Liberty Magazine January 1989
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(~ver yet lias Caw formed agreat man: 'tis Ci6erty tfiat 6reetfsgiants andneroes. II - J. C. !T. von Sclii££er # January 1989 $4.00 Volume 2, Number 3 Dry Collection of SUBVERSIVE LITERATURE ISBN 0-938245-01-5 (1985) DID YOU KNOW THAT Nonfiction. 143pp $10.00 Issues affecting freeborn ;llW"E1IT'E[)'ol.l'iC.: CAPITALISM Americans. Government, the Constitution, amendments, capitalism AND vs. free enterprise, taxation, what will FREE ENTERPRISE happen to your IRA account, the right to bear a>ms, use of deadly ARE NOT THE SAME THING? force... Letters to prominent personalities whose response or silence reveals the bias of the THEY MAY NOT EVEN BE COMPATIBLE. establishment. Criticism of Ayn Rand's writinga. Some fiction. Thought provoking. Read about it in the mE FEW WHO COUNT ISBN 0-938245-02-3 (1985) ... ",r DRY COLLECTION OF Novel by Aya Katz. 269pp $10.00 SUBVERSIVE LITERATURE When a power struggle culminates in the abduction of Hannibal Grayne, those he has left behind must face flaws in the foundation on which his empire was built: our system of government. IS 100.. INCOME TAX COMING? IS IT ALREADY HERE? INVERTED-A HORN Read about it in the ISSN 0894-7910 Periodical. Appears irregularly. Free INVERTED-A HORN Contemporary issues of Freedom and Justice. Poetry of classical form and heroic content. Contributions welcome. SAMPLES: The idea of a 100% tax is attractive to the liberal element, because it has the potential of imposing the socialist tenet: "to each according to his needs."••••We INVERTED-A, INC. would all•••be on welfare. Amnon Katz. 401 Forrest Hill Grand Prairie, Texas 75051 Within a boarded up arcade 214-264-0066 That some dead mason's trowel laid, The voice of law and order said: "Just run. We want to shoot you dead." Delta Zahner Contents January 1989 Volume 2, Number 3 Public Choice: A Useful Tool by Jane S. Shaw, page 15 High Noon for the Libertarian Party? by Chester Alan Arthur, page 18 Assessing Campaign '88 commentary by Ron Paul, Ed Clark, John Hospers, Richard Winger, Larry Dodge, Russell Means, Justin Raimondo and David Bergland, page 27 TV Advertising and Minor Party Campaigns by R. W. Bradford, page 35 AIDS and the FDA a controversy featuring Griffin Cupstid, William London and Sandy Shaw, page 40 Random Drug Testing: Mathematics and Morality by William Wingo, page 42 Property, Population and the Environment by John Hospers, page 46 The Absurdity of Alienable Rights by Sheldon Richman, page 50 The Walden Gulch A Story by Jeffrey Olson, page 53 Departments • Reflections The Editors HEditorialize," page 9 Reviews William Niskanen on the Reagan "Revolution," page 59 Leland Yeager on Reaganomics, page 61 Jeffrey Tucker on Christianity and Freedom, page 63 Karen Shabetai on Mary McCarthy, page 64 Nathan Wollstein on the Altruistic Time of Year, page 68 Booknotes, page 66 Burons, page 26 Letters, page 4 Classified Advertisements, page 67 Contributors, page 70 '[ ] trend of losing electorate interest. Suppose the 1992 Presidential winner gets 35 million votes. In 1996 one ofthe L etters two demopublicans gets 25 million votes. _ In 2000 the top demopublican gets only ~=============================~16 and 1/2 million votes. Suppose, too, that the electoral college has been elimi Naming Which Sacred Cows as you can get ... and then went on to nated in the interim. We would have a In "Prophecy and Amnesia" (Nov. set a record, probably, for the number of Libertarian President in the White House 1988), Mike Holmes passionately argues plot twists in five pages. I especially in the year 2001 (and Mr. Moulton would for the movement's need of self-criticism liked the lean, swift writing. Like Carl not be given any position in the and kicking "a few [libertarian] sacred Lewis in prose. Libertarian Administration). cows." Al Ramrus I would suggest that Mr. Moulton Then why, in the same article, does Pacific Palisades, Calif. learn the difference between a conserva he make an about face and cloak the spe tive and a statist pragmatist. cifics of each libertarian "failure" in Just Suppose ... Chip R. Boven shadowy descriptions while also avoid William P. Moulton apparently feels Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. ing naming names? Just who are "the in that voting for Paul would have only dividual," "the well-known libertarian," philosophical significance and no politi Which George Bush? and lithe novelist"-and why the cover cal significance ("Why I Will Vote for I can hardly contain my surprise at up? George Bush," Nov. 1988). Sounds like reading in my first issue of Liberty the Since Mr. Holmes is interested in fos demopublican propaganda to me! statement of one of your editors, William tering constructive criticism, specifics 50% of the eligible voters rejected P. Moulton, that George Bush should be would better enable those charged to re both Bush and Dukakis. Bush only re elected President because he is, Mr spond and the rest of us to discern what ceived 27% of eligible voters' votes. Paul Moulton says, "the kind of person" he he is alluding to. Otherwise he is doing could triple Bergland's total. Suppose wants to be president. For Mr Bush, he the movement a disservice. the 1992 Libertarian candidate triples says, "has led a life of manly virtue." Michael R. Edelstein Paul's total. Suppose the 1996 Tell me, Mr Moulton: is this the same Kingston, N.Y. Libertarian candidate triples the total of George Bush who said to Ferdinand the 1992 candidate. Suppose the 2000 li Marcos, "Sir, we love your adherence to Prose, no Cons bertarian candidate for President triples democracy"? Is this the same Bush who Erika Holzer's short story ("Eye the 1996 candidate. In other words, was director of the CIA, and who during witness," Sept. 1988) sure as hell gets off Libertarians could be getting 19 million his supervision thereof, found nothing to to a good start ... "A car pulled up with votes by the year 2000. Suppose the de expose or significantly to change in that its headlights turned off" is about as fast mopublicans continue their fantastic esteemed organization? The one who said that over half of "homeless" people are "mentally ill," and then amended that figure to "about a third" in the sec Inside Liberty ... ond debate, and who speculates that The election just past captivates the interest of libertarians of all parties. Our "maybe we went too far" in letting analysis centers on the Libertarian Party: the 1988 LP presidential nominee, plus "them" out of the mental "hospitals" in three past nominees and one past candidate, explain what the election meant which they were incarcerated, drugged, and where the LP should go from here. Minor party expert Richard Winger ad tortured, lobotomized? The Bush who vises what went right-and wrong-with the campaign. LP supercandidate promises me, a 26-year old who pays Larry Dodge tells what he's learned about running as a Libertarian, and former over one third of his income in taxes, that LP activist Justin Raimondo explains why it's foolish to stand for office as a mi the Social Security system is now "fiscal nor party candidate. ly sound," and asserts that Social Our pseudonymous political commentator "Chester Alan Arthur" looks at Security is not a welfare program? Who the LP's record in five elections, and argues that the future of both the LP and of made lynchpins of his campaign his de liberty is bright. The Kansas election offered an opportunity to provide an an sire to compel (let us be realistic) chil swer to the question: How much do TV ads increase vote totals? The answer is dren to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, " a lot." To find out how much TV helps and how much it costs, see my article and to redouble the persecution of drug on page 35. users and sellers, this time complete with Elsewhere in this issue, William Niskanen and Leland Yeager evaluate executions? Who in the seond debate Reaganomics and the Reagan "Revolution," and Jane Shaw explains how "pub quite deliberately lied about the involve ment of previous administrations with lic choice" economics can help us understand how the world works. William General Noriega? Or is there another Wingo argues that there are serious and unavoidable flaws in drug testing and George Bush, an honorable man, whom I Sandy Shaw responds to tough criticism of her views of AIDS. don't know about and am confusing A strange ecology: Libertarian environmentalist John Hospers responds to with the George Bush of "manly virtue" criticism (page 46), while Murray Rothbard savages Hospers' views (page 13). known to Mr Moulton. And as usual, our Editors offer their contentions on the passing scene ... Were Mr Bush speaking about incar - R. W. Bradford, Editor cerating Jews, or executing blacks or ho mosexuals, I doubt that Mr Moulton continued on page 6 4 Liberty RESENTMENT What's Behind The Politics ofEnvy? AGAINST ACHIEVEMENT lJllderlilulldlllll the Ali8uult AGAIN~T Upun Abilily RESENTMENT ACIllEVEMENf Unde~tandin~ the Assault Upon A~ili~ by Roben Sheaffer "Every once in awhile a book is published that is marked The fact that children of the lower classes are bombarded with by a bold and original thesis that seems to make life lower-class values every day of their lives suffices to explain more intelligible. Usually it breaks taboos or tacitly why so few of them ever accomplish anything. The powerful agreed-upon silences, and says things that are not 'supposed' to be resentments within the lower classes, which punish deviation said with a directness that hits like a slap in the face.