Hayek

June 2008 $4.00 Lives!

"Mankind is tired ofLiberty. 1/ - Mussolini

June 2008 Inside Liberty Volume 22, Number 5

4 Letters Scribble, scribble, scribble.

7 Reflections We craft the perfect bill, snort space monkey, melt our pennies, visit the stupidest state, fawn over Lincoln, give pregnant women the boot, dodge bullets with Hillary, learn to love Big Brother, smoke easy behind the fourth wall, and remember Charlton Heston.

Features

19 A Real Party? Suddenly, everybody wants to run under the Libertarian Party banner. Bruce Ramsey watches the race.

23 The Ethics ofTort Reform Gary Jason shows how to remedy the excessive litigation that is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

Twenty Years of Liberty

29 The Liberty Poll Since its founding, Liberty has been trying to keep track of libertarians - who they are and what they think. We now present the results of the latest Liberty Poll.

46 Moral Absolutes, Truth, and Liberty Ross Overbeek revisits the survey of libertarian attitudes that he helped to create 20 years ago.

Reviews 51 Prince of Darkness or Angel of Light? For a change, as Stephen Cox discovers, a Washington insider's tell-all fulfills its promise.

55 Leave Us Alone! The Leave Us Alone Coalition: now there's a good name. Bruce Ramsey investigates the movement behind the moniker.

56 Economics for Fun & Profit Martin Morse Wooster reveals that economics is no longer the dismal science.

57 Hayek Lives The afterlife of Friedrich Hayek has been long and strong. Lanny Ebenstein investigates his posthumous influence.

59 Screwy Enough? Cary Grant, Rosalind Rusell, Thelma Ritter ... is anybody today as funny? Jo Ann Skousen reviews the evidence.

60 Cut Your Losses Todd Skousen grabs a popcorn MRE and watches Hollywood get the Iraq war wrong.

61 Teach Your Punters Well Jo Ann Skousen visits "South Pacific" and is glad to stay for the second act.

58 Notes on Contributors Our hearty crew.

63 Terra Incognita It happens. How to Letters Subscribe [ J Good Riddance fiscations by our own military? There to Buckley was evil. It's not right isn't a 2nd Amendment in Mexico or that he should be eulogized in Liberty Canada and there won't be one in the ("Death of an Icon," May). Rather, his North American Union either. II Liberti]] obituary should start with something The Tran-Texas Corridor is being like: "Buckley slouching with Judas and built as we speak despite overwhelming Quisling tonight ..." opposition by the people of Texas. Over 500,000 acres will be confiscated to build Liberty takes individual Seriously, I would think a posthu­ mous Nuremburg would be in order a highway that doesn't go to any city in freedom seriously ... and and I am openly calling for one. Texas. Our traffic-jammed cities are be­ the status quo with more Looking at the list of those that he ing loaded down with toll roads because than one grain of salt! had the gall and arrogance to purge of a phony money shortage. from the conservative movement, it is Do you ever wonder why ille­ Every issue of Liberty brings apparent that he was deliberately target­ gal aliens can open a bank account in you news you can't miss, ing those who would have insisted on a America with a matricula card that can be bought on a street corner in Mexico, opinions you won't find moral foreign policy. while a native-born American has to anywhere else, and the best I am glad that he left us - in his own hand - a rationalization for torture. jump through hoops to open an account libertarian writing in the world. at the same bank? It is because of the Let facts be submitted to a candid plan for a North American Union. When world. You won't want to the banks issue the amero to replace James D. Armstrong miss a single issue! Alamogordo, NM your collapsed dollar, please realize it won't be an accident. Remember the Amero! Dr. Paul was the only presiden­ Act Today! I read with interest Bruce Ramsey's tial candidate to even mention the Liberty offers you the best in observations on the Ron Paul campaign NAU. This was important since most individualist thinking and ("The Paul Vote," May). However, I take Americans had no idea of any such plan, writing. So don't hesitate. You exception with his suggestion that the and oppose it once they realize the im­ have nothing to lose, and the people of the Cato Institute are IIembar­ plications of what is being decided for fruits of Liberty to gain! rassed by Paul's nationalist rhetoric over them without a vote. The NAU is real. One doesn't have to be a fierce national­ Use the coupon below or call: the supposed North American Union." It isn't nationalist rhetoric to realize ist to be concerned about it. 1-800-854-6991 that our Constitution is being overrid­ Jimmy Gardner den by executive agreements such as Austin, TX the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Ramsey responds: The correspondent p------­Please enter my subscription The Canadian prime minister and the to Liberty immediately! throws in a lot of issues that seem to in­ president of Mexico have publicly ad­ dicate the existence of something, but it o One Year - $29.50 mitted that the overall plan is to merge is not a "North American Union." o Two Years - $56.00 our economies. Our president denies (u.S. prices only. To Mexico and Canada, subscrip­ First, the so-called NAFTA super­ tions are $39.50 per year; to other countries, $59.00.) this. We all know he wouldn't lie to us highway: there are already several that to further the interests of big banks and connect the United States, Canada, and corporations, right? Mexico. I live by one of them: Interstate If there is no plan for a North 5, which runs from Tijuana to the border address AmericanUnionthenwhywere Mexican nearVancouver. 1-5 wasbuiltin the 1960s troops mobilized to New Orleans to and replaced the older US-99, which was city state zip "help" with the martial law that was im­ built in the 1930s. It is not a threat to sov­ posed after Hurricane Katrina - martial ereignty, and I doubt if another highway phone number law that involved door-to-door gun con- across Texas is.

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I also live under NAFTA. In the past tion flatly denies it is working toward a most interesting question in my almost 15 years I have seen a modest increase North American Union. U.s. Trade Rep. six decades of life. in the number of goods that say uMade Susan Schwab said so to my face. All Harrison has to do is say the in Canada" and uMade in Mexico," but And yet the New American keeps magic word U conspiracy theory" and I don't object to them. Companies in my tooting the horn about this uNorth supposedly that settles the argument. hometown, Seattle, are doing a lot more American Union" and a supposed new Aren't libertarians suspicious of gov­ business in Canada, particularly, than North American currency, the amero, ernment power, don't we suspect many they used to. I recently talked to one that that will replace the U.s. dollar, the criminal conspiracies are going on in remanufactures large diesel engines for Canadian dollar, and the peso. Not that government, don'twe take Lord Acton the Alberta oil-sands industry. I also live I'm feeling protective of the u.s. dollar seriously about the corrupting influence near a Nucor steel plant that sells into just now. But the abandonment of the of power? British Columbia. These things do not dollar would take a majority vote by To analyze his attitude I think we bother me. I think they are good. both houses of Congress and the signa­ have to look at this as a religious ques­ The John Birch Society has raised the ture of the president, or else two-thirds tion. When he says "conspiracist" what alarm over the "Security and Prosperity votes of both houses, and that has about he's really saying is uheretics" engaging Partnership." What is it? It is a large as much chance of happening as a gold in blasphemy and sacrilege against the name for a limited thing. It is a PR man's standard under a President Ron Paul. "American Nationalist Faith" as truther puffball name for political cooperation The Truther Will Set You Free theologian David Ray Griffin calls it. This is why so many Americans on limited subjects. NAFTA is deeper I am one of those "conspiracists" are impervious to reason and evidence and more definite than SPP, but is about Jon Harrison mentions in uPrelude to about 9/11, they're intellectually degen­ the economy only. It is an agreement to Disaster" (April). I don't "believe" 9/11 erate and have spastic brains. coordinate our sovereignties on certain was an "inside job" of some kind. I matters relating to trade and investment. uknow" it was. Dr. Dan O'Connell LaSalle,IL Legally it is not a treaty - at least, not I'm not smart enough to have fig­ in the U.S. - and is not coequal with ured that out immediately, I was only The Best We've Got the Constitution. Above both the SPP suspicious at first but as vast amounts of Jon Harrison has honored me by and NAFTA is the lack of any political information have gradually come out I his response (Letters, March). I. cannot demand, in Canada, Mexico, or the U.S., think it's been proven beyond a reason­ match his rhetorical skills. However, I for a surrender of sovereignty anything able or even an unreasonable doubt. wish to raise one small point. like the EU. None. The Bush administra- This is the "mother" of all issues, the Harrison mentions the death in Israel of Rachel Corrie. This brings to my mind another beautiful American, From the Editor Marla Bennett. She was in the cafeteria Suppose you stroll into your local fast-food outlet, sidle up to the counter, and at Hebrew University when a suicide bespeak a hamburg and fries. "$2.59," says the waitperson. You slap three bucks bomber chose to detonate a charge of ex­ down on the counter, and - nothing. Nothing happens. The guy just looks back plosives in that same cafeteria. I am sorry on you. "Have a nice day," he says. to say that Ms. Bennett is not the only American citizen to die a violent death "Where's my hamburger?" you say. in Israel - at the hands of its enemies. "I never promised you a hamburger," he replies. As an American, should these deaths "I gave you money," you say. "Give me my burger." not also concern me? "Make me," he says. I believe it was Winston Churchill Clearly, this isn't the way things go in normal, civilized society, because this who said that democracy is not a perfect society works by contract and agreement, not by force. It's understood that the form of government, but it is better than acceptance ofmoney means the acceptance ofan obligation to provide the speci­ any other form of government currently fied goods. Nobody has to proffer money; nobody has to offer goods. But ifyou in existence. Neither the United States take my money, you will absolutely, positively, give me the goods 1 indicated - no nor the Israeli government is perfect, but more, no less. for all their faults, they are both democ­ A lot ofpeople - politicians, mainly - think that contract society should be racies. As such, perhaps they hold some replaced by command society, a society in which Leaders provide plans and orders, legitimate interests in common. and you must provide obedience. Ofcourse, the plans are never fulfilled, but at W. Luther Jett least you have the orders. Washington Grove, MD Libertarians always prefer contract to command. It's fine with us ifyou don't want to fork over your money to buy this issue ofLiberty. But ifyou do, you know Just Another Foreign Country? Jon Harrison reveals himself a little you're going to get something in return. You're going to get the best we have to of­ too clearly for my taste in the closing fer. Our best takes many forms, but one ofthem is our delight in a free society, and words of his response to W. Luther Jett our interest in showing how it works. in the March letters column. He asserts: Want to buy some? ulsrael is just another foreign coun­ For Liberty, try to me. ... Given that the Israelis .-S:P.--- ~ killed a beautiful American girl, Rachel Stephen Cox Liberty 5 Corrie, not to mention 34 sailors on lobby. Bush family friend and adviser About the USS Liberty, I think my attitude is James Baker's insistence that Arab des­ charitable." potisms be appeased at Israel's expense For readers unfamiliar with his ref­ is evidence of Saudi success. It is tell­ lOur erences: Rachel Corrie, an American, ing to see the Israeli lobby receive such protester, was crushed after sitting in bombast and venom from Israel's critics front of an armored bulldozer operated while other interest groups and foreign by the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza influence peddlers are treated as just ac­ Subscription during the Intifada in March 2003. By tors in a political drama. allaccounts, the bulldozer was occupied Don Kenner Q: When does my subscription expire? in clearing brush. Harrison's descrip­ Georgetown, TX A: Please look to the right ofyour name tion of Corrie as "beautiful" can serve Harrison responds: I thank Mr. Jett for on your mailing label. There you no purpose but to push emotional but­ his courtesy, and for continuing the dia­ will find (except in some cases when tons. His failure to describe the factual logue. I cannot agree with him that the receiving your first issue) the number circumstances of her death - or to men­ U.S. and Israel share common interests ofissues left in your subscription, tion the considerable testimony that the because we are both democracies. The followed by the word "left," as in "3 bulldozer operator may not have seen United States has only one interest in the LEFT." her - leaves a reader to infer the death Middle East: access to the region's oil. was deliberate. Our relationship with Israel is an imped­ Q: I've moved. How do I change the The USS Liberty was attacked by iment to that access. In that sense, Israel address to which my magazines are Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats dur­ is an albatross around our necks. sent? ing wartime in 1967 - 41 years ago. The other two gentlemen, frankly, A: Write us at the postal or email ad­ The controversy over the incident is have nothing of interest to say. I will dresses below. Be sure to include widely published and must be known mention that there is good reason to your previous address, your new to Harrison. But again, there's no sug­ believe Rachel Corrie was killed delib­ address, and a telephone number or gestion that the attack could have been erately, and that there is every reason email address where we can reach anything but deliberate. In both instanc­ to believe the attack on the Liberty was you ifwe have questions. It's best to es, Harrison states "the Israelis killed" deliberate. I will refrain from present­ send us your current label and your - a term that refers to the collective. ing the evidence for the simple reason new address. Allow 4-6 weeks to I'm afraid Israel is not "just another that partisans of Israel never, ever will begin receiving Liberty at your new foreign country" to Jon Harrison. He accept facts that show that nation in its address. considers his attitude charitable. A more true light. candid description would be "virulent." Let me say again that my concern is Q: How can I buy gift subscriptions for John C. Boland for the American people and their inter­ friends and family? Baltimore, MD ests. Israel is a foreign country. I myself A: Call the toll-free number below. Arabian Knights am of English descent. However, I don't We'll be happy to assist you. I was amused to read Jon Harrison's waste a moment of my time worrying conspiracy-laden fantasy about a pro­ about Britain and its people. Q: Is Liberty on the Web? Israel cabal pushing the poor, helpless Let me say, finally, that it is not that A: Yes. Selected articles from each is­ U.S. into war. The tired, overused social­ I'm pro-Arab. Nothing would please me sue are published online. Visit our ist slanders of Israel were dressed up more than to see America turn its back to website at libertyunbound.com. in a thin veneer of pseudo-libertarian the wretched Middle East and its peoples language. - both Arabs and Israelis. If tomorrow Q: Is an electronic version ofLiberty In reality Israel is subject to the same the earth swallowed up the entire re­ available? strongarm tactics that other allies receive gion from Morocco to the Persian Gulf, I A: You may receive Liberty convenient­ when it comes to toeing the line of U.s. would wonder at it, but shed not a tear. ly by email each month, in PDF foreign policy. This is why democratic format, either instead ofyour paper Israel had to sit down with terrorist Letters to the editor subscription or (for a nominal fee) mass murderers at Oslo and Annapolis; in addition to it. Call or email us for finance, fuel, feed, and give emergency Liberty invites readers to comment on assistance. medical attention to Palestinian-Arabs articles that have appeared in our pages. whose fondest wish is to drive every We reserve the right to editfor length and clarity. All letters are assumed to be in­ Jew into the sea; and finally - at the in­ tended for publication unless otherwise To subscribe, renew, or ask sistence of Condi Rice and the Bushies stated. Succinct letters are preferred. questions about your subscription - kick Jews out of their homes in yet Please include your address and phone another failed land-for-peace deal that number so that we can verify your iden­ E-mail: [email protected] only resulted in Hamas rocket launchers tity. Send email to: Write: Liberty Circulation, P.O. Box 1181, being moved closer to Tel Aviv. Port Townsend, WA 98368 The truth is that Saudi Arabia has as [email protected] Call toll-free: (800) 854-6991 during much influence and spends more mon­ Or mail to Liberty Letters, P.O. Box regular West Coast business hours ey on lobbying efforts than the Israeli 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368. Outside the U.S., call: (360) 379-8421 He has a dream - I can't help butnotice that some of the legislature will have an excuse to claim they have to raise the charges leveled against Obama pal Rev. Jeremiah Wright taxes to pay for it. were almostidenticalinnatureto thecharges madeagainstcer­ It is, in short, the perfect bill. - Mark Rand tain groups who supported Dr. Ron Paul. As I watched Obama Free trade to the fore McCain and the two try to explainhis relationship withtheReverend, I wondered if Democratic candidates seem to share many views, a fact that Dr. Paul would have been praised for a similar speech. Would has caused the conservative talkerati to go ballistic. But one he have been let off the hook if he claimed to understand the difference is already crystal clear: the Democrats intend to run frustration of white separatists and declared himself the only on a protectionist platform, whereas McCain has staunchly man running who could truly heal that divide? - Tim Slagle favored free trade. Labour vs. women in labor - Obama: are Clinton and Obama have been trying to outdo each other you listening? More than four out of ten maternity units in with protectionist rhetoric. Clinton, whose husband - oops, Britain are turning away women in labor. With no Tories co-president - signed into law NAFTA and the WTO, has to blame, the National Health Service bureaucrats are, of called for a moratorium on any new free trade agreements course, opting to stress the bright side. According to the (FTAs). In particular, she has come out in vociferous opposi­ London Daily Mail (March 20), a cold-blooded spokesman tion to the recently negotiated FTA with South Korea, as well for the NHS has pontificated that "it is difficult to predict as the FTA with Colombia, negotiated quite some time back precisely when a mother will go into labour and sometimes, and stalled in the Dem-controlled Congress. at times of peak demand, maternity units do temporarily Obama also came out against the Korea FTA (after cutting divert women to nearby facilities. When this does happen a deal with the Teamsters' union for its support), and hasn't it is often only for a few hours and to ensure mother and supported the Colombia FTA, but he has gone further. He has baby can receive the best care possible." - David T. Beito bashed NAFTA as having cost a million jobs, called for us to Race to the bottom - AOL ran an interactive withdraw from it (while giving back-channel reassurance to poll on March 31. Next to an enraged Canadian gov­ three pictures - of Obama, ernment), and sent out fliers Clinton, and McCain ­ attacking Clinton for having there were three blanks, supported it when she was numbered 1, 2, and 3. You co-president. were asked which candi­ Both Obama and date would make the best Clinton are sponsoring the president. grotesquely named "Patriot There was some sort Employers' Act," under of bug in the program, which companies who "vol­ though. No matter how untarily" agree to a number much I tried, I couldn't of union-backed policies place all three candidates in (including paying a higher the #3 box. - Ross Levatter minimum wage, setting up Win-win The retirement programs for all Washington state House of employees, and covering Representatives recently 600/0 of their health care pre­ amended Senate Bill 6809, miums) would have their which creates a sales-tax corporate taxes reduced. break for low-income fam­ McCain has sup- ilies. Under the amended "The meaning oflife? - Do you have a need to know?" ported all these FTAs terms, the bill must be and many others as well, approved or declined anew earning him a 100% rat- with each budget. (The state, of course, has droit du seigneur, if ing from the Cato Trade Center as well as a recent com­ not ius primae noctis.) mendation from the Club for Growth. - Gary Jason The budget will always have room for a committee, with expense accounts, to "study the issue." The legislators will One flew over the East Wing - News story always have time to prattle about the great work they're doing leads don't get better than this, from the AP wire on March for "disadvantaged families." And best of all, every two years 25: "Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday she made a

Liberty 7 June 2008

mistake in claiming that she came under hostile fire in Bosnia In any context but Clintonian politics, someone who mistakes 12 years ago...." a welcoming committee for an attacking platoon of soldiers Perhaps bullets whizzed overhead, nearly killing Clinton might be regarded as having a paranoid psychosis. and her daughter, or perhaps not. It is an easy mistake: when You may have heard Sen. Clinton tell an audience, in an you stopped to buy a quart of milk yesterday, did you nar­ affected Southern drawl, "We have to stay awake! ... On rowly survive a mortar attack on your way out of the grocery this Lord's day, let us say with one voice the words of James store? Surely you can't answer in the negative with complete Cleveland's great freedom hymn: 'I don't feel no ways tired!' " confidence. Especially if you were sleepy! That was on March 4,2007. As Sen. Clinton was then already You see, Clinton said that more important than her trifling preoccupied with staying awake, and did not yet feel no ways confusion about bullets in Bosnia "is whether she would be a tired, we may assume that she wouldhave remembered events better commander in chief than Obama or Republican presi­ in Bosnia correctly on or before that date. One year later, the dential candidate John McCain.... She told the Pittsburgh campaign has worn her down. Tribune-Review: 'I was sleep-deprived, and I misspoke.'" Another angle about this thing bothers me. Ron Paul That is an unfortunat~explanation from the womanwhose couldn't catch a break when he was linked with bigoted campaign ran a commercial asking which candidate is best things printed in his old newsletters. Despite Paul's repudia­ prepared to answer a phone ringing in the White House in tion of the newsletter clippings in the strongest terms - and a the middle of the night. Never mind the question of who is record of many years in which he'd never acted as though he best qualified to command more than a million active-duty believed the things the newsletters said - his critics offered military personnel and take possession of the nuclear football. them as proof that he was unfit for the presidency. Word Watch by Stephen Cox

Some are born foolish, some achieve folly, and others have ising political career to the nadir ofa shocking sex scandal came as folly thrust upon them. This column has folly thrust upon it. no surprise Wednesday [thank God; there's a concrete term] as the So do you, ifyou care about words. Every visit to Google bright, bull-headed governor announced his resignation, effective News, the TV news, the Newsweek news, or any other kind of Monday [there's another one], under bloating pressure from state news is a banquet ofbumbles, a ten-course dinner ofbizarre locu­ lawmakers and the public." tions. And friends are always happy to show up, bearing take-out "No surprise"? I think anyone would be surprised to see a food. glowing man with the head ofa bull tumbling from the highest Here's Paul Beroza, who has served me many meals ofthis point in his orbit, falling in tumult because a lot ofother people kind, with a weird little dish from The New York Times (March got all bloated up, somehow, and pressed him out ofhis ... orbit. 16). I hope you aren't offended by the fact that it has to do with That's what the report says, but apparently this is another case of one ofthe Democratic superdelegates. These people, hitherto someone not really knowing what his own words say. wholly unknown to the general population, or even to The New Paul assured me that he wasn't "going to get into a tumultuous York Times, have recently become the most hated figures on the tumble about it," but he did wonder "how many times a disgraced continent, the only race that is forced to provide reasons for its Republican is referred to as 'bright.'" The answer is: no times, very existence (and the reasons are never good enough). Their very never. Had Spitzer been a Republican, he would have been the name inspires disgust and fear. Soon it will be unprintable. abrasive political figure who has once more been implicated in Nevertheless, even superdelegates are allowed to whine. That's unethical behavior. Which would, ofcourse, have been true. what one ofthese demons in the human form, "an uncommit­ Ah, but think ofeverything you can do with words when ted superdelegate from Iowa," was doing when, according to the you just don't care what you're saying! Here's an item chosen Times, he, she, or it characterized the struggle for power in the more or less at random from the Obama propaganda ... I mean Democratic Party as "everybody's worse [sic] nightmare come to news reporting. It's an article in the International Herald Tribune fruition." (March 19). The headline is -I swear to God, this is the truth Well, at least there could still be something worst. But the - "Obama Speech Captivates Americans." thing that piqued Paul's curiosity was what the guy had in mind Captivates. What does that mean? The dictionary definition is when he pictured a nightmare growing, blooming, and eventually to "capture by special charm or beauty; enrapture." So is that what coming to fruition. Is that what nightmares do? happened? Have "Americans," universally, or even on the whole, No, they don't; not even in Iowa. Not even in a political party. been sucked into a state of rapture by the charm or beauty ofone What we have here is a classic example ofa person who doesn't ofObama's speeches? know what he's saying. The oration in question was the one in which the candidate Here's another one, also delivered by Paul, in a little banged­ tried to divert criticism ofhis pastor's paranoid anti-Americanism up car with a "Word Watch" sign on its roof. This take-out is from and radical leftism - his identification of the Supreme Court CBS News: with the Knights ofthe Ku Klux Klan, his complaints about the "Eliot Spitzer's tumultuous tumble from the zenith ofa prom- U.S. government's having invented AIDS in order to exterminate June 2008

The sticking pointwas notnecessarily the things published being tired makes her stupid about matters of life and death? under his name, but that he could not or would not provide an - Patrick Quealy explanation of how they came to be published. That is a fair It never fails: every year, round and necessary criticism. (One plausible hypothesis is that Lew Doing Kermit - about spring break, an article appears in newspapers across Rockwell wrote most of the bad stuff, but Rockwell denies it. IfRockwell is the author, Paul has chosen to fall on his sword the land - and, though the dateline might change, though for his former employee.) Enemies of laissez faire were quick the words may be slightly different, it is the same article every to embrace the "Angry White Man" image portrayed by James time. Parents! Your children are whacked out on this drug! Kirchick in the New Republic. One wonders whether the left­ Right this minute! Check the garage! ists among them will now recant everything they said about The article includes, in various permutations, the follow­ Ron Paul being an unsuitable candidate, or whether they will ing elements: one, an anecdote of dubious provenance about declare Clinton unsuitable. how the substance in question is responsible for killing or Which, after all, is a more incredible claim: that Ron seriously injuring some teenager who, apart from its nefari­ Paul didn't read his newsletter, or that Hillary Clinton for­ ous effects, would surely have gone on to be, at the very least, got whether she and her daughter were nearly killed? And Supreme Court ChiefJustice; two, a statement from a sheriff's if Clinton's excuse is unbelievable (as it is), which is worse: a deputy or other low-ranking governmental official about how politician of such loyalty and character that he won't throw this anecdotal evidence is /Ionly the tip of the iceberg"; three,

an old friend under the bus, even at the cost of his candi­ a list of /Istreet names" for the drug that have never been used dacy, or a lying, power-mad senator whose excuse is that by anyone under 35; four, a list of signs you - yes, you! - can

black people, his contradictory contention that the U.S. economy cause there's nothing to know. Hence, anything that his supporters depends on the exploitation ofblack people, his reference to black say in praise ofhis rhetorical efforts is itself pure rhetoric, wholly person Condoleezza Rice as "Condosleezza Rice" - by compar­ devoid ofsubstance.. ing the "Reverend's" comments to one made by Obama's white But I must admit that Obama is far, far from the worst in­ grandmother, "a woman who once confessed her fear ofblack men stance ofnot knowing what you're saying. How about the Los An­ who passed by her on the street." geles City Council, which on April Fools Day (but not with ironic According to the Herald Tribune's report, this is the speech intent) passed a resolution calling on denizens ofthe city to spend that the Washington Post called "an extraordinary moment of 40 hours, beginning on April 4, the anniversary ofMartin Luther truth-telling," that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer called "one of the King's assassination, "promot[ing] peace" rather than murdering most important ofthis century," that the London Daily Telegraph one another. It was a moratorium on crime - how about that for called "a spellbinding display ofrhetorical brilliance," and that a meaningless verbiage? more critical source, a Republican, still managed to call an "excel­ The council's words were so grossly meaningless that a former lent and important speech on race in America." Barack's Excellent director of the city's Human Relations commission commented, Adventure - and precisely the kind ofcompliments that can archly, ''I'm sure that the people who are doing the killing [gang only be paid when adjectives no longer care what nouns they get members, rather than disciples of Dr. King] will hear that the attached to. council is calling for a moratorium and then cease and desist." To The last edition ofthis column promised that it would not which one councilman replied, "That's the kind ofattitude that spend the whole of2008 identifying the verbal errors of this year's Martin Luther King had to step over and step across in order to presidential candidates. All right; I acknowledge that commitment. get the job done." But Obama is an irresistible target. It's true; the other candidates No. King had to step over a lot ofreal things. are awful, too. McCain talks like a cranky old goat; I mean, he ac­ But this just shows you what happens when somebody points tually has the voice ofa goat, and he actually appears to be mad all out that somebody else doesn't know what he's saying. The result the time. And Hillary screeches like a fishwife. Yet even their most is that the other person just keeps proving the point. Yet there's a fervent supporters recognize these defects. They laugh about them. cloud ofunknowing even deeper than that. Obama is a bigger danger to the national sanity. He's a much bet­ This one is funny. Detroit, in case you didn't know, has a ter politician; in fact, he's the archetypal American politician - a mayor named Kwame Kilpatrick, who seems to have devoted his person who continuously convinces other people to blather about political career to auditioning for the part ofthe bungling mayor his blather. in "His Girl Friday." He's now under indictment, and everyone Originally, ofcourse, Obama must have been blathered to. hopes he'll resign, which so far he has refused to do. So Detroit Someone persuaded him (although this wouldn't have been hard to City Council President Ken Cockrel came up with a "transition" do) that he had a Message for the People. Since he was, by nature, plan in case His Honor leaves and Cockrel is forced to succeed a self-righteous windbag, this Message turned out to be little more him. Here's what Cockrel said, according to the Detroit Free Press than an endlessly repeated Story ofMy Own Life. Thenceforth, (good name, lousy paper): throughout Obama's long, dreary trek toward the White House, he "Even prior to becoming council president, the idea ofifthe peddled the same message, ten times daily, in the form ofspeeches unexpected should happen is something that I had started think­ that cannot be summarized, because they are devoid ofcontent ing about and began to draw up something probably approximat­ - devoid ofknowledge, logic, observation, elegance, pathos, ing a rough plan." genuine self-reflection, or even deep and sharp offensiveness. He We peel and peel, and eventually we find ourselves at the heart literally doesn't know what he's saying: no one could know it, be- ofthe onion - nothing real but the odor. June 2008 look for to see if your kids - yes, your kids! - are partak­ illegal, kids start looking around for other drugs they can buy ing; and fifth, a list of the drug's supposedly mindblowing legally. This is just the next one." effects, to ensure that, if your kids for some reason aren't huff­ Keep plugging away, Mary. You11 get 'em yet. ing, snorting, popping, chugging, blasting, or mainlining ~he - Andrew Ferguson drug, they11 start doing so just as soon as they read that artIcle According to N~ture, a (or hear about it secondhand, at even greater exaggeration). Bonnie prince collie -:- recent "study might help to explaIn the money-grabbIng ten­ An example, from the Washington Post. This one has dencies of those with a Machiavellian streak - from national killed "82 youths since 1995"; including a 13-year-old girl and dictators downto 'little Hitlers' found inworkplaces the world a 13-year-old boy. The number per year has been tailing off over. Researchers atthe HebrewUniversityinJerusalem found but, says Robin L. Toblin, of the National Center for Injury a link between a gene called AVPR1a and ruthless behaviour Prevention and Control at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ..." Apparently the length of this gene will determine whether and Prevention (note that, among all those words, there's no a person has a propensity to tyrannic behavior. If the gene is title, only an "of"), "It's not known whether fewer children shorter, there is more chance. It doesn't surprise me, because are undertaking the activity or fewer media are reporting." it has always seemed that the tyrants I've known have been Children killing themselves through hazardous behavior? dealing with issues of shortness. The media would never report that! It's a blackout! which, Since the behavior is genetic, it could explain why certain coincidentally, is one of the street names, along with "scarf families become attracted to public "service." Families like game" and "space monkey." The symptoms include "blood­ the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, the Gores, and the Bushes shot eyes, severe headaches, and disorientation after spend­ have long histories of going into public service. Is it possible ing time alone," which could also mean you're yelling at your that they are just genetically predisposed to ordering people kid while he's shaking off a migraine. But then, of course, he around? wouldn't just have gotten the "cool and dreamy feeling" that Many people will buy a collie for their families, because Toblin assures us accompanies - go on, guess - the super­ of the legendary intelligence, the silky hair, and the irresist­ cool activity of choking himself. ible faces these beautiful dogs possess. Of course people for­ Now, this article is a bit of an anomaly, since there is one get that these dogs were originally bred to herd sheep. Even component missing. The language of the drug scare may though some of these dogs have been away from sheep farms have become pervasive enough that asphyxiation can be pre­ for many generations, the instinct to herd sheep is still de~p sented like inhalant abuse, but as there's not actually a sub­ within their genetic code. Collies aren't always good WIth stance involved, there's nothing in particular to be banned. groups of children, because sometimes that genet~c memory And without that, there's a lot of legislators left without a will kick in, and the dogs will instinctively start tryIng to herd grandstand. a birthday party. Fortunately for them, there's another terrifying substance Now it seems that there is a similar genetic predisposi­ making the rounds - "the new marijuana," even: salvia divi­ tion to herding within certain humans as well. Perhaps there norum. It has, of course, contributed to the suicide of a teen was a wisdom in the ancient practice of killing the entire fam­ in Delaware (contributed, since none was found in his system ily of a deposed monarch. It is also an adequate warni~g for at autopsy); and, as Mike Strain, Louisiana's Agriculture and people who let their monarchies hang around the fnnges Forestry Commissioner and former legislator, notes, that's of governments like purebred show pets, as is the policy in enough to ban it: "You save one child and it's worth it." England. Just as you will never be able to breed the shepherd The article (this one from something called the Treasure out of the collie, people like Prince Charles will always harbor Coast Palm) adds: "Called nicknames like Sally-D, Magic Mint an irresistible urge to nip at the heels of some disrespectful and Diviner's Sage, salvia is a hallucinogen that gives users peasants. an out-of-body sense of traveling through time and space or And much like the inability of a collie to distinguish merging with inanimate objects." It's a description that could sheep from a birthday party, I think Prince Charles often be applied to any hallucinatory drug; as if, failing to find ~ut confuses free men for peasants. Perhaps this was his moti­ anything more specific, the writer fell back on the advertIse­ vation for getting behind the Global Warming movement. ments - Fly through space! Experience immortality! - circu­ Being in charge of energy distribution would.give this dis­ lated by online sellers of the drug. placed tyrant an opportunity to rule once again. - Tim Slagle No. If drugs could be said to have personalities (bear with me here), salvia would be a prankster. It's the black sheep of The copper standard - I read in The New York the hallucinogen family: first-time users, even fifth-time users, Times that the copper content of the penny - the pre-1982 might get nothing, and the next time be completely .inca~~ci­ ones, which were 950/0 copper - makes them now worth tated. The main benefit of marijuana is its utter predIctabIlIty; about two cents. Somebody, I suppose, will start pulling them as Stan's dad said on one of South Park's many great drug out to be melted, as the 900/0 silver dimes, quarters, and halves episodes, pot "makes you feel fine with being bored." Salvia I remember from my youth were pulled out in the late 1960s. is extremely unpredictable; anyone thinking of using it as a The American dollar, which used to be as good as gold, and substitute for marijuana is likely to think that only once. in my youth was as good as silver, is now expressed in paper, Of course, no one ever thinks to ask whether children clad copper, nickel, and zinc. . would even bother with this "new marijuana" if the old stuff I am not as convinced as some libertarians that a gold COIn were legal. No, instead we get the likes of Florida state Rep. standard is a problem-free idea. There were panics and resent­ Mary Brandenburg, saying: "As soon as we make one drug ments when we had it, and the supporters today tend to brush

10 Liberty June 2008 over them. But using precious metals was surely a fine way to despite the fact that homeschooled children perform well on ensure that money remained valuable, and that itfelt valuable. standardized tests, and the fact that a teaching credential is Recently I put a ten-dollar gold piece in my son's hand, and meaningless as an indicator of teaching competence. he said: "That's heavy." Gold has heft. So does silver. It feels The second bad reminder was a report in The Wall Street good. Even the copper penny was substantial in comparison Journal by Sara Murray (March 3) summarizing a study just to the 97.5% zinc ones, which weigh 20% less, and feel almost out by economists Eric Hanushek of Stanford and Ludger like the aluminum slugs they used in East Germany. Woessmann of the University of Munich. They have esti­ Modern American currency is not only reduced in value. It mated the costs to our economy of our continuing medioc­ looks cheap. The new paper money looks like it was designed rity in science and math education. They estimate that had by treasurybureaucrats. The coins look and feel cheap, and the the United States, over the last 20 years, raised its K-12 edu­ designs - the Lincoln Memorial cent, the Jefferson nickel, the cationallevel in math and science to that of Finland, Hong Roosevelt dimeandtheWashingtonquarter - all areinferiorto Kong, and South Korea, our GDP today would be 2% higher the designs that preceded them. The new coins that have come than it is, and would be fully 4.50/0 higher by 2015. out in my adult lifetime - the Eisenhower dollar, the Susan Murray makes two points, one to which there is no reply, B. Anthony dollar, the Sacajawea dollar, the new Jefferson nickels, and now the John Adams dollars, etc., - are all hid­ eous. These new "golden" dollar coins remind me of Chuck E. Cheese tokens. - Bruce Ramsey The chauvinism gap - Two recent events reminded me of the curse that the near-monopolistic public school system is for education in America. First was the sickening ruling by the California Court of Appeals on February 28, holding that home school­ ing is illegal in the state of California, unless the parents have teaching cre­ dentials. The court warned parents who don't comply that the juvenile courts have the power to remove home­ schooled children from their parents, or jail those parents. Even the state's cas­ trated Governor Schwarzenegger called the ruling "outrageous." Justice H. Walter Croskey, whowrote the decision, had the temerity to claim that "a primary purpose of the educa­ tional system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loy­ alty to the state and the nation as the means of protecting the public welfare." What fascistic fatuity! The purpose of an educational system is to educate. And the primary reason why so many people homeschool their kids or send them to private and charter schools is that man­ ifestly most public schools are doing such a miserable job of education. Rather than go for the obvious solu­ tion - Le., liberating children trapped in failing public schools by mandating vouchers or some other mechanism for implementing free consumer choice in education - the state education appa­ ratus uses dictatorial judges such as Croskey to force hapless parents to send their kids to failing schools. This, June 2008 the other to which there is an obvious one. Her first point is hormones may be raging a tad too much. Fine - an all-girls that this study supports the notion that the U.S. approach of school might just do the job. A third child might want noth­ shoveling ever-increasing amounts of money into the bur­ ing more than to focus on his studies, butis surrounded by geoning maw of the public education monopoly, hoping to peers who only value sports, social activities, or fighting. Fine see improvement of results, is wrong-headed at best and seri­ - perhaps a school that specializes in arts or science will be ously delusional at worst. She doesn't note the figures, but all the place for him. Or maybe the best thing for the kid is home the school systems that outperform ours spend far less per school - unless, heaven forbid, patriotism should be instilled capita on education than we do already. Nor does she note in the poor child! that since the famous "Nation at Risk" study a quarter of a The obvious solution is free choice for the consumers of century ago, which warned us of the failure of the American education - all of them, not just the wealthy. Let the force public K-12 system, we dramatically increased our spending, of competition enforce quality, and allow different tem­ but the results have been a flat educational performance level, plates for different children. This obvious solution is - natu­ with virtually no improvement. rally - not mentioned in the article just cited. - Gary Jason Murray's second point is that experts don't agree on how to improve this lousy educational system. Should we have sci­ The Clinton money trail - After much delay, entists, mathematicians, and teachers - with theirimpressive Hillary Clinton finally made her (and her husband, the former teaching credentials - create national standards for schools president's) federal tax returns public. to meet? Or will this justencourage "teaching to the test?" To be specific, the Clintons have released their returns To all this there is an easy reply. Schools fail kids and kids for the years 2000 through 2006 and a note stating that they fail to learn for a host of reasons, including lousy teaching, have sought an extension for their 2007 return. In 2000, while insufficient discipline, toxic peer groups, and so on. There is Bill Clinton was still president, their household income was no way some panel of experts can devise a universal template approximately $357,000; most of that came from his salary for instruction that will do the job. No, what is needed is a free and they qualified for a $3,000 refund from the federal income market in schools. taxes withheld from his pay. She reported a modest income All parents should have the power to choose a school that from work as an attorney; they had a few thousand dollars meets their children's needs. One child may really need dis­ in taxable income from interest and investments. The form of cipline - in which case a military school may be the place their return was pretty simple - and it was prepared by an to send him (and it usually is a him). Another may really accounting firm in Rockville, Md. need to not be around members of the opposite sex - her In short, their finances looked like those of most families The Liberty Editors Conference 2008 in conjunction with FreedomFest 2008 in Las Vegas The world's largest gathering offree minds! In 2004, at our conference held in conjunction with FreedomFest, Liberty's editors spoke to standing room only crowds. We're doing it again! Full details on page 22 To register, call Preparations are underway for the most exciting libertarian event 1-866-266-5101

of the year. With one low admission price, you1l be registered to: We have secured an extension of the 1/early • Attend talks by Doug Casey, David Friedman, Gary Jason, bird" rate of $395 per person ($595 per couple) Charles Murray, Randal O'Toole, Bruce Ramsey, Jo Ann Skousen, until May 1, for Liberty readers only. To get this and other friends of Liberty. special Liberty rate, be sure to mention when you call that you are signing up through Liberty. • Witness the big debate: Christopher Hitchens and Dinesh After May 1, the price goes up to $495 per person D'Souza take off the gloves in an explosive debate on religion, ($795 per couple). politics, and war. Rooms are only $97 a night at Bally's Hotel & • Dine at the sumptuous Saturday night banquet. Casino, located right in the heart of the Las Vegas • Talk and shop with an expected IOO-plus exhibitors. strip. • Enjoy the company of hundreds of other freedom-loving In order to keep rates as low as possible, cancellations must be attendees! received in writing no later than June 15, 2008 for a refund. July 10-12, 2008 • Bally's/Paris Resort June 2008 on the upper edge of the middle class. rate (or no tax at all) on all capital gains. As soon as Bill Clinton left office, their returns changed. Currently, with the economy in recession, Vermont is wor­ For 2001, they reported a household income of more than ried about running a budget deficit. A proposal was taken up $15 million. In 2002 and 2003, their annual household income in the legislature to "close the capital gains tax loophole" by dipped under $10 million; since 2004, it has stayed in the $15 taxing Vermont gains at the less favorable out-of-state rate. to $20 million range. They also moved their tax work from the This would have raised $21 million (real money in a state as Md.-based accountants to the high-powered law firm Hogan small as Vermont). and Hartson. Fortunately, the idea didn't have enough votes behind it, The overwhelming majority of this income is reported on and the proposal was tabled. However, the Democrat leader­ Bill Clinton's Schedule C, from his business in "Speaking and ship in the legislature stated that the proposal would be intro­ Writing." This is a significant change. Middle-class people duced again in the next session, if the economy worsened and (even those on the upper end of middle class) have income state government needed the money. taxes withheld from salaries; wealthy people have K-1s and If the economy gets worse, we'll raise taxes. Just how stu­ Schedule C's. pid is that? Some critics emphasize the shadiness of Bill's business Raising taxes in a recession to bring in more revenue relations with controversial billionaire Ron Burkle's Yucaipa -I mean, come on, even Lou Dobbs knows that's counter­ Companies and the data-management firm InfoUSA (which intuitive. How the idea got even as far as it did, I can't think. relies heavily on government contract work). Apparently, Perhaps Vermont Democrats were too stoned in college to Bill Clinton works as a "finder" for InfoUSA, helping it land absorb the lessons of Economics 101. contracts with federal agencies. It's less clear what he does We all know politicians do incredibly silly things for Yucaipa Companies - other than draw distributions. - that's a big reason why we support limited govern­ But these relationships matter less to the Clinton household ment. But this takes the cake. Small stuff, to be sure, income than his speaking fees. but ye gods, how stupid can they get? - Jon Harrison Overall, from 2000 to 2007, the Clintons had household Earthquake OMG! - There is an episode of "The income of $109.2 million and paid taxes of $33.8 million. Their Simpsons" in which Springfield installs a warning system to tax lawyers point out somewhat weakly that, "They paid advise residents what to do in the event of a problem with the taxes and made charitable contributions at a higher rate than town's nuclear power plant. On a lighted sign visible across taxpayers at their income level." But it's likely that they've the city, one of four short messages may be displayed: paid less in taxes than they would under a Hillary Clinton RELAX. EVERYTHING IS FINE. presidency. MINOR LEAK. ROLL UP WINDOW. And they cling to privacy like the wealthiest investors or MELTDOWN. FLEE CITY. hedge-fund managers. The details of how and from whom CORE EXPLOSION. REPENT SINS. Bill Clinton receives his millions in fees don't come through It may have been after watching this episode that some in the returns - as is usual with Schedule C income. (It's been government official came up with the idea of a text-message reported that most of those come from speeches he gives to disaster alert system. As USA Today noted on April 9, "Lack Wall Street banks and other financial institutions.) In that of a simple way to deliver vital warnings to residents has hin­ vagueness, the Clintons' financial position has changed from dered emergency response in disasters such as Hurricane middle-class to rich. Katrina, recent college-campus shootings, and a spate of dev­ For those of us who advocate limited government and astating tornadoes in the Southeast in February." maximum personal privacy, the vagueness of federal tax The text-message alert system, said the article, "could be return forms is a thin silver lining to an invasive process. It used for a variety of incidents, such as severe weather, a ter­ would be hypocritical of us to criticize Bill Clinton for mon­ rorist threat or child abduction." etizing his charisma and celebrity. Good for him. As in Springfield, the message must fit the constraints of But Bill and Hillary Clinton have never been advo­ the medium. I wonder what those text messages will look cates of limited government. Each, in turn, has pilloried the like. "greed" of capitalists. It's ironic - though not really sur­ hurricane coming, r u evacuated??? prising - to see their taxes looking a lot like the fat cats dude ur gettin pwn3d by a tornado Mrs. Clinton so publicly rebukes. The Clintons are masters campus shooter, watch ur back!!!1! of "do as I say, not as I do" elitist hypocrisy. - Jim Walsh terrorist attack 101 - Patrick Quealy The stupidest state - Last year, Liberty senior edi­ To insure prompt nannying - As smoking tor Bruce Ramsey and I concluded that Vermont is the most bans sweep the nation, businesses that used to rely on smok­ leftist state in the nation. Now I'm here to tell you that it's the ers - like small bars, casinos, and charitable bingo nights stupidest state as well. (Many of you may reason that the one -:.. are seeing revenues plummet. While smokers are a small follows the other as night follows day. You're probably on to minority of the population, there are a lot of businesses that something.) cater to them. Smokers tend to be compulsive people, and do Vermont currently allows a tax break for capital .gains everything to excess. They're people thathave no regard for accrued within the state. That is, if the gains come from a their health, no regard for fiscal restraint. They are the kind Vermont enterprise, the rate on them is lower than on out-of­ of people who buy rounds, and make stupid wagers. They state gains. It's a good idea in the absence of an even lower like to drink, they often overeat, and will gamble away their

Liberty 13 June 2008 life savings. Smokers hold on to their money like Paris Hilton Enter stage left - At the beginning of the year, holds her virtue. the most likely nominees appeared to be Rudy Giuliani and Consequently, there is a market that specializes in reliev­ Hillary Clinton. Now, barring something unforeseen (which ing smokers of their excess cash. Greasy spoons, liquor bars, is always possible), the contest in the fall will be between John and casinos all rely on the spending habits of overly compul­ McCain and Barack Obama. sive smokers to help make their payroll. This is probably the Itis a testimony to the progressAmerica has madein recent reason that before the bans were passed, the majority of res­ decades in race relations and racial attitudes that Obama is taurants, bars, and casinos all catered to the 20% of Americans now the likely Democratic nominee. Less than four years ago, who smoke. Obama was an obscure state legislator. His meteoric rise has Nonsmokers are tighter with their pocket books. They been matched by no major party presidential nominee since tend to be the ones who pull out a calculator after a meal to Wendell Willkie in 1940. check if the tab was added correctly. They also use that calcu­ Will America elect someone as new to the national stage lator to divide the tab equally and figure out an 8°1<> tip on the as Obama? Even presuming that he becomes the Democratic pre-tax total. Smokers are the biggest tippers. They're the kind nominee, the answer is "probably not." Any change in who throw 20 bucks onto the table before they leave. the international situation probably favors McCain, and I believe the various taxing authorities are aware of this his personal story is more compelling. - Lanny Ebenstein tendency, and it is why up to two-thirds of the cost of a pack of cigarettes is taxes - a sort of mandatory added gratu­ Living Constitution idealism - Much has ity, for the privilege of having a dwindling number of areas been made in libertarian circles about a March 7 op-ed in The in America where smoking is still permitted. - Tim Slagle Wall Street Journal by former Senator (and former Democratic presidentialcandidate)GeorgeMcGovern. McGovern, a strong Spitzer's sex saga - The exposure of Elliot Spitzer's (some prefer the term "raving") liberal (by 1970s standards!) whoremongering was a delight. Here we have an incredibly has, it seems, partially recanted. As he's gone into small busi­ arrogant, holier-than-thou lawyer who feels he is permitted to ness ventures he's seen the dangers that onerous regulations do that which he prosecuted others for - to see him humili­ place on people who just want to serve their customers. ated before the entire nation was almost as pleasing as a night Sadly, I have to report the transformation to libertarianism with Jessica Alba. (Well, not really. But it was swell.) is not complete. McGovern appeared on the March 10 episode I am truly not one who rejoices in the misfortune of oth­ of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. There, in response ers. Normally I cringe at situations such as the one Spitzer put to Colbert's claim thathe was an idealist as a presidential can­ himself in. We are all less than perfect beings, and I know that didate and that idealists seldom win, McGovern responded: I am farther from perfection than most. "I'd say the two most famous [idealistic presidents] are But there's something about a hypocrite - such an arro­ Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln - one a Democrat, gant hypocrite - that brings out in me a desire to gloat. To one a Republican. I'm doing a book on Lincoln's presidency see such arrogance, hypocrisy, and stupidity laid low - well, and if that man wasn't an idealist I don't know what ideal­ it just made my day. ism means. He lived by the Declaration of Independence, the My fear is that the feds will let him off easy. The liber­ Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. To me those are ideals tarian in me wishes they would, for what has he done that worthy of a great president." should be punishable by law? It's a sick society indeed that So it seems that, in addition to not being a great candidate punishes someone for shtupping a consenting adult. But kar­ for president himself, McGovern is also not a great presiden­ mically, Spitzer should do some hard time. Let him see, let tial historian. Claiming that a man who started a four-year him feel how it is to suffer the consequences of the Mann Act civil war to prevent the breakup of the union lived by the and the "structuring" statute that he, representing our semi­ Declaration of Independence, a document written to explain free society, employed to police the morality of others. and justify the actions of one group of people breaking politi­ Above all, Spitzer deserves punishment for twice drag­ cal bands with another group of people, seems a little bit off. ging his wife out before the cameras, forcing her to share his Then there's this well known fact (from Wikipedia): public humiliation. There's no shame in being married to an "On April 27, 1861, habeas corpus was suspended by "unfaithful" spouse. But it's a shame to be married to a man President Abraham Lincoln in Maryland and parts of mid­ so gutless he can't face the heat alone. western states, including southern Indiana during the In his resignation speech, Spitzer spoke of a return to ser­ American Civil War. Lincoln did so in response to riots, local vice in a private capacity. I wonder about that. I can't help but militia actions, and the threat that the border slave state of believe that he wants to pull a Marv Albert and return to his Maryland would secede from the Union, leaving the nation's chosen career (for Spitzer, politics) when the heat dies down. capital, Washington, D.C., surrounded by hostile territory. John Profumo, a British Secretary of State for War whose career Lincoln was also motivated by requests by generals to set up was ruined by a sex scandal in the 1960s, redeemed himself by military courts to rein in 'Copperheads' or Peace Democrats, taking his punishment and going on to lead an exemplary life. and those in the Union who supported the Confederate cause. Profumo, however, was three times the man Spitzer is. Spitzer, His action was challenged in court and overturned by the I don'tbelieve, is trulyredeemable. He'sjusttoo damnarrogant U.S. Circuit Court in Maryland (led by Supreme Court Chief and self-centered. No, Spitzer should do a spell in Danbury, Justice Roger B. Taney) ... Lincoln ignored Taney's order." followed by a return to "service" - perhaps as a janitor on To say that a man willing to suspend habeas corpus in part the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. - Jon Harrison to accede to generals concerned about the dreaded "Peace

14 Liberty June 2008

Democrats," and who was as president willing to ignore an attack caused a sharp spike in tensions between Colombia order from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, "lived by" and the Ecuador-Venezuela axis. Very quickly Hugo Chavez the Constitution leads one to think that McGovern takes this was calling for an armed response, and moved troops to the notion of a liliving Constitutionf/ way too far. Colombian border. I'm glad McGovern is reconsidering his earlier notions of But the Colombians had captured two rebel computers, small businesses as public enemy number one, and of gov­ whose hard drives had quite a story to tell. The drives gave ernment regulations as representing nothing but enlight­ up a treasure-trove of fascinating information. In particu­ ened ideas for improving society. But is it too much to ask lar, it turns out that Chavez hasn't just been supporting the that a person who made a serious run for president of the FARC terrorists in spirit, but financially as well, to the tune of United States, who was for many years a senator, have a more than $300 million. Chavez received numerous love let­ better understanding of what does and does not contradict ters from the FARC gang, but also communications indicating the founding documents of this country? - Ross Levatter collusion in planning the attacks against Colombia. Moreover, Welcome to the machine - With a victory in there was extensive collusion between the Ecuadorean minis­ Texas and Ohio, Hillary Clinton became the Lazarus of the ter of security and the guerrilla leadership. This suggests that Democrat Party. It appears that my earlier predictions could the Colombians were wise not to consult with Ecuador before not have been more wrong. (I predicted that the Republican the attack. nomination would go all the way to the convention.) Even more embarrassing to the Chavez-led Fidelistas man­ With McCain as the confirmed GOP nominee, it now looks que, the drives reveal that FARC was trying to procure over a like it's the Democrats who will go all the way to August, and hundred pounds of uranium, apparently planning some kind perhaps a brokered convention. The problem is that Obama, of dirty bomb. the obvious pick of the party, has run into the full force of the As all this information came to light, Ecuador and famous Clinton Political Machine, and she has no intention of Venezuela backed down, and the chances of war are now nil. quitting while there is still any chance she could win. It will be It is hard for even such an accomplished liar as Hugo Chavez fun to watch Clinton and Obama fight over who's the bigger to play the victitn when it is revealed that he has been funnel­ socialist while avoiding the word, lest it be used against one ing money to the guerrillas who have attacked his neighbor, of them in November. and allowing those criminals free haven in his country. The funniest part, for me, is seeing Democrats realize We have in all this another illustration of how our envi­ for the very first time that the Clintons are ruthless, conniv­ ronmentalist-imposed dependence on foreign oil is biting us ing, power-hungry politicians; something those of us in the in our collective behind. Petrodollars sent to Saudi Arabia and opposition have been complaining about for the last 15 years. Iran fund Islamicist terrorism intent upon annihilating us. - Tim Slagle Petrodollars also fund Russia's hyper-revanchist Putinism, intent upon restoration of the Soviet Empire, whose passing More petro problems - 1 have ruminated before has been publicly lamented in Moscow. And those petrodol­ on an unintended side effect of our environmentalist-caused lars to Venezuela fund a Marxist revolution aimed at turning reliance on foreign oil: the flood of petrodollars into the hands Latin America into a massive Cuba. of aggressive dictators. Our own petrodollars buy the rope We have much for which we must "thank" the envi­ with which they hope to hang us. ronmentalists. Their monomaniacal opposition to nuclear A fresh illustration of this comes from recent events in power and to the exploitation of America's own oil resources Latin America. Our beleaguered ally, Colombia, has been bat­ enables people who hate liberty to flourish around the world. tling for decades a particularly vicious gang of Marxist rev­ - Gary Jason olutionaries called FARC (the acronym of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). These thugs do what totalitarian Putting privacy on the map - The February guerrillas always do - kidnap, kill, and destroy - but these 7 issue of the Christian Science Monitor has an article that guys do it in the name of a philosophy long-dead elsevvhere weirds me out. The article appears on page 6, and is entitled: on the planet. IiUK bugging: too much Big Brother?" Itis about the pervasive The democratically elected president of Colombia, surveillance the British government inflicts upon its citizens, President Alvaro Uribe, has been successfully fighting the and comes equipped with a color-coded map of the world for Marxistsfor years, all thewhileworkingtocleanup Colombia's quick visual reference, to show how government surveillance streets and give the economy some semblance of stability in Britain stacks up against government surveillance in other and growth. He has been succeeding on all fronts, much to places. the annoyance of his neighbor Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Depending on the level of surveillance, a country can be Chavez, his running dogs Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Evo painted one of six colors: violet, for Significant Protections and Morales of Bolivia, and - who else but that Stalinist fossil Safeguards, down through blue, green, yellow, and orange, from the past - Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, have been acting to congeal in an ugly rust color for Endemic Surveillance as general FARC cheerleaders, hoping to turn Latin America Societies. Australia, Brazil, and South Africa, for example, are Red. Indeed, both Venezuela and Ecuador allow FARC to painted yellow, for Systemic Failure to Uphold Safeguards. maintain bases inside their territories. Canada, Italy, Germany, and Iceland are green, for Some President Uribe recently had the stones to bomb a FARe Safeguards but Weakened Protection. Violet seems to be aspi­ base inside Ecuador, killing the second-highest guerrilla rational only. No country achieves violet, but Greece does leader, one Raul Reyes. This was a major blow to FARC. The manage blue, Adequate Safeguards Against Abuse. No other

Liberty 15 June 2008 country even rates that high. Still, with one exception, things republic, and discuss it as if it were only a problem in a for­ aren't bad in the remainder of the EU, in a relative-to-the-rest­ eign country? And, then, only after tweaking the results to of-the-world sort of way. make the facts seem less bad than they really are? I leave it As you would guess, most of the ugly rust color shows to you, Canny Reader, to decide for yourself what may have up in Asia. Red China, Thailand, and Russia are Endemic caused the Monitor to make a decision like that. - Bill Merritt Surveillance Societies. The only member of the EU that falls Matthew Yglesias' blog .on to rust status is Britain. No surprise there, given the title of Big boy pants - the article. And the fact that the Mother of Parliaments isn't TheAtlantic.com had an interesting discussion of GeraldIne Ferraro's claim that, absent his blackness, Barack Obama exactly world-famous for her checks and balances. What does come as a surprise is the single country in the would not be competitive in the Democratic nomination race. entire Western Hemisphere that also aspires to rustness. It's Under the entry "The Contingency of Candidacy" us, and it's glaring. In the tiny kind of map that can fit into (March II), one respondent offered, in support of Ferraro's two columns in a newspaper, you have to squint just to make contention: out Britain. But not the United States. The map is one of those "Beyond that, [Obama] did nothing of note. Check the NY projections that has Greenland bigger than South America. Times. There's no mention of Obama before his HLR [Harvard It turns Alaska into a rust stain the size of Western Europe. Law Review] appointment, and then there's no mention of Unless you set your coffee cup in the wrong place, the rest of him again until 2002." the United States, standing out in the center of the page in all In reply, another poster said, "I think it's hardly unusual its rustiness, is impossible to overlook. for a currently prominent American politician to go unmen­ The whole thing was enough to send me to the Privacy tioned in The New York Times until they are in their late 20s. International website to check out the place where the Did the Times cover Eliot Spitzer's bar mitzvah?" Monitor got this map. I thought sure the paper had made I must agree. However, I note the Times was all over some mistake. Spitzer's subsequent "today I am a man" story. What I found was, not only had it not made a mistake, - Ross Levatter but it had cooked the books to make the map look less damn­ My life for my art - Ba~ owne~s in the state of ing than it really is. It had skimmed the entire top category, Minnesota have stumbled upon an InterestIng way around Consistently Upholds Human-Rights Standards, right off the recently passed smoking ban - the Theater Loophole. the key to the map so that readers never got the full flavor of Apparently, politically correct lawmakers had decided to pro­ American ... er, British ... failure in regards to privacy. In real tect the performing arts from the oppressive regulations other life, the United States doesn't just fall in the lowest of six pos­ entertainment venues have learned to live with. sible categories. It falls in the lowest of seven. Since live theater occasionally requires performers to To decide what colors to paint the map, Privacy smoke, and Minnesotans are purists when it comes to art, the International assigned each country a rating of one to four in Minnesota law permits an exemption from the indoor smok­ each of 14 separate areas. Four means that a country has sig­ ing ban for live theater performers. Apparently the health nificant privacy protections in that area. One means that it has risk caused by exposure to SHS (secondhand smoke) is not as no privacy protections at all. In eight of the categories, The important as artistic integrity. It's okay for a bar or two to face Land of the Free earned a score of one: Statutory Protections bankruptcy from the exodus of smoking patrons, but God for­ (along with South Africa, Japan, India, and Singapore), bid we have actors using candy cigarettes during a show at Privacy Enforcement (with South Africa, Japan, Brazil, India, the Guthrie Theater. Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Russia, China, and Malaysia), So bar owners have devised an interesting way to exploit ID Cards & Biometrics (Belgium, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, the loophole: Theater Nights. Breaking the fourth wall of the Bulgaria, Lithuania, Britain, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, stage, bars puton a "performance" whereeverybodyinthe bar Singapore, and Malaysia), Visual Surveillance (Hungary, is a part of the improvised show. The scene is a Minneosota Lithuania, Britain, Switzerland, Singapore, China, and bar, where a bunch of blue collar workers stop by after work Malaysia) Commercial Intercepts (the usual list of unsavory for a smoke and a drink. The show runs about nine hours, bedfellows), followed by Workplace Monitoring, Border & and the dramatic conclusion is when the bartender announces Transborder Issues, and Leadership. In these eight catego­ "Last Call." ries, Privacy International ranks the United States among "the Local police, who never really liked the idea of enforcing a world's worst." smoking ordinance in the first place, have respected the per­ The thing that really disturbs me isn't the company we forming arts by letting these shows continue uninterrupted. keep; it's the fact that the Monitor only discusses lack of pri­ Right now it seems that the only way around the loophole is vacy as if it were a problem in Britain. It doesn't say thing to ban cigarettes from live performances, or appoint a state one about what, to an American, is the most glaring feature board endowed with the power to determine what is and isn't of the entire map. Here is a serious American newspaper live theater. Either option whiffs of censorship, and is highly devoting almost an entire page to a major article about an distasteful in a state where allegiance to the performing arts is issue that ought to scare the pants off every American who considered paramount. reads it, and that newspaper addresses the issue in terms of Don't you love ironic plot twists? - Tim Slagle Britain? The Christian Science Monitor, published in Boston, the Cradle of Liberty, feels that it has to sidle up to what must What's good about bad~ - There is ~?od n~ws be the most important civil-liberties issue in the history of our for those of you who missed the fust season of BreakIng

16 Liberty June 2008

Bad" on AMC. All the shows can be downloaded at the pro­ Perhaps I simply never took the time to notice gram's website. I have a mobile phone that is smaller, lighter, and more "Breaking Bad" provides a not-so-guilty pleasure, by vir­ functional than the communicators used by Captain Kirk in tue both of its entertainment value and of its subversive impli­ Star Trek. I can use it to contact almost anyone on the planet cations; The hero is a kindhearted high school teacher who and it only set me back about $75. I am typing this on a com­ opens up a crystal meth lab, and a chief villain is his boast­ puter with hundreds of millions of components, perhaps ful, stupid, and abusive narc brother-in-law. - David T. Beito even more than a billion components; it functions nearly per­ fectly, and it cost a little more than $1,000. The CPU has a On March 25, Iraqi govern­ An end to illusions - clockspeed of more than 2GHZ. That is 2 billion cycles per ment forces launched an offensive to clear the city of Basra, second. The hard drive it contains can store millions of type­ which dominates the oil-rich south of the country, of forces written pages, hundreds of thousands of images, thousands loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. Prime Minister of songs, and hours and hours of video. All of this data can Nouri al-Maliki went to Basra to oversee the battle, which he be instantly shared with any other computer in the world via termed "a decisive and final" one. the internet. President Bush, speaking at Wright-Patterson air base I am not dead, though I have contracted several infections two days after the offensive opened, said the following: "This in my lifetime that would have easily killed me 100 years ago, offensive builds on the security gains of the surge and demon­ and I have a medical condition that would leave me dead or strates to the Iraqi people that their government is committed permanently disabled without modern treatment. to protecting them." Millions of people regularly fly in jet-propelled, computer­ If anyone needed further evidence to show just how dim controlled aircraft that can take us anywhere in the world in the president is, the Wright-Pat speech provided it. Bush a matter of hours. Scientists have discovered more planets should've waited to see how the offensive turned out before orbiting other stars than there are in our own solar system. If speaking. Instead, he recklessly threw what little intellectual I were willing to bankrupt myself, I would be able to fly into and moral capital he still possessed behind an untried foreign space within the next two years. government and military. The Soviet Union is gone and the United States is waging a Maliki and Bush both came a cropper within days. The global war against violent Islamic fundamentalism. A woman offensive stalled almost immediately. Iraqi forces made little or a black man is going to be the next Democratic nominee for progress; many abandoned their weapons and vehicles. While president of the United States. the Basra fighting was on, followers of al-Sadr staged massive If a novelist tried to pitch a book set in a future world demonstrations in Baghdad. Sporadic fighting also occurred like this 40 years ago he would have been laughed out of in the capital, and the Green Zone underwent daily shelling the room. - Jerome Cole by rockets and mortars, leading to some deaths. So much for the pacification of Baghdad. Education in a state - California courts have Fighting also broke out in other southern cities such as Kut decided that homeschoolers must be certified by the state in and Hilla. The Sadrists showed that they remain an untamable order for them to be excused from attending public school. At force in Iraq. The U.S. Army and Marines could crush them, present, the state requires that children attend a school taught but as I've stated many times in Liberty's pages, the U.S.lead­ by a state-certified teacher, without exception. I would guess ership will never commit to such a fight, simply because our the success of the homeschooling movement has become casualties would be enormous. apparent, and teachers are angry that they're being shown up The result of Maliki's "final" offensive was humiliation for by amateurs. both his government and the U.S. Before a week was out, Iraqi There is also probably panic within certain state cham­ politicians had to travel to Iran, where al-Sadr was ensconced, bers that kids are actually getting educated. Why, if kids learn and negotiate a settlement that was virtually dictated by the math, there might be an entire generation of Californians radical cleric. that realize that the advantages of living in California are not The Basra defeat revealed the weakness of the Iraqi Army proportional to the amount of taxation. That the amount of and police. It showed that the surge has failed to under­ energy consumed statewide cannot be replaced with a couple mine the Mahdi Army, the most powerful force in the coun­ windmills and a few solar panels. If you give kids the power try. The operation resembled nothing so much as the South of education, they might start thinking they're smart enough Vietnamese incursion into Laos in 1971, which ended simi­ to operate their own thermostats! larly in fiasco. The current Iraqi government has been weak­ I don't understand how people so obsessed with nature ened, perhaps fatally so. Once again, we see U.S. policy in the Middle East tee­ tering on the verge of bankruptcy. This time Bush can't Back by popular demand! The call on an infusion of fresh troops to stabilize the situa­ tion. Where Iraq goes from here depends upon the will 2008 Liberty of Muqtada al-Sadr and his patron, Iran. The next U.s. president will need to reach out to both if it wishes to sal­ Editors Conference vage anything from the Iraq debacle. - Jon Harrison held in conjunction with Future shock - I have finally realized that I don't have to wait for "The Future" any longer. It is all around me. FreedomFest See page 22 for all the details! June 2008

and ecosystems can be so ignorant of economics. The same Medical care is becoming increasingly expensive, because people who want to limit human interference in wilderness of the increasing lack of health care. We do indeed have a crisis, areas seem unable to understand that an economy requires a and it can be solved by throwing away the potato chips, turn­ similar freedom from human intervention. ing off the TV, and spending a little time exercising instead. Recessions cannot be prevented. A recession is a natural The governmentcannotprovidehealthcare; itcanonlytake part of the Yin and Yang of a healthy economy. Just like any awaythe tools thatindividualsneed to carefor themselves. The breathing creature must inhale and exhale, an economy must governmentcanpayforhuge amountsofmedicalcare,butthere expand and contract. Nations that have tried to eliminate the is notenough money in the world to buy medical care that is as natural behaviors of an economy with central control have good as responsible, individual health care. - Keith Lofstrom only succeeded in killing their economies. First it was the ladies Keeping the economy dynamic is an important require­ You swoon, I swoon, ... - fainting at the rallies, one city after another. It became so rou­ ment of the free market. As we enter a recession, unnecessary tine that Obama had a prepa:red< response from the stage. jobs are sloughed off. It is a regretfulbutrequired price of prog­ "Could we have waterover her,:e? Please give her a little room. ress. As the economy starts growing again, the lost jobs will Could we have some water over here?" be replaced with jobs better suited to the age. It's happened Now it's worse. Now it's the guys. throughouthistory. Farmersmove to thecities andtakeworkin MSNBC's political analyst Chris Matthews described on factories. Buggy whip plants layoff, auto plants hire. Ice deliv­ TV exactly what happens to his body when Obama speaks. "I ery men become refrigerator repairmen. Cash register com­ have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this panies go bankrupt, computer companies open. -Tim Slagle election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Time for a war on wars? - We declared war on Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, poverty. Now we have homeless people panhandling at every I don't have that too often." freeway entrance ramp. In another analysis, Matthews putObama on an even more We declaredwarondrugs. Nowwecanbuydrugsonnearly divine level. "I've been following politics since I was about every middle-school and elementary-school playground. five," he said. "I've never seen anything like this. This is big­ We declared war on terrorism. Now we are more vulner­ ger than Kennedy. Obama comes along, and he seems to have able to terrorism than ever before, and the terrorists have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising!" expanded their operations to the battlefield we have made, Even experience for the job doesn't matter, it seems, if where terrorists never existed before. you're crazy about the guy. Hendrik Hertzberg explains in Do you suppose it is time for us to rethink our strategy the New Yorker that"experience is a problematic argument, toward our problems? - Marilyn Burge especially when voters are hungry for a new beginning." Old Healthcare vs. health - Something dangerous Jimmy Carter finds Barack titillating. "Obama's campaign," has happened to health care in this country. Before the social­ he said, "has been extraordinary and titillating for me and my ists stole the phrase (and made it one word), "health care" family." was something you do, and "medical care" was something Obama, with his "youthful unlined face," writes John B. done to you. Judis in his article "American Adam" in the New Republic, "is Somehow, the"something you do" part has vanished, and like Herman Melville's Adamic hero, Billy Budd, a foundling health care got folded into medical care and called "health­ who was 'happily endowed with the gayety of high health, care." You are now considered helpless to manage your own youth and a free heart,' and 'looked even younger than he health. Instead, you are encouraged to rely on expensive really was.' " professionals and exotic pharmaceuticals. This is dangerous Obama is "outside of America's racial history," accord­ nonsense. ing to Judis. As "the son of an East African whose ances­ My wife, a doctor, estimates that 80% of the problems she tors were not shipped to the New World as slaves," Obama treats in her clinic are self-inflicted. Bad diets, sedentary life­ is Adam, the first man, someone who can "wipe clean the style, substance abuse, and plain carelessness do far more slate of history and begin from scratch." But to me, it looks damage than random misfortune or lack of medical interven­ as if these folks are trying to wipe clean the slate of mem­ tion. People take better care of their cars than they do of them­ ory, to erase what we've learned about the dangers of selves. It's as if they put sand in their car's oil and drive it thinking that we've found a political savior, a strong­ through a brick wall, then expect the insurance company (or man who will create a "new man." - Ralph R. Reiland the government, or the wall owner) to fix everything. Cold, dead fingers - Charlton Heston, 84, died Sorry. The human body is a wonderful mechanism, but on AprilS, 2008. He was a prominent film actor with a long it is way beyond medical capability to compensate for con­ career already to his credit when in 1998 he became presi­ sistent neglect and abuse. The body requires proper inputs dent of the National Rifle Association, a position he held until and functions poorly with substitutes. Too much sugar in the 2003. He contributed to the NRA the benefits of his fame and mouth can be as damaging as sugar in the gas tank. likability, and his intelligence. He was a fine spokesman for Injure the body and it will attempt to repair itself, and an organization that libertarians should care about. sometimes a doctor can help that process. But no amount of The NRA mustbe the most successful advocate of individ­ expensive medical care can compensate for a lack of health ual civil liberties anywhere in the world. I know that's a big, care. Clean water and good diet do more for people's health than penicillin ever did. continued on page 21

18 Liberty Election 2008

A Real Party?

by Bruce Ramsey

What will happen to the Libertarian Party after it's invaded by professional politicians?

Bob Barr, who was a Georgia congressman from 1995 to 2003, said in early April that he would seek the Libertarian nomination for president. About a week earlier, Mike Gravel, who was senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981, announced that he was joining the Libertarians and seeking their nomination for president. Such attention from two former members of Congress, one (Barr) a former Republican and the other (Gravel) a Democrat, is a noteworthy thing for the Libertarian Party, which in 35 years has seldom nominated anyone who has actually held ing office was his interview in the movie "Borat," an inter­ office. view he was tricked into doing. It was hardly the sort of thing The big exception was Congressman Ron Paul, 20 years to satisfy the soul. Running for president would be a lot bet­ ago - and Paul, of course, is still a Republican. ter. He would have to pretend he could win and, though he The fervency of Paul's supporters over the past year is would not, he might be a player in the outcome. what entices Gravel and Barr. Wrote one voter on the Atlanta Barr, who joined the LP two years ago, has morphed from Journal-Constitution blog: "I voted for Ron Paul. And 111 vote conservative drug warrior to libertarian. Gravel comes from for Barr if he is the libertarian candidate." Wrote another: "I the Democratic Left. His No.1 issue is opposition to Bush's would contribute to a Bob Barr campaign in a heartbeat!" War on Terror and the Patriot Act and, in that, he agrees with Barr, who was in the limelight during the impeachment of Paul. But he is also for state-guaranteed medical care and pre­ PresidentClinton, misses national politics. InoneofhisJournal school education; to pay for the necessary expansion of gov­ Constitution columns he writes: "I spent three days last week ernment, he is for a carbon tax and a national sales tax. in Washington, D.C., where, like a recovering alcoholic, I am These are leftist positions - but then, a fair number of not infrequently drawn for sustenance and comfort." Paul's supporters have come from the Left, and some of those Barr's biggest exposure to the American public since leav- on the antiwar Right might vote for Gravel under the LP label.

Liberty 19 I

I IJune 2008 lAnd so he announced in March: the Electoral College, it would not be difficult. If Bush had The fact is, the Democratic Party today is no longer the gained a few hundred fewer votes in Florida in 2000, and Pat party of FDR. It is a party that continues to sustain war, the Buchanan hadn't been there, Harry Browne might have stolen military-industrial complex and imperialism-all of which the limelight from Ralph Nader. I find anathema to my views. Libertarians have probably tipped U.S. Senate seats sev­ eral times: to Harry Reid in Nevada in 1998, to Maria Cantwell Roosevelt sustained war well enough. But to go on: in Washington in 2000, to Tim Johnson in South Dakota in By and large, I have been repeatedly marginalized in both 2002 and to Jon Tester in Montana in 2006 - all of them national debates and in media exposure by the Democratic Democrats. leadership, which works in tandem with the corporate I have met Libertarians who deny this actually happens, interests that control what we read and hear in the media. and insist that people who voted Libertarian would not have I look forward to advancing my presidential candidacy voted Republican, or voted at all. These people do not con­ within the Libertarian Party, which is considerably closer vince me. The best evidence of the second-choice tendencies to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic ofLibertarians comes from the Georgia senate election of 1992, views. where the initial result was Republican Paul Coverdell, 490/0; LP spokesman Andrew Davis said Gravel's advocacy Democrat Wyche Fowler, 480/0; and Libertarian Jim Hudson, of government health care, financed by a national sales tax, 3%. Georgia held a runoff election in which Coverdell picked might be a problem at the party's convention, to be held May up the Libertarian votes and won, 51% to 480/0. 22-26 in Denver. I imagine it will. In my own state, Washington, I once argued with a Indeed, there is a chance the Party of Principle would Libertarian about the 2000 senate election, in which Maria spurn both of these politicians and choose among Wayne Cantwell, Democrat, beat Slade Gorton, Republican, 48.70/0 to Allyn Root, Daniel Imperato, Michael Jingozian, Bob Jackson, 48.60/0. The Libertarian argued that most of LP candidate Jeff Christine Smith, Steve Kubby, Mary Ruwart, Daniel Williams, Jared's 2.6% share would have gone to the Democrat, because and other persons few Americans have ever heard of. But, like most of Jared's votes had come from Democratic precincts. Gravel, the Libertarians have been marginalized and are tired Ithoughtofthis magazine. Libertyhasits offices inJefferson of it. County, which is the third or fourth most Democratic among Surely it must be tempting to become a vehicle for real 39 counties in the state. And that means - what? It means a politicians who, evenifthey could not win, could at least have lot of libertarians live in Democratic neighborhoods. a chance at getting some attention and affecting the outcome. More libertarians than RepUblicans tend to be gay, or not The Libertarians have never changed the outcome in go to church, or be like Democrats on some other social mea­ a presidential race, though with victories by plurality and sure. But it does not mean a Democrat will be their second

Where's the real Straight-Talk Express?

Bob Barr, a former RepUblican representative of the can write a book that, from the inside, deglamorizes 7th district of Georgia (1995-2003), former senior mem­ Washington, correcting American's grade-school civ­ ber of the Judiciary Committee, former vice-chair of the ics-class view of how government works. He can shine Government Reform Committee, former U.S. Attorney a light on backroom deals, how politicians get rich and for the Northern District of Georgia, and former mem­ powerful, what Obama, McCain, and H. Clinton really ber of the CIA, has just announced he is running for the do in the·halls of Congress, what both Republican and presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party. Democratic party operatives want the American public to Barr is certainly well known among political junkies. remain ignorant of - how the media distorts the reality And Ron Paul has demonstrated there is at least a vocal of Washington. minority of supporters for libertarian positions in this It could be a crippling book to those raised in the illu­ year's election, where the Republican and Democratic sions of "democracy", and Barr has the name power to choices are so odious. What can Barr do to maximize his make it a much bigger seller than any book Ron Paul election results? could write. And such a book (which should be equally as Bloggers have taken to this subject already: Get Ron hard onRepublicans as Democrats) could propelhim onto Paul's endorsement. Buy Ron Paul's mailing list. Be more the public stage and possibly into the national debates. It specific, focusing the campaign on a few specific issues would certainly make clear which candidate running this (e.g., opposed to the War on Drugs, opposed to the Iraq year is really riding a Straight-Talk Express. war, in favor of civil liberties). Barr is an attorney, and should be able to deal with But I think there's one thing Barr is uniquely in a posi­ the anticipated tsunami of heated responses that would tion to do that could make a major impact on the cam­ come his way as a .result of such a book. But in such a con­ paign, and on American politics, though I doubt he11 do text all publicity is good publicity, they say. it: Canwehavetheaudacityto hopethatBarrwouldwrite He should write a political tell-all book. He was a book about his part of living history in Washington? in Washington, in Congress, for almost a decade. He - Ross Levatter June 2008 choice in an election. book, "Revolution: A Manifesto." If I am wrong - and 1 may be, in an Obama year - then Paul's supporters were winning delegate seats and party it means Libertarian candidates may start tipping elections to offices in Missouri, Texas, and Washington, and he was work­ Republicans. That still makes them a spoiler party, and raises ing on plans to use the $4 million in cash remaining from his the question of whether that is what they want to be. Being a campaign. And there is also the Republican convention in spoiler party will get attention, but it may not be the sort of Minneapolis. attention they want. On March 31, a Los Angeles Times blog quoted another Of course, if what they really want to be is a major party, blog, fitsnews.com, predicting that Paul would endorse Barr. inviting in politicians like Barr and Gravel is a step in the right Paul's spokesman, Jesse Benton, torpedoed the prediction. In direction. But what is the next step? an interview with Liberty, he said, "Ron has no plans or inten­ And the hijack strategy makes certain assumptions about tion now to endorse Mr. Barr," and he said an endorsement in Ron Paul that may not hold up. It assumes that when the the future "is highly unlikely." good doctor says the Ron Paul Revolution is about ideas only, I have written that if Paul intends to remain a Republican and not about him, we should take his modesty at face value. - which seems so, since he has just won the Republican Granted that ideas are at the core of it, and that they could be primary for his seat in Congress - he will have to endorse represented by someone else. McCain. On March 20, Paul said otherwise to Newsweek: But the pilot of this aircraft is, in fact, Dr. Ron Paul. He "I'm not going to tell [my supporters] what to do, but I hon­ has said he will not run against the Republican nominee, but estly can't imagine any of them supporting him." Benton con­ the Republican Party will not officially choose a nominee until firmed that Paul was unlikely to endorse McCain. September 1-4, and Paul has not officially quit the race. If Paul wants to build his influence within the Republican He has sharply scaled backhis campaign, butinearlyApril Party, he will come under great pressure to hold his nose and he was holding "Freedom Rallies" on university campuses in change his mind. He is, of course, "Doctor No," and is known Pennsylvania before the primary election there, and on April for going his own way. His supporters are no doubt the same, 30 he was scheduled to release his new ISO-page campaign and in November will have several choices. 0

Reflections, from page 18 broad claim, but I think it's true. Charlton Heston, R.I.P. - It seems like there The NRA's favorite liberty has plenty of enemies. have been a lot of obituaries and memorials to write in the Governments and the busybodies that they employ have last year or so. In journalism circles, obits are considered the the same persistent urge to restrain gun rights as any other basis of all good reporting. The best ones offer the basic facts rights. of a notable person's life - plus some small bit of insight that The NRA makes a lot of noise about its setbacks and requires more than just reporting. losses. But don't let that fool you. The right to keep and carry Recently, I received a couple of calls from readers who arms is much more broadly respected by jurisdictions all over took issue with my memorial Reflection on William F. the United States than it was five, ten, or twenty years ago. Buckley, Jr. I'd written that Buckley's rationalizations against What other civil rights can you say that about? In the case of the civil rights movement in the 1960s were one of his sig­ gun rights, the opponents of liberty are losing. What a joy to nificant errors; both callers complained that his states-rights be able to say that about the enemies of any individual lib­ arguments were better than rationalizations. One guessed erty! 111 repeat myself just for fun: they are on their heels and (correctly, as it turns out) that I'm too young to remember in retreat. In the tally sheets, their loss column is long and firsthand how "troubled" the mid-1960s were. crowded. I didn't bring up Charlton Heston to those callers, but I According to the Washington Post, 48 states now have should have. "processes that allow people to legally carry firearms for self Heston was on the right side of the u.s. Civil Rights move­ defense, compared with six states in 1982." In the same arti­ ment in the early 1960s. He gave critical moral and financial cle, an opponent of a proposal to allow more guns in national support to Martin Luther King when King was fighting codi­ parks whines about how good the NRA is at lobbying: "It's fied racial segregation and institutional racism in the South. a political maneuver by the NRA. They are using this as a He was friendly with writers and intellectuals like James political tool to build up support heading into the elections." Baldwin - when Baldwin was writing well about the toll that Don't you wish the opponents of other liberties were crying bigotry and hatred take on human dignity. the same tears over the antitax lobby or the drug decriminal­ Later, when King was gone and a generation of mau-mau ization lobby or the tame-the-commerce-clause lobby or the artists hijacked the Civil Rights movement, Heston moved on private property lobby? to other political activities. You're probably familiar with his I predict that several obituaries will paint Charlton long tenure as head of the National Rifle Association. Heston's presidency of the NRA as a blot on his career. Others To me, a person's understanding of the 2nd Amendment will say that he honored the NRA by taking that office. I say is the clearest test of that person's validity as a libertarian. The that, more than any Oscar, his presidency of the NRA hon­ ored him. May he rest in peace. - Michael Christian continued on page 50

Liberty 21 By popular demand, it's the Liberty Editors Conference 2008 in conjunction with Freedom.Fest 2008 i.n Las Vegas The world's largest gathering offree minds! July 10-12, 2008 Editors and Contributors of Liberty

At FreedomFest 2004, Liberty's editors spoke to stand­ • Our Next President: Doug Casey, Randal ing-room-only crowds. Here's what we've got planned for O'Toole, and Bruce Ramsey take no prisoners in this lively this year's event: argument about which candidate, if any, should get your •IQ, Race, and Gender: Charles Murray ("In vote in this year's election. Our Hands," "The Bell Curve") and David Friedman •Future Imperfect: David Friedman analyzes the ("Future Imperfect," "The Machinery of Freedom") pull no technologies "Big Brother" will use to control the populace, punches and respect no taboos. and the tools that will enable you to fight back. •Killing for Public Health: Bruce Ramsey •Teaching in Sing Sing: Jo Ann Skousen and JoAnn Skousen expose just how far government nannies go in their fervor to banish personal freedom. •Hidden Taxes: Zoning Laws: Randal O'Toole • Schools Against Education: Gary Jason, David Friedman, and Jo Ann Skousen explain why public •Alien Legal Systems: David Friedman schools don't care about educating children, and debate the proper remedy. •And More! www.LibertyUnbound.com has details

Eight Great Debates in 2008 Offbeat Topics - "The Real Islam: Radical or Peaceful?" Robert Spencer • Michael Shermer: "The Mind of the Market: The Darwin­ argues with Daniel Peterson ian Case for Free-Market Capitalism." - John Mackey and John Goodman debate Michael Perel­ - Tyler Cowen: "Culture Wars: Does Western Capitalism man and David Himmelstein on universal health care. Destroy Eastern Cultures?" - "Was the Civil War Necessary?" Jeff Hummel takes on - Chuck Muth: "Freedom in Education: Give Choice a Harry Jaffa about Lincoln, slavery, and the Civil War. Chance!" - The God Debate: Christopher Hitchens and Dinesh - Harry King, MD: "How to Live to be 100, and Enjoy it!" D'Souza take off the gloves. - And many more speakers!

World Economic Summit - Congressman Ron Paul, 2008 Republican Candidate for Register today - at the President: "The Welfare-Warfare State: Danger Ahead!" - Steve Moore, Wall Street Journal: "The Coming Tsunami: special Liberty rate! What An Obama Presidency Will Mean." We have secured an extension of the"early bird" rate of - David Boaz, Vice President, Cato Institute: "The Politics of $395 per person ($595 per couple) until May 1, for Liberty Liberty." readers only. To receive this special rate, be sure to - Warren Coats, former IMF official and expert on Bosnia, mention when you call that you are signing up through Iraq and Afghanistan: "The Truth About the Middle East." Liberty. After May 1, the price goes up to $495 per - And much more! person ($795 per couple). Here's how to register: - Call 1-866-266-5101, or The Secrets of Investing - Email [email protected]. or - Jeremy Siegel- Doug Casey- Rick Rule- Larry Abraham - Visit www.freedomfest.com to learn more, - John Mauldin- Keith Fitz-Gerald- Mark Skousen . and sign up online. - Bert Dohmen- Ron Holland- Peter Zipper- Frank Trotter In order to keep rates as low as possible, cancellations must be ... and many more! received in writing no later than June 15, 2008 for a refund.

For more details about the Liberty Editors Conference, please go to www.LibertyUnbound.com Jurisprudence The Ethics of Tort Reform

by Gary Jason

It's a long step down from Kant to John Edwards, but the righteous and necessary realignment of the u.s. legal system requires a philosophical approach.

This essay is concerned, as the title indicates, with a certain kind of legal reform - what it's for, what it's worth, and what should be done to get it. But I want to start by talking about why people often don't know that reform is needed, in this and other areas. There are at least three basic kinds of bias in our sources of information. But a deeper sort of bias is issue selection bias, where the There is description bias, in which the source colors its source refuses even to mention certain worthwhile questions. presentation of data by using loaded descriptions, such as This bias can be intentional. Some institutions have well­ using "ultra right-wing" or "ultra left-wing" to describe understood standards of political correctness that make vari­ someone who is merely conservative or liberal, in the contem­ ous areas of inquiry unwelcome. It can also be unconscious. porary senses of those terms. (Mainstream media are prodigal Relevant issues simply may not occur to researchers, or just in their use of the former phrase: Google-search "ultra right­ not seem interesting. wing" and you get 124,000 hits, compared to only 24,000 for Many years ago I was interviewed for a columnist slot at the phrase "ultra left-wing.") the major newspaper in the city where I worked, and the edi­ Then there is data selection bias, or what logicians call tor of the op-ed page (who was, like most of his ilk, "progres­ lispecial pleading," where someone presents only data that sive" to the bone) asked whether I had any plan to do some support his own perspective or conclusion. columns about the Religious Right. I replied that the topic was Both of these sources of bias can reassure us that nothing well explored, but how about some columns on the Religious needs to be done, at least if we're on the proper side of the Left, such as the (then) popular "liberation theology" move­ political spectrum and have a lot of special pleaders around ment? He stared at me as if I had suggested slitting his moth­ us. er's throat. The bias was unconscious, but very active.

Liberty 23 June 2008

One effective way to counter these various biases is to read aimed at giving an injured party compensation for damages or listen to information coming from people of markedly dif­ suffered through the negligence of another ("tort" is French ferent ideological persuasions. Facts that support an idea will for "wrong"). The study focuses on class actions, medical usually be presented in depth by the sources which favor that malpractice suits, and product liability suits. It aims, in the idea, and usually not mentioned by the sources which oppose investigators' words, to provide"a conservative first approxi­ that idea. And issues not even discussed by one source will mation of the total costs, both direct and indirect, as well as fascinate another source of different ideological stripe. the total excess costs of the U.s. tort system."z This assumes, however, that you can find information The McQuillan group is not attacking tort law itself. It sources representing all major ideological perspectives. Most stipulates that a good tort system is essential to the free mar­ social science and humanities departments are now essen­ ket, because it helps ensure that businesses take care to make tially leftist thinktanks, with overwhelmingly left-liberal safe products and refrain from harming the environment, and faculties (although economics departments are much more that people who are truly harmed by some trade or indus­ try - as inevitably happens in any economic system - are appropriately compensated. When critics of the tort system miss this point, their prose turns into mere lawyer-bashing, . complete with the line from "Henry VI": "The first thing we A deeper sort of bias is issue selection bias, do, let's kill all the lawyers." Yet a bad tort system is a burdensome tax on the econ­ where the source refuses even to mention cer­ omy, killing jobs, lowering income, and increasing prices. tain worthwhile questions. Additionally, it exacts opportunity costs: every nickel a com­ pany has to plow into fighting lawsuits is a nickel less that it can plow into research and development, higher salaries for its employees, or lower costs for consumers. And to the extent that America has an unnecessarily burdensome tort system it will be at a disadvantage in the global economy. ideologically balanced than the other social science depart­ The authors find that the direct and indirect cost of the cur­ ments). This is why thinktanks are so important. They are rent tort system was, in 2006, an astonishing $865 billion: "To places where dissenters from academic orthodoxy can pursue put the annual social cost of the U.S. tort system into perspec­ their research and ask questions that wouldn't even occur to tive, it is equivalent to an 8% tax on consumption, a 13% tax other academics. Of course, I don't pretend that such institu­ on wages, the combined annual output of all six New England tions are themselves free from bias; but at least their advo­ states.... The annual price tag, or 'tort tax,' for a family of cacy is clearly acknowledged. More to the point, they provide four in terms of costs and foregone benefits is $9,827."3 a counterbalance to the academy's incessant stream of leftist Comparison with other industrialized nations - which research. seem to be protecting their consumers well enough - shows Now let's consider a substantive issue, one that is vital to that the U.S. tort system is grossly excessive. We spend 2.2% of everyone affected by the American civil court system, whether our GDP on direct tort expenses; the other advanced nations they know it or not: "How much does the American tort sys­ tem cost us?" This question has occurred to almost every­ one who has ever run a business, but it is not a question that seems to interest many academic economists or other social scientists. Nor is it of absorbing interest to political leaders. Trial lawyers, who profit mightily from the present system, A bad tort system is a burdensome tax on are also mighty contributors to political campaigns. Indeed, one of the major candidates for the Democratic nomination, the economy, killing jobs, lowering income, John Edwards, made mega-millions from tort cases. It is espe­ and increasing prices. cially hard for Democratic politicians, who get the majority of trial-lawyer money, to see trial lawyers, not as heroes, but as participants in an institution that (like any other) has socio­ economic costs. So it is a welcome development that a group of scholars at the Pacific Research Institute have inv~stigated precisely spend 0.9%. That 1.30/0 difference suggests that as much as this neglected issue. The PRI is an independently funded free 59°1<, of U.S. tort costs are excessive. This means that about market thinktank. The group was headed by distinguished $589 billion annually is drained uselessly from the American economist Lawrence McQuillan, and included Hovannes economy -:- about $7,850 per family of four. Abramyan and Anthony Archie. The McQuillan group has The McQuillan group unfortunately does not compare written a solid report on the costs of our tort system, with the number of lawyers in the U.S. to those in other industrial­ remarkable findings. The report, entitled "Jackpot Justice: The ized nations. Back in 2000, The Economist pointed out that the True Cost of America's Tort System," is downloadable in full United States had 281 lawyers for every 100,000 people, ver­ from the PRJ website.1 sus 94 for Britain, 33 for France, and only 7 for Japan.4 The per­ The document is meticulously researched and extremely centage of lawyers in the U.S. has increased even more since detailed. It looks at the various economic costs of lawsuits then.

24 Liberty June 2008

Along these lines, in a now classic study done in 1992,5 that they set up. So the plaintiffs got $74 million rather than economist Stephen Magee, using international data sets com­ the $132 million they were due. The judge who presided over paring growth rates and relative numbers of lawyers as a per­ the original settlement, Judge Bamburger, retired in 2004, and centage of white collar workers, concluded that there was an was promptly appointed "director" of that selfsame charity, optimum of the percentage of lawyers in a population. Too at a hefty salary. Complaints by the plaintiffs led to a federal many lawyers hurt the economy, as do too few. By his estimate, investigation, and the lawyers have all been indicted. The fed­ the U.S. had something like 400/0 too many lawyers. eral judge overseeing the case has even jailed them as flight It's a depressing subject. The McQuillan group does its risks. And the plaintiffs are suing to get the rest of the money. best to leaven dry economic analysis with illustrations of crazy The Kentucky Bar Association has yet to disbar the crooks. tort actions, but these tend to be depressing too. In one case, In a fourth recent case, Mississippi tortmeister Dickie Scruggs (an apt moniker, indeed) was indicted for attempting to bribe a judge, presiding circuit court Judge Henry Lackey.s Scruggs' law firm had obtained massive settlements from insurance companies for Katrina victims, and Scruggs fell into a dispute with another attorney inthe firm (John Griffin Jones) The direct and indirect cost of the current about how to divide the $26.5 million in attorneys' fees. The tort system was, in 2006, an astonishing $865 Jones v. Scruggs suit was due to be heard by Judge Lackey. According to the indictment, Scruggs sent an emissary (an billion. outside attorney named Timothy Balducci) to offer a bribe to Judge Lackey. Lackey, however, refused to fulfill the prom­ ise of his name, and went to the FBI. Working undercover and likely wearing a wire, he agreed to take a $40,000 bribe. Balducci then allegedly handed over $20,000 in cash up front, and the rest later on. Scruggs and his four cohorts - lawyers a small pharmacy owner was sued in a class action against all, remember - face 30 years in prison. a diet drug (Fen-phen) that had been approved by the FDA If you want to read other outrageous cases, the estimable and was sold by the pharmacy only by prescription. The law­ American Tort Reform Association has a page on its website9 yers targeted the small pharmacy because it was in a county listing some of the more ludicrous ones. It also has a down­ known to be "plaintiff-friendly," even though the drug maker loadable annual report on the areas of the country that have was located in an entirely different state. The stress of the legal the worst record of judicial rulings in tort cases. These are shark attack apparently induced a heart attack in the owner, called, appropriately enough, "Judicial Hellholes." killing him. His wife subsequently had to sell the pharmacy To return, however, to the McQuillan study: as useful as it they had built. She was sued over a hundred times before the is, it does not include the costs of other areas of civil law, such sharks had their fill. as employment, securities, the Americans with Disabilities And these things don't stop. Since the report was issued, Act, or contract lawsuits. So the study's "conservative first several even more egregious examples of tort law abuse have approximation" of the total costs of our tort system is very made the headlines. Consider, for instance, an administra­ conservative, indeed. tive law judge by the name of Roy Pearson, who sued his dry More importantly from the philosophic point of view, the cleaners for 54 million bucks, for losing his pants. He also lost study explores only the utilitarian (or more broadly) conse- his case, but he plans to appeal, putting the defendants (500 and Jin Chung) through a living hell. In another big news story, William Lerach, one of the most famous and successful class-action lawyers in the country, pleaded guilty to several felonies for his role in bribing people to become plaintiffs in big-buck lawsuits.6 Lerach won billions Lawyers targeted the small pharmacy be­ by suing major corporations, including AT&T, Enron, Lucent, cause it was in acounty known to be "plaintiff­ Microsoft, and Prudential Insurance. His firm, Milberg Weiss, friendly," even though the drug maker was had paid over $11 million in kickbacks to get people to be plaintiffs in lawsuits that netted the firm over $250 million. located in an entirely different state. (Lerach will do only one or two years, alas, but will have to disgorge the better part of $8 million. Other partners in the firm have been charged, including co-founder Melvyn Weiss, who faces up to 40 years in jail.) A third case of trial lawyers gone wild occurred recently quentialist case against tort law abuse. That case is fairly obvi­ in Kentucky? Three tort lawyers - Shirley Cunningham, ous, so long as one does not suffer from any of the biases listed Jr., William Gallion, and Melbourne Mills, Jr. - got a settle­ above. Yet there are also ethical perspectives to be invoked. ment (in 2001) for a group of 440 consumers who had pur­ Begin with the Kantian perspective - the injunction to chased a diet drug containing Fen-phen. The settlement was treat people as ends, not as mere means to our own ends. That for $200 million, from which the attorneys were to collect a would surely rule out suing someone (or some company) not third for their contingency fees. The lawyers kept $106 mil­ because he actually harmed you, but because you can con­ lion for themselves and put another $20 million into a charity vince a jury that he did and thereby take his assets. It would

Liberty 25 June 2008 also rule out the "deep pockets" strategy employed by not a were capped in 2003, applications for medical licenses have few trial attorneys, that of suing persons or companies that skyrocketed, from 8,391 in the four years before the cap was were only tangentially involved in a tort, and truly blameless passed,to 10,878 in the four years since.ll of the harm, simply because they have more assets, or because Nevertheless, capping non-economic damage awards is they are located in a jurisdiction favorable to trial attorneys. less appealing than some other approaches. For one thing, it And it would rule out juries' occasional practice of award- limits the freedom of juries to address a proven harm as they see fit. While individual juries can behave irresponsibly, we still have to judge the institution as a whole. Moreover, while the function of the tort system is primar­ ily to compensate, "make whole," the person injured, that is Such a Robin Hood approach clearly treats not its sole function. In some unusual cases (say, where peo­ ple are permanently disabled or disfigured through extreme wealthy defendants as if they were cows to be recklessness), punitive damages may well be just, both to milked. punish the defendant and to deter future recklessness by others. In this regard, we should note that since 2003, Texas has witnessed a rise in investigations of doctors (up by 40%), complaints by patients (up by 250/0), and disciplinary actions against doctors (up by 80/0), though this could also be caused by closer regulatory scrutiny.12 ing damages to a plaintiff not because he was really harmed We can agree that the punitive function should be kept by the defendant but because the jury felt sorry for him and strictly for egregious cases, not for ordinary negligence, but viewed the defendant (a large corporation, typically) as hav­ it seems legitimate in theory. There is recklessness that does ing the resources to help him. Such a Robin Hood approach not rise to the level of outright criminality. In fact, courts tend clearly treats wealthy defendants as if they were cows to be to peg the amount of punitive damages to the actual damages milked. suffered by the plaintiff, and they require a greater burden of There is also the natural rights perspective. If all people proof for punitive as opposed to other damages. have unalienable rights, surely they have the right to be free A second approach is to limit or even prohibit contingent from harassment by other people, from having their property fees, fees that lawyers get only if they win a suit. Contingent wrongfully taken, and from having their privacy violated by fees are not allowed in most European courts, and were not unjust legal actions. permitted in early America. Yet this again is an approach I do Finally, the recently regnant "virtue ethics" perspective not favor, for the same reasons that the American legal system would encourage us to look at the role of institutions in build­ eventually decided against it. ing or destroying character. From such a perspective, one We should be reluctant to tell autonomous agents engaged must view with alarm a tort system so loose that it encour­ in negotiating a price for some service what they must agree ages people to steal legally from others. Ironically, it has been to. The practice obviously violates their rights to negotiate economists rather than moral philosophers who have been freely. More specifically, there are some cases in which a per­ most aware of the moral hazards (especially rent-seeking) that son who has truly been harmed could not afford a lawyer, if a come from a loose tort system. Moral hazard (in philosophic contingent fee arrangement were not available. terms) is making people vicious by offering them perverse Besides attempting to limit awards for damages or fees incentives to·become so. for trial lawyers, reformers have suggested that we sim­ In sum, a number of consilient moral considerations argue ply eliminate the jury system for tort cases, and rely on the for systematic tort reform. The McQuillan study does not suggest how this might happen, though several approaches come to mind. I want to start, however, by reviewing some ideas for controlling tort abuse with which I do not agree. One is the general idea of One must view with alarm a tort system so limiting what people can gain from lawsuits, with an eye to lowering incentives for them to file frivolous ones. loose that it encourages people to steal legally We could cap non-economic damages (awards for pain from others. and suffering over and above economic loss). There is some evidence that non-economic damage caps work to curtail tort abuse. For example, a recent article in the Investor's Business Dailylo shows that since Texas, four years ago, passed a state constitutional amendment capping non-economic damages judges instead. This is the norm in Europe, and makes a cer­ in medical malpractice cases, it has seen a 210/0 drop in med­ tain amount of sense. After all, judges are trained in law, and ical malpractice insurance premiums. This, of course, helps are (arguably, at least) less susceptible than juries to the irrel­ healthcare consumers (aka patients) in two ways. evant emotional appeals and flowery rhetoric - especially Directly, it lowers doctors' charges, since any healthcare class warfare rhetoric - that trial lawyers too often dish out. provider builds insurance costs into the price of services. But trial byjuryin commonlaw suits of over $20 is guaran­ Indirectly, in Texas it has led to a flood of doctors moving teed by the 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution, from states that have runaway tort systems. Since awards so at least at the federal level the change would be practically

26 Liberty June 2008 impossible to make. And I think the reasons for putting that mony was based on theories and methods generally accepted right into the Constitution still apply. Not only are juries a by practitioners in the field. However, in 1975 this rule was check on the power of government but, except in a headline­ weakened at the federal level, and in 1993 the U.S. Supreme grabbing minority of cases, jurors tend to be reasonable. I Court (in Daubert v. Merrel Dow) rejected it and put in its place don't think they are the core of the problem. a requirement for independent judicial review of the scientific My preference is for a number of other approaches, some testimony. But absent the Frye rule or some other tight stan­ rather narrow, and one very broad, that focus on making the dards, judges (who are trained in the law but typically not tort procedures themselves (as opposed to the lawyers and in science or statistics) and juries (who are ordinary folk, not jurors who work under the procedures) more rational and trained scientists from relevant disciplines) are put in the posi­ fair. tion of having to decide which scientific theories and practices To begin with the narrower approaches, we first need to are scientifically correct. pass laws that limit liability for torts to agents who have the Fourth, we need to require that any person filing a lawsuit main direct causal role in the tort. (These laws to limit tort must actually have been harmed by the person or company he is intending to sue. Believe it or not, there are some states (such as my beloved state of California) that actually allow attorneys to sue companies for various consumer law or other infractions (such as infractions of ADA codes) despite the The firm was living parasitically upon the absence of an actual consumer even alleging harm. A recent case became notorious for this - a legal firm sent its employ­ small business community, and living well. ees out to various small businesses, studying the width of parking stalls, the accessibility of bathrooms, etc. The firm then filed hundreds of lawsuits against the businesses, usu­ ally settling for roughly what it would have cost them to con­ test the cases in court. This firm was living parasitically upon exposure will likely have to be industry-specific). Dragging the small business community, and living well. into lawsuits people who had no real hand in the commission Fifth, we need sharp limitations on discovery during the of the harm surely violates their rights. Remember the case of early phases of the tort complaint. Allowing the plaintiff's the pharmacist who was sued for selling an FDA-approved attorney freedom to trawl through a defendant's records, drug. Since the pharmacist didn't manufacture or prescribe searching for anything that might be damaging, is an invita­ the drug, he should have been held legally harmless in the tion to frivolity and injustice. Most other legal systems in the matter. Pharmacists should be responsible for torts that occur industrialized world limit discovery to what is reasonably rel­ in the normal specific practice of their business, such as mis­ evant to the alleged tort. takes in filling prescriptions or selling drugs that are past their Sixth, and more broadly, we should move to the system declared shelf life, not for things they weren't involved in, of "loser-pays." Under this system - sometimes called "the such as the manufacture of the drugs they sell. English Rule," although it is the norm throughout Europe For this reason I support attempts to hold gun manu­ - if Jones sues Smith for any reason and loses, Jones has to facturers liable only for damages that occur from defects in pay Smith's legal fees. This would be a constant guard against their products (such as guns that can explode when fired), frivolous lawsuits, such as the infamous $54 million lost­ as opposed to liability for the wrongful use of their products trousers action. (such as the use of guns in criminal activities, unless the man­ From the ethical point of view, the loser-pays rule seems ufacturer had knowledge that the person buying a gun was imperative. We need to remember that every frivolous law­ criminal or mentally incompetent). suit against an innocent person or company is itself a tort. It Second, a number of states (such as California) have enacted statutes that require compulsory arbitration in cer­ tain cases, and many contracts (especially for medical, legal, and other professional services) already contain arbitration clauses. But we need to get creative in setting up even more venues for compulsory arbitration. Third, we need to follow a suggestionby Peter Huber, who argues in "Galileo's Revenge: JunkScience inthe Courtroom"13 that the dropping of the Frye rule about the "general accep­ tance" of professional ideas has led to a proliferation of dubi­ ous cases in which clearly bogus science was allowed into the courtroom. For example, the aforementioned John Edwards won a lot of money from convincing juries that obstetricians caused cerebral palsy in the infants they delivered by fail­ ing to perform caesarian sections, a claim the vast majority of medical scientists would view as pseudo-science. I will be brief, referring the reader to Huber's fine book for further details. In 1923 a federal appellate court ruled that "You've had enough litigation, Mr. Bemis - go on expert testimony would be allowed in a trial only if the testi- home to your wife and children."

Liberty 27 June 2008 causes stress, a kind of pain and suffering for the wrongfully That loser-pays is a moral imperativebecomes evenclearer sued person. It often hurts the reputation of the person sued, when you reflect upon the fact that in a tort case, the level of potentially causing large loss of income. (Indeed, precisely proof is only "the preponderance of evidence," nothing near because being sued often results in tremendous amounts of the high standard of "proofbeyond all reasonable doubt" that bad publicity, lawyers are often able to extort money from is required in criminal trials. public corporations.) The time and trouble of putting up a I would anticipate a few objections to the loser~pays sys­ defense is an opportunity cost, because that time could be tem, but none that strike me as morally compelling. spent more profitably elsewhere. Worse, even if the victim One is the objection that if we move to a loser-pays system, prevails, he still typically pays his own legal fees, which.com­ the average person harmed by defective products will not be plete the punishment of the innocent. able to get legal representation at all, because his attorney will Let's return to the Kantian perspective for a moment. Kant be up against a huge team of lawyers for the evil Big Business had a second formulation for his ethical theory, one he termed that produced the defective product. the categorical imperative. I view this theory as essentially a But the counterarguments.are as obvious as they are demand for consistency in ethical reasoning. In his formula­ numerous. To begin with, scaring off potential plaintiffs who tion, we should act under those, and only those, rules that we have weak or frivolous cases is the whole idea. Next, most could will to be universally adopted. This is (as often noted) an abstract formulation of the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Well, what are the reasons typically given for the tort sys­ tem? That it makes people who have been harmed whole, i.e., compensates them fairly for their loss; that it acts as a deter­ It beggars the imagination to suppose that rent to negligence or reckless behavior; that it helps to moti­ lawyers are less prone to unethical behavior vate those who have caused harm to negotiate in good faith with those they have harmed (or face a lawsuit). than people in any other business. If consistency has any meaning, these reasons should apply to the tort system itself If one reason for a rightful tort case is to compensate the victim appropriately, then in a wrongful tort case the victim (the defendant) should be compensated appropriately. He or business in America is small to medium-sized business, so in she has lost money in legal fees, and so having the plaintiff most caseswhere someone is genuinely harmed by a defective reimburse those fees would make the defendant whole. product or service, the legal representation will be roughly If we accept the need to deter negligence and recklessness, equal. Incases of genuine harm caused by truly big business then we also need to deter lawyers from carelessness or worse other plaintiffs could join in a class-action lawsuit. Finally, in bringing lawsuits. The loser-pays system would be such a the management of any business that has to employ a large deterrent. Why suppose that the tort law business needs any team of lawyers to face a plaintiff in the loser-pays system less deterrence against malfeasance or negligence than any will have motivation to enter into settlement negotiations in other business? I don't believe that lawyers on average are good faith. After all, it faces huge legal bills just from its own any more prone to unethical behavior than are (say) people in lawyers, and it knows that the plaintiff and plaintiff's counsel the housing industry, but it beggars the imagination to sup­ are, almost surely, sincerely convinced that they have enough pose that they are less so. evidence to prevail. And if we agree that the threat of a tort lawsuit can moti­ Another objection is the contrary argument: under loser­ vate those who have caused harm to negotiate fair compen­ pays, poor plaintiffs will be more inclined to sue, knowing sation for those whom they have harmed, then consistency that they have nothing to lose, whereas the other side does have something to lose. This is weak. Under the current system, that's precisely what we have for everyone: nothing to lose! More impor­ tantly, while any poor plaintiff inclined to a frivolous lawsuit We should move to the system of "loser­ has nothing to lose, his attorney certainly does. A third objection: what about cases in which a person is pays." IfJones sues Smith for any reason and harmed by a product or service, not by negligence, but by loses, Jones has to pay Smith's· legal fees. mere bad luck? That is, what about harms for which the com­ pany that produced the product or rendered the service was in no way really negligent, and in no way could have fore­ seen the harm, but still caused it? Ifsuch consumers can't col­ lect from the company, aren't they forced to pay for their own medical bills? Is that just? And what about people who can't should tell us that the threat of having to pay the defendant's pay medical bills at all? legal fees, as well as one's own, should one lose, will encour­ age plaintiffs to seek reasonable settlements first, or accept binding arbitration to begin with. continued on page 62

28 Liberty The II Libert:iJ1 Poll Results Who We Are and What We Think

by Mark Rand

Liberty always wanted to k110W more about its readers. What do they t11h1k about little problems, life's big problems, and some larger than life problen1s? What about God, sex, and Ayn Rand? Should any combination of them ever h1 the same breath? Read 011 ...

Liberty's of liThe Sociology of Libertarians," a su.rvey conducted by two non-libertarian social scientists (October 1987), led Liberty's editors to ask "what about the issues that vex libertarians?" We published the results of the first Liberty Poll in the July 1988 issue, and the results of the second in February 1999.

Times have r>1"\'"",r>n.-r,r1 and the libertarian movement has (arguably) 11latured.A fevv months ago, we decided the titHe was ripe for the third Liberty Poll. Here are the results. Government should be eliminated altogether. Moral Opinions Today 20 years ago There is a proper role for governn1ent, but that role is Inuch smaller than the role government plays at present.

Today 20 years ago

Agree: 10.5% Agree: 31 % 'Whether there should be SOlne minimal government is one of the oldest controversies in libertarian thought. If the poll results are representative of overall libertarian opinion, Agree: 89.50,,1) Agree: 66%, the n1inarchists dearly are making their case more persua-

Liberty 29 June 2008 sively than are the anarchists. To my mind, the argument While the portion of respondents who consider politi­ has a bit of an 1/ angels on heads of pins" quality - we're not cal action appropriate is about the same· as it was in the in great danger of reducing the government's scope by too first Liberty Poll (77%), the portion who consider voting a n1uch at any point in the near future. responsibility has more than doubled (from 10% in the first Is abortion wrong? Should it be illegal? poll). Taken together with the sample's move from anarcho­ Is \vrong Should be illegal capitalism to minarchism, it suggests that we are as a group becoming less disenchanted with the state. If this is correct, it may be that individualists believe that government today is less invasive than it was 20 years ago. It seems unlikely that any significant number of our readers would have this delusion. Another possible explanation, which in my view is much more likely, is that anarcho-capitalists are more likely than minarchists to have left Liberty's fold. Agree: 42.5% Agree: 8.7% I hope neither explanation is correct; I hope it is merely a A smaller portion (370/0) of the first poll's respondents statistical aberration permitted by our small and non-repre­ viewed abortion as wrong; a greater portion (1.3%) believed sentative sample. it should be outlawed. The consistent libertarian position on Is Communism the greatest threat to human lib­ abortion awaits a definitive and popularly accepted proof of erty. Is terrorism? God's existence or non-existence, and a definitive and popu­ Communism Terrorism larly accepted consensus on when life begins. Stay tuned. Interestingly, two individuals indicated that although abortion is not in their view wrong, it should be illegal. This first struck me as incompatible with any type of libertarian philosophy, but I was falling prey to a false dichotomy. Not agreeing with the statelnent 1/abortion is wrong" is not at all the same as agreeing to the statement IIabortion is not wrong." If abortion is in one's view possibly but not definitely wrong, the doubt rn.ight reasonably be combined with the Agree: 18.7% Agree: 14.6% extreme consequence (certainly for the fetus) to produce the conclusion that abortion should be outlawed. Terrorism was not listed in the first poll, so the fact that A person should have a legal obligation to sup­ Communism is considered the greatest threat to human lib­ port his or her offspring. erty by a smaller portion of respondents today than 20 years ago (21 %) is not particularly informative. Today 20 years ago An analysis of this question's responses also runs into

some interpretive problems. First, what is meant by IIcom­ munism"? Socialism is a natural interpretation; our glo­ rious leaders, whether RepUblican or Democrat, work at nothing so consistently as increasing the level of socialism in the United States. Or is it "Communism"? The first poll was conducted before the fall of the Berlin Wall; respondents who recall the first poll may be assessing the threat of Soviet aggression. Second, as Stephen Cox wondered after the first Agree: 74% Agree: 56% poll: are respondentstelling us what they consider the most Some respondents note that any obligation ends once the extreme threat, or the most proximate? offspring is 18 years old; one wonders if it ends at age 14. Eight respondents indicated that communism and terror­ Is political action an appropriate Inethod of ism are each the greatest threat to human liberty. advancing liberty? Do people have a responsibil­ ity to vote? Patrick Quealy adds: The first two polls asked Action is appropriate Voting is a duty whether "Communism is the greatest threat to human liberty." This time, we also asked whether "terrorism is the greatest threat to human liberty." The number of respondents who regard Communism as the greater threat is four percentage points higher than the num­ berwho regard terrorism thatway. That didn't surprise me, because I figured it reflected the age and experi­ ence of our respondents: the commonest age indicated by respondents was 67/ and the average was 55. Agree: 80.8% Agree: 23.3% I am 27, and I only barely remember Soviet Communism being a terrifying threat. By the time I 30 Liberty June 200B

was old enough to be avvare, the Cold War lnarkedly enough to account for the bulk of the change. was over. Before the 11lilitia Inovement in the mid- There is a God. '90s, and then n1ade terrorisn1 the ne"v bogeyman. Today 20 years ago I guessed that my age and younger would have the same experience, so I looked at the responses of those my age or younger. I was to find that hAlO answered affir- matively to the Communisn1 and none to the terrorism In at other end of the age spectrum, of the 34 "vho an of 70 or older, 11l0re believe terrorisn1 is (eight for terrorisln vs. seven for The Agree: 36.5% Agree: 26% age groups I are and too small to have When one considers that polls indicate that at least 730/0 statistical but 1'm a bit terror- and as lnuch as 94 % of the U.S. population believes there is isn1 didn't stick out as the ne\v threat for everyone, and a God, the reason for the common assu111ption that libertar­ that the threat of COlnlnunism has such even ians are nonbelievers is clear. A sizable and growing 1ninor­ for younger ity of respondents believe there is a God. An employee of the state is a receiver of stolen goods and therefore is cOln1nitting an ilnproper The 'United States should ren10ve all restrictions act. on ilnmigration. Today 20 years ago 20 years ago

Agree: 18.7% Agree: 31% Agree: 69% The direction of the change in response to this statement is exactly what one \vould expect given the respondents' The subject of immigration ren1ains controversial "vithin move from the anarchist to the ll1inarchist philosophies, but the libertarian Advocates of open borders cor­ the magnitude of the change seen1S excessive. Some 13% of rectly D1aintain that a reasonable and consistent libertarian poll respondents believe both that some level of government philosophy is "vith restrictions on is appropriate and that state eDlployees are ipso facto com­ hUlnan migration; advocates of restrictions can mitting an iDlproper act. counter that 1) in our sen1i-sodalist state, immigration has Perhaps those respondents believe en1ployees of a proper artificially high external costs, and 2) philosophies governnlent would be paid from donations; perhaps they are nezJer actually follo"ved LV.I.10J.0\..\.....l.U.. .L believed the employees of a proper government \vould be Unfortunately, this statelnenfs is too broad to volunteers. Perhaps sonle did not trouble themselves with allow us to dravv conclusions about libertarian the details. opinion on the "vho indicated that there One can accept governlnent services (food should be no restrictions on can't truly believe stamps, subsidized housing, use of roads, etc.) it. They've assulned the If (Before you without comn1itting an in1moral act. object to my envision the redtlctio ad absurdum of several thousand soldiers the border vvhile Today 20 years ago claiming to be SaIne respondents who advocate Inore or less untralnlneled Inay have refrained from this statement because they did not aSSUD1e any Of course, who want sig- nificant restrictions on will also disagree with the statement; \ve no\vay of detennining the proportions. It does seen1 that the of respondents in Agree: 68% Agree: 71% favor of significant restrictions on has at least doubled since the tilne of the first as it is unlikely that This staten1ent seems to have been designed so as to min­ the percentage of vvho don't assume reason­ ilnize its utility. How else does one explain the inclusion able qualifiers - and "vho can blame them? - has increased of both the use of roads and the use of food stanlps? SOlne

Liberty 31 rune 2008 respondents treated this as though it were multiple choice, statement to its current form, and 500/0 of those respondents which it should have been. indicated agreement. If the state expropriated all wealth and one could not exist without accepting stolen goods, it Patrick Quealy adds: Between 1988 and 2008, the would be moral and proper to accept such goods proportion of respondents who believed it is wrong (i.e., live within the system). to initiate force against another human being dropped Today 20 years ago by 50 percentage points. The percentage who believe the u.s. should relnove all restrictions on immigration dropped by 40 points. Both changes were graduated, with the percentage falling substantially both between 1988 and 1998, and again between 1998 and 2008, which may reflect a readership that's inexorably becoming pragamatic - as the Libertarian Party is believed in some quarters to be doing.

Agree: 63% Agree: 68% Do all men by their nature have a right to life? A curveball. Although respondents today are more likely Liberty? Property? The pursuit of happiness? to believe some level of government is appropriate, they are Life Liberty slightly less likely to believe one should accept anything fron1 a totalitarian state, even when one's survival is at stake. Respondents whose view of what they should do is in accord with what they doubtless 'would do account for 63% of our san1ple. A proper government would have an absolutely isolationist foreign policy. Today 20 years ago Agree: 90% Agree: 92.7%

Property Pursuit ofhappiness

Agree: 32.4% Agree: 53%

More evidence that libertarian opinion is moving in the Agree: 81.3% Agree: 84.5% wrong direction - towards more government. More than Overwhelming majorities of respondents in each of the two thirds of the resondents believe theU·nited States has, three Liberty Polls have agreed that alllnen by their nature or at least might have, some good reason to meddle in the have each of the listed rights. Not overwhelming enough, in affairs of other countries. my opinion. Several respondents indicated that the proper foreign Son1e respondents (about 60/0) did not indicate that all policy should be described as non-interventionist. lnen possess any of the listed rights. This might stem from a Itis always wrong to initiate force against another disagreem.ent over the meaning of rights, and is easy to rec­ human being. oncile with a generally libertarian philosophy. Today 20 years ago It is not nearly as easy to understand why some respon­ dents believe that men have SaIne but not all of the listed rights. Most baffling is that almost 4ok) of respondents think that men have some of the listed rights but not the right to life itself. Problems Few libertarians would argue that mainstream Republican or Democratic philosophies are intern.ally con­ Agree: 39.7% Agree: 90% sistent. Democrats' concern for the poor clashes with their desire to enfeeble the only system (capitalism) that has been In the first Liberty Poll this statement was "No person shown to alleviate poverty. Republicans' desire for less intru­ has the right to initiate physical force against another human sive governlnent clashes with their support of laws turning being./f The second Liberty Poll (ten years ago) changed the consensual activities into crimes.

32 Liberty June 2008

If the responses to the questions in this section are any This pair of questions elicited a few calls for clarification. indication, natural-rights libertarians also have some phil­ What, exactly, is meant by U endanger" the child's health or osophical inconsistencies, at least at the extremes. Reductio life? A diet that slightly elevates the child's lifetime risk of ad absurdum is an appropriate tool for analyzing a philos:.. coronary disease (and thus slightly reduces the child's life ophy that clain1s to derive its rules from clear, universal expectancy) could be said to endanger the child's health, and principles. possibly the child's life. The contrived situationsintheproblemsbelowwon'tshed What qualifies as "good" evidence? A double-blind study as much light on a utilitarian-based libertarian philosophy. in which lab rats'lifespans were halved? Anecdotal evidence Suppose that a parent of a newborn baby places that conforms with one's own experiences? it in front of a picture windo,,,, and sells tickets And what does "prevent" mean in this context? to anyone vvishing to observe the child starve to Presumably it means something other than flpersuade" ­ death. He Inakes it clear that the child is free to the second question, especially, would not be much of a leave at any time, but that anyone crossing his dilemma ,,,,ere that the case. Does an unqualified "prevent" lawn will be viewed as trespassing. imply Uby any means necessary"? Would you cross the lawn to help the child? Some\vhat surprisingly, given the ambiguity of the ques­ Would helping the child violate the parent's tions, response has· varied relatively little across the three rights? Liberty Polls. In the initial Liberty Poll 41% of respondents Crossing would violate indicated one should prevent the unhealthy diet and 62% Would cross the lawn the parent's rights of respondents indicated one should prevent the diet that endangers the child's life. In the second Liberty Poll the numbers were 30 0k and 61 %, respectively. Again, because of the question's ambiguity, one should not draw any overall conclusions solely from its response. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the response for this question follows this poll's trend of moving towards a. will­ ingness to condone interventionism in general. Agree: 90.9%) Agree: 24.1 % Suppose that you are a security guard for a large shopping mall. A terrorist has threatened to The overwhelming luajority of respondents would cross drop a bomb from a balcony into a crowd. He is the lawn to help the child. opinion again, not over­ moving toward the balcony's railing carrying an whelming enough. I'm not sure which is worse - that object that you believe to be a bomb. You have a almost 50/0 wouldn't the child because it would in their gun. He has a hostage between hin1self and you view violate the rights, or that over 4% would not (he knows that you have identified him). You help the child even though they do not believe it would vio­ have only a few seconds to react. Which of the late the parenfs rights. following most accurately reflects the action you The second question is of son1e importance only if one is consider appropriate? concerned vvith the details of a moral framework. In every You should fire a gun at the terrorist only if you Liberty Poll to at least one respondent has added what are certain that you "Vill miss the hostage. I consider the most natural response. "Who cares?" You should fire at the terrorist if there is a reason­ Response to this was sinli.1ar in each of the two able chance that you will miss the hostage. earlier Liberty Polls. You should fire through the hostage, if Suppose that a parent decides to experilnent with necessary. a radical new diet for his nevvborn child. Shoot only ifyou are Should you the from trying the Shoot through certain you will not the hostage if diet if you had good evidence it would endan­ hit the hostage necessary ger the child's health? Suppose that you had 14.6% good evidence that the diet ,,,,ould endanger the 30.2% child's life?

Should prevent Should prevent unhealthy diet life-threatening diet

Shoot if you might miss the hostage 54.6%

Agree: 74.6(X:J Although almost 400/0 of poll respondents believe that

Liberty 33 June 2008 it is always wrong to initiate force against another human would not constitute an act of aggression. being, almost 800/0 of poll respondents (850/0 of this ques­ You should force entrance, even though it would tion's respondents) indicated a willingness to shoot through be an act of aggression. an innocent individual if necessary. The simplest way to rec­ You should not attempt to enter the house. oncile this is to assume we have some closeted utilitarians in our sample. 16.1 % Force entrance, Suppose that you are on a friend's balcony on the it is not an act 50th floor of a condominium cOlnplex. You trip, of aggression stull1ble, and fall over the edge. You catch a flag­ pole on the next floor down. The owner opens his window and den1ands you stop trespassing. Which of the following statements reflects your beliefs? You should enter the owner's residence against the owner's wishes. Force entrance, You should hang on to the flagpole until a rope which is an can be thrown down from above. act ofaggression You should drop. 62.1%

Although the situation in this question is almost equiva­ lent to the situation in the previous question, in each of the three Liberty Polls, respondents have been far more likely to respect the cabin owner's wishes. It is unclear whether this is because the owner's actions are here Inore reasonable, or because the death in this question is less ilnmediate. One respondent indicated that she would take shelter in the shed that she decided was adjacent to the cabin. A wise choice, as the shed is doubtless heated, stocked with food and hot cocoa, and equipped with satellite television. Another respondent, fresh from. slnacking the condominium owner, indicated she'd force entrance and that "she'd [the cabin owner] get over it." In each of the earlier Liberty Polls, about 15°!

34 Liberty an act of extortion. ("'The city must pay $1 mil­ gibberish, but still concluded it was the best answer. lion, or I will detonate it.") That is reasonable if a greater proportion of our read­ Which statement most clearly reflects your ership now approaches far-out beliefs? not as a libertarian giving a technically correct answer, You (and your neighbors) should prevent the but as a human being giving a reasonable answer to construction of the device. a very weird question. Both answers are fine with me You should put up your house for sale and move, - I'm just happy the percentage of 'who vvould and you are obligated to tell your prospective "prevent construction of the device" at buyers of the situation. You should not interfere around 73%. with his actions. You should put up your house for sale and move, and you are not obligated to tell your prospective Intellectual Development buyers of the situation. You should not interfere The Liberty Poll includes a variety of ~U.'-OI..l."Jl.'.O the aiD1 of with his actions. which is to determine, as Bill Bradford how did You should do nothing, since such a situation is libertarians get that way?" unthinkable and, therefore, is not happening. My political beliefs are based, at least in upon my religious beliefs. 19.3% This is?'t Today 20 years ago happemng Sell, and caveat emptor! 2.5%

4.6% Sell,and inform buyer Agree: 26% Agree: 19(1'0 Respondents are more than three times as their political beliefs upon either life rational analysis, or economics than upon their beliefs. In the commentary to the first Liberty Poll, Bill Bradford For the respondents who are not !-.... t..LL L..L\_U..LUJ..J. wrote I/[t]his problemis about gun control'withbigger guns." this is to be expected. It is surprising that 270/0 of the This is one of the rare occasions upon which, in my view, Bill respondents who believe there is a God indicate that their completely missed the mark. religious beliefs don't at all influence their beliefs. The clear difference between this problem and anextreme My political beliefs are based, at least in version of a gun control question is the assumption of crim­ upon my understanding of history. inal intent..The (conventional) gun control analog to this Today 20 years ago question is "your neighbor is stockpiling small arms; you believe he intends to go on a rampage at the mall, ... " Recasting this situation with no assumed criminal intent would produce a Inuch better tool with which to assess the perceived limitations of the right to bear arms; it would be interesting to see if a significant percentage of respondents would react differently to that situation.

Agree: 82.6% Agree: 68% Patrick Quealy adds: In response to the question about one's.neighbor constructing a nuclear device, 7% My political beliefs are based, at least in (in both 1988 and 1998) believed they I/should do noth­ upon my life experience ing, since such a situation is unthinkable and, there­ Today 20 years ago fore, is not happening." In its July 1988 analysis, Liberty

termed this option IIgibberish" and supposed those who selected it did so "in an attempt to evade the issue or perhaps out of an appreciation of i.ts silliness." This time, support for the option rose about 12 per­ centage points, gaining most of its support from points lost on the answer: "You should put your house up for sale and move. You should not interfere with [your nuclear-armed neighbor's] actions." I suspect many of Agree: 84.5% Agree: 71% these respondents regarded it as gibberish, or almost Liberty 35 June 2008

My political beliefs are based, at least in part, Before beconling a libertarian, how would you upon rational, philosophical analysis characterize your political beliefs? Today 20 years ago Left: Center: 22% 26%

Agree: 81.70;'0 Agree: 90% The percentage of respondents who came to libertarian­ My political beliefs are based, at least in part, isnl from the Right was even larger (65<1'0) in the first Liberty upon my understanding of econolnics Poll, and fell to its current level in the second. Presulnably Today 20 years ago the Right was more favorably disposed to individual liberty in the Reagan era, assunling the change is more than just a statistical anomaly. If one describes the Left as socially and fiscally liberal, the Right as socially and fiscally conservative, and libertar­ ians as socially liberal and fiscally conservative, it seems that libertarianism should appeal as much to Left as to Right. Clearly that is not the case. I suspect this is simply because there is no necessary conflict between social conservativ­ Agree: 82.6<% Agree: 89%) ism and allowing others to make their own lifestyle choices; For some reason, in the second Liberty Poll, only 360/0 of whereas one can hardly support any of the programs that go respondents included economics as one of the bases of their with a fiscally liberal social policy while allowing others to political beliefs. choose whether to comply. About 1% of this poll's respondents gave no indication Respondents who cam.e to libertarianism froln the Right that any of the above subjects has had any influence on their or Center were more likely to indicate belief in God political beliefs. and 39% respectively) than those who came to libertarianisln Who introduced you to libertarian ideas? from the Left (22%). Please rank the degree to which the following Relative thinkers influenced your intellectual develop­ Parent ment, on a scale of one (little or no inlportance) Teacher to five (substantial importance). Friend We are not asking you to report the degree you Other agree with these individuals' thought - what Writer ••_ •••••_ •••- we seek to know is how important each figure

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% was in the growth of your thinking, especially with regard to social and politicallnatters. The choices in the first Liberty Poll were slightly different - "relative" was not a choice, and"advertiser" was - but it Mean Median Mode is still interesting that the percentage responses for IIteacher" Response Response Response Your Mother 2.9 3 and for Jlparent" have each doubled. JIOther" has tripled, 1 Your Father 3.1 3 5 and "writer" has declined by one fourth. Your Sibling 1.7 1 1 Do you consider yourself to be a libertarian? Approximately 95% of respondents indicated that they As a reminder to those who've forgotten, the n1ean is the consider themselves to be libertarians. number commonly called the average. The median response

www.LibertyUnbound.com By popular demand, it's the www.FreedomFest.coln Liberty Editors Conference 2008 Doug Casey Gary Jason Randal O'Toole Jo Ann Skousen David Friedman Charles Murray Bruce Ramsey And more! In conjunction with FreedomFest 2008- ul 10-12 2008-See e 22 June 2008 is best explained using an example: the median of the num­ ophy and the right of revolution that is expressed in that bers 2,2,2,4,35,36, and 38 is 4, as there are three larger and declaration. three smaller numbers in the group. The mode is the number Mean Median Mode that appears most often - in this group, the mode is 2. F.A. von Hayek 3 3 1 The individuals are listed in order of their mean influ­ F.A. von Hayek (1899-1992) was a social philosopher ence on our respondents. The descriptions were written by and Nobel Prize winni g economist. His book "The Road Bill Bradford, except for those which did not·appear in ear­ to Serfdom" (1944) chall nged orthodox statist thinking and lier Liberty Polls, which were written by Andrew Ferguson helped stimulate the pst-World War II resurgence of lib­ (AJF), Patrick Quealy (PQ), or myself (MRR), as indicated. ertarian ideas. He is th author of many works, including Mean Median Mode "Law, Legislation and L·berty," "The Counter-Revolution of Ayn Rand 3.7 4 5 Science," and others. The thinker who most influenced our respondents' Like Mises, Hayek voids the language of "natural law and natural rights," but Hayek is less narrowly utilitarian in intellectual development was Ayn Rand (1905-1982), the approach. He rests mu of his case for a free society on a novelist-phIlosopher, author of "Atlas Shrugged," "The complicated"evolution ry ethics" that emphasizes the "nat­ Fountainhead," "For the New Intellectual," "The Virtue of ural selection" of rules nd societies. Hayek emphasizes the Selfishness," "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," and other importance of traditio more than most other libertarian works. Rand advocated a political philosophy based on the thinkers. absolutism of individual rights, but eschewed anarchism. Ludwig von Mises 3 3 1 Milton Friedman 3.6 4 5 Ludwig von Mises ( 881~1973) was a leading social phi­ Milton Friedman (1912-2006) was the leading exponent losopher and economist of the Austrian School, most famous of the Chicago School of Economics and winner of the 1976 for his development of raxeology, an approach to econom­ Nobel Prize in Economics. His writings in defense of capital­ ics based on a priori, d ductive reasoning from certain fun­ ism and the free society - "Capitalism and Freedom" and damental axioms. "Hu an Action," his magnum opus, is "Free to Choose," for example - have been very influential. his best known work. e also wrote numerous other books Friedman is less radical than many libertarians, how­ ever, and his advocacy of "monetarism" rather than the gold and articles, including "Liberalism," "Socialism," "Theory standard or Hayek's controversial notion of "denationalized of Money and Credit," and "Epistemological Problems of money" has been a source of many heated debates in the lib­ Economics." ertarian movement. Although a rigorou advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, Mises saw a role for go ernment. His political thinking was Thomas Jefferson 3.4 3 3 based on utilitarian co cepts. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the third presi­ Murray Rothbard 2.9 3 dent of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. He is most admired Murray Rothbard ( 926-1995) was an economist, histo­ by libertarians for the advocacy of a natural rights philos- rian, and social philoso herwhoenvisionedlibertarianism as

Patrick Quealy adds: Most of the 36 options given thought necessary. T fact that 122 names were writ­ inourquestionaboutwhichthinkers influencedrespon­ ten in reply to the qu stion above - some written in dents' intellectual development were conservative or by several responden s - shows our readers to be the libertarian figures. However, the question emphasized: freethinkers we know them to be. They know not only "We are not asking you to report the degree you agree what they believe, bu how they got there. with these individuals' thought - what we seek to Murray Rothbard was suspicious of the precision, know is how important each figure was in the growth accuracy, and applica ility of poll results. He wrote in of your thinking." Our readers obliged this request, our July 1988 issue ab ut the above question: "How in supplying many influences that are not considered tra­ hell could I hope to queeze into multiple choice the ditional stepping-stones to libertarianism. process by which I be arne a libertarian? My father? A One reason must be that some of our readers aren't writer? Which one, 0 a scale from one to five? What libertarians. They just enjoy good writing that is of impudence!" interest to libertarians, and that is what Liberty pub­ I confess that I a sympathetic to Rothbard's view; lishes. Written-in influences included George Soros, my enthusiastic supp rt for conducting a third decen­ Gore Vidal, the Beatles, British anarchist punk group nial Liberty Poll was not for all the "right" reasons. I Chumbawamba, former Dead Kennedys frontman like the Poll becauseitdoesn't produce a Libertarianism Jello Biafra, social critic and education theorist Neil Quotient to tell how ure your laissez-faire ethic is, or Postman (whomI quoted, coincidentally, ina Reflection any such thing. Itis a ittle bit playful, while addressing appearing in the same issue as the latest Poll), and free­ itself to serious and orthwhile questions. It is thereby software evangelist Richard Stallman. representative of wha Liberty seeks to do, and the way Indeed, asking libertarians to fill out a survey with­ Bill Bradford approa hed the projects with which he out write-in options is like asking a child to eat broc­ concerned himself,i eluding this magazine. That the coli without melted Cheez Whiz. So we encouraged Poll tells stories abou the evolution of libertarians and write-ins and explanations of any answers respondents libertarianism is a bo us. June 2008 a new science, encompassing natural rights theory, Thomist is also remembered for "The Failure of the New Economics" philosophy, Austrian economics, 19th century American (a thorough critique of Keynesian economics), and uThe individualist anarchism, and the view that the United States Foundation of Morality." was invariably at fault in its conflicts with international com- He was one of the early editors of The Freeman, and the munism during the Cold War. . vice-president of the Foundation for Economic Education at He became influential in the libertarian movement in the its founding in 1946.MRR late 1960s. He joined the Libertarian Party in 1974 after hav­ Mean Median Mode Robert Heinlein 2.5 2 1 ing denounced it vigorously during the previous few years, and during the next 15 years was its most influential figure. Robert Heinlein (1916-1987) was one of the most influ­ He was a founding editor of Liberty in 1987. ential science fiction writers of all time. Both his life and his In 1989 he.resigned from the Libertarian Party and from writings exemplify the ideal of the"competent man," and a libertarian organizations that he did not control, proclaiming lively streak of rugged individualism runs through all his himself a upaleolibertarian" and an ally of Southern agrarian writings. conservatives centered around Chronicles magazine. Libertarians are especially fond of his several attempts His works include "Man, Economy, and State," "Power to deal with political revolution, most notably in his fasci­ and Market," "The Ethics of Liberty," and "For a New nating account of a colonial revolt in "The Moon Is a Harsh Liberty." Rothbard advocated an anarchistic society based Mistress." on the absolutism of individual rights. Frederic Bastiat 2.4 2 1 Mean Median Mode Barry Goldwater 2.8 3 1 Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was one of the most accom­ plished stylists who has ever argued for liberty. Though Barry M. Goldwater (1909-1998) was a member of the he was more a popularizer than an original thinker, his U.S. Senate from 1953-1964 and again from 1968-1987. In importance should not be underestimated: his ranking over the late 1950s he became a spokesman for political conser­ many contemporary libertarian writers in this poll serves as vatism. He espoused his rather libertarian version of conser­ reminder of this fact. vatism in several books and numerous newspaper columns He is best remembered for his brilliant attacks on the fal­ and speeches. Although an advocate of a rather belligerent lacies of state intervention in the economy (his "Economic foreign policy, Goldwater strongly supported the notion of Sophisms" was the model for Hazlitt's "Economics in One human liberty. Lesson") and his powerful defense of natural rights and lim­ R.W. Bradford 2.7 3 3 ited government in his pamphlet, uThe Law."

R.W. Bradford (1947-2005) is best known as the founder, Harry Browne 2.4 2 editor, and publisher of Liberty magazine. He maintained that Randian or Rothbardian natural rights theories were Harry Browne (1933-2006) first achieved widespread philosophically indefensible, but nevertheless held for him attention with his book UHow You Can Profit From the great intuitive appeal. Consequentialist rights theories could Coming Devaluation" in 1970. He followed this with the be philosophically rigorous, but he could not, "in [his] gut," bestselling uHow I Found Freedom in an Unfree World," be a consequentialist. He advocated (and with Liberty pro­ and UYou Can Profit From a Monetary Crisis." vided a forum for) open debate on this and other issues of He was the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate in 1996 and again in 2000. After the election of 2000, he was interest to libertarians.MRR accused of violating the Libertarian Party's bylaws. He main­ John Locke 2.6 3 1 tained his innocence, but was admonished by the Libertarian John Locke (1632-1704) is widely regarded as one of the Party. He continued to write and speak on libertarian sub­ most influential British philosophers. Though his "Second jects until his death.MRR Treatise on Civil Government" has been subject to contra­ H.L. Mencken 2.3 2 dictory interpretations, libertarians have followed a long line of classical liberal and anarchist thinkers in taking from it a H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) was the author of many books methodologically individualistic understanding of society and countless articles. He is best known for his literary and and a powerful conception of natural rights. His writing was social criticism - and for his brilliant, witty style. particularly influential on America's founding fathers,espe­ He was an early proponent of Nietzsche in America, and cially Jefferson, which probably accounts for his high rat­ although he wrote frequently on political topics, Mencken's ing in this poll. Given the obscurity and length of his major political thinking was not rigorous. He might best be termed works, we doubt that very many respondents have actually a classical liberal in the tradition of Sumner or Mill. read much Locke. John Stuart Mill 2.3 2 Henry Hazlitt 2.5 2 John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), the leading British phi­ Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993) was a philosopher, an losopher and economist of his time, wrote many influen­ economist of the Austrian School, and a prolific writer. tial works, including "On Liberty" and UUtilitarianism." His "Economics in One Lesson" (modeled on Bastiat's His utilitarian moral philosophy has been widely discussed "Economic Sophisms") is his most well-known book, but he and subjected to a great variety of interpretations, as has his

38 Liberty June 2008 defense of individual liberty. "On Liberty" was about the Within a few years, Hess resigned from The Libertarian in only 19th century work of classical liberalism to maintain a response to Rothbard's denunciation of Hess for deviation "good press" throughout the ideologically dark years of the from the true Rothbardian line. In 1986 he became an edi­ 20th century. tor of the Libertarian Party News, and he was an editor of Mean Median Mode Liberty from 1987 until his death. Lysander Spooner 2.1 1 1 Hess has been most influential as a proponent of commu­ Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) was a writer and pamphle­ nity life and a "back to nature" simplicity. Though he wrote teer and perhaps the most eloquent 19th-century American several books, his influence among libertarians was primar­ anarchist. His fully developed political philosophy is best ily as a speaker and friend. His political thinking was discur­ summed up in his brilliant pamphlet "No Treason: The sive and lyrical; he explicitly eschewed ideology. Constitution of No Authority." Writing from within the nat­ Mean Median Mode ural law tradition and with an extensive knowledge of the Robert Nozick 1.8 1 1 common law, Spooner argued not only that the Constitution Robert Nozick (1938-2002) was a professor of philosophy of the United States was binding on no one, but that all gov­ at Harvard and the author of the National Book Award win­ ernment, taxation, laws, etc. were inherently unjust. ning treatise in libertarian po1iti~al philosophy, "Anarchy, Aristotle 2 2 State, and Utopia," which gained academic attention to libertarian ideas like no book before or since. Nozick used Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was not a libertarian in any way, Lockean state-of-nature theory and a Lockean conception of but he was a powerful advocate of human reason. His influ­ moral rights as the foundation for an argument that purports ence on libertarianism comes mostly via Ayn Rand, who to show how a State could arise out of an anarchistic society considered Aristotle one of the world's greatest minds (right without violating anyone's rights; that this minimal state is up there with herself). the most extensive state that can be justified; and that this Nathaniel Branden 2 conception of a minimal state is inspiring as well as morally proper. Though the classic work on minarchist theory, it is Nathaniel Branden (1930-) is best known to libertarians generally considered more successful at discussing its many for Ayn Rand's designating him as her "intellectual heir." brilliant secondary points than at demonstrating the validity He was a member of Rand's inner circle for most of the 1950s of its main thesis. and'60s. He fell out of Rand's favor in 1968, she repudiated During the 1980s, he gradually lost interest in libertarian him, and he remains persona non grata within some circles thinking, and went on to other activities. of Objectivists. His post-Rand work has been mostly on the importance John Hospers 1.7 1 1 of self-esteem. His books include "The Psychology of Self­ John Hospers (1918-) has retired from a long and suc­ Esteem," "A Woman's Self-Esteem," "Self-Esteem at Work," cessful career as a philosopher. Though his academic repu­ and "My Years With Ayn Rand."MRR tation largely rests on his work as an editor and in the field David Friedman 2 2 of aesthetics, he has also contributed to libertarian thought with many articles and his book "Libertarianism" - which David Friedman (1945-) argued his case for "a radi­ advocated a more or less Randian political theory, though cal capitalism" with force and vigor in liThe Machinery of his thinking has developed considerably since - and his Freedom." Unlike so many other libertarian anarchists, natu­ book "Human Conduct," an introductory text to the study ral rights argument plays almost no part in his case for anar­ of ethics. cho-capitalism. In its place is a thoroughgoing engagement He was the Libertarian Party's first presidential candi­ with the new scholarly discipline of "law and economics," of date, and wrote the party's "Statement of Principles." He has which he has been a pioneer. been a senior editor of Liberty since 1992.

Albert Jay Nock 2 1 1 Tibor Machan 1.7 Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945) was one of the most impor­ Tibor Machan (1939-) is a professor of philosophy, syn­ tant writers to havebeen influenced by the economic theories dicated columnist, and prolific author. He defends a nat­ of Henry George, and his own anti-statist views developed ural rights theory of libertarianism. His books include into something very close to anarchism. His classic work in "Libertarianism, Defended" and "Classical Individualism: political thought is "Our Enemy, the State." The Supreme Importance of Each Human Being."MRR

Karl Hess 1.9 Robert Ringer 1.7 1 Karl Hess (1923-1994) was a speechwriter for Barry Robert Ringer (1938-) has written several best-selling Goldwater who became an anarchist in the late 1960s and self-help books, including "Looking Out for Number One" burst into a position of leadership within the libertarian and "Winning Through Intimidation." He was at one time movement with publication of extremely influential essays an admirer of Ayn Rand, and his 1979 book "Restoring the in The New York Times and Playboy, also in the late '60s. He American Dream" offered classical liberal, free market solu­ brought Murray Rothbard into a prominent position within tions to some of the problems that were at the time facing the the movement, and the two jointly edited The Libertarian. United States.

Liberty 39 June 2008

He has recently taken to describing himself as a "theo­ McWilliams wrote books, some of them New York Times reticallibertarian" and "practical conservative."MRR bestsellers, on depression and relationships. He gave a well­ Mean Median Mode received speech on medical marijuana at the 1998 Libertarian Thomas Hobbes 1.6 1 1 Party national convention; the speech was televised on C­ Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was the first British politi­ SPAN and reprinted in Liberty. Aside from his battles with cal philosopher of repute, and is still considered one of the the DEA, McWilliams is best known to libertarians for his major figures in the history of political philosophy. Hobbes' book "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do: The Absurdity of "Leviathan" is a pioneer work in social contract theory. Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country." It made the phil­ Though most classical liberals and libertarians - begin­ osophical and practical case against victimless-crime laws PQ ning with Locke - have used Hobbes mainly as a jumping off accessible to the general reader. point and as a target, there is a strong realpolitik strain in some Mean Median Mode libertarians' social philosophy that bears remarkable resem­ William G. Sumner 1.2 1 1 blance to Hobbes. His weak showing in this poll is no sur­ William G. Sumner (1840-1910) was one of the leading prise, however. American sociologists of the 19th century and also one of the more vigorous advocates of laissez faire. Today known Immanuel Kant 1.6 chiefly as a Social Darwinist and as the author of the socio­ Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was not only one of the most logical masterpiece "Folkways," in his time he was respected important German phi.losophers, he is widely considered to for his polished essays and his dedication as a teacher. be one of the greatest philosophers ever. He wrote number­ Probably his best known work to contemporary libertarians ous works, including "The Critique of Pure Reason," "The is his essay "What Social Classes Owe to Each Other." Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals," and "Religion Within the Bounds of Reason Alone." Morris & Linda Tannehill 1.2 1 1 Though he is probably best known among libertarians Morris and Linda Tannehill (1926-1989, 1939-) collabo­ as - according to Ayn Rand - the chief source of evil in rated to write "The Market for Liberty," a powerful defense of modem times, he was actually a classical liberal. A number natural rights-based anarchism which was influential among of libertarian philosophers have recently written about the libertarians in the 1970s. advantages of a "Kantian reconstruction of Utilitarianism," Libertarianism was only one stop in the ideological odys­ and both Mises and Hayek were neo-Kantians in fundamen­ sey of the Tannehills, who earlier were associated (in chrono­ tal philosophy. logical order) with the Minutemen, the American Nazi Party, and the Foundation for Economic Education, and subse­ Herbert Spencer 1.6 quently managed a psychotherapeutic cult. Linda Tannehill HerbertSpencer (1820-1903) was an ambitious philosophi­ later took back her maiden name of Linda Locke, and worked cal systemizer who advocated extremely limited government. as a sandalmaker in New Mexico. He described his own ethical philosophy as utilitarian "in a Benjamin Tucker 1.2 1 1 broad sense," but it is not easy to classify. Many of his argu­ ments against political intervention in society bear remarkable Benjamin Tucker (1854-1939) edited Liberty, the 19th cen­ resemblance to Hayek's use of the notion of the limitations of tury anarchist newspaper. Though not an original thinker, he human knoledge. His most familiar work today is probably was a fine stylist and an expert synthesizer of others' thinking. "Man vs. the State." He articulated what was later called "anarcho-capitalism," but what he called "individualist anarchism." Robert LeFevre 1.5 Robert LeFevre (1911-1986) was a writer and teacher who Write-ins inspired and instructed a whole generation of libertarians. He The individuals who were written in most often are wrote numerous books including "This Bread is Mine," "The listed below, in order of a) number of votes, and b) mean Philosophy of Ownership," and "The Nature of Man and His influence ranking. Their average response is inflated relative Government." He was what is now (once again) called a volun­ to the individuals listed in the poll, for obvious reasons of taryist, a libertarian who refuses to practice politics, and was selection, but some would be ranked highly had they been an anarchist in everything but name (he strenuously objected included in the original list, even if they received the lowest to the term, prefering his own understanding of "autarchy"). possible score from all the respondents who did not (here) His relatively low showing in our poll is surprising to us, con­ write them in. sidering his reputation in the 1960s and '70s. George Orwell 4.4 4 4 Peter McWilliams 1.5 George Orwell (1903-1950) was an English essayist and Peter McWilliams (1949-2000) was an author and a prom­ novelist best known for the anti-Stalinist fable "Animal inent supporter of medical marijuana laws. Having been Farm" and the dystopian novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four." diagnosed with AIDS and cancer, McWilliams used medi­ Early experiences researching poverty in England's indus­ cal marijuana (legal in California) to control vomiting, a side trial North left him a committed democratic socialist, albeit effect of his medications. His death, reportedly from effects of one with a healthy anarchist streak: though he believed capi­ vomiting, after a judge forbade him to use cannabis drew con­ talism was a corrupt system, he saw the totalitarian options siderable attention to the excesses of the drug war. as far worse. Like many left-leaning authors of the time, he

40 Liberty June 2008 went to Spain to fight against the military government of Mean Median Mode Gen. Franco; unlike many of the rest, he went on to describe Thomas Sowell 4.8 5 5 atrocities committed by both Fascist and Communist forces, Thomas Sowell (1930-) is an economist, syndicated col­ in his UVoyage to Catalonia." umnist, and prolific author who emphasizes the necessity His antipathy to both funneled into uAnimal Farm," in of using empirical data in all analyses. His books provide a which he summed up the totalitarian worldview in the barn­ wealth of material to support a utilitarian or consequentialist yard motto uAll animals are equal, but some animals are libertarianposition. Heis the authorof"Race andEconomics" more equal than others." Additionally, he coined a number (a book which Clarence Thomas credited with changing his of terms in "Nineteen Eighty-Four" that have entered into life), uEconomic Facts and Fallacies," uBlack Rednecks and popular usage to describe various encroachments of the sur­ White Liberals," and "The Vision of the Anointed," among veillance state: Newspeak, doublethink, thought police, and many others. Big Brother.AJF Mean Median Mode His political philosophy can be surmised from the quo­ Friedrich Nietzsche 3.8 4 5 tation: "The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was a German philoso­ The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of pher who, between the publication of uThe Birth of Tragedy" economics."MRR in 1872 and his mental breakdown in 1889, developed a com­ plex, deeply influential body of work. His most-quoted line, Leonard Read 4 4.5 5 uGod is dead," is a formulation of the situation facing mod­ ern society: the collapse of shared belief that accompanied the Leonard Read (1898-1983) founded the first libertarian thinktank in the United States, the Foundation for Economic U death," or devaluation, of the Judeo-Christian God. The prob­ lem facing humanity, then, is the reconstruction of morality in Education. He wrote numerous essays and books, the best an age that is Ubeyond good and evil." In the book of that known of which is his classic "I, Pencil."MRR name, and the mock-Scriptural uThus Spake Zarathustra," Thomas Szasz 5 5 5 he suggests as an alternative the uwill to power," embodied in the figure of the uUbermensch" (superman), who alone is Thomas Szasz (1920-) is a professor of psychiatry and capable of preventing a slide into nihilism by his creation of author best known for his outspoken criticism of institu­ values within the moral vacuum. This essentially aristocratic tional psychiatry, most famously presented in "The Myth of vision of humanity is set in opposition to both traditional Mental Illness." He maintains that a disease must have objec­ Christian morality and the measures of aggregate happiness tively measurable physical symptoms, and that the bulk of espoused by utilitarianism. psychiatric disorders are therefore not actually diseases. He Nietzsche's writing style, tending towards aphorism and further maintains that psychiatry has been, and continues to oracular pronouncements, leaves his books open to being be, used as a tool for the state to control and oppress the misquoted and otherwise taken out of context - by the Nazis, populace.MRR in particular, though there is considerable evidence that he Mark Twain 4.7 5 never held any anti-Semitic sympathies.AJF 5 MarkTwain (born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910) Thomas Paine 3.6 4 4 was an American humorist much beloved for his depiction of Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an English philosopher an idealized childhood in uThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and revolutionary whose pamphlet uCommon Sense" con­ and much admired for his scathing satire of the slavehold­ verted many British colonists to the cause of American inde­ ing South in uThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." His is pendence. Among the arguments he advanced were the one of the most recognizable voices in American letters, rec­ near-impossibility of petitioning Parliament with grievances, ognizable across the great many formats in which he wrote and the near-certainty that ties with Britain would embroil - essays, novels, tall tales, travelogues: all are shot through America in foreign wars that were not properly her concern. with a straight-faced sardonic wit, which only grew bleaker In the decade after independence had been won, Paine's with age. His distrust of human institutions spilled out in a popularity waned, and he turned his attention to the tur­ torrent of quotable sentiments on government, religion, and moil in France. During this time he had been preparing uThe morality though, curiously, the statement most often attrib­ Rights of Man," a political tract written in defense of the uted to him - uThere are three kinds of lies: lies, damned French Revolution, putting forward a rights-based system of lies, and statistics" - was, as he acknowledged, taken from democratic governance to counter the aristocratic conserva­ Benjamin Disraeli. tism of Edmund Burke; the work contains perhaps the first (For more, see Timothy Sandefur's "Pained Twain," avail­ proposal for progressive taxation. Briefly imprisoned during able online and in our November 2004 issue.)AJF the Reign of Terror, and barely escaping the guillotine, Paine Hunter S. Thompson 4.3 4 4 devoted himself to finishing his deistic treatise, uThe Age of Reason," outlining the basic creed of a faith shared by many Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005) was an American jour­ of the Founding Fathers. The work brought him, at first, cau­ nalist, now inseparable from the manic first-person uGonzo" tious acclaim; in the wake of the Second Great Awakening, style he used for the novel uFear and Loathing Las Vegas" however, he was widely denounced. His reputation has con­ and the essay collection uFear and Loathing on the Campaign tinued to rise and fall since.AJF Trail '72," which chronicles the Democratic Party's search

Liberty 41 June 2008 for a presidential candidate to run against TholTIpSOn's bug­ nificant change would have been notable, so it is fairly safe bear, Richard Nixon. Thornpson's work dealt largely with the to assume that the demographic breakdown of respondents "death of the American DrealTI," in particular the failure of was similar. the drug-fueled political idealislTI of the 1960s; however, the What is your ethnicity? iconic image of the Gonzo journalist he left behind after his shotgun suicide may outlive the applicability of any of one of Caucasian his individual \vorks.AJF American Indian ~1ean Median ~lode Black Ron Paul 4.3 4 4 Asian Ron Paul (1935-) is a physician, U.S. Congressman, \-vas Other.=--'-----I._.....J-.-----k._..J.----'-_.'-----'---J.---.-I the Libertarian Party's 1.988 presidential candidate, and was 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% for a while a frontrunner in the race for the 2008 Republican Most of those who are listed as "other" were of n1ixed Party's presidential nOlnination. ethnicity, but six of thein described themselves as "human." Paul is a devoted Austrian, and has\vritten several books There are, of course, other ways to express dissatisfaction advocating a return to hard u10ney (i.e., a gold standard). His with the question; one can leave it blank (as several respon­ 2008 campaignbriefly thrust classical liberal philosophy into dents did), or one can note that the question is offensive (or national discourse, although whether he managed to avance meaningless, or dangerous, etc.) - and our respondents the cause of libertarianism is at best debatable. Some liber­ were not, for the most part, hesitant to include comm.ents. tarians fear that Paul's candidacy lTIay have become a net The decision to proclaim oneself "human" in this context liability when racist colulnns published under Ron Paul's seems, to me, sancthnonious. One other Liberty Poll ques­ name became widely known. tion elicited a few responses that struck me as especially self­ (For In.ore, see Bruce Ramsey's "PFY vs. R:P: Is There a satisfied, so I looked for a correlation. The "humans" were Racist in the House?" available online and in our April 2008 issue.)MRR almost ten tiines as likely as other respondents to report that the single individual who introduced them to libertarian Personal thought was either "me" or "self." In 1987, our poll respondents' Inean age was 40 years, Maybe the correlation is n1eaningless. On the other hand, 95% were male, and 100% were white. We're not quite as it's the first (and only) one I looked for. homogenous these days, and we're not quite as young. What is your age? Patrick Quealy adds: Six respondents to our poll 19-24 wrote "human" as their race rather than checking one 25-29 of the provided boxes. I take this to be a statement that 30-34 race ought to be irrelevant to appraisal of a person's 35-39 worth, or that race is a meaningless social construc­ 40-44 tion, both of which are worthy points of discussion. In 45-49 any case, I wondered if anything interesting could be 50-54 determined about them. as a group. 55-59 After poring over the data for a few hours, I came 60-64 to an important conclusion: I need a life. The humans 65-69 don't appear appreciably different from the blacks, 70-74 whites, Hispanics, or others. 75-79 If I wanted to stretch, however, I could note the 80-···.g4 average nUlnber of thnes the humans ran for office 85-89 was 0.83. For all respondents who answered the ques­ 90-94 tion, the average was 0.23. Am.ong Liberty readers, 95-99 humans run for office cpnsiderably more often than ==-_.--'------,--'------'--~_."'"-~~--;...-_.-'---~ 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% non-humans. The mean, median, and Inode ages are (respectively) 55, 56, and 67 years. Are you n1ale or fen1ale? What is your annual income?

Male Less than $1 OK Female $10K-$20K $20K-$30K 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90~iQ $30K-$50K In the first Liberty Poll, respondents were 950/0 n1ale, and $50K-$100K closer to 1. 000/0 than 99% caucasian. The demographic data $1 OOK-$250K froin the second Liberty Poll was not u1entioned in its sum­ Over $250K n1ary article. The data was gathered and totalled, and a sig- 0% 10% 20% 30%

42 Liberty June 2008

What is the highest level of schooling you have and most (91 0/0) of their marriages are legal. The actual per­ completed? centage whose marriages are legal could be as high as 93% or

Some high schoolll i : as luw as 730/0, depending on the status of the 20% of Inarried SC~:~:~:~~e~: respondents who did not answer this question. High 1J..l,.' How long have you been with your current part­ Two year degree ~ ner? (In years, zeroes excluded from averages.) Bachelor's degree 11111111111111 Min Max I'vlean Median Mode EEl" 0.5 60 21.5 20.6 19 Some grad school Ho"v many divorces have you had? Master's degree :=:~~~_J Doctoral degree I':=:1· o 0% 10% 20% 30% 1 According to U.S. Census data, less than 30% of adults 2 over 25 years of age in the United States have a bachelor's or 3 higher level degree. Slightly more than 80% of our respon­ 0% 10% 20% 30(% 4(Y% 50%j 60(Yo dents claim that level of education. Is there a causal relation­ How many children do you have? ship? If so, which is cause and which is effect? What is your occupation? (Check as m.any as apply.) lor~ii~i :~I! Computer-related 3 or 4 rr Engineering 5 or 6 I' I I

7 or more ~ ~ I Managerial II= .. Ic , ; .. _.'...... , L .'.. ; ~ 0% l(YYo 200/0 30~/o Small business owner ! 11!;i,~ Scientific/Technical ! ; Ho'\v many grandchildren do you have? Investor 1 ~ Medical professional ! ~ ===.~ ~.~.~ Factory worker r . 1-.. •••• Teaching 4-6 Farmer 7 or more == c .' , , , c c.. Nonprofit organization 0% 10%) 20% 30~~) 40% 50% 60% 70% Law Sales Government employee I . Patrick Quealy adds: It's comJTIonly believed (espe­ Other cially by luodern liberals, in Iny experience) that liber­ 0%== 10% 15% 200/0 tarians are merely libertine conservatives: sex-crazed, How many years, if any, were you in the mili­ drug-addled, selfish people "vho don't like paying taxes tary? Were you enlisted or an officer? or living near people who are different. Butvve know (and the poll suggests) that's not so. 20+ True, the libertarians who answered our poll are 7-8 like conservatives in their family values, when com­ 40% 5-6 pared ,vith the larger culture. The average n1arried cou­ 3-4 ple has been together for 21 years. One couple has been together luore than twice as long as I have been alive. 1-~ •••••••II.l.~.~...~~.. Of those poll takers who indicated "vhether they had 0% 20% 40% 60% Officer • Enlisted children, three-fifths did. Of those respondents who described their sexual activity! 91 % are monogamous Are you married? or are not sexually involved ,vith anyone. These are no libertines. But if these people are like conservatives in some ~;===~--- ways, their attitudes about lTIarriage suggest they lack 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% the irrational fear of all change that Inodern liberals believe to be conservatives' signature trait. The poll question, simply "Married?" is ambiguous, so Had I been one of the editors "vho designed the poll the percentages n1ay be skewed. The n10st natural interpre­ 20 years ago, I would not have thought to ask married tation of the question is "are you Inarried?" - unless you respondents to draw the distinction behveen Inarriage are divorced. In that case, an equally natural interpretation and being "legally married." Happily, persons more is "have you ever been married?" sensible to the nature of libertarians designed it, so 'Ne Married respondents were also asked whether their mar­ know that 7% of Liberty Poll respondents identify as riage was legal. Most (80°1c» Inarried respondents answered, married, but not legally so. That aSSUlnes the one-fifth % of those who did not answer. the question about legality raised as Mainline Protestant (30%) or lIother" (7 ), and are all "legally married"; the number could be higher. about equally likely to have been raised as Fundamentalist The nature of their nlarriages suggests they've real­ Protestant. ized it doesn't matter whether their marriage is solem­ The change in proportion of ROlnan Catholics and nized by a justice. of the peace and certified by a $25 Mainline Protestant is not particularly surprising - in the marriagelicense from city hall. What nlatters to them last 20 years, the nUlnber of non-Catholic Christians in the is whether it's solemnized in their hearts, or by their U'nited States has increased by more than the number of church, their God, or whatever institutions or deities Roman Catholics in the United States.. The 400/0 decrease matter to theln. in the number of libertarians raised as Jewish is surprising. IlLegally" is open to interpretation. Its opposites Given the disproportionate acconlplishment of Jewish indi­ could include cohabitating people who choose not to viduals in alnlost every field of intellectual endeavor, the be civilly married for ideological reasons~ or because decrease is also somewhat troubling. they're of the sanle sex and can't be legally married, or Do you consider yourself religious today? because the state won't recognize their nontraditional relationship structure. Whatever the reason, the number Yes is pretty cool. No I'=I=I==I~r~,~~~~. 0% Of the respondents who consider them.selves religious

How many siblings do you have? today, 41 % practice a religion other than the one they were Min Max Mean Median Mode raised under. o 12 2.2 2 1 Incidentally, although it is of course possible to believe in God without considering oneself religious - and certainly Are you first born in your fanlily, second born, possible to believe without following an organized religion third born, or later? - the percentage of respondents who consider themselves First religious is almost identical to the percentage who agree Second with the statement IIThere is a God." Third Almost 23% of the respondents who consider themselves Later religious today did not agree with the statement "There a 00/0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% is God./I These individuals were all either Unitarians, Buddhists, Scientologists, or Jewish. Poll respondents were .firstborn haH again as often as How long ago did you most recently attend a chance would predict; the respondents to the first Liberty church or other form of worship? Poll were firstborn alm.ost twice as often as chance would 0-7 days ., predict. The combination of small· (and overlapping) sam­ 8-30 days ples and the observed regression towards the mean suggest 31-90 days that there's no significant correlation, let alone a causal rela­ 91-365 days tionship. Still, the discrepancy is enough to warrant a look.

First 1-5Longeryears 'I=I=~.~~."_ ~~ Never Exp. first =-----'--_---!-__-'----_-'---...... J_---'--_-l-._-'----l...••• Second 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Exp. second What is your sexual orientation? Third Exp. third Heterosexual .111111.11_11I11.1111_11_ Later Homosexual ~ Exp. later III11.L~__L __~~._~_~ __J Bisexual ~ 20(~ 0% 10%) 300/0 40% 60% 70% Other Ir. , .!.. t.. , ; t.. ; , , .. 0% 30% 60% 90% Which of the follo,ving best describes your reli­ gious training as a child? What is your typical fonn of sexual activity? Autoerotic Celibate Monogamous 11111111111111111111_11111111 .Polygamous Promiscuous

Group sex < L L !. L i ,.: t.. ; 30% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Respondents to our first poll were more likely to have Mostrespondents answered the questions regarding their been raised as Roman Catholic (33%) or Jewish (100/0) than sexual orientation (98%) and activity (92% or 93%, depending respondents today. They were less likely to have been on whether you count lIyou've got to be kidding" and simi-

44 Liberty June 2008

L~ lar comments as ·-...... "'TAr..."\ ..... The individuals who described '--'\ ...... '-',c •. ·'-1 .•. < was too to provide any their sexual ·c:>'....i-·ITrlrTT as /Iother" did not explain what 1/other" our Some entail. .... nr'....-..'-",..... ",-"...... " •... ·"",·."n...... 'I·Ari to take it at face and included What are the political beliefs of your current education conferences. Other respon- partner? dents to assume that events relevant to liber- tarianislTI, e.g., the 2008 Editors Conference (details Passive libertarian on should be counted. Active libertarian '~ ~=I~~ ~ ~.~. U.lI...... I-' ...... '" ...... '.Jj.".J are ... I....·' ... uu...... , the question is sin1ply Quasi-libertarian •••• •• not we11 14.h1'-:l('c.n Other (misc.) I Are you a rej2;lster'ea voter? \Vrite-in1ibertarian Write-in democrat Yes

Write-in rep 1ublltc8,n No = ! L ' , l. 0% 40% 100% 0% 10% 20% 30% Are you a member of a political Which Do you money to libertarian organizations? one? Humanitarian organizations? Cultural organiza- No party tions? organizations? Democrat Republican Libertarian orgs Other Humanitarian orgs I Cultural orgs Libertarian 1111111111.1111111111111111111111 10% 20% Religious orgs .11111111.11111111.1111111 Have you ever run for -r"I.~I~i-" ...... 1 office? 0(10 80% Less than 40% of those respondents who donate to reli­ No organizations consider themselves religious. This sup­ Yes my belief that libertarians are, on the whole, lnore 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% concerned than the Left or the Right with the consequences The to the first Poll included some of an action opposed to its appearance or its backers' speculation as to its statistical validity as a tool for assessing intentions); the donations to religious organizations demon­ the and the views of the libertarian populace. It strate that respondents have separated the action from the had none. As a tool for readers of it had actor. The evidence for my supposition is usually found in alnLOst none. The and not at the arena, where Left and Right each support pol­ all "l"C.1'"'\..... Cl'C'Q11"'\t-·:!'t-1~TQ icies inhnical to their goals. the third is no n10re valid than the Of course, it Inight mean only that respondents tossed a first. We received more responses, but we have no reason to nickel into a Salvation bucket, for appearance's sake. assume the are Do you talk to your acquaintances about the - the n1ere fact libertarianism? the survey sets them The responses to three Polls have been fairly consistent in content. If we aSSUlne that the subgroup of libertarians \vho to Polls has moved in

the same direction as l'hc.n·t-:l .....1-:l1""! t·I-,[·""r'Y·h-l- as a "\Thole, the poll \!\That percentage any) respond favorably? takes on some 'Ne have :no justification for ""CC~11rY\1 Min Max Mean Median Mode even that small ..... hn,...... 0% 9St~/o 37.2% 30% 50% The are the responses sometiules lnore so. And entertaining. Do you in public about libertarian ideas? That should be rn..... r ..."nrh o No Yes At last! It's the 0% 20% 40% 600/0 Liberty Conference t{O\V many conferences, seminars, and conven­ tions did you attend in the last year? 200S-Las Vegas None 1-866-266-5101 One Two to five Six or more 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% FreedornFest2008 Don't Iniss it! Details, page 22 ~istemology

Moral Absolutes, Truth, and Liberty

by Ross Overbeek

The Liberty Poll asks the questions Liberty was founded to answer.

The Liberty Poll statistics are in again, and again I find myself fascinated with the responses readers have made to the six ethical questions posed in the polL The questions, which I helped formulate in late 1987, appeared in the 1988 Liberty poll, and again in the 1998 and the 2008 Liberty polls. (See box, next page.) When the first Liberty Poll was run in early 1988, it included the following short statement: Given the universal moral character of some libertarian Bill Bradford. We were in high school, and we were both try­ precepts, it is not surprising that many are concerned ing to understand the world. We both read "Man, Economy, about their implications for human behavior. The Liberty and State" by Murray Rothbard and "Atlas Shrugged" by Poll posed six moral problems addressing the issue of Ayn Rand during this period, and they certainly had a major whether there are circumstances in which it is morally impact on our lives. Reading these books was simply intox­ proper to use force against innocent individuals, which icating. One was a magnificent, carefully crafted introduc­ would apparently violate such widely accepted libertarian tion to the central ideas in Austrian economics, and the other principles like, "no person has the right to initiate the use was simply the best novel I have ever read. The effect on two of physical force against another human being" or "one should always respect the rights and property of others." impressionable youths was pretty intense. Both Rand and Rothbard had a common characteristic: However, there is a great deal more to be said about the they wrote uncompromising, articulate defenses of the liber­ origin and motivation for asking these questions. tarian position from a natural rights perspective. They pre­ Why Those Questions? sented very similar arguments leading to the assertion that When I was 15 or 16, I began my lifelong friendship with freedom from physical aggressive force was the primary right

Liberty 46 June 2008 of each individual. Rather than argue whether or not these for­ the concept that governments could support themselves by mulations of a libertarian position were correct, let me simply selling services (enforcement of contracts, and so forth), the recount the intellectual odyssey that Bill and I went through real issue centered on what distinguished the concept of gov­ and how it led to the questions appearing in the Liberty Poll. ernment. If an organization offered services like police, a legal In the 1960s through the mid-1970s, the number of peo­ system, and defense against foreign aggression, but did so ple discussing and adopting libertarian positions skyrocketed without itself initiating force in the form of taxation, was it thanks to Ayn Rand's novels. Rand formulated a complete really a government? Bill, myself, and many other young lib­ ethical system (which both Bill and I found extremely attrac­ ertarians were grappling with these ideas which led to two tive; Bill eventually migrated from Rand's position, but I still distinct intellectual camps: those who believed in and sup­ fondly read the old essays). Her political beliefs centered on ported a minimal state and those who adopted an anarchist the nonaggression principle: "no man may initiate the use of position. I will not recount most of the details of the debates physical force against others." Her ideas are best studied in that took place, but they were intense, sincere, and fascinat­ the context of her novels, but she did also write a short sum­ ing. Bill wrote a remarkable essay that (I believe) was never mary of her views in a book that hit the newsstands in 1961 published, arguing that the state, by definition, always existed - "The Virtue of Selfishness." It was intentionally provoca­ (as the organization that had the most power in a geograph­ tive, but if a person had the time and inclination to follow her ical area), but left undecided how far you could contract it arguments, it conveyed a great deal in a very few pages. (and how you would support it). Much later in a debate with As two young students reading this stuff, it was immedi­ Charles Murray, David Friedman, and David Boaz (at the ately obvious to us that, if one believes 2004 Liberty Editors Conference, published in the Dec. 2004 1. "No man may initiate the use of physical force against and Jan. 2005 issues of Liberty) he described his position as others" and follows: 2. No group of individuals has rights other than those aris­ I got into a long discussion of this with Murray Rothbard ing out of the individuals' rights, once. He asked me how I would describe my political phi­ then a government may not initiate the use of physical force losophy and I said, "Well, it's ultimately statist." And he (defense force was never in question). While Rand defended asked me to describe what it was, and after a long discus-

The poll's ethical dilemmas: 4. Suppose that you are on a friend's balcony on the 1. Suppose that you are a security guard for a large 50th floor of a condominium complex. You trip and fall shopping mall. A terrorist has threatened to drop a bomb over the edge. You catch a flagpole on the next floor from a balcony into a crowd. He is moving toward the down. The owner opens his window and demands that railing carrying an object that you believe to be a bomb. you stop trespassing. Which of the following statements You have a gun. He has a hostage between himself and reflects your beliefs? you (he knows that you have identified him). You have a. You should enter the condo against own­ only a few seconds to react. What should you do? er's wishes. a. Shoot at the terrorist only if you are certain b. You should hang on to the flagpole. you will miss the hostage. c. You should drop. b. Shoot at the terrorist if there's a reasonable 5. Suppose that your car breaks down in a blizzard. chance you11 miss the hostage. You are trapped and may well freeze before help can get c. Shoot through the hostage if necessary. to you. You hike to the one house within hiking distance; 2. Suppose that a parent of a newborn baby places it the owner refuses to admit you. She has no phone. Which in front of a picture window and sells tickets to anyone of the following statements reflects your beliefs? wishing to observe the child starve to death. He makes a. You should force entrance to the cabin, it clear that the child is free to leave at any time, but that which is not an act of aggression. anyone crossing his lawn will be viewed as trespassing. b. You should force entrance to the cabin, but a. Would you cross the lawn to help the starv­ it is act of aggression. ing infant? c. You should not force entrance. b. Would helping the child violate the par­ 6. Suppose that your neighbor is constructing an ent's rights? atomic weapon. He assures you that it is for self-defense. You believe he intends to commit an act of extortion. 3. Suppose that a parent decides to experiment with a Which statement most clearly reflects your beliefs? radical new diet for his newborn child. a. You should prevent construction. a. Should you prevent the parent from trying b. You should sell your house, and you are the diet if you have good evidence it would obligated to inform potential buyers. endanger the child's health? c. You should sell your house, but you are not b. Should you prevent the parent from trying the diet obligated to inform buyers. if you have good evidence it would endanger the child's d. This is unthinkable and therefore not life? happening. June 2008

sion he told me that he thought my position was more or 3. we had spent years thinking about the issue trying to less tantamount to his own. Murray, of course, considered understand what we could seriously defend, himself to be an anarchist. we found the Libertarian Party's insistence that members sign The first issue we must address is what do we mean by the oath a remarkably destructive position. government. When I use the term, I use a slight variation Then, the day came when Bill decided to found Liberty. of the classic Weberian definition: government is that man or combination of men that are capable of enforcing law The magazine was to be a place where internal questions within a certain geographical area. and disagreements could be openly aired and discussed. Bill The reason that I have such an ambivalent - I prefer to emphatically rejected the idea of somehow presenting just the say, subtle - position is that it seems to me to be impos­ sible to dispense with some core of government and still have a peaceful society. What 1 mean by that is, whether we have people actively engaged in coercion to enforce rules within a society, we still have people who are capa­ I often railed against what I viewed as thor­ ble of doing so if so inclined. When you are in a situation where someone is capable of forcing you to do something, oughly objectionable nonsense that got into the fact that, for the moment, he chooses not to do so or Liberty. that he shouldn't do so, doesn't make you substantially freer. So I concluded that government is ultimately not dispensable because as long as we have a substantial num­ ber of people peacefully interacting, we're going to have a combination of people who can impose their will. What I want is a system that will minimize the initiation truth as he saw it. His view that the movement needed inter­ of force against peaceful individuals. nal debate to strengthen its positions led him to publish a wide My response to the question of what government should spectrum of authors. I must admit that I often railed against do is what convinced Murray Rothbard that I was virtu­ what I viewed as thoroughly objectionable nonsense that got ally an anarchist. I think that everything a conventional into Liberty, but over time I have come to understand the wis­ government does can be privatized, except for one: a supreme court, that is, a court that has jurisdiction over dom ofhis position. In any event, when Bill suggested that the competing private courts. magazine publish a poll, I was still upset by the fact that the Libertarian Party would not even let me join and particularly In 1973 David Friedman articulated a remarkable defense shocked by many of the leading libertarians who defended of anarchism in "The Machinery of Freedom," a book which that policy. Bill and I had posed a number of ethical dilemmas offered the most successful attack on the minarchist position to each other over the years as a tool to help understand what in my view. we really believed. Bill suggested we include some, so I for­ By the mid-1970s, I believe that Bill was actively refining mulated a small, representative set and they appeared in the his basic position, and the major influence was the works of July 1988 edition of Liberty. Mises. Since high school he had been studying Mises, but it took years to really understand much of what he wrote. As What Is the Point? an aside, we both noted that Mises, one of the true intellec- The six questions were formulated to provoke thought and uncertainty. Bill and I both felt that, ultimately, both Rand and Rothbard had argued for precise positions that would not stand up under criticism. In such cases, making arguments with complete certainty (and in some cases caustic criticism) I could not get into the Libertarian Party, was actually counterproductive. There was a need for people to reevaluate, or atleast deepen, their grasp ofmany of the fun­ since they required applicants to certify belief damental issues. While philosophic attack and counter-attack in the nonaggression principle. was not going to happen with a broad audience, perhaps these questions could lead to more thoughtful exchanges. The responses to the first Liberty Poll in 1988 from the edi­ tors of Liberty were really worth reading. Murray Rothbard gave a very interesting account of key moments in his intel­ tual giants of what might be termed classical liberalism, had lectual development, and then he ended with an interesting argued that conscription into the military was in some cases analysis of the ethical dilemma faced by the shopping center defensible in "Human Action." guard. His comments are still well worth reading, but let me In any event, as the years rolled on, I went into science; just recount his final shot: Bill built a business. We would get together and I would com­ plain that I could not get into the Libertarian Party, since they The moral of this story is not that all rights are relative, and required applicants to certify belief in the nonaggression that no firm position can be taken. The moral of this story principle. Bill finally managed to get in without certifying it. is that everyone's rights are absolute, that pragmatism is inconsistent as well as pernicious, and that everyone is Since obligated to defend every innocent person's rights: in short 1. neither of us believed we could in good conscience cer­ that no aggression may ever be waged against an innocent tify it, victim regardless of excuse or alibi. And that the putative 2. we both were eager to support the basic libertarian plat­ shopping center guard who shot and killed the hostage form, and was a murderer and should be treated accordingly.

48 Liberty CATO UNIVERSITY JULY~~2S, 2008. SAN DIEGO

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Bill Bradford, writing as Ethan O. Waters, summarized his I realize how flippant and irresponsible this second point position: must sound, especially to those who have spent years trying To me, the most salient finding of the Poll is that libertar­ to derive and maintain an ethical system from first princi­ ian moral thinking is not very rigorous. How else can one ples. All I can say is that when I was young I did spend huge understand the fact that 11% believe a parent should be amounts of effort studying these questions. I benefited from allowed to starve his kid to death, but 39% believe a par­ exchanges with many wonderful libertarians and read many ent should be allowed to kill his kid by malnutrition? Or gifted authors. It is true that I ended up spending most of my explain why only 2% would face death by dropping from creative energies in my later years in science, and I may well the 49th story of a building rather than violate property rights, but fully 22% would face freezing to death in a situ­ have acted imprudently in not spending more effort trying to ation identical in other respects? strengthen my grasp of how social systems should be struc­ Although nearly all libertarians (89%) agree with the tured. However, I have come to appreciate efforts to formu­ non-aggression axiom, a great many are willing to dis­ late systems that, for the most part, achieve a set of desired pense with it when convenient: 47% will risk killing an ends, but do not pretend to achieve universal justice. That is, I innocent hostage to save a greater number of people in an see the merits in carefully considering things like the common emergency, and another 25% will kill the hostage outright law, Hayek'scomments, andRichard Epstein's attempts to for­ if necessary; 89% will trespass to· prevent a parent from starving his child for the fun of it; 98% would rather tres­ mulate a set of simple rules that don't need to work perfectly, pass than die in the flagpole question, including 14°1<> who but do work fairly well (I have only recently begun to study would restrict their trespassing to his flagpole and 84% Epstein's work; I can only say that I wish I had encountered it who would go so far as to enter another's residence; 78% earlier). Maybe this all means that the libertarian movement would force their way into an occupied building rather and I have drifted apart, but that is not how I see it. than face freezing to death; 73% would interfere with a It seems to me to be similar to the situation faced in phys­ neighbor's right to keep and bear arms if those arms are powerful enough. ics when it was clear that Newton's laws explained a great It is apparent that many of those willing to dispense deal, but that there were a few facts that seemed to clearly with the nonaggression axiom have no clear or consistent contradict what those laws predicted. A great many physi­ criterion for deciding when to dispense with it. cists chose to ignore the discrepancies, believing that the power and accuracy of Newton's insights were beyond ques­ A Personal Note tion. However, it was out of careful analysis of the anomalies When I consider the ethical situations posed in the Liberty that Einstein was able to formulate the way forward. In a real Poll, I feel a great deal less emotion than I felt 20 years ago sense, Einstein's work did not invalidate Newton's, but rather when we posed them for the first time. It all seems perfectly clear to me now: extended it. I believe· that these quite rare emergency situa­ 1. In the case of the shopping center guard, you shoot tions do focus attention on details that challenge the univer­ through the hostage if necessary; in the case of the parent mis­ sality of the nonaggression principle. To be blunt, arguing for treating the child, you certainly prevent starvation, but you dropping off flagpoles is silly. It boggles the mind that some mayor may not choose to interrupt the radical diet; in the case libertarians do so while claiming to base their arguments on of the flagpole, you force entry; in the case of the blizzard, you an egoistic framework. force entry and it should not be considered aggression by the I believe that we live in a world in which the opportuni­ legal system; and, finally, in the case of the neighbor with an ties for individuals to achieve their potential are dramatically atomic weapon, you take it away from him. improving, thanks largely to the remarkable spread of capital­ 2. It is important now that I have established what I want ism and freedom, that there are still many truths to be clari­ to achieve with my ethical system, that I work out a consistent fied, and that intellectual ferment is a good thing. We should set of rules that both leads to those conclusions and (within seek consistency, but not demand it; what we need to demand that constraint) maximizes individual freedom. is an open, honest search for truth. 0

Reflections, from page 21

2nd Amendment protects the individual right of a person to equally as all others is very close to his right to arm himself so arm himself. Period. Arguments about"collective rights" are that he and his family aren't beaten or molested. just statist sophistry. This sophistry is the reason I can't take a If more black people living in the South during Jim Crow group like the ACLU - despite some good work that it does had been armed, there might have been fewer lynchings. - seriously as a philosophical or political advocate. Of course, the way that Heston earned the money and rep­ Heston supported the clear meaning of the 2nd utation to afford his "compleXity" was as a movie and stage Amendment. And he did so even though he was mocked in actor. Critics say that he often overacted. some circles for it. With the early King as one of his models, In the 1980s, I saw Heston in a stage version of the why would Heston care about the ridicule of peevish minds? Caine Mutiny Court Martial. He played the damaged After Heston died in early April, some eulogists said that Captain Queeg, raving about frozen strawberries and roll­ he was "complex" for having bridged the gap between the ing ball bearings obsessively in his hand. Maybe he was Selma marches and the NRA. I doubt Heston would have con­ hamming it up. But, more than 20 years later, I can remem­ sidered this a complex matter. The right of a man to be treated ber the performance very clearly. Firsthand. - Jim Walsh

50 Liberty "The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington," by Robert D. Novak. Crown Forum, 2007, 662 pages. Prince ofDarkness orAngel ofLight?

else ever does. Novak is neither boast­ a lot of booze, but there was consid­ Stephen Cox ing nor complaining: he made a lot less erably more intake for me on any day If you've ever seen Robert Novak than one would expect a grade-A jour­ that I attended a dinner party or recep­ in his natural element - a television nalist to make, but his earnings weren't tion or was on the road, as frequently panel in which he plays one of the contemptible, either. What he's trying was the case. And there were occasions Five Expert Observers of Our Nation's to do is explain the world he's lived in. when I, a forty-something, would go on Capital - you know that he's likely to If you're curious about how the main­ a collegiate-style drinking binge." The be the smartest, plainest-spoken pundit stream media (familiarly known as the sorry details follow (298-99). You'll be of them all. It's not just his deep growly MSM) actually run their business, this happy to know that Novak eventually voice that makes him special; it's his is the book for you. It doesn't just offer changed his ways; you1l be unhappy to ability to cut through the jargon and the financial facts; it also shows, inenor­ know (though perhaps you would have the platitudes and the circumlocutions mous detail, how the deals are done and guessed) that a lot of the elite journalism and say openly what others pussyfoot the money is generated, as illustrated by and politics of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, around. You don't have to agree with colorful stories of Novak's experience and 1980s floated on enormous tides of his specific views (I suppose I would as a reporter, columnist, and television alcohol. Novak's passages about drink­ call him a mildly libertarian conser­ commentator over many decades. (He's ing make you wonder how either he or vative, but he's capable of surprising been a fixture on Meet the Press, Evans the republic survived. me) in order to respect his candor and and Novak, The McLaughlin Group, Again, he's not boasting - in this individuality. The Capital Gang, which he founded, case, about his toughness and mascu­ And now, just as one might predict, and many other shows.) linity. One of the strangest features of he has written a book that is unusual, Few other self-biographers (at the this book, given the author's aggressive even strange, in many respects. moment, lean't think of one) tell how approach to journalism and the obvious One seldom encounters a biography much they drank. Novak describes a pride he takes in his gift for "making - much less an autobiography - that typical day in the 1970s. First, "lunch life miserable for hypocritical, postur­ says exactly how much money the pro­ with a news source," accompanied ing politicians" (14), is its remarkable tagonist made, either in general or on by one or two Scotches and a bottle of degree of modesty. Where else can you specific commercialtransactions. Novak beer; then some afternoon work, fol­ find a writer who describes a column flouts tradition by making a detailed lowed by an hour at the bar and two completed after an agonizing trip to accounting of his earnings - and often Cutty Sarks; then cocktails at home, fol­ the hospital as reading "no worse than of his spendings too. He goes further: lowed by dinner with wine: "That adds usual" (626)? Where else can you find he insists on translating the sums into up to around eight alcoholic drinks for an inside-the-Beltway journalist exco­ contemporary dollars, which nobody me during a normal workday. That's riating one of his own reports as "the

Liberty 51 June 2008 worst kind of inside-the-Beltway analy­ time on issues that weren't his beat. ists. .Other mainstream Washington sis," completely isolated from America Thus, you will see a good deal of com­ reporters routinely express round-eyed at large (402)? Where else can you find mentary on Vietnam, which Novak vis­ bafflement over the impression - gen­ a Washington reporter worrying, after ited repeatedly while the war was on, erated somehow - that they are ded­ 25 years, about whether he'd pulled his but very little on the student rebellions icated partisans of modern liberalism punches on a high-level politician: "It against it - events with which he had and the Democratic Party. Novak offers bothered me in 1982 and still troubles little contact and, apparently, little intel­ a lifetime of evidence substantiating the me today" (389). Where else can you lectual engagement. charge. find the subject of a flattering article in Yet on issues that he did cover, he is One of my favorite episodes in the Newsweek reporting that the story was perfectly willing to get down and dirty. book features Joseph Alsop, a "conser­ written by "a close friend ... Little in I think it's unfortunate that he high­ vative" news guru of the '50s and '60s. Washington is on the level" (115). lights his involvement in the Valerie Hearing John Kennedy deliver some There's plenty more: "This was just Plame "CIA leak"; he was the central remarks that he'd heard many times about the worst column I wrote dur­ journalistic figure in that affair, yet before, Alsop "jumped on the press ing four decades ... I was such a sucker the affair itself was of no importance, table and began chanting: 'Jack! Jack! for an exclusive story that I sometimes as he himself recognizes. The hue and Jack!'" Odd behavior for a nonpartisan committed errors.indefensible even for cry over the revelation that Ms. Plame­ reporter. Yet Alsop, Novak observes, a cub reporter" (235). "That reeked of Wilson had a desk job at the CIA was was simply "more ostentatious than overconfidence" (220). "They have not nothing more than anti-Bush agitation, other journalists ... [T]he press corps withstood the test of time" (said of col­ to which the Bushites lent their asinine was solidly for Kennedy. Traveling with umns written in the Kennedy adminis­ cooperation. Still, something can be Nixon the last week of the campaign, I tration [102]). "This poster [advertising learned from Novak's revelations of the was having drinks with other report­ the author's writings] was put in New folly and pomposity of other partici­ ers in a hotel bar. Somebody mentioned York subway and commuter railroad pants. Thank God, he is not a member to star reporter William Lawrence of stations, making my forehead a favorite of the smarmy, humorless, pseudo­ the New York Times that it was tough target for obscene graffiti" (100). statesmanlike, Walter Lippmann school duty on the Nixon tour. 'No,' Bill said, If Novak's book has a fault, it's a of journalism; so there's some chance of 'I think I can do Jack more good when fault that is virtually inevitable in a getting the truth out of him. I'm with Nixon'" (73). journalistic memoir - a good memoir, A lot of that truth has to do with Flash forward to election night, anyway: Novak doesn't spend much the biases of other high-class journal- 2004, when exit polls indicated that

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John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, brought down by the tabloid press" date (even John F. Kennedy and Ronald was going to win. At CNN studios in (494-95). Novak later repented of his Reagan, both of whom I liked person­ New York "a celebration was in place paternalistic attitude toward voters. ally) because, as a reporter, I observed ... CNN staffers were ecstatic" (626­ His colleagues, basically, didn't. They them at close range" (497). As for other 27). The fact that the Democratic Party had to be driven like cows into report­ politicians: Eugene McCarthy was lit­ of 2004 stood for very different things ing on Clinton's corruption, and they tle more than an embittered "cynic" from the Democratic Party of 1960 found plenty of ways of evading the (155-56). Al Gore "demonstrated that appears to have made little difference part that went beyond sex. to the ecstatic MSM. "Whither thou For over 40 years Novak has been goest, I will go" - so long as thou art knownbytheunflatteringtitle of"Prince a Democrat. of Darkness" - a name first given him But journalistic bias isn't neces­ by a Washington reporter who noted Only Ronald Reagan and sarily limited to political parties or his "unsmiling pessimism about the Daniel Patrick Moynihan causes. It is also extended to power prospects for America and Western civ­ per se. Novak recalls abominable per­ ilization" (102). In a way, his book lives come out looking really good. sonal behavior by both Republicans up to the phrase. One reads it with the and Democrats, by politician after poli­ grim pleasure of finding one's worst tician, that no reporter ever considered imaginations confirmed. If "what's past reporting. Novak was there, during is prologue," if the events he chronicles he was even more of a phony than I had Richard Nixon's 1960 campaign, when and the important people he knew are thought" (566). Newt Gingrich exem­ the candidate discovered that a TV set Act IV of American history, we may see plified "the desire of politicians without had not been arranged to his liking. He complete disaster in Act V. inherited wealth to become powerful exploded, and he "continued his pro­ It's not that most of the people he and rich ... As politicians dealt with fanity-laced rant up to airtime, but not describes were evil; it's that there was fabulously rich benefactors benefiting a word appeared in print or on the air. a total disjunction between their pro­ from their legislative decisions, they The wire service, radio-television, and fessional competence and their vision yearned for their share of the gold" periodical press pool reporters did not of the world. Novak identifies many (519). "Jerry Ford, the nicest person to report his conduct. Neither did I as the journalists and other opinion leaders be president during my career, was ill daily press pool reporter. That's the way (even politicians) as smart, competent, equipped for the job. He was a quint­ journalism was in those days" (76). and fun to be around; but these good essential product of the House and of Novak makes a similar report about qualities exist in isolation from their the minority Republicans, suffering Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. Clinton ignorant, reflexive politics, whether from a pernicious side effect of perpet­ and his people could simply lie in the modern liberal or neo-conservative ual minority status: lack of a clear ideol­ face of the few reporters (Cokie Roberts (Novak hates both kinds). One doesn't ogy guaranteeing the absence of a clear of NPR was one of them) who dared ask care how nice a guy Al Hunt or Jack agenda" (261). questions about his remarkably repul- Germond may be, when off the TV set; John Kennedy's anticommunist ide­ their intellectual quality still appears to alism was "mostly posturing," while be nonexistent. Even Novak's longtime "Nixon's conservatism was mainly rhe­ journalistic partner, Rowland Evans, a torical. Nobody can claim he was less man he liked and even respected, lost committed to big government than Elite journalism and poli­ his head over Bobby Kennedy. Most of Kennedy, who had the saving grace tics ofthe 1950s-1980sfloated the people we meet in this book never of being a tax-cutter - a quality that had a head to lose. eluded Nixon" (77). And there was the on enormous tides ofalcohol. Among major politicians, only inimitable Lyndon Johnson: sometimes Ronald Reagan and Daniel Patrick a disgusting drunk, always a crude Moynihan come out looking really manipulator and sufferer from "mega­ good - Reagan for understanding the lomania" (82). Kennedy was "a failed sive "private" life, without any fear that threat of collectivism, both internal and president," but "Johnson was a disas­ the MSM would make an issue out of it. external, and working cleverly to meet ter" (103). Clinton and his handlers knew that the it; Moynihan for understanding the It is Jimmy Carter, however, who MSM "shared my view that Clinton's dangers of social planning and issuing fares worse than any other president in dalliance with Gennifer Flowers and courageous warnings about its effects. this book. From Novak's point of view however many other women was Yet Reagan is depicted as a man sur­ (and who can differ?) Carter was a self­ not grounds for political inquiry" rounded by mediocre assistants and important nobody, a silly demagogue, (although, of course, the displays of allies, and Moynihan (a personal friend "a liar and charlatan" with a "manic marital bliss doled out by Mr. and Mrs. of Novak's) as a politician who with­ grin" and a phenomenal degree of stu­ Clinton were eagerly retailed). "I had drew into a protective shell of official pidity (289, 295, 283). Novak reports not seen the press corps so excited by liberalism. that Carter's treasury secretary, pro­ a presidential candidate since John F. "I found it hard," Novak says, "to posing to inform him about problems Kennedy ... They did not want Clinton fall in love with any presidential candi- of taxation, recommended that he read

Liberty 53 June 2008 some books. "I'm way ahead of you," tion" (568). In Novak's opinion, Bush the commanding heights of state power: Carter replied. "I've started reading Jr. is plainly a failure, a person who has vast and ever-growing institutions the Internal Revenue Code." "It was," accomplished almost nothing of the and institutional cultures devoted to Novak comments, "as if somebody conservative domestic agenda, has led "education," "healthcare," "security," interested in automotive engineering the nation into an unnecessary war in "minorityadvancement," andmeddling Iraq, and now refuses to "let the Iraquis of every kind. Any additional meddling sort out their own problems" (628). could prove disastrous to American lib­ Novak's skepticism about Iraq has led erty and American well-being. to violent attacks by fellow conserva­ Novak anticipates a continued Jimmy Carter was aselfim­ tives. He responds by suggesting that regime ofbad ideas and destructive pol­ portant nobody, ademagogue, the Republicans may have run "out of icies. Yet one ray of optimism appears, [useful] things to say" (628). It's hard to at least by contrast: Novak's copious "a liar and a charlatan. /I disagree with him. notes on past journalistic and political The really bad part of this is the fact practices indicate that the American that the RepUblican Party used to be a public now has much more opportunity major vehicle for many essentially liber­ to learn the truth than it had before. One pungent example can stand for had started by reading a mechanic's tarian ideas, ideas that Novak espouses: many: Novak spends several amazing manual word for word." The treasury "limited government, economic free­ pages discussing the career of Edmund secretary tried to argue: "Mr. President, dom, and a strong, prudent America" Muskie, a man who, by the grace of I really don't think that's the way to (14). To give this another formulation: God, is now forgotten but who was go about it." Carter, invincible in self­ "small government, low taxes, individ­ Hubert Humphrey'S running mate in righteous ignorance, "flashed the fro­ ual economic freedom, civil liberties, 1968 and might have been nominated zen smile and steely gaze, saying, 'But, defense preparedness, restraint in for­ for president in 1972. Publicly known Mike, I do, and I am the president.' That eign policy, free trade, and [opposition for his somber judiciousness, Muskie summed up the Carter presidency" to] reliance on politicians" (637). You was actually "an erratic personality (302). can argue about "defense prepared­ with an uncontrollable temper ... dull By the time Clinton rolled around, ness" (though I wouldn't); and it's evi­ and devoid of ideas." Novak describes Novak's appetite for stupidity was well dent that Novak came to some of these a bibulous luncheon with Muskie, dur­ nigh sated. But I do like his anecdote ideas in the midst of his career, notat the ing which the candidate "dron[ed] on about Clinton's way of choosing an start. But this only makes his narrative about his agenda for America." Novak attorney general. After two nominees, more interesting, and more poignant. was nearly asleep when the senator both women, had to withdraw because He frequently projects the attitude of a surprised him by asking for his views. of scandals over illegally employed person who embraces important ideas Novak started to answer, but in only a nannies, "Clinton, in a temper tantrum, just at the moment when other influen­ minute Muskie himself dropped off ­ demanded a woman who did not have tial people are rejecting them. "a deep slumber with snoring. I stopped and never would have any childrenand, But is that true? Do the misfortunes therefore, no nanny. That peculiar stan­ of the Republican Party advertise the dard for an attorney general produced eclipse of libertarian-conservative ide­ Janet Reno ... Reno critics in Miami als? I doubt it. I believe we have entered [where she came from] could not have an era of confusion, in which certain cared less about her sexual preferences, libertarian ideas, those most directly The nation would endure but they were stunned that this woman associated with free expression, in the this Frankenstein's monster, of minimal talents was to be attorney broadest sense of that term, are becom­ general of the United States" (502). Not ing more firmly established every day; Janet Reno, for eight years. everyone was capable of such objec­ and in which other libertarian ideas, tivity. Because Reno was suspected of while contested, have nevertheless being a lesbian, the MSM unleashed a rooted themselves deeply in major "deluge of praise for a woman nobody political communities: property rights, speaking, but that had no effect on the knew" (502). The nation would endure tax limitation, small government, skep­ sleeping senator. At last, I cleared my this Frankenstein's monster, this hero ticism about foreign intervention and throat loudly. Muskie awoke with a of Waco, Texas, for eight long years. alliance. start, and I said: 'And those are my Novak regarded the first George Yet I am troubled (as Novak is) by views, Senator.' 'Very interesting, Bob,' Bush as a blunderer, hopelessly out of the fact that the advocates of these vari­ he said" (212-213). touch with the American people, and ous ideas often turn out to be advocates Later, Novak joins Muskie for an his White House as a place "where the of other ones, too - ideas inimical to interview on his campaign plane, and spin doctors believe their own spin­ liberty. I think, for example, of modern Muskie occupies the whole ride by yell­ ning" (479). Even before the second liberals who are firm on certain kinds ing at an aide for arranging his sched­ George Bush was in office, he detected of "personal" rights but crusade to ule so that he missed a Sunday mass. "an ominous tendency by the Bush destroy "economic" rights. And, over­ But here's the important part. Even inner circle toward secrecy and decep- shadowing every debate,·there remain Novak, who was outraged by Muskie's

54 Liberty June 2008 behavior and considered him wholly ULeave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off unfit for public office, never divulged his experience. He merely reported that OUf Money, Our Guns, OUf Lives," by Grover Norquist. Wil­ "irrational scheduling, uncoordinated liam Morrow, 2008, 360 pages. speechwriting and tardy organiza­ tion" weakened the Muskie campaign: "I didn't write about his Sunday morn­ ing temper tantrum. Reporters permit­ ted dose access to candidates did not reveal such incidents in those days. Nor did I write about whether a per­ son with a hair-trigger temper was the Leave Us right man to be president" (214). As always, Novak's candor is refreshing. Still more refreshing is the implication that today, this behavior might possibly be reported. Alone! But another example makes me wonder. This one comes from Teddy Kennedy's campaign for the presidency in 1980. An incident took place in which des. The small area inside all three cir­ Kennedy's psychological and mari­ Bruce Ramsey cles is the consistent Leave Us Aloner. tal problems came to light. The press That is the person libertarians want, response was silence: "We all knew that Grover Norquist is the doyen because it is the person like them. Joan [Kennedy] was an alcoholic, that of politically active rightists in Norquist is after the much larger group Teddy had a severe drinking problem, Washington, D.C. Every Wednesday that exists inside at least one of the cir­ and that the marriage was doomed. But some 120 of them meet in the offices of cles. He wants a coalition that can define nobody, myself included, wrote about his Americans for Tax Reform to find the Republican Party and win elections. those things.... I strongly suspected he out what's going on. These meetings His long-term goal, he says, is to fash­ never would be president of the United have made Norquist influential on the ion an America that is individualistic States" (346). Right and reviled onthe Left. and competitive, and that continues to The good thing about this is that The interest to libertarians in be different from Europe. the dynamic forces within American Norquist's book is how he defines His opponents, whom he calls the society - the competition of ideas and his alliance. It is the Leave Us Alone Takings Coalition, want to expand interest groups that are bound to arise Coalition - such disparate groups the American welfare state into a full in a free economy - meant that a dem­ as antitax activists, business owners, social democracy. He defines these agogue like Kennedy could be beaten in stockholders, gun owners, landowners, people with a Venn diagram of govern­ the primaries even by such a ludicrous homeschoolers, religious believers, and ment employees, nonprofits, trial law­ failure as Jimmy Carter, whether or not parents'-rights folks. They make the yers, academics, and leftists. Together, Kennedy's problems of character were same demand of the state regarding the he says, they set the direction of the insisted upon by the national press. The thing they care about: to be left alone. Democratic Party, whose goal, he bad thing is that even Chappaquiddick The reality of the Right is messier. writes, "is to maximize the number of couldn't oust him from the Senate. But you have to accept messiness in Americans who believe they are totally Meanwhile, the internet and the ever­ politics - and Norquist is a practitio­ dependent on politics for some key to-be-cherished tabloid media, with ner, not an academic. zone in life: their retirement income, some lagging assistance from the MSM, The key idea that libertarians their children's education, their health have demonstrated that Bill Clinton might take from Norquist is that peo­ care, or their parents' health care, has virtually all the characteristics one ple believe many things but vote on housing, food stamps, or even their associates with the villain in a Victorian one thing. "Yes, there are disagree­ employment." novel, and his wife is probably worse. ments among members of the Leave Like other divisions of humanity Still, he has supporters, and she may be Us Alone Coalition," he writes. "But into two groups, this is idealized. A lot president. the key question is always ... do you of the local Ds and Rs in politics fit nei­ In other words, if you're looking for vote on this issue? As a member of the ther of these definitions. Some things the final battle between good and evil, I board of directors of the National Rifle directly contradict them. The Takings don't think we've arrived at it yet. That Association, I can assure you that many Coalition includes women voting on may come in Act V. In the meantime, NRA members have what I consider the the single issue of the freedom to have Act IV, scene 7, Robert Novak's autobi­ oddest views on free trade with China. abortions. Norquist says the abortion ography, provides a welcome relief, at But they vote on guns." question hinges on how many per­ once comic and tragic, entertaining and To illustrate his idea, he draws a sons are involved: a woman only? or a disturbing. 0 Venn diagram of three overlapping cir- woman and a baby? The abortion ques-

Liberty 55 June 2008 tion, in his view, is outside of his defini­ cut taxes, because tax money is what reduce the number of Americans who tion of "Leave Us Alone" and is more a the government uses to turn us into need such aid and see the government matter of belief. dependents. as their parent." Norquist leaves out some groups "The greater the number of depen­ This is not a book aimed at libertar­ that don't fit into the conservative dent Americans, the stronger the left," ians - which is good. Let the conser­ coalition: recreational drug users, for Norquist writes, arguing that the goal vatives read it, and see where it gets example. There is no mention of leav­ of the Republican Party should be "to them. D ing them alone (but no call to perse­ cute them, either). Norquist's coalition "Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall includes the military and police, who are government employees. He writes, in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your "If the government employee in ques­ Dentist," by Tyler Cowen. Dutton, 2007, 221 pages. tion is doing a job whose job descrip­ tion can be found in the Constitution, he or she is a strong candidate for the Leave Us Alone Coalition." And what of war? The conserva­ tives' usual definition of their position is "pro-market, pro-traditional values, Economics for and pro-defense," with "pro-defense" meaning something more than defense. It is notable that Norquist does not include defense in his definition of the Takings Coalition. He has left it out. He Fun & Profit is not interested in it. My lefty friends would point out these seeming contradictions with smirks and chuckles. Leave us alone? market thinktank. He also is a George Martin Morse Wooster Ho, ho, ho! But Norquist's Leave Us Mason University economist and runs Alone Coalition is not meant to be a Marginal Revolution, one of the more sociological description oftheAmerican A few years ago University of popular economics blogs. Cowen has Right so much as a principle for orga­ Chicago economist Steven D. Levitt written several other books, and has nizing it. He wants the Right - and, made an astonishing discovery that shown a commendable interest in art particularly, the Republican Party - to would change the nature of econom­ and culture. think in these terms about itself. ics forever. Economics, he discov­ "Discover Your Inner Economist" Surely libertarians would approve ered, didn't have to be boring. In fact, is lighter than Cowen's other books, of that. "Leave us alone" is their idea. economics could be fun, wacky, and although there's plenty of research cited To win elections, and win them deci­ sprightly. in it. There are also all sorts of fun facts; sively (Le., with a majority of 60 in the In collaboration with journal­ I enjoyed learning, for example, that Senate), Norquist says the coalition has ist Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt wrote there's a book about competitive eating to grow. What counts in that regard, "Freakonomics." The market rewarded called "Horsemen of the Esophagus." he argues, is to use the power of gov­ Levitt and Dubner handsomely, and Cowen's book is an entertaining, ernment to defend each of the groups ever since then, other economists have if uneven, look about how economic in your coalition. Follow policies that tried to see if they can write bestsellers thinking can help shape the way we will foster more self-employed people, too. Libertarians wrote many of these live, love, and do business. more gun owners, more stockhold­ books, most notably "The Undercover For most of us, one's "inner econ­ ers, and more homeschoolers. Promote Economist" by Financial Times colum­ omist" is that little calculator in your individual accounts in Social Security nist Tim Harford. head that tells you, "Don't buy the reg­ and individual health insurance and Now Tyler Cowen steps into ular size can. Buy the giant can. You1l parental choice in education - all pol­ the fray with "Discover Your Inner save with the giant can." icies that require individuals to take Economist." Cowen, an industrious But Cowen shows that your inner responsibility. And always work to man, heads the Mercatus Center, a free- economist can do much more. It can tell

www.LibertyUnbound.com Don't miss the www.FreedomFest.com Liberty Editors Conference 2008 Your favorite Liberty editors and contributors; your favorite subjects! In conjunction with FreedomFest 200S-S66-266-5101-See page 22 June 2008 you how to end a meeting, or start that music you like. UDiscover Your Inner Economist" classic novel you've ignored for years; it As for organized charities, Cowen isn't an explicitly libertarian book. But can tell you where to find a good ethnic suggests you might find a few you like, what Cowen quietly teaches is that eco­ restaurant. write them, and tell them you11 contrib­ nomics matters, and that you can use This book is an amalgam of an eco­ ute every year - hut only if they agree the lessons it teaches (time matters; nomics text and Miss Manners. Cowen not to sell your name to other nonprof­ scarcity matters) to live a better life. offers advice that's certainly original. its. Fundraisers prize regular donors ­ You'll get a deeper knowledge of For example, he suggests that when and they should readily agree that your markets from Cowen's enjoyable book. your sweetie complains, uYou're treat­ steady checks are worth more than any And, I believe, the more you under­ ing me like property!" it's wise not to money they'd make from selling your stand about markets, the deeper is your respond, UDo you mean private or pub­ name. appreciation of liberty. 0 lic property?" But some of his advice is simply odd. For example, the Inner JlSocialism After Hayek," by Theodore A. Burczak. University Economist doesn't just buy a ticket to a movie; he buys a ticket, watches the of Michigan Press, 2006, 181 pages. first 20 minutes of the movie he's paid "The Cambridge Companion to Hayek," edited by Edward for, and then if he doesn't like it, walks Feser. Cambridge University Press, 2006, 359 pages. out and sees part of another movie: uIf I can walk out of a movie, I can see other JlA Life of Friedrich August von Hayek," by C.E. Cubitt. Au­ parts of the movie the same day. One thors on Line, 2006, 391 pages. day I saw parts of four movies. I was happy, not frustrated by the experi­ ence. Three of them were better than I expected." Cowen is on somewhat sounder ground when dealing with ethnic res­ taurants. A famous foodie, Cowen has compiled an extensive list of his favor­ ite restaurants around the world. His suggestions for picking a restaurant are Hayek Lives interesting: Choose strip malls in edgy areas with many minorities. Ask the server, "What is best?" and listen care­ fully to any serious suggestions. And, particularly in Chinese restaurants, let the server know that you actually know Burczak begins his work with an something about his country; you may Lanny Ebenstein excellent analysis of the problems that get to eat an entree that isn't on the The recent appearance of these three the division of knowledge - problems English-language menu. works (among many), written from dif­ that Hayek so effectively discussed A still better chapter is Cowen's ferent perspectives, indicates that inter­ - must cause for many aspects of tra­ advice on charity. All of us want to help est in the Viennese sage is alive and ditional Marxianism. When Burczak others, but our desire to give runs into well. This is a strong sign of his great­ writes that Hayek's "work is unified by formidable obstacles. Give to one char­ ness. Hayek once commented on the a common concern: to understand the ity and you get flooded with Uurgent" eclipse that almost all great minds suf­ limited and socially constituted nature appeals from scores of others. Give to fer in the generation or so following of human knowledge and to trace the a beggar and you encourage begging. their demise. That interest in him is, if implications of this radical epistemol­ What should you do? anything, increasing shows his stature ogy for the theory of human action First off, don't give to beggars. among the intellectual benefactors of and social evolution" (1-2), he states Giving does increase begging (a process humanity. a conception of Hayek's work with that economists call "rent exhaustion"). Burczak's work has attracted some which many Hayekians would agree. Cowen thinks it better to give to a poor attentionamongHayekscholars, incIud­ Students of politics and economics can person who didn't ask for the money ing Richard Ebeling and Steve Horwitz. learn much from Burczak's presenta­ - a sleeping homeless person, for Burczak writes from the perspective of tion of Hayek's thought, together with example. But it might be equally effec­ postmodern Marxianism and is well his insistence that it be incorporated in tive to patronize the struggling people read in much of the Hayek literature, as any accurate theory of human action. who are trying to offer something use­ well as the literature of Marx. Burczak Burczak's own analytical prob­ ful. Buying dinner in an inner-city res­ thus continues the more than a century lem, as he defines it, is whether there taurant with really good food helps. Or of mutual interest between Marxian can be socialism without planning and give to huskers - but only if they play and Austrian economists. with private property, since he largely

Liberty 57 June 2008 accepts Hayek's idea that large-scale "Hayek on Knowledge, Economics, and Hayek's "The Fatal Conceit." planning isunfeasible and private Society"; by Chandran Kukathas, on Gamble calls Hayek's theory of property is necessary to communi­ "Hayek and Liberalism"i and by Gerald knowledge "his most distinctive con­ cate economic information. Burczak's Gaus, on "Hayek on the Evolution of tribution both to economics and to response is that such socialism is possi­ Society and Mind" are among the best social science," and emphasizes that for ble, through workers' cooperatives that pieces on Hayek's thought that have Hayek this theory is based upon "'our retain decentralized planning and pri­ been written. Other fine, thought­ irremediable ignorance'" and the ",dis­ vate property. provoking essays include those by persion and imperfection of all knowl­ Although Burczak does not cite Robert Skidelsky, Roger Backhouse, edge'" (111). Hayek argued that human him, John Stuart Mill stated some sim­ Meghnad Desai, Anthony O'Hear, Eric imperfection with respect to the pos­ ilar views in the 19th century. From Mack, and Feser himself. It is interest­ session of knowledge rendered central the perspective of this writer, both ing to see thatbothMack and Gaus note control of a diverse economy impossi­ Burczak and Mill underemphasize the interpretive problems with respect to ble. Gamble concludes: "Hayek's last- importance of the entrepreneur. The great failing of collectivist planning, in either governmental or private form, is that individual decision-making appears to be vital for much economic Notes on Contributors productivity. Democratic decision­ ( making, via workers' councils (as J Burczak and Mill propose), has usu­ Baloo is a nom de plume of Rex F. Keith Lofstrom lives in Beaverton, ally been unsuccessful in economic May. Ore. endeavors. Democratic forms of eco­ nomic management cannot compete David T. Beito is an associate pro­ Bill Merritt is a sometimes-novelist with individual entrepreneurship, fessor of history at the University of living in Gaborone, Botswana. Ifyou are even if this entrepreneurship is excer­ Alabama and a member of the Liberty offended at what he has to say, you are cised by a CEO. To the extent that indi­ and Power blog at the History News welcome to try to pursue him through vidual entrepreneurship is essential for Network. the Botswana legal system. economic growth and prosperity, even Michael Christian is in early semi­ Ross Overbeek is a cofounder of the private workers' cooperatives would Fellowship for Interpretation of Ge­ be ineffective and uneconomic. retirement in a semi-paradisaical comer of California. nomes. "The Cambridge Companion to Hayek" is a great contribution. I have Marilyn Burge lives in Portland, Ore. Patrick Quealy may be found in his looked at many such collections on var­ natural habitat, a Seattle coffee shop. ious thinkers, as well as collections on Jerome Cole is a student living in Hayek, and have usually been under­ Guangzhou, China. Bruce Ramsey is a journalist in whelmed. Contributions are ordinarily Seattle. of uneven quality, and there is no uni­ Stephen Cox is a professor at DC San Diego. His most recent book is The New Mark Rand is managing editor of fying theme. This is not the case with Liberty. Edward Feser's Cambridge collection. Testament and Literature. It is the best collection of articles on Lanny Ebenstein teaches economics at Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Hayek assembled to date. All future the University of California Santa Bar­ Simon professor of free enterprise at serious Hayek scholarship will have to bara and is the author of biographies of Robert Morris University. incorporate this volume. Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. One of. the best aspects of this com­ Jo Ann Skousen is entertainment edi­ tor of Liberty. She lives in New York. pendium is that its contributions track Andrew Ferguson is a contributing the historical development of Hayek's editor of Liberty. At present he is work­ Todd Skousen is a graduate of Rollins thought, beginning with his youth and ing on a biography of science-fiction College with a degree in Economics. He early adulthood in Austria, through his writer R.A. Lafferty. currently lives in Utah working in the work in technical economics in England film industry as a screenwriter as well as Jon Harrison lives and writes in in the 1930s, continuing with his emerg­ on varied commercial film shoots. ing interest in political topics from the Vermont. Tim Slagle is a standup comedian liv­ later 1930s through the 1970s, and Gary Jason is an adjunct professor of including discussion of his developing ing in Chicago. His website is timslagle. philosophy and a contributing editor to com. interests in philosophical and psycho­ Liberty. He is the author of Critical Think­ logical subjects. It is a tour de force. ing: Developing an Effective World View Jim Walsh is an assistant editor of In a collection of so many excep­ and Introduction to Logic. Liberty. tional essays, it is hard to pick the best, but this reviewer thinks that the Ross Levatter is a physician living in Martin Morse Wooster is a writer liv­ contributions by Andrew Gamble, on Phoenix. ing in Silver Spring, Md.

58 Liberty June 2008 ing achievement was to focus attention from a personal point of view about Bartley and Stephen Kresge, and pro­ on the limited and fragmentary nature Hayek the man. She provides impor­ vides considerable detail about Hayek's of knowledge in modern societies and tant information, for example, about marriages. the need for social and economic the­ his physical condition in his later years, Although this plethoraofgood work orists to make that the cornerstone of when, from the summer of 1985 until about Hayek demonstrates his continu­ their thinking" (131). his death in March 1992, he was largely ing interest and importance, one hopes Chandran Kukathas, who holds a incapacitated. She also has a good deal - and expects - that more such work chair at Hayek's old stomping grounds, to say about his relationships with is to follow. Hayek's was a mind for the the London School of Economics, offers Hayek collected works editors William ages. CJ a thoughtful consideration of Hayek's role in the continuing development of liberalism. UHayek's liberalism is best "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day," directed by Bharat Nalluri. understood as a response to socialism" Focus Features, 2008, 92 minutes. (183), Kukathas observes. Like Gamble, "Leatherheads," directed by George Clooney. Universal, 2008, Kukathas emphasizes Hayek's views on the importance of knowledge: his 113 minutes.

U distinctive contribution is his account of social institutions and rules of con­ duct as bearers of knowledge" (184). Kukathas emphasizes that, for Hayek: "Liberalism was not merely a universalist creed but an internation­ alist one which did not recognize the moral significance of national boundar­ ies" (196). In this element of his thought, Screwy Enough? Hayek followed a little-known prede­ cessor at the London School, Edwin Cannan, who preached international­ ism as an essential component of true liberalism. artee of the genre. Gaus' essay puts Hayek's view of Jo Ann Skousen "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" institutions in the broader context of tries veryhard to achieve a frenetic pace, his ideas. Here is a very thoughtful and The screwball comedy, a main­ and itseems to fit the screwball formula: careful discussion of Hayek's views on stay of the 1930s film industry, gave set in the 1930s, it begins with Miss the evolutionofsociety and mind - and Depression-era audiences a chance to Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), down how the two are connected. Gaus notes laugh at the foibles of the upper class. on her luck and out of a job. She stum­ that Hayek linked the notions of evolu­ The films were populated with "mad­ bles into a position as personal assis­ tion and spontaneous order. Evolution cap" young ladies who flaunted soci­ tant to Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams) is what makes spontaneous order pos­ etal rules while still wearing their through a classic case of mistaken iden­ sible. As institutions and knowledge white gloves and girdles. These women tity. Miss Pettigrew then spends what evolve, they become increasingly com­ were high-spirited and audacious, but is intended to be a madcap day follow­ plex. Knowledge is embedded in insti­ they never let the audience forget they ing her new employer around, helping tutions. Optimal institutions allow were ladies. In the 1934 masterpiece her juggle the affections of three young evolution. Gaus comments on the "It Happened One Night" (which has men, and ultimately deciding which "genius of Hayek's linking of complex­ been remade at least five times under one is best for her. ity theory, spontaneous ordering, social different titles), Clark Gable erects a The premise is fine, but the film falls evolution, and neural networks into an "chastity blanket" between himself and flat. Much as I have admired Adams overall account of mind and human Claudette Colbert that remains firmly and McDormand in other works, I society" (254). in place until a wedding ring is placed couldn't help longing for the cool wit Turning now to the biographical on her finger in the final scene. of Irene Dunn and the moralizing wise­ field: Charlotte Cubitt's memoir of her The screwball comedy purports to cracks of Thelma Ritter. Depression-era years with Hayek, from 1977 until his be back this season with not one but romantic comedies were frothy and death in 1992, will be an essential source two entries - the charmingly titled effortless, witty and genteel. In this for every future biographical treatment "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" and film the luscious Amy Adams simply of these years of his life and for every the less romantically titled but more tries too hard to carry the show, and sustained treatment of his entire life. satisfying ULeatherheads." Both do a McDormand settles for being Mary There is no other document like it. fine job of recreating the costumes, hair­ Poppins. There is no genuine chemistry Much of the value of Cubitt's work styles, music, and settings of the 1930s, from either actress, and no biting wit comes from the circumstance that the but only one succeeds in creating the from the script. author, who is not an academic, writes innocent atmosphere and snappy rep- The film fails also because the

Liberty 59 June 2008 screenwriters forgot the first rule of "Stop-Loss," directed by Kimberly Peirce. Paramount Pictures, 1930s comedy: nice young women 2008, 113 minutes. keep their gloves and their girdles on. Adams does her best to display wide-eyed innocence, but that inno­ cence is hard to swallow when theater­ producer Phil is lyingnaked in her bed, nightclub owner Nick is on his way up to the apartment for a roll·in the same hay, and pianist Michael is due under the covers this evening. Even in the 21st century we have a name for that kind Cut Your Losses of woman, and it isn't "madcap." Come to think of it, "screwball" is probably a more accurate moniker than the pro­ ducers intended. (Forgive me for that unladylike pun.) "Leatherheads," on the other hand, works on several levels. Set in 1925, the story purports to chronicle the birth of Todd Skousen Cruise's character in "Born on the 4th professional football, as a down-but­ of July." Instead, their lives completely not-quite-out football player (George collapse in a matter of hours, like a bad Clooney) figures out how to tap into "Stop-Loss" takes its title from a country song. Burgess turns to the bot­ the popularity of college football and favorite media buzz phrase, referring to tle and his wife leaves him by midnight. lure its fans to professional sports. The the practice of forcing active-duty sol­ Shriver beats his girlfriend and trashes dialogue (written by Sports Illustrated diers to return to the battlefront when his house. And then, the bombshell: columnists Duncan Brantley and Rick their tours are up. Despite a good cast Brandon King, the levelheaded one, is Reilly) is smart and sassy, the cinema­ and a provocative subject, the film is stop-lossed. tography sepia-tinted and nostalgic, the what you would expect to see if MTV Of course, in real life King would musical soundtrackjazzyand authentic. attempted to make a modern-day "Deer probably complain a lot, go see his The scenes of the team members trav­ Hunter." Though it brings out the true family's lawyer, and in the end give eling by train reminded me of another costs of war, borne by the soldiers who up and report back to base. But hilari­ classic Clooney film, If0 Brother, Where fight it, director Kimberly Peirce ("Boys ously, preposterously, the cinematic ArtThou?",.also a parody of films of the Don't Cry") beats the viewer over the King .instead decides to take a road '30s. He must really like that era. head with these costs, employing overly trip with his best friend's girlfriend to Itdoes suithim. As professionalfoot­ dramatic and cliched devices rather Washington, D.C., to see his senator. ball player Dodge Connelly, Clooney than giving a realistic portrayal of the This road trip consists of war flash­ seems to be channeling Clark Gable, men fighting in Iraq. backs, fistfights, soldiers with missing with a generous dose of Cary Grant For all its drawbacks, "Stop-Loss" limbs, and, of course, random stops at thrown in. A master of the double-take actually startsoutquitewell. Several sol­ bars for shots. Finally, King comes to and the raised eyebrow, Clooney always diers are joking around at a checkpoint an important realization: turning to the seems to have just thought of that cocky when a· taxi full of insurgents opens U.S. government in order to solve your comeback himself. Moreover, heexudes fire. The soldiers load up and chase the problem with the U.S. government upper-class charm even when he's cov­ taxi, only·to be led into an ambush in might not be the best plan. eredwith mud - and upper-class a narrow alleyway. Taking cover from In the end, it's a pretty standard, charm, albeit with a thumb of the nose the tense shootout, the U.S. soldiers end if unbelievable, war-veteran for­ at upper-class snootiness, was always up moving room to room in an apart­ mula. Peirce merely takes the stories the draw of screwball comedies. ment building filled both with families of Vietnam veterans and attempts to Renee Zellweger, who with her and· enemy combatants. As might be apply them to the Iraqi conflict. But by squinched-up eyes and smug sweet­ expected, some women and children focusing only on the emotional trauma heart mouth· can sometimes be hard to are killed, as well as an American sol­ suffered, Peirce overlooks the more look at, nevertheless performs well as dier named "Preacher." Let the post­ interesting problem with the Iraq war: Lexie Littleton, the smart and smart­ traumatic stress disorder begin. that is, that none of the soldiers in Iraq alecky girl reporter looking for dirt on When boyhood friends and fellow really seem to care what they are fight­ war hero turned football. star Carter soldiers BrandonKing (Ryan Phillippe), ing for. Today's all-volunteer soldiers Rutherford (John Krasinski). Zellweger Tommy .Burgess (Joseph Gordon­ have varied reasons for enlisting: fam­ doesn't quite rise to the standard set by Levitt), and Steve Shriver (Channing ily .tradition, funds for college, bore­ Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday," Tatum) return to civilian life in their dom, wanting to blow stuff up, and but she comes close. And she keeps her small·Texas town, life does not begin yes, a desire to serve the country. But is girdle on. 0 unraveling slowly as it did for Tom anyone there because he felt Iraq was a

60 Liberty June 2008

threat to the United States? fooling around in Iraq. If you've ever affair between her daughter and the A lot of films and literature about watched Iraq war highlight videos on American sailor Joe Cable, is based on the Iraq war reflect this attitude. Curtis YouTube, you know that these stereo­ Michener's "Fo' Dolla'" and introduced Brizell's book "My War" tells the story types aren't too far off. the beautiful standards "Bali Ha'i" and of a bored young man who enlists in the Had Peirce focused on the ques­ "Younger than Springtime." army because his life sucks. In his book, tion of why we're fighting in a conflict These songs are as familiar as the he describes his first firefight, in which that our people don't really care about, Beatles songbook, yet here's the amaz­ about 100 Americans are unloading "Stop-Loss" could have made a compel­ ing thing: "South Pacific" has not been on a mosque while yelling things like ling film. But by the end, you don't care seenonBroadwaysince the original pro­ "Woohoo," "Get some," and "F you at all about this poor guy who failed to duction closed in 1953, after a lucrative Mosque" as theyfire away. In "Shooter," read the small print in his army enlist­ 4-year run. I saw a wonderful produc­ Marine sniper Jack Coughlin describes ment contract.·Instead, you find your­ tion of it at the Prince of Wales Theater his desire to improve American effi­ self reflecting on the original meaning in London's West End in 1988, and ciency, become the best sniper, and of stop-loss, a predetermined point at most musical aficionados have seen the collect the most confirmed kills - but which you sell off a poor investment. 1958 film version. High schools across not to free Iraqis. These books confirm You wonder what bad information led the country perform it every year. But, the characterizations in movies like you into this mess and if you can possi­ incredibly, "South Pacific" has never "Jarhead" that portray American sol­ bly cut your losses and get your money been revived on Broadway. Until now. diers as a bunch of gun-happy yahoos back ... kind of like the war in Iraq. D "South Pacific" opened this April to a limited run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center, and it is "South Pacific," directed by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammer­ marvelous, with Kelli O'Hara as Nurse stein. Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, New York. Nellie Forbush, Brazilian basso Paolo Szot as French planter Emile de Becque, and MatthewMorrisonas doomed lover Lt. Joe Cable. Ifyou will be in New York this summer, you simply mustn't miss it. The music soars, song after glorious song. Stage technology has come a long way since 1948, with massive sets Teach Your moved around by hydraulic lifts; it's not unusual these days to find helicop­ ters landing.on stage or cars seeming to fly into the audience. But· set designer Michael Yeargan· chose to remain true Punters Well to the original format, creating a gor­ geous but simple beach as the main background and then moving uncom­ plicated props in and out to create a navy· base for one scene, de Becque's terrace for another, the navy war room of the stories as the intertwining plots for a third. The simplicity draws one's Jo Ann Skousen for "South Pacific," one of the finest eye to the shimmering beach and Bali musicals of the 20th century and argu­ Ha'i, looming in the distance with the During World War II, while serv­ ably the bestof the R&H canon. (In fact, promise of "your own special hopes, ing as a lieutenant in the navy, James their adaptation won another Pulitzer, your own special dreams." Michener wrote a collection of vignettes this one for Drama, in 1950.) So why has it been so long since about island life, calling it "Tales from Hammerstein used Michener's "South Pacific" has been seen on the South Pacific." The book won the melodramatically titled "Our Heroine," Broadway? One reason may be that, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948, and about a "cockeyed, optimist[ic]" young despite its marvelous music, its theme launched Michener's career as a prolific nurse who falls in love with an older of prejudice against interracial mar­ writer of sweeping epics. French planter, as the main story line, riage doesn't transfer well to post-civil Meanwhile, Broadway super- which introduced such well-loved rights audiences. We're uncomfortable stars Richard Rodgers and Oscar songs as "Some Enchanted Evening," even with the history of racial intoler­ Hammerstein were searching for a new "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy," ance. In fact, the people sitting in front vehicle withwhich to follow their gigan­ and the richly remorseful "This Nearly of me were so offended by Nellie's rant tic musical hits "Oklahoma!" (1943) and Was Mine." The equally important sub­ against Emile's "half-blood children" at "Carousel" (1945). Securing the rights plot, about a Tonkinese souvenir seller the end of Act 1 that they did not return to Michener's "Tales" they used two named Bloody Mary who arranges an for Act 2. And that's a shame because,

Liberty 61 June 2008 of course, by the end of Act 2 Nellie has late ... To hate all the people your rel­ the Siamese king and dances joyfully faced her bigotry and overcome it. She atives hate / You've got to be carefully with him. Even earlier, Hammerstein has learned to love the children as if taught!" guides the audience to face its had teamed up with Jerome Kern they were her own, bringing the audi­ own prejudices and make room in its to produce "Show Boat," in which a ence along with her. heart for tolerance. The song was con­ woman of mixed race is banished and When Nellie wails, "I can't help sidered so subversive inthe 1950s, when destroyed by bigotry. it. I can't accept who they are, who itbeganits national tour, that the House In 2008, we may think we have over­ their mother was; it's the way I was Committee on Un-American Activities come such bigotry; we cringe when we raised," and later, when Joe Cable tries tried to have the song removed from hear words as offensive as Nellie's des­ to explain to his Tonkinese sweetheart the score, with one Southern legislator perate confession spokeninpublic, even how cruelly she would be treated if proclaiming, "A song justifying interra­ by a fictional character set in WWII. We he brought her home to Philadelphia, cial marriage is implicitly a threat to the have become accustomed to interracial Hammerstein was deliberately playing American way of life." marriages, and are poised to nominate on the prejudices of the 1950s audience. Of course, Rodgers & Hammerstein the product of one such marriage to run He wanted them to go into the intermis­ refused and the song remained. In fact, for the presidency of the United States. sion nodding sadly in agreement, "It challenging audiences to overcome But bigotry is still alive in the 21st cen­ would never work. Surely Nellie will prejudice was the underlying theme tury, and nothing has been more topical end up with that handsome Joe Cable." in most of their plays. In "Oklahoma!" or divisive during the presidential cam­ But then comes Act 2. Joe's bit­ they urged, "The farmer and the cow­ paigns this month. Perhaps it is good terly cynical lament, "You've got to be man must be friends"; in "The Sound to be reminded, "before it's too late," taught I To hate and fear ... It's got to of Music" they reminded audiences of that bigotry of any kind is "carefully be drummedl In your dear little earl . .. Nazi chauvinism; in "The King and I" taught," and that tolerance can be just You've got to be taught before it's too a British schoolteacher falls in love with as easily learned. 0

The Ethics of Tort Reform, from page 28

My reply is that the vast majority of people have health, the state and the federal level, because the U.S. Congress ­ auto, home, and other insurance, for just this reason: to pro­ under the "Erie Doctrine" - has limited power to mandate tect against what are in effect the acts of nature. And if I am state court rules and procedures.14 harmed by a product that I chose to buy, a product that was Any meaningful, just tort reform will face a long struggle, notnegligently designed or produced, and turned outto harm state by state and nationally. Is it worth it? Yes, it is. 0 me through no fault of the producer, it is as if an act of nature Notes caused the harm. 1. www.pacificresearch.org. But what about all those people who can't afford health 2. Op. cit., x. and accident insurance? Well, the pricing and financing 3. Op. cit., xii. of healthcare is a serious social problem (and the topic for 4. The Economist (Dec. 16,2000) 35. another essay), but social problems require social solutions. 5. Stephen P. Magee, "The Optimum Number ofLawyers: A Reply to In the meantime, it is simply unjust to allow juries to force an Epp," Law & Social Inquiry 17 (Autumn 1992) 667-93. This article is innocent party to pay. downloadable from the website jstor.org. It is worth reiterating that one U.S. state and virtually all 6. AP report in the Orange County Register (Oct. 30, 2007). See also the the major nations in Europe already have the loser-pays sys­ AP report in the Orange County Register (Sept. 19,2007). tem. Yet I must admit honestly that getting it enacted into law 7. "Kentucky Trial Derby," The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 20, 2007). in this country is a daunting task. 8. See "The Trial Bar on Trial," The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 30, 2007). There are two major barriers. 9. www.atra.org The first is the power of the chief rent-seekers in this field, 10. "The Doctors Are In," Investor's Business Daily (July 13,2007). 11. Ralph Blumenthal, "More Doctors in Texas After Malpractice Caps," the trial lawyers. They are articulate, skilled in using the law The New York Times (Oct. 5, 2007). to their own ends, well-connected politically, and in danger of 12. Blumenthal, op. cit., 2. losing a great deal of income if reform triumphs. This power 13. Peter Huber, "Galileo's Revenge: Junk Science in the Courtroom," explains why only one state (Alaska) has enacted loser-pays (New York: Basic Books, 1991). (although Oklahoma and Oregon both have some form of 14. The Erie Doctrine originated in a 1938 Supreme Court decision, loser-pays in a few areas of their tort systems). written by Judge Louis Brandeis, which requires federal courts to follow The second is that tort reform needs to be passed on both the state common law when deciding issues concerning that state's law. Liberty Editors Conference 2008 In conjunction with FreedomFest 2008-July 10-12, 2008-See page 22

www.LibertyUnbound.com 866-266-5101 www.FreedomFest.com Brattleboro, Vt. Dharamsala, India Community initiative, noted in the Rutland Herald: Explanation of the peculiar machinations of destiny, Brattleboro residents will vote at a town meeting on whether captured by ABC's foreign-affairs blog: President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should U.S. Speaker ofthe House ofRepresentatives Nancy Pe- be indicted and arrested for war crimes, perjury, or obstruction of losi made one ofthe highest-ranking U.S. official visits ever to justice ifthey ever step foot in Vermont. "It is an advisory thing," Dharamsala, India, the exile home ofthe Tibetan spiritual leader, said Kurt Daims, the organizer ofthe petition drive. the Dalai Lama. Daims said people in Brattleboro were willing to "think outside This visit by ten members ofCongress to the Dalai Lama's the box" and consider the issue. "IfHitler were still alive and home in exile was planned long before the current protests in Tibet walked through Brattleboro, I think the local police would arrest began. But Pelosi said, "Little did we know, we would be coming him for war crimes." at such a sad time. Perhaps it was our karma, perhaps it was our San Antonio fate ... it was our karma because we are here to help the people ofTibet." Novel exercise in academic integrity, from the San Anto­ nio Express-News: Manatee County, Fla. It seemed like an honorable goal: draft an honor code for Respect for our elders, in the Sarasota Herald- Tribune: University ofTexas at San Antonio Prosecutors are moving ahead with a students to follow, exhorting them case against a 93-year-old man picked up not to cheat or plagiarize. But when during an undercover prostitution sting. students threw a draft ofthe new honor Frank Milio, according to police code onto the internet for feedback, records, tried to pay $20 in Novem­ some noticed a problem: parts ber to an undercover officer on ofthe code appeared to have 14th Street West. Milio recently been lifted word for word from told the Herald-Tribune he was another school's honor code, only flirting with the woman. without attribution. Even the "I haven't had that in years," definition ofplagiarism was he said. "Ninety-three is kind plagiarized. ofold." Akshay Thusu, the student in charge ofthe Mexico City honor code effort, said it was Artistic advance in an oversight, the result ofa draft street-fight choreography, that was crafted five years ago and from a dispatch in Wired: passed through different students A series ofattacks on dyed-hair, and faculty advisers before landing in his lap. eye-makeup-wearing emo kids began in "We believe there might be a citation page," Thusu said. "We are early March when several hundred people went on an emo-beating still looking for it." rampage in Queretaro, a town of 1.5 million about 160 miles north London ofMexico City. A new hero comes to the big screen, from the Guardian: But the so-called emos are organizing, too. Last week, they Thomas Sangster, the young boy who gets the girl in the film demonstrated against the violence, and some met with police in "Love Actually," has been chosen by Steven Spielberg to be his Mexico City. "They're organizing to defend their right to be emo," Tintin for a three-movie adaptation ofthe boy reporter's adven­ wrote Daniel Hernandez ofLA Weekly. tures. Riverside, Ohio Sangster admitted to the Guardian that he had not read Tintin until a few days ago. "But I've always loved the cartoons. I never Innovative approach to computer repair, spotted by the saw the books because I was never that big on reading. When I was Dayton Daily News: really young I watched some episodes and loved it. Tintin would Police say a pastor who was reported missing from his home in hit people over the head with bottles and shoot people. He probably western New York has been found at an Ohio strip club. wouldn't kill them but he'd shoot them in the shoulder. He was A police officer patrolling the K.C. Lounge parking lot in cool." the Dayton suburb ofRiverside spotted out-of-state license plates on 46-year-old Craig Rhodenizer's car. The FBI and New York Shivpuri, India authorities had been searching for Rhodenizer, who disappeared Proliferation of sawed-off shotguns on the Subcontinent, Wednesday after telling his wife he was getting his computer fixed reported by the India Times: at Best Buy. A bandit-infested region is trying to persuade men to undergo sterilization by offering to fast-track their gun license applications. Boston Officials decided to adopt the policy to increase the low vasec­ Addition to the Transportation Security Administration's tomy rate. "I came to know that it had to do with their perceived No Fly List, noted by the Boston Globe: notion ofmanliness," said Manish Shrivastav, administrative chief The crew ofan Alitalia flight made an emergency landing ofShivpuri district, part ofthe Chambal region, which is famed at Logan International Airport after being overcome by noxious for its lawlessness and bandits. "I then decided to match it with a fumes. However, the reports ofa toxic chemical leak that sent bigger symbol ofmanliness - a gun license," he said. "And the Boston firefighters and emergency workers into their hazmat suits ploy worked." turned out to be five tons ofminced onions.

Special thanks to Russell Garrard, Jon Harrison, Tom Isenberg, and David Martin for contributions to Terra Incognita. (Readers are invited to forward news clippings or other items for publication in Terra Incognita, or email [email protected].) Liberty 63