How Clinton's Plan Will Ruin January 1994 Vol. 7, No.2 $4.00 Your Health ~~~3« 11\------------------.. 11111\E~"G-iv-em-e-a~--at-·n-my-h-oll-ow-tr-te-.,a-c-rus-to-ifb-re-&l-a-nd-L-ib-erty-!-"::.A-!e-xa-nd-er-P-op.........e 1 o ~-----------------' Silver Coin Breakthrough! Mint State 1964 Kennedy Silver Half Dollars •• • Less than $2.00 per coinl The Kennedy Half Dollar of 1964 was the last half dollar issued for circulation by the U.S. Mint made from high grade 90% silver. As such it has been prized by investors and collectors, trading at prices as high as $13.00 each ... Today, you can buy them for as little as $1.95 per coin! Last of the Silver Coins! coin." It thus joins such famous rarities issued one year only, as On June 3, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson sent a historic the 1909 "V.D.B." Lincoln cent, the 1883 "No Cents" Liberty message to Congress: the United States would no longer mint nickel, the 1796 "Small Eagle" quarter, the 1907 "High-Relief" coins of 90% pure silver. Thirty-five years of inflation had driv- St Gaudens $20 ... all treasured by collectors as one year type en down the value of the U.S. dollar to the point ~here the coins! Treasury could not afford to make our coins ofhigh grade silver. That meant that the 1964 half dollars, featuring the new Ken­ Huge Meltdown! nedy design, would be the last u.s. half dollar of high grade sil­ The initial mintage of the 1964·Kennedy half dollar was quite ver ever issued. large, but in the silver boom of 1980, many of these high purity silver coins were melted. No one knoWs exactly how many 1964 One Year Type Coin Kennedy half dollars were melted down, but some experts esti­ As a result, the 1964 half dollar is not only the last U.S. high mate that millions were melted for their silver value. purity silver half dollar issued for circulation, but it is also a As a result, the 1964 Kennedy half dollars are much scarcer unique coin: the only Kennedy half made ofhigh purity silver. than their mintages indicate. So 1964 became the first and the last year ofhigh purity Ken­ nedy half dollars, or what numismatists call a "one year type Silver Content Each 1964 Kennedy half dollar contains 11.25 grams of sil­ r ----------Please send me the rolls of 1964 Kennedy--.-,Half Dol- ver-that's 14% more silver than the u.s. silver dollars issued in lars in Mint State condition that I have indicated be- I I Ye'S • low. I understand that every coin is in Brilliant Un- the 1970s! circulated condition. I ' I Uncirculated Bargain! 1-4 Rolls @ $46.00 each = For all these reasons the 1964 Kennedy half dollar has long I ~9 Rolls @ $44.00 each = I been treasured by collectors. So it is no wonder the 1964 Kenne­ 10--49 Rolls @ $42.00 each = dy half in Mint State condition has sold at prices as high as I I $13.00 each. The price has fallen offwith the price ofsilver, but 50 Rolls @ $40.50 each = the 1993 edition of the authoritative Guidebook olu.s. Coins (or @ I 100 Rolls $39.50 each = I U "Redbook ) lists mint state specimens at $3.25 each. I Shipping & Handling: I A few weeks ago, we had the good fortune to acquire several Total: bags of 1964 Kennedy halves in original Mint State condition. I I And we acquired them at such a bargain rate, that we can offer I NAME them to you, in beautiful Mint State rolls of 20 coins each, at I prices below $2.00 per coin! I ADDRESS I Act today! Our supply ofthe last high purity silver halfdollars CITY/STATE/ZIP is limited, and we cannot guarantee our price once that supply is I I sold. All orders will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. PHONE To reserve your purchase, call us toll-free at 1-800-321-1542. I Liberty Coin Service 300 Frandor Ave, Lansing MI 48912 I (Local residents call 351-4720; other Michigan residents call 1­ L -------------National: 1-800-321-1542 • Michigan: 1-800-933-4720 .I 800-933-4720.) Or return the coupon at left. January 1994 Inside Liberty Volume 7, Number 2 4 Letters Just in case you were in doubt: Liberty's readers like to speak out! 5 Reflections Liberty's editors on tax reform, guilty porn, utopian scorn, Hallowe'en reborn, feminists forlorn, someone to mourn, and Douglas Casey's White House sojourn. 15 Medianotes The press reports on you; we report on the press; you figure it out. 17 Elections '93 Americans go to the polls; Chester Alan Arthur sorts the votes. Features 19 First They Came for the Fascists. .. Maverick lawyer Gerry Spence tells why he defended white separatist Randy Weaver - and just how much is still at stake. 23 Midnight in Moscow When Yeltsin's struggle with the Russian parliament turned violent, Ross Overbeek was there. But the real revolution he witnessed is quiet, anonymous, and likely to tum a nation on its head. 27 NAFTA and/or Free Trade Is NAFTA a sure step toward freer trade, or just another statist scam? Fred Smith, James M. Sheehan, and Brian Doherty trade opinions, freely. 31 After the Election, Ie Deluge In their recent election, Canadians liquidated the ruling party, and placed almost as many anti-federalists in parliament as federalists. Scott J. Reid asks: is thisfinally the end ofCanada? 35 Presidential Malpractice The Clintons have finally released details of their much-hyped health plan. R. W. Bradford offers a grim diagnosis, and Stephen Cox, Jane Shaw, and Robert Higgs give the requisite second opinions. 43 Thuggery, Left and Right David Horowitz excoriates those who condemn one brand of thuggery but tolerate another. 45 The Inevitability of the Welfare State Todd Seavey makes the case for postmodem pessimism and avoiding a war with the Amish. 48 Abortion and Reproductive Technology Wendy McElroy exposes the newest enemies ofa woman's right to control her own body: radical feminists. Reviews 55 The New Conservative Welfare State Jesse Walker examines the madness ofwelfare, the welfare of the mad, and the latest right-wing apologia for big government. 63 Miles from Understanding Travelling through America's sparsely inhabited nether regions, R.W. Bradford finds one manwhohas come to terms with the American West, and another who doesn't know how to begin. 65 My Heroes Have AlWays Been Cowboys Clark Stooksbury takes an international look at the culture of firearms and the idea of gun control. Departments 68 Classified Ads The market can't equilibrate if you don't read this. 69 Notes on Contributors Who writes this stuff, anyway? 70 Terra Incognita Further portents of the approaching millennium. January 1994 lescence, I found it fitting to read that an s===========~] adolescent almost became party chair. t=======t [:==:==L=e e=======r Walter Williams noted the LP's immaturi­ ty when he told the LP convention, a few "God" is simply the name we give to this You Grow Up, Robert years back, that he would not run on the unimpeachable authority. some people What is happening to an otherwise H LP ticket unless the party stopped mas­ mistakenly think ofGod as Santa Claus intelligent publication? Robert Tinney turbating in public. or as a tyrant with a long whip, don't be ("Putting Away Childish Things," Octo­ The LP's juvenile traits include an in­ ber 1993) doesn't have to embrace my angry with them. Weep for them. They're solent groupthink conformity intolerant Christian beliefs. However, I don't expect missing out. ofdissent; an initiatory ritual to prove to have them ridiculed in a forum that Joanna Parker oneself hipper-than-thou; an uncompro­ I've generally considered to be one of the Ocean Shores, Wash. mising, one-size-fits-all solution to each final bastions of right thinking. and every complex problem of the hu­ And what is this business printing the The Party's Line Chester Alan Arthur's article about man condition; and the if-it-feels-good­ likes of 1/the f--king IRS"?! H you want to the Libertarian Party national convention say-it self-indulgence that denies respon­ be that cut above, then maintain at least . sibility beyond the self. normal literary standards. There is still in Salt Lake City ("The Oldest Estab­ lished Permanent Floating Anarchy in Symptomatic of the LP's problems is room for decency and the notion of polite the simplistic, insulting oath - in reality, company among thinking people. Salt Lake," October 1993) contained a few errors I would like to correct. an anti-takeover shark repellent. The oath As an anti-abortion Christian individ­ institutionalizes ideological intolerance. It ual-a "child of God," if you must -I The LP National Committee adopted a resolution calling for abolishing its legitimizes the "gospel gestapo" to pur­ already feel under enough attack from sue the perpetual purification inquisition. the present power clique. Would the Li­ membership pledge and current platform at its December 1992 meeting in Las Ve­ Itworks to minimize membership, cartel­ bertarians also crucify me if given the ize debate, and marginalize influence. It chance? I'd like to ask Mr Tinney to grow gas - not in Atlanta, as Mr Arthur states. Mr Arthur's description of Bill Evers is an internal contradiction casting a split up a bit himself.