ primary election. So everyone already Kenya correspondent, is funded with a porters like new Pulitzer recipient knew he was black. Second, everyone $100,000 grant from the Affinity Group George Lardner Jr. who were, at least already knew he was black anyway, be­ for Southern Africa, a consortium of 50 arguably, actual news-makers; nor am I cause Mississippi is the most race­ or so foundations. "It's a group of foundations that are counting several foreign journalists in­ conscious place in America. "I can't promoting economic development in terviewed as part of larger stories think of an election of any importance southern Africa," explains Michael about their countries. At best, these in my lifetime when everybody didn't Sinclair of the Kaiser Family pieces were flaccid. I would be interest­ know the race of all the candidates," Foundation, who coordinates the ed in what an economist thinks about says Sallie Anne Gresham, a native Affinity Group. "We went to NPR with the value-added tax. I might be inter­ Mississippian and the managing editor a proposal to supplement their regular ested in what a merchant thinks about of the Delta Democrat Times, the Delta's news reporting from southern Africa it, or a truck driver, or a housewife. I largest newspaper. (Hey, if NPR can with regular reporting on economic am emphatically not interested in what use journalists as talking heads in their issues." an NPR reporter thinks. pieces, why can't I?) Now, the obvious question is: What But several of the interviews with Third, the majority of the voters in if Zwerdling starts filing stories about reporters developed into something the congressional district are black. (So acts of tyranny and expropriation in considerably worse than flaccidity. is Mike Espy, who resigned the seat to Zimbabwe, or an Iranian-backed seces­ When Bob Edwards talked to Bill Sloat, become secretary of agriculture.) So it sion movement in Tanzania - you a Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter cover­ wouldn't exactly have been shrewd know, things that don't exactly encour- ing the inmate takeover of a maximum- politics for the Republican to make an continued on page 54 46 Liberty Exgloration

Big Animals, Big States • •• Big Mistake by John McCormack

The conventional wisdom that only big government can protect wildlife gets trampled by a herd of privately-owned elephants.

In the popular mind, preservation of wildlife is seen as best achieved by govern­ ment bureaucracy; and private property is often seen as the destroyer of wildlife. But the his­ tory of wilderness and wildlife management in southern Africa offers powerful evidence that private property rights and economic incentives protect wildlife better than bureaucratic century, large antelope had been near­ is South Africa's oldest, largest, and management. ly wiped out in most of what is now most famous National Park, including In southern Africa vast herds of an­ the Cape Province and onIy small habitat for Virtually all the legendary imals were wiped out or reduced dras­ numbers of elephant and lion survived African game animals. It was founded tically between the 17th and 19th in remote areas. By the middle of the as the Sabie Reserve in 1898 after four­ centuries as European settlers spread 19th century, the same process extend­ teen years of political struggle by Paul eastward from the Atlantic and north­ ed northeasterly into the Orange Free Kruger, President of the South African easterly from the Cape of Good Hope. State and two species, the bluebuck Republic. The near-subsistence Afri­ Until the late nineteenth century, pop­ and the quagga, were shot entirely to kaner farmers in the region vigorously ular support for the preservation of extinction. This occurred despite the resisted establishment of the park. wild animals and their natural habitat was tepid. While there were some offi­ passage of strict game laws with severe They considered predators such as cial efforts to protect certain species as penalties in the Orange Free State in lion and leopard to be vermin, and the early as the seventeenth century, those 1837 and in the South African Republic hoofed aninlals to be grazing competi­ laws were frequently disregarded in (now the Transvaal Province) in 1844. tion for their cattle. Many poor white settled areas and impossible to enforce South African wildlife was as severely farmers believed they had a God­ on the frontier. Jan van Riebeek, the reduced as the North American bison given duty to domesticate the wilder­ Cape Colony's first governor, attempt­ by the late nineteenth century. ness and felt it unconscionable that ed to limit hunting in 1656 because Large national parks were finally es­ they should have to eke out a living herds had been reduced so drastically tablished at the end of the 19th century while large areas were reserved for in just the four years since the first in those parts of South Africa furthest animals. Dutch settlers arrived. In 1677his suc­ removed from the path of European By the latter part of the twentieth cessor, Governor van der Stel, banned settlement. What became the Kruger century, however, the comparative af­ the shooting of some antelope alto­ National Park was established in the fluence of whites from blue-collar oc­ gether because earlier hunting restric­ most northeasterly part of South Africa cupations and farms had changed tions had not proven effective. By the on the border with Mozambique. As in matters radically. Kruger Park had middle of the 1700s, legal measures to the United States, the conservation ef­ overwhelming popular support from protect hippo, rhino, buffalo, and forts were led by politically influential white South Africans. The Park was eland had be~n taken as well. None of people of comfortable economic and managed profitably and with strong these efforts worked; vast herds were social circumstances. political sense. Kruger was configured slaughtered. By the middle of the 18th Kruger, the size of Massachusetts, and facilities priced so that any lower- Liberty 47 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

middle class white could take his fami­ Private game management has ex­ simply far more productive in convert­ ly in his own vehicle along the hard top isted in South Africa in some form for ing some of the sparse and bitter grass­ roads of the park and stay over night in much of the twentieth century. Just as es into meat than traditional European walled campgrounds. The Park was it has been perceived in the U.S., how­ cattle or the variety domesticated by also popular with foreign tourists. It ever, private wildlife management in black Africans. Generally, wild hooved had become an unassailable national South Africa has traditionally been re­ animals can graze on a much wider va­ institution and state protection and garded as ancillary to state manage­ riety of grasses than ordinary cattle and management of wildlife was uncon­ ment of wildlife and wilderness land. can browse on bushes and trees cattle troversial. The economically and ecologically suc­ will not touch. They also require much Conservationists promoted political cessful management of private game less water to survive and therefore are as opposed to economic solutions to reserves (totaling perhaps a quarter of a not so liable to cause erosion around wildlife protection again in other prov­ million acres) in the eastern Transvaal water holes with their hooves; do not inces of the country during the twenti­ bordering the Kruger National Park is require corrals; and are less susceptible eth century. Another large and two widely acknowledged. These private to parasites and diseases such as those much smaller National Parks were es­ reserves are meticulously maintained, borne by the tsetse fly. Moreover, many tablished in 1931 in the Cape Province, have luxurious facilities (including pri­ hunters are willing to pay the landown­ where European settlement had been vate airstrips and swimming pools), er for the right to hunt and will pay>ad­ established first. The 2.4 million acre and provide superior game viewing. ditional fees for any venison they take But to most observers, the relationship or leave their kills to the owner. between Kruger and the private lodges Despite being the most densely of the Sabie-Sand seems much like that populated province in South Africa, The techniques used by pri­ between Yellowstone National Park Natal has managed to expand wildlife vate ranchers stand in stark and the surrounding Wyoming and on private lands while helping to raise contrast to the methods used in Montana "dude ranches." The latter the region's standard of liVing. While seem clearly derivative of the former Natal has no large national parks it has east and central African coun­ and to reflect merely a niche business some well run prOVincial parks which tries where elephant herds have serving the carriage trade rather than a include significant numbers of lion and been reduced by two thirds in . fundamentally different approach to elephant. Apart from these "public" ef­ ,wildlife management. forts many of the province's farmers just the last ten years. The establishment of the right to have established voluntary ecological profit from the sale of antelope venison units known as "conservancies." and skins as well as the sale of hunting Kalahari Gemsbok Park was created rights on private lands is relatively re­ along the Virtually uninhabited north­ cent. The repopulation of African ante­ western border with Botswana. The lope on many of the privately owned 1"'0 Kenyans the elephant is same year the 19,000 acre Addo farms and ranches that cover most of simply a nuisance that tram­ Elephant National Park was established the country has impressed many envi­ ples and eats their crops. to protect the last of the Cape elephant ronmentalists. (South Africa differs and the Bontebok National Park was from the American West in that nearly Without property rights to the established to protect the last seventeen all land is privately owned, aside from elephant, locals view them as Bontebok which had survived on a sin­ National Parks and areas reserved for gle ranch. (Those numbers have now native peoples; there is no analog to problems to be disposed of grown to 300 inside the 6500 acre park federal rangelands and forests.) Farms and 500 in other reserves). The in the Cape Province and the Orange Mountain Zebra National Park was Free State that were emptied of wildlife Conservancies are groups of contigu­ created on 16,000 acres in 1937 to pro­ over a century ago now have sizable ous farms which cooperate. to promote tect the remaining members of that sub­ herds of various antelope. Economic wildlife on their lands. Generally, farm­ species. Other National Parks totaling self-interest plays a large role. Private ers pool some of their funds to hire approximately 100,000 acres were creat­ game ranching has been very profitable game wardens and to put up fencing ed later in this century elsewhere in not only in South Africa but also in where appropriate. The farmers profit South Africa. Currently, the creation of neighboring Namibia, Botswana, and from game ranching and from addi­ several new National Parks in South Zimbabwe. Ranchers profit both from tional sources of meat. All conservan­ Africa is under consideration, but these hunters' fees and the sale of meat and cies exist on private land and are are consolidations of existing parks hides. Impala, springbok, and kudu entirely privately funded. Currently, rather than entirely new entities. venison have become popular in res­ 130 conservancies cover more than two Although national wildlife manage­ taurants because they are exotic and "and a half million acres in Natal, about ment has been a popular success, there offer relatively low-fat alternatives to 150/0 of the province's land area. The an­ seems little chance of any more large traditional beef. telope populations on these lands have parks being created in the country in Economic considerations have driv­ grown to the point where they may ac­ the future. en much of this change. Antelope are tually be too large. 48 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

Antelope are not the only wild ani­ Both white and black Africans per­ of about 20 smaller landholdings. No mals to prosper under a private proper­ sisted in raising traditional cattle be­ fences prevent game from going from ty regime. The revival of the white rhi­ cause the security of their property one property to another. Theoretically, noceros population is among the rights in cattle was far greater. Wild an­ title to an animal passes when it moves proudest of the county's achievements telope cannot be herded, branded, cor­ from one property to another. Yet, ..one in wildlife conservation. Saving the ralled, or traded the way cattle can be. finds little evidence of opportunistic be­ white rhino involved a concerted effort Title to the animals was not recognized havior on the part of individual land­ on the part of prominent private citi­ legally until this century. Animals often owners, either to hunt game to the zens, the Natal Parks Board, and farm­ migrate over greater distances than can detriment of the entire reserve or to ers in Natal Province. Numbering only be enclosed in some of even the largest create unnatural attractions for game on 50 in the early 1960s, the white rhino one piece of land. Since property own­ population has now grown to six thou­ ers frequently travel around their prop­ sand in several parks and on many pri­ erties in Land Rovers shOWing wildlife vate game ranches where they are Wildlife populations on to paying guests they are easily able to hunted but where their numbers con­ ranches and farms grew tre­ monitor changes in the local environ­ tinue to expand. About a thousand mendously after 1967 when the ment. Social pressure undoubtedly ac­ white rhino have been exported from counts for some of the success in South Africa, many of which went to Department ofAgriculture and enforcing management policies. Just as national parks in other African coun­ Nature Conservation granted clearly though, the possibility of being tries. A market for these animals has farmers ownership rights to excluded from the economic benefits of developed as well with the Natal Parks the reserve consortium is sufficient to Board auctioning off white rhino and game on their land. keep landowners Uhonest." other game animals. An auction of five black rhino (now much more threat­ Zimbabwe ened than white rhino) for breeding The history of wildlife in other white ranches so that the benefits of purposes was held in Natal in early southern African countries is much like one's wildlife habitat may go to hunters 1991. The winning bidder paid 2.2 mil­ South Africa's except that the most seri­ on other properties. To a black African lion rand (about $U.S. 800,000) for the ous damage to animal populations was who may own cattle directly but does five animals. not done until the early twentieth cen­ not even have title to land the economic The lion and elephant populations tury. European settlement of Zim­ choices are obvious. He raises cattle be­ babwe (Rhodesia before 1979) began in are more problematic. Probably 900/0 of cause he can capture the benefit from the lion and elephant in South Africa the country's central highlands in 1890 owning them and providing a habitat and spread out. When large national are in Kruger and the private reserves for .them. But he cannot benefit from parks were established they were in the around it. The potential danger these providing good wildlife habitat on land lowlands on the country's borders animals pose to humans, domestic ani­ he doesn't own for animals that are mals, and crops seems too great for likely to go elsewhere if he doesn't kill which were inhospitable to cattle and crops. them to be permitted in settled areas. and consume them right away. The im­ Currently, all South African elephants provement in wildlife management on The 1974 Wildlife Management Act live on large areas of fenced-in land private lands in the twentieth century created a change in the fortunes of with no crops or cattle and where the was driven by the elimination of un­ wildlife on private property in only humans remain in vehicles. claimed land on the frontier which pro­ Rhodesia. It gave landowners rights to Nevertheless, there are elephants and vided "free" hunting; a large tourist the game on their land, making it prof­ lions on the private lands near the business which didn't exist before this itable for landowners to manage their Kruger Park. Despite having nearly century; the codification of property property as wildlife habitat rather than Wiped out its wildlife by the end of the rights to animals on private land; and as European-style farms. The same sys­ nineteenth century, South Africa is now the development of private contract tem remains in place despite the the only country where it is possible to law which makes possible the manage­ change from Ian Smith's white govern­ hunt all of the "Big Five" (lion, leopard, ment of entire eco-systems that overlie ment to Robert Mugabe's self-described elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo) legally. many individual landholdings. one-party Marxist state. Given the success of private game The nearly 200,000 acre Sabie-Sand The techniques used by private ranching in the last few decades it may reserve, which borders the Kruger park ranchers stand in stark contrast to the seem more than a bit puzzling why on the southwest, has been successfully methods used in east and central events took the direction they did in developed over the years by many African countries where elephant herds prior centuries. If indeed indigenous landowners in cooperative private con­ have been reduced by two thirds in just antelope are vastly superior machines solidation.* This reserve is a consortium the last ten years. Randy Simmons and for converting grass to animal protein, Drs Kreuter have shown how private why didn't economic forces lead property rights protected elephants in Afrikaners to develop game ranching .. See the excellent work of Nancy Seijas and southern Africa and Zimbabwe. Their Frank Vorhies, "Private Preservation of Wildlife: in the seventeenth and eighteenth A Visit to the South African Lowveld," The articles were occasioned by the contro­ centuries? Freeman, August 1989. versy over an international treaty ban- Liberty 49 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

ning trade in ivory. Simmons and means that people in the immediate vi­ cattle industry. Privately owned cattle Kreuter argued that the ban on legal cinity of an elephant herd can legally compete with Botswana's wildlife for ivory trade contributes to further reduc­ kill some or sell the right to do so to the thin grazing available in most of the tions in the elephant population. They some foreign hunter (which is usually country, where well-intentioned Euro­ contrasted the record of Zimbabwe, what they do). These rights have pro­ peans are responsible for having shift­ Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa tected the elephant population very ed economic advantage away from in managing their elephant populations successfully. Local residents have a sig­ wildlife and towards domestic cattle. with those of Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, nificant interest in cooperating with po­ The European Community, in an at­ and Zambia, whose formerly great ele­ lice and game wardens, and tempt to reward Botswana, one of phant herds seem now to be headed for maintaining elephant habitat. The situa­ Africa's few functioning democracies, extinction. In the southern African tion differs significantly from that in established a special program to import countries, legal hunting and culling of Kenya. To Kenyans the elephant is sim­ its cattle into Europe. The EC now pays elephant takes place, which provides ply a nuisance that tramples and eats four times the world price for significant revenues for both the Park their c~ops and even threatens their Botswana beef. Not surprisingly, most services·and landowners. The·popula­ lives. Without property rights to the ele­ of Botswana's beef goes to Europe, and tion is managed so that the number of phant, locals view them as problems to the "national herd" has grown several elephant in those countries has actually be disposed of. Local inhabitants who fold to over three million (more than do not benefit from the game resent twice the number of people). Not only both the animals that occupy valuable do these cattle compete directly with land and the rich foreign tourists who game for water and grazing, but they Economic growth does not come to photograph them. have led to some disastrous measures threaten wildlife. It is the only to meet EC standards. Came fences, ex­ thing that can save it. Botswana tending hundreds of miles, have been Botswanais twice the size of France put up to keep hoof and mouth disease but has only 1.3 million people, mainly from spreading from buffalo and ante­ concentrated on the country's south­ lope in the northern national parks to increased. The people and the animals eastern border with South Africa. It domestic cattle in the central and south­ of southern Africa have dearly benefit­ never attracted many white settlers and ern parts of the country. Large herds of ed from legal hunting and trade in much of the country remains as it did wild game survived well enough south game products. The ivory trade is no when the only human inhabitants were of the fences as long as the rains were threat to elephants: Simmons and Bushmen. Botswana earns considerable sufficient. They have been cut off from Kreuter point out that "Zimbabwe has revenue from its enormous National the country's only perennial source of found that the best way to protect ele­ Parks and reserves where controlled water in the north, their usual source of water during droughts. The drought of phants is to give its citizens the oppor­ hunting is permitted. Profits are the early 1980s cut the wildebeest pop­ tunity to benefit from their presence."'" enough to pay for fairly thorough anti­ ulation of the central Kalahari from an The most impressive part of.the poaching measures and game conser­ estimated 250,000 in the mid 1970s to Zimbabwean elephant protection pro­ vation programs. Private hunting lodg­ only about 2,500 by 1986. gram is the way it has created "quasi­ es in the north of the country were the property rights" (Randy Simmons' largest contributors to national foreign phrase) to elephants even on those com­ Namibia exchange earnings for the first decade Namibia is an even larger and more munallands where there is no individu­ after independence, until diamonds sparsely populated country than al property in terms of land. Almost were discovered in the Kalahari in the half of Zimbabwe is communal land Botswana. It does not have a well­ 1970s. The hunting and tourist business watered area the size of the Okavango (formerly Tribal Trust Lands under the is still the most successful industry in but nevertheless boasts a tremendous Rhodesian government). These lands the northern region. are similar to North American Indian, number of wild animals. The most fa­ The country has a vast and highly mous of the country's several large na­ reservations where land is dedicated to acclaimed national park system which tional parks is the Etosha National Park some group of people but where none covers 170/0 of the country (one of the of them can sell or borrow against any (larger even than Kruger) in the north highest proportions in the world). The of the country. Although these large piece of it. There are still wild animals most valuable wildlife areas are in the parks are home to many animals, two including 10,000 elephant in many parts north of the country, which benefits thirds of the country's wildlife ranges of these communal lands. The from the extensive Okavango river outside the parks on private land. Zimbabwean government has distribut­ delta. This region contains a massive Wildlife populations on ranches and ed transferable elephant hunting licens­ herd of about 70,000 elephant (more farms grew tremendously after 1967 es to small villages in these lands. This than remain in all of Kenya) and great when the Department of Agriculture numbers of almost all other kinds of and Nature Conservation granted farm­ .. Randy Simmons and Urs Kreuter, "Herd African wildlife. The far drier southern ers ownership rights to· game on their Mentality: Banning Ivory Sales Is No Way to Save the Elephant," Policy Review , Fall 1989. two thirds of the country is home to land, enabling them to profit from tro­ over 90% of Botswana's people and its phy hunts on their farms and to sell 50 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6

venison to restaurants as far away as societies that value wildlife. Solutions Germany and France. Ranchers can Many Westerners oppose even legal Over 500 articles & policy studies are at your finger­ keep large herds of antelope on range hunting in southern Africa. Middle­ tips with SolutIons, a HyperCard-based program for they primarily use for cattle because class first worlders generally approve Macintosh & Windows computers. SolutIons draws antelope and cattle sometimes graze on articles & policy study summaries from over 25 think of operating African National Parks tanks & educational foundations. Innovative market­ substantially different grasses. Giraffe, and private reserves profitably for oriented approaches to health care, education, environ­ which browse on trees, provide no photo safaris. Many of these people mental issues, & other topics are explained, along with grazing competition at all. background on public policy experts & think tanks. Book would like to rely entirely on this reviews & newsletter excerpts also included, along with source of revenue and to ban hunting articles on the history and political economy of policy Lessons completely because they think it unnec­ issues. Articles are indexed by topic & text searchable. There are several clear conclusions essarily cruel. But only a few elephants we can draw from the experience of are needed for a photo tourist industry. (m] Public Polley Research Institutes []:J wildlife management in Africa. Protecting large herds in remote areas ~[!)(jJ[]!Jc:JCIJ~ 1. Bans on hunting and trade on ani­ would be a pointless expense if there mal products do not save wildlife. Such were no benefits to be ga.ined from their [!][!!]C!Jru~[lJcmJ bans have not been enforceable over existence. Only hunters willing to trek ~lE[E~ClJC!J(E large areas because of the limited re­ long distances into thinly populated sources of governments and because of areas free of tourist amenities are going I Educational Foundations indifferent or corrupt officials. Legis­ to make protecting such large herds ec­ as f(iJ [!J (![)~ L~Jf!:J(!J I lation is simply not sufficient to protect onomical. Hunters are willing to spend a "public good" like wildlife. ThinR TanRs included in Solutions. far more time and money than Uphoto 2. National Parks, although finan­ hunters," as a group. Not only do they cially and politically successful in make wildlife more valuable but their southern Africa, are not going to be travel through remote areas helps sig­ proclaimed over many more large nificantly in anti-poaching efforts. areas of African wilderness. There is The fate of the southern African not enough of a political constituency wildlife is substantially dependent on in any country to add Significant the sort of regime which emerges from Choose topics by cliemn\"! buttons-then article titles appear. acreage to the Parks which were estab­ the current negotiations between South lished between the 1890s and 1950s. l'Itl>II..."_C.I.P.'...... ,.",.1t Africa's National Party and the African P·IlevSludoj 3. Private land ownership is critical 12/1190 "".l~~ to the survival of wildlife outside National Congress. The Zimbabwean National Parks. In countries where po­ experience after 1980 has shown that litical obstacles prevent the privatiza­ wildlife can survive and even thrive in countries whose policies lead to general tion of land the development of quasi The government's role In provIdIng horns heelth tlnd economic stagnation as long as proper­ persuMl cere should be restrIcted 10 the elderly who property rights to game for local inhab­ wouldotherwtsebelnnurslnghomestlt lllxpllyers' expense,Ferrerawrtles. As long as there Is famIly ty rights to land and wildlife are not avelleble tactlre forelderlyreletlves, lhegovernmenl itants is the next best step. shouldnottekeover the job. 'Such cere Is efemlly radically changed. The experience of responslbHlty, end there III no reason Why It IIhould bs 4. New contract law and perhaps shlflsd to peld professlonlll. ftnanced bytexpayers: Mozambique and Angola after 1975 some enabling legislation is necessary to Abstract "card" for e~h study. Click "Show Summary" button to allow the development of agreements show that wide scale civil disorder and He full summary-orclick buttons for "Author Info" or ThInk Tank. so that private landowners can cooper­ the effective abolition of private proper­ ty rights lead to wholesale extermina­ Charles MurTay ate to sustain entire eco-systems. HenhaUan 'nomul' 5. Hunting is critically important to tion of wildlife. If the South African the survival of large herds of wildlife. negotiations lead to constitutional ar­ Photo safaris make small herds of ani­ rangements that protect private proper­ mals valuable but the value of the mar­ ty rights, the outlook for the region's ginal animal drops dramatically if wildlife is very good. If private land­ hunting is not permitted. holdings become subject to political de­ 6. Economic growth does not threat­ cision-making, however, the outlook is quite bleak. If the country falls into a Author "cards" allow you to explore the backllrounds and other en wildlife. It is the only thing that can publications of public policy experts that write think tarm stUdies. save it. Just as poor white Afrikaners in general civil war along racial and tribal lines South Mrica's wildlife will likely the 19th century opposed wildlife pres­ Order Form The Knowledqe Network ervation efforts, the far more numerous be substantially wiped out, as it has foundation poor black Africans of the 20th or 21st been in so much of the continent. The Check versIon: 14307. 23rd Ave. S.W. C) Macintosh Seattle. WA 98166 will resist conservation measures un­ economic and demographic weight of C)Wlndowa Phone: (206) 248-0510: fax: 243-8384 less they can realize economic benefits the country is such that the smaller, Macintosh Yerslon requires HyperCard 2.0. from wild animals and enjoy a stan­ neighboring countries probably could Cost: $49, Plyablt to Knowkdlt Ntlwork follJld8tJon, (fin '·l/f' dbks.) dard of living that allows them to ap­ not avoid fallout from a catastrophe in Name: . preciate wildlife. It is the richer South Africa. 0 Address: _ City. State: Zlp, _ Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 Short Story

Karma Accountant by J. Orlin Grabbe

The economics of the cosmic soul.

he karma accountant was sitting at a table having a karmas of all souls, physically incarnated or not. So, in the cappuccino when I arrived at the cafe. We often case of that couple, I would take the ratio of the two karmas T brooded togetherabout the spiritual equilibrium of - that's his karma of KAU 4,790,241 divided by her karma of the universe. KAU 2,566,337,644,935 - and credit him with 17 percent of "Cafe au lait." He grimaced. The milk hadn't steamed that amount." right. "Wait a minute. Let me get this straight. You mean he gets "Do you note that down?" I asked. lIDoes someone get 17 percent of 4 million over 2 trillion, something like that." bad marks for bad coffee?" ~ "Yes." He reflected. "Depends on the intent. Not for a pure me­ "Which doesn't reduce his karma by very much." chanical failure, no. But suppose the waiter flubbed it because "Well. I don't know why you think that. H he reduced it he was hostile to a customer. Or was just being negligent in by that amount every day, in only 8,634 years he would be a general. Those are different matters." soul with no karma." The concept of karma seemed simple enough to me. Bad I guess you don't rush things in this business, I thought. deeds built up karma (bad stuff) and good deeds cancelled it "But if the girl only had a karma of, say, two thousand, the out. Once you get rid of all your karma you get to stop rein­ amount of karma reduction would be a billion times as carnating and go to heaven or enter nirvana or something much." nice like that. "True. But you're overlooking the essential reality. It's ex­ "What have you got so far?" I asked. tremely hard for a person of high karma to make a positive "See that couple sitting over there. The girl facing us is energy transfer to a person of low karma. So the equation rec­ haVing the summer salad." ognizes the basic fact that the ease of transfer from A (him, in I looked at the girl with the pale face and dark eyes that this case) to B (her) is directly proportional to the karma of B, would animate for a fraction of a second before settling back and hence credit to A is given inversely to B's karma to adjust into comfortable moroseness. for the lower effort involved." "They're both having problems at the moment, but the "So what you are saying is if I had a karma of KAU 10 and one with his back to us is a Yugoslavian immigrant who is another person had a karma of KAU I, I could technically get working in his brother's cloth business. He's about 17 percent rid ofall my karma in less than six days - that is, 17 percent happier and more positive than the girl, who is flunking out per day - but the probability of doing so would be small be­ of her third semester at NYU. So he's chalking up a lot of cause I would find it extremely difficult to make a positive en­ credit transferring his energy and enthusiasm to her." ergy transfer to a person with KAU 1." "How do you measure that exactly?" He had tried to ex­ "No. No. No." plain the method before - very patiently, actually - but I "Why no? Why not?" was still somewhat confused. "First, your karma is some exponential order of magni­ He sighed. "Well, unfortunately, it's up in the air. There's tude larger than KAU 10." been a great debate and organizational upheaval and we're "I'm speaking hypothetically." moving to a new system. It'll be centuries, maybe millennia "Second, you would be doing good to work on any mar­ before we get the bugs out. gin higher than 6 percent - that's the maximum reduction "We used to use the KAU," he continued, "or Karma Unit the average person is able to manage. Third, your math is of Account. It was based on a simple weighted average of the wrong. If each day you reduced your karma by 17 percent of 52 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

the amount remaining, at the end of six days the amount of sort of on "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" karma left would be 10x(1-.17)6 = 3.269." principle. Suppose the street person used the girl's $10 to get "That sounds like a rigged game. You'll never get to zero drunk, wandered out into traffic, and caused a truck to veer that way." . into a crowded sidewalk filled with women and children." "Not if the percentage reduction is constant. You have to "I see what you mean." The sheer magnitude of the prob­ increase the percentage reduction each day in order to main­ lem was making me depressed. I consoled myself with an ex­ tain the same absolute level of negation." tra dollop of catsup. He paused to jot down notes. I looked around, but didn't "Okay. So one day the Council of All Souls petitions the see what he saw.Just the cafe's impresario smoking behind the Karma Policy Committee. The solution is simple, they bar, and a girl with short dark hair conversing with the chef. I argued. We create a market where those desirous of exchang­ motioned to the waiter and ordered a hamburger. ing 1933 Arkansas bad karma for 1985 Wall Street good kar­ "So what's the new system all about?" I asked when he was ma (that is, karma cancellation) can do so at an exchange rate finished. that will be determined minute by minute in the intertempo­ He sighed again, as though just the effort of thought pained ral market place. Good karma buyers will get the lowest him. available price, while bad karma sellers will get the highest "It all·started with a debate over the intertemporal karma price." cancellation problem. You know about that?" "And that solved your karma valuation problem?" I didn't. "In some respects. Now we have markets for everything. "1 suppose not. Maybe an example will help. Hmmm. Every karma type is priced relative to every other. Of course Suppose an Arkansas boy in 1933 in the depth of the you need a numeraire. We arbitrarily took 1/10,000,000,000 of Depression robs $10 from his grandmother's cookie jar and the total karma from the earliest building period at spends it before being found out. Later he gets run over by a Catalhuyuk in Asia Minor as equal to 1.0, and the magnitude bus. He reincarnates as a girl in a middle-class New Jersey of every other price is determined by reference to that. For ex­ family, goes to the University of Pennsylvania, and gets a job ample, yesterday'S closing exchange rate against 5th century on Wall Street. He - she - gets a raise one day arid in her eu­ karma from AttHa the Hun's invasion of Caul was 436,784 phoria gives $10 to a street person. So, and this is the classic units of the latter to 1 unit of the former, because ofall the bad question, does the $10 donation cancel out the $10 theft, karmi­ karma being dumped on the market from the Attila period." cally speaking?" "Does it pay well? Your job, I mean. All this paperwork." The harnburger arrived and I cut into it, but there was still He cocked his head. "We get six percent karma reduction some pink in the middle, so I sent it back to be cooked until it per century." was done. "Doesn't seem like much, does it?" "50 what's the answer - do they cancel out?" I asked once "But it's safe. There's no danger of our karma getting any the waiter had left. bigger while we're doing this. It's like buying a bond. The in­ "That's the rub. Think of the issues. The dollar in 1933 terest may not seem like buys about ten times more goods than in 1985, so the magni- much, but at least you can tude of the two incidents are different in real terms. Next always count on it being we have to adjust for the environment. What does it greater than zero. mean in 1933 for a young boy to steal $10 from his ~f1! Iv'E Accountants are like that, grandmother, as opposed to a young professional ~ ~(J( you know. We like to woman to give $10 to a street person in 19851 For ~f~~", 0 o AN take the safe course." example, there was one school of thought on r!l~ , "'OU'nt .. "But you can't get the Karma Policy Committee that no one \-~'~ rid of all your karma ShO.uld be credited karma.cancel.lation for . ~\.' . that way," I said. "Your acts in eras where there is social pres- 1:1 6 percent is like the 17 sure to perform them out of political percent we talked about correctness. Can trendiness be • earlier. Taking away 6 equated with good karma? Then ~ - *' percent of the remainder there is the issue of individual every year will never re­ motivation. What if the boy move it all." stole the $10 to pay a vet "No," he said sadly. to save his dog, an aru- "There will always be a mal he loved more residual, and there's than anything in the nothing to do about it world? On the other except to reincarnate hand, one subset of and earn the final re­ the Karma Policy duction the old­ Committee consid- fashioned way." ered the whole issue "And to do of individual moti- ;r I r... that you're tak- ,,--, yr 7...... --..··- ing the risk it vation irrelevant, I , 1,/-. _ Liberty 53 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993 might get bigger." spiritual coward would do something like that? What's the "Yes, although now that we have gone to the new sys­ point if you don't take risks?" tem, there are karma futures markets, -where you can hedge He gazed quietly at me for a moment, and then laughed. your risk by going long or short on karma of a particular He laughed and laughed. I felt embarrassed and looked type. Suppose you're going to undertake a particularly risky around the room. The couple had stopped eating and turned incarnation, say in a real soul-selling place like Hollywood. to stare. Even the chef had taken note of us. Well, you go short a certain number of 1990s Hollywood I was getting angry now. "What's so funny?" I demanded. karma futures. That way if you build up more bad karma "You. You ..." he paused to restrain his filthy mirth. "You than you anticipated, you just deliver the excess into the ex­ should talk. You shorted the first fifty contracts." piring futures contracts. Of course, like any hedge, it works He was still laughing when 1 stalked out of the cafe and both ways. If you acquire less bad karma than anticipated, slammed the door. You pay the check, I thought. Jerk. I know you'll have to buy back some of the contracts, and so end up this place. Go ahead, pull out your Universal Credit Card with more karma than you would have without the hedge. here. Try and explain that to them. They'll bust your chops for But at least you know what your exposure is before you sure. incarnate." I walked on down the street. What a bunch of wimpy souls, I thought. "What kind of As for me, well, I'm hedged, aren't I? Q

Garvin, "NPR: News and Information for the Self-Lobotomized," continued from page 46 age economic development? What if he on tax dollars for its existence. The NPR And without taxpayer dollars, there reports that a lot of the governments in claim that less than 3 percent of its fund­ wouldn't be any public stations to run Southern Africa are run by SWindling ing comes from the federal government NPR's programs. Of the total $377 mil­ brutes - and that economic aid only is accepted as gospel almost everywhere. lion spent on public radio in fiscal 1991, perpetuates their regimes? But what that figure really represents nearly half was provided by local, state, "We don't have any control over the is a clever bookkeeping trick. In 1987, and federal government. Taxes are the reporting," Sinclair says. But would the the Corporation for Public Broadcasting lifeblood of the entire industry. Affinity Group keep funding a reporter - the quasi-independent organization So remember: You're paying Cokie who did those stories? "I don't think in charge of distributing the annual Roberts $60,000 a year for her half­ that would playa role in evaluating the $300-million-plus federal subsidy to baked ranting about racism in America. funding," he insists. public broadcasting - stopped funding You're paying Daniel Schorr $95,000 a He sounds sincere, and I'm sure NPR directly and started giving the year to demonstrate Martian mathe­ Sinclair believes his own words. I don't money directly to public radio stations, matics. You're paying Linda Wert­ know if I do. And I wonder if Daniel which then hand it back to NPR in the heimer $97,000 a year for anti-tax­ Zwerdling and his editors do? form of "dues." That covers about two­ evasion public service announcements. thirds of .NPR's $46 million annual You're paying Carl Kasell $90,000 a OK, I'm Convinced. budget. year, Robert Siegel $101,000 a year, and Your Sister's an Idiot. Then there's the matter of that $198 Bob Edwards $134,000 a year to imitate What's It to Me? million satellite NPR uses to distribute the bloodless drone of HAL the computer. Well, you pay for it. That may come its programming: yup, paid for with tax Maybe you think it's a good deal. as a surprise; through a propaganda dollars. (NPR also makes a nice chunk of I'm sure my sister does. 0 campaign that's been successful beyond change by renting out the satellite's ex­ its wildest dreams, NPR has convinced cess capacity to a private paging This article was previously published in the City Paper of most people that it no longer depends company.) Washington, D.C. Reprinted with permission. notes to Shaw, "Black and Whfte," continued from page 21

1. The New York Times, March 21, 1993, p. 6. Barbara Rosewicz and Rose Gutfeld, 10. October 3,1989, p. 22. I, and subsequent articles through "Oean-Air Legislation Will Cost 11. Al Gore, Earth in the Balance (Boston: March 26,1993. Americans $21.5 Billion a Year," The Wall Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992), p. 2. The Washington Post, June I, 1993, p. Street Journal, March 28, 1990, p. 1. 38. AI. 7. Fumento, Science Under Siege (New York: 12. See "Green Cassandras," The New William Morrow and Company, Inc., Republic, July 6, 1992, p. 23. 3. April 15, 1992. p. AI. 1993), pp. 19-44. 13. Robert W. Crandall and John D. 4. "Crying Wolf Over Elephants," The 8. Bruce N. Ames and Lois Swirsky Gold, Graham, "The Effect of Fuel Economy New York Times Magazine, pp. 16-19 and "Pesticides, Risk, and Applesauce," Standards on Automobile Safety," The if. Science, May 19, 1989, pp. 755-757. Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 32, 5. Tom Bray reported this in his March 28 9. Elliot Marshall,"A Is for Apple, Alar, No.1 (April 1989), pp. 97-118. Detroit News column, "The and ... Alarmist?" Science, VoL 254 14. Jeremy Bernstein "Report from Aspen," Environmental 'Crusade' Is Over." (October 4, 1991), pp. 22. The New Yorker, November 25, 1991. 54 Liberty Excursion

Salt Air, Hot Air, and Sport! by John M. Taylor

Whichever way the wind blows, some people will always be willing to set themselves adrift.

Sailing is to ballooning what the marginally useful is to the utterly useless. Both sports - like all amateur sports - are nonutilitarian. Each is carried on for its own sake, as a disinterested end in itself, without thought of material gain or practical advantage. To this extent sailing and bal­ looning occupy common ground. Yet even within the realm of sport loon. Ivan Kerr of Michigan, an aero­ yet there are differences no sailor sealed off from "real life" though it naut of long experience, was my host could ignore. must be, inutility varies in degree. and pilot aboard the Black Arrow. As he By any nautical standard, the Whereas sailors are moderates, con­ explains it, contrasting air tempera­ launching and retrieval of balloons is a tent with a sport that falls decently tures make ballooning possible. Air lubberly affair that depends more on short of absolute pointlessness, bal­ when heated loses weight and in con­ muscle than on skill. Ballooning com­ loonists are radicals, indeed nihilist in sequence gets squeezed upward if the mences soon after daybreak before the their embrace of a pastime that by any ambient air is cold or at least cool. This lower atmosphere warms. The ground test wins the prize for unrepentant fri­ fact of nature on which ballooning de­ crew begins by spreading a protective volity. Though I have recently and for pends seems to me more readily com­ the first time had occasion to sniff a tarpaulin in front of the capsized wick­ few balloon baskets, I remain inclined prehensible than the combination of er basket, facing downwind if that di­ toward the moderate camp. That said, forces that propels a sloop to wind­ rection can be determined. On top of however, I hasten to affirm that bal­ ward. If two hundred years of balloon­ the tarp they unfold the envelope, aka looning offers some illuminating ing require explanation, my hunch is the balloon. By means of a fan they perspectives. that the essential simplicity of the sport achieve partial inflation of the enve­ The opportunity to observe the does much to account for the durabili­ lope, at which point the pilot brings radical species came my way in ty of its appeal. his propane burner to bear on the air Albuquerque at the 21st International Durable indeed, but also limited. trapped within. Gradually, as the air Balloon Fiesta. This annual gathering, Wise men have always extolled the heats up, the envelope rises to a verti­ which is twice the size of the next simple as an indispensable moral ideal, cal position. biggest rally worldwide, draws more yet, they seldom come to terms with Meanwhile the groundcrew has all than 600 balloons from across the the practical reality: too often the sim­ it can do to hold the basketl now up­ country and from overseas as well. ple is simply a bore and at times bal­ right, in place long enough for pilot Pilots, aircrews, groundcrews, group­ looning illustrates the point. Before I aircrew and carping journalist to clam­ ies, and spectators have at it for nine continue, let me concede that the sail­ ber aboard. On signal this nearly un­ days with a zeal that any regatta orga­ or's parochialism has no equal, and manageable contraption is released nizer would find impressive. that when you get down to it a day's into the blue with the fond hope that As a freelance accredited to the sail is no more likely to enrich your an extra shot of heat from the burner Fiesta, I had the unearned good for­ fund of wisdom than a morning spent will lift it above those power lines tune to venture aloft beneath a bal- adrift in the basket of a balloon. And over yonder. Liberty 55 Volume 6, Number 6 Au st 1993

The disorder and seeming despera­ the whims of some inscrutable deity, regardless of intended purpose bears tion I witnessed was in no way indica­ that deity without a doubt is The the taint of latent utility. Which is to tive of inexperience or ineptitude. Ivan Random. Of all the vehicular sports say that any skipper worth his salt & Co knew perfectly well what they known to man, ballooning may be knows that come what may, short of a were doing, and by all accounts do it as unique in that the vehicle cannot be hurricane, he can count on getting from well as it can be done. It is rather that steered. A vagrant zephyr might carry here to there, and that in setting sail he in the launching of balloons there is you. off in the direction you have in and can be no equivalent to the harmo­ mind, should you be so hopeful, not to nious sequence that gladdens the sail­ say naive, as to contemplate a destina­ or's heart: gentle heave on the mooring tionibut then a contrary puff might The balloon constitutes the cable so to get way on to starboard; cast just as promptly return you to square very model of inutility, an un­ off; brief backing of the jib; and then one. sheeting home on the port tack which The wind bloweth where it listeth, compromising statement of the is precisely the maneuver intendedi an and the seasoned pilot will submit to sporting ideal. The habit ofbal­ fate with cheerful resignation. By regu­ looning will purge your mind lating the temperature within the enve­ lope, he can - with luck - adjust his ofutilitarian fantasies. Whereas sailors are moder­ altitude. But because he cannot steer atesI balloonists are radicals I he cannot navigate, and for this reason I maintain that ballooning offers mea­ nihilist in their embrace of a may even have some practical mission pastime that wins the prize for ger scope for the cultivation of skill. to accomplish. Indeed, Ivan asserted that the skill unrepentant frivolity. By contrast, the balloon constitutes the balloonist most needs is to be good the very model of inutility, an uncom­ at dealing with people. And why is promising statement of the sporting that? I asked, wondering with a cold ideal. Ballooning, unlike sailing, may orderly, serene departure does not de­ heart what balloonsmanship could not foster the habits of skill and preci­ pend on mere hope. possibly owe to P.R. Because, he re­ sion. But by way of compensation the Nor is a balloon "landing" likely to plied, "when you land a balloon more habit of ballooning will purge your convert many sailors. We came in for often than not you are treading on pri­ mind of utilitarian fantasies. For this our collision with terra firma doing a vate property." Ah! to be a sailor, gone tonic, as well as for other benefits, hu­ good five knots and with no landing for days at a time, without the least de­ mankind summoned the wit to invent gear on that basket. OOOFfff! For­ sire, let alone the urgent need, to row sport and I for one take comfort from tunately the ground crew was on hand ashore for an afternoon of trespass. the knowledge that in at least one cor­ to grab us before we bounced off in So why do they bother, Ivan and all ner of this driven society the merely some unforeseen direction, perhaps the rest? Have they no gut feeling for useful cuts little or no ice. I asked Ivan from the shoulder, on which we had sport? I would argue just the opposite. to name the chief pleasure he found in just fetched up, to the middle of 1-25 it­ Narrow the choice to sailing and bal­ ballooning. Instead of serving up the self. Imagine approaching the dock at looning and of the two I would rate predictable twaddle about teamwork, five knots with no means of reversing ballooning the more sporting. Though adventure, character building, and soli­ your engine and you have the picture. sailing exhibits the grace and dignity tude, he simply.declared that balloon­ Hard knocks are nevertheless the to be expected of moderation, the sport ing has no practical value or purpose least of it. If balloonists are in thrall to is nevertheless flawed. Every sailboat whatsoever. May his tribe increase. 0

Bradford, "There's No Kill Like Overkill," continued from page 32

gassing Jews at Auschwitz. The polls show that about 800/0 of display publicly the evidence of mass By the end of the tragic day, Clinton the American people are satisfied with murder or to prosecute those who com­ was trying to pretend he hadn't dodged the way the federal government com­ mitted the crime. So it is far easier for responsibility, and to get on Reno's ported itself in Waco. I doubt that this Americans simply to deny the crime good side. Mter she finished her round support is evidence of their collective and go about their business. of talk shows, he called her to say, "You "lack of imagination or opportunity of Even if there were overwhelming should sleep well. You did a good job insight." They simply do not want to public support for a thorough investiga­ today." Janet Reno has learned her les­ believe that their government has com­ tion of the tragedy, the massive destruc­ son well. When President Clinton decid­ mitted an atrocity of this order, just as tion of evidence by the FBI would make ed to knife Lani Guinier in the back, citizens of Germany denied the exis­ discovery of the full story very difficult. Reno volunteered to take responsibility tence of Hitler's death camps even Some of the truth about what happened for that, too. But Clinton, apparently after the war. The crime in Waco was is known, and it serves as a reminder of haVing learned something also, turned less horrible than the crime in Europe what a monster the bureaucratic state down her offer. and there is no conquering army to can be, banal or otherwise. 0 56 Liberty RethinkingAIDS: The Tragic Cost ofPremature Consensus, of the AIDS heretics is Berkeley mo­ by Robert Root-Bernstein. The Free Press, 1993, 512 pp., $27.95. lecular biologist Peter Duesberg, who first challenged the notion that HIV causes AIDS in the peer-reviewed sci­ entific journal Cancer Research in March 1987. As a result Duesberg ended up be­ ing informed by the National Institute Lies, Damn Lies, and of Health in October 1990 that his "Out­ standing Investigator Grant" would not be renewed after it runs out in 1993. AIDS Research (The committee that made this decision had as members the mother of one of the children of Robert Gallo, alleged discoverer of HIV, and someone who so it has become impossible to avoid Brian Doherty holds a patent on an HIV antibody test.) hearing about AIDS, even if the proph­ Duesberg has become Gallo's bete noire; ecy we've heard repeated from news­ Gallo recently walked off the set while Acquired Immune Deficiency Syn­ paper op-ed pages and the Oprah Win­ being interviewed by ABC TV's Day drome (AIDS) is more than just a dis­ frey Show and public service One "news-magazine" when they ease. It is" alternately a symbol of un­ announcements for the past eight or so brought up Duesberg, and he vowed caring government repression, a badge years hasn't yet come true and you still he'd do everything in his power to pre- of holiness or of disgrace, a symbol of don't personally know anyone suffering the tragedy of liberation, a sign that from it. Everyone seems to think they there is no God, a sign that there is an know something about AIDS, perhaps angry God. It has helped change peo­ everything they need to know. Every­ "Silence = Death" goes the ple's attitudes about prophylactics, sex­ one has an opinion, even if that opinion uality, and homosexuality, and forced is based on no more knowledge than slogan, so it has become im­ many to question the mindset that al­ can be gleaned from a public health possible to avoid hearing about most epitomizes western culture: the pamphlet advocating condom use. The AIDS, even if w1ul:t we've been faith that we are able to control the nat­ voices shouting in the echo chamber of ural world through our will and tech­ AIDS debate occasionally drown out ra­ hearing for the past eight years nologies, and bend it to our needs and tional discourse. But disguised by the is false. desires. hand-wringing and hysteria may be a More than anything else, AIDS func­ story of single-minded government tions as a mental and social fault line. power pushing a bankrupt idea. Some say that we don't care enough Rethinking AIDS by Robert Root­ vent them from giving Duesberg's ide­ about AIDS because its victims tend to Bernstein, an associate professor of as any publicity. But joining the anti­ be from socially marginalized strata; physiology at Michigan State Uni­ establishment cause was Charles A. others say that we concentrate too many versity, is a heady and disturbing dose Thomas - a former Harvard bio­ resources on it because its victims and of rational discourse that shakes to its chemistry professor - and a society he their advocates are better connected to core the establishment AIDS industry of founded in 1991, the Group for the Sci­ the mass media and politics than those scientists, government, activists and the entific Reappraisal of the mvI AIDS associated with more widespread ail­ mass media. Root-Bernstein tries to Hypothesis, which counts among its ments such as cancer and heart disease. demonstrate that our current scientific over 40 members retrovirologists, epi­ Though its status as a fatal illness and public health approach to AIDS is demiologists and immunologists, all of should command enough respect, in fatally flawed; that the Human Im­ whom question the HIV dogma. public discourse it is somehow always munodeficiency Virus (IDV), common­ Because of the overriding sociolog­ more than just what it is; it has some­ ly understood to be the cause of the ical noise surrounding AIDS, it helps to thing to say about our culture, our safe­ range of diseases we call AIDS, may in be fortified with some facts that go be­ ty, our efficacy, our compassion, our fact be no more than a cofactor, if that. yond the propaganda of the mass me­ politics, our humanity. Root-Bernstein is not alone in mak­ dia/ governmentlactivist axis. It's im­ "Silence = Death" goes the slogan, ing such a claim. First and most famous portant to start with the basics: what Liberty 57 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

causes AIDS, anyway? What is AIDS? mv discovery, and that one of his early lions. The precise mechanism by which AIDS was first conceptualized in papers that purported to show how mv it does this is not yet known, as even 1980-81 after doctors in Los Angeles, causes AIDS, contained "misrepresenta­ HIV partisans admit; they like to say San Francisco and New York began no­ tions or falsifications." Gallo himself has that IDV is a "mysterious" virus. With­ ticing many cases of Kaposi's sarcoma, admitted that the virus used in develop­ out these mysteries the multi-billion pneumocystis pneumonia, consistent ing his AIDS test was one of the ones dollar govemment-financed industry low-grade fevers and a cornucopia of sent to him by the Pasteur Institute. The surrounding IDV would have little to unusual infections, protozoans, viruses French are now suing for all past and fu­ do. On the subject of IDV's "'mysteries," and fungi in men aged 20-40 who were ture royalties - which would amount to Kary Mullis, the inventor of the polyme­ suffering from immune suppression for tens of millions of dollars - from Gallo rase chain reaction that has enabled in­ no noticeable reason. Because their com­ personally and from the U.S. govern­ vestigators to find viruses such as IDV, mon denominator was that they were ment, and for recognition of Montagnier becomes caustic. She says, "The mys­ sexually promiscuous young gay men, as sole discoverer of HIV. tery of that damn virus has been gener­ many with histories of drug abuse, the Meanwhile, billions of dollars have ated by the $2 billion a year they spend been funnelled by the U.S. government on it. You take any other virus, and you pursuing Gallo's "HIV causes AIDS, spend $2 billion, and you can make up alone and unaided" thesis. But after some great mysteries about it, too." HIV has been found in fro­ nearly a decade, it. has paid off with Over the past few years, Duesberg, nothing. We still have no vaccine. And the members of the Group for the Scien­ zen blood samples dating back we still don't know how a retrovirus is tific Reappraisal of the HIV/ AIDS hy­ to at least 1959. causing the array of diverse ailments pothesis, and now Root-Bernstein, have and infections that we have labelled been attempting to bring to public atten­ AIDS. The problem is that not one exam­ tion many anomalies that cast doubt on ple of a retrovirus has ever been known the notion that HIV, mysterious or not, syndrome was first called GRID (gay­ to cause disease in humans, since retro­ could possibly be responsible for all the related immune deficiency). The search viruses parasitically require a living cell harms the standard paradigm claims. for a cause and a cure was on. in order to reproduce. Opposition to the mv thesis is not It seemed to bear qUick fruit. On It is important to remember that monolithic. There are strong differences April 23, 1984, Margaret Heckler, Secre­ ,AIDS is not a disease per se but a syn­ in emphasis between Duesberg, who tary of Health and Human Services for drome - a catch-all name for a situation Ronald Reagan, proudly announced in which massive immunosuppression that a U.s. doctor, Robert Gallo, had dis­ leads to the body's falling prey to a wide covered the cause of AIDS: a retrovirus, range of ailments, including pneumonia, Despite a decade of activist allegedly isolated in Gallo's lab, that dementia, wasting disease, candidiasis, came to be known as the Human Immu­ lymphoma, tuberculosis and various sex­ and right-wing scare tactics, nodeficiency Virus (IDV). She also ually transmitted diseases such as herpes AIDS has never turned into promised a vaccine by 1986. and Epstein-Barr Virus. These diseases the predicted plague breaking Gallo's claim of discovery was only were around before HIV was isolated; the beginning of the web of controversy, they will be tlround even if HIV were out of the initial risk groups of confusion and possible fraud .that somehow eradicated. The "A" in AIDS homosexuals, hemophiliacs and would surround the conceptual ro­ stands for "acqUired"; we diagnose mas­ drug abusers. mance of mv and AIDS. It turned out sive immunosuppression as AIDS, sup­ that the virus had already been discov­ posedly, in the presence of mv ered a year earlier by a French scientist, antibodies and when there is no other ap­ Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute. parent reason for the problems in the im­ until this book was the best-known of Montagnier had sent Gallo the virus to mune system. But in around half of the AIDS heretics, and Root-Bernstein. examine. A dispute ensued over right to currently diagnosed AIDS patients, mv Duesberg asserts that HN is completely claim discovery, and concomitant rights has not even been checked for. As Root­ harmless, and even offers to be publicly to patents on AIDS testing kits that de­ Bernstein's book exhaustively demon­ injected with it under controlled testing pend on looking for antibodies to this strates, most people diagnosed as having circumstances; Root-Bernstein holds retrovirus. This fight initially led to a AIDS are suffused with biological condi­ open the possibility that mv has some compact between the French and Amer­ tions and engage in behavioral practices role to play in immunosuppression. ican governments that would split roy­ that are known to be immunosuppres­ Duesberg places the entirety of AIDS alties and name Gallo and· Montagnier sive, with or without the mysterious causation on drug abuse; Root-Bernstein "co-discoverers" ofHIV. HN. I will return to this point later. entertains a more nuanced, multifactori­ But recent revelations from the work So how is HIV supposed to be doing al hypothesis. of Chicago Tribune reporter John its dirty work? According to the stan­ But the question of what does cause Crewdsen and an internal NIH investi­ dard theory, upon entering the body it AIDS is secondary to establishing doubt gation seem to indicate that Gallo will­ infiltrates and kills T-helper cells, a vital that HIV is the sole explanation. It is not fully attempted to steal credit for the part of the immune system, by the bil- necessarily incumbent on one question- 58 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

ing HIV's role to counter with a fully ing of a mysterious overload of oppor­ will the "latency period" continue to worked-out alternative explanation. tunistic diseases such as Kaposi's sarco­ stretch on infinitely in protection of the And there are many reasons to ma, pneumocystis pneumonia, candida "HIV is the sole necessary and sufficient doubt HIV's role as the sole necessary infections and cytomegalovirus, all of cause of AIDS" thesis that so many ca­ and sufficient cause of AIDS. Though it which are now associated with AIDS. reers and reputations (including that of is supposedly killing T-helper cells by And mv has been found in frozen the U.S. government) depend on? the billions, HIV is rarely detectable in blood samples dating back to at least AIDS epidemiology also casts doubt large quantities in the bodies of those al­ 1959. Thus/ the notion that HIV and on its status as a sexually transmitted legedly dying of its effects. What we call AIDS burst on the scene together in the single-cause microbe. In addition to the "AIDS test" does not test for the late '70s is without foundation. anecdotal cases such as Marc Christian, presence of HIV itself - it tests for the Once this is realized, the tenuousness Rock Hudson's lover who survived an presence of antibodies against my, of the official HIV hypothesis becomes estimated 600 unprotected sexual en­ which generally is a sign that the body more and more apparent. The alleged counters with the dying Hudson with­ has been exposed to, and beaten off, an "latency period" of the virus, another out contracting either HIV or any infection. This is the same principle be­ unusual attribute of HIV, is repeatedly illness, there is the simple fact that, de­ hind vaccination, in spite a decade of acti­ which you are injected vist and right-Wing with an attenuated scare tactics, AIDS has form of a virus in order never turned into the to engender an anti­ predicted plague body response that breaking out of the ini­ will keep you safe from tial risk grQUPS of ho­ that virus thereafter. mosexuals/ hemophi­ The virus itself is very liacs and drug abus­ difficult to find, gener­ ers. The official Cen­ ally detectable in no ters for Disease more than one out of Control estimate that 10,000 T-cells, hardly a the prevalence of HI\' large enough presence .- in the U.S. population to be doing the damage has remained steady it is alleged to do. since 1985: around one Since the mecha­ million. (And only nism by which mv is about 3 percent a year supposedly killing T­ of these on average go cells is still uncertain, on to develop symp­ the HIV hypothesis is toms of AIDS.) The based largely on corre­ ~6H 1Hr fRaPclerr/lf) ,/£r-ra LIV't U~ much-hyped epidemic lation assumptions ~R()jE(.ll(J~~IIiiAt{I(S 6~£~/VE didn't happen. For a that are both factually '16 10 A6 supposedly infectious and rationally weak. virus, HIV shows an HIV is often (though AD'ltK.1fSI,{t We J-f-ivr >f/OIA/# 6~LJfif 'N almost human prefer­ by no means always) ence for certain types found where AIDS is /tLL AR£itS. of people, and for found; and Gallo males over females. claims that the syndrome only appears extended as people known to have HIV For example, over 90 percent of AIDS after mv appears; that there is no AIDS continue to live longer and longer. In cases in the U.S. are male, though in where there is no HIV. 1986, itwas assumed to be less than two Mrica the sexual distribution is almost This view is associated with the the­ years; by the beginning of1992 itwas be­ even. What is in the nature of this mi­ sis that mv is a dread new microbe, the tween 10 and 15 years. No advances in crobe to make it sexually selective de­ same notion that has lead some to aver knowledge ofhow HIV is doingits alleg­ pending on what continent it is on? that it must be the result of some biolog­ edly murderous work triggered these re­ According to Root-Bernstein it is not ical warfare experiment gone awry (or visions, merely the observation that the microbe but the nature of the differ­ fiendishly crafted to wipe out uundesir­ people continue to live healthily with ing immunosuppressive hazards in the abies"). Root-Bernstein lays to rest the HIV. Could this possibly indicate that two continents' populations that makes notion that either AIDS or HIV is new HIV is not necessarily fatal, that a diag­ the difference. to the world as· of the late seventies and nosis of "HIV positive" need not be a The lack of massive heterosexual early eighties. Through painstaking death sentence, need not scare you into spread through prostitutes is crucial in reading of the extant literature, he has consuming AZT (the current FDA­ showing that AIDS is not a standard discovered many case histories dating approved AIDS drug that is a known sexually transmittable disease. Root­ back over the last century of people dy- cell killer and immune suppressor)? Or Bernstein cites many studies shOWing Liberty 59 Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

that no significant increase in HIV sero­ ingly; this book's thoroughness does not sumed that this seemingly new phe­ positivity (showing antibodies for HIV) necessarily make for fun or easy read­ nomenon must have a single, somewhat among non-drug abusing prostitutes ing. Through case study after case new cause - despite the fact that all can be found in any major Western city. study, medical citation after medical ci­ that is new about it is its prevalence. A study in the American Journal ofPublic tation, he shows that the major risk Root-Bernstein blames this, in America, Health concluded that "HIV infection in groups for AIDS all have multiple im­ on a massive sociological explosion of non-drug using prostitutes tends to be munosuppressive behaviors or risks that risk behaviors involving sex and drug low or absent, implying that sexual ac­ do not require the hypothesis of a single practices, and new attention to the tivity alone does not place them at high new cause. Multiple blood exposure to health risks of hemophiliacs and recip­ risk, while prostitutes who use intrave­ semen; the internal damage caused by ients of blood transfusions. He blames nous drugs are far more likely to be in­ anal sex and sex practices such as "fist­ the phenomenon, in Africa, on ancient fected with mv." Prostitutes in this ing" which expanded greatly through­ problems of malnutrition, poor sanita­ study do evince the normal range of out the gay community in the 1970s and tion, and the modem spread of sexually known sexually transmitted diseases. 'BOs; multiple blood transfusions; anes­ transmitted diseases. But a retrovirolo­ thetics and surgery; the overuse of anti­ gist like Robert Gallo (who had earlier biotics, opiates, and nitrate drugs; severe claimed that a retrovirus he discovered malnutrition; and exposure to infections was causing a form of leukemia) fought Lue Montagnier, HIV's ac­ such as cytomegalovirus and various for the importance of his retrovirus turf, tual discoverer, now admits sexually transmitted diseases, which are and managed to get the weight of the that cofactors must be invol­ just as present in AIDS patients as HIV; federal government and its research all of these are known to be immuno­ grant monopoly behind him. At that ved. suppressive or to expose the body to the point, the fate of alternative approaches risk of the multiple concurrent infections was sealed. that characterize AIDS. Don't expect this book to cause pub­ And for a sexually-transmitted disease, Root-Bernstein documents these as­ lic breakthroughs any time soon. IDV is rarely detectable in semen. "In all sertions at copious and almost tiresome Though it is well-reasoned, thorough, studies ... less than a third of the infect­ length, but it is important to show the calm, and professional, it is certain to be ed men had any l-llV present in the se­ reader that there are many possible com­ attacked with invective and a refusal to men and then generally less than one mon factors among those dying of respond point by point, the fate that virus genome per milliliter of semen, or immune suppression that are unfortu­ Duesberg has suffered for the last six perhaps one or two dozen virus­ nately being ignored in the rush to judg­ years. Root-Bernstein claims that many infected cells per ejaculate, on average. ment onHIV. The studies that could help of his colleagues privately agree with Approximately the same number of vi­ prove or disprove Root-Bernstein's theo­ him but refuse to say so publicly in fear ruses are excreted in the saliva of HIV­ ries are not being done, particularly his of losing their funding as well. The emo­ infected individuals and in vaginal se­ rather complicated, but compelling, ex­ tional energy of AIDS activists who see cretions. This amount of HIV is consid­ planation ofhow certain combinations of continued massive government funding ered to be incapable of transmitting opportunistic infections that are as com­ as their only hope - and who consider disease," Root-Bernstein says (p. 34). mon in AIDS patients as HIV may lead to anyone who isn't getting with the pre­ Another blow to the notion·of HIV's an autoimmune reaction in which the vailing program to have blood on his power to kill is the fact that though there body's immune system turns onitself. hands - combined with the cultural are over "6,000 verified cases of health While this book can be understood weight of IIofficial" explanations prom­ care workers' reporting subcutaneous by a lay reader, it does not condescend. ulgated relentlessly in every part of our exposure to HIV-infected blood or tissue It requires of readers a demanding level culture, produces a powerful backlash as a result of needle-stick injuries, surgi­ of thought about the workings of the im­ against heretics. cal cuts, broken glass and so forth ... mune system and the ability to remem­ Even journalists who write about only a few dozenhealth care workers are ber the results of copious numbers of AIDS heretics are not immune from re­ known to have become seropositive dur­ medical case studies. prisals. One writer for the Miami Herald ing the entire decade of the 1980s in the Root-Bernstein makes a compelling was fired for criticizing AZT after a let­ United States" (44). Compare this to hep­ case against continuing to channel fund­ ter-writing attack from Martin Delaney, atitis, a typical infectious disease, which ing for research on this disease on the director of Project Inform, an AIDS acti­ causes about 15,000 accidental infections assumption that HIV is the sole neces­ vist group. Project Inform - which is among health care professionals a year. sary and sufficient cause of AIDS. So funded by Burroughs-Wellcome, the de­ Clearly, the notion of the single infec­ how did we get to this state? Why are so velopers of AZT, whose sales depend tious killer retrovirus bringing down the many spending so much money on a on the HIV hypothesis - makes a prac­ healthy is improbable. wrong path? tice of attacking the reputations and What does Root-Bernstein hypothe­ There is a historical parallel. Years of jobs of journalists who publicize ques­ size is suddenly causing widespread im­ time and effort were wasted searching tions about the hypothesis. Delaney cir­ mune collapse among so many people? for a "single cause" for cancer, which is culated a six-page diatribe containing No new killer microbe is necessary, he now understood to be a multifactorial personal attacks on the AIDS heretics, asserts, and he makes his case painstak- ailment. Again with AIDS it was as- accusing Spin's Celia Farber of spread- 60 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

ing misinformation and of being a Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Sixteenth Edition, edited byJustin threat to public health. He even argued Kaplan. Little, Brown and Company, 1992, 1405 pages, $40.00. that she should be prohibited from writ­ ing about the subject. From the beginning the mv thesis was marinated in fraud and possible professional and pecuniary gain. It ap­ You Can Quote pears to be based only on a correlational and epidemiological pattern that ig­ nores other possible explanations. Its Me on This importance has expanded beyond the possible wasting of money; if Duesberg the charts), and it's revealing to note and Root-Bernstein are on the right David Boaz which of my contemporaries have track, then the cries of some radical gay achieved this degree of immortality: Da­ activists are right: the government's The new edition of Bartlett's· offers vid Stockman, Oliver Stone, Arlo Guth­ promotion of "cures" like AZT and pro­ much fascination, combining the wealth rie, Joseph C. Stinson, Leslie Marmon grams such as needle giveaways is of (mostly) Western civilization with a Silko, Bruce Springsteen, Melinda Math­ claiming lives and ignoring real risks of new attempt to be multicultural and at­ ison, Louise Erdrich, James Gleick, and immunosuppression. Government's tuned to popular culture. Michael Jackson (the youngest entrant) domination of science can only be ex­ There are two basic arrangements and Lionel Richie, as well as our for­ pected to lead to results like this. In­ for books of quotations: by subject or by eign-born contemporaries Steve Biko, stead of letting a thousand flowers author. For most purposes, such as look­ Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Salman bloom, the government has poured tons ing for a quotation to illustrate a point, Rushdie, Prince Charles, and Jimmy of manure on one superficially .lovely subject is more useful, and most quota­ Cliff. One can only hope that books take scientific flower festooned with possibly tion books are arranged that way, in­ longer to write and to seep into popular fatal thorns. cluding H.L. Mencken's New Dictionary culture than rock music and movies. It's of Quotations Great But the diagnosis is not totally bleak: and George Seldes' Bartlett's Familiar Quotations remember, more and more people are beginning to -Quotations. Bartlett's and the Oxford Dic­ so Jefferson's wisdom and Dorothy question the orthodoxy. If you look ~tionary ofQuotations are arranged by au­ Parker's wit take their place alongside hard enough, you can find the heretical thor, which is useful if you want to find "don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle," thought even in the press: an article by a quotation from a particular author. "keep on truckin'," and "me want Duesberg in the Summer 1990 issue of Bartlett's also has a lengthy index of key­ cookie." Policy Review, an article or two by icono­ words, in case you're trying to remem­ Despite the heavy representation of clastic right-wing journalist Tom Bethell ber just who said "My love is like a red, in National Review and the American red rose" (Robert Bums). pop culture, editor Justin Kaplan seems wisely to have included fewer quota­ Spectator, and most of all the writings of It's helpful to have at least one of the indefatigable CeliaFarber of Spin. A each kind of book at hand. Why, tions culled from newspaper interviews floodgate is beginning to burst, espe­ though, does. Bartlett's list authors by than were in the previous edition. He cially after this summer's conference in date of birth; requiring the reader to has also, in the spirit of the age, made which many doctors came forward to look in an author index first? Surely al­ the volume more multicultural, a discuss cases that were obViously AIDS phabetical order would be easier. change most apparent in the pre-baby­ but in whom no trace of HIV could be Chronological birth year order does boom generation: white men account found by even the most sophisticated allow one to note that some years for only 57 percent of these entries methods. I have seen the anti-HIV the­ seemed to produce bumper crops of (many of whom came to prominence in sis discussed more on TV and in maga­ quotable notables. The period 1818-20, the Sixties), far less than their percent­ zines in the last six months than in the for instance, gave us Emily Bronte, age of earlier periods. Even then, virtu­ prior six years. Even mv's actual dis­ Frederick Douglass, Karl Marx, Frie­ ally all of the citations are to Americans. coverer, Luc Montagnier, now admits drich Engels, George Eliot, Herman Mel­ This book is slimmer than the 1980 that cofactors must be involved. (He hy­ ville, Queen Victoria, Walt Whitman, edition, but that seems to have been pothesizes a form of bacteria called my­ Susan B. Anthony, William Tecumseh achieved with smaller but still readable coplasma as a possible culprit.) Sherman, and Herbert Spencer. Almost type rather than fewer quotations. Some Anyone who cares about AIDS, is in­ a century later Leo Durocher, J.W. Fulb­ 340 authors have been added and about terested in a curious intellectual adven­ right, Greta Garbo, Lillian Hellman, Ar­ that many deleted, with no losses that ture, or wants more evidence of how thur Koestler, Ayn Rand, Jean Paul bother me. centralization of power and responsibil­ Sartre, C.P. Snow, and Lionel Trilling The dozen years since the fifteenth ity undermines a flOUrishing intellectual first saw the light of day in 1905. edition have been marked by a world­ climate and a healthy culture - healthy The 1992 edition is the first to in­ wide tum toward markets, from Rea­ in many senses - should read this de­ clude a significant number of baby gan and Thatcher to the New Zealand manding, often shocking, and impor­ boomers (Stevie Wonder, the only one Labor Party's free-market reforms to the tant book. 0 to make the 1980 edition, has fallen off fall of Soviet communism. This histori- Liberty 61 •••••••••••••••••••• August 1993 cal trend seems to have escaped editor ever see on this earth is a temporary Kaplan, of Cambridge, Mass., who has government agency." given us more quotations from Karl Which reminds me, where is Barry Want Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Robert Heil­ Goldwater's"A government that is big broner, while Virtually eliminating F.A. enough to give you all you want is big toend Hayek and Milton Friedman, the intel­ enough to take it all away"? (For that, lectual gurus of the free-market revolu­ you'll need Bruce Bohle's Home. Book of planned tion. A bust of Hayek now sits in the American Quotations.) The famous "ex­ Kremlin, but Cambridge is holding out tremism" quotation, however, is here chaos? against the tide. ("Extremism in defense of liberty is no For a free sample of Hayek has been reduced to two quo­ vice ..."), though not cited to its actual tations, neither of which reflects his par­ author, Karl Hess. our 48-page monthly ticular contributions to social thought. One might assume that these curios­ publication Friedman is represented by three, in­ ities don't represent any conscious bias Freedom Daily cluding the wrongly attributed aphor­ on Kaplan's part, just a blindness to the ism, "There's no such thing as a free political and economic changes going write to: lunch." Meanwhile, the towering figure on in the world. Dictionaries of quota­ Future of Freedom Foundation ofJohn Kenneth Galbraith receives elev­ tions are perforce behind the times; they represent the distilled wisdom, or at P. O. Box 9752, Dept. M en citations. (William F. Buckley, Jr., is unrepresented.) least memorabilia, of centuries. As mar­ Denver, CO 80209 As in 1980, the Bible is second only ket liberalism sweeps the world in the Or call (303) 777-3588. to Shakespeare in the number of quota­ tions included. But Ayn Rand, who came in second to the Bible in a 1991 WE DON'T COMPROMISE! Gallup survey on most influential au­ The dozen years since the thors, gets only three citations. Marga­ ret Thatcher likewise is represented last edition have been marked with three quotations, none of which by a worldwide turn toward capture her free-market radicalism. markets. This trend seems to Quotations from recent presidents have escaped editor Kaplan, of ••••••••••••••••••• offer a similar surprise. John F. Kennedy leads the pack with 28 quotations, fol­ Cambridge, Mass. A bust of r------, lowed by Richard Nixon with ten, Lyn­ Hayek now sits in the Kremlin, I The Sociology of don Johnson and Jimmy Carter with six, : the Ayn Rand Cult George Bush with four, and Gerald Ford but· Cambridge is holding out I by Murray N. Rothbard and Ronald Reagan with three. Again, against the tide. Reagan's impact on the world, not to I Read the perceptive, provocative, mention his reputation as the Great I notorious analysis of the Ayn Rand Communicator, seems to have bypassed I movement in its heyday! Cambridge. However, when one tries to 21stcentury, its architects will get their I Send $4.00 to: remember which Reagan phrases ought due. Still, it's disappointing to see a I Liberty Publishing to be included, one is struck by how 1992 edition offering fewer selections PO Box 1181 many of them are derivative: "city on a from thinkers such as Friedman and IL_ Port.... Townsend, WA 93868...... I hill," "Evil Empire," "rendezvous with Hayek. And Kaplan's response to an destiny," "Where's the Rest of Me?" earlier criticism about the lack of Rea­ (Surely John G. Magee's "I have slipped gan quotations suggests a determined 7?zoving? the surly bonds of Earth" was added to refusal to grant Reagan an important If so, we understand that this edition because PeggyNoonan used place in the world. Presumably the things may be abit topsy­ those lines in the remarks she wrote for same animus is in fact .reflected in .the Reagan after the Challenger disaster, yet lack of quotations from Hayek, Fried­ turvy right now, butit really is im­ there is no reference to Reagan.) portantfor you to send us your new address man, and so on. information. Ifyou don't, the Post Office is li­ Still, one would think that a few of In the final analysis, I wonder if it's able to ripoff the cover of your magazine, send his off-the-cuff remarks - "There you us the correction, and charge us for the service. a good idea to have eight books of quo­ Ifyou wish to receive Liberty without in­ go again" or "We begin bombing in five tations sitting next to my word proces­ terruption, please notify us of your new ad­ minutes" - might warrant inclusion, sor.Perhaps such a wealth of quotation dress four weeks in advance, enclosing your current mailing label to expedite the process. along with some Reaganesque phrases is mere temptation, temptation to rely about politics and government such· as on the notions·of others at the expense Send to: "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall" or of original thought. As Emerson said, "1 Libe.,ty thc:p.. ,_ "the ant heap of totalitarianism" or hate quotation. Tell me what you PO Box 1181 ~ (~8~ I Port Townsend, WA 98368 • "The nearest thing to eternal life we'll know." Q Volume 6, Number 6 AUgust 1993

Fatherland, by Robert Harris. HarperCollins, 1992, 380 pp., $6.50. a summit conference with the Fuehrer. The plot is occupied with the efforts of a disgruntled police official to uncover embarrassing truths about the nature of a smugly well-established fascism­ truths, for instance, about the little no­ ticed disappearance of millions of the Kennedy Meets Hitler Reich's subjects. These truths are politi­ cally as well as morally significant, because they might upset the motions toward detente of even so morally reptilian a politician as Joseph P. in chess), or game-players who can at­ Kennedy. Stephen Cox tend to the action only when they have As characters, the policeman and "armies," "fleets," and "nations" to his friends are well conceived, and the Why do people enjoy books about push around. action that concerns them is well con­ historical events that never happened? I'm in the latter group, myself. I ducted, with the exception of the pro­ I'm not referring to books about capi­ can't understand how anyone could tagonist's somewhat implausible talism's exploitation of the working care if K moves to Q3. But I'm not sure propensity for risk-taking - a propen­ class, the formation of the Oedipal com­ why I care if a little block of yellow sity that does, however, help to keep plex, the aesthetic triumphs of post­ wood manages to slide over a blue the plot moving. Very fortunately, Har­ modernist painting, or other things that pasteboard surface labeled "France" ris never burdens the reader with the allegedly happened. I'm referring to and succeeds in "bombing" the hell out "technical" details that are apparently books about events that even college of a green surface called "Italy." so interesting to habitual readers of es­ professors know to be unreal. I'm refer­ If, however, you also are attracted pionage thrillers and military adven­ ring to books about what happened to the latter kind of game, you will ture stories. This novel is about human when the South won the Civil War, or probably be interested in Fatherland, events, not about hardware. the Russians bombed Dallas, or Hitler­ which is a novel about what might Most of the interest of a book of this ism survived the second World War. have happened in the game of history kind lies, of course in its ability to The last topic is the subject of Robert if (1) Hitler's armies had beaten the So­ present a plausible reconstruction of a Harris' novel Fatherland. viets in 1943, (2) Hitler's spies had dis­ world that never happened. In this I can think of a number of explana­ covered in 1944 that the British had tions for the perennial popularity of this cracked the communications codes kind of book. An optimist would say used by Germany's submarines, and (3) that such books interest us by making us Hitler's scientists had succeeded in Berlin in 1964 is preparing aware of how well things actually do 1946 in building an intercontinental turn out in this world: the South didn't ballistic missile. to celebrate Hitler's 75th birth­ win, the Russians didn't bomb us, Hitler According to Harris' novel, the re­ day - and the visit of Presi­ didn't survive; how fortunate we are' A suIt of these three movements on the dent Joseph P. Kennedy for a pessimist would say that these books in­ game board of the world might be a terest us by making us aware of how Reich in permanent control of eastern summit conference with the badly things may tum out: the South Europe, a Reich that could preserve its Fuehrer. might have won, the Russians might submarines long enough to starve Brit­ have bombed, Hitler might have sur­ ain into submission, and a Reich that vived; our fortunes hang by a thread! could threaten the United States into ex­ Alternatively, one can explain the changing a hot war for a cold one. Fa­ case, the reconstruction is rather con­ popularity of these books, as a special therland is set in Berlin in 1964, a Berlin vincing. The world of Nazis is present­ case of people's interest in a certain kind that is geopolitically similar to the Mos­ ed concretely, from the viewpoint of of game-playing. Speculations about cow of 1964. Harris' Berlin is the capital people living their daily lives, riding the what might have happened if the con­ of a vast empire of subject provinces subways, driving Volkswagens, watch­ flict with the Nazis had (:ontinued be­ and satellite states, expensively en­ ing television. One gets the sense of yond 1945 invite us to shuffle imaginary gaged, on its borders, in a military con­ thickness and weight that is the mark of "forces" around in our minds in the way test with the United States, noisily social reality. Harris is clever at work­ in which we shuffle counters around on proud of its revolutionary tradition and ing in references to real historical per­ a Risk or Diplomacy board. Of course, its supposedly high level of material sonalities, not just the personalities that it's up to you to decide who's higher up culture, but eager for a face-saving de­ immediately come to mind when you on the intellectual chain of being: game­ tente with its enemies. think about Nazis but those that make players who want the imaginary forces Berlin in 1964 is preparing to cele­ you respond, Well, yes, come to think of under their control to be fully abstracted brate Hitler's 75th birthday - and the it, so-and-so would be in on this, and from history and geography (as they are visit of President Joseph P. Kennedy for that's something that could have hap- Liberty 63 August 1993

pened to him. The historical references inability to come to grips with the inher­ are often most effective for their ent economic and political weaknesses How to casualness: of totalitarianism. In Harris' portrayal, World news. In London, it had been the Third Reich is a little like Cleveland. announced that King Edward and Some things work well; some things Subscribe Queen Wallis were to pay a state vis­ don't; some people live happy lives; it to the Reich in July "to further others don't; on the whole, the place is strengthen the deep bonds of respect to and affection between the peoples of Great Britain and the German Reich." Liberty Another sign of realism is the strong The Third Reich is a little though implicit political thrust of the like Cleveland. Some things novel. The King and Queen of England Liberty takes individual want to strengthen bonds of respect for work well; some things don't; freedom seriously ... and a vicious dicatatorship; Hitler, the Presi­ some people live happy lives; the status quo with more dent of the United States, and Nazi others don't; on the whole, the than one grain of salt! sympathizers in the American embassy are anxious for detente; Nazi officials place is getting a little run Liberty tackles the tough problems. bill themselves as proponents of 1/recon­ down. Every issue of Liberty presents es­ struction": what is this but a critique­ says studying current trends in by-analogy of the relationship between political and social thought, discus­ Western opportunists, dupes, and fel­ getting a little run down. But there's lit­ sions of the strategy and tactics of low-travelers, and the vicious dictator­ tle evidence that Harris, who was a po­ social change, analyses of current ship that did survive World War II, the litical editor for the London Observer, events, and challenges to popular Soviet Union? beliefs. Liberty also offers lively Harris is under no illusions about really understands how disastrously in­ book reviews, fiction, and humor. the nature of the Cold War that really efficient and self-destructive tyranny is. happened. And he makes sure to point The novel's climactic analysis of the You won't want to miss a single practical disabilitites of totalitarianism issuer out that the Nazis were not alone in their campaigns of extermination; in comes from a character who predicts Act Today! this they had very effective competition that Liberty offers you the best in liber­ from the Communists, who were not, to five years from now, or fifty years, tarian thinking and writing. So Harris' mind, simply "anti-fascists." this society will fall apart. You can't don't hesitate. You have nothing to The political message of Fatherland is build on a mass grave. Human be­ lose, and the fruits of Liberty to universal; it's about tyranny itself, not ings are better than that. ... gainr just about Nazi tyranny. Well, they're better than that, all All this having been said, there re­ right, but they're also worse, as the nov­ Use the coupon below or call: main some problems. I have remarked el itself indicates. It wasn't a vague bet­ that Harris' protagonist takes some im­ terness that brought down the Soviet probable chances. He is also, at times, Union; it was the inherent incapacity of 1-800-321-1542 somewhat undermoti­ vated; there are effective insights into his psychol­ .------.,Please enter my subscription Yes. to Liberty immediately! ogy, his personal reasons for disaffection with the o One Full' Year (6 issues) $19.50 regime, but they don't o Two Full Years (12 issues) $35.00 go quite far enough to Add $5 per year for foreign subscriptions. explain his behavior. Harris' prose is work­ name manlike but seldom col­ address orful or distinctive. He establishes motifs - ref­ city, state, zip erences to churches and o I enclose my check (payable to Liberty) religion, for instance, Cl Charge my Cl VISA Cl Mastercard and to art - that he might develop for sym­ signature bolic purposes, but he fails to elaborate them. account' expires The most serious "Gh, send them to Palestine, I guess - Nothing ever happens Send to: Liberty, Dept. L36, problem, however, is an there." L PO Box 1181, Port Townsend,. WA 98368..I Volume 6, Number 6

totalitarian economies to protract their spective you don't get from Risk or Di­ existence without falling ba~k on modifi­ plomacy. Harris needs to get up from 1993 cations that destroy them from within, as the game board and go read some Frie­ the Soviet Union was destroyed. drich Hayek. Except for that problem, RIGHT GUIDE But this, come to think of it, is a per- he's written a pretty good book. a The comprehensive guide to the world-wide movement "...essential reference for libertarian Booknotes Ideas and organlzations...Immensely useful directory." R. HESSEN, HOOVER INSTITIITION The Lying Machine - "Since number of "poor" people was reduced "Best documentatlon...eoverage of 1985, senators, unlike house members, only from 33.3 million to 31.9 million. libertarian organizations is both careful have been required to disclose publicly How could this be? Because for gov­ and extensive..." the annual costs of their mailings. There ernment bureaucrats to justify their ex­ W. NISKANEN, CATO INSTITUTE are nominal cost limits, based on state istence there must be "poor" people. "No previous directory has covered as population, but once again, the loop­ And who defines what a "poor" person many conservative and libertarian holes are wider than Senator Howell He­ is? The government. So it is plainly in organizations, or provided as much flin (D-Ala.)." Okay, maybe humor isn't government bureaucrats/interest to ma­ Information...new ground is broken with an international section." one of James T. Bennett's and Thomas J. nipulate the data to "produce" more E. WEBER, LIBRARIAN, U OF MICHIGAN DiLorenzo's stronger points, but their "poor" people. Bermett and DiLorenzo "The Right Guide 1993 fills a much book Official Lies - How Washington adeptly explain the ways in which the needed informational void..." government· perpetrates this kind of Misleads Us (Groom Books, 1992, D. MARTIN, JOINT ECONOMIC COMMITTEE 320pp., $19.95) is better than their jokes. trickery, as well a.s deceptions in other "The Right Guide is...awesomely The focus of the book is the giant, areas, complete... invaluable to friends." self-promoting propaganda machine Those who believe that government JULIAN SIMON, U OF MARYLAND known as Washington, D.C., and Bennett . isn't the solution to people's problems and DiLorenzo take dead aim. From ~. have been largely ineffective in curbing Partial list of Categories farm subsidies to drug policy they spare state growth, and would be well served Economics, Environment, Foreign Polley, no bloated government agency from to find out more about the tools Wash­ Health Care, Immigration, Privatization, Pro-Choice, Pro-Ufe, Traditional Values attack. ington uses to promulgate its expan­ Art-Uterature-Culture, Fire Arms Owners' Of interest to all libertarians is the ob­ sion. Official Lies would be a good place Rights, Education, Media, International, scene way in which the federal govern­ to start. -Aaron T. Steelman Publishers, Legal, Military, Gender, Race, ment has grown in response to the Gold-Backed Money, Foundations supposed "poverty crisis" America faces. Thriller! - During a recent illness I

This "crisis,11 like most others, has been decided to spend a couple of days luxu­ 2,500 organizations listed by name, falsely manufactured so that the public riating in an old pastime, novel reading. address and contact information. will think that government action is not I read three I10vels by the current best­ 500 In-depth profiles, interests, only a good idea, but indeed a necessary selling author John Grisham, to see accomplishments, publications, solution. Bennett and DiLorenzo prove what all the fuss was about. leadership, affiliates and more. this to be patently false. It's about less than one might hope, No Fee For Listing· Can't Pay To Be Listed One of the more popular notions but more than one might fear. The nov­ Independent . Authoritative spouted by modern liberals is that gov­ els were hard to put down once you got Clothbound, 456 Pages ernment spending on social programs into them. There is no very distinctive was completely gutted by that mean and literary style, and certainly no purple ------Yes, I'll give it a try nasty Ronald Reagan. This is absurd. passages. There is lots of intrigue but, 800-878-6141 Reagan did little to curb the growth of almost no sex (quite unusual for today), Credit Card Orders government, with welfare spending in­ The writing is always unsentimental, Or use the Coupon Below creasing in real dollars from $156.6 no-nonsense, and without sidetracks or Satisfaction Guaranteed billion in 1980 to $184.2 in 1988. In fact, irrelevancies: every page carries the ac­ $49.95 (includes shipping) "[b]y 1988, government at all levels tion forward. But their main characteris­ Mail orders must be prepaid. spent enough on poverty programs tic is the author's fine sense for alone (excluding Social Security) to give structure. You begin with one scene, and Name $5,790 to each man, woman, and child become quite absorbed in it by the time below the poverty threshold. That adds the chapter ends, and the next chapter Address up to $23,160 for every family of four ­ begins with different characters in a City, State, Zip or nearly twice the poverty threshold of seemingly unrelated action, which turns o I enclose my check or money income." Yet during the period of 1980 out to be interestingly related to the order payable to Economics America. to 1988 the Census Bureau claims the first. The third then interlocks with the Economics America, Inc. ______• _6~ ~'::".c~St~ ~~~o~ ~ ~8~~ ..I Volume 6, Number 6 August 1993

first two, and so on, until soon a com­ ercises in clever plotting, easily forgot­ ed with impunity, figure prominently plex web is woven and interrelating ten after the book is placed back on the in each. There is a mark of authenticity characters generated, resulting in a shelf. The Pelican Brief (Dell, 1992, to these details, which adds to the read­ sense of richness and complexity. Yet $5.99) begins with the assassination of er's knowledge as well as enjoyment. the reader always knows where he is­ two Supreme Court justices (it is set Libertarians will no doubt be pleased nothing fuzzy, no loose ends. The au­ mostly in New Orleans), and gradually by the recurring theme of government thor has a sure sense of structure that uncovers a complex plot involving eco­ waste and corruption. But the author's never lets us down. logical crimes. The Firm (Dell, 1991, principal venom is reserved for the le­ The first novel, A Time To Kill (Dell, $5.99; now a movie starring Tom Cruse) gal profession. Corrupt lawyers and le­ 1989, $5.99), is by far the best one, set in begins with a seemingly innocent bank­ gal practices suffuse these books from a small Mississippi county seat and cen­ ing organization, which is actually a start to finish. The happy ending in tered around the courthouse (the author front for an international organization each novel is only a thin cloak for the grew up in Oxford, Mississippi, and corrupt almost beyond belief, in which overwhelming presence of villainy in still lives there) where a long and cli­ the protagonist, a bright unsuspecting high places, a wasteland of wrecked mactic trial is enacted, whose verdict young attorney, is sucked in beyond his human lives and an almost complete centers around complex issues of racial depth - his life threatened, he has to failure of the legal system to achieve discrimination. The story is very in­ make some quick and fateful moral any kind of justice. tense, and the author clearly feels choices. Readers who want just an interest­ strongly about racism. This is a worthy The author's experience as a lawyer ing story that keeps them hooked will successor to In the Heat of the Night and is indispensable to the writing of these be rewarded, if they have a sufficient Mississippi Burning. novels. Insane laws, legal loopholes, and span of attention to keep straight a The other novels are, by contrast, ex- most of all the way these laws are violat- large gallery of characters. Those who read with a desire for some cognitive input will get it in detailed insights into how the law actually works in people's lives. But with this knowledge will I~I eiiiiiiiiiiiiidiiiiiiiiiiiiiAiiiiiiiiiiiiidiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiViiiiiiiiiiiiiiieriiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis~emiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieniiiiiiiiiiiiiiit~s come a sense of frustration and per­ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiCiiiiiiiiiiiiiilaiiiiiiiiiiiiiSiiiiiiiiiiiiiSl-=--T!iiiiiiiiiiiii· iiiiiiiiiii:.11 haps hopelessness, and one may won­ Classified Advertising is available for 35¢ per word, plus $1.00 per insertion. 100/0 discount der how a nation can survive in the for six or more insertions. Payment must accompany order. Please specify classification. face of a power structure as inept and corrupt as this one. -John Hospers

Books Merchandise Not Working - Government in­ The State Against Blacks by Walter Williams. Protect Your Liberty! with Non-Lethal Per­ tervention in the labor market, ostensi­ Hardback edition. $5 each plus $1 shipping. Order sonal Protection Devices. Oleoresin Capsicum bly designed to raise the level of real through the Invisible Hand Foundation, PO Box (OC) sprays approved by the FBI and used by wages, has created high levels of unem­ 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368. over 1300 law enforcement agencies (better than ployment - levels far higher than ex:' tear gas or Mace). Effective against those unable isted prior to the "pro-labor" Business Opportunities to feel pain. Half-ounce DC spray $13. 90,000 volt StunGun $38. Both $48. Four-ounce Trigger-Top interventionist policy. This is liable to Toll the Bell of Freedom! Have a message? to shock the average American. Thank­ Take it nationwide with unique business opportu­ OC spray $23. 120,000 volt StunGun $53. Both nity that really delivers. Earn income, full or part $73. Free shipping. No PO Boxes. CA residents fully, Richard K. Vedder and Lowell E. time. Call or write for FREE details. Apex Video add 7.75%. Catalog $1. Soft Relations, Dept. Lffi, Gallaway have provided a book that 1137 Erin, Suite 201, Kent, OH 44240.216-677-9005. Box 2190, Big Bear City, CA 92314-2190. argues this thesis very well: Out of Periodicals Work: Unemployment and Government Collectibles in Twentieth-Century America Folk FluteslPan Pipes, mathematically opti­ DANGER AHEAD: SEVEN MAJOR PROB­ (Holmes & Meier/The Independent In­ LEMS WITH CLINTON ECONOMICS. A must mized, no moving parts, over 300 varieties. Cata­ stitute, 1993, 336 pp., $34.95 hc, $16.95 log $3. Lew Price, Box 88(L), Garden Valley, CA read special report. Send $3 to the Say Institute, 95633. 5934 Royal Lane, Suite 1030L, Dallas, Texas sc). Armed with an explanatory model 75230. . they call the "Neoclassical/Austrian Literature New Magazine! "Liberatus," the unique new Approach," the two economists tell the Abortion Choice: In Harmony or in conflict freeman publication. Intellectual, straight­ story of unemployment in this century. with the Rest of the Libertarian Party Platform? forward, patriotic, libertarian. No radicalism. In­ The most interesting portion of the SASE, please: Libertarians for Life, 13424 Hatha­ cludes historical/adventure section. Call 1-800­ book by far is the discussion of the way Drive, #22, Wheaton, MD 20906. 301/460­ 327-7143 for trial subscription. Great Depression and its postwar after­ 4141, Doris Gordon, National Coordinator. The Voluntaryist Sample copy for two first­ math. The period from 1929 to 1933 Directory of Libertarian Periodicals, updat­ class stamps. Box 1275, Gramling, SC 29348. was a watershed in American history. ed latest edition, lists around 150 titles, with ad­ Thomas Paine Review: newsletter on books Vedder and Galloway dismiss the no­ dresses, other information. All believed to be for the lover of freedom, reason, and human presently publishing. $3.00 postpaid, $4.00 over­ achievement. Six issues $9; sample issue $1.50. tion that President Herbert Hoover was seas. Jim Stumm, Box 29-LB, Hiler Branch, Buffa­ Address: 84 Washington St. #138, Penacook, NH a diSciple of laissez faire, arguing that lo, NY 14223. 03303. Hoover was an interventionist who 66 Liberty Volume 6, Number 6

turned a minor economic downturn in the economy into the by now mythic Great Depression. Hoover's first blunder was to pres­ sure business leaders to keep wages high during the economic downturn: Special Issue "The failure of money wages to fall in the downturn beginning in the fall of THE ENVIRONMENT & THE MARKET 1929 was largely a consequence of pub­ lic policy intervention by President Hoover and his political allies. As a con­ sequence of this intervention real wages rose rather than fell, and unemploy­ ment increased to previously unat­ tained levels" (pp 89-90). The Smoot­ Hawley tariff, and the Davis-Bacon and Norris-LaGuardia acts were all passed during Hoover's administration. This legislation had the result of further in­ creasing wage levels to the extent that, "at the depth of the Creat Depression in 1933, the real hourly wage of workers was some 12.5 per cent higher than in 1929, despite the fact that fully one fourth of the labor force was unem­ ployed" (82). Nevertheless, as an inter­ ventionist, Hoover was a rank amateur compared to his successor, Roosevelt. Vedder and Galloway detail how FOR's policies helped to maintain double-digit unemployment almost until the start of World Warn. Their discussion of the immediate post-World War n era is also somewhat novel. The conventional (Keynesian) wisdom of the time was that the United States would suffer high unemploy­ ment after the war ended. This did not happen. Unemployment remained low This special double issue of CRITICAL REVIEW confronts the toughest throughout the mid-to-Iate forties. challenge the free market faces - the environment - and suggests new directions This boom was not the result, how­ and solutions. In future issues the debate is joined by defenders of "traditional" ever, of "pent-up demand" (which be­ free-market environmentalism. came the standard explanation). According to Vedder and Galloway, FORTHCOMING "the evidence supports a distinctly non­ Keynesian interpretation: a downward Terry Anderson • N. Scott Arnold • David Beito • Peter J. Boettke adjustment in labor supply and real Susan Love Brown • James M. Buchanan • William Butos • Richard Cornuelle wages, accompanied by a less stimula­ Robert Crandall • Harold Demsetz • Catherine England • Lowell Gallaway tive (nondeficit) fiscal policy, served to Roger Garrison • Jack High • Steven Horwitz • Sanford Ikeda • Richard Langlois stimulate investment and consumption Donald Leal • Gary Libecap • Jonathan Macey • Harvey Mansfield spending. Relative price adjustments Milton Mueller • Alec Nove • Richard Posner • David Prychitko • David Schmidtz brought about what Keynesians consid­ Anna Schwartz • George Selgin •John Tomasi • Richard Vedder ered an increase in aggregate demand, Lawrence White • Glenn Yago ... debating nationalism • the health care crisis rather than the other way around" (171, the recession • the regulatory state • the welfare state • market socialism emphasis added). cultural theory • communitarianism • utilitarianism • libertarianism. Out of Work is quite readable, de­ spite Gallaway and Vedder's frequent Subscriptions: U.S. 1 year (4 issues) $29, 2 yrs. $54, 3 yrs. $79. Foreign 1 yr. $25, 2 yrs., $66, lapses into arcane mathematical formu­ 3 yrs. $96. Students (with copy ofvalid 10) $15 per year. Send check, money order, or Visa! lae; their equations can easily be ig­ MasterCard number and expiration date, to: CRITICAL REVIEW, 938 Howard Street, nored. This book is interesting and Ste. 202, Dept. 5J, San Francisco, CA 94]03, phone (415) 495-2157, fax (415) 54]-0597. Volume 6, Number 6 AUgust 1993 valuable to anyone interested in history ganda misrepresenting itself as "literary truth. or public policy. Unfortunately, the criticism." At the present moment/these The Critics Bear It Away presents, in people who really need to see it most ­ two dismal tendencies - the school of addition, vividly independent assess­ our benighted Labor Secretary Reich pedantry and the school of propaganda ments of the works and reputations of and President Rodham - will not likely - have joined forces in the American Twain, Faulkner, Hemingway, Updike, be able to find time in their busy sched­ university and its subject presses and Flannery O'Connor, and the writers of ules to learn a little something from his­ journals. Where else but in the field of the nineteenth-eentury "American ren­ tory. Instead they are condemning us to "literary theory," as currently practiced aissance." To profit from this book, one repeat it. -Clark Stooksbury in American departments of literature, need not agree with all of Crews' asses­ can authors be hailed as social revolu­ ments. I disagree with many of his par­ Criticism Unbound - Aristotle, tionaries for producing articles that ticular judgments. He is unsympathetic, Horace, Dryden, Samuel Johnson, Cole­ make Indo-European phonetics look for instance, to what I regard as two of ridge, Saints-Beuve, T.S. Eliot, Henry exciting? the greatest achievements of American James, Virginia Woolf ... the honor roll To all of this the works of Frederick literature, Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby of literary critics and theorists. These are Crews present a welcome constrast. and Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom. I am men and women who made the art of Crews is a distinguished academic critic also disappointed by some of Crews' re­ literary reflection something more than of literature; more to the point, he is a marks on intentionalist literary theory. an art of shadows, a mere commentary distinguished public critic, the master of He quite properly regrets the narrow­ on the commentary that literature a vigorous·and attractive style who uses mindedness of critics who imagine that makes on life. By illuminating the prin­ that style to communicate penetrating we must always judge literary works in ciples of thought and action from which insights into the intellectual life of the respect to some one authorial intention, literature proceeds, and by tracing the modem world. His earlier collection of but he neglects the contribution that in­ variations of literary self-expression essays, Skeptical Engagements (Oxford tentionalist theory can make to our un­ through all the varieties of personality University Press, 1986), which is still in derstanding of competing authorial and circumstance, they made their art a the bookstores and which ought to be purposes and preferences. fundamentally important vehicle of hu­ read, was a magisterial critique of the Yet throughout Crews' book, one man self-understanding. strange distortions of the post-Marxist feels that one is engaged with a strong, Within this great tradition, violent and post-Freudian ideologies that domi­ sensitive, and scrupulously rational disagreement was taken for granted; no nate current "high" academic discourse. mind, a mind with which it is therefore one expected. intelligent people to re­ His new collection, The Critics Bear It a pleasure either to agree or to argue. gard literature from identical points of Away: American Fiction and the Acade­ Each of the essays in The Critics Bear It view. But there was general agreement, my (Random House, 1992, 234 pp., Away prOVides a fresh and candid re­ at least, on the nature of the enterprise. $20.00), contains something almost un­ consideration of a major writer or writ­ The great critics and theorists did not at­ heard of in current discourse ~ an ad­ ers and a clear and judicious account of tach themselves to purely academic mission of a change of ideology, the ways in which authorial reputations problems, or limit themselves to purely prompted by rational reconsideration. have been molded by critical fashions. academic audiences; they addressed Twenty-seven years ago, Crews pub­ In just one brief essay on Hemingway, problems that they rightly assumed lished an influential Freudian analysis for example, Crews gets to the core of were of interest to all intelligent people. of the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. that author's tragic psychological prob­ And they tried to address intelligent Crews gradually came to see that lems, demonstrates their crucial influ­ people in an intelligible style. Freud's principles, and his own, were ence on his work, and illuminates the The great, public tradition of literary not well founded; and in The Critics Bear difficulties that other interpreters have criticism and theory always existed in It Away, he explains why he was wrong. had in coming to terms with the Hem­ opposition to a pale and bloodless tradi­ Such an unexampled display of honesty ingway myth - a myth that has exerted tion of purely academic commentary, is sufficient to revive one's hope that lit­ a formative influence on many Ameri­ and it often needed to distinguish itself erary criticism may once again become a can writers and that has for too long from feverish eruptions of party propa- medium for the disinterested search for stood in the way of mature assessment ofHemingway's real accomplishments. If you agree with Robert Hutchins... The Critics Bear It Away gives one a new appreciation for the complexity and Vitality of American literature ­ and for the continuing vitality of Ameri­ " knowledge without wisdom has can literary criticism. -StephenCox brought us to the edge of destruction and may at any time push us over the brink." Erratum The final paragraph of David Friedman's PLEASE GET IN TOUCH 'W1TH essay, "Paying for Crime" (June 1993, pp. 53­ 54), was included by mistake; it was not the allJ/~~ work of the author, and neither the author nor the editors intended it to be published. Dept L- P. O. Box 4126, san Marcos, CA 92069 Our apologies to David Friedman and to our readers. (619) 744-4013 • FAX727-9489 Volume 6, Number 6

LettersI continued from page 4 their time and money on state policy in­ [ Notes on Contributors stitutes will not accomplish the goals of most of the IIdisillusioned LPers." Policy institutes exert temporary in­ is politi­ is an artist, writer, fluence on academicians and politicians. Chester Alan Arthur Liberty's Richard Kostelanetz cal correspondent. critic and anthologist living in New Ofnecessity, they focus on existing legis­ York. lation and respond to the issues made "Baloo" is Rex F. May in disguise, the topical by politicians. They are only as perpetrator of numerous cartoons Loren E. Lomilsky is co-author (with relevant as their last position paper. To appearing in The Wall Street Journal Geoffrey Brennan) of Democracy and assure their survival and prosperity, poli­ and elsewhere. Decision: The Pure Theory of Electoral cy institutes must concentrate their ef­ John Bergstrom is a cartoonist living Preference. forts on specific issues. They must es­ in Hollywood. John McConnack, an American who chew the very type of long-term planning David Boaz is executive vice presi­ was born in South Africa, has trav­ and activism for which the Libertarian dent of the Cato Institute, and co­ elled extensively on both private Party was formed and to which itstrives. editor of Market Liberalism: A Para­ and public reservations in Africa. Many individuals with a keen interest digm for the 21st Century. Marc Ponomareff is a poet and fiction in personal freedom and self determina­ R. W. Bradford is editor of Liberty. writer living in Canada. tion never reap the benefits of the work Stephen Cox is Professor of Literature Sheldon Richman is senior editor of of policy institutes. "The voter" is not the at the University of California and the Cato Institute. focus of any policy institute. fustead, they the author of Love and Logic: The James S. Robbins is a foreign policy attempt to motivate politicians and me­ Evolution ofBlake's Thought. analyst living in Massachusetts. dia. Brian Doherty is a jolirnalist and edi­ Jane S. Shaw is a writer living in The Libertarian Party has a different tor in Washington,: D.C. Bozeman, Montana. reason for being. It wishes to elect politi­ David Friedman is the author of The Sandy Shaw is co-author (with Durk cal leaders. It addresses a broader field of Machinery ofFreedom and Price The­ Pearson) of Freedom ofInfonned topics and attempts to unite a more di­ ory: An Intennediate Text. Choice: The FDA vs Nutrient Supple­ verse coalition than any think tank could ments. desire. Glenn Garvin is the author of Every­ Cullene Lang body Has His Own Gringo: The CIA & Aaron T. Steelman is a student at the Sacramento, Calif. The Contras. He is a Contributing University ofMichigan and an edi­ Editor of Reason and was Editor of torial assistant at Liberty. Christ No Cultistl Inquiry. Clark Stooksbury is a graduate of Does Timothy Virkkala ("Cry cult!" /. Orlin Grabbe is a writer offiction Memphis State Law School and an June 1993) believe that people like Moses who lives in Manhattan. editorial assistant at Liberty. or Buddha orJesus were psychopaths? It John Hospers, the author of Under­ John M. Taylor is Director of Studies at seems to me that they were the consum­ standing the Arts and other books, the AI Dente Memorial Institute for mate libertarians oftheir times, Jesus es­ has just completed several entries Pasta Research. pecially. Here was a fellow who put his for the new edition ofCollier's En­ Timothy VirkkaZa is assistant editor of money where his mouth was, willing to cyc1opedta. Liberty. pay the ultimate price for bucking the re­ Bill Kauffman is the author of Every Jesse Walker has just accepted a posi­ ligious-statist coalition whose survival Man a King, and numerous articles. tion as assistant editor of Liberty. depended on keeping the human spirit shackled and inert, then as now. Jesus never intended to start some new religion. His mission was to rescue in the true vance in the context of the whole long book and deals with a fairly com­ sense of the word - to rescue everyone book, so we won't bore the readers plex subject. The publisher changed edi­ from every kind offoolishness. Trust me. further. tors on us midway in the project, and Joanna Parker Bradford's account of the National we had the feeling that both editors Ocean Shores, Wash. Hamiltonian Party was very interest­ were terribly pressed for time. Neither ing. We certainly would have includ­ John nor myself are professional writers Some of Our Best Friends Are ed it in the book if we had known and we could have used the copy edit­ Editorsl about it. It's not the only example of ing that we didn't get. John George and I are pleased that an organization not being quite what Laird Wilcox Liberty published R.W. Bradford's review it seemed. Even at 520 pages, howev­ Olathe, Kans. of our book, Nazis, Communists, Klansmen, er, we had to leave out mountains of and Others on the Fringe ("Some of My relevant and interesting material. We Editorial Suggestion Best Friends Are Extremists!" June 1993). could easily do another volume of the I don't like to see articles claiming We acknowledge most of the errors same size. the US Postal Service is flying a flag Bradford meticulously details, and we've As far as the editing of the manu­ with the correct number of stars. even found a few errors that he did not script is concerned I think John and I Steven Riggin report. These errors are not central to any are in agreement with Bradford. Na­ Pittsburg, Kans. theme or argument; they approach irrele- zis, Communists, Klansman is a very Liberty 69 Detroit Washington, D.C. Detroit Mayor Coleman Young puts taxpayers' money to Esthetic note from the nation's capital, as reported by the work, as reported by the Detroit Free Press: Washington Times: A deluxe portable toilet set up for Mayor Coleman Young's pri­ "Hillary Clinton will become an international beauty image," pre­ vate Grand Prix party Sunday was guarded overnight by a Detroit dicted Christophe, hairdresser to the stars and the First Family. police officer to make sure no one used it before the mayor. The mayor didn't use it either - he failed to show up. The 24-foot trail­ Oglesby, Ill. er was rented at an expense of$1,200. Esthetic note from America's heartland, as reported by the Washington Post: Honolulu After receiving a complaint from John Swartz, the building's jani­ Novel technique for easing the lot of overburdened public tor, the Post Office in Oglesby has covered up a mural depicting a servants, as reported by the Honolulu Observer. battle between the Illinois and Pottawattomie tribes because it in­ cludes two men with exposed genitals, A prison guard said that he had an inmate stab him with a sharp­ ened screwdriver because he thought it was an easy way to get out ofwork. St. Louis Advanced journalistic technique, as reported by Full Service Washington, D.C. Media: A leading electronic journalist speaks truth to power, as re­ Francis Patrick Brady, the president of the company that owns ported by the Detroit News: KMOV-lV, apologized Thursday for the station's arrangement to have a male prostitute lure a Roman Catholic priest to a hotel. The CBS Anchonnan Dan Rather speaking to the president on his re­ station paid the prostitute's expenses, including the cost of the hotel cent collaboration with co-anchor Connie Chung: "If we could be room and a phone call to the priest, and on March 26 secretly filmed one-one hundredth as great as you and Hillary Rodham Clinton and recorded the priest. have been together in the White House, we'd take it right now and walk away winners." Washington, D.C. Investment note for the rich and powerful, as reported by the Jerusalem Detroit News: Advance in the judicial regulation of commerce, as reported Value Partners, the investment· house that manages part of the by the Associated Press: First Lady's portfolio, has been selling short health care stocks since A Jerusalem religious court has revoked Pepsi's kashrut license she became health czar. because the court had ruled that PepsiCo. Inc. had transgressed by using scantily clad women in its ads and sponsoring a concert by Massachusetts Guns 'N Roses in Tel Aviv on the Sabbath. Progressive legislation in home of· Edward Kennedy, Mi­ chael Dukakis, and Paul Tsongas, as reported by the Washington Santa Barbara, California Post: Equality before the law in the Golden State, as reported by "Baked beans were recognized in Massachusetts as the official the News-Press: state bean, the resultof a lobbying effort by elementary school chil­ Irene Dorado, a multiple sclerosis sufferer confined to a wheel­ dren." chair, discovered a tire on her van had been deflated while parked at the courthouse. Dorado, who had parked in the only parking spot Syracuse, New York available near the door ofthe courthouse, was surprised to learn that A setback in the never-ending battle to save the environment the culprit was Superior Court Judge James Slater, who was per­ in the Empire State, from the .Albany Times Union: turbed that Dorado, whom he knew was handicapped, had taken the The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation parking spot normally reserved for his Porsche. The District Attor­ has fined a Buffalo firm $78,000 for illegally disposing of"environ­ ney acknowledged that Judge Slater had violated the vehicle code, mentally harmful debris." The finn had dumped "trees, stumps, but decided not to prosecute on grounds that Slater "is a highly re­ shrubs and topsoil" on a remote fann it owned 30 miles northwest of spected judge on the bench and I consider him to be a very fme Syracuse. judge." Washin.gton, D.C. Los Angeles President Clinton's economic program picks up support, a~ Great moments in affirmative action as reported by the As­ reported by The Senior American: sociated Press: "General Wojciech Jamzelski. the former communist dictator of A former Jeopardy writer says in a new book that clues and Poland, endorsed the Clinton economic plan." questions and categories sometimes were altered at the last minute to make them more "female friendly" - like replacing a category (Readers are invited to forward newsclippings or other items for on weapons with one on clothes. publication in Terra Incognita.) 70 Liberty • "Women V5. the Nation-State," by Carol Moore -..Jf-11(\1 • "Thelma and Louise: Feminist Heroes," by Miles Fowler t Plus writing by Robert Higgs, Leland Yeager and others; and a short sto­ ttf lV... ry by J. E. Goodman. (80 pages) ate yo \SSUes January 1992 i1fl.ttl I y,aC\<. backCc¢ • "The National Park Disgrace," by R.W. Bradford ued otfl • "Sex, Race, and the Single Gentleman," by Richard Kostelanetz St• :k Libe:rt'Y s cOfltirt fr • "America's Bipartisan Apartheid," by Brian Doherty ~lt1.\. Plus writing by Leland Yeager, David Friedman, Henry B. Veatch, Jane Shaw, Bill Kauffman, Karl Hess Jr. and others. (80 pages) • "The Orwellian University," by Charles Thorne • "Strange Subcultures of the Right," by John Baden March 1992 Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Bill Kauffman, James • "AlbertJay Nock: Prophet of Libertarianism?" by Stephen Cox Robbins, Mark Skousen and others. (72 pages) • "P.C. or B.5.?" by Meredith McGhan • "Acid Rain and the Corrosion of Science," by Edward C. Krug • "Who Really Wrote Little House on the Prairie?" by William Holtz Volume 4 Plus writing by Karl Hess, Jane Shaw, Lawrence White, Randal O'Toole September 1990 and others; and an interview with Pat Buchanan. (72 pages) • "Conversations with Ayn Rand (part 2)," by John Hospers May 1992 • "Is Environmental Press Coverage Biased?" by Jane S. Shaw • "Clarence Thomas: Cruel and Unusual Justice?" by James Taggart • "The Pro-Life Casefor the Abortion Pill," by Dr Ron Paul • "Hong Kong: Where Everyone Has a Job," by Mark Tier Plus articles and reviews by Michael Krauss, James Robbins, Richard • "Divorce, Czechoslovak Style," by Vojtech Cepl and Ron Lipp Kostelanetz and others; and a ficciOn by Harvey Segal. (72 pages) Plus writing by Eric Banfield, Karl Hess, David Horowitz, Daniel Klein November 1990 and others; and fiction by J. arlin Grabbe. (72 pages) • "Smokes, But No Peacepipe," by Scott Reid July 1992 • "Sex, Drugs, and the Goldberg Variations," by Richard Kostelanetz • "Christians and Libertarians in a Hostile World," by Doug Bandow • ''Why is Anyone Virtuous?" by David Friedman • "Returning America's Roads to the Market," by Terree Wasley Plus articles and reviews by Robert Higgs, Leslie Fleming, Alexander • "The 'Lock' on the Electoral College," by David Brin Tabarrok, Sheldon Richman and others; and an interview with Ed Plus commentary on the L.A. Riots, and writings by David Kelley, Le­ Crane. (80 pages) land Yeager, George H. Smith and others. (72 pages) January 1991 • "Meltdown: The End of the Soviet Empire," by David Boaz, James Robbins, Ralph Raico and Jane S. Shaw Volume 6 • "The Hope in the Schools," by Karl Hess September 1992 • "Gordon Gekko, Mike Milken, and Me," by Douglas Casey • "War on Drugs, War on Progress," by James Ostrowski Also: articles and reviews by Michael Christian, Ralph Rako, Loren Lo­ • "Wilderness, Church and State," by Robert H. Nelson masky and others; plus special election coverage. (80 pages) • "ll Execution Is Just, What Is Justice?" by J. Neil Schulman March 1991 Plus writing by Martin Morse Wooster, Ethan O. Waters, Jane S. Shaw, William Mellor III and others; and an index to back issues. (80 pages) • "The Myth of War Prosperity," by Robert Higgs • "The Life of Rose Wilder Lane," by William Holtz November 1992 • "The Strange Death of the McDLT," by R.W. Bradford • "The First Time: I Run for the Presidency/' by John Hospers Plus articles and reviews by Jan Narveson, Jane Shaw, Richard Weaver, • "Europe's Money Mess: We've Heard It All Before," Leland Yeager Linda Locke, Krzysztof Ostaszewski and others. (72 pages) • "Raising Hell With the 'Buchanan Brigade/" by Thomas Walls • "The Mystery of the Missing Detectives," by David Justin Ross May 1991 Plus articles and reviews by Gabriel Hocman, David Kelley, Daniel • "Christiana: Something Anarchical in Denmark," by Ben Best Klein, Richard Kostelanetz, Loren Lomasky and others. (80 pages) • "Journalists and the Drug War," by David Boaz • "California's Man-Made Drought," by Richard Stroup February 1993 Plus writing by John Baden, Scott Reid, Leland Yeager and others; and • "A Feminist Defense of Pornography," by Wendy McElroy a short story by Lawrence Thompson. (72 pages) • "In Freedom's Way," by James Ostrowski • "Is Feminism Obsolete?" by Jane S. Shaw July 1991 Plus election coverage, and writings by RW. Bradford, Bill Kauffman, • "Say 'No' to Intolerance," by Milton Friedman John Hospers, Ron Lipp, John McCormack and others. (80 pages) • "1 Am a Casualty of theWar on Drugs," by Stuart Reges • "Depolluting the USSR," by James Robbins April 1993 Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Loren Lomasky, Sheldon • "Inside Clinton's Head," by Douglas Casey Richman, Karl Hess, Richard Kostelanetz and others; and Mark • "How To Cut Your Taxes by 75%," by R. W. Bradford Skousen's interview with Robert Heilbroner. (72 pages) • "Isn't Multiculturalism a Good Thing?" by Stephen Cox Plus writings by Mark Skousen, John Hospers, Bill Kauffman and oth­ VolumeS ers; and an interview with Roy Childs. (72 pages) June 1993 September 1991 • ''Who Benefits from the Clinton Program," by Harry Browne • "Stalking the Giant Testes of Ethiopia,"by Robert Miller • "It's the Pork, Stupid," by Randal O'Toole • "GNP: A Bogus Notion," by R W. Bradford • "VAT Out of Hell," by Chester Alan Arthur • "Persuasion versus Force," by Mark Skousen Plus writing by Leland Yeager, Jonathan Saville, Sheldon Richman, bart Plus articles and reviews by Bart Kosko, Frank Fox, John Hospers, Kosko, Albert Jay Nock and others; articles on the Waco holocaust by James Taggart, Karl Hess and others. (72 pages) Stephen Cox and R. W. Bradford; and other reviews and articles (72 November 1991 pages) • "The Road to Nowhere," by David Horowitz -+ Information concerning the first volume (six issues) of Uberty can be found on page 38. Stimulate Your Mind! There is a world of good reading in Liberty! Whether you want to catch up on what you missed, provide intellectual relief to your friends (or enemies!), or complete your collection, now is a good time to buy. Enjoy! Volume 2 • "What if Everything We Know About Safety Is Wrong?" by John Sem­ mens and Dianne Kresich September 1988 Plus articles and reviews by Stephen Cox, Jeffrey Friedman, David Ram­ • "Scrooge McDuck and His Creator," by Phil Salin say Steele, Sheldon Richman and others. (72 pages) • "Liberty and Ecology," by John Hospers • "The Ultimate Justification of the Private Property Ethic," by Hans­ May 1989 • "Man, Nature, and State: Free Market Slogans are Not Enough," by Hermann Hoppe Karl Hess, Jr Plus reviews and articles by Douglas Casey, Murray Rothbard, L. Neil • "The End of the Secular Century," by Murray N. Rothbard Smith and others; and a short story by Erika Holzer. (80 pages) Plus articles and reviews by Stephen Cox, David Gordon, Justin Raimon­ November 1988 do, and other. (12 pages) • "Taking Over the Roads," by John Semmens July 1989 • "The Search for We The Living," by R W. Bradford • "Viking Iceland: Anarchy That Worked," by David Friedman Plus articles and reviews by Walter Block, Stephen Cox, John Dentinger, • JlThe Myth of the Rights of Mental Patients," by Thomas S. Szasz James Robbins and others. (80 pages) • "Fetal Rights: The Implications," by TIbor Machan January 1989 Plus articles and reviews by R.W. Bradford, John Hospers, Jane S. Shaw, • "AIDS and the FDA," by Sandy Shaw Jeffrey Tucker, Leland Yeager and others. (80 pages) • "Property, Population and the Environment" by John Hospers • "Ronald Reagan's 'Revolution'," by William Niskanen Plus articles and reviews by Karen Shabetai, Jane Shaw, Jeffrey Tucker, Volume 3 Leland Yeager, William Wingo and others; and a short story by September 1989 Jeffrey Olson. (72 pages) • "Holocausts and the Historians," by Ralph Raico • "My Expulsion from the Rand Cult," by Murray Rothbard • "Abortion Without Absurdity," by RW. Bradford • "Libertarians and the Avant-Garde," by Richard Kostelanetz Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Loren Lomasky, Gary , North, Jeffrey Tucker and others. (72 pages) November 1989 ., "The Lost War on Drugs," by Joseph Miranda I • "Goodbye, Galactic Empire," by J. R. Dunn • IILife With (and Without) Ayn Rand," by TIbor R. Machan Plus articles and reviews by Loren Lomasky, Michael Christian, Richard I Kostelanetz, R.W. Bradford and others; and an interview with Russell Means. (12 pages) I January 1990 • liThe Greenhouse Effect: Myth or Danger?" by Patrick J. Michaels • liThe Case for Paleolibertarianism,1I by Llewelyn Rockwell I • "In Defense ofJim Baker and Zsa Zsa," by Ethan O. Waters • liThe Death of Socialism: What It Means," by R.W. Bradford, Murray Rothbard, Stephen Cox, and William P. Moulton . I Plus writing by Andrew Roller, David Gordon and others; and an inter­ view with Barbara Branden. (80 pages) March 1990 I • liThe Case Against Isolationism/' by Stephen Cox • "H.L. Mencken: Anti-Semite?" by R.W. Bradford • "Libertarian Intellectuals on Welfare," by George H. Smith I Plus articles and reviews by Sheldon Richman, Richard Kostelanetz, John Hospers, Loren Lomasky, Leland Yeager and others. (80 pages) I May 1990 Account # • "Conservativismin Its Latter Days," by William P. Moulton Signature • "A Population Crisis?" byJane S. Shaw I • "The Death ofThinking in the Schools," by Karl Hess Name • "Killing as Therapy," by Thomas Szasz Plus articles and reviews by Bill Kauffman, Richard Kostelanetz, Robert Address I Higgs, Bart Kosko, Loren Lomasky and others. (72 pages) City July 1990 I • "Conversations with Ayn Rand (part 1)," by John Hospers State __Zip Phone _ • "If You Believe in Dentistry, Why Should You Mind Having Your Liberty, Dept. B36, PO Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368 • Teeth Knocked Out?" by William P. Moulton L. ------_ .. continued on inside back cover