Baseball Strikes

November 1994 Vol. 8, No.1 $4.00 Out!

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o . 00><.. · . oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiliiiliiliiiliiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil I'- ~~"------.. I'- "Liberty for each, for all, and forever" - William Lloyd Garrison ======o YOU ARE INVITED to attend the Bionomics Institute's 2nd Annual Conference: The Next Economy- An Evolving Information Ecosystem. This two day event brings together leading­ edge thinkers and doers from a remarkable variety of disciplines for fresh insights into the technological, economic, and political implications of the epochal shift from the Machine Age to the Information Age.

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Don't miss another. November 1994 Inside Liberty Volume 8, Number 1

4 Letters Our readers gang up on us. 7 Reflections Liberty's editors give metaphors a mugging, take liberties with the licentious, make sense of the disingenuous, disengage themselves from the senseless, inspire the masses, and conspire with National Review and The New Republic. Features 19 Hail to the Wimpl Leon T. Hadar defends Bill Clinton. 22 Trading Away Free Trade Fred L. Smith, Jr. examines the World Trade Organization, and espies a nascent globalized Interstate Commerce Commission. 26 Academic Style Pierre Lemieux channels the sparkling literary flair of a professional academic. 27 Clinton's Disease· David Boaz inspects the distended public sector, and offers a diagnosis. 29 Deep Ecology Meets the Market Gus diZerega unveils the next development in individualist thought: radical environmentalism. 35 Talking Sex, Not Gender Wendy McElroy explores the finer points of pornography. 41 One Strike, You're Outl R. W. Bradford celebrates the baseball strike. 44 The Logic of the Toxic Some regulations are healthiest in small doses. Ben Bolch and Harold Lyons explain. 48 Gotta Sing The compulsion to sing is a personal thing. Greg Jenkins shows what happens when the personal becomes political. Reviews 53 Was There an Industrial Revolution? Probably not, says Jane S. Shaw. And it's just as well. 54 Tyranny Now There's no gridlock when it comes to chipping away at the Bill of Rights. Jonathan Adler reports. 56 Beat the Press Jesse Walker exposes the media watchdogs who play lapdog to conventional wisdom. 59 Science and Sensitivity Linda Seebach warns scientists to consider the dangers of the culture wars. 61 Booknotes on laundry (dirty), gun nuts (wordy), Dan Quayle (nerdy), upstate New York (purty), and the American middle class (not-so-sturdy).

62 Classified Ads We supply the supply side. You, the demand. 65 Index to Volume 7 Where we've been lately. 69 Notes on Contributors The unseen hands behind Liberty. 70 Terra Incognita Where the world's been lately. rev~e o::V::~~:~ Let t ers Jforced to go back and [__ =- tive statements. ..::::::======~ Kosko might object that insuch a Last Dispatch ciano Then he was anti-civil rights until case we do not know which premise to Itwas a nice surprise to find out that he learned that a Democrat had to have reject; therefore, only conjunctions of nor- R.K. Lamb is Bruce Ramsey ("An Ameri- the African-American vote to win the mative judgments are empirically testa- canJournalist in Asia," July 1994). governorship of Alabama. He fought big ble. This is true - but the same restric- Though Mr. Ramsey is kind enough not government in Washington but institu- tion applies to scientific judgments. Ifa 0 to name the publication he was working tionalized it in Montgomery. He op- liquid apparently fails to boil at 100 C, I for, his colleagues like me know he is posed LBJ's Great Society but defends can reject my belief that water boils at 0 talking about Asiaweek. I was a staff writ- FDR's New Deal to this day. 100 C, that this liquid is water, that the er at Yazhou Zhoukan, a Chinese- Without a doubt the most absurd thermometer is working correctly, that I language sister publication; for ten part of Kauffman's review is the asser- am not hallucinating, etc. No belief can months, Mr. Ramsey and I shared the tion that Wallace used a "libertarian, be tested in isolation - normative or de- same office floor. particularist, high-minded" vocabulary. scriptive. Kosko himself recognizes this I left the job in disgust in March 1993. Perhaps Kauffman cannot tell the differ- when he describes what he calls the web What Mr. Ramsey says about Asiaweek's ence between what a libertarian means ofbelief "You test no strand or statement editorial policy is even worse at Yazhou by liberty and what a populist means by by itself. That is why we may not accept Zhoukan. We dared not offend dictator- liberty, but the difference is profound. a new fact or theory [that] may uproot ships like China, Singapore, or Malaysia. Wallace's populist "liberty" isnoth- more strands than it is worth." We were not doing a journalist's job, but ing more than unbridled majoritarian- But this fact, while showing that mo- a cultural hooker's. We were paid to ism. The right to self-determination Wal- ral beliefs are testable, should also make write whatever our editors told us to. lace invoked in that famous schoolhouse us question the sacrosanct epistemic This kind of self-censorship is get- door said nothing about the right of in- status of empirical testability. Even if a ting more and more popular in Hong dividuals to live their lives as they moral belief does not conflict with the Kong's journalistic circles. Most newspa- please. It had to do with the right of a evidence of our senses, we may reject it pers and magazines will do anything to majority of Alabamians to vote whatev- once we discover it conflicts with a suffi- stay in business. If a story will upset er form of government into power they cient number of other moral beliefs. China, they throw it out. Why rock the desire, even if such a government Hence, moral and scientific arguments boat and obscure the smooth transition? should oppress racial minorities. are identical instructure, and have an I am still working as a journalist, but When Wallace said we should trust equal claim to objectivity. All we have, I believe the battle for press freedom has "the people to make their own deci- in the end, are various beliefs of varying already been lost, even before it starts. I sions," he meant that only as it refers to strength and their complex interconnec- congratulate Mr. Ramsey for leaving the ballot box. That is decidedly not a tions, each one's status depending on Asiaweek and wish him the best in the libertarian vision of freedom. how it fits into the total scheme. U.S. Just don't forget us here. Write more As an Alabamian, I've grown used to Nor do I follow Kosko in assigning about Hong Kong, and speak for us the thoughtless praise some heap upon some kinds of belief to the periphery of when we can no longer do so. Wallace, but I expect betterfrom a the web and other kinds to the core. Kin-ming Liu thoughtful libertarian publication. Why should my perceptual belief that Hong Kong T. Franklin Harris, Jr. the dial on a scientific instrument points VOX Popullars Athens, Ala. toward a certain number have an inher- B 11 Recheek Your Premises ently more privileged epistemic status i Kauffman ("An Independent than my moral belief that slavery is American", September 1994) ,d'ISP1ays a Bart Kosko. (ilL.ibertarian Pragma- wrong? Kosko should consider what fi- stunning ignorance of both George Wal- tism," September 1994) maintains the 11 lace and populist ideology. old saw that "No one has. produced a na y turned the civilized world against . h dl h true or, false statement of value" because slavery: not any empirical argument Wa11ace IS ar y t e man of princi- b pie Kauffman portrays. For Wallace, normative judgments"are not testable a out its economic consequences, but its in prm'Cl·p·Ie " incompatability with moral beliefs to everything is politics. He was pro-civil ,. h h rights until the day he was defeated for Sorry, but itjust isn't true. w ic most people were more firmly bl" fii b Normative judgmentsare testable committed than they were to slavery. pu IC 0 ce y an anti-civil rights politi- b th h Slavery was phl·,losophl·cal'Yfi·n1sifi·ed. ecause ey ave empirical implica- 14 '/ "" tions. Consider the normative statements Kosko proclaims that "Philosophy Letters Poliey "GeorgeBush is a justandvirtuous does not sit above science as some ulti- man" and "Nojustand virtuous man mate tribunal of thought." But it does, We invite readers to comment on articles would order the bombing of unarmed ci- and it has to. Philosophy is the perspec- that have appeared in Liberty. We reserve vilians." These entail the conclusion that tive from which we integrate our entire the right to edit for length and clarity. All letters are assumed to be intended for publi­ Bush would never bomb unarmed civil- web'of belief, adjudicating the compet- cation unless' otherwise stated. Succinct, ians. Once we find evidence thathe has ing claims of various semiautonomous typewritten letters are preferred. Please in­ in fact ordered such a bombing, we are sub-perspectives (including, but not clude your phone number so that we can verify your identity. continued on page 6 ~ ProofFranklin HalfDollars r;~. 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L ~ Lansing, MI 48912 (800) 321-1542 L Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 limited to, those of the sciences). and "bitch" by their own people. the "German economic miracle." It car­ Kosko asks us to do without philoso­ I think liberty gets a bad name ifwe ried them a long way, even to the "bri­ phy, but almost all his article is just that. don't discriminate excellence and beau­ dled" system they have now. Bad philosophy, yes, but philosophy. ty (art) from crudity and evil. Musically, Helmut Fritz Prochnow Roderick T. Long rap is elemental and atavistic, making Spring Hill, FI. Chapel Hill, N.C. jungle drums stand advanced. Rap is an amplified heartbeat set to the words of Smells Like Pink Spirit JesGrew the dark side of the brain. There is little Maybe I'm wrong, but I detect the Jesse Walker ("Beating the rap," Sep­ musical or mental content to it. faint odor of a closet collectivist. David tember 1994) unjustly equates rap's And yes, I've heard some of the best Brin's analogy of diamonds and pyra­ themes with those of other forms of mu­ rap artists, I've read the apologias, and I mids seems based upon the idea that those at the "top" are not only rich, but sic. If rap is so great, why not at least try am not convinced. I've also talked to sev­ to explain some of its values, or its excel­ eral jazz veterans, as a jazz DJ in New Or­ also in control of "society." Ifhe is talk­ lence, rather than say other forms of mu­ ing about an "aristocracy" of manage­ leans. They sayblack kids growing up in sic can sometimes be bad, too? ment of free-market enterprises, then I the 1940s could hum Duke Ellingtonbut Music has four key elements - melo­ have to disagree with his fuzzy ideas. today's kids are musically illiterate, dy, harmony, meter, and (in popular David Michael Myers largely due to rap music. song) lyrics. Overlaying these is a spiritu­ Gary Alexander Martinsburg, W.Va. allink to humanemotion. Rap "music" Reston, Va. has virtually no musical elements. Ithas The Passionate Jacobin no melody, no harmony, an uncertain Walker responds: I don't have the space to David Brin's claim that"Aristocracy meter (try laying rap "poetry" down on a list enough violent songs to convince is, after all, why we had a revolution in page; it's illiterate and non-metric), and Mr. Alexander that he is wrong. Nor is the first place, two centuries ago," is ut­ has an angry, destructive spirit. there room for a spirited defense of rap terly false. America did not have a "rev­ Walker writes, "There is nothing - which, despite Alexander's conten­ olution," but a war of independence uniquely offensive about this relatively tion that I value Ice T as much as Verdi, against Britain, which imposed taxes on new sort of music; country, blues~ opera, is far from my favorite form of music. its colonies without popular consent. and rock overflow with violence, sex­ (There's no rapI'd prefer listening to These taxes were imposed not by the ism, and paeans to drunkenness and over Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" or king, but by Parliament, which had no­ drugs." Really? Surely there is a vast "Mount Harissa," and I've never yet had ble and popular chambers. In that war, gulf between a four-hour, in-depth trouble humming either.) America was led by George Washington psycho-spiritual examination of the mo­ So I'll correct just one error: Johnny (an aristocratic Virginia planter) and his tives of a doomed lover in, say, the oper­ Cash recorded the hardly obscure aides, including the Marquis de Lafay­ as of Wagner or Mozart or Verdi, and "Cocaine Blues" after he was born again, ette (a French aristocrat), Baron von the three-minute "gangsta" rap, talkin' and has sung many violent songs since. Steuben (a Prussian Junker), and Thad­ about rapin' a "ho" and wasting a cop. And yet he remains a devout Christian. deus Kosciuszko (a Polish nobleman), Hamlet is about death; so is True Lies. Readers who find this an unresolvable not to mention Lord Peter Stirling. Topic alone does not determine artistic paradox will probably never understand Brin's other historical analogies are value, but the attitude toward the topic. the article that raised Alexander's ire. equally false. Ch'ing China was not an Violence was a rare theme in Ameri­ aristocracy, but a prototypical civil ser­ can popular music from 1930 to 1960. Cast oft Your Bridles vice bureaucracy. The patrician-plebian Walker cites an obscure song here and David Brin ("The Perennial Threat," fights of ancient Rome were civil wars there ("Cocaine Blues" by Johnny Cash), May 1994) writes, "Wehave seen that un­ between two social classes with no real but Cash now claims to be a born-again bridled capitalism has its dangers." Well, analog today, in which both sides' Christian and would decry that lyric. I haven't seen them - please, let me hands were equally bloody. Look at all the popular songs of the know what they are. Mischief and harm Frankly, it seems that Brin is so con­ 1930s. They were overflowing with love, come from sanctions the "unbridled capi­ sumed with Jacobin passion that he just hope, joy, caring. Call them naive or talists" canbuy from the government, be loves conjuring up the aristocratic buga­ simplistic if you must, but not violent. it the stifling of competition or laws for­ boo without citing any concrete exam­ You may find one or two obscure songs bidding unionization. The danger lies ples. And it sounds like he supports con­ about violence, sexism, and drugs from notin the zeal of the entrepreneurs, but fiscatory inheritance taxes. After all, he 1930 to 1955, but they will be as rare as a that it is possible to bribe the government wants an "even playing field" for people positive rap song is now. to support such methods. to start off in life. How can you have that Walker continues: 'I/bitch' and 'ho' I have seen "unbridled capitalism" in if A inherits a million and B nothing? and 'nigger' can mean different things in 1948, when Ludwig Ehrhardt set Germa­ David Elving Schwartz different contexts." Really? Then where ny on its ears by declaring the black Springfield, N.J. are those words used in any other con­ market legal. One week we couldn't live text other than to denigrate women and on what we could buy on our ration Objectivist Trekkie Alert races? You should see the look in the eye cards, the next week the shops were full David Brin is an excellent science fic­ of a Nancy Wilson or Benny Carter of everything. Ration cards went into tion writer. Unfortunately, his thoughts when they hear their sisters called "ho" the garbage cans. This was later called continued on page 18 6 Liberty Mugged by a metaphor - Someone once gibed sonable cause if he or she happens to "fear violence." No that a neoconservative was "a liberal who's been mugged." A longer will a constable have to justify a search with a reason neoconservative riposted that a neocon was "a liberal who's - merely asserting an emotional state will be justification been mugged by reality." The metaphor snowballed in the enough! early 1980s, when various Reagan administration figures But it is undermining the right to remain silent that is started being prosecuted and someone sneered that "a civil causing the most murmurs in Albion. Now, when an English­ libertarian is a conservative who's been indicted." man is arrested, he is advised, "You do not have to say any­ Now we can further prolong the game by noting that the thing unless you wish to do so, but what you say may be giv­ lawyer for evangelist Jim Bakker, recently released from pris­ en in evidence." Once the new rules are passed, the police on to a halfway house, says that Bakker's future ministry will tell him, "You do not have to say anything. But if you do "won't be a right-wing Republican commitment. There will not mention now something which you later use in your de­ be a strong core of calling for justice and equality as part of fense, the court may decide that your failure to mention it the gospel. You'll see a Bible-believing liberal Democrat." A now strengthens the case against you. A record will be made bleeding-heart liberal is a right-wing crank who's spent three of anything you say, and it may be given in evidence if you years in jail. -DB are brought to trial." In other words, when a person is arrested, he must imme­ Kim II Abe - When Korean dictator Kim II Sung diately provide the police with any evidence he has that bought the collective farm, Slick Willie sent the customary pro might prove his innocence, or else that evidence might be dis­ forma "condolences." This prompted several conservative and allowed at his trial. The police, meanwhile, need not reveal Republican publicists to throw a public hissy-fit. How dare the evidence against him that they hold until they confront Clinton honor the memory of the man to blame for u.s. casualties him in court. in the Korean War? Great Britain, it is worth noting, has neither a Constitution Wait a minute. The U.S. intervenes in a civil war thou­ nor a Bill of Rights. But it has no shortage of political conser­ sands of miles from our borders with no possible influence on vatives. -RWB our sovereignty or freedom and it's some Korean guy's fault? Then I suppose if the Koreans lost thousands of lives inter­ Market Stalinism, 101 - If Rudolph Giuliani, vening in the War Between the States, those deaths could be inquisitor, witch-hunter, persecutor of Michael Milken, and blamed on Lincoln. -es now supporter of New York's rent controls - if this infa­ mous man and abject politican is really, as the media describe Red carpet? - President Clinton has announced his him, a free-market apostle - then I am all by myself the IRS intention to beef up U.S. sanctions against Cuba unless it commissioner, the Man in the Moon, and the king of the makes progress toward reform. Earlier this year, Clinton said Pleiades. -PL he was encouraging reform in Vietnam by lifting sanctions. Ron Brown, call your office. -JW The Whitewater tapes - While I was vacation­ ing during the Whitewater hearings, my VCR mysteriously Conservatism iiber alles - Like most sensible failed, thereby denying me the pleasure of watching 114 people, I look forward to the day when modern liberalism, hours of administration officials trying to skate on the legal with its moral posturing, mendacity, and perverse policies, side of perjury without confessing to, or implicating the First passes on to its just reward. But this is not to say that the con­ Family in, any felonies. This was accomplished, it appears, by servative Republicans who will replace the likes of Bill Clin­ combining the favorite tactic of the lawyer-politician (ram­ ton, George Mitchell, and Lloyd Bentsen will likely be any bling off on tangents) with the second-favorite tactic of the better. mobster (claiming lapses of memory). Those who pine for the conservative ascendency should Happily, others with stronger stomachs (or more reliable look to the United Kingdom, where conservatives have con­ VCRs) have stepped into the breach. An especially pleasant trolled both the executive and legislative branches of govern­ surprise was Doug Ireland's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the ment for a decade and a half. What sort of improvements September 5/12 issue of The Nation, which succinctly high­ have they wrought? lights the mendacity, evasions, and loathsomeness of the Well, the conservative government of John Majors has just whole process. introduced a measure that will virtually eliminate the right of Those who sat through the mini-filibusters proferred by people accused of crimes to remain silent and will authorize the Clintonistas, overcoming the temptation to abandon any police officer to search persons or vehicles without rea- C-SPAN for less somnolent entertainment, had an interesting Liberty 7 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 experience. The witnesses at the House Banking Committee periodical, EIDOS ("Everyone Is Doing Outrageous Sex"), has hearings were aided and abetted by Chairman Gonzalez, who been singled out for confiscation by the Brits, even though its enthusiastically ruled out-of-order any question that had contents would be legal if published domestically. When much prospect of getting at the truth. Gonzalez' services to Penthouse faced the same repression in the '70s, it had the re­ Bill and Hillary will no doubt cost the taxpayers billions in sources to fight in court and win. Brenda has to rely on the form of unneeded post offices and poverty-abatement persuasion. programs for his district. The trouble began in September 1993, when a female sub­ Fortunately, the head of the Senate committee, Don Reigle scriber sent EIDOS a notice she had received from British cus­ (D-Keating Five), had already announced he was retiring at toms declaring the magazine obscene and confiscating it un­ the end of his term, and therefore had no need to bring more der an 1876 law. Brenda wrote a letter of appeal- the only federal pork to his constituents. So the Senate hearings bore official course open to her - and contacted such organiza­ some fruit. tions as Feminists Against Censorship and the Libertarian Al­ The first major fatality of the hearings was Roger Altman, liance, to no effect. the acting head of the Resolution Trust Corporation, who had Then, midway through July, her distributor faxed a letter admitted before Congress on February 24 that he had briefed declaring his intention to refuse further shipments of EIDOS. the Clintons' staff on the status of the RTC investigation of Perhaps because the magazine is popular in Britain among the Madison Guaranty scandal. The RTC is supposedly a those who pursue alternative lifestyles, it has been tagged for completely independent agency, and the fact that its head special treatment. The distributor feared that, if shipments of briefed the staff of individuals under investigation was such a EIDOS slipped through customs, officials might raid his blatant violation of the public trust that even the New York home and confiscate not just that periodical but his entire Times couldn't ignore it. Under questioning from senators, inventory. Altman had insisted that this was the only contact he had Brenda called the British consulate only to learn that she with administration officials on matters relating to Whitewa­ would be liable for arrest if she flew to England and tried to ter, except possibly for hallway encounters. transport EIDOS on her person. From former run-ins with A few weeks later, he wrote Congress saying that his U.S. mail tyrants, she knew that they often "misinterpet" the memory had improved and he could now recall a couple oth­ law to fit their own needs. Accordingly, she is planning to ermeetings. Cynics suggested he was trying to protect him­ touch down on British soil with the offending material and self against perjury charges. But even the cynics didn't antici­ hold what she hopes will be a reasonable conversation with pate what eventually came out in testimony: namely, that the officials there. This, coupled with talk shows and a bit of Altman had had Olore than 40 meetings with administration picketing, might have some impact. officials about Whitewater business. Altman lamely respond­ But only if she receives support from sane-minded Brits ed that he earlier had been talking about "substantial" meet­ able to provide publicity and stand beside her at Heathrow. ings only, and offered, as proof that he had tried to tell the As a student of nonviolent strategy, I hope she does not de­ "whole truth," a Videotape of him consulting with Treasury cide to fly off without such a network in place. Free speech General Counsel Jean Hanson prior to answering questions in cannot afford to lose even one of its zealots. -WM February. This may be the first time anyone has ever suggest­ ed that consulting an attorney is proof of innocence. No one From steel to stealing - I'm generally pro­ bought this suggestion, and Clinton "regretfully" accepted robber-baron, but I'm beginning to think that Andrew Carne­ the resignations of both Altman and Hanson a few days later. gie was a net loss to the country. Yes, he built the steel indus­ So far, the victims of the Clintons' political corruption have try, but he also provided major funding for the New Class of been limited to their loyal supporters, individuals who so ad­ intellectuals and social engineers that has plagued the twenti­ mire the First Family that they will break the law to protect the eth century. Just before the 1992 vote on school choice in presidential couple. But with the dismissal of Special Counsel Colorado, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Robert Fiske, who the Clintons hand-picked to investigate Teaching published a strikingly shoddy critique of school them, and the appointment of Kenneth Starr to choice that was headlined in newspapers the inquisitorial chair, it is becoming more and Liberty'S Editors across the country. Now the Carnegie Corp., more certain that enough details of the Clin­ Reflect a New York foundation, has produced a tons' we're-so-virtuous-in-our-politics-that­ study of the risks faced by children under it's-okay-for-us-to-Ioot-the-public-treasury at­ CAA Chester Alan Arthur three in our society. The report, "Starting titude will come out for them to be forced out DB David Boaz Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest of office fairly soon. How long will it be before RWB R.W. Bradford Children," is a classic illustration of the total the Clintons' conclude that their best hope is to SC Stephen Cox and complete collapse of modem liberalism. pull a Nixon-Ford - that is, to resign from of­ BK Bart Kosko It reports that demographic and social chang­ RK Richard Kostelanetz es have left many small children in poverty, fice inexchange for a pardon from Al Gore? PL Pierre Lemieux -CAA ML Michael Levine in single-parent homes, in low-quality day LEL Loren E. Lomasky care, and victimized physically by adults. This sceptred isle - Brenda Tatel­ WM Wendy McElroy Now what are those social changes that baum of Boston may soon be conducting JSS Jane S. Shaw have led to such problems? How about the what she hopes is not a one-woman crusade CS Clark Stooksbury increase in illegitimacy and divorce, along against British customs. Her sexually graphic JW Jesse Walker with the fact that most mothers work now, so 8 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

their children spend most of their time in day care? (As for so it is tempting to pigeon-hole the Rwandan misery. physical abuse, it might be noted that child abuse is over­ But this is neither accurate nor complete. Hutu and Tutsi whelmingly committed by stepparents, not biological par­ are distinct Rwandan groups, but the difference is not primar­ ents.) What do Carnegie's social engineers recommend to ily ethnic. They descend from the same stock, are culturally deal with such problems? You could write this part without similar, and speak a common language. The predominant dif­ reading the study: more money for Head Start, more money ferences are economic and political. During the prehistory of for child care, "parenting education," gun control (!), crea­ Rwanda its Belgian colonial master employed avowedly racist tion of family and child centers in communities, and stronger categories to single out the minority Tutsis as a "higher" mandates for employers to provide paid leave for parents. In group·to be favored with political preferment. But more re­ other words, rather than trying to change the policies that cently the French were a constant prop to the Hutu govern­ lead to illegitimacy, divorce, and widespread use of day care, ment that held power.until President Habyarimana was deft­ the report proposes to further subsidize single-parent fami­ ly blown into a thousand pieces, thus setting off the latest lies. You don't need a Nobel Prize to realize that means more round of massacre and revolt. single-parent families. Now, with a United Nations chastened in its zeal to inter­ A more sensible agenda to reduce the number of children vene in Mrican vendettas by recent unhappy experiences in who face poverty, abuse, and low-quality day care would in­ Somalia, Angola,· and elsewhere, France has taken it upon it­ clude an end to the welfare system, which makes it possible self to send an expeditionary force of over 2,000 men to Rwan­ for teenage girls and young women to bear children they're da. They protect a small enclave within a country that has not equipped to care for; a reduction in taxes on the middle otherwise entirely fallen under the control of the Tutsi­ class, so mothers wouldn't have to work outside the home dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front. France was too late to just to pay their taxes, which took 20/0 of the median family's avert the terrible internecine carnage, but it may have arrived income in 1950 and 250/0 today; and a changed social attitude in time to protect from reprisal, at least temporarily, the Hutu toward divorce, so that people would think twice - or more butchers who instigated it. - before having children without a firm commitment to So, to summarize, the Belgians and then the French largely give them two parents for 18 years. -DB created internal divisions that were a fertile soil for animosi­ ties to take root. Then they nurtured those antipathies by polit­ What can create French fried potentates _.- ically elevating their favorites. In Rwanda, as in a half-dozen more havoc than a government carrying out its policies? other African countries - the Central African Republic, Mau­ Give up? The answer is: a government angling to influ­ ritania, Chad, Togo, and so on - France propped up, for its ence another government's policies. You say you don't find own .pleasure and profit, incompetent and oft-times brutal the riddle very amusing? I must agree. Indeed, it's the oppo­ governments.· The French have been strongly identified for site of amusing - it's Bub-Saharan Africa. Over the past couple of months we have all learned that many years with the perpetrators of Rwandan genocide; now "Hutu" and "Tutsi" are not the names of a couple of endear­ they offer "peace-making" services. This is something like the Menendez brothers pleading for mercy from the court because ing stuffed animals from the Disney assembly line. Rather, they are tribes contending for supremacy in Rwanda, and to they have the misfortune to be orphans. For understandable date something on the order of a quarter million people have reasons this is not taken with the best of graces by the new thereby perished from bullet and machete and cholera and governing force, only· a few months ago opposed by France. other unnatural causes. We turn off the evening news and Further mischief is likely. sigh: another desperately sad case of the ethnic violence that This is, then, ifnot a funny riddle, one with a moral. has become rampant since the expiration of the Cold War. Or As you will read elsewhere in the pages of this magazine, it is the· burden of citizens of the American Republic to be multiply accosted by the pestiferous Republicans and Demo­ crats. But it could be worse. At least our potentates are spared being advised, supplied, coddled, and juggled by the minions of Mitterrand. -LEL 0./. meets Linda Lovelace -Ihave been inter­ viewing dozens of actresses in the porn industry, trying to track down all those women radical feminists assure us are coerced into performing sex acts. So far, I've turned up zilch, zip, zero. So I've started to ask about the most celebrated ac­ cusation of "coercion into pornography," namely Linda Love­ lace's account in her autobiography, Ordeal. Porn producer Candida Royale of Femme Distribution had a unique take on the book: "What is shocking to me is that it is not about pornography, but about domestic violence. In Lovelace's own words, the whole thing about a gun to her head came from her husband and never took place on the set [of Deep Throat]. In fact, she says that the movie was the first time she felt like she could smile, because people were so nice Liberty 9 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

to her. The reason she ended up with bruises was because the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. If any flag Chuck Treynor [her husband] was jealous of how nice people should be banished as a symbol of racism and slavery, it is in the industry were to her, so he beat her up that night in the Old Glory. I don't deny that some of the people who use the hotel room. If it had happened on the set, the crew would Confederate battle flag are racist, but I don't care. Let Ku have put the camera down and stopped it." Kluxers fly whatever flags they choose. I won't let them or Candida insisted that the book showed how porn was the forces of respectability do my thinking for me. Lovelace's salvation. I~Getting involved in pornography and Some may wonder why I even care about the issue. I becoming a star is what enabled her to finally escape from do­ maintain certain irrational attitudes and attachments that de­ mestic violence." veloped in my youth. I have always been particularly proud Playing devil's advocate, I asked whether the crew had a of being from Tennessee, of being "Southern by the grace of moral obligation to question the overnight bruising. Candida God," though I was never particularly conscious of this chau­ acknowledged that, perhaps, they did. But it is natural to con­ vinistic attitude until I left Dixie. I associate the Confederate sider what happens behind closed doors between married flag more with Ronnie Van Zandt and Richard Petty than Lee people to be private. Besides which, she retorted, the LAPD and Jackson, but I still revere it and would hate to see it driv­ didn't take it seriously enough to arrest OJ en into exile. It is downright depressing when even a conversation Actually, the best reason for taking down the flag is rever­ about pornography ends up discussing The Juice. -WM ence for it. If it stands for anything, it is resistance to the fed­ eral tyranny. And unfortunately, I sense little meaningful op­ The yellow goldbrick road - President Clin­ position to the monster on the Potomac wafting from what a ton calls the $30 billion "anti-crime" bill "the toughest, larg­ friend of mine used to call the "Sovereign State of South Car­ est, smartest federal attack on crime in the history of the olina" - or any other part of the country, for that matter. So country." After all these years in Washington, I still wonder: USA Today is partly right, but for the wrong reasons: until Does he believe that? Or do politicians spout nonsense in the South Carolinians again have Sumter in their crosshairs, I full knowledge that they're spouting nonsense? suggest they furl that mighty banner and put it away. --eS For the record, there's not a good thing to be said about the crime bill. In its essence, it federalizes many crimes that The northern peso, eh? - In the last year, the Ca­ should be handled at the state or local level; there is no au­ nadian dollar has plummeted from 89 cents against the U.S. thority in the Constitution for a general federal criminal code. greenback to as low as 70. Meanwhile, the deficit-heavy feds Its sweeping definitions of such terms as "gang activity" are a are frantically trying to prop it up by selling off Canada's threat to civil liberties - by one critic's reading, the u.s. Sen­ gold reserves at a breakneck pace. The reserves are at their ate qualifies as a gang under the bill. Its "three strikes, you're lowest levels in· 50 years and - at this rate - they'll be de­ out" provision would include nonviolent crimes; surely life pleted sometime in 1995. imprisonment should be reserved for violent criminals. From some vantage points, the American dollar looks sol­ Finally, the bill is Clinton's failed economic stimulus pack­ id as a rock. Try the view from Canada. -WM age revived under a new name. It's a Christmas tree bill, with liberal boondoggles piled on top of conservative boondog­ Send the Marines? - As I write, the U.S. is poised gles: more prisons, $6 billion; more police officers, $9 billion; on the brink of invading Haiti. By the time you read this, we job training for disadvantaged youths, half a billion dollars; may already be at war, or that war may be over, or the standoff "model intensive prevention zones," $1.5 billion; municipal may continue, or peace may unexpectedly have broken out. education, health, and jobs programs, $2 billion; an "Ounce of Libertarians and Old Right conservatives, like most Amer­ Prevention Fund," $1.3 billion; and hundreds of millions icans, are opposed to a Haitian war. Much of the radical Left, more for a Police Corps, expanded drug treatment programs, on the other hand, has dropped its usual anti-interventionist better school safety, midnight basketball·leagues, and more. posture. This should not be a surprise to anybody - the Left As Rep. Henry J. Hyde said, "This is not a Christmas tree. showed itself willing to back U.S. intervention abroad in the This is the whole Emerald City of Oz." -DB 1980s, when it called for sanctions on South Africa. Deposed Haitian president Jean-Bertrande Aristide is a socialist; there­ I'll take my stand - In their August primary, fore, he has socialist support. Besides, as Christopher Hitch­ South Carolina Republicans considered a non-binding refe­ ens has spent almost all of his recent columns in The Nation rendum on whether the Confederate battle flag should con­ explaining, the Left is "anti-imperialist," not "isolationist," tinue to fly atop the state capitol. Seventy-five percent said and should support "wars on fascism." yes. I was heartened to find that in the South, even members The more modelate, social-democratic Left threw in the of the Party of Lincoln are imbued with rebel pride. pacifist towel long ago, to whatever extent they ever upheld its Not everyone saw it that way. The editors of USA Today, white banner. After backing World War TI, the Cold War, the for example, see the southern cross is little more than a sym­ Korean War, and the Vietnam buildup, they turned on the lat­ bol of bigotry: "Born during the Civil War as a symbol of the ter bloodbath only when, in Nicholas von Hoffman's words, South's resolute insistence on enslaving blacks, it has persist­ "Sen. Robert Kennedy, a man with an uncanny ability to flare ed as a proclamation of racism - not Simply southern pride." his nostrils and smell a trend, jumped from asking President The professional illiterates at USA Today are apparently una­ Johnson to send him to Vietnam to take command of winning ware that the Stars and Stripes flew over slavery much longer the war to being an antiwar candidate." Some of them spoke than any Confederate flag, and continued to do so even after out against Reagan's war on Central America, but few did 10 Liberty Crisis Investing for the Rest of the '90s by Original thinker Doug Douglas Casey Casey, with a brilliant 14-year track record, is one ofthe most suc­ cessful - and perhaps controversial - fig­ ures in the financial world.

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John Pugsley JOHN PUGLSEY'S JOURNAL __ U.S. $97.50 + $4.00 S&H. Please send Crisis Investingfor the Rest of the 90's with a 1 yr. trial subscription with 90 day money back guarantee. Crisis Investing for the Rest Qjthe '9Qs made me feel as though I were watching some wild and intense drama. ... Creative metaphors; Mail to: hilarious, pithy anecdotes; innovative graphic analyses; psychological curiosities ... a remarkable array ofanalytic insights. ... Doug Casey Victor Niederhoffer Box 5195 LIBERTY, March 1994 Helena, MT 59604 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 anything about it, and most either endorsed the Gulf War out­ benevolent intervention, Haiti retained a form of "democra­ right (like the repulsive Rep. Stephen Solarz) or called instead cy" that has always been somewhat different, to put it mildly, for "letting sanctions work," Le., starving Iraqis instead of from that of the United States. Haiti has the kind of ildemoc­ bombing them. They have since backed the Somalia caper and racy" that is frequently to be met with in Third World coun­ endorsed military action in Bosnia, especially since these in­ tries, only worse. Haiti is the kind of place where you can cursions have taken place under the aegis of their beloved pretty easily get burned alive for questioning the "people's" U.N. So it's no surprise that they generally support invading latest whim. Right now, one set of Haitian "democrats" has Haiti. expelled the "president" who was "elected" by another set of What's interesting is the stance of most neoconservatives: Haitian "democrats." Because this "president" is a man of the far from the usual saber-rattling, they oppose an invasion. This far Left, the far Left segment of the American Congress is de­ position is not so much antiwar as pro-junta -I have seen no manding that he be forcibly restored to power. The United Charles Krauthammer columns deploring the CIA's anti­ States has therefore clamped an economic blockade on.Haiti Aristide operations. Still, when it comes to the question of and is threatening Haiti with invasion unless its high officials whether to send the Marines to Haiti, I find myself shoulder­ to-shoulder with the neocons on a foreign policy issue. Ye gods. Anyone who really Thinks Peace, believes Or maybe not. In mid-July, Morton Kondracke told his fellow McLaughlin Groupies that, while he is opposed to an that Arms Are for Hugging, and demands that American invasion of Haiti, we may have to send the troops we immediately Get Out of all Third World in anyway. After all, we've built this conflict up pretty far, countries has had plenty oftime to stir his con­ and it might hurt our prestige if we backed down. It's good to know that, while the rest of the political spec­ victions to the frothing point. trum plays musical chairs, Kondrake can still be counted on to call for sacrificing innocent lives on the altar of trivia. Per­ haps there is some permanence in the universe. -JW - whom our own officials publicly call "The Three Stooges" - surrender power and leave. Kill for peace - Nothing is more deeply inscribed The United States has been on the brink of war for on the American cranium than the left wing's arguments months. Anyone who really Thinks Peace, believes that Arms against war. Everyone who can read a picket sign, an editori­ Are for Hugging, and demands that we immediately Get Out al, or a bumper sticker knows these arguments by heart; and of all Third World countries has had plenty of time to stir his even veterans of public schools, who have never learned to convictions to the frothing point. read, can at least recite the pacifist mantras of their teachers ­ But where is the antiwar movement? Where are the to wit: crowds of sun-worshippers camping outside the gates of mili­ 1. Killing is always wrong. tary installations and the offices of college presidents? Where 2. War never accomplished anything. are the well-heeled clergymen courageously "speaking truth 3. No nation has the right to impose its system on another. to power"? Where are the tax protestors? Where are the draft­ 4. Every country has its own definition of such terms as card burners? (Yes, we still have draft registration, because "freedom" and "democracy," and America, with its history our draft-dodging, left-wing preSident turned down the Pen­ of imperialism, is in no position to set itself up as a judge of tagon's advice to end it.) Where are the New York school­ the definitions that prevail in other countries. teachers and their air-conditioned buses to Washington These are the principles that have led the American Left protest marches? Where are Women Strike for Peace? Where to denounce and attempt to frustrate every warlike act this are Veterans Against the War? Where is the American country has engaged in during the past 30 years, from the Friends Service Committee? Where are the ACLU lawyers, war in Vietnam to the embargo on Cuba. Whatever one drumming up business among soldiers who have suddenly thought of these principles, they certainly appeared to have realized that they cannot bear to stain their consciences with the status of passionately held convictions. acts of violence against innocent Third World people? Where But now it appears that they weren't convictions after all, are the white-haired eminences of the TV tube, and all their that they were nothing, in fact, but the biggest pile of hypo­ Probing Questions? critical shit that ever dripped from the news and editorial Well, they're no place. There's not a peep out of them, any columns of the New York Times. of them. It's obvious that the antiwar Left doesn't have any This blinding realization came to me the other day while convictions worth lugging from the last war to the next, at I was driving to work behind a vehicle that was not so much least when the next war is brought to us by their fellow "lib­ a car as a set of admonitions. erals." It's obvious that the only principle of importance to "Think Peace." the whole highly principled group can be stated as: "Hands Off Nicaragua" (this Volvo had aged a bit). Advancing the Left-wing Cause. "Arms Are for Hugging." The Vietnam War, the Cuban embargo, the Gulf War, the When I got to the third bumper sticker, I thought, "But Grenada incursion, and the Panama snatch were all directed at what about Haiti?" leftist targets. Therefore they were opposed, with whatever Haiti is a Third World country that the United States high-sounding arguments might be found. Whether these ar­ once invaded and ruled for 19 years. Notwithstanding this guments were good or bad made no difference whatever. 12 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

Whether they resulted from a coherent view of the world different kinds of laissez faire. Either you let individuals do, or made precisely the same amount of difference. Lyndon John­ you let loose the bureaucratic and political processes. From son was regarded by the establishment Left as a liar, a sneak, Condorcet to Arrow, Buchanan, Ordeshook, and Schofield, and a power-erazed animal, because of his leadership in the we know how irrational and inefficient these processes are. War inVietnam; he was regarded by the same people as a saint From the whole history of mankind, we also know how dan­ and seer, because of his leadership inWar onPoverty. gerous they are. When it comes to intervention in Haiti, however, there is The author of the message claimed that his critics must apparently no cause for such divided judgments. The exiled "take the view that economists should not be making cases for upresident" of Haiti is a leftist; therefore, it is our duty to put or against anything." But, he added, "the name of this list is him back in power, no matter what the cost in lives and prin­ 'political economy,' and political economy has always been ciples (and never fear, we won't be looking if he ends up de­ about the rationalization of public policy, that is about sound troying Haiti in order to save it). rules (nomos) for the management of the common political (po­ People who sincerely hate war are often a beseiged minor­ lis; political) household (oikos; thus oikonomia, economy)." ity, looking desperately for allies. They often find such allies Indeed, the problem with a certain strand of political on the Left, and so much the better, I guess, if an alliance is economy has been its constant "rationalization" of the helpful in reaching some worthwhile objective. But the ideal Prince's activities. But this does not exhaust the role of politi­ of a permanent alliance between libertarians and leftists, an cal economy. As Robert Sudgen puts it (in The Economics of ideal cherished by many libertarians who reached maturity Rights, Cooperation and Welfare), why does the economist see (or something superficially resembling it) during the 1960s, himself on the throne of the tyrant, advising him against his seems more unrealistic with each passing day. You don't subjects, instead of the other way around? Are we really mem­ make friends with an actor because you like some lines he bers of the Prince's household? once recited. -SC Finally, our professional government defender wrote: IIIf we economists cannot make any distinctive contribution to Rent asunder - According to an investigation of cor­ that purpose, then we should give our salaries back and cease ruption in the District of Columbia Subsidized Housing Ad­ perpetrating the fraud on the body politic." There is something ministration, only ten of 400 rent vouchers given out by the to this idea. The taxpayer could then spend his money as he SHA since 1990 were not awarded on the basis of a bribe. Ap­ sees fit. I suggest that he would not hire many economists to parently, a few good apples can't improve the whole bunch. advise government as to what he should learn at school, what -DB he should consume, what he should read, and how, from time Court econol11,ist - On an Internet list recently, I to time, he should sacrifice his life for the state. read a post from a serious economics. professor who always In On Power, French political scientist Bertrand de Jouven­ says "present" when state intervention is questioned. al makes a historical observation about the absolute monarch Government intervention in education is necessary, he that applies even better to the modem state: "He encourages argued, because of the gap between "private benefits" and the universities, which provide him with his most effective "social benefits." One problem with the notion of "social ben­ champions." -PL efits" is that they are difficult to disentangle. from benefits to special interest groups, or to the ruling government class. The On being a widely published unpub­ whole notion of externalities is questionable: Who evaluates lished author - Ezra Pound once wrote, "I fail most externalities? What about the PC groups who claim that "per­ lamentably at ten and five year intervals precisely when I at­ fume pollutes" - i.e., imposes negative externalities on oth­ tempt to say something of major interest or importance. Tri­ ers - and that consequently wearing perfume should be for­ fles or ideas of third or second line I can always offer in a bidden or regulated? Actually, it is pretty difficult to find a manner acceptable to my editors." Pound wrote those words single "public good" that is not a public bad for at least some when he was 49; now, a few years older and likewise a full­ individuals. time writer, I find them applicable to my own situation. The guy also argued that parent empowerment "is a ver­ Though I've published a lot - thankfully - much remains sion of the laissez-faire doctrine." I replied that this argues needlessly unpublished, and much remains unwritten much more in favor of laissez faire than against C A. LV' N +- 'R ,TA L, tI empowerment. The expression "laissez fa ire," which means "let • do," comes from French history. Colbert, the minis­ ter of Louis XIV, was ask­ ing a merchant named Le­ gendre how the King could foster trade. Legendre re­ plied, "Laissez-nous faire," let us do it alone. == JI£ Actually, there are two Liberty 13 Volume 8, Number 1 Nove~ber 1994 because the obstacles to publishing it seem so great. for children to the use of contraceptives (or other ways of con­ An example of the last is anything like the critiques of lit­ trolling births, such as late marriages). If so, this mear:tS the erary granting I used to write. The same editors who seemed "challenge of reducing fertility is the challenge of reducing eager to expose Jesse Helms's dangerous but ultimately inef­ people's fertility desires, not reducing 'unwanted' fertility" fective incursions have no interest in documenting abuses through contraception. within the granting organizations. When I like a new book, as This fundamental debate is not easily resolved. Many fac­ I often do, it is almost impossible for me to place a review of tors enter into decisions about having children, and a lot of it. It's not worth trying, let alone writing, because the only them can't be quantified, or even identified, in the surveys magazines publishing my critical pieces are backed up with conducted by the Agency for International Development. For me, while others, alas, aren't interested at all. The difficulties example, no one knows why "desired fertility" differs be­ with magazines, with all their smelly orthodoxies, drove me tween nations, yet these differences are generally greater than long ago to focus on books. Nonetheless, these too are hard to the difference between desired and actual fertility within any place, even when they are finished. Too many end up being one country. And despite their conviction that contraception released by publishers other than those who commissioned is the major cause of the declines, the Scientific American writ­ them. Others aren't published at all. Just recently, Twenty-Five ers also report independent changes, such as the rise in the Years After: Recollections ofRock Theater came back from a pub­ age of marriage in sub-Saharan Mrica and parts of Asia and lisher that had announced it in Publisher's Weekly. the fact that more women are telling surveyors that they Where some see too many books being published, I see too don't want more children. few. I've stopped reading manuscripts submitted to me for My impression is that the available information is diverse publishing advice, notbecause I don't want to help out, butbe­ enough to support almost any interpretation or ideology. In cause I can't stand the fakery of bogus enthusiasm or the frus­ that light, the draft program for the Cairo gathering makes it tration of not seeing my ownpredicamentinsomeone else. look more like a conference on improving the status of wom­ It's a marvel any writing ever appears publicly at all. -RK en than one on population. And that could be a good thing, if improving the status of women means increasing their free­ Population erosion - The D.N.'s September pop­ dom. Emancipating women is a far more worthy goal than ulation conference in Cairo will bring out the usual hand­ trying to discourage them from having more children. The wringing about the Earth having too many people. But the two may be correlated, but until now, the latter seems to have population pessimists are not the monolith they used to be. been all that these people have wanted to do. -JSS Some Third World countries have been showing fairly sig­ nificant declines in their birth rates. For example, in Thailand If atfirst you don't succeed - When the Bill the fertility rate fell from 4.6 children per woman in 1975 to of Rights says "nor shall any person be subject for the same 2.3 children in 1987; in Colombia, it fell from 4.7 in 1976 to 2.8 offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb," its mean­ in 1990. Such declines are widespread, and are not limited to ing is as plain as the principle that underlies it. If government anyone geographic region. can keep trying a person until it finds a jury willing to con­ This change has splintered the population control move­ vict, none of us is safe. ment. At first glance, it suggests that the Third World's long­ So I was naturally upset by the Bush administration's de­ awaited "demographic transition" - the drop in fertility that cision to retry the L.A. cops who beat up Rodney King for a came along with economic growth in the West - has come. If "civil rights" violation after a jury had found them not guilty. so, perhaps everyone can just go home and stop worrying Appalling though that verdict surely was, trying the cops about population. But now some people doubt the relevance again was more appalling. Worse still was the semantic of the demographic transition. sleight-of-hand used to justify the second trial: the rubric of Virginia Abernathy of Vanderbilt Medical School, for ex­ "civil rights" gave the false impression that the new trial was ample, has found that when people's well-being improves for a different offense than the first. But it was obviously held above their expectations, they have more children, not fewer; to remedy the previous trial's "incorrect" verdict. The cops' similarly, an unexpected decline in income leads to fewer second trial was precisely what the double jeopardy clause children. This may simply reflect a temporary adjustment as was intended to protect against. people boost their family goals when incomes rise unexpect­ The effect is to politicize the process of selecting cases for edlyand reduce them when they fall. But it will keep tongues retrial, with the determining factor being the public mood or wagging over champagne and caviar at the Nile Hilton. (more likely) whether influential pressure groups are suffi­ Then there's the question of whether fertility rates are re­ ciently pissed off to whine loudly enough to the feds. A new duced by availability and knowledge of contraceptives or by case demonstrates this point, further entrenching the practice changes in people's preferences. Last September, three schol­ of double jeopardy. A few years back, a Jewish man was beat­ ars - Bryant Robey, Shea O. Rutstein, and Leo Morris - stat­ en to death by 13 black men, apparently acting in angry re­ ed flatly in Scientific American that a "country's contraceptive sponse to the death of a young black girl hit by a car driven rate ... largely determines its total fertility rate. Indeed, the by a Jew. Only one of the men was put on trial for murder, data reveal that differences in contraceptive prevalence ex­ and in 1992 he was found not guilty. plain about 90% of the variation in fertility rates." Had the victim been, say, a white supremicist, it is unlike­ Not so, responded Lant H. Pritchett in the March 1994 ly that anyone would've called for a federal trial. But the vic­ Population and Development Review. Pritchett argued that caus­ tim was a Jew, and Jewish pressure groups were not satisfied ation mostly runs the other way - from changes in the desire with the verdict of the first trial. Taking advantage of the 14 Liberty The Magazine for Libertarian Environmentalists

In the latest issue, eighteen prominent Future issues of Different Drummer will biologists, economists, and attorneys from cover such subjects as markets and the envi­ Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. discuss ronment, the Forest Service, and the National "Pork" Service. Contributors will include such topics Randal O'Toole, Karl Hess, Jr., John Baden, and as: many others. Different Drummer will analyze • Why each topic in detail, following Henry David govern- Thoreau's philosophy of environmental pro­ mentis the tection without big government. leading Subscribe now to receive a year's subscrip­ threat to tion at a special price of just $19.95 per year or biodiversity; $35.95 for two years ($27.50/$49.95 for govern­ • How incen­ ment agencies and commercial)-plus get the tives can latest issue on biodiversity at no extra charge. protect biodiversity Don't Miss These Issues and related resources; • Why efforts to protect biodiversity should focus on reducing government rather than pre­ scriptive legislation. Papers by Mexican writers reveal remark­ able parallels between environmental problems and politics north and south of the border as well as innovative free market solutions to Pork Barrel, by Randal O'Toole, and Western Range, by Karl Hess, environmental problems. Jr., may be ordered as a part ofyour subscription orfor $5.95 each. o Yes! Subscribe me to D~~ D~ for 0 one year 0 two years, plus send me the latest issue on incentives for protecting biodiversity at no extra charge. D Please also include the D Pork Barrel and/or 0 Western Range issues as a part of my subscription. o Please send me the 0 Biodiversity, 0 Pork Barrel, and/or 0 Western Range issues for $5.95 each. o Enclosed is $ . 0 Bill me. a Charge to my Visa/MasterCard. Visa/MC: _

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Make checks payable to CHEC and mail to Different Drummer, City State Zip _ 14417 S.E. Laurie, Oak Grove, Oregon 97267 or call 503-652-7049. CHEC is a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education aimed at environmental protection without big government. Different Drummer, published quarterly, is the new name for Forest Watch magazine, published by CHEC for over thirteen years. Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

King precedent, they demanded that the Clinton administra­ Then it will be cheaper to attack than to defend. This will no tion bring "civil rights" charges against the exonerated man. doubt help start some of the IIsmart wars" of the next few The Justice Department has obliged, and the second trial is decades. Imagine Israel trying to fend off swarms of Arab now underway. smart cruise missiles tipped with DNA gas. To my knowledge, no self-styled civil rights advocates Most countries will try to enforce some form of missile have complained about the double jeopardy involved in the control as they now enforce gun control. The problem is, you present case. Paradoxically, they cannot be counted on to de­ can buy most of the computer and guidance modules off the fend the accused's constitutional civil right to be protected shelf for a few dollars. These modules account for the most le­ from a government hell-bent on getting a "satisfactory" ver­ thality, because they account for the machine IQ. Right now dict. The present trial goes on without much protest, the pre­ you can build your own cruise missile with a Cessna, a hand­ cedent for double jeopardy further affirmed, the judicial sys­ held GPS navigator, a video camera, and some TNT. tem further politicized, the Bill of Rights that much more ig­ The market question is whether some form of private de­ nored - and freedom that much more eroded. -ML fense will emerge and make a killing in the Mideast or Africa or South America. The U.N. might hire them to provide the Am I To dream the impossible dream - service. Or, more optimistically, they might compete with the the only one hoping that Paula Jones's sexual harassment U.N. outright. -BK case against Bill Clinton goes all the way to the Supreme Court, and that Clarence Thomas writes the decision?-WM Poor man's burden - "Aspen is a great place," Saturday night holocaust - The oldest prin­ my friend explained. "It has the culture and amenities of New ciple of war is that it costs more to attack than to defend. The York - opera, great restaurants, wonderful shopping ­ Trojans sat behind their walls while the Greeks had to without the street crime." It is a place where locals worry launch a thousand ships. Afghan rebels fired cheap Stinger about real estate prices - land is getting so expensive that missiles from their shoulder to shoot down Soviet helicop­ there's no place for their servants to live, which has resulted ters. And Patriot missiles cost a fraction of what large lum­ in congestion on the road down the valley to less chi-chi bering SCUDs cost. towns like Basalt and Carbondale, where modest homes can Cruise missiles may soon defy this ancient and stabilizing be found for less than a half-million and apartments can be principle. Today, they cost over $1 million apiece. Aviation had for less than $1,500 per month. Week and other sources report that the price is falling to This playground of the superrich is also the place in about $100,000 apiece. That's one reason the Pentagon now America where property rights are respected least, if reports ranks cruise missiles the number one proliferation threat. in the local press are any indication. Take the case of Stefan Meanwhile, no one knows how to shoot the things down. Albuoy, who ended a land-use dispute with the Pitkin Cruise missiles fly too low for most radar systems and they County by committing suicide. Albuoy is not the only casual­ can maneuver in flight at high speeds. Knocking out or evad­ ty in the war on property: the Aspen DaiIy News also noted, ing a smart cruise missile is a lot like trying to dodge a bullet "Locals will recall just last week the bizarre spectacle of Jim - except these bullets can track you when you move. No Blanning perched in the eaves of the county courthouse roof proposed Star Wars shield ever had the means to protect with a rope around his neck, threatening to hang himself against such"air-breathing" threats. from the rafters." The free market in computer modules may well bring the The problem these poor landowners face in Aspen is that, real cost of cruise missiles down to about $10,000 apiece ­ well, they're poor. As county executive Reid Haughey ex­ less than a car. All countries - and some non-countries ­ plained to the Aspen Daily News: "The people who get frus­ will have them in great stockpiles, and their machine IQs trated are the ones who try to do it on their own. They try to will rise as chip densities keep doubling every 18 months. make a multi-million dollar deal out of the back seat of their

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16 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

truck. They need to get professional help from private plan­ bertarian since the early '60s -long before his 1969 bestseller ners and land-use attorneys." How You Can Profit From the Coming Devaluation practically in­ In other words, when a landowner trying to build a vented the hard money movement and brought him fame and home on his own property gets frustrated to the point of fortune - Browne is a superb communicator, as anyone who suicide, it's his own damn fault because he doesn't have has seen him on talk shows can attest. "multi-million" dollars to handle the legal hassles and pay The LP has shown signs of maturity during the past few off public officials and the county and support the members years, as its bureaucracy has become more professional and of the nomenklatura who have the right connections to get its fundraising more lucrative. But for all the best efforts of its permits. members, the party has been steadily moving toward the ir­ Now the planning department is concerned that another relevant periphery of American politics. If its slide into ob­ local might get I/frustrated." In a memo leaked to the press, scurity isn't stopped, the LP might find itself in the position of Public Works Director Stan Berryman predicted that the dem­ the Socialist Labor Party - a party of aging true believers olition of Wilk Wilkerson's home "ought to be a lot of fun." talking to themselves. The home was built on land for which local authorities re­ To reverse this process, the party needs to mount a visible fused to issue any building permits. Berryman also suggested presidential campaign that raises important issues. This is a in his July 26 memo that "no one go onto his property with­ tough and expensive task, one beyond the resources of its out a sheriff's deputy," and requested Haughey to suggest members, who simply cannot afford the $10 million price tag I/other precautions that ought to be taken." of a credible campaign. Furthermore, the party needs real Aspen residents are subject to zoning regulations that growth beyond the 10,000-member level at which it has stag­ give the city total control. At least that's the inference I nated for the past decade. Whether Browne can succeed re­ drew from a small item in the Aspen Times, which reported mains tobe seen. that a local man had "asked the city council to allow him to For this growth, Browne will need to reach out to new rent out the second story [of his building] as offices instead people, lots of new people. Browne's experience with the hard of the nine-room lodge that currently is the only allowable money community and with the media uniquely qualify him ·use." for the challenge. If anyone can save the LP from obscurity, Even if you have the I/multi-millions" needed to get per­ Harry Browne can. -CAA mission to build - and to use your building for the purpose you desire - you will soon have to comply with mandatory Shock jock drop out- Two media outlets correct­ I/design guidelines," which require all new structures to ly predicted not only that Howard Stern would withdraw from I/mimic the old Victorian cottages and sheds in style, balance, the New York gubernatorial race, but why: Comedy Central and character." and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Does this mean that you Nor is this sort of idiotic government activity limited to have to be a comedian to understand Stem, or that you have to control of private property: The county is currently consider­ be a comedian to understand New York politics? -ML ing a plan to turn a local road over to the government-owned Nixon In his eulogy for Presi­ transit company and buy high-tech buses for the short run at Tl1e differellce - dent Richard Nixon, the Rev. Billy Graham said, /IA few a cost of $384 million. Does the project's $30,000-per-resident months ago [Nixon] was asked in a television interview, price tag faze the county? Not at all. Aspenites will use the 'How would you like to be remembered?' He thought a mo­ new buses for free. Taking a page from the book of medieval ment, and then he replied, 'I would like to be remembered as land barons, the county proposes to finance the project by one who made a difference.' And he did make a difference in charging a toll on all motor vehicles that enter the county. our world and in our lives." These stories, gleaned from a casual perusal of two days As I listened, I wondered just what difference Nixon ulti­ of Aspen's newspapers, were reported without a hint of criti­ mately made in our world. He /Iopened China," but that sure­ cism, except for one letter to the editor and a comment from ly would have happened soon. He pursued detente with the Wilk Wilkerson, whose home the county proposes to have Soviet Union, and that might have been an accomplishment "fun" demolishing. that only a confirmed anti-Communist could pull off. In do­ To paraphrase Abe Lincoln, God must have really loved mestic policy, he dramatically increased the size of the state fascism, else why would he have spread so much of it among - through a determined inflation followed by wage and the elite residents of Aspen? -RWB price controls, along with the creation of the Environmental Brou'neing ill - Harry Browne's announcement Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Ad­ that he will seek the Libertarian Party's presidential nomina­ ministration, affirmative action, and a host of other costly reg­ tion comes as great news for those like me who still harbor ulations - enough that Jonathan Rauch in The New Republic hopes for the LP. called him the worst president of the century. But he was nei­ The move came as a surprise to many in the LP. Browne ther the first nor the last president to ratchet up the federal had been a prominent and eloquent critic of political acti­ government. vism, his most thorough statement being the passionate plea Finally, of course, he presided over the Watergate scandal. for self-liberation, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. His defenders say, Nobody's perfect, lay Watergate aside, look at But it was a welcome surprise: Browne offers the party an ar­ China and his progressive domestic policy. But ultimately, I be­ ticulateness and credibility lacking in the pathetic characters lieve that the most imporant way in which Nixon /lmade a I who have sought its nomination in recent years. An active Ii- difference in our world and in our lives" was to remind

Liberty 17 Volume 8, Number 1 Novemberl~

Americans of what government is really like and thus to send of The Libertarian without taking an opportunity to criticize distrust of government skyrocketing. And for that I thank it? him. -DB In my defense, I should mention that I got the story from a good source which I cited in my article, verified it with a The Hess conspiracy - A bizarre sidebar to the mutual acquaintance of Rothbard and Hess, and checked it tributes paid to Karl Hess in The New Republic, National Re­ against Rothbard's writing on the subject. I also attempted to view, and Liberty was published in the August issue of the verify the story with Rothbard, who told me he was "too Rothbard-Rockwell Report. Hess, you will recall, was a journal­ busy" to talk about Hess and later bragged to friends that he ist whose intellectual odyssey led him from far Right to far had hung up on me. Left to libertarianism. According to RRR's designated hit­ Raimondo concludes his piece by addressing the burning man, Justin Raimondo, the Hess obituaries all shared a sali­ question of what could motivate the panegyrics to Hess in ent characteristic: "hatred of Murray N. Rothbard." This per­ The New Republic and National Review: vasive hatred of RRR's coeditor, Raimondo explained, can be ... [B]oth magazines fear and despise the rising Hard Right discerned even in the case of Charles Murray's obit in Nation­ populism that culminated around the Buchanan for Presi­ al Review, which Raimondo acknowledges "does not mention dent campaign [which combined] both populist and liber­ Rothbard by name." tarian themes. Splitting these elements would stop the Raimondo takes my own essay on Hess, published in the movement dead in its tracks. One way of engineering a split July issue of Liberty, to task for "blaming" Rothbard "for would be to substitute a placebo for one of the key elements, Hess's quixotic and misguided decision to become a tax re­ a phony left-libertarianism far too exotic to be compatible sister." As evidence that he did no such thing, Raimondo as­ with populism of any sort ... the strategy here is to con­ serts that "Rothbard has always opposed tax resistance as struct a substitute libertarianism, a left-libertarian golem. This is the real meaning of the movement to canonize Karl utopian and counterproductive and has never endorsed it, in Hess. private or in public." Raimondo didn't explain how he came to know this. Had he examined Rothbard's writing on the There you have it. Motivated by a hatred of Murray topic, he would surely have come across the April 15, 1969 is­ Rothbard and hoping to split the Buchanan for President sue of The Libertarian, dated the very day Hess began his tax campaign asunder, the editors of National Review, The New Re­ resistance. Rothbard concluded his lead editorial, titled "Tax public, and Liberty conspired to publish favorable obituaries Day," with these stirring words: of Karl Hess. I suppose I may as well confess. On April 23, I got a call This issue of The Libertarian is dedicated to that growing le­ gion of Americans who are engaging in various forms of from John O'Sullivan, editor of National Review. "I've got that one weapon, that one act of the public which our rulers Andy Sullivan on line," he said. "With Karl Hess passed on fear the most: tax rebellion, the cutting off the funds by to his heavenly reward, we've been thinking-If which the host public is sapped to maintain the parasitic Andrew Sullivan of The New Republic interrupted. "This ruling classes. Here is a burning issue which could appeal to offers us a golden opportunity to heap scorn on Murray N. everyone, young and old, poor and wealthy, "working Rothbard, and to split the Buchanan campaign," he said. class" and middle class, regardless of race, color, or creed. "All we have to do," O'Sullivan added, "is publish obitu­ Here is an issue which everyone understands, only too well. aries that portray Karl in a favorable light. It'll be a stake into Taxation. the heart of the Buchanan movement!" I suppose that Rothbard might argue that tax resistance is Andy chimed in again. "It'll be easy. I'll get John Judis to not among the "various forms" of "tax rebellion, the cutting do a paean to Karl, and he'll be glad to dump on Rothbard. off the funds" to the state, that he endorses. But if Rothbard John can get Charles Murray to do the same. All we need is "always opposed tax resistance," why did he publish Hess's for you to come up with someone." eloquent declaration of tax resistance in the following issue The rest is history. -RWB Letters, continued from page 6 about capitalism demonstrate a grave er­ Dream," he would be a socialist. But 666,000 people, it would still be the most ror. He believes thatlaissez1aire capital­ laissez-faire capitalism does not draw its moral system of government the world ism is morally justifiable insofar as it moral justification from any utilitarian­ has seen to date. produces an "American Dream" society collectivist premise. Its purpose is not to If Brin is so concerned with aristo­ with a vast and prosperous middle class, bankroll the largest middle class in histo­ crats rearing their ugly heads and keep­ a small elite class, and an even smaller ry or eliminate poverty. It is not a IIgold­ ing down worthy competitors, the solu­ lower class. Regretfully, Gary Alexander en goose" to be spared death for the sake tion is to dismantle anti-competitive (Letters, July 1994) only debates Brin's of its golden eggs. laws and abolish all government hand­ statistics and not his logic. Laissez-faire capitalism is a necessary outs to both rich and poor. Although Brin is correct in asserting corollary to a philosophy that holds the David Marhoffer that capitalism has created the first civil­ individual human life as its highest val­ Tempe, Ariz. ization in which the rich outnumber the ue. It completely repudiates Mr. Spock's Brin responds: These letters show what poor, it is possible that if Brin were con­ Vulcan credo: liThe needs of the many excellent service Liberty provides. Most vinced that socialism represented a bet­ outweigh the needs of the few - or the political journals, Left or Right, seek ter vehicle for achieving the IIAmerican one." Even if capitalism benefitted only continued on page 68 18 Liberty Letter from Washington Hail to the Wimp! by Leon T. Hadar

Every clouded presidency has a silver lining.

Many of my friends envy me for being a "Washington-based journalist." It sounds so romantic, so important! Sure, everyone knows reporters don't make much money, but working in the U.S. capital means the opportunity to mingle with the famous and powerful. People are al­ ways asking me questions: "Can you go to those White House press confer­ ences? Do you get to see Clinton? grant who cleans my apartment couldn't resist the temptation. How does Sam Donaldson look in per­ shows up, I go out and do some "re­ So I hopped into a non-air­ son? Does he really wear a toupee?" porting." This consists mainly of at­ conditioned cab, whose Nigerian driv­ Well, to be honest with you, the tending boring press conferences, er took me to a K Street hotel. There I last time I saw Donaldson was on think-tank "briefings," and embassy found one of those stuffy Washington ABC's This Week, and I prefer to receptions. The rewards come in the foreign policy events where pompous watch White House press conferences form of free lunches, hors d'oeuvres, media and think-tank types socialize from the comfort of my air-condi­ and other refreshments. I also get to and exchange ideas (and business tioned bedroom. In fact, most of my "network" with colleagues, hoping to cards). Washington reporting is done from find a job that pays even more for this I recalled attending similar gather­ the comfort of my air-conditioned parasitic existence, and to flirt with ings in the glorious Reagan years, at bedroom. I begin my day reading the some of the young chicks who flock to the peak of the Cold War and the New York Times, the Washington Post, Washington. struggle against Soviet-sponsored ter­ and The Wall Street Journal. Then I One Friday, in the last week of rorism, or during the video-game watch a bit of CNN and C-SPAN (and July, I decided that it was time for me days of Desert Storm, as Bush's New my favorite soap). I do some jogging, to take advantage of my press creden­ World Order was evolving. Back then, read the news wire reports on my on­ tials and do some honest reporting. It there was a sense of excitement in the line service, glance at the news releas­ was hot and humid in Washington, air. Here we were in the capital of the es I receive on my fax machine, or with very high levels of pollen, and Free World, the New Rome, where skim through the World Bank or the idea of having to wear a tie and Global History was being shaped, Commerce Department reports deliv­ jacket didn't seem very enticing. But where the balance of power in "Euro­ ered to me with your tax money when I heard that the diplomatic and Asia" was being rearranged by the (sucker!). And maybe, if I really feel in national-security biggies of the Re­ competent managers of Empire. And the mood, I make a few phone calls to publican Party - former Secretary of we were all part of it, extras in the my "sources." Then I recycle all the State James "Jim" Baker, former De­ great motion picture. It was a world info I've collected over the day into a fense Secretary Richard "Dick" Che­ where powerful and virile men of ac­ news story or "analysis" and wire it ney, former U.N. Ambassador Jeane tion, diplomats, strategists, and the fe­ to my newspaper. "Jeane" Kirkpatrick, all-around states­ male TV reporters who slept with That's how I make my living. man Henry "Doctor" Kissinger ­ them could make one hell of a global Really! would all be bashing Clinton at a for­ difference. Yeah! Those were the days. Okay - sometimes, when the eign policy forum organized by the Now, as I entered the hotel hall weather is good or the illegal immi- Republican National Committee, I just and observed the GOP contributors Liberty 19 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

chewing the last morsels of their dis­ promises during the campaign about noted, the president "has threatened gusting lunch and waiting for the pro­ how he was going to spread democracy Bosnia's Serbs more times than Jackie ceedings to begin, I felt a sense of emp­ around the globe, save the Bosnian Gleason's bus driver Ralph Kramden tiness in the air. Things ain't what they Muslims, punish the tyrants in Beijing, shook his fist in the face of wife Alice used to be, I told myself. One look at the and cleanse the Third World of nuclear shouting, 'One of these days, Alice! unemployed beltway bandits, causeless weapons. Plus, he committed himself Pow! Right on the kisser!'" But despite neocon writers, and retired global cru­ to the principles of "assertive multilat­ the pressure from the Left and the saders around me said it all. Here we eralism" - that is, following the U.N. Right, from Bill Safire and Jim Hoag­ are, close to the mid-term point 6f the to fight for democracy anywhere and land and The New Republic, Clinton and Clinton presidency, and America has anyplace on the planet. his aides were able to brilliantly ration­ yet to be engaged in any hot, luke- We thought we were getting a new alize their more-or-Iess non-interven­ Woodrow Wilson, a moralist interven­ tionist posture in the Balkans. Good for tionist, an idealist statesman who them! It was a world where power­ would try to make the world safe for I loved the way Clinton climbed ful and virile men of action, democracy. Instead, we got a Warren down from a threat to impose sanctions Harding, a pragmatic neo-isolationist, a on China and the way he reestablished diplomats, strategists, and the corrupt politician who wants to make trade ties with Hanoi. Did you notice female TV reporters who slept the world safe for business - kind of a how he had to go through all that with them could make one hell global Arkansas. agony of surrendering to the butchers I suspected all along that Clinton's of Tiananmen Square and giving up the of a global difference. Yeah! internationalist rhetoric was little more idea of sending Rambo to find those Those were the days. than campaign baloney for the colum­ missing servicemen in the Vietnam jun­ nists and foreign policy "insiders." But gle? In the end - as always with this it wasn't until I saw Clinton's foreign president - money talks. And thanks warm, or cold wars. Peace is breaking policy team on television that I knew to this unprincipled White House stew­ out all over. There's no Evil Empire to that the Republic was safe. Did anyone ard, trade will flow more freely across push around anymore, no anti­ seriously think that aging Warren the Pacific, making the Chinese, Vietna­ Communist military despots to prop Christopher, bookish Anthony Lake, mese, and American people happier up, no "freedom fighters" to support. and eccentric Les Aspin were going to and more prosperous. Even the Israelis and Yasser Arafat are lead America into war? I'll admit I was a little concerned in making peace - a major blow to the Now, even with the more energized Clinton's early days. I was afraid all the neocons, who are now trying to out­ William Perry at Defense, the foreign Zionize the Israeli government. policy team looks and sounds like it's And the American people don't 00'd on Prozac. It's true, the president If it were up to the Repub­ give a hoot about foreign policy. It's and his aides keep espousing that crap one of the last items on the list of con­ about the U.S. being the only remaining lican crazies, we would already cerns in the average American's mind, superpower in the world. But they've be in the middle ofKorean War sandwiched somewhere between the been generally faithful to their commit­ II, with Seoul nuked and tens fate of the spotted owl and the where­ ment to cut the defense budget, making abouts of the space station. Typist­ it harder to achieve that sacred Penta­ ofthousands dead. turned-CNN-correspondent Christina gon goal, to fight on two fronts (say, in Amampour broadcasts from the roof of Korea and the Persian Gulf). And they a bombarded Sarajevo building every seem to be making the right moves so criticism coming from the foreign poli­ night, trying to convince Americans to as to make NATO and all the other cy insiders ("Draft-dodger!" "Inex­ fight in Bosnia. To no avail. Despite all Cold War dinosaurs obsolete. perienced!" "Wimp!") would force the efforts of U.S. television's British Now imagine a Jack Kemp presi­ Clinton to get macho, to follow his pre­ stringers to bombard us with horrible dency, with its expanding military bud­ decessor's path to proving his man­ images of tortured, wounded, and gets and crusades for global democra­ hood by bombing some Middle Eastern dying Bosnians/Somalis/Azeris/Hai­ cy. See what I'm getting at? country into the stone age. Instead, our tians, public support for sending troops In Somalia, the Clintonites, follow­ young president, in what seemed to be to any of these hot spots is next to nil. ing their U.N. lead, invited a bloody a mild form of ejaculation, dropped a Isolationism, bless it, is alive and well shootout. But then they cut their losses few bombs on an lIintelligence center" in our beloved post-Cold War America. and authored a new policy directive in Baghdad and left Saddam alone And who knows better than that in­ that forbids Washington to back up a most of the time. I didn't care for that, famous draft dodger, the wimp him­ new interventionist U.N. adventure. but it's better than what Bush did. self, Bill "Don't Get Killed, Get a Blow They even refused to characterize the Actually, Clinton's entire "Middle Job" Clinton? When it comes to foreign slaughter in Rwanda as "genocide," so East policy" seems to consist of inviting policy, this president is just my kind of as not to create the legal basis for a leaders from the region to shake hands guy. major U.S. military intervention there. on the White House lawn and serving Yes, I know he made all those Bosnia? As Pat Buchanan recently as an effective master of ceremonies. (I 20 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

did attend Clinton's Arafat-Rabin day. You are all probably asking: Was it send more money to the military, the handshake performance, and I can tell worth it, Leon? I could've spent that CIA, and the rest of the National Secur­ you: the guy is smooth.) time at the pool, or taking a long after­ ity State apparatus. Baker wants to see And Clinton was certainly a master noon nap, or watching Sonya Live or a rerun of the Gulf War on the Korean strategist in the "North Korean crisis," Oprah. Instead, I had to sit through Peninsula - again, that "national sending Jimmy Carter to Pyongyang to frustrated right-wing Cold Warriors ex­ interest." buy some time and ignoring the advice plaining why they should be back in Kissinger believes that we should of the Republican crazies. If it were up power, so they can make American for­ be doing our best to expand NATO and to them, we would already be in· the eign policy "credible" again and turn prepare it to deal with the new middle of Korean War II, with Seoul Washington back into a· safe sanctuary "threats": Islamic fundamentalism, nuked and tens of thousands of Ameri­ for the veteran managers of the Nation- Russian nationalism, etc., etc. And of cans and Koreans dead. Instead, Clin­ course, all the great Republican foreign ton took the advice of the Asians, policy strategists think it's in America's which, more or less, was "Who needs a "national interest" to continue its huge war now? We're doing so much busi­ entitlement program for Israel and its ness and making so much money in security services for the Saudi royal Asia. Let's wait for Kim II Sung to die, family, and to prepare for a great and then maybe we'll be able to buy his war against the ayatollahs in Tehe­ playboy-midget son Kim Jong 11 with a ran, who they see as a threat to Israel few bucks and yen." And what do you and the oil sheiks. (In other words, know? Kim Senior is dead, and it looks what's good for Israel and the oil like Junior may be ready to cut a deal lobby is good for America.) in return for a fresh supply of X-rated Which leads me to the following Swedish videos. question, which I'd like to pose to I'll admit I don't like Clinton's you, the thinking libertarian: Who polices toward Haiti. As far as I'm would you really prefer to see pre­ concerned, it doesn't matter wheth­ siding in Washington after 1996? Hi­ er it's "Father" Aristide or bloody larious Hillary and Horny Bill, trying General Cedras who's leading the (unsuccessfully) to get all their big killing spree in Port-Au-Prince. If it government domestic programs were up to me, I would have lifted passed by Congress, Visiting our va­ the embargo on that poor island yes­ cationing troops in sunny Haiti, terday and allowed all those hard­ drowning in the Whitewater, and working Haitians to immigrate to constantly providing us with ammu­ Miami, thereby diluting the power of nition to use against the political the Cuba lobby. class? Or deadly serious President Still, isn't it refreshing to see a presi­ al Security State, for the Global Democ­ Dick Cheney, his "virtuous" wife Lynn, dent making it clear to everyone that racy buffs, for the demented uni­ and their company of wild-eyed he's ready to send American soldiers to polarists. spooks, military adventurers, and neo­ their deaths in Haiti, not to preserve I certainly didn't get any story from con Commentary propagandists, presid­ Western Civilization and the Judeo­ the event, unless you want to count this ing over Gulf War IT, Korean War ill, Christian way of life, but to maintain one. My newspaper doesn't even come Cold War IV,.Iran-Contra V, and Wa­ the Congressional Black Caucus'. sup­ out on Saturday. But I did learn a lot, tergate VI - while being forced by a port for his health package? (Public and came to some provocative Democratic Congress to pass all those Choice economists could come up with conclusions. big government programs anyway? an interesting model correlating the When "Jim" and "Dick" and Well? number of American war casualties "Jeane" and "Dr. Kissinger11. say it isn't Contrary to RepUblican propagan­ and Congressional votes on the health­ in America's "national interest" to in­ da, Clinton's poll ratings are falling, care bill, graphed nicely as indifference vade Haiti, the not-so-subtle message not because of his inability to handle curves.) to the white middle-class voters is, Do foreign policy, but because he is incom­ So, since it looks like the only major you really want to see American boys (and petent, sleazy, and corrupt. In fact, the foreign policy excitement we're apt to girls - sorry!) die for the sake ofa bunch only reason he's still a serious contend­ get during the Clinton term is a splen­ of AIDS-stricken niggers? I believe that er for 1996 may be that he's kept the did little war in Haiti, it is not surpris­ fighting a war in Haiti is not in any­ country at peace for close to two years. ing that Washington's internationalist one's interest. But Kirkpatrick and her So I hope that Clinton will adopt Ron set is so depressed - which brings me neocon buddies tell us that it is in Paul's proposal to run under the "He back to that Republican foreign policy America's "national interest" to help Kept Us Out of War" banner in '96. forum in Washington. As I mentioned the westernized yuppies of Sarajevo. And that he wins. before, that event forced me to leave Cheney and his Pentagon pals explain He may not get our votes, but he my cool apartment on a muggy July that it is in our "national interest" to does deserve our sympathy. D Liberty 21 ReaQpraisal

Trading Away Free Trade by Fred 1. Smith, Jr.

The creation of the World Trade Organization was supposed to be a land­ mark victory for free trade. But was it?

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade has lowered the world's tariff bar­ riers fairly well. Its proponents - including the Cato Institute and other libertarian groups ­ argue that the latest modification to GAIT, the World Trade Organization, will advance free trade even further. So does the Clinton administration, which negotiated the final agreement, Usually, they try to open those mar­ forms of protectionism. These new re­ and so have most large businesses. It kets with "retaliation": "if you don't straints are inherently more difficult to is opposed by a handful of populists open your borders to my goods, I'll resolve - or detect. Unmodified cars like Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan, block your goods from my markets." are difficult to sell in England orJapan, with environmental and labor groups This strategy rarely works even on its where people drive on the left side of withholding support until further own terms; as Jim Powell has pointed the road. Is this a trade barrier? Ag­ "protections" are added. out, "it is hard to find a single signifi­ gressive exporters convinced of the su­ The WTO builds on GATT's base, cant case in which trade retaliation or periority of their products and selling adding trade in services and intellectu­ retaliatory threats have forced open a abilities are too quick to see non-tariff al property to the trade in goods al­ foreign market" ("Why Trade Retalia­ barriers where brand loyalty, price or ready covered by GATT. It is being tion Closes Markets and Impoverishes quality differences, lack of repair facili­ sold as a global equivalent of the inter­ People," Cato Policy Analysis #143). ties, or already well-established trad­ state commerce clause of the u.S. Con­ GATT also relies on trade retalia­ stitution, as a guarantee of the right to ing patterns are to blamefor their prob­ buy and sell goods throughout the tion. Nations bring disputes before lems. To hear some firms tell it, any GATT, and a panel is convened to world. But it may prove instead to be lack of sales is a result of foreign pro­ more like the Interstate Commerce judge the merits of the charges. If a tectionism. Commission - a tool for the carteliza­ country is found guilty of blocking Will the WTO erase real impedi­ tion of economic activity, the exploita­ trade, the offended nation is entitled to ments to free trade, or will it pander to tion of consumers, and the suppres­ impose penalties against the offender's fears of pantomime protectionism? sion of economic liberty. imports. Despite its authorization of You have to wonder. this dubious practice, GAIT seems to For one thing, by widening the Revamping GATT have worked fairly well: tariffs have range of products covered by GAIT, Free trade needn't involve foreign been gradually reduced and world the WTO widens the scope of cross­ entanglements. It only requires remov­ trade has increased. It is important to retaliation against products not in­ ing a nation's own barriers to interna­ remember, though, that the system volved in the original dispute. Thus, tional exchange. But protectionism is a was never intended to promote free the WTO sharpens the sting of trade powerful force, and few legislators are trade per see Lower tariffs and in­ sanctions by allowing governments to eager to confront special interests out creased trade may have occurred de­ punish each other in ways that cause to escape foreign competition. So they spite GATT as much as because of it. the most pain, dragging unrelated pander to producers whose goods are At the same time, lower tariffs have businesses into a trade dispute: an blocked from other countries' markets. increased the importance of other American software firm, for example, 22 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

might be punished in retaliation for an participation" has become a code of Engineers to impose land use con­ American agricultural firm selling rice phrase for granting extraordinary pow­ trols on hundreds of millions of acres of too cheaply in Japan. ers to narrow pressure groups. The all­ private property under the guise of pro­ Clinton's negotiators, not known for too-likely beneficiaries of the public­ tecting "wetlands"? their staunch free trade principles, in­ participation provisions will be the Radical reinterpretations of such corporated some troublesome aspects of J'lprogressive" activist groups that have clear language have characterized most U.S. anti-dumping and countervailing done so much to politicize the U.S. domestic environmental statutes - the duties laws into the GATT agreement, economy. Endangered Species Act, various haz­ legitimizing the protectionist rules of One danger inherent in an un­ ardous waste laws, recycling mandates, the U.S. International Trade Commis­ weighted, veto-free voting system is etc. Why should we believe that free sion and the Department of Commerce. that such groups could work with for­ marketeers wHI be any better at stop­ European nations, in turn, insisted on eign protectionists to advance the ideo­ ping encroachments on "clear lan­ explicitly defining their industrial­ logues' domestic agendas. For example, guage" in the future than they have policy subsidies as acceptable trading a German firm might argue that Amer­ been in the past? practices. The Clintonites accepted ica's lower rates of recycling or higher Our past experience with multina­ these changes, which allow them to ex­ rates of energy consumption are J'l non­ tional agreements is cause for pessi­ pand the domestic subsidies they wish sustainable," and thus constitute an un- mism. When George Bush signed the to pursue. Combined with the Europe­ Global Climate Convention in Rio, he an demand to allow export rebates for assured us that it would be non­ energy taxes, GATT's subsidy provi­ Will the WTO pander to binding. Now the Clinton-Gore admin­ sions could encourage European-style istration has informed us that it is bind­ industrial policy in the U.S. and other fears of pantomime protection­ ing, committing the U.S. to reducing nations. ism? carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels Because the Uruguay Round of in­ by the year 2000. This administration ternational tariff-reduction negotiations has also suggested that the treaty may must be ratified as a trade agreement, fair trading practice. The EC has already be used to raise fuel economy stan­ the WTO will enjoy an enhanced status effectively excluded Spanish beer from dards, extending a deadly regulation as its global enforcement arm. The vot­ German markets by requiring that all that already causes thousands of high­ ing rules of this bureaucracy are differ­ beer be sold in reusable bottles. way fatalities each year. George Bush ent from those of the old GATT, where also signed Agenda 21, the Earth Sum­ decisions were made by consensus and Deceptive Greenspeak mit's blueprint for "sustainable devel­ voting procedures were rarely invoked. The Clinton Administration, sup­ opment" policies, including new re­ Like the United Nations General As­ ported by France and other nations, has strictions on global commerce rational­ sembly, every nation, regardless of size, pushed for a commission to consider ized on environmental grounds. The will have an equal vote in the WTO. how the WTO system should be U.N. Development Programme propos­ Larger nations will receive no Security modified to advance "fair," J'lsustaina­ es a global trade levy as an initial Council-style veto, nor will they benefit ble," and"socially just" trade. The dom­ means to that end. from weighted voting, as in the World inant multinational corporations, non­ The WTO's preamble, along with Bank and the International Monetary governmental organizations (NGOs), Keynesian goals of J'Ieffective demand" Fund. Moreover, unlike the old GATT, environmental activist groups, and gov­ and "full employment," affirms the the WTO envisions incremental, one-at­ ernment elites seem in general agree­ need for a greening of trade: a-time modifications in trade rules, ment that a more tightly managed • It asserts the importance of "al­ each voted on separately. GATT world trading system is preferable to a lowing for the optimal use of the rounds, by contrast, were package free one. In this context, one has to won­ world's resources in accordance deals - complex sets of negotiated tar­ der whether the WTO will advance or with the objective of sustainable iff reductions across a wide array of retard economic liberty. development, seeking both to pro­ goods traded by many nations. The WTO's preamble already incor­ tect and preserve the environment The United States found it much porates hortatory requirements that and enhance the means for doing easier to close unnecessary military trade be compatible with government­ so...." bases with a GATT-style package deal defined environmental goals and that it • WTO nations are committed to than with the WTO's incremental ap­ encourage J'lsustainable development." "harmonize" their technical regu­ proach. Will similar incentive problems America's experience with environmen­ lations and sanitary standards. hamper efforts to reduce trade barriers? tal laws provide good reasons to take Provision is made for nations to Moreover, the WTO rules encour­ such rhetoric seriously. The 1972 Clean adopt measures different from in­ age "public participation," ensuring a Water Act gives the federal government ternational standards, but only if change in the forces influencing future regulatory authority over the navigable they are more stringent. Down­ trade disputes. Mickey Kantor's claims waters of the United States. Who could ward harmonization is officially that these rules will make it easier for have dreamt that "navigable waters" discouraged, though not prohibit­ citizens' interests to be represented are would one day be interpreted so broad­ ed-yet. not to be believed. In the U.S., "public ly as to allow the EPA and Army Corps • The dispute settlement under- Liberty 23 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

standingallows nations and arbi­ plex and most likely ill-fated enter­ they have never been proponents of free tration panels to seekscientific and prise. Uniform rules that evolve trade, even under the nominally anti­ technical advice from any individ­ through voluntary arrangements are protectionist Reagan administration ual ororganization. NGOs will beneficial; those imposed by some ex­ At the WTO, U.S. economic inter­ enjoy more "public participation" ogenous authority are not. ests are all too likely to promote a rights under these procedures. quota approach to trade policy, to find • The Clinton administration The New World Trading Order "unfairness" in any lack of market pen­ fought to establish a WTO Com­ The wto's political centralization etration, to see the use of a language mittee on Trade and the Environ­ could come at the expense of our de­ other than English as a non-tariff barri­ ment at the insistence of Sen. Max centralized federal-state-Iocal relation­ er. And U.S. ideological interests are all Baucus (D-MT) and other congres­ ships. Writing in Commentary, Jeremy too likely to use the WTO to promote a sional environmentalists. It will Rabkin effectively describes what is at "social trade" agenda. develop modifications to WTO stake: policies in order to support"sus­ Sovereignty is not a matter of legal Exploiting the Third World tainable development," including formalities .... [The] erosion of sove­ Some WTO proponents have seen economic instruments, pollution reignty entails a blurring of the lines virtue in the power·the one-nation-one­ charges and environmental taxes, of accountability.... [T]he interna­ vote system gives to smaller nations, ar­ compulsory recycling, regulation tionalization of our domestic policy guing that the Third World has a strong of processes and production meth­ disputes adds one more - and po­ stake in free trade and will counterbal­ ods, packaging and labelling re­ tentially much larger and more intri­ ance the regulatory demands of the quirements, and "public participa­ cate - layer of technical confusion U.S., Europe, and Japan. But experience tion" rights. It may review any between public preferences and the with existing environmental treaties trade-related issue, including car­ excuses of politicians not to respond suggests they are wrong. bon taxes, levies on fossil fuels, to them. It makes government that The International Whaling Commis­ and transportation restrictions. much more obscure, remote, and in­ sion was intended to ensure sustaina­ • Thanks to French and American accessible to ordinary citizens. ble harvesting of whales, but has been pressure, a general committee will Consider our disastrous experiences transformed into an anti-development, address how the WTO can ensure with other global bureaucracies. GATT pro-animal-rights statute. Even Nor­ "basic rights" for workers - i.e., worked fairly well under its consensus way's Prime Minister Gro Harlem labor laws that produce unem­ rules, but it is an exception. More com­ Brundtland, the Joan of Arc of the ployment. mon is the phenomenal mischief­ Earth Summit, cannot control this pro­ Some analysts assert that such man­ making of the World Bank and IMP, cess; recently, she charged the Clinton­ aged trade policies merely represent a which have repeatedly destroyed econ­ Gore administration with caring more desirable extension of the Hayekian omies, bailed out state socialism, and ­ about whales than about people. Yet rule of law. That is nonsense. Hayek despite their newfound environmental­ few of the world's nations care enough saw no virtue in harmonization or stan­ ist rhetoric - wreaked enormous eco­ to oppose the movement to ban whal­ dardization for its own sake. He re­ logical damage. Recent internal audits ing - and those that do were outvoted minded us that legislation works best of the World Bank revealed a 37.5% fail­ by the NGO-influenced majority of na­ where customs, values, and language ure rate onits lending projects. Few IMF tions. are already shared. This world is not loan recipients have become economi­ Much of the Third World supported such a place. Attempting to impose a cally self-sufficient, and IMF condition­ the Basel Convention, an agreement "rule of law" on the international trad­ ality arrangements have led to in­ based on the premise that trade in haz­ ing system via the WTO, or any other creased taxation, "balanced" trade poli­ ardous waste services should be avoid­ centralized organization, will be a com- cies, and other destructive statist pro- ed wherever possible. Likewise, devel­ grams. oping countries signed on to the Con­ Institutions are vention on Trade in Endangered Spe­ shaped by the incen­ cies (CITES), pushed by European and tives they create. American environmental establishment GATT's focus on re­ groups seeking publicity and funding. ducing tariffs encour­ The effect of CITES is to punish nations aged a pro-trade bu­ with sound conservation programs. A reaucracy. By con­ handful of African nations are begin­ trast, the U.S. Interna­ ning to have second thoughts about tional Trade Commis­ CITES, but so far too few to yet have an sion, the Commerce impact. Department, and the These experiences illustrate that de­ U.S. Trade Represen- veloping nations are an ineffective 'Billoo tative are charged force for free trade. Worse, they dem­ "Could you possibly come back in a couple of months with ensuring "fair" onstrate that Third World elites have for this? I have to start serving a short sentence today." trade; for that reason, no compunction against betraying 24 Liberty The Cato Health Care Library A Comprehensive Case for Free-Market Health Policy Reform "Giving people choices in health care and instilling cost-consciousness is plain old common sense. In Medical Savings Accounts, Goodman and Musgrave have hit upon a bold concept that may revolu- tionize the way health care is delivered throughout America." -Sen. Phil Gramm

The biggest problem in U.S. health care is that consumers pay only about 20 percent of the costs directly so they have little incentive to shop wisely and hold costs down. The "Patient Power" plan would create tax-free Medical Savings Accounts to give consumers more clout. 135 pp., $4.95 Or get the comprehensive version of Patient Power: 673 pp., $16.95.

To order Patient Power or other Cato studies, Cato Institute call toll-free 1-800-767-1241 1000 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. (Monday-Frida)', noon to 9 p.m. EDT) Washington, D.C. 20001 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

their own people for personal gain. late" commerce, made cartelization im­ In the late twentieth century, firms Foreign aid cannot compensate the possible. Competition was inevitable operate in a global economy. Without a world for the damage done by protec­ and the nation prospered. global political entity to restrain trade, tionism and regulation, but it can buy Neither business nor politicians nor to "harmonize" regulations, to create a a lot of environmentalist Uncle Toms the "public interest" community were "level playing field," special interests ready to sell their fellow citizens down happy about this. In the late nineteenth and ideological groups lack the means the river. Will the Third World be cru­ century, economic interests (railroads of restricting competition. The value of cified on a cross of green? out to suppress competition) and ideo­ trade and the mobility of capital create logical interests (anti-market Progres­ the functional equivalent of the inter­ Global Cartels sives) pushed for a federal body able to state commerce clause that protected The late nineteenth century was the restrain competition. Together, this internal trade in the United States be­ era of robber-baron capitalism and Baptist-Bootlegger coalition succeeded fore the railroads and Progressives rapid economic growth. For the first in creating the Interstate Commerce managed to establish the ICC. time, many firms were operating at a Commission, which suppressed trans­ Today, economic interests (major national level. The interstate commerce portation competition for almost 100 multinational corporations) stressed by clause prevented Balkanization, while years under the guise of harmonizing global competitionjoin with ideological the lack of any federal political entity and ordering the patchwork of state interests (a powerful environmental able to protect a specific firm, to "regu- and local regulatory regimes. movement) to create the global equiva­ lent of the Interstate Commerce Com­ mission- an agency that could restrain Academic Stylel trade to ensure thatitis "sustainable." None of the other Bretton Woods An interesting question which has received comparatively little attention in the aca­ institutions - the World Bank, the demic literature is whether somebody prosecuted for tax evasion can be said to be IMF, the old GATT - can play this 2 prosecuted in any meaningful sense ofthe word. Indeed, the student of state perse­ global cartelization role. Nor could the cution is faced with a difficult task because so little research has been done, and the U.N. But the WTO might. literature on this topic is polemical rather than analytical, and must therefore be treat­ Like NAFTA, the WTO's merits will 3 ed with caution. be determined by seemingly marginal Professor John Kenneth Galbraith (Galbraith [1954], p. 295), in a carefully­ details - in particular, the actions of its reasoned argument, explicitly recognizes that "The more comprehensive the tax sys­ Committee on Trade and the Environ­ tem - the fewer the loopholes - the better it serves both equality and stabiliza­ ment. Disturbing trends have already tion."4 Although it is not clear what Galbraith means by "loopholes"s (and although begun to emerge from NAFTA's side I am not a brain surgeon), it apPears that broad historical trends support his argu­ agreements. The Mexican operations of ment. 6.7 But the reader must be careful (Himself [1996]) in interpreting this evi­ General Electric and Honeywell have dence.8 Obviously, more research is needed before a definitive conclusion can be been charged with violating NAFTA's drawn.9 -Pierre Lemieux10 labor laws, and both companies are Notes: now under investigation. Even if no for­ 1. I would like to thank my wife, Nancy, and my secretary, Pam, without the support of whom (including the latter's old IBM Selectric) this article could not have been written. I am also mal disciplinary action is taken, these grateful to an anonymous referee from this journal. Ofcourse, any remaining error is entirely companies will have been forced to mine. NSF Grant #192-370-568-5666780. 2. I am not concerned here with the moral aspects ofthe question. On this, see Rawls [1971]. spend substantial sums in their de­ 3. A good example is, of course, the little book by Frank Chodorov [1954], where the author fense, setting a grim example for other argues in a somewhat anecdotal fashion that the income tax breeds state persecution. businesses. Mexico has already been 4. Emphasis mine. 5. Recent reports (see the New York Times, June 3, 1994) of trouble with "potholes" may provide pressured into adopting U.S.-style laws a clue. regarding food inspection and the 6. See also Zaubennan ([1967}, p. 291): "... the Soviet model was designed in the Central Eco­ transportation of hazardous wastes. nomic Mathematical Institute of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (denoted thereafter as 'Ts'). Neither its numerical solutions nor its fate have been revealed. Nevertheless, it deserves our at­ And U.S. firms are being pressured to tention as an important stage in the history of fonnalized planning techniques." comply with U.S. toxic release invento­ 7. IfI understand Galbraith's argument correctly, it implies that the tax evader is a criminal. ry laws in Mexico, even though no law 8. I choose to avoid here the argument raised by Lysander Spooner (Spooner [1870]) to the effect that resisting robbery is legitimate. requires this as such. 9. Perhaps a little anecdote will help the reader understand the main thrust ofthe argument here. A IfNAFTA could already do so much friend ofmine who was mugged said that, on the other hand, he has never been prosecuted for damage, do we really have nothing to tax evasion. 10. Not the author. Article quoted from the Old England Journal ofMedicine. fear from the WTO? Sources: But even without these complexi­ Chodorov, Frank [1954], The Income Tax, Root ofAll Evil (Old Greenwich: Devin-Aldair). ties, the WTO deserves scrutiny. It is a Galbraith, John Kenneth [1973], Economics and the Public Purpose (New York: New Ameri­ GATT with teeth, and those teeth can can Library). Himself [1996], Textual Harassment in the Post-Modern World: A Preliminary Assessment of enable it to discipline protectionism. the Sensitivity-Challenged Society. Research Report #96-0000001, Trent University. They can also enable it to enforce pro­ Rawls, John [1971], A Theory ofJustice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Spooner, Lysander [1870], No Treason: The Constitution ofNo Authority (Boston). tectionism more effectively than ever Zaubennan, Alfred [1967], Aspects ofPlanometrics (London: Athlone Press). before. a Diagnosis

The Distended Public Sector by David Boaz

Our political leaders say the health care system is suffering from Baumol's Disease. As usual, they've got it wrong.

The United States has the highest quality health care in the world. At no previous time in history, and inno other country in the world, have we been able to cure as many people of as many injuries and diseases. But our medical triumphs have had side effects, one of the most obvi­ Price Trends: Health Care and Other Services vsthe CPI (1960=100) ous of which is rising costs. Medical costs have increased for many rea- 1,400 Education* sons, including new technology and our ability to keep very sick people 1,200 alive much longer. Another reason was identified in 1966 by economists William J. Baumol 1,000 and William G. Bowen. They called it "the cost disease of the personal ser­ 800 vices," but most economists call it Baumol's disease. The thesis that pro­ ductivity in personal services does not 600 improve has recently been forcefully advanced in the health care debate by 400 Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who ·:C::::::·:~~::dex argues, "Productivity in most sectors ...... ::,,:: ,..::.,., has improved dramatically in the past 200 200 years, but not in jobs such as the J....-==-~-~ arts, teaching, law, and health care, 0-1------+------+- +-__ which require a high level of personal 1960 1970 input." 1980 1990 He offers a persuasive example of * per-pupil education spending how personal services resist produc­ 1793. Why? In 1793 perhaps a few more dramatically, the performance tivity improvement: "In 1793 to 'pro­ hundred people could hear each can be broadcast over radio and tele­ duce' a Mozart quartet required four performance, and it was difficult and vision to reach millions of listeners at persons, four stringed instruments, expensive for the players to move on once. Or it can be recorded and dis­ and, say, 35 minutes. To produce a to the next town where several hun­ tributed worldwide on records, tapes, Mozart quartet today requires - four dred more people might gather. or compact discs. Thus, despite the persons, four stringed instruments, 35 Today, however, the musicians can apparent lack of any change in musi­ minutes." Yet many more of us can travel by bus, train, or airplane and cal productivity, people today have hear a Mozart quartet today than in reach many more audiences. Even the output of dozens of musical Liberty 27 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

groups at their fingertips. stein provides don't support his - or , tance, medical inflation heats up. And Moynihan identifies a number of Moynihan's - point. Look at the ac­ private-sector spending on medical services afflicted with Baumol's dis­ companying figure (preceding page). care rose only 1.3% a year between ease: "The services in question, which I The cost of auto repair, a service 1960 and 1990, while government call The Stagnant Services, included, provided almost entirely in the private spending rose more than three times as most notably, health care, education, sector, has barely outpaced inflation. fast - 4.3% a year. legal services, welfare programs for the The cost of medical care increased When services are provided pri­ poor, postal service, police protection, twice as fast as inflation. Government's vately, and consumers can decide sanitation services, repair services ... share of medical spending increased whether to purchase them or choose and others." He points out that many of from 33% in 1960 to 53% in 1990. another provider or do without, there's those are provided by government and Meanwhile, the cost of education, al­ a powerful incentive to improve pro­ posits that "activities with cost disease most entirely provided by government, ductivity and keep costs down. Stag­ migrate to the public sector." increased three times as fast as inflation nant productivity in government-run But maybe he has it backwards. - despite the constant complaints services reflects not so much Baumol's Maybe activities that migrate to the about underfunded schools. disease as what we might call Clinton's public sector become afflicted with cost The lesson seems plain: Services disease: the notion - even now, in disease. The conservative magazine provided by government are afflicted 1994 - that government can provide National Review - which, surprisingly, with Baumol's disease in spades. services more efficiently and cost­ seems to accept Moynihan's thesis ­ Services provided in the private sector, effectively than can the marketplace. has inadvertently supplied us with where people spend their own money, Senator Moynihan says the lesson of some evidence on this point. are much less likely to soar in cost. all this is that health care costs will keep Ed Rubinstein, National Review's ec­ Medical care is a good area in which rising as a percentage ofour national in­ onomic analyst, writes, "For more than to test this theory because over the past come no matter how we pay for medi­ three decades health-care spending has 30 years it has been paid for in three cal care. But the evidence points to a grown faster than national income.... different ways: out-of-pocket spending different lesson: that people spend their The trend in health-care costs is no dif­ by consumers; insurance payments, own money more carefully than any ferent from that of other services." He mostly provided by emp~oyers; and senator orbureaucratcan. To keep costs cites education and auto repair as ex­ government payments. As out-of­ down, bring health care back into the amples. However, the numbers Rubin- pocket spending declines in impor- competitive marketplace. CI Who is the slickest operator in Washington? Do you know what economics book is even more dangerous than Keynes' General Theory? Laissez-Faire Report CKtgMr 1m Vol XXI Do you know which economic theory, once dead and buried, is being A Dangerous Book trotted out by establishment economists as the cure-all for America's The Theory ofSanctions ills? The Malpractice Solution Do you know the labor group that has the coziest deal ofall with the Richard Milhous Nixon government and why it could have a major impact on your life? Inflation Watch The answers to these questions and many more are found in the Institute for the Study of Power, Media and Hypocrisy Economics' monthly newsletter The Laissez-Faire Report. To begin your six-month Anti-Kessler subscription at the special trial rate of $9 and also receive as a bonus at no extra charge The Cupcake Lobby the two recent back issues of The Laissez-Faire Report with the answers to the above questions, fill out the coupon below and mail your check or money order for $9 to The Institute for the Study ofEconomics, 13237 Montfort, Suite 544, Dallas, TX 75240-5185. ~------li/; Yes, enclosed· is $9 for the special six-month trial subscription to the Laissez-Faire Report. I understand I will also receive the two bonus The Institute for the Study issues at no extra charge. ofEconomics Name 13237 Montfort, Suite 544 Address------Dallas, TX 75240-5185 City ------State Zip _ Synthesis

Deep Ecology Meets the Market by Gus diZerega

Could the next step in libertarian evolution be radical environmentalism?

Classical liberalism upholds the ideal of mutually beneficial voluntary relation­ ships. It also recognizes that, in dealing with people we do not know well, we are more likely to enter into such relationships when their boundaries and conditions are clearly defined. From these insights rises the case for property rights, con- tract, and other procedural rules that promote cooperation. like of collectivist thought, and an ad­ who existed fully formed, the product Environmental issues pose a sharp miration for the principles of the of his Creator. Economic Man is also challenge to libertarian and classical American Revolution. But their differ­ an abstraction without a past. liberal thought. Ecological problems ences are as important as their similar­ This theoretical timelessness of in­ are usually characterized by permea­ ities, particularly where the questions dividualist liberal models is impor­ ble boundaries and by the unexpected raised by ecology are concerned. tant, because when we conceive of negative consequences of even volun­ Individualist classical liberalism people as having childhoods, pasts, tary relationships. The environment has been expounded by John Locke important formative experiences, dif­ complicates and challenges traditional and Tom Paine; contemporary repre­ ferent issues and questions are raised. libertarian conceptions of the social sentatives include Murray Rothbard, In particular, we become sensitive to and natural worlds. Ayn Rand, and Milton Friedman. The the fact that actual individuals exist in This challenge is particularly individualist approach dominates the time, changing as they grow up, in pointed in "deep ecology," the view contemporary classical liberal intellec­ part because of their socialization. that the nonhuman world has value tual world. Though its adherents dif­ Even our minds are embedded inex­ and claims to our regard whether or fer on many issues, they all share a tricably in society, as F.A. Hayek not we find it useful for our own common focus on the individual as pointed out. Individualist libertarians ends.1 Deep ecologists argue that the basic and irreducible unit of socie­ would not deny that real people have there is an ethical dimension to our ty. And they all employ boundaries pasts, of course, but they do not treat dealings with nature, even when the and/or rights as the fundamental this fact as theoretically important. interests of other human beings are components of their worldview and Evolutionary liberals have includ­ not involved. the basic analytical tools for describ­ ed David Hume, Adam Smith, James ing the good society. Madison, and Alexis de Tocqueville. Two Classical Liberalisms A useful way to determine wheth­ Perhaps the most important contem­ The modern libertarian and classi­ er a thinker is an individualist (as I porary evolutionary liberal has been cal liberal community contains two use the term) is to ask whether his or Hayek, but Alfred Schutz and Peter basic intellectual orientations, individ­ her analytical individual had a child­ Berger also deserve mention. This ualist liberalism and evolutionary liberal­ hood. John Galt had no childhood group emphasizes the insight that in­ ism. Both evince a commitment to vol­ that anyone ever noticed; he sprang dividuals are members of societies untary agreement as the social ideal, a forth full-grown as a force of nature that powerfully mold and influence belief in the virtues of the market, a (or, perhaps, of rationality). Neither them, that they are products of social suspicion of political coercion, a dis- did Locke's man in the state of nature, institutions even as they simultane- Liberty 29 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

ously create and uphold those institu­ pIe black-and-white categories. sentiments - in particular, the central tions. The evolutionary liberals recog­ This is not an environmental strate­ role played in human affairs by sympa­ nize that social institutions evolve over gy. This is a muddle.2 thy. By "sympathy," Hume and Smith time, often in ways that those whose Other individualist liberals con­ meant a' quality more like what we actions maintain those institutions can­ fronted with this problem have agreed would now call "empathy": our capaci­ not foresee. that trade-offs must be made. But on ty for fellow feeling, for putting our­ Consequently, evolutionary liberals what basis? The individualist frame­ selves in the place of another. focus on the relationships that generate, work offers no very helpful standard In this view, sympathy and self­ maintain, and alter the social web. To for balancing the sanctity of the body interest are deeply and inextricably the extent that a society is free, proced­ and the inevitability of pollution. In linked. When a person acts in what we ural rules channel human action to fa­ the absence of a workable system of in­ today call one's rational self-interest, cilitate voluntary cooperation. Evo­ violable rights, individualist liberalism one acts for ,one's long-term well­ lutionary liberals are sparing in their tends to opt for the vague platitudes of being, overriding the impulse for im­ theoretical use of abstract individuals, utilitarianism. And over time, utilitari­ mediate gratification. How is this pos­ an logic takes the individualist liberal sible? Only through the human capaci­ position ever farther from respect for ty for sympathetic identification. The ecological community, the market and limited government. The future self one imagines and to­ like the market, is a spontane­ I am not arguing that individualist ward whose good one is devoted does not exist yet. It is a hypothetical con­ ous order. liberals have nothing of value to say about environmental issues. Indeed, struct. We imagine our present self in some problems can be dealt with very the place of that future self and ask our­ effectively within their framework. But selves what we can do today to improve because for them the concrete particu­ overall, the ecological insight that that future self's well-being. Often, larity of real individuals is at least as boundaries cannot be dearly and un­ when the future arrives, we find that we important in understanding society. ambiguously defined presents the indi­ werewrong; whatwe thoughtwewant­ vidualist liberal with intractable, and ed no longer meets our expectations or The Environmental desires. But even more often, we find ultimately fatal, problems. Challenge thatwewere at least partially right. Deep ecology poses a different chal­ Sometimes the individualist answer This argument leads directly to a lenge to evolutionary liberalism. The to environmental questions is extreme, novel critique of ethical egoism. In deep ecologists argue that it is not only even silly. A good example is Murray order to act in our long-term self- Rothbard's argument for an absolute our relationships with one another that prohibition on pollution, on the carry moral weight, but also our rela­ grounds that pollution constitutes tres­ tions with the natural world. Though Sometimes the individualist pass (expounded in "Law, Property this dimension has been largely unex­ Rights, and Air Pollution," The Cato plored by evolutionary liberals, in­ answer to environmental ques­ Journal 2:1, Spring 1982). Confronted sights the evolutionists have devel­ tions is silly. A good example with the observation that this would oped to address other questions can be is Rothbard's argument for an prevent even a single internal combus­ put to powerful and sometimes sur­ tion engine - one would inevitably prising use when applied to environ­ absolute prohibition on pollu­ produce some pollution that can blow mental issues, as we shall see. tion. somewhere - Rothbard shifts to saying Interestingly, the core strengths of that to be prohibited, boundary­ individualist liberalism can also be pre­ crossings must interfere with a person's served in the process, particularly its interest, we must have the capacity to "use and enjoyment." This sounds rea­ emphasis on human rights that tran­ act in the interests of others. Imagining sonable at first - but what about the scend mere custom. But these rights the circumstances of our future self is production of noxious photons? are derived from an ethical insight no less an act of empathetic identifica­ In fact, the "use and enjoyment" cri­ more basic than the one the individual­ tion thaR acting to help another person teria is weaker than it seems. Rothbard ists have offered. in need right now. Concern for others demands such rigorous standards of and concern for our future self are two evidence to prove "aggression" that Sympathy sides of the same coin. just about any pollution arising from While the early evolutionary liber­ Sympathy is partly a rational facul­ many independent sources cannot als put little faith in a Biblical deriva­ ty, but it is not reducible to reason. Our even be reduced, because the aggressor tion of rights (a la Locke) or equally ab­ care for a concrete other's well-being is responsible for each particular injury stract formulations from non­ not derivable from abstract reason. It is, cannot be determined. Because of his theological sources, they did have an however, fundamental to our capacity focus on inviolate boundaries, Roth­ alternative - and, in my view, more as a human being. We can develop or bard fails to confront the fact that no defensible - foundation for ethics, de­ stifle our capacity for sympathy, as boundary is perfectly inviolate. We are veloped by David Hume and Adam with many other traits, but without it in a world of more and less, not of sim- Smith. This was the theory of moral we would not be fully human. 30 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

Sociopaths, bereft of this quality, seem what is respected can never appropri­ for the farger society, but we are not in­ somehow inhuman; significantly, they ately be treated purely as a means to timate with them. Respect manifests are rarely able to act in their Qwn long­ an end. Something respected never here as being a "good neighbor." term well-being. Instrumental reason counts for nothing. Its interests carry This is why theories of rights seem alone is unable to take one very far or weight when we make a decision, and so useless in real-world situations that very enjoyably in life. if they are overridden, they are over­ do not involve impersonal relation­ ridden with genuine and thoughtful re­ ships among equals - that is to say, Human Uniqueness gret. At a minimum, respect means with most moral dilemmas we encoun­ Sympathy does not stop at the spe­ that the vital interests of one communi­ ter. It is also why attempts to convinc­ cies boundary. As Hume observed, we ty member will not be sacrificed to the ingly derive rights from our funda­ also sympathize with animals. The minor interests of another. mental qualities of humanness are so more akin an animal seems to our­ We participate in many communi­ unconvincing. Liberal rights to free­ selves, the more easily we can sympa­ ties. Some are specific to us as individ­ dom of speech and the rest are not fun­ thize with it. It is easier to sympathize uals with particular interests. Others damental terms, but secondary con­ with a cat or dog than with a lizard, cepts, derived from respect for others and easier to sympathize with a lizard in the context of a large community. than a worm. This judgment of similar­ Respect also carries potent environ­ ity is no more a subjective fantasy than In order to act in our long­ mental implications. Unlike a free is our capacity to understand other term self-interest, we must human society, the natural community people, including our future selves. have the capacity to act in the rests on a base of mutual predation; Nor is it "anthropomorphizing," for this is the fundamental truth that ren­ we do not regard cats and lizards as lit­ interests of others. ders animal rights theories absurd. But tle men and women.3 the necessity to eat or otherwise con­ This sympathetic capacity of ours sume others does not mean that they carries an unexpected implication. As are without moral value. Aldo Leopold once noted, if human be­ apply to all human beings, in the sense Respect in the natural world exists ings were to go extinct, no other form that if someone does not participate in at two levels. First, there is respect for of life would give it a moment's notice. one, we regard that condition as unfor­ other forms of life, so that we are But plenty of people cared when pas­ tunate. These basic, universal levels of mindful of our impact on them.5 senger pigeons died out, and all felt it association - family, neighborhood, was a shame. Here, Leopold wrote, polity, planet - are pested within one Second, there is respect for the grand was "something new under the sun." another. And though respect is a con­ ecological community within which all Our capacity to care about the well­ stant, its form is community-specific. forms of life live. There is an interest­ being of forms of life of no instrumen­ For example, within the community ing parallel here between the form re­ tal use to us, species many of us have of equal human beings, respect means spect for others takes when we deal never seen, seems truly unique. recognizing the rights of abstract indi­ with people personally, and the form it This carries an interesting message viduals - the individualist liberal's takes when we consider the rules ap­ for those who emphasize human ideal. Within the intimate community propriate to abstract relationships uniqueness. Our capacity to care for of the family, it takes a much different within the larger human society. others whom we have never met and form. If you are having a disagreement who can be of no conceivable use to us, with your spouse, one comment it is Principles Over Expediency other than to provide the reassurance most definitely not wise to make is, "I The ecological community, like the that yes, they exist, is our most unique have the right to say whatever I market, is a spontaneous order. In both human trait. Far from evidencing a please!" That may be a right of citizens, ecosystems and markets, you cannot lack of concern for human well-being, but it is not a prerogative of lovers. do just one thing; each is ordered by a deep ecology rests on the most purely A third community encompasses process of mutual adjustment among human quality we can exhibit.4 We the village, neighborhood, or immedi­ its components. Most environmental­ care about passenger pigeons because ate geographical area we are most like­ ists forget this truth about the market at some level we realize it is good to be ly to call "home." It includes far more and most market advocates forget this alive, and that this goodness is not ap­ people than a family, and we will be truth about the environment. plicable only to ourselves. Life may not familiar with a great many of them, at Hayek observed that the gains from be the ultimate goodness, but it is an least by sight. But most will not be per­ any particular intervention within the important value nonetheless. This in­ sonally close to us. Jefferson and de market process will usually appear to sight leads to respect for other liVing be­ Tocqueville both emphasized the im­ outweigh the losses. The gain is visible; ings, human and otherwise. portance of this level of community in the losses frequently aren't. To a signif­ maintaining the fabric of a free society. icant extent, we do not know what the Respect In it, our relationships are neither losses are. This is why Hayek said that Respect, at this level of discussion, deeply personal nor completely imper­ principle rather than expediency must is too abstract to provide us much sonal. People's individual preferences be our guide in public policy. Expe­ guidance. It means, minimally, that matter to us in a way that is not true diency is irreducibly myopic. Liberty 31 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

This guideline - principle over ex­ viability. Because of our necessarily that system irrevocably - and, fre­ pediency - is equally applicable to the consumptive relationship with other quently, to reduce its capacity to sup­ ecological community, for exactly the forms of life, no environmental rules port life. On a small scale, this is not a same reasons. can have the absolute character of significant problem. On a large scale, it In the economic realm, following those that undedy liberal society. But is. It becomes the ecological equivalent principle means not subjecting the neither are they merely matters of per­ of capital consumption. market process to rules that contradict sonal taste. They are best conceived as Farming should not degrade farm the procedural rules establishing the basic orientations that can be occasion­ land. Fisheries should not be rendered market order in the first place. In the ally overridden - but with the burden unviable. Forests should not be de­ environmental arena, we should not of justification always resting on those stroyed. The purity of surface and override basic rules or principles that who would override. ground water should not be seriously are necessary for maintaining the envi­ It seems to me that there are three degraded. Of course, we can convert ronmental community. such principles: one resource into another - turning So long as human numbers were 1. A strong presumption against non­ forest into farmland, for example, and relatively small and society's impact recyclable and non-biodegradable products. vice versa. But in those cases the basic on its environment relatively mild, 2. No prolonged degradation ofrenewa­ fertility of soil and water should not be these issues would not assume central ble resources, such as soil, water, fisheries, injured. No ecologically significant importance. Nature is resilient. But and (when they are being used in their re­ community should be completely de­ there are limits to this resilience, and as source capacity) forests. stroyed, and given the complexity of they are approached we need to take 3. A diverse flora and fauna. No extinc­ ecologies, the presumption should be these issues into account. The analo­ tions of life forms not actively injurious to in favor of maintaining communities. gous principle in the market is that humans. For example, many crops depend upon when interventions are small and inter­ Ecological communities are sus­ wild relatives for genes essential to re­ mittent - e.g., isolated minor theft ­ tained by processes that continually re­ pelling insects and disease. When the impact on the market order is tiny. cycle resources throughout the web of those relatives are gone, the safety of The basic principle for maintaining life. The wastes of one life form are the our own agriculture is imperiled. an ecological community is to do noth­ nutrients of another. To remove a re­ Human population has expanded ing that will undermine its long-term source from an ecosystem is to change to a point where few ecosystems re-

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SPECIAL BANQUET SPEAKER: THOMAS S. SZASZ, M.D. PLus: DOMINICK ARMENTANO JACOB HORNBERGER DOUG BANDOW RALPH RAICO JAMES BOVARD SHELDON RICHMAN Roy CORDATO MARK SKOUSEN RICHARD EBELING DOUG CASEY ROGER GARRISON JOE SOBRAN At The Ramada Renaissance in Herndon Virginia - 5 Minutes From Dulles Airport For Reservations And Information Write or Call: The Future ofFreedom FOWldation, 11350 Random Hills Road, Suite 800, Fairfax, VA 22030 (703) 934-6101 • Fax: (703) 803-1480 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

main uninfluenced by our needs. Even rive finally. They should realize that it In 1600 there were about 9,000 species wilderness can no longer simply be left also arrives for environmental de­ of bird alive. Eighty-eight are proven alone: it now covers so little area that gradation. to be extinct beyond all shadow of once-minor local fluctuations can To be sure, there is always a certain doubt, 1,029 are at severe risk of extinc­ today be devastating. This does not base rate of extinction. But this does tion, and 637 are close to that point. mean that humanity should be exclud­ not carry the implications that those Many birds ranked at "severe risk" ed from the natural world. But it does who cite it usually intend. The base have not been seen for years. The argue for maximizing co-existence, rate of extinction is extremely low - at threat is increasing with the growing limited only by the need to control in­ a human scale, essentially zero. Over human impact upon the natural world. jurious disease organisms and their the past 600 million years, the extinc­ The mammals, fish, and birds that sur­ vectors. tion rate has averaged .25% per 10,000 vived often have their numbers and History provides many examples of years. This average includes rare large range greatly reduced - again, leav­ societies seriously injured by their fail­ extinctions such as that caused by the ing them vulnerable to chance events ure to observe such rules. To destroy a meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs that earlier would have had no major naturally replenishing process and and 65% of all species worldwide. impact on the species as a whole.7 substitute an artificial method based Unless first stressed by a catastrophic It is no exaggeration to say that on non-renewable resources is the event that reduces their numbers and human action has had a catastrophic height of short-term thinking, even if range, most species are very resilient. impact upon the variety of life on the day of reckoning lies 100 years in Only when numbers and range are Earth. It is hard to imagine a more de­ the future. Destroying topsoil and rely­ radically reduced can the many local structive flouting of the principles that ing on chemical fertilizer instead is an events that cut into a species' numbers maintain an ecological community excellent example of such foolishness, actually extinguish it. 6 than the extermination of large por­ however great the short-term gain. In human terms, the base rate of ex­ tions of the community. In short: the time-frame of individ­ tinction over the past few centuries There is a fourth principle - one ual human beings is different from the should have been almost nothing. It that grows from the implications of time-frame of restorative processes. has been vastly greater than that, and being human, rather than from the Market economists are fond of remind­ has concentrated on the larger forms of need to maintain a viable ecological ing us that Keynes' "long run" does ar- life: mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. community:

"The perfect antidote against the Clintonian poison of socialized medicine." Thomas S. Szasz "Ifwe need more proof that gov­ ernment schools are in a shambles and that privatization and parental r.•..•. '., choice are the solutions, this book ~;':',::?" makes a powerful contribution." ;.

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4. Nothing living can be appropriately exhibit decent behavior. reconsidering their views than libertar­ treated as a pure means. Nonetheless, a case can be made for ians. That's not to say that they're easy This is a rejection of the despotic action more vigorous than simple per­ sells. It's just that environmentalists notion of property rights as applied to suasion, particularly where preventing (many of them, anyway) are concerned living beings. Interestingly, this idea­ extinctions is concerned. The reason is more with outcomes than with ideo­ lilt is mine to do with as I will" - is obvious. Once a form of life is· gone, logical purity. And the state is lousy at central to individualist liberalism. An it's gone for good. Even in Jurassic producing good outcomes. ideology devoted to fighting against Park, the dinosaurs were part frog. The heated division between envi­ despotism. carries at its very core a Still, even here, the traditional ap­ ronmentalists and market advocates commitment to despotism in another proach of "passing a law" is usually does neither side any good. Any con­ context. Much more appropriate is the unwise, save perhaps for prohibiting sistent libertarian philosophical posi­ idea of stewardship, where ownership acts of deliberate destruction. The "tak­ tion must accord legitimacy to the con­ implies responsibilities as well as ings" clause in the Endangered Species cerns and pdnciples of the deep Act, for example, is certainly far too rights, and not unlimited arbitrary ecologists. Serious dialogue is needed. vague. Indeed, the Act has created a se­ power. Seeing how their views can fit to­ vere backlash when applied to private gether does not require either side to Environment and State land, because it pits species against convert in toto to the other's point of Whether these principles should landowners in a zero-sum contest. If it view. But both must change. Both must is not amended intelligently, it may ac­ have the force of law is not a moral listen to what the best representatives tually undermine species recovery. issue, but a practical one. For the most of the other position are saying, rather Environmental intervention might part, I believe that they should not. than simply reading publicists and al­ best be compared to wartime. Oc­ For one thing, there is not yet a sub­ lowing the popular press's penchant casionally, defense against a serious for sound bites, extreme statements, stantial social consensus in favor of threat to the free human community is and short paragraphs to stand in un­ them. If there were, there would be a necessary. In my opinion, World War derstanding's way. CJ stronger case for applying legal sanc- IT was such a case, particularly the European theater; so was strengthen­ 1. Prominent deep ecologists include the ing Western Europe against a Soviet Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess, who At best, government is a invasion. But using government to coined the term; the poet Gary Snyder; stopgap, a dangerous and un­ repel a threat is not costless. The state Aldo Leopold, the founder of wildlife grows, and no one has yet managed to management and the most influential reliable one. American ecological writer of the century; shrink it back to a safer level. Further, the impossible-to-categorize Dolores maintaining a permanent wartime LaChapelle; and a handful of other footing is very dangerous for a free so­ philosophers, including the Americans tions to those who flout them. Even ciety. In an emergency, the state Michael Zimmerman, Holmes Rolston III, then, the principles would be far better should get in - and then get out. J. Baird Callicott, and Joanna Macy; the enforced by common law, deposit leg­ When it does not get out, it inevitably Canadian Alan Drengson; and the islation, and the like than by stringent does serious damage. Australian Warwick Fox. The same principle holds for those 2. I am indebted to Jeffrey Friedman for the legal action. Serious transgressions basic details of this critique of Rothbard's aside, many of these precepts are more very rare cases where there may be a position. See Friedman, Upolitics or akin to moral principles which, while case for political protection of a rare Scholarship?" Critical Review 6:2-3, pp. necessary for a decent society, are inap­ form of life or other vital environmen­ 432-437. propriate for legal intervention. An tal value. At best, government is a 3. Mary Midgley, Animals and Why They analogous case is preventing sexual stopgap, a dangerous and unreliable Matter, (University of Georgia Press, 1983) one. We have seen the ways our na­ pp. 125-133. harassment. 4. Scott McVay, uPrelude: A Siamese In addition, there is another institu­ tional parks have been damaged by po­ litical control and the distorted priori­ Connexion with a Plurality of Other tion standing between the individual Mortals," The Biophilia Hypothesis, Stephen ties it brings.s Once established, such and the state that is far more suited for Kellert and Edward O. Wilson, eds. (Island parks should have been depoliticized. enforcement of moral norms: the com­ Press, 1993) pp. 6-7. The same principle holds for emergen­ munity, in de Tocqueville and Jeffer­ 5. An excellent discussion of this can be cy species protection. found in Richard Nelson's The Island son's sense. It is in this intermediate When collective action is necessary, Within (North Point Press, 1989). realm that mores that aren't appropri­ it should harmonize private interests 6. David M. Raup, Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad ate for the legal system to enforce are with other communities' needs, not Luck? (Norton, 1991). best maintained. Why give yet another put the two at odds. Positive incentives 7. Colin Tudge, Last Animals at the Zoo: How Mass Extinction Can Be Stopped, (Island task to the state, which already does are always better than punitive ones. much too much, much too badly? We Press, 1992), pp. 33-34. 8. For one example, see Karl Hess, Jr., Rocky would be better off strengthening local Toward Dialogue Times in Rocky Mountain National Park: An associations, so that they can apply so­ In my own experience, I have Unnatural History, (University of Colorado cial pressures against those who fail to found environmentalists more open to Press, 1993). 34 Liberty Debunkin9-

Talking Sex, Not Gender by Wendy McElroy

Too many feminists have turned their backs on the body's politics.

Today's allegedly fresh, radical perspectives on sex usually tum out to be little more than stale gender-politics postures. Everything you hear, everywhere you look, women are presented only as victims of sex. Rape, prostitution, pomography, domestic violence, sexual harassment - the list of sexual oppressions scrolls on. There is no question: it is a danger­ ous world. But it is also a world of faction within feminism, their ideolo­ feminism's entire approach to sex. possibilities and pleasures. As a femi­ gy has had an impact on the entire Modern feminism has drifted so far nist who remembers "women's libera­ movement, like a truck. from its '60s roots that sexual libera­ tion" and the "sexual revolution," I The extremes of gender politics tion is often viewed as a mere pretext have been left dazed, wondering and analysis can be found in the to exploit women. where the joy in feminism has gone. I works of such radical theorists as An­ In 1971, "J" published a bestselling miss the open, rollicking attitude of drea Dworkin. Dworkin's view of het­ book entitled The Sensuous Woman, in the '60s and early '70s, that brief, erosexual intercourse, as expressed in which she urged women to break happy period when women were en­ her book Pornography: Men Possessing down inner barriers to the panoramic couraged to enjoy - to demand! ­ Women, is typical: pleasures of sex: the bounty of pleasure within their Force - the violence of the male Does the idea of putting a man's own bodies. AIDS and a constellation confirming his masculinity - is penis in your mouth revolt you? If of other dangers have changed sexual seen as the essential purpose of the so, you are probably a typical prod­ mores for us all, but AIDS cannot ex­ penis, its animating principle as it uct of current taboos against oral plain the "feminist" backlash against were, just as sperm ideally impreg­ gratification.... Actually, kissing a the safest sort of safe sex: consuming nates the woman either without ref­ man's penis is a lot less insanitary pornography. erence to or against her will. This [sic] than kissing him on the mouth. A shift has occurred in the move­ penis must embody the violence of ... It never occurred to me that I ment's approach to sex, and it is a the male in order for him to be would ever find oral sex fulfilling, change in kind, not degree. All humor male. Violence is male; the male is but thanks to an explosive experi­ and joy in women's sexual power the penis; violence is the penis or ence with a wildly uninhibited seems to have deserted feminism. No the sperm ejaculated from it. What man, I finally tuned into the joys of longer a source of pleasure for the penis can do it must do forcibly oral gratification. (pp. 78-9) women, sex (we are told) has become for a man to be a man. (p. 55) Today, radical feminists would a key to their oppression. This shift Dworkin and her cohorts are often roast The Sensuous Woman over a con­ has been ideological; it has come from dismissed as an extremist minority, flagration of gender outrage. Or they the increasing prevalence of "gender the gender guerrillas of the move­ would dismiss the author with an ad politics," from the increasing preva­ ment. But radical feminist ideas have hominem argument: "J," they would lence of radical feminist ideas. Al­ increased in popularity over the last say, has been so damaged by white though radical feminists are only one two decades, in the process redefining male culture that she has lost all true Liberty 35 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

sense of gender identity. For a growing the private property of man, while practice, to all women in our society." number of feminists, sex is now accept­ his are the ancient, holy, universal, ("Should Feminists Oppose Prostitu­ able only when the right attitudes or patriarchal instrument of his power, tion?," Ethics 99:349). politics are attached to it. his rule by force over her. Porno­ And what about the prostitute's Unfortunately, one of the first casu­ graphy is the undiluted essence of right to choose? What about "a alties of the gender war was the sexual anti-female propaganda. (p. 201) woman's body, a woman's right"? The liberalism of the feminists of the 1960s. Pornography is the policy, rape is radical feminists give it a pass. "By ac­ Their libertarian goals were freedom the practice. A cause-and-effect rela­ knowledging the social context of and choice: "a woman's body, a tionship is drawn between viewing choice in which some women decide to woman's right." Radical feminists, by pornographic material and raping prostitute," writes Io Ann Miller in Sex­ contrast, seek to restrict individual women. Often, pornography is consid­ ual Coercion, "we can understand how choice, through (for example) laws that ered an act of violence in and of itself. prostitution is exploitation and an act By restricting a woman's ability to of coercion. It cannot be viewed simply consume or otherwise participate in as a voluntary decision" (p. 50). Modern feminism has drift­ pornography, radical feminists claim The very possibility ofchoice within to be expanding her options. Why? Be­ prostitution is defined awayby the con­ ed so far from its '60s roots cause, by definition, no women will­ cept of "economic coercion." Because that sexual liberation is often ingly engages in pornography. Any capitalism badly undervalues the labor viewed as a mere pretext to ex­ woman who believes she has consent­ of women, the argument goes, they ed - by signing a contract or renting a have little choice but to sell their bodies. ploit women. video, for example - has been psycho­ By this standard, of course, all forms of logically damaged and must be res­ wage-labor could be (and often are) cued. Minneapolis' anti-pornography viewed as economic coercion. limit pornography and the ability of ordinance, drafted with radical femi­ Other theories that purport to ex­ women to participate in or consume it. nist support, was crystal-clear about plain away prostitutes' apparent con­ In Catharine MacKinnon's words: "If the mental competence of women who sent are more sophisticated. In Sexual pornography is part of your sexuality, choose to work in pornography: they Contract, Carole Pateman argues that then you have no right to your are in the same category as children. the very concept of contract is itself a sexuality." To quote from the law itself: part of patriarchy. She contrasts the This is political correctness pushed Children are incapable of consenting "social contract," by which rights are one step further: a regime of sexual defined, with what she calls the "sexu- correctness. to engage in pornographic conduct, Radical feminists have re-examined even absent physical coercion, and therefore require special protection. virtually every sexual issue, each time By the same token, the physical and employing a similar process. First they AIDS cannot explain the psychological well-being of women define the nature and effects of a sexu­ ought to be afforded comparable ''feminist'' backlash against the al activity. Then it is explained how protection, for the coercive environ­ safest sort of safe sex: consum­ suppressing this activity supposedly ment in which most pornographic expands the true range of women's models work vitiates any notion that ing pornography. choices. they consent or "choose" to perform in pornography. Methodology of al contract," by which roles were set. This patronizing attitude is what Marginalization Pateman contends that while the social the more individualistic feminist Ca­ As an illustration, consider how contract gave freedom to males, the mille Paglia has called "coercive radical feminists typically address two sexual contract insured the oppression compassion." issues: pornography and prostitution. of women: Prostitutes are censured by a simi­ The "radical" perspective on the na­ lar means. First, prostitution is defined The social contract is a story of free­ ture of pornography is well expressed dom; the sexual contract is a story of as a form of sexual exploitation and by Susan Brownmiller in her pivotal subjugation. The original contract sexual coercion. The effect of prostitu­ work, Against Our Will: constitutes both freedom and domi­ tion is to damage the prostitute - and, nation. Men's freedom and women's Pornography, like rape, is a male in­ less directly, all other women, since it is vention, designed to dehumanize subjection are created.... The origi­ allegedly one of the props supporting women, to reduce the female to an nal contract creates what I shall call, patriarchal capitalism. In L. Schrage's object of sexual access, not to free following Adrienne Rich, "the law of sensuality from moralistic or paren­ words, "Because of the cultural context male sex-right." Contract is far from tal inhibition. The staple of porn will in which prostitution operates, it epito­ being opposed to patriarchy; con­ always be the naked body, breasts mizes and perpetuates pernicious pa­ tract is the means through which and genital exposed, because as man triarchal beliefs and values and, there­ modem patriarchy is constituted. devised it, her naked body is the fe­ fore, is both damaging to the women Despite such explanations, the male's "shame," her private parts who sell sex and, as an organized social issue of sexual choice refuses to die, 36 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

largely for two reasons. The first is knee-high boots, by a brutal criminal that they are fantasies. The woman is in simply a gut reaction: if a coherent head. I feel a sensual tremble of fear, control of the slightest detail of every adult willingly performs an act, espe­ an obscure attraction. The female in act, of the setting, and of her reaction. cially over time, it is only common me trembles and is fascinated.... A In its essence, the fantasy has no con­ sense to assume that there is consent. desire to feel the brutality of man, nection with genuine rape, which the force which can violate? To be vi­ In fact, the foregoing description is al­ would strip control and consent away olated is perhaps a need in women, a most a definition of consent. secret erotic need. from her. Fantasies of rape are the op­ The second reason is that, for dec­ posHe of aclual rape; lhey express ades, sexual choice was the feminist After validating the voice of every nothing more than a sexually curious issue. As decaying cultural walls crum­ woman who supports her contentions, nature. bled, women demanded reproductive In her book Rape: The Bait and the freedom, revealed themselves as lesbi­ Trap, Jean MacKellar comments on ans, took courses on masturbation, de­ Radical feminists' definition women's fantasies of being taken: manded sexual pleasure from their of pornography precludes the [T]hey serve practical and healthy partners. The unorthodox Ti Atkinson possibility that the women par­ functions in humane experience; declared prostitutes the best role­ they add change. And they do this models for women seeking liberation. ticipating consent. Their view without shattering the pattern of re­ Germaine Greer illustrated the sexual of sex borders on this assump­ ality. This is important, for often a independence of women by posing tion as well. real change is neither desirable nor with a banana. Pillars of puritan cul­ possible.... ture were swept away and replaced by The most important difference be­ joyous rebellion. Brownmiller now tersely comments: tween a fantasy of rape and a desire for the real experience is the element But modern radical feminism is an "How much these thoughts reflect Nin of control. In the fantasy ... the ideology of sexual oppression, not sex­ and how much they reflect a dutiful ual liberation. As such, it has little helpless victim actually controls the parroting of Otto Rank, her former acts of the offender. ... Real terror room for celebration. Voices for sexual mentor, remains uncertain" (p. 363). diversity have been largely silenced. and uncontrolled pain are not expe­ The sexually incorrect words and rienced in these fantasies. (p. 47) Voices from the past have even been demonstrated choices of women are re-interpreted to become more sexually not to be taken seriously, you see, be­ Yet most women are made to feel correct. cause such women have been warped ashamed. The shame becomes even In Against Our Will, for example, by male culture. The insights of greater for women who enjoy and con­ Brownmiller offers heartbreaking .ac­ women such as Anals Nin may be dis­ sume pornography. In "Talk Dirty to counts of rape and other brutalities regarded at will, like the statements of Me: A Woman's Taste for Porno­ committed against women, largely children or the insane. If a particular graphy," Sally Tisdale makes a coura­ during times of war and other crises. woman enjoys pornography, it is not geous confession: she enjoys and regu­ This is valuable scholarship - espe­ because she is a unique human being larly consumes many forms of porno­ cially now, when rape is being used as with different perspectives, reactions, graphy. To feminists, this pleasure a self-conscious policy of war and "eth­ and needs. If she has fantasies of being makes Tisdale - in her own words ­ nic cleansing." dominated or even raped, it is not that "a damaged woman, a heretic": But Brownmiller's methodology is she enjoys the contemplation of dan­ Perhaps, as one school of feminist badly skewed toward the conclusion gerous sex within the complete safety thought says, we've simply IIeroti­ she wants to reach: that rape is the of her own mind. No. It is because she cized our oppression." I know I be­ major weapon by which white male is pathetically warped and not to be rated myself a long while for that culture oppresses women. Nowhere taken seriously, except as an object of very thing, and tried to make the does Brownmiller question the horror political philanthropy. fantasies go away. But doing so de­ stories of rape, except perhaps to spec­ nies the fact of my experience, which ulate about whether an account was Suppression of Fantasy includes oppression and dominance, understated. Yet when it comes to Consider the radical feminist reac­ fear and guilt, and a hunger for sur­ dealing with an "incorrect" sexual con­ tion to female fantasies of domination render. (p. 46) fession - one of sexual excitement at and rape. These are not uncommon, Having come out of the closet, Tis­ the possible dangers of sex - Brown­ yet women who experience such fanta­ dale offers a fascinating glimpse of miller is willing to discount the testi­ sies are being dealt unnecessary grief how even disturbing pornographic im- mony of no less august a figure than and self-doubt. They are being told ages can have a healing effect: AnalsNin. that their healthy curiosity is evidence There are examples of pomography, She quotes a passage from Nin's of psychological damage and political films and stories both, that genuine­ diary (Summer 1937): oppression. ly scare me. They are no more bi­ Sometimes in the street, or in a cafe, But rape fantasies can serve a zarre or extreme than books or mo­ I am hypnotized by the "pimp" face healthy and natural function. The cru­ vies that may simply excite or of a man, by a big workman with cial factor in such fantasies is the fact interest me, but the details affect me Liberty 37 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

in certain specific ways. The content again, to be so outrageous as to sug­ against myself, and my desires, I let touches me just there, and I'm gest that sex, in its vast range of ex­ go of judgments about the desires scared. ... And I want to keep pressions, is fun. And the place to and the acts of others. watching those films, reading those begin this renewal is with a defense of Tisdale is making two points. First, books; when I engage in my own pornography, because this is the litera­ that pornography helped her to under­ fears, I learn about them. I may ture of sexual alternatives. Pornogra­ someday master a few. stand her own sexual nature and phy is the life-flow of information on needs. Second, that in accepting her­ What does Tisdale think of "radi­ one of the most important areas of self, she felt a benevolent desire to ex­ cal" feminists who oppose pornogra- human psychology: sex and its ban­ tend that same, increasingly rare cour­ quet of possibilities. It is also the front­ tesy to others. Tisdale provides a lines of the battle between sexual cor­ virtual blueprint for tolerance. And tol­ Pornography is the genre of rectness and sexual liberation. erance, as much as law and order, is art that focuses on men and It is true that women can already what ensures a peaceful society. discuss any sexual theme with impuni­ Pornography, the "Hitchhiker's women as sexual beings. ty - so long as it qualifies as an Guide to the Sexual Galaxy," can pro­ "idea." That is, so long as the sexual vide an invaluable education. It can theme is part of an argument. A also provide reassurance and valida­ phy - feminists who she, perhaps ac­ woman can announce, "I am into tion. Viewing it, women realize that curately, calls "conservative"? She bondage (or lesbianism) and you they are not alone in their fantasies and comments: should be as well, because it is the pur­ deepest desires. In this 'way, pornogra­ I take this personally, the effort to re­ est expression of human nature." But phy can play an integral role in the lib­ press material I enjoy - to tell me when bondage is portrayed in art, eration of women. how wrong it is for me to enjoy it. when it is translated into graphic fanta­ But before investigating further Anti-pornography legislation is di­ sy meant primarily to excite rather how pornography can benefit women, rected at me: as a user, as a writer. than to inform, the legal system begins I should define what I mean by the Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea to take note. word. In doing so, I want to avoid ide­ Dworkin - a feminist who has de­ Some believe that open discussion ological or normative definitions, veloped a new sexual orthodoxy in should be enough to provide all the in­ which usually tell more about the de­ which the male erection is itself op­ formation about sexual choices. But a finer than it does about the object pressive - are the new censors.... crucial element is missing: the reader's being viewed. This is the type of defi­ They look down on me and shake a or viewer's vicarious involvement and finger: Bad girl. Mustn't touch. nition that Kathleen Barry offers in her reaction. And sex, after all, is not so book Human Sexual Slavery: Contrast Tisdale's attitude with a much about outside information as it is more typical feminist approach and the Pornography ... is the principal me­ about inside awareness. Tisdale's arti­ dium through which cultural sadism depth of her disenfranchisement from cle on pornography details self­ becomes a part of the sexual practic­ the movement becomes apparent. Con­ discoveries that could only have come es of individuals. The most preva­ sider Jillian Ridington's statements in from a graphic portrayal of sex. She de­ lent theme in pornography is one of Confronting Pornography: A Feminist on scribes one scene from a film she utter contempt for women. In movie the Front Lines: viewed: after movie women are raped, ejacu­ For any feminist, focusing on por­ Two men are variously bound, lated on, urinated on, anally pene­ nography is painful. Pornographic chained, laced, gagged, spanked, trated, beaten, and, with the advent values are antithetical to feminist val­ and ridden like horses by a Nordic of snuff films, murdered in an orgy ues. By its very nature, pornography woman. "Nein!" she shouts. "Nicht of sexual pleasure. Women are the is hard for us to understand, and so schnell!" The men lick her boots, objects of pornography, men its larg­ hard to deal with. It forces us to con­ accept the bridle in cringing obei­ est consumers, and sexual degrada­ front very deep feelings about. sex, sance. I found it laughably solemn, a tion its theme. (p. 206) about freedom, about love, and about Nazi farce, and then I caught myself Nor does a purely semantic defini­ the way human beings relate to each laughing.... other opposed to how we would re­ tion - an examination of the deriva­ late to each other in a non-sexist, Then, with amazing sensitivity, Tis- tion of the word - seem to offer much egalitarian world. In viewing por­ dale reflects: useful information. D.H. Lawrence, in nography, we view a world in which I never want to laugh at the desires Pornography and Obscenity, dismisses all women are whores, a world in of another. A lot of people take what this approach: which it is impossible for women to I consider trifling or silly to be terri­ The word itself, we are told, means be sexual and whole. (p. 23-24) bly important. I want never to forget "pertaining· to the harlots" - the the bell curve of human desire, or graph of the harlot. But nowadays, In Praise of Porn that few of us have much say about what is a harlot? ... Why be so cut It is time for women to start talking where on the curve we land. I've and dried? The law is a dreary thing, about sex instead of gender. It is time learned this from watching porn: By and its judgments have nothing to for feminists to become "improper" letting go of judgments I hold do with life. The same with the word 38 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

obscene: nobody knows what it phy is frequently exempted altogether. introduction to Perspectives on Porno­ means. Suppose it were derived Yet even granting radical feminists graphy: Sexuality in Film and Literature, from obscena: that which might not a generous latitude, sado-masochistic Gary Day offers a more Freudian be represented on the stage; how material is not violent in one crucial analysis: much further are you? (p. 1-2) sense: everyone involved in its produc­ A feminist interpretation of this Perhaps the easiest way to define tion has said "yes." They have signed might be that it shows the subordi­ pornography is to eliminate what it is contracts and releases; they have nation of a woman to a man's pleas­ not. Porn qua porn is not an expression shown up at sessions and Willingly ure, thereby presenting him in a of anyone cultural or political system, posed. H this is not true - if anyone is dorrrinantrole.Howeve~if ... po~ although it inevitably contains the cul­ coerced - the activity ceases to be nography in part involves a realiza­ tural/political assumptions in which it mere pornography and becomes kid­ tion of the incestuous phantasy, then is born. It has existed, in some form, napping, assault, and battery: crimes in the /Icome" shot takes on a very dif­ ferent meaning. For what the man within virtually every society and which any decent third party should does in ejaculating over the woman under every political system. And this intercede. In the absence of force - or, universal presence suggests that por­ is in a sense to replicate the role of more accurately, in the presence of the mother giving milk to the infant. nography springs from an inherent consent - what is being portrayed is a ... If this analysis is accepted, then need within human beings. It seems to fantasy. pornography does not show, as flow from a natural curiosity about Radical feminists deny this because some feminists have claimed, a ha­ sex, a hunger for information and ex­ their definition of pornography pre­ tred of women but rather a desire to perience, and a burning drive for cludes the possibility that the women become like them. (p. 5) gratification. participating consent. Their view of sex Others, more attuned to the com­ Nor can pornography be defined as borders on this assumption as well. An­ mercial aspects of pornography, claim violence against women. Even the sta­ drea Dworkin's comments in Pornogra­ tistics provided by radical feminists phy: Men Possessing Women are barely fail to support this claim. For example, short of hate-mongering: "Men devel­ one feminist study of "adults only" pa­ op a strong loyalty to violence. Men Modern radical feminism is perbacks showed that one-fifth of all must come to terms with violence be­ an ideology of sexual oppres­ the sex scenes depicted rape. A neces­ cause it is the prime component of male sion, not sexual liberation. sary corollary of this is that 80% of the identity" (p. 51); "The immutable self sex scenes did not depict rape. Assum- of the male boils down to an utterly un­ self-conscious parasitism" (p. 13); that come-shots are there purely and "Men are distinguished from women simply to prove that the male did ejac­ Yes: some pornography by their commitment to do violence ulate, that he really was into the action. treats women with contempt, rather than to be victimized by it" (p. The woman's response of smearing or 53); "Men want women to be objects, tasting the sperm is nothing more than even brutality. But other por­ controllable as objects are controllable" proof that she enjoyed and approved nography tells women that the (p.65). of the sexual act. conventional morality that re­ Confronted with pornography that Still others observe that women are stricts them is hypocritical and seems nonviolent toward women (e.g., particularly interested in seeing come­ where women are shown as domi­ shots because men's ejaculations are wrong. nant), Dworkin becomes dismissive: generally hidden from them. In "nor­ "The portrayal of men as sexual vic­ mal" sex, women never see men come; tims is distinctly unreal, ludicrous in to them, it is as elusive as a glimpse of ing that the sado-masochism section of part because it scarcely has an analog breast or lace panty must be to a pu­ the store accounted for the vast majori­ in the real world" (p. 34). bescent boy. In this context, the come­ ty of rape scenes, the percentage of This is Dworkin's interpretation. shot can be interpreted in an almost ro­ books without them undoubtedly rises And the simple fact is that she may be mantic way: the woman wishes to substantially. right. Certainly, this is the truth of por­ share as much as possible in her lover's Only by dwelling exclusively on nography for her. But almost every orgasm. the subgenre of sado-masochism, only message within pornography is a mat­ The point is not that anyone inter­ by ignoring such other subgenres as ter of interpretation. Even those porno­ pretation is "correct." The point is that fetishism, can radical feminists credi­ graphic acts some consider to be indis­ the delightful diversity of human na­ bly claim that pornography depicts vi­ putable examples of sexist humiliation ture allows for many interpretations of olence. In doing so, they must ignore are wide open to interpretation. Take pornographic material. None are inher­ pornography made by women for the classic "come-shot," in which a ently right or wrong. All contain im­ other women or pornography made man ejaculates onto some part of a plicit, underlying assumptions and for couples. They must skim right over woman's body, usually her face. This is preferences regarding sex. gay pornography, which doesn't de­ typically described as an archetypical Just one of the assumptions under­ pict women at all. Lesbian pornogra- act of gender contempt. But is it? In the lying the belief that come-shots Liberty 39 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

degrade women is that there is some­ Through such examinations, pornogra­ satisfy a hunger for variety. thing degrading about semen. But as phy brought a benign and liberating Despite these myriad advantages, Beatrice Faust pointed out in her book, message to women: sex need not be at­ pornography has fallen on hard times. Women, Sex, and Pornography, "Logic­ tached to domesticity or reproduction No other issue seems to so capture ally, if sex is natural and wholesome - or even to men, for that matter. Americans' schizophrenic attitude to­ and semen is as healthy as sweat, there Yes: some pornography treats ward sex. Berger observes: is no reason to interpret ejaculation as women with contempt, even brutality. An observer of American attitudes a hostile gesture. Healthy semen is not But other pornography tells women toward pornography faces a bewil­ like feces, which may smell offensive, that the conventional morality that re­ dering duality: on the one hand, we dirty the sheets, and carry germs...." stricts them is hypocritical and wrong. buy and read and view more of it (p.18). Porn encourages them to be full sexual than just about anyone else, while, Having discussed what porn is not, beings, with revealed needs and hun­ on the other hand, we seek to sup­ the question remains: What is it? For gers. It offers a panorama of sexual press it as hard as anybody else.... I the purposes of this article, I propose a believe, in fact, that this state of descriptive, not a normative, defini­ things reflects aspects of our atti­ tudes toward sex, and much of the tion. In common life, outside the heady It is time for feminists to be­ current controversy has tended to world of political analysis, pornogra­ come "improper" again, to be obscure this fact, and to ignore im­ phy is often called "sex films" or "sex portant issues concerning sex and books." I think this comes closer to the so outrageous as to suggest freedom to which the pornography truth than any elaborate gender theory. that sex is fun. issue points. (p. 132) To state this definition with more Gender politics has made the issue formality: pornography is the genre of even more hopelessly tangled. For­ art that focuses on men and women as tunately, there is a bright light in the sexual beings. Just as mystery novels possibilities beyond the old roles of madonna, wife, and whore: sex as an dark tunnel that has engulfed sexuali­ focus on the criminal nature of human adventure, sex with strangers, sex in ty. And it too comes from feminist beings and westerns describe humans unusual environments, sex as an ex­ ranks. Elizabeth Carols described a in relation to a certain period of Amer­ pression of anger, sex as voyeurism, growing phenomena in her essay, Wo­ ican history, so too does pornography and more. men, Erotica, Pornography - Learning to specialize. Pornography presents hu­ Those who want a traditional mar­ Play the Game?: man sexuality, with the entire spec­ riage can also benefit considerably trum of activities implied by that If you go into almost any women's from pornography. In Freedom, Rights, statement. or gay bookstore in the United and Pornography, the classical liberal States, you'll be confronted with an Most pornography, like most of Fred Berger offers an interesting view array of new publications and any category of art, is poorly execut­ of how pornography can enhance a audio-visuals. This material is not ed. In fact, current pornography prob­ marriage: the latest in feminist/alternative ably contains less artistic value than The fact is that most sex is routin­ thought. No, it's pornography pro­ any other genre. Whenever a genre is duced by women, and ostensibly stigmatized (orcriminalized), the best ized, dull, unfulfilling, a source of neurosis, precisely because its prac­ "about" and "for" women.... [T]he minds tend to abandon it. The D.H. tice is governed by the restraints the issue of the lesbian sex revolution Lawrences and James Branch Cabells conservatives insist on. Those con­ and more generally, of the trend to­ who persist in bringing their genius to straints dictate with whom one has wards sexual libertarianism in the bear are persecuted without mercy. In sex, when one has sex, how often one women's movement ... is what, this, our attitudes have not evolved has sex, where one has sex, and so more than any other arena in alter­ far beyond the fourth century B.C., on. Moreover, the web of shame native publishing, is being market­ when Socrates was condemned to and guilt which is spun around sex ed. (p. 168) death for corrupting the youth of Ath­ tends to destroy its enjoyment, and This trend should be nurtured. Por­ ens. No wonder the industry is domi­ thus to stunt our sexual natures ­ nography needs to be legitimized. The nated by those who rush to make a our capacity for joy and pleasure quality and diversity of pornography quick profit rather than a profound through sex. (p. 138) needs to be expanded. By doing so­ insight. Even those of us who rarely find by making pornography go public ­ Yet there is no area of human psy­ sex "dull" often seek variety - not by we will improve the working condi­ chology that so badly needs explora­ cheating or lying to a loved one, but tions of all women in the sex industry. tion and understanding as sexuality. by sharing new experiences with him And the possibilities of good sex - of At the tum of the century, Freud or her. It is no easy matter to keep sex human happiness itself - will increase. changed the world's view of sex. No fresh and playful throughout a mar­ More feminists have to follow the longer a need that women shut away riage that may last for 60 years. Even brave example of Emma Goldman and in the attic like an idiot child, sex be­ strong marriages have crumbled when declare, in her paraphrased words: "If came popular; it became almost a confronted by affairs or one-night I can't enjoy sex, I don't want to be moral duty to discuss and examine it. stands that served no purpose but to part of your revolution." a 40 Liberty Scorecard

One Strike, You're Out! by R. W. Bradford

If baseball is to live again, it may first have to wither away.

Television newscasters have finally come up with a story as good as the Iranian hostage crisis, one that they can report in every single newscast, despite the absolute absence of news. "Today is the seventeenth day of the baseball strike," the anchor intones. "50 far, 178 games have been missed. There is no progress in the talks." I am a serious baseball fan. By that there My friends also ask how long I 150 games. Only the best team from I mean, I consider baseball to be more think the strike will last. A long time, each league entered post-season play. important than life and death. In 1956, I answer, and maybe it's for the This is a very wise practice. An inferi­ when I was seven years old, I wit­ better. or team can easily beat a better team nessed every single Detroit Tigers Yes, it doesn't seem like summer in a short series in a sport where ran­ game, either on the radio, on televi­ without seeing the Tigers play, with­ dom events - bad bounces, unex­ sion, or at the ballpark. In 1993, I out the diurnal ceremony of figuring pected slumps, etc. - play an signed up for CNN solely so I could the pennant race and refiguring my important role. The best team in base­ get baseball scores. I keep voluminous heroes' runs-ereated-per-game stats. ball typically wins about 65% of its statistics, many of my own device. I But the fact is that baseball has games; the worst about 35%. A team am a long-time member of the Society changed over the past decade or two, that is good enough to win 65% of its for American Baseball Research. I and not for the better. Not caring a games against another team, will win read perhaps 15 different baseball whit for the integrity of the game, the a best-of-seven series only about 75

determine the league championship. goose the artificial "playoff position are free, within limits, to sell their ser­ There was a close call in 1973, when race" by establishing rules that don't vices to the highest bidders. So the the New York Mets won a weak east­ even put the best eight teams into the teams in poorer markets are not as ern division in the National League playoffs. good. The Seattle Mariners, for exam­ after winning just three games more Why would the owners make such ple, have had only one season in their than they lost in the course of a 162­ a decision? For only one reason, the 21-year history in which they won as game season. The Mets lost the World same reason that the owners decided many games as they lost. The only way Series. But 14 years later, the inevitable to allow imitation grass: money. a team in a small market can draw big ascendency .of a mediocre team to the I never begrudge anyone's efforts crowds is to win. But they cannot af­ championship happened. to make an honest buck, and I am not ford to pay competitive salaries. Last I The 1987 Minnesota Twins were a about to suggest that some sort of gov­ checked, the New York Yankees take so-so team by any measure: of the 14 ernment intervention is needed to cor­ in more cash from their local television teams in the league, they finished rect these problems. But I am sales than the Mariners take in from all eighth in hitting (measured by runs convinced that the new profits the sources combined, so it's pretty clear scored) and ninth in pitching (meas- owners covet will be relatively short­ that the Mariners can never put a com­ lived, that in the long run, the expan­ petitive team on the field. sion of the playoff to include eight Furthermore, the salary cap (as it's I am a serious baseball fan. teams will mean less fan interest in called) has worked very well in profes­ baseball's regular season, from which sional basketball. In fact, since the cap By that I mean, I consider it earns most of its profits - and, even­ was instituted, both profits and player baseball to be more important tually, less interest in the playoffs salaries have risen substantially. And than life and death. themselves. The use of counterfeit revenue-sharing (as redistribution of grass is arguably already hurting the profits is called) has worked very well bottom line. In a sport where the aver­ in professional football, though in gen­ age performer is paid more than eral it has not helped football players ured by runs given up). In fact, their $1,000,000 per year, the extra cost that close the gap between their relative pitchers gave up more runs than their paltry earnings and the lucre taken would be incurred by using real grass hitters scored. Four teams in the league home by their baseball and basketball is trivial, and fans clearly show a pref­ won more games than the Twins. But brethren. erence for baseball played on real in a game like baseball where the It's hard to be sympathetic with the grass. "breaks" make a big difference, the multi-millionaire owners, even if they Of course, the strike isn't about im­ Twins managed to beat clearly superior are losing money. Most can easily af- teams both in the league championship portant issues like the baroque playoff series and the World Series. system or fake grass. It's about money. The 1987 Twins were not a genuine­ The owners note that many of the ly bad team. Depending on how you teams are losing money, and want to The strike isn't about im­ figure it, they were somewhere around solve this problem by limiting the ag­ portant issues like the baroque the middle of the pack. The same can­ gregate players' salaries to a fixed per­ playoff system or fake grass. not be said for the Texas Rangers, the centage of total revenue. team that stood atop the western divi­ The players fear this might mean It's about money. sion of the American League when the less money for them. They suggest that 1994 season ended on August 12. The the reason some owners are losing Rangers had lost ten games more than money is that the small markets (e.g. ford to do so, and even those that can­ it had won; it was the 4th worst team in Seattle, San Diego) simply will never not and are forced to sell their teams the 14-team league. be able to produce as much revenue as typically manage to find buyers at Now it may not be likely that a the large markets (e.g. New York, Los such inflated prices that they make team of the quality of the Rangers Angeles). They propose solving the back their losses. The Seattle Mariners, would survive the playoffs. But the problem of unprofitable teams by re­ for example, sustained losses for sever­ chaotic effects of random events in distributing profits from the wealthy al years after Los Angeles businessman baseball make it inevitable that, under teams to the poor ones. George Agyros bought the team, but the current setup, a team of its quality The obvious solution for the teams Agyros managed to get back his losses will eventually win a championship. losing money would be to cut back sal­ when he sold the team to Jeff The frequency of this event is further aries, and to some extent, the money­ Smullyan. Losses increased under increased by the owner's decision to losing teams have done so. But players Smullyan, who was nearly forced into bankruptcy. But he managed to sell the team for $125,000,000 - a sum big E"atum enough to cover all his losses. (How an In the September Liberty, we incorrectly listed the address of The Guillotine: A Slice ofReality, enterprise that loses money every year the libertarian student paper R.W. Bradford wrote about in his medianote, IIA slice of enthu­ and whose only assets are contracts re­ siasm." The correct address is Guillotine, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, N.Y. 13902-6000. We apologize for any problems caused by this typographical error. quiring it to pay millions of dollars to Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

athletes can be sold for $125,000,000 is games. ... Then there's the well­ pIe trying to win, not to maximize their another story.) known IImultiplier effect," which says statistics so they will qualify for a But it's not much easier to-be sym­ that every dollar spent is spent again bigger year-end bonus. Voters will lose pathetic with the players. It's hard to several times, so $10,000,000 spent on interest and voters will decide maybe see workers earning $1,000,000+ for ball games, beer, and hot dogs has the it isn't worth coughing $200,000,000 to seven months of part-time work as effect of increasing local business by keep the local collection of overpaid being downtrodden: It's hard to see $50,000,000 or $70,000,000. bozos and bloated plutocrats around. that a contract that might limit their av­ All this is nonsense, of course. It's Taxpayer subsidy of baseball will be a erage wage to, say, only $950,000 is based on the notion that the money thing of the past. some sort of disaster. spent attending baseball games would In other words, baseball will be re­ Both the players and owners are de­ not be spent if it weren't for baseball. born as the great American game. termined not to give an inch. They That is my hope, but it probably have extraordinarily deep pockets and won't happen. More likely, by the year can afford to sit out a long strike. By the year 2001, there will 2001, there will be 72 teams in the Neither gives a rat's ass about the fans major leagues, of which 64 will make who pay their salaries. be 72 teams in the major the playoffs. To reduce expenses, so I say a pox on both their houses. I leagues, ofwhich 64 will make they can afford to pay players an aver­ hope the strike lasts a long time. the playoffs. age wage of $50,000,000 a year, owners For one thing, despite the huge sal­ will change the rules to allow alumi­ aries baseball performers earn and the num bats and plastic baseballs. The huge profits owners make, both insist game will be played entirely indoors, The possibility that people would still on government subsidies in the form of so there won't be any more messy rain eat out and still be entertained without taxpayer-funded playing fields. From delays. The average game will take five major league baseball apparently never coast to coast, taxpayers have ponied hours to complete, to enable telecasts occurred to its purveyors. Nor has the up $100,000,000 or more to build ball­ of games to include even more com­ possibility that if the money were not parks designed, not to maximize the mercials between innings. In the ball­ spent on entertainment, it might be playing of the game or the enjoyment parks, now all domed and without a saved or invested. They apparently as­ of the game by fans, but revenue for single speck of living vegetation, the sume that if the money weren't spent owners and players. fans will take Disney-style rides to on baseball, it would simply be Government subsidy of major while away the time between innings. destroyed. league baseball is based on idiotic eco­ But somewhere in this nation, there nomics. We've heard it a million times. But when the public is threatened will be kids playing ball. And watch­ Having a team means people go to ball with the loss of their beloved team (or ing them will be a middle-aged man games, eat hot dogs at the game, go to face the prospect of attracting a team to who realizes those kids don't have the dinner before the game, and visit to a their non-big-league city) they are will­ superb skills that he has seen in other, bar after the game. People from out of ing to believe any rationale that justi­ older, better ballplayers, the men who town stay in hotels. All this adds fies what they want to do. Residents of interrupt the television commercials to money to the local economy. And St. Petersburg, Florida, went so far as playa little baseball. Batted balls will every dollar added has the effect of to build a megamillion-dollar domed seven dollars because the waiter at the stadium in the hope that a big league sometimes bounce crazily, because the restaurant where the fan buys dinner team would move there. So far, the field is rough. But the field will be spends his tip at a local hardware main effect of the St. Peter's made of grass. The fans will be few, store, whose owner is therefore able to Basebasilica, or whatever it's called, seated on wooden bleachers or in lawn hire more employees, who spend their has been to increase the subsidy re­ chairs brought frem home. But they wages going to movies, whose ticket­ ceived by the Chicago White Sox, who will appreciate the game in a way the takers spend their salaries and ball told the voters of the Windy City that businessmen in their $200,000 special unless they were given a new ballpark boxes in the taxpayer-subsidized in­ at a cost of hundreds of millions, they door playing fields never could. Ayn RandandHer Movement would split to S1. Pete. In those kids and that rough field, In this exclusive interview, Barbara Here's my hope. The strike will last the middle-aged man will see the game Branden reveals intimate details oflife and last and last, neither side willing to he loves. He will cheer and shout and inside Rand's New York circle. Topics drink a beer and talk to the other fans, include: the weird psychological manipu­ budge. Gradually, it will dawn on the lations, the expulsion of members in kan­ fans that the players and owners are people he doesn't know but with garoo courts, the glaring errors in Na­ short-sighted blockheads who cannot whom he feels a kinship based on thaniel Branden's memoir about Rand, see beyond their next paycheck or divi­ shared love and respect for the game and Rand's fight in a posh Manhattan restaurant with Alan Greenspan. dend. They'll start watching local base­ they watch. He will be happy if his $4.00 per copy, ppd. ball, played by kids and young men team wins and sad if it loses. And he Liberty Publishing and women for the sheer pleasure of will forget the plastic baseballs and the P.O. Box 1181 the sport. They'll rediscover the beauty aluminum bats and the fake grass and Port Townsend, WA 98368 of baseball played on real grass by peo- the Pharaonic domes. a Liberty 43 Science

The Logic of the Toxic by Ben Bolch and Harold Lyons

Some regulations are healthiest in small doses.

The sixteenth-century Swiss physician Paracelsus, the father of chemotherapy, pointed out that a poison is only made by its dose. Indeed, it has been known since antiquity that certain toxic substances can actually be beneficial in low doses: many medicines in common use today (arsenic, lithium, and selenium, for ex- ample) are very poisonous in high Figure 1 doses, as are many, perhaps most, es­ sential nutrients, such as table salt. The phenomenon by which a toxic substance becomes beneficial in low + doses is called hormesis, and a sub­ stance that exhibits this property is said to be hormetic. Figure 1 illustrates hormesis. The vertical axis measures some desirable o~------~ biological effect so that on this axis large values are more desirable than small ones. The horizontal axis meas­ ures the dose of some hypothetical substance. A horizontal line is also drawn at the point of zero biological effect. Points above this horizontal line indicate that the effect of the dose Effect is beneficial; at points below this line the effect is detrimental. An inverted This represents the zero-threshold very high; Le. toward the right end of U-shaped response curve such as the model of toxic substances in that any the graph. one labeled A indicates hormesis: at dose above zero is detrimental. This What can we conclude from these low-dose levels, the desirable effects linear relationship is the one most data? What is the effect of the as-yet­ of the substance can be increased by often advanced by environmental unmeasured smaller doses? Should increasing the dosage. On this curve a alarmists, usually without scientific we conclude that the relationship be­ dose smaller than some minimal level basis, and is generally defended on tween dose and effect is linear, like has an effect that is insignificantly dif­ conservative grounds: when in doubt, Line B in Figure 1? Or should we con­ ferent from zero, and the substance presume that a high-dose toxin is also clude that the relationship is hormet­ becomes toxic only at reasonably high a low-dose toxin. Scientists are often ic, like Line A? doses. According to Edward Cala­ in doubt about the low-level toxic ef­ The assumption that the high-level brese and Linda Baldwin, writing in fects of many of the most sensational­ response curve should be extrapolat­ 1993 in the Journal ofApplied Toxicolo­ ized high-level toxins because their ed into the zone of ignorance as a gy, it is curves like A that are most low-dose toxicity has never been ob­ straight line is conservative, but only often encountered in the actual evalu­ served, much less measured. in one sense: it assumes the worst ation of toxic substances. In Figure 2, we see that in many case. It is quite radical on two other Line B shows a linear relationship cases actual detrimental effects have counts: it flies in the face of data for between dose and biological response. only been observed when doses are most toxic substances that have actual- 44 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

ly been measured at low doses, and it and Benjamin Goldman with Kate Mill­ rems peryear, this seems like a reason­ leads to public policy decisions that are pointer (Deadly Deceit: Low Level Radia­ able suggestion. But Congress has ob­ incredibly expensive, are detrimental to tion, High Level Coverup) is typical of the jected, thanks to the anti-nuclear economic growth, and may even be scare literature that has brought this at­ hysteria that permeates American pub­ detrimental to public health. titude change. At one point, it alleges lic life. Under a blanket acceptance of the that there have been 40,000 deaths in There is emerging evidence that low linear model, society will become ob­ the United States from fallout from the levels of radiation may not only be sessed "With rooting out every vestige of Chernobyl accident alone. Ahhough the harmless, buthormetic. Most nonspe­ high-dose toxins at ever-increasing cost; book received scathing reviews in both cialists are surprised at the wealth of people will find themselves besieged the scientific press (Nature) and the pop­ hard scientific literature onthese effects. with warnings about the carcinogenic ular media (the New York Times), it con- In 1979, T. DonLuckey of the University effects of common, even of Missouri published natural, substances; useful Radiation Hormesis, products will be banned; Figure 2 which contains well over innovation and experi­ a thousand references, mentation with substanc- and scientific meetings es that might be toxic will + sponsored by BELLE be outlawed, and a gener­ have uncovered even al condition of fear and more. Low-level expo­ dread will pervade the so­ sure has been associated cial order. In short, the with increased longevity presumption of linearity 0 ...------...~ of laboratory animals, will lead to precisely the with stimulation of the kind of chemophobic soci­ immune system, and ety in which we live with a "priming" effect today. that allows animals to re­ Like many other scien­ sist high doses of radia­ tific concepts, the idea of tion after previous hormesis has become po- exposure to low doses. liticized, and those who Effect Merele K. Loken and mention its prevalence are '------1 L.E. Feinendegen, writ- often characterized as lackeys of indus­ tinues to foster a fear of radiation based ing in Investigative Radiology in 1993, try, proponents of junk science, or in large part on a cultivated confusion speculate that low-level radiation expo­ worse. The leading program in the Unit­ of all radiation with nuclear weapons. sure may induce enzymes that assist in ed States to give serious scientific atten­ Similarly, The Bulletin of Atomic Sci­ the elimination of harmful free radicals tion to hormesis is BELLE (Biological entists, which is known for its opposi­ at the cellular level. There is also good Effects of Low Level Exposures), located tion to nuclear power, regularly evidence that DNA repair is enhanced in the School ofPublic Health at the Uni­ presents frightening accounts of the by exposure to low levels of radiation. versity ofMassachusetts atAmherst. Yet dangers of low-level radiation. In the In fact, some scientists hypothesize that in their newsletter of November 1992, September 1990 issue, Michael McCal­ some radiation exposure is absolutely BELLE is quick to point out that such ly, director of special programs for the essential for normal life to function. Hu­ "value judgment" phrases as "beneficial Educational Foundation for Nuclear bert Plantel of the medical school of effects" or "hormesis" should be re­ Science, ends an account of the terrors Toulouse, France has shown deleterious placed by more acceptable phrases, such of radiation (both man-made and natu­ effects onsingle-cell organisms associat­ as "adaptive response" or "stimulatory ral) with the question of how to recog­ ed with reducing background radiation. response." The newsletter also mentions nize and compensate the victims of the Since all life onearth survives in a sea of a publication bias that hampers publica­ nuclear age. We suspect that it is the background radiation, it would not be tion of findings of hormesis. Political compensation part of the process of vic­ surprising to find that adaptation has correctness, it would seem, is now well timization that is most interesting to resulted in an absolute need for some ensconced inscience. the purveyors of nuclear fear. minimal level of radiation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commis­ What has our fear of low-level radia­ Radiation sion recently called for disposal in ordi­ tion wrought? It seems unnecessary to The general public now widely be­ nary sanitary landfills of wastes that do more than sketch the costs it has lieves that exposure to ionizing radia­ emit no more that ten millirems of radi­ brought upon our economy. The electric tion at any level is harmful. This belief ation per year, prompting much oppo­ power industry alone has lost billions of has supplanted an earlier one which sition in Congress. Since the dollars from aborted nuclear power considered bathing in mildly radioac­ government allows exposure of 5,000 projects; at the same time, the tive springs, the drinking of radioactive millirems per year in the workplace generation facilities of the power waters, and similar activities beneficial and since the average person in the industry in the United States are aging to health. A recent book by Jay Gould United States is exposed to 360 milli- at an alarming rate. Then there's the Liberty 45 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

expense of disposing of low-level nucle­ in a 1979 Atlantic Monthly article as hav­ from gasoline is the most costly mani­ ar wastes such as those generated by ing such toxicity that three ounces festation of this crusade, but there are hospitals. would kill a million people, has become many less-well-known examples. Many As we have pointed out, the hysteria so politically charged in its connection cities now require that certified delead­ over natural radon exposure that the with Agent Orange that it has become ers do the simple task of removing lead EPA's use of the linear risk model has almost impossible for government paint. Lead shotgun shot is banned in generated has led to vast, unnecessary agencies to make use of new findings many wildlife areas for fear of causing expenditures, as well as much anxiety about its lack of toxicity. In 1990, the lead poisoning in ducks and geese ­ over the simple act of living in one's EPA and the FDA sponsored a meeting the same ducks and geese the hunters own home.* And even here, the ob­ at Cold Spring Harbor, New York to re­ are trying to kill! Even the lead foil on served positive correlation between nat­ assess the toxicity of dioxin. The consen­ the outside of wine bottles is under at­ ural radon levels and levels of average sus is that while the toxicity models for tack. Once vendettas are started, reason longevity has caused speculation that is thrown to the wind. radon exposure may be hormetic at the The seminal paper on low-level lead low levels typical in American homes. Low doses of chloroform that has driven much of our public pol­ have actually improved the icy was published in the March 1979 Chemicals New England Journal ofMedicine by Her­ The linear extrapolation of hazard is survival rates ofrats and dogs. bert Needleman of the University of by no means confined to radioactivity. Pittsburgh. Needleman studied statisti­ The Delaney Act bans the use in food cal data on lead concentrations in baby of any chemical that, when fed to any dioxin are linear, the actual dose­ teeth and concluded that low lead lev­ animal at high doses, causes cancer. response relationship for dioxin is non­ els could cause a drop in IQ of as much Certification of carcinogenicity is car­ linear. It was the application of the line­ as three to four points. Such a fall ried out largely by the International ar model which led the federal govern­ would strike most of us as hardly sig­ Agency for Research on Cancer and by ment to spend $33 million to buyout all nificant, yet the regulators, in their wis­ the National Toxicology Program. The homes and businesses in Times Beach, dom, felt that three or four points testing is mainly done on rodents, Missouri, because waste oil containing summed over thousands of children which are often given doses so high very small amounts of dioxin had been was significant. that they fall just short of causing im­ spread on the streets to control dust. On This strikes us as a most strange mediate fatality. As we pointed out in May 25, 1991, the Washington Post re­ summation, akin to saying that if each our book Apocalypse Not, these dosages ported that Vernon N. Houk, the official of a thousand people lost one pound of usually constitute a wounding of the who had ord~red the evacuation of the weight the total result would be a sig­ animals, something associated with town, said that he would not have done nificant pile of blubber. But we will be cancer in itself. Thus, in some cases it so had he known then whathe had since gracious and leave this issue aside. may be the treatment of the laboratory learned about the toxicity of dioxin. Two years after the Needleman animal rather than the substance that is Still, the control of effluent that contains paper appeared, Claire Emhart (now of carcinogenic. Yet in 1992, when the tiny amounts of dioxin now threatens to Case Western Reserve) objected to the EPA proposed a more flexible applica­ impose significant costs on many indus­ statistical methods used by Needleman, tion of the Delaney Act, the Supreme tries, including wood preservatives and and charged that he had not done a Court ruled that it permitted no discre­ pulp and paper. proper job of controlling for confound­ tion to allow pesticide residues on food If the same linear standards were ing variables such as the quality of the crops, no matter how small the risk. applied to chromium, manganese, zinc, schools attended by the children. Others Chlorine - which, in its use for and the like, most common vitamin have joined both sides of the fray, and water treatment, has probably saved as pills would be banned from neighbor­ the battle has gone on now for over ten many lives as any other chemical ­ hood pharmacies. years, both in and out of court. Ernhart may combine with other substances in Why the hysteria and alarm about and others charged that the government water to produce chloroform. The EPA such small amounts of chemicals? Part was engaged in a coverup to prevent the has classified chloroform as a potential of the cause is the recent great advances examination of Needleman's raw data, human carcinogen, and has established in scientific measurement, which have so that the errors in his analysis could a national drinking water standard for it made it possible to measure smaller and not be brought out. The EPA convened of 100 parts per billion. But Calabrese smaller amounts of these substances ­ a panel of scientists to review Needle­ and others report in the May 1987 issue amounts so small that they were unde­ man's work and the panel was critical of of Health Physics that a number of inves­ tectable only a few years ago. Under the both Needleman and Ernhart. It con­ tigators have found that low doses of Delaney Act there is virtually no end to cluded that the studies "neither support chloroform have actually improved the the resources that can be spent to elimi­ nor refute the hypothesis that low or survival rate of mice, rats, and dogs. nate these substances. moderate levels of lead exposure lead to Dioxin, described by Michael Brown Heavy Metals cognitive or behavioral impairment in The United States has undertaken a children." Yet by the time the panel re­ ported to the EPA it had apparently It IIA Multibillion Dollar Radon Scare," The virtual vendetta against lead. The gov­ Public Interest, Spring 1990. ernment-mandated removal of lead continued on page 67 46 Liberty Why is Harper's Magazine Writing AboutMichael Emerling and "Dear MichaeI, The Persuasion Tapes? And Why Does ABC's 20/20 Lead Reporter Own a Set? ''Your Persuasion Tapes Saved My Marriage.•.

"We've been married almost 6 years. "...Michael, your Persuasion Tapes "He started laughing. We talked. 1. THEY DON'T BELIEVE YOU. Myhusbandis a memberofthe LP. He earned me $12,000. I was 1 of4 can­ Then we started making progress... You're telling them the opposite of subscribes to all the libertarian didatesfor a promotioninmycompany. "Michael, your persuasion tech­ everything they heard in school, magazines and journals. He reads 10 I was the least qualified. I don't so­ niques are powerful. I regularly use church, on TV and from their family or 12 books every month. cialize with the boss. Nobody figured I them with clients, colleagues, friends and friends. "He talks to everyone about politics had a real chance. and family. Your methods have im­ 2. THEY DON'T TRUST YOU. andeconomics, buthe stoppedtalking "When I went in for the interview, I proved all my relationships." Whathaveyoupersonallydone toearn tomeandwithmeaboutwhatmatters startedoffwithyourRapportbuilding Name withheld by request their confidence? to us andourrelationship. I felt taken methods, then I used your 'Intellec­ 3. THEY DON'T LIKE YOU. for granted. I felt like he didn't really tual Judo' to turn objections to pro­ ".. .1 was one of the thousands of You've criticized their beliefs and val­ love me anymore. motingme into reasons why I was the aerospace workers laid off. Not only ues-andthebeliefsandvaluesoftheir "I talked with him. I read a few best candidate. I used your 'Isolate was I outofwork but I was competing family and friends. books on relationships and communi­ the Concern' tactic to handle the final against these thousands for a shrink­ 4. THEY DON'T THINK IT'S cation. I went to a counselor. (He issue. ing number ofjobs here in California. IMPORTANT ENOUGH. wouldn't come.) I tried everything. "After 35 minutes, my boss said, "For 3 months I got nowhere. One Even iftheybelieve andtrustandlike Nothing worked. 'Communication is very important to afternoon, I listenedtoyourEssence of you, why should they sacrifice family "I was ready to give up. One night, this job and so is poise under fire: Political Persuasion tapes again. time, work time and leisure time for while he was ata libertarianmeeting, Congratulations, you've got the pro­ (l bought them a year ago.) the libertarian cause? I saw your Essence of Political Per­ motion.' YourEssence ofPolitical Per­ "I starting using the Rapport build­ suasion Tapes on top ofhis book shelf. suasion Tapes earned me a $12,000 a ing steps, the Onus of Criterion and The Essence ofPolitical Persuasion "Maybe I could persuade him to talk year promotion in 35 minutes." Political Cross-Dressing during every breaksthroughthesebarriersfor you. to me.. .1 listened to side 1 ofthe first R.S., Los Angeles, CA interview. In2 weeks, I got4joboffers. Quickly. Easily. Enjoyably. tape. Yourrecipes for quicklycreating I'm now back at work. Michael, tell rapportmade sense to me. So did your "My letters-to-the-editor used to libertarians that your Persuasion 1,361 people have bought my Es­ keys to powerful communication... make people angry. Since I started tapes aren'tjust for politics...they got sence of Political Persuasion Audio "When my husband got home, I told using your Political Persuasion me a job." Tape Program. Only 7 asked for re­ himI hadlistenedtoside 1ofyourfirst methods, people started sending in B.N., Orange County, CA funds. (Which were promptly given.) tape and asked him to practice your letters agreeing with me." You know how picky libertarians can rapportrecipes withme. We practiced T.L., Toronto, CANADA "I'm a 74 year old retiree. I call in to be. We talk back to the TV News. for about 30minutes. The nextthingI several radio talk shows. People used 1,354 satisfied customers out of knew we were talking about us, our "...anyway, I got fed up listening to to tell me that my libertarian ideas 1,361 buyers. relationship, our marriage and our my sociology professor praise welfare were crazy...Now they ask me to tell 99.49% Customer Satisfaction. life together. We talked 3 hours. It statism. One day, afterclass, I gothim them more - thanks to your Essence 483 customers wrote me unsolicited seemed like minutes. alone andusedyour'WelfareJunkies' of Political Persuasion Tapes." letters praising the Essence ofPoliti­ "We have listened to your tape set 8 argumenton him. Itstoppedhimcold! A.J., Denver, CO cal Persuasion - and telling me the or 9 times. We practiced all the skills He asked if I could recommend any differencethetapesmadeintheirlives. you teach. We started listeningto and books on the subject. I told him I'd The Essence ofPolitical Persuasion talkingwitheachother.Now wereally bring one by later. Why don't more people seriously could change your life. communicate. "Michael, that's when I called you. I think through the libertarian argu­ "I finally understand why my hus­ followed your advice to the letter. I ments and evidence you give them? 60 Day Money Back Guarantee. band is a libertarian. I've read 8 lib­ bought a copy of Charles Murray's ertarian books in 6 weeks and dis­ LOSINGGROUND - andsoldittomy Why don't they take your ideas to Order Now! Mail your check or cussed them with my husband. Now professor. You're right, ifI'dgivenitto heart? money order today. I'm a real libertarian, too. him I'd be practicingintellectual wel­ "Michael, your Essence ofPolitical fare, encouraging him to believe in ,------1 Persuasion Tapes savedmymarriage. something for nothing and he'd have Free Bonus Tape With Your Order! I P.S. "We areexpectingourfirst baby had no financial investment in read­ o Yes! Here's my $29.95. Send me The Essence OfPolitical Persuasion I late this year." ing the book. Audio Tape Program (3 tapes) -- and the free bonus tape--an added $10.00 Name withheld by request "Well, he read the book and asked value--Emerling's The Missing Factor In The Libertarian Equation: Self- l for more. I gave him a Laissez Faire Responsibility. (Foreign Orders add $4.00 for additional Postage.) "I'm a Christian Libertarian. While Books catalog(heboughtseveralbooks tIAlso send me The Late, Great Libertarian Macho Flash, pluB 4 Surprise I I've always felt uncomfortable dis­ over the phone while I was there) and Emerling Essay Reprints. cussing my Christian beliefs with lib­ a CATO catalog. ertarians, I've felt even more uncom­ "My professor is on his way to be­ fortable discussing my libertarian coming a libertarian. Think of how 60-Day beliefs with my fellow Christians. many thousands of students he will Name Money Back "Your Essence ofPolitical Persua­ influence with libertarian ideas ­ sion Tapesgave metheconfidence and thanks to your Essence of Political Guarantee Street skills I needed to bringlibertarianism Persuasion Tapes." tomychurch.Yourstoryon 'theJudas R.J., Madison, WI All Orders Bargain' hit me deep. I'm getting City, Mailed Within powerful results with your 'Political "...I'm a competent, trained Psy­ 24 Hours Cross-Dressing' and 'Words Are chiatrist, but I was stuck. He was the Weapons'techniques. most resistant depressive I've ever StatelZip "Libertycannot triumph inAmerica treated. ~ without the support ofmillions ofmy "In frustration, I tried your 'Intel­ Make your Check or Money Order payable to: .- lectual Judo' method on him. I agreed I fellow Christians. Reaching them will Michael Emerling • Box 28368· Las Vegas, NV 89126 I be my special libertarian 'ministry'. with his depression. I embraced his L ~ " God Bless you, Michael." position. I added to it, accelerated it B.L., New York, New York and re-directed it. Paid Adverrisernenr Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 Fiction Gotta Sing by Greg Jenkins

"I am going to sing for you, a little offkey perhaps, but 1will sing.)) -Henry Miller, Tropic ofCancer

We all knew the General was crazy, but "It/s ..." He grimaced, shook his head, lowered his eyes. just how far gone he was did not become appar­ "Carlos?" "Sir, he wants us to sing." ent until the day of his so-called "Final Edict." I kept my feet on my desk but sat up a little straighter. I was in my office doing nothing in particular when word "All of us/" he said. "Every member of the ruling junta. first came to me. My title at that time was Minister of He wants us all to ..." Commerce. (In fact, even now/to the best of my knowledge, I "Sing?" My feet dropped to the floor and I laughed con­ am still officially the Minister of Commerce.) Several years vulsively. Humorous moments are rare in San Martinet, and had passed since I had taken any genuine interest in the al­ one likes to get the most out of them; I must've laughed for a leged functions of my department. Since the advent of the full minute. "What's he doing?" I gasped. "Forming an all­ General, our economy had been in a shambles, and it was ob­ government glee club?" vious to me that nothing I said or did could alter that fact. "No sir, not exactly." Carlos wasn't even smiling, and the I can remember how oppressively hot it was, even for San rigidity of his expression had a gradual sobering effect on me. Martinet; the overhead fan did little but stir the heat. They "What, then?" say there is something in that kind of weather - a microbe He took a breath. "He wants each of us to put on a perfor­ perhaps - which can drive a man to distraction. Perhaps mance. Individually. Each of us must sing one song of our this is true. For myself, it was driving me only toward sleep. I own choosing for the sake of the General's entertainment. pushed aside the great heaps of paper on my desk and The performance may be simple or elaborate, as the singer propped up my feet. I let my head bow and my mind tumble. prefers." He had opened the scroll and was skimming down In the distance I thought I could hear the faint strumming of it. "Musical accompaniment, to include musicians and back­ a guitarra. up vocalists, will be provided. Eventually everyone in San Two or three minutes later - or it may have been two or Martinet, except for the Army and children under the age of three hours - one of my aides, a young man named Carlos, twelve, will be asked to participate. Government and quasi­ came in on me abruptly. I was so startled, I actually opened governmental officials," he sighed, "will lead off." my eyes a fraction. Motionless as the books and papers that I snorted, and smiled ruefully. "Well/" I said, "another di­ littered my office, I waited for him to state his business so I version for the people. I can see no real harm in it, especially could promptly ignore it. But he said nothing. He scuttled since I will no doubt be exempted." aimlessly around the stifling room, silently, a look of concern "Exempted?" Carlos frowned at me. "Why would ..." in his dark eyes and a shiny white scroll in his hand. "Because fortunately for me, I can/t sing. I have a terrible "Carlos/" I spoke up/ "what is it?" voice. I'm tempted to blame it on too much whiskey and to­ He stood still. He glanced at me and then down at the bacco, but the truth is I never could sing. Same as you, scroll and then back at me again. I had never seen him so Carlos," I laughed; "I've heard you humming to yourself, tense. For Carlos, who was the sort of muchacho that could and you're no Caruso either. So let/s not worry about it, eh?" fall asleep in the midst of a coup/such fidgeting was most Far from appearing relieved, he dropped the scroll, stag­ extraordinary. gered, and grasped at his throat. "It/s ..." "Carlos?" I stood up in alarm. "Another proclamation?" I guessed. "By the General?" "Sir, I-I don't think you understand." He bent over to "Yes." pick up the scroll, had it by his fingertips but dropped it Again I waited. "Well, what is it?" again. It rolled away from him. "We have to sing," he said. 48 Liberty • Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

"Anyone who refuses will be shot." In any event, this was the man for whom we were expect­ "50 we'll sing," I shrugged. "Mi mi mi mi. Ha! It'll be no ed to sing. worse for us than for the poor devils who have to sit there "Carlos," I said, wiping the sweat off my face with my and listen." bare hand, "did the General give any clue as to why he has "1 wouldn't be too sure of that. You see, our object is to decided to go ahead with this ... this exercise?" please the General." "Yes sir, he did," Carlos answered. "He said he was sick "Isn't it always?" and tired of watching TV. And that movies these days con­

U Any singer who fails to do so will be shot." tain too much sex and violence." "What!" In due course a schedule was published and the sessions Carlos nodded at me somberly. "So it seems to me we are began. Most of them took place, quite naturally, in our faced with three choices: either we join the Army, or we get Teatro Nacional de Camera y Eusayo, but this was not a re­ our birth certificates revised rather drastically, or we take quirement. Indeed, you could sing wherever you liked: in a some singing lessons pronto." studio, in a taberna, even in your shower - wherever you "Or we head for the hills. Let me see that thing." And felt you could perform most effectively. This was widely in­ both of us lunged for the scroll at the same time. terpreted as another sign of the General's breadth of soul. I read through the Edict carefully, and made the unhappy Most people chose the Teatro for obvious reasons: excellent discovery that everything Carlos had told me was corr~t. acoustics, ample lighting, a large stage. We were free to select any genre of music we wished - clC)ls­ There was also a substantial seating capacity - every sical, popular, folk ... whatever we felt might make a favora­ performance there drew a tremendous crowd. I believe there ble impression on the General. We had the option of singi~g were two reasons for this. First, of course, everyone was ea­ with the support of a state-assembled orchestra, or we co~ld ger to see such a remarkable spectacle as a series of ordinary put together our own group. Or we could sing a cappella. We people singing for their very lives. But also they hoped to would be given sufficient time to rehearse and otherwise' to gain some insight into the General's tastes in music, since prepare ourselves (probably a few weeks»' and we were ~n­ one day they too would have to sing, and sing with as much structed to bear in mind that anyone whose performatjlce power and beauty as they could muster if they ever hoped to was deemed by the General to be "inadecuado" would be sub- see their loved ones again. ject to execution, courtesy of a firing squad. ' Always the crowd sat in hushed silence before and dur­ I could find only one tiny glint of a silver lining in the ~n­ ing the performance. When the singer finished, all eyes tire Edict: the participant's pure ability as a singer would j;lot would instantly converge on the General, who invariably sat be the sole criterion for judgment. Mary be praised. Th~re himself in the front row, in the center section. The General would be other factors, such as song selection, musical jar­ would ruminate for a moment, utter some brief comment, rangement, innovativeness, enthusiasm, poise, and so ibn. and then turn his thumb either up or down, depending on Unquestionably our General was a fair-minded, generous, his verdict. If the gesture happened to be thumbs-up, the and noble leader. crowd would erupt with such an outpouring of joy and ap­ Or was he? What kind of man, what kind of sensibi1~ty, proval that you might guess San Martinet had just landed an could have conceived such a perverse and unnattitral astronaut safely on the moon. If thumbs-down, they would scheme? It was my privately held belief that in a contest Ibe­ whistle and jeer - and even throw things - as though the tween the General and Albert Schweitzer as to which was poor singer had been caught doing something despicable the greater humanitarian, the General would have cornel off with a child. The crowd, you see, was very spontaneous. second best. ' I can recall the first performance vividly, as I'm sure all of Let me tell you something about him, so you will be 4ble us who watched it can. The gentleman's name was Jose to visualize and understand him better. Physically, he! re­ Pedroza; he was the General's Chief of Staff. Wearing a confi­ minded one of a shaved bear. He was a huge, snarling liulk dent smile and a smart gray suit, he strode to center stage of a man who ate nothing but meat - even for breakfast.] He and belted out, in what I must contend was a better-than­ spoke in a heavy, guttural voice, slept for long periods, ~nd average tenor voice, the national anthem of San Martinet. had a very quick and violent temper. I might also add thait he You could tell by his exuberant manner that he was altogeth­ always smelled as though he had just emerged from! the er satisfied with his performance and, even more so, with his woods. shrewd choice of material. Spiritually, too, he called up notions of something vague­ If only the General had shared his- exuberance. After a ly ursine. Immediately following his seizure of power he: de­ moment's hesitation, the General remarked: clared that martial law would thenceforth be in effect. Some "Politically, myoId friend, I stand with you, for you, and of the measures he ordered were quite severe - for exaIllple, behind you. As all of us here do. But musically ... well, let's his announcement that jaywalking would be treated as a cap­ face it: 'Honor to Thee, 0 Ancient Republic' isn't exactly a ital offense. When his own grandmother expressed mi~giv­ classic." ings concerning some of his policies, he accused her of So saying, he turned his thumb toward hell. Senor plotting against him, put her on trial, and had her execqted. Pedroza blanched, sank to his knees, and tried to speak. But Interestingly, evidence was uncovered later which strongly in the din of the hostile crowd his voice could not be heard. suggested the old woman actually had been plotting against In another moment, five or six burly soldiers had dragged him. him roughly from the stage, back into the wings. None of us Liberty 49 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 ever saw him again. (sung in the style of Louis Armstrong, complete with hand­ The sessions continued. Normally there were ten or kerchief), "If Ever I Would Leave You," "Misty," and count­ twelve performances a day, six days a week - a steady pace. less others. The General seemed to appreciate this trend, at In the beginning, most of the participants opted for military least for a while. For the better part of a month, the success % anthems, religious songs, and folk ballads. A few of the more ratio was reasonably high - better than 50 , I would judge. daring ones elected to do numbers with a sultrier, jazzier Then, abruptly, he began to disapprove every song pre­ beat. In these instances, they would often be supported by a sented, regardless of quality. Based on his comments ("Oh my troupe of lithe young dancers who, in the background, God, not another one of these!"), the more perceptive members would do the samba, the cumbia, the merecumbe, the mambo, of the audience concluded that the General was growing and other popular steps. To my mind, some of the perfor­ bored with the unending barrage of mellow, middle-of-the­ mances were highly commendable; some were plainly medi­ road tunes, and yearned for something with a little more bite. ocre. But in the eyes and ears of the General, everyone of Thus the stage was set, both literally and figuratively, for a them was found wanting; each of these early attempts was startling phenomenonby the name of Aurelio Lopez. met with a testy thumbs-down. Senor Lopez was a clerk in one of our juzgados. He was Perhaps a hundred people had been sent to their deaths also a genius. Donning an outrageous, multi-colored tophat - our country's morale could not have been lower - when and black leather pants -no shirt, no shoes - he proceeded at last a breakthrough occurred. The singer's name was Luis to half-mince, half-prance onto the stage and sing, amid a crash of guitars and a burst of drums: Just take those old records off the shelf! The General listened attentively to "Heart­ I'll sit 'n' listen to 'em by myself! break Hotel," but then remarked that someone Today's music ain't got the same soul! ought to put a stop to "this Elvis thing" and it I like that old-time rock'n'roll! Midway through the rendition the General rose to his feet might as well be him. and began clapping his hands overhead, shouting: "Arriba! Arriba!" No thumbs-up was necessary. The audience was in a frenzy - screaming, cheering, and, in the case of a few Otero; he was a minor bureaucrat in the Council of the Realm. senoritas, actually swooning with excitement. With a flourish, With a mixture of courage, inspiration, and sheer audacity, he Senor Lopez introduced the members of his band, a group danced out onstage dressed like an old-time vaudevillian, hat called "Loco," blew kisses to the adoring crowd, and ushered and cane injaunty motion, and unflinchingly sang: in what appeared to be the era of rock'n'roll. I say "appeared to be" because in truth what he had Oh, you beautiful doll! ushered in was an era of great variety. Past experience had You great big beautiful doll! demonstrated that with the General, too much of a good Let me put my arms around you! thing could be a terrible thing. So after an initial flurry of I could never live without you! rock music, perhaps a week's worth, we saw the introduction Oh, you beautiful doll! You great big beautiful doll! of gospel, country, rhythm & blues, and many other strains Ifyou'd ever leave me and varieties, all with primarily one thing in common: the How my heart would ache! songs themselves had originated up north. During this peri­ I wanna hug ya od the success ratio, by my own count, leveled off at about % But I'm afraid you'd break! two-thirds, or slightly less than 70 • Oh! - Oh! - Oh! - Oh! I would like now to offer a short list of some of the songs Oh, you beautiful doll! which were sung and the reactions they received. These rec­ ollections are given in no particular order. Senor Otero's last note seemed to hang in the air for a wondrously long time. The crowd sat stunned and utterly si­ "Heartbreak Hotel" - thumbs-down. The General lent. Finally the General said, in a voice so crisp and penetrat­ listened attentively, but then remarked that some­ ing that he seemed to be speaking directly to each and every one ought to put a stop to "this Elvis thing" and it one of us: might as well be him. "An American song. Huh. Let me tell you how it is with "Hot Stuff" - thumbs-up. It should be noted that these Americans. They are curs. They are swine. They are disco music as a rule fared poorly; two or three vermin. They are imperialist warmongers." He crossed his songs originally done by Donna Summer were a not­ legs, folded his hands on his lap. "But they make pretty good able exception. music. Congratulations, Senor Otero. Maravilloso, excelente." "I Am Woman" - no official hand signal given. And up came the thumb, along with the delirious shouts of After two bars the General stood up, pulled out his the crowd. revolver, and opened fire on the singer, who I be­ Needless to say, from that point on, every song done was lieve was somebody's secretary. It is assumed that either American or sounded American. We were treated to the General's action represented a negative verdict. such timeless and diverse standards as "Strangers in the "Surfin' Bird" - essentially the same reaction as Night," "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," "Hello, Dolly" above. 50 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

"My Way" - thumbs-up, largely, it was felt, be­ who would "meddle in the"'internal affairs of San Martinet," cause of the singer's carefully worded preface, in telling them in effect to mind their own business. He de­ which he dedicated the sQng to the General's life, ac­ clared that the sessions would continue according to complishments, and overall deportment. schedule. "Come on-a My House" - thumbs-up, according So it was back to rehearsal for the Minister·of Commerce. to rumor. The song was performed by a comely fe­ The song I had chosen, after untold consultations with my male singer not onstage but in her own dimly lit tac­ closest advisors, who relied on computer-generated analyses ador, with only the General and a pianist present. of the General's moods, comments, and past decisions, was Rumor further has it that the woman, a widow, has an energetic piece called "Rock Around the Clock," original­ since been given a sizable pension. ly done by the American singer Bill Haley. This song, for "Take This Job and Shove It" - thumbs-down. It those of you unfamiliar with it, features a driving beat and came out later that the singer, a high-ranking official striking guitar riffs which, it was hoped, might compensate with the Council of State, had been despondent over for any deficiencies in the singer's voice. To ensure that my a broken love affair. Evidently his choice of songs musical backup was as strong as possible, I acquired the ser­ was deliberately suicidal. vices of the group Loco, which had earlier worked so super­ You are perhaps wondering about my own fate. Ifso, you bly with the incomparable Aurelio Lopez. are not alone. I have wondered about it many times myself. Of course there were other preparations. For one, I had to Because of my various political connections, cultivated decide on a costume in which to perform, and I went with a during periods when I should have been busy at my job but skin-tight, gold lame jumpsuit. Since I am 61 years old and wasn't, I succeeded in getting my performance postponed re­ not as slim as I used to be, this was something of a gamble. peatedly. Naturally I made a prolonged and hard-fought at­ But, I figured, anything to take his mind off my voice. I also tempt at getting myself overlooked completely, but found had to work out my choreography, and this I accomplished that this was impossible. The delays, however, were better with the guidance of a young man, state-appointed, whose than nothing, and I put them to good use. hair had the same color and glitter as my costume. Finally, I sought a way out of the country - and found none. I there were certain legal papers to be reviewed and endorsed, tried, ever so delicately, to plant the seeds of a coup among so that my family would be taken care of if my performance some of my highly-placed countrymen - and failed misera­ went badly. bly. I rehearsed my upcoming song for hour upon intermina­ Despite my preparations, or perhaps because of them, I ble hour, until my throat was raw - and managed only to was not overly confident. I arrived at the Teatro on the given convince myself more deeply that when my time came, as in­ day just in time to see my aide Carlos unburden himself of a evitably it would, I would learn from a different perspective perfectly woeful performance; this did not bolster my spirits. the horror which emanated from the brown, inverted thumb The poor boy had been trying to sing "Happy Days Are Here Again." Even to my undiscriminating ears he sounded like a cat on a fence at three in the morning. Then, halfway through the number, he lost his voice altogether, though the music Within the U.S. and Great Britain, scores of -continued to the end. The General, finding some dark humor singers and musicians were offering to travel to in the situation, allowed that if the first half of the song had San Martinet and perform if only the General gone as well as the second, Carlos might have eked out an would cancel his Final Edict. approval. Then he turned his thumb down. My confidence received a further blow when I realized that my band was missing. I looked everywhere for them of our General. On second thought, the extra time I'd fina­ and simply couldn't find them. No one had seen them; no gled had been put to no good use at all. one could tell me where they might be. After rushing around My only real hope had its roots outside our country. the Teatro for an hour or more, accosting strangers, making Word came to us through the grapevine that the rest of man­ phone calls, I approached the stage manager to tell him kind was appalled by this latest turn of events in San frankly that I couldn't go on: that it was impossible. Martinet, and that international pressure - political, eco­ "Stage fright," he said, fingering the gun he wore on his nomic, and moral - was being brought to bear on the hip. "Don't worry about it. Happens all the time - especial­ General in a concerted effort to halt the "insane slaughter." ly here." The United Nations had issued a harshly phrased statement "Not stage fright," I said. "Common sense. I can't find of condemnation, as had the United States Congress. Within my band. They didn't show up." the U.S. and Great Britain, scores of singers and musicians "That has been known to happen as well. What did they were offering to travel to San Martinet and perform if only call themselves?" the General would cancel his Final Edict. Amnesty Interna­ "Loco." tional, we were told, was compiling a list of relevant names, "Ah yes." He smiled at me -not a very warm smile, I dates, places, and even songs. must say. "Last night," he said, "they lived up to their But all this, lamentably, was to no avail. The General name." made a thunderous speech in which he denounced all those "What do you mean?" Liberty 51 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

"They were arrested for public drunkenness. So I that my point of view was correct, but not to offend him, if wouldn't expect to see them anytime soon, especially since this was possible. I was also careful to base my argument on there were also allegations of jaywalking." pragmatism only, and not to enter into the touchy areas of "Dios," I murmured. Then: "So it's settled. I can't go on." ethics or religion. Thus, I noted how inflation had skyrocket­ "True," he said. "You probably can't. But you will." ed, while at the same time production had plunged almost to "What?" zero; we were eating ourselves alive, I said, like a· shark tear­ "I am told you've had postponements enough, my friend. ing at its own entrails. Why? Because virtually the entire pop­ The General is growing impatient. So today is the day and ulace had ceased working so they could devote more time now is the time." and effort to their songs. As Minister of Commerce I was in a "But I've been trying to tell you -" position to speak on these issues. He yanked out his gun and my words stopped as if some­ "Not only that," I went on, "but how long do you sup­ one had pulled the needle off a record. "And I have been try­ pose the Army will stand for this situation? They have been ing to tell you - Senor, you are on." exempted, yes, but what about their mothers, fathers, broth­ "But -" ers, and sisters who are civilians? What about their wives? "Ahora mismo." And he gave me a shove that sent me reel­ Their civilian friends? What about - General- what about ing onstage. those soldiers with children older than twelve? Or with tod­ Somehow I kept my composure - have you ever noticed dlers who will one day turn twelve? Have you considered how bureaucrats rarely lose their composure? I stumbled these things? along in a blur of intense white light. The audience, by con- "General, we all love music. It is a part of our heritage, a part of our nature as human beings. But I must ask you: Isn't there a better way? Mightn't there be a more positive Amnesty International, we were told, was approach? compiling a list ofrelevant names, dates, places, "I beseech you, General - rethink your Final Edict, and rescind it. For your good and for ours. and even songs. "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your indulgence." No one spoke for quite a while, or even moved. If there trast, was shrouded in darkness. I had a difficult time descry­ had been silence before, there now seemed to be a kind of ing the General, but finally I was able to make him out; he vacuum. I stood there attached to the floor like a human sta­ was seated in his usual place. I came to a stop and faced him: lagmite, waiting, waiting. Peering into the unchanging dark­ faced everyone. As always, the vast room was filled with a ness. Eventually, the General leaned forward and said: throng of very quiet people. "I don't understand. No song?" I had no intention of singing, though what I would do was Now my feet moved slightly. "Er, no. You see, General, as another question. The seconds passed; they crawled over my Ijust-" skin like insects. Suddenly I began to speak. "No music? I don't understand. No song?" "General," I said, "and people of San Martinet - good af­ "Actually, General, as I- as I just explained to you, and, ternoon. As you have no doubt surmised, I came here today uh, to everyone else ... concerning the matter of, uh ..." in order to sing to you. However, circumstances outside my "No song!" he cried in amazement. control have made that proposition impossible for me to un­ He waved his hand and a squad of soldiers fell on me dertake, at least for the present. So instead I would like to use from all directions. As they dragged me away the crowd this opportunity to address you concerning two subjects, hooted and whistled at me. namely, this whole matter of ... of singing, and indeed the "General," I screamed, bobbing along, "I was only overall quality of life in San Martinet." kidding. Really. A little joke to set the mood ..." But no one All right, I know what you're thinking. You are thinking: could hear me. "General," I screamed, "listen, please, for the What a valorous man, this Minister; our Savior must have en­ sake of God: Well it's one two three o'clock four o'clock rock dowed him withmucho curaje. Or perhaps you are thinking: - General, please - five six seven o'clock eight o'clock The man is clearly an idiot. But in fact I believe that neither rock-" assertion is true. For me to have performed without accom­ But it was no use. paniment, that - that - would have been the act of an idiot. So. For the time being I languish in jail: in this stinking And when a man who has virtually nothing to lose does little mazmorra. I write out my recollections on these tiny something "risky," what is he actually risking? Death means scraps of paper, and do little else. I don't eat, I can't sleep. My little to someone who suspects he may already be dead. hour will come, though I don't know when. I am filled with I waited for someone to rush the stage. No one did. fear ... Drawing my impetus from what Iknew were the real hopes, A curious point. It isn't the fear that prevents me from dreams, and desires of the people, I continued with my little sleeping. It is the sound of my fellow prisoners, throughout speech. the cell block, singing. Out of habit, out of frustration, out of Basically I argued against the Final Edict, suggesting, in lunacy, they persist in singing their songs. Endlessly. Every softer words of course, that it was a scourge on our country. I one of them sounds awful, and in some odd way this gives me watched my tone as best I could, so as to persuade the General a sense of kinship, however remote, with the General. a 52 Liberty The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective, editedby economy as a whole was changing Joel Mokyr. Westview Press, 1993, 362 pp., $55.00 hc, $18.95 sc. much more slowly than its most dy­ namic parts, because growth was dilut­ ed by slow-growing sectors," he writes (12). Mokyr's bottom line: while there are "arguments about exactly what Was There an changed, when it started, when it end­ ed, and where to place the emphasis" (3), the Industrial Revolution is still a Industrial Revolution? "useful abstraction" (1). I have no specialized knowledge to apply to this debate, but my literary analysis tells me that the proponents of JaneS. Shaw Over the last couple of decades, eco­ the Industrial Revolution are on the de­ nomic historians have been trying to fensive, maybe even running scared. measure the economic growth of Great And maybe it is time to lay this concept For more than 40 years, historians Britain during the Industrial Revolu­ to rest. have debated whether the working tion. Their findings reveal little change, By questioning the Industrial Revo­ classes fared better or worse under the at least from 1760 to 1830. A leading lution, no one challenges the fact that factory system engendered by the In­ light of this new statistical analysis, Great Britain (along with the United dustrial Revolution. Recently, however, N.F.R. Crafts, estimates that per capita States and, ultimately, many other a more fundamental debate has national income in Great Britain grew countries) became, in Mokyr's words, emerged: Did the Industrial Revolution about .17% a year between 1760 and an "urban, sophisticated society, weal- exist at all? This deeper disagreement is 1800 and .52% a year from 1800 to 1830. the underlying theme of The British In­ That's not very fast, and not much dif­ dustrial Revolution: An Economic Perspec­ ferent from what it was before 1760. It The proponents of the In­ tive, a collection of essays edited by eco­ was only after 1830 that per capita na­ dustrial Revolution are on the nomic historian Joel Mokyr. tional income grew significantly - just defensive, maybe even running We're all familiar with the basic under 20/0 per year, according to Crafts' idea of the Industrial Revolution. Be­ numbers. scared. tween 1760 and 1830 or so - some ex­ Meanwhile, David Landes reports tend the period much later - there was that steam power, "long seen as the thy beyond the wildest dreams of the an explosion of inventions in Great technological heart of modem indus­ Briton of 1750 or the bulk of the inhabi­ Britain that ultimately transformed the try," only gradually gained in impor- tants of Africa and Southern Asia in economy of the Western world. Fore­ . tance, and did not surpass water power our own time" (131). Indeed, figuring most were the mechanical spinning in­ until late in the nineteenth century. Nor out how this happened may be crucial ventions, the spinning jenny and the had iron and steel yet replaced wood in if today's Third World nations are ever mule, which revolutionized the British the mid-nineteenth century. to replicate it. cotton textile industry; improvements "All of this has given rise to a reas­ The problem is that treating the in the making of iron; and the develop­ sessment of the nature and significance 1760-1830 period as a revolution may ment of the steam engine. Along with of the Industrial Revolution," writes have handicapped us. these changes, the factory system began Landes (p. 146). That doesn't make him In the 1950s, Walt Rostow, an in­ to replace the cottage system of a convert, though - he calls the eco­ fluential economist, developed the idea manufacture. nomic growth data "guesstimates" and that all nations would have to go The traditional understanding has the new analyses "brave structures on through their own industrial revolu­ beenthat these inventions unleashed the shaky foundatioI\S" (152). tions; he coined the word "take-off" to economic growth that set Britain and, Joel Mokyr also defends the Indus­ mean a short-term, sudden transition soon, the United States on a steady up­ trial Revolution. Its slow pace, he says, to a steady upward trend. His idea was ward path. Unfortunately for the stan­ should not really be all that surprising, used by governments and internation­ dard theory, newly developed economic since it initially affected only a small al development agencies to promote data donotsupportitverywell. segment of the population. "The British state-directed industrialization. Liberty 53 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

But if Great Britain and the United Its life may have been artificially pro­ workers· who moved to urban factories States never had such a "take-off" peri­ longed by the "standard of living" de­ were better or worse off than before, od - if, for example, economic growth bate mentioned above. That debate was but now that debate can be properly took hundreds of years to evolve ­ really a dispute over capitalism, started relegated to specialists. With the idea then the concept offers no helpful by Marxists and others who wanted to of the Industrial Revolution rapidly di­ model to developing nations today. make the market look bad. And that minishing, other scholars may now be This may help explain why most Third dispute is now over. liberated to comb through longer peri­ World countries are economic di­ The demise of socialism leaves little ods of history and apply an apprecia­ sasters. doubt that capitalism is better for the tion of complex institutions to the elu­ By shelving the idea of an Industrial working classes. Of course, it does not sive but crucial goal of learning how Revolution, we can make room for settle the question of whether the farm economic growth occurs. CJ more complicated and constructive ex­ plorations of how growth occurs. More attention can be paid to economist and LostRights: The Destruction ofAmerican Liberty, byJames Bovard. historian Douglass North's view that a St. Martin's Press, 1994,335 pp, $24.95. nation's rules, laws, and traditions ­ its institutions - determine economic growth more than its inventions do. And if economic growth depends on in­ stitutional changes, there is also room for the Austrian idea that economic Tyranny Now growth occurs as individual entrepren­ eurs respond to new opportunities with time- and place-specific knowledge. As economic historian P.J. Hill once said to me, "We now believe that economic Jonathan H. Adler "Americans' liberty is perishing be­ growth depends more on the actions of neath the constant growth of govern­ thousands of individuals responding to ment power," opens James Bovard's Peter Fishbein's only mistake was opportunities than on a few 'heroic' new book, Lost Rights. If freedom is to agreeing to represent a client on bad inventions." be restored, Bovard counsels, we need terms with the federal government. A So Douglass North's analysis of eco­ "to realize how much we have already lawyer at the firm of Kaye, Scholer, nomic growth in Great Britain (conduct­ lost" - and how much we still risk los­ Fishbein was accused of failing to dis­ ed with Robert Thomas in ing. His book is a crash introductory The Rise ofthe close privileged information to the fed­ course in the threats the federal govern­ Western World) goes back much further eral Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) ment poses to individual liberty, un­ than the usual parameters of the Indus­ about his client, Lincoln Savings & leashed in a flurry of data - evidence trial Revolution, with important seeds Loan. Fishbein argued, correctly, that of growth .visible in the early modern abiding by the OTS's demands would of the power of NEXIS-aided research. period of British (and Dutch) history. havebeen a violation of his professional Americans are forced to obey 30 times And it goes forward, too. North be­ responsibility to vigorously defend his as many laws today as a century ago. lieves that the most important economic client. In retaliation, the OTS unilateral­ The federal government employs al­ revolution after th~ Agricultural Revo­ ly froze the firm's assets without a hear­ most 130,000 regulators, and itches for lution of 10,000 years ago occurred late ing or formal administrative procedure, more. Each business day the govern­ in the nineteenth century, when the ap­ and assessed a $275 million penalty. ment issues nearly 200 pages of dense­ plication of science transformed indus­ Kaye, Scholer contested the action, ly-worded regulatory strictures and ex­ trial activity (see North's Structure and but without its full assets to draw upon planations in the Federal Register. The Change in Economic History). This broad­ was forced to settle out of court. The les­ average citizen now works over 120 er view seems consistent with the think­ son, according to the New York City Bar days simply to pay his share of the tax ing of Nathan Rosenberg and L.E. Bird­ Association, was that if lawyers "repre­ burden; the number of pages filled with zell in How the West Grew Rich, who sent the client vigorously, they risk fi­ tax regulations has ballooned from 14 emphasize the many small technologi­ nancial ruin before an action against in 1914 to over 9,000 in 1992. cal and organizational changes that de­ them is evenbroughtbefore a judge." In Bovard's words, "Governments velopedthe Western economies. Byex­ As George Washington said, gov­ have now amassed far more power tending their thinking to broader ernment is like fire: "a dangerous ser­ than politicians are capable of responsi­ expanses of time and by looking at vant and a terrible master." That is bly and intelligently wielding." much more than "inventions," these why the founders tried to restrain it Americans tend to distrust the feder­ scholars offer more creative ways of an­ with formal procedures and institution­ al government, but this has yet to stop alyzing economic growth. al counterweights. But today, arbitrary voters from encouraging the creation of There is another reason not to la­ persecution like that which befell Kaye, new programs and entitlements. "Amer­ ment losing the Industrial Revolution. Scholer is increasingly common. ican political thinking suffers from a ... 54 Libertl/ Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 tendency to view the expansion of gov­ troubled by the actions of the federal The current era of state-worship has ernment power by its promises rather agents depicted in the broadcast. The yet to produce divine infallibility for than by its results." Americans may dis­ Food and Drug Administration is noto­ government officials. People make mis­ like how the government performs its rious for delaying approval of desper­ takes, and a government manned by in­ existing duties, but that has yet to trans­ ately needed medications and treat­ dividuals is certain to have its share of late into a broad-based campaign to cut ments out of concern for their "effec­ problems. Procedures do exist for indi­ it down to size. Few are willing to admit tiveness." That people die while wait­ viduals to pursue grievances against that the federal government simply tries ing for the drugs to be approved arbitrary state actions. Yet these pro­ to do too much. scarcely catches the FDA's attention. cesses also have their problems. When Through the rapid proliferation of Perhaps of greatest concern is the one contests an agency's action, one laws reaching every corner of human arbitrary enforcement of federal stric­ must follow the Byzantine prescrip­ existence, "the government is manufac­ tures. One of the most important ele­ tions of administrative procedure. Ini­ turing more criminals now than ever ments in rule of law is predictability: if tial complaints are handled by Admin­ before." The list of illegal activities in­ you don't know what the law requires, istrative Law Judges (ALJs) before the cludes more minutiae than one would it can be terribly difficult to comply. disputes can go to court. Yet ALJs are think possible. Beer-makers are barred When a company cannot anticipate a employed by the agencies in question. from listing alcohol content on bottles, regulatory agency's expectations, in­ In some cases, ruling for a citizen and liquor distilleries cannot advertise vestments in increased capacity and against the government can injure an on TV. Filling one's own prairie pot­ new production methods are less like­ ALI's career. An individual must "ex­ hole can land a property owner in jail, ly. The hazardous waste regulations haust administrative remedies," typi­ as can protecting private property from cally at the cost of thousands of dollars, unlawful intruders. Placing handbills before a federal court will even enter­ in neighbors' mailboxes is strictly pro­ Each business day the gov­ tain reviewing the case. Faced with this hibited, and attempting to sell necta­ situation, many simply choose not to rines of an improper size is a federal of­ ernment issues nearly 200 fight, and let the government have its fense. Companies are no longer pages of densely-worded regu­ way. allowed to give salaried professionals latory strictures and explana­ It doesn't have to be this way. The partial days off without pay, and in tions in the Federal Register. American system was designed to al­ Texas it is a crime to call oneself an in­ low individuals to determine their own terior deSigner without the govern­ destiny; government would provide a ment's permission. It is perhaps easier bulwark against domestic chaos and to recount all that remains legal than all promulgated under the Resource Con­ foreign invasion, but otherwise let the that is now prohibited. servation and Recovery Act are so com­ people be. Today, writes Bovard, "the Of course, these rules are supposed plex, even EPA officials are often un­ trademark of modern political thinking to improve people's lives. But consider sure of what they mean. The Ameri­ is an implicit faith in discretionary the guardians of the public trust and cans with Disabilities Act, which seeks power wielded by benevolent politi­ their priorities in bringing us such to bar discrimination against the handi­ cians and administrators - in letting "help." Congress is a bastion of self­ capped, is so vague that corporations government employees treat private righteousness when there is a wronged will not know how to comply until citizens as they think best." Such en­ constituency to be protected. Yet it has years of litigation have defined em­ deavors always require power and con­ not seen fit to force itself to comply ployers' precise responsibilities. trol over people's fortunes, posses­ with its own laws. Senator Howard Sometimes federal agencies deliber­ sions, and daily lives. Every increase in Metzenbaum was dreadfully concerned ately obscure the regulations they en­ government power, for causes noble with NBC's prime-time portrayal of the force. The IRS, for instance, has op­ and nefarious alike, "means a decrease Waco siege tragedy. Yet he was not posed clarifying its rules governing the in citizens' ability to rely on themselves self-employed for fear that and plan their own lives." This is the more individuals would defining message of Bovard's treatise, a exercise the option. Ironi­ message too rarely heard in main­ cally, this campaign may stream political discourse. actually reduce the reve­ As in his earlier books, The Farm Fi­ nue received by the federal asco and The Fair Trade Fraud, Bovard government. As Public makes his case anecdotally, with one Choice economists have example of government malfeasance pointed out, agency priori- after another. This is not a book of ag­ ties are often as much a gregated statistics, nor is there more function of what benefits than occasional philosophizing. Bovard h:1~/o, empire-building bureau­ seeks to convince the reader that injus­ n crats as they are of public- tices are routinely committed in the '''Not guilty?' - Do you think I was born yesterday?" minded priority-setting. name of prohibiting the use of marijua- Liberty 55 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

/ na; that all drug prohibition should be tions of insider trading, antitrust policy, misdeeds. And, with luck, this book put to an end is less explicit. Bovard sovereign immunity, federalism, and will allow such tales to reach a broader shows how government programs have Social Security." audience. eroded fundamental freedoms, but rare­ Much of the book will seem old hat As Bovard points out, IIAmerica ly goes further to argue that these pro­ to the well-read libertarian - Bovard is needs fewer laws, not more prisons." If grams are simply wrong in principle, nothing if not prolific in recycling his Lost Rights succeeds in spreading that and still would be if their excesses own work. Yet even the committed will message, it will have provided a real could be controlled. gain from his litany of governmental public service. 0 One also wonders at times about the selection of examples. There seems to be a conscious attempt on Bovard's part Censored: The News That Didn't Make the Ne.ws - and Why (The not to offend the Right anywhere near 1994 Project Censored Yearbook), by Carl Jensen and Project Censored. as much as he is sure to offend the Left. Introduction by Jessica Mitford. Illustrated by Tom Tomorrow, Four Walls His book lays into the distribution of Eight Windows, 1994, 318 pp., $14.95. condoms in public schools, since such programs "exemplify parents' loss of control over their children's schooling," but there is little mention of efforts to impose the teaching of creationism. Beat the Press Bovard lambastes federal subsidies of political correctness and blasphemous art, but does not detail conservatives' efforts to move such funding in their di­ rection. Homosexuality is not men­ Jesse Walker opinions out for all to see, allowing tioned in the index. Nor is there any ref­ readers/viewers/listeners to take them erence to conservatives' efforts to use into account. What bedevils the press is the AIDS epidemic to justify a federal­ Sometimes it's hard to distinguish media criticism from sour grapes. more subtle than mere prejudice: ly-funded bully pulpit to promote the There always seems to be more report­ • Sources. Journalists have to get virtues of abstinence. Bovard discusses ing we don't like than reporting we do, their facts from somewhere, and who the failures of civil rights policy, but and one bad journalist can tar the they go to for those facts has obvious there is scant mention of repressive im­ whole press pool. So I'm usually wary repercussions on the stories they write. migration-control measures. of self-professed media critics, particu­ Reporters covering heavily politicized Perhaps Bovard is more comfortable larly those with an obvious ideological scientific stories, such as environmental with conservatives than leftists. After axe to grind. issues, often lack the training needed to all, he receives far more honoraria from Conservatives deride the "liberal discern solid research from hot air. And National Review and The American Spec­ media," and quote studies that show few know where to find alternate voic­ tator than The Nation or Mother Jones. Or the majority of reporters are liberal es when one loudmouthed point of perhaps the Left is simply a more invit­ Democrats. Leftists assault the press view drowns out the others. ing target; the Right has not wielded for being too right-Wing, and cite the Meanwhile, media-savvy sources federal power as effectively as the Left, growing centralization of corporate try to monopolize their position, and to so it is possible that they've left fewer ownership of the media. Both attacks spin the information they control to programs to assail. In any event, one ignore important countervailing forces. cast themselves in as favorable a light wishes that Bovard had been a little Liberal reporters are only as effective as possible. This requires correspon­ more balanced in his anti-government as the editors who select what qualifies dents to maintain a strong curiosity assault. It would have made Lost Rights as "news" allow them to be, and edi­ and a critical intelligence. Too often, a more compelling, and provided conser­ tors tend to be more conservative than reporter's skepticism cracks in the face vative readers with more of what they reporters. Large corporations, on the of a powerful source - a government need to hear. other hand, are not necessarily right­ agency, or a well-established business But this is a minor quibble with a wing - indeed, many fund left-wing or union or lobby. This can be seen at mighty fine book. In Lost Rights, James activism. Nor do owners always have its worst in wartime, when govern­ Bovard has provided us with an ency­ much influence on their papers' edito­ ments monopolize and dole out infor­ clopedic guide to the abuses and petty rial slants: The Village Voice was as firm­ mation as it suits them. That's one rea­ tyrannies of American government ­ ly leftist when it was owned by conser­ son mainstream coverage of the Gulf even if, by his own account, there are vative media baron Robert Murdoch as War was so overwhelmingly pro-war. many stones still left unturned. There it was before or has been since. (The most visible source of alternative was no room to analyze "the Endan­ Actually, ideology is only one factor information, CNN's Peter Arnett, was gered Species Act, the Community Re­ in "media bias," and it isn't the most himself hampered by Iraqi censors, il­ investment Act, the Securities and important one. Many of the best report­ lustrating the point.) Exchange Commission's creative defini- ers are obviously biased, but lay their Even more insidious are the long- 56 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 term relationships that emerge between issue up, and they did. It didn't catch reporters and the people on their beat. on with the public, so they shut up Journalists who want to keep channels about it. The media simply took their How to of information open have to learn to talking cues from Congress. tread lightly around their sources, and The same thing happens when the often wind up being used as mouth­ evening news reports a speech the pres­ Subscribe pieces. This is obvious among the more ident or some other Very Important meretricious sorts of popular reporting Politician made that day, even though - celebrity journalism, sportswriting chances are 10-1 the speaker had noth­ to - but it affects political writers too. ing memorable to say. This amounts to a modernized version of the Society Page that wasted newspaper space in Liberty years past: the media meticulously fol­ If this was such a burning low the daily schedules of the political Liberty takes individual question that every pundit class as though they are inherently freedom seriously ... and newsworthy, allowing Washington to the status quo with more suddenly had to take a stand define what is news. on it in a one-week period, why • Time. Reasoned analysis is al­ than one grain of salt! wasn't it brought up earlier? ways more intricate and complicated Liberty tackles the tough problems. than can be fit into a soundbite, but pic­ Every issue of Liberty presents es­ tures of dramatic plane crashes are says studying current trends in "better copy" than a statistical demon­ political and social thought, discus­ And growing centralization of govern­ stration that airline safety has im­ sions of the strategy and tactics of ment has meant growing centralization proved since deregulation. And they social change, analyses of current of sources, exacerbating the problem. don't require as much time or thought. events, and challenges to popular • The pack mentality. It's reason­ More time for better analysis isn't beliefs. Liberty also offers lively able to report events as they break: elec­ always filled wisely, though. The Mac­ book reviews, fiction, and humor. tions, foreign wars, bills before Con­ Neil/Lehrer News Hour uses its commer­ You won't want to miss a single gress, etc. But many media "crises" cial-free hour to present long clips of issue! might be better described as news fads: dull presidential appearances and trite here today, gone tomorrow, apropos of debates between utterly predictable Act Today! nothing. politicians, bureaucrats, special-interest Liberty offers you the best in liber­ One person who understands this is advocates, and think-tankers, only oc­ tarian thinking and writing. So rap icon Ice T. Asked how he felt about casionally enlivened by a token inde­ don't hesitate. You have nothing to the feeding frenzy over his controver­ pendent thinker. lose, and the fruits of Liberty to sial song, "Cop Killer," the rapper re­ gain! minded the interviewer of the long­ Who Reports on the Reporters? Some media critics take all of this forgotten wave of stories sensationaliz­ Use the coupon below or call: ing the alleged threat to public safety into account. Others do not. The right­ posed by pit bull terriers. Eventually, wing "watchdog" group Accuracy in people tired of the hysteria, and the sto­ Media is infamous for being more ideo­ 1-800-854-6991 ries slackened off. "I guess pit bulls logically biased than any of the reports stopped biting people," Ice concluded. it criticizes. Its leftist counterpart, Fair­ Commentators also run in packs. A ness & Accuracy in Reporting, used to ~------,' Please enter my subscription I·YeS to Liberty immediately! I few months ago, the IIserious" talk provide useful information about the shows began to debate whether there intricacies of who owns what paper or I 0 Six issues (One Full Year) $19.50 I really is a health care crisis after· all; the television station; since 1990, however, o Twelve issues (Two Full Years) $37.00 issue was argued for a week or so, then it has given its newsletter over to suc­ I Add $5 per year for foreign subscriptions. I forgotten. The discussion was mostly cessive left-wing pressure groups to vacuous and certainly inconclusive, but whine that the press is not advocating I name I no one ever raises it any more. So - if their positions with sufficient ferocity. address this was such a burning question that Carl Jensen's group, Project Cen­ every pundit suddenly had to take a sored, produces an annual list of the 25 I city, state, zip I stand on it in a one-week period, why stories its judges think were most unde­ I 0 I enclose my check (payable to Liberty) I o Charge my 0 VISA 0 MasterCard wasn't it brought up earlier? And why servingly underreported the year be­ doesn't anybody talk about itany more? fore. It refers to these as IIcensored" sto­ I I The reason is simple - and the pun­ ries; in fact, of course, they are not signature dits ought to find it embarrassing. Re­ being censored in any meaningful I I publican strategist Bill Kristol advised a sense of the word. But "Project Neglect­ I account # expires I few of his party's legislators to bring the ed" doesn't have the same ring as "Pro- Send to: Liberty, Dept. L43, a. P.O.------_Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368..• Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 ject Censored," so Jensen and his co­ waves were not riddled already with more to this story than the Sandia re­ horts may be forgiven this minor abuse the same material, albeit without the al­ searchers let on. (Then there's the issue of language. legedly impressive imprimatur of the of just how useful SAT scores are in the Less forgivable is much of what United Nations. first place, except as a tool of social en­ goes into their list. To judge from their The number-three story has better gineering, but that's a whole other can yearbook, Censored: The News That cause to be on the list, if only because it of snakes.) Didn't Make the News - and Why, the was, in a sense, suppressed. In 1989, the So why is this report supposed to be good people at Project Censored suffer Bush administration hired Sandia Na­ the third most important underreport­ from some of the same problems tional Research Laboratories to investi­ ed story of 1993? Because it seems to they've set out to correct in others. gate the state of American public edu­ But first the good news. As usual, cation; when the report failed to Project Censored has uncovered an ar­ support Bush's educational plans, it ray of important issues that slipped by was buried. That's a legitimate story, The "Eclectic Chronology of while the rest of us were reading about though hardly one of top-ten-censored Censorship" also includes en­ Joey Buttafuoco or John Wayne Bobbitt caliber: politicians bend the truth to fit or the progress of some damn hurri­ their agenda all the time. The real rea­ tries that are irrelevant, even cane. From the role of oil interests in son Jensen and company list it has stupid. promoting U.S. intervention in Somalia more to do with their own ideas about to the Anti-Defamation League's net­ education than with Bush's hypocrisy: work of political spies to the poor per­ "Clearly," they write, "the findings of formance of the D.A.R.E. program, Jen­ the report contradicted the political confirm the judges' political biases. sen and company have given some sig­ philosophy of 'deregulating' public ed­ That might also explain why these oth­ nificant stories a new lease on life. The ucation and would have seriously er "censored" stories are not on their top ten are reprinted at the end of the weakened the'choice movement.'" list: book, and some of them are genuine But that's not so clear at all. For one • the holes in the government's top-notch reporting. Particularly im­ thing, George Bush and his cronies had explanation of the Waco pressive is Southern Exposure's "The little interest in deregulating education; holocaust; Poverty Industry," a comprehensive re­ indeed, they called for more spending • the fact that, despite the me­ port on the corrupt, parasitic compa­ on public schools and sharply in­ dia's incessant crime report­ nies that leech off the debts of the creased federal control of schooling, ing, national crime rates (in­ Southern poor - and the grassroots, complete with centralized planning for cluding the rate of violent mutual-aid efforts that point the real "national goals" and a standardized crime) have been steadily de­ way out of poverty and debt. "national curriculum." The Bush/ clining for decades; But Project Censored is hampered Bennett brand of school choice amounts • the failure of gun control; by its nebulous concept of censorship to the right to choose between schools • the role of food aid in pro­ and by. its judges' obvious left-liberal that are, by federal mandate, the same. longing famine, in Somalia prejudices. Take its choice for the For another thing, the Sandia report and elsewhere; number-one censored story of last year, has little to do with school choice to be­ • the government's murder of "The U.S. is Killing its Young." Because gin with: it never even mentions the is­ Vicki and Sam Weaver; most of the media ignored a U.N. Chil­ sue. At best, it deflates some conser­ • the legal robbery called "civil dren's Fund report on the violence and vatives' allegations that America's so­ forfeiture." poverty afflicting America's children, cialized school system is completely in­ Meanwhile, legitimately important the Project Censored crew declares this ferior to the socialized school systems of stories are tainted by the same ideolog­ a censored story - as though the air- other First World nations. At worst, it ical bias. Take number 15: "Thousands makes claims that are of Cubans Are Losing Their Sight Be­ themselves deflatable. cause of Malnutrition." According to For example, it asserts this report, hunger in Cuba has gotten NASA that the decline in so bad as to provoke an epidemic of American SAT scores optic neuropathy, a rare, malnutrition­ over the past 30 years caused disease that can lead to can be attributed to the blindness. What does Project Censored blame fact that more students for this? The U.S. economic embargo! in the bottom half of As though those sanctions, imposed in their classes are taking 1961, have more to do with the recent , , \ ,> the SATs, thus lower­ sharp decline in Cuban living condi­ ing the average. But tions than the Marxist government's 84{60 SAT scores are also de­ inability to keep the country afloat "Wow, all the way from Earth! Tell me - what's clining at the top, im- without Soviet subsidy. Willard Scott really like?"" plying that there is The rest of the book reflects the 58 Liberty ~V~ol~ume~~8,~N~umbe~~r21 November 1994 \

same mix of valuable muckraking, Higher Superstition: The Academic Left ana Its Quarrels with Science, strong civil libertarianism, and annoy­ by Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994, ing left-wing cliches. Thus, Appendix 328 pp., $25.95. A, IIAn Eclectic Chronology of Censor­ ship from 605 B.C. to 1994," discusses censorship, media cartelization, encour­ aging victories for free speech, and de­ pressing failures of journalistic nerve. It also mcludes entries that are irrelevant Science and Sensitivity (Woodstock? I), even stupid: 1968 - Paul Ehrlich's book The Popu­ lation Bomb created a stir with its pre­ diction that mass famines would The late Aaron Wildavsky tren­ plague the world within 20 years. Linda Seebach chantly analyzed how faculty hiring Ehrlich warned that to avoid the trag­ edy of overpopulation, birth rates practices spread the political ideology Scientists tend to think of political must be curbed.... Ehrlich's predic­ that dominates the humanities to fields correctness as Someone Else's Problem tion has been tragically fulfilled with that have hitherto escaped it. It's true, the African famines of the 1980s and .- that the sludge seeping from under he conceded, that pressure to hire polit­ 1990s,. yet his warning continues to the office doors of their colleagues in ically correct faculty at first brings only go unheeded. The earth's population the humanities and social sciences a few new professors who do not meet is now growing at a rate of more than won't contaminate their laboratories or the ordinary academic standards of 100 million people a year, and few classes. They are usually too busy to their fields. But those few are uncom­ people, including· the press, seem to 'worry much about what non-scientists fortable. Naturally reluctant to admit be aware that this is indeed a prob­ have to say about their endeavor, espe­ that they are the unworthy beneficiaries lem. (p. 174) cially when the critics obviously don't of a bad policy, they are strongly moti­ Far from being ignored, The Popula­ know the first thing about it. vated to move into administrative posi­ tion Bomb was a bestseller, and its That's a dangerously naive view. tions, where they change policy to con­ claims received widespread, hysterical Trofim Lysenko didn't know much form with their beliefs, enabling them coverage. To this day, its Malthusian about biology, and what he did know to assert that they are as well-qualified nonsense has not felt the public criti­ was wrong. But he had Stalin's ear, and as anyone. cism it deserves, largely because the real biologists had only his bullets. So This process is already well­ media have failed to give Ehrlich's crit­ Lysenko's asinine theories, built on advanced at a few unfortunate institu­ doctored research and shoddy sci­ ics the hearing he got. Where are the tions. Yolanda Moses, now president of ence, became the official doctrine of the Time cover stories pointing out that City College of New York, was cata­ Soviet Union, and genuine genetic re­ well-fed Holland and Hong Kong have pulted to that position from a minor ad­ search was effectively-squashed. population densities far greater than ministrative post in the California State Scientists shouldn't ignore their starving Somalia and Sudan? Where is University system, where her job had prospects for ending up as collateral the suggestion that famines are caused, been to set goals for affirmative action damage in the culture wars. They and cultural "diversity." "The deans' not by population per se, but by the low would do well to read Higher Supersti­ annual performance evaluations and carrying capacity of heavily controlled tion: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels salary increases were based on how economies whose populations are artifi­ with Science, by Paul R. Gross and Nor­ well they met those goals," she told the cially inflated by foreign aid? Maybe man Levitt. This elegant and intensive­ Chronicle of Higher Education Gan. 13, that's a tale that belongs in Project ly documented battlefield dispatch 1993). Censored. demonstrates that the academic Left's The consequences of such policies is I could go on like this, picking at oth­ attacks on the scientific method - in­ to marginalize scientists, who cannot er bizarre items the authors have deed, on the assumption of a rational compete according to that criterion ­ squeezed into this book, but that would universe amenable to scientific inquiry the pool scientists hire from has fewer of be pointless. It would also be unbal­ - are based on a stupendous ignor­ the currently favored groups than the anced - after all, there's a lot of good ance of science. general population. For academic ideo­ stuffin here as well. I canonly advise po­ Because the anti-science academics logues, that's nota defense ofthe present tential readers to approach this book write only for others who are equally climate, but an indictment: proof posi­ critically, to chew all claims 50 times be­ ignorant, their pretensions to under­ tive that science is a discriminatory en­ fore swallowing, and to always be aware standing are as useful in the pursuit of terprise, and that those who practice it ofwhat axes its authors have to grind. high academic office as the real thing are racists and sexists who must be In other words, approach these me­ would be. If scientists are indifferent to forced to abandon their oppressive activ­ dia critics with the same skepticism, in­ politics they will inevitably find them­ ities. In effect, that means that they telligence, and caution with which you selves governed by those who are ob­ should be excluded from competing for should treat the media they criticize. Q sessedwith it. highly-paid administrative sinecures. Liberty 59 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

It was this work on behalf of versed in science that they have a hard tie to trip up vast numbers of young al­ coerced diversity that brought Moses time telling the real thing from sheer gebraists of Chinese, Korean, or East her high post at CCNY. Scientists, take bluff." The curious fact about the leftist Indian background." note. critique of Western science is "the de­ Even if it were true that changing For the purposes of the academic gree to which its instigators have over­ the social details of word problems power struggle, Asian-Americans ­ come their former timidity toward the might help "some reluctant young who are if anything overrepresented in subject not by studying it in detail but woman handle simple algebra," the au­ scientific fields - no longer count as rather by creating a repertoire of ration­ thors point out, anyone who is distract­ minorities. (You can't win.) Witness the alizations for avoiding such study." ed by them is simply not destined to be loan program for Ph.D. study at the Cal The acolytes are as ignorant as the any kind of mathematician. "A young State system, a leader in the scramble to prophets. Scientists know Heisenberg's lady who' makes a game stab at replace talent and achievement with uncertainty principle is a mathematical 'Maude and Mabel' problems but balks expression of physical reality as precise, at 'Joe and Johnny' versions of the unmetaphorical, and uncontroversial as same is almost certainly without the Trofim Lysenko didn't know Kepler's laws of planetary motion. But knack for abstraction that is an indis­ in the hands of such cultural constructi­ pensable ingredient of mathematical much about biology, and what vists as Stanley Aronowitz, "it seems talent." How true, and how rarely he did know was wrong. But he rather to refer to a kind of epistemolog­ heard under the reign of an education­ had Stalin's ear, and real biolo­ ical and spiritual malaise, plaguing the al establishment that maintains that all minds and souls of contemporary phys­ children are equally talented if only gists had only his bullets. icists," Gross and Levitt say. They also their teachers are paid enough. find an obscure scholar who thinks that For a college-level example, the au­ a truly psychoanalytic account of AIDS thors dissect "The Importance of Femi­ race and gender. "If we receive an ap­ requires post-Euclidian topology, as nist Critique for Contemporary Cell plication from an ethnic Chinese in well as some less obscure Afrocentrists Biology," generated by a collective computer science," program director who assert that ancient Africans origi­ called the Biology and Gender Study William Coffey said last year, "there is nated much of modern science through Group. The collective claims that gen­ no shortage and we are not admitting their psychic powers. der bias has been detrimental to the them into the program." "Women's studies" is a particularly discipline: "Whereas most feminist There is no shortage either of de­ strong, if fractious, part of the anti­ studies of biology portray it - with partments that have experienced pres­ scientific enterprise. In a chapter called some justice - as a privileged oppres­ sure to hire and promote faculty for "Auspicating Gender," Gross and sor, biology has also been a victim of reasons unrelated to scientific qualifica­ Levitt begin their freak-show tour of the cultural norms." What they object tions, and that pressure often comes the radical feminist critique of science to, though, is little more than inciden- from administrators under the influ­ with a modest paper presented to the ence of the anti-scientific claptrap Gross Mathematical Association of America, and Levitt expose in their book: "essays "Toward a Feminist Algebra," by that make knowing reference to chaos Maryanne Campbell and Randall K. If scientists are indifferent theory, from writers who could not rec­ Campbell-Wright. "They disapprove," to politics they will inevitably ognize, let alone solve, a first-order line­ Gross and Levitt write, find themselves governed by ar differential equation; tirades about ... of a particular problem in which a the semiotic tyranny of DNA and mo­ girl and her boyfriend run toward those who are obsessed with it. lecular biology, from scholars who have each other (even though the girl's never been inside a real laboratory, or slower speed is carefully explained asked how the drugs they take lower by the fact that she is carrying bag­ their blood pressure." gage) because it portrays a heterosexu­ tal metaphors in textbooks - and, as Gross and Levitt have rounded up al involvement. Gross and Levitt point out, their ren­ all the usual suspects. Here is Jacques Their general maxims call for prob­ dering of the metaphor is far more lur­ Derrida on the speed of light: "The Ein­ lems "presenting female heroes and id than any original. Take this over­ steinian constant is not a constant, not a breaking gender stereotypes." ... All heated description of one innocuous center. It is the very concept of variabil­ this, mind, is to be done in an algebra textbook: "The fertilizing sperm is a ity - it is, finally, the concept of the class. hero who survives while others perish, game. In other words, it is not the con­ The theory behind this is shaky, to a soldier, a shard of steel, a successful cept of some thing - of a center from say the least. "Generations of Jewish suitor, and the cause of movement in which an observer can master the field kids have done quite well at these prob­ the egg. The ovum is a passive victim, a - but the very concept of the game." lems, despite having to concern them­ whore, and finally, a proper lady Fortunately for Derrida, the authors selves with Johnny's Christmas money whose fulfillment is obtained." note, "few scientists trouble themselves rather than Menachem's Chanukah Passing from pedagogy to philoso­ to read him, while those academics who gelt; and in recent decades an ever phy, Gross and Levitt skewer Sandra do are, for the most part, so poorly greater cultural dissonance has done, lit- Harding, whose reputation rests on an 60 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 influential book, The Science Question in with the consequences of gender sym­ POWER INVESTING Feminism. If physics is the paradigm of bolism, gender structure, and gender science, Harding admits, "feminism identity." THE COLLECTIVISTS ARE KILLING will not succeed in 'proving' that sci­ Scientists who actually understand THE ECONOMY. BUT YOU CAN ence is as gendered as any other human science "have no choice but to regard PROSPER WITH THIS FASTTRACK activity, unless it can show that the spe­ the whole business as a species of con INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY. cific problematics, concepts, theories, game." True enough, but con games are language, and methods of modern dangerous for the conned, a group in­ A professional futures market physics are gender-laden." creasingly well-represented in faculty speculator (and writer on Objectivism But she can't do that, Gross and Le­ senates. Higher Superstition is a wonder­ and Libertarianism) will soon offer vitt say, so she abandons the project in ful collection of horrible examples, rec­ private managed accounts to quali­ "a fog of evasions and excuses." Phys­ ommended to those who know they fied investors. No minimum account ics shouldn't be the paradigm, Harding should pay attention to this stuff, but size. Fees based on percentage of concludes, so feminists "need not don't have the stomach to read all of it profits. Orig inal, soph isticated, 'prove' that Newton's laws of mechan­ themselves. Scientists especially need to highly-leveraged trading system; fully ics and Einstein's relativity theory are realize that superstition come to power computerized; massive database; value-laden in order to make the case is extremely dangerous. They ignore it thirty-five years of experience. that the science we have is suffused only at everyone's peril. 0 You still have time to preserve and enhance your capital base with our unique recession-proof and de­ pression-proof investment program. Extensive documentation is available. Booknotes GOLDEN HARVEST FUTURES RESEARCH 6190 Spring Arbor Road Jackson, Michigan 49201 Chicken Dancing - In the early Balkanization and dull homogeneity. As 517-750-2500 days of May, I headed southwards to embodied by that old Texan trio, it sym­ Texas to watch my younger brother bolizes humanity's last, best hope: our graduate from college. The night before natural inclination to make do with I~ibertarian the ceremony, he and I drove up to what we have, improvise our own Walburg, a tiny town of German­ recipes, and figure out ways to have Republicans American farmers notable mostly for its fun. It's usually messy and sometimes locally popular Friday-night concerts. goofy and hardly ever grand, but it's Subscribe to The concert site was a restaurant with a noble, sort of, in a peculiar human way. tarp-covered dance floor around back Nowadays, when people talk about ~pu6acan and an outdoor bar for the patrons; un­ multiculturalism, they probably aren't Li6erty der the tent, an aging trio was playing thinking of Tex-Mex bands, blue-eyed -- polkified versions of sundry country rappers, or Voodoo. More likely, they're GOP Campaign & Election News hits. Some folks were drinking and taking a stand on a relatively inconse­ Virginia Republican Convention some folks were dancing; most seemed quential debate over which books Miller Vs. North to be having a good time. My brother should be allowed into the "canon" ­ told me there was usually a better band an artificial list of essential literary Battle with Religious Right - younger, more talented, and fond of works, limited not by merit or impor­ at Texas GOP Convention applying their polka talents to Jimmy tance but by how many can be Generation X Republicans Buffet's "Margaritaville." I liked the crammed into a four-year education. (In people playing well enough, though. the discourse of the culture wars, educa­ Libertarian Republican Conference Set for Tennessee, Nov. 11/12 There's a whole branch of American tion stops at age 21, unless you plan on folk and pop musics - Tex-Mex - that becoming an educator yourself. In that News on Barry Goldwater, Bill Weld exists because some German instru­ case, you are permitted to continue - Jack Kemp, Jeb Bush, & Fred Thompson ments found their way into Mexican learning, so long as you never stray Plus Interviews, Book Reviews, hands. I don't think country-polka is from your field of choice.) Editorials, and Activist News going to be as successful a synthesis, But a few independent writers and but it's the same sort of integration of thinkers, some calling themselves multi­ One Year (six issues) - $15.00 once-separate traditions - what used culturalists and some eschewing the la­ Send to: to be what people meant by "multicul­ bel, continue to explore the vibrant inter­ Republican Liberty Caucus turalism." It's a spontaneous, syncretic, sections between cultural territories, 1717 A.Falachee Parkway, Suite 434 more-or-Iess peaceful kind of cultural where myths cross-fertilize and country­ allahassee, FL 32301 evolution, preferable to both hateful polka bands are born. From here issue Questions? (904) 552-2424 paid political ad by RLC Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 the essays of Richard Rodriguez, the sci­ a conservative, with his denunciations independent thinker in an age of easily ence fiction of Ernest Hogan, the histo­ of empty revolutionary posturing and compartmentalized mediocrity. ries of Hugo Prosper Leming, and the his praise for black entrepreneurship. His most recent book is AiringDirty formidable literary output of Ishmael With the Reagan years, Reed seemed to Laundry (Addison-Wesley, 1993, 273 Reed, arguably the finest African Ameri­ become more leftist, attacking a resur­ pp., $20.00), a scattershot collection of can writer working today. gent American racism. But ultimately, commentaries on American politics and Over the years, Reed has produced Reed is neither a liberal nor a cop.serva­ culture. Within it, Reed refutes the myth poetry, plays, journalism, criticism, li­ tive - nor a moderate, nor a libertarian. of the exclusively black underclass, wit­ brettos, screenplays, and novels (includ­ An iconoclast committed to respect for tily asking why no one ever worries ing the brilliant Mumbo Jumbo). In the tradition and to questioning the founda­ about the "epidemic" of "Irish-on-Irish 1970s, he might have been mistaken for tions of everything, Ishmael Reed is an violence." He eulogizes Reginald Lewis,

Classified Advertising is available for 35( per word, plus $1.00 per insertion. 100/0 discount for six or more insertions. Payment must accompany order. Please suggest classification. Business/Investments Maxine Kelly, 8651 Augusta, Anchorage, AK to Showdown, P.O. Box 246512, Sacramento, CA 99504 or (907) 337-9700 evenings. 95824. Discover the secrets of dual nationality Liberty is directly proportional to communi­ and obtain ultimate privacy for yourself and Why Abortion Violates Rights. $1.00 and your assets. Learn how to avoid taxes, wars, cur­ cation and inversely proportional to uniformity. SASE, please. Libertarians for Life. 13424 Hatha­ rency controls, and red tape. Also hundreds of Can you imagine the uniformity imposed by sup­ way Drive, #22, Wheaton, MD 20906, 301/460­ other explosive facts and insights are revealed to pressing the knowledge of just one physiological 4141. Doris Gordon, National Coordinator. make you richer and more powerful. Yes ." I fact? They do! Please write for free bumperstickers (supply limited): OOIT, P.O. Box 428, Corinna, ME Periodicals would like to receive a free brochure and privacy Directory of Libertarian Periodicals, up­ newsletter that reveals all! Write to Scope, Box 04928. Now, due to very short supply, I certainly won'tbe able to reply to all requests. dated latest edition, lists around 150 titles, with no. 4167, 62 Murray Road, Waterlooville, UK addresses, other information. All believed to be POB 9JL. Tel: 44705592255. Fax: 44705591975. Literature presently publishing. $3.00 postpaid, $4.00 over­ Owner of trademark rights to name Patrick Association of Libertarian Feminists, send seas. Jim Stumm, Box 29LB, Hiler Branch, Buffa­ Henry University, not currently in position to SASE for literature list. Membership/ newsletter lo, NY 14223. develop· it, is open to proposals for sale, joint sub, $10/year. ALF, Box 20252, London Terrace Dispatches from. The Last Ditch. Anarcho­ venture, license, or other means to profitably ex­ P.O., New York, NY 10011. pessimists, post-neo-Objectivists, crypto-Cop­ ploit its potential. Potential uses include semi­ perheads, and other enemies of the permanent nars, external degree programs, souvenirs, pub­ DYOB - Brew Your Own Beer Easy. Com­ regime opining monthly, from individualist and lishing, group travel. Adam Starchild, Box plete book only $10. S. Brennan, P.O. Box 4561, European-American perspectives, on the end of 917729, Longwood, FL 32791. Whittier, CA 90607. civilization. Write for free issue. $15 for 4 issues; You must learn a practical, reality-based in­ Danger Ahead: Seven Major Problems $42 for 12. WTM Enterprises, P.O. Box 224, vestment philosophy before you can hope to pre­ With Clinton Economics. A must read special Dept. LIB, Roanoke, IN 46783. Make checks serve your hard-earned wealth! Wealth Preser­ report. Send $3 to the Institute for the Study of Ec­ payable to W1M Enterprises. vation & Growth Consulting Services. Box 129, onomics, 13237 Montfort, Suite 544-L, Dallas, TX 22 W. Bryan St., Savannah, GA 31401. 75240. For liberty, double-plus good. Since 1990, The Western New York Freeman. Twelve issues, $10. Collectables/Merchandise Don't understand trinitarianism? Christiani­ TWNYF, P.O. Box 55, Springbrook, NY 14140. ty, Crime Against Humanity by Arnold Gordon ex­ The best pre-income tax furniture designs poses the pagan origins of false Christianity, in­ Living Free newsletter discusses practical hand-built for you. American Arts & Crafts, "The cluding Christmas, Easter, the fish symbol, the methods for increasing personal freedom. Forum thinking man's furniture." Exquisite museum cross, church steeples, and more! Send $9.95 and for freedom-seekers, libertarians, survivalists, quality reproductions of Stickley, Limbert, etc. $2 postage and handling to 5 Star Publishing Com­ anarchists, outlaws, since 1979. Lively, unique. Catalog available $5.00, rebated with order. Paul pany,P.O. Box 1432,Galesburg,IL61402-1432. $9.00 for 6 issues, sample $1.00. Box 29-LB, Hiler Kemner Furniture Craftsman, Dept. L, 2829 Rock­ Branch, Buffalo, NY 14223. wood, Toledo, OH 43610-1625. (419) 2412-8278. Feminism exposed! Three reports critique the feminist movement. $5 to Dr. Russell Eisenman, Now unreduced print in The (Libertarian) Con­ How do you spell Gestapo? IRS-ATF­ Box 91895, Lake Charles, LA 70609-1895. nection, open-forum magazine since 1968. Sub­ FDA-DEA-FDI-EPA. Bumper sticker, $3.00 scribers may insert two pages/issue free, unedit­ Frustrated persuader? 27-page pamphlet each, two for $5.00. Send to: 1213 Dalon Rd., At­ ed. Lots of stimulating conversation. Eight issues makes the libertarian position inescapable! $3.00 lanta, GA 30306. Cashonly. (year)/$20. 101 South Whiting #7002, Alexan­ each, or $2.50 each for 10+. Postage included. Ma­ Karl Hess's Survival Tomorrow newsletter, dria, VA 22304. resca, BOO Flying Hills, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. April 1981 - January 1983. Complete collection The Voluntaryist Sample copy for two first­ except for volume I, number 1; volume II, num­ "Private Schools for All," by a.B. Johannsen, class stamps. Box 1275, Gramling, SC 29348. ber 9; and supplement to volume I, number 4. Ph.D. Provocative essay on why education Fair condition. $600 or best offer. Dalesandry, should be conducted as private enterprise. $1.00 Taxes 5468 Rhoric Rd., Athens, OH 45701. per copy. COMMITI'EE OF ONE, 825 Walnut Must you pay income tax? It depends on Street, Roselle Park, NJ 07204. Libertarian, Objectivist, similar books, which citizen you are. Call 1-800-350-8926 for records, periodicals. Send $1 and SASE for list to Refute liberals! Informal debate primer. $4.00 more information. 62 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1

the late black CEO of Beatrice Interna­ Atlantic, or even the adjoining New tional, and pillories the media for criti­ England states." He portrays that char­ cizing in Lewis the very entrepreneurial acter in brief descriptions of twelve Learn at qualities they demand of less successful towns in upstate New York. blacks. He defends Clarence Thomas, Kauffman's idiosyncratic narrations denounces the drug war, praises bebop, teem with history and anecdote, and are attacks feminist pretensions, and, in the blissfully free of the which-restaurants­ book's best essay, considers his mixed have-good-espresso and which-motels­ IILibertyl1 racial lineage - not just African, but are-quaint-and-clean that characterize Are you interested in Southern, Irish, and Cherokee. "The Af­ most travel guides for motor tourists. rocentric exploration of the black past He leads you down the streets and working as a journalist? only scratches the surface," Reed writes. roads, into the museums and shops, Would you like to im­ "A full examination of the ancestry of sharing history and lore as he goes. prove your writing and those referred to in the newspapers as Country Towns of New York is what a editing skills? blacks and African Americans must in­ guidebook for an intelligent tourist Liberty offers full-time, clude Europe and Native America. The shouldbe. -R.W. Bradford paid internships at all pursuit of this journey requires the sort times of the year. Interns of intellectual courage that's missing in IfGun Control Is Just, What Is contemporary, politically correct Amer­ .Justice? - In the cultural and politi­ are involved in all aspects ica, where certain words cannot be cal war over gun rights, the bad guys of editing and publishing spoken and certain secrets cannotbe un­ seem to be winning the biggest and Liberty. earthed and certain investigations are most publicized battles. So I'm glad For information, write: frowned upon." Exploring his poly­ when I see more good guys entering the R. W. Bradford, Editor racial heritage, Reed concludes that fray - guys like libertarian science­ Liberty "there is no such thing as Black America fiction writer J. Neil Schulman. Schul­ P.O. Box 1181 or White America, two nations, with man's latest book, Stopping Power Port Townsend, WA 98368 two separate bloodlines. America is a (Synapes-Centurion, 1994, 287 pp., land ofdistant cousins." -Jesse Walker $22.95), collects pieces the author has written on firearms and related issues Hidden Upstate - Most Ameri­ over the last three years - a Cajun stew Are you peripatetic? cans tour their country in one of two with a little of everything thrown in. It Ifyou move around a lot, it is likely that you ways. Some travel by air, isolated and includes practical, philosophical, and have problems receiving your subscription to Liberty. It is simply a fact oflife that we must insulated from the nation below, touch­ constitutional arguments against gun receive your new address four weeks before ing down only in major cities or recrea­ control, ranging from the powerful to you move. Please send your new address tion areas. Others, who cannot afford to the bizarre (one section is devoted to an (along with your current mailing label) to: fly, travel over interstate highways de­ Liberty, P.O. Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA English language expert's interpreta­ 98368. signed to be characterless. So far as ei­ tion of the second amendment). Much Ifyou don't send us your notice on time, ther tourist is concerned, America con­ of it relates to the struggle to force the the Post Office is likely to rip offthe cover of sists only of unconnected big cities, Los Angeles Police Department to grant the magazine you paid for, and send it to us recreation areas, theme parks, and nat­ concealed-carry permits to worthy citi­ with your address correction - several months late. It is not uncommon for us to ural attractions. zens (as California law requires), and receive from the Post Office two or three cov­ Bill Kauffman knows there is a real much deals with his personal experien­ ers-corrections from one subscriber in one America out there, in-between the cities ces trying to acquire such a license. week! and Disneyplaces and national parks, (Schulman ultimately obtained his per­ an America invisible to the superficial mit-by moving.) convincing; more importantly, they are tourist. Kauffman loves that America, a Schulman is no armchair freedom­ only tangentially related to the issue of place of small towns with their own fighter. His book includes remarks be­ gun rights. But I still enjoyed this col­ histories, cultures, and traditions. In fore the L.A. Board of Police Commis­ lection. I can't quite go as far as the Country Towns of New York (Country sioners; letters to ACLU president Na­ glowing cover blurb from Charlton Roads Press, 1994, 118 pp, $9.95), he of­ dine Strossen, Wal-Mart CEO David Heston ("Most cogent explanation of fers the curious reader a useful guide to Glass, Scientific American, and Dr. Joyce the gun issue I have yet read"), but the part of that America that he knows Brothers; and several one-sided tran­ Stopping Power has plenty of fun facts, best: rural New York, "an undiscovered scripts of e-mail debates. The e-mail and is well-suited for people (like me) country." should have been left out: with only who enjoy flipping back and forth "We are," he writes, "in every sense Schulman's side of the discussions re­ through a book, looking for interesting but geographically closer to Nebraska printed, the reader is left hearing only bits of information. -Clark Stooksbury than to New York City, but our region­ half the conversation. al character is markedly different from The sections on the criminal justice Abandoned! - Until a short while those of the Middle West, the Mid- system and the death penalty are un- ago, things were going fairly well for Liberty 63 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 middle-class Americans. Their standard Middle Class Since World War II ing from such well-known cretins as of living was going up, the courts gener­ (Madison Books, 1992, 442 pp., $16.95). John Mitchell and Donald Trump to ally protected their rights, and they Quirk .and Bridwell divide the "aban­ less famous figures, such as Christo­ trusted the government. Then, some­ donment" into distinct areas: the Mon­ pher Columbus Langdell, the late­ where along the line, the rules changed. ey Abandonment, the Tax Abandon­ nineteenth-century Harvard Law Intellectuals and politicians, aided by ment, the Political Abandonment, the School dean whose penchant for "re­ the "new legal science," began to ac­ Legal Abandonment, and the Academ­ form" led to contemporary law quire ever-increasing amounts of pow­ ic Abandonment. They provide de­ schools' emphasis on current judicial er, running roughshod over constitu­ tailed accounts of the oil shocks, the opinions rather than classical philo­ tional rights. S&L fiasco, the budget deal of 1990, sophy. This is the story William J. Quirk and other key points along the statist Ronald.Reagan does not fare well and R. Randall Bridwell tell in Aban­ trail. And they offer interesting profiles in this book: the authors consider him doned: The Betrayal of the American of important players in the story, rang- a Keynesian, and denounce him for raising taxes, particularly social securi­ ty taxes, further hastening the middle class's demise. Quirk and Bridwell seem to possess a special disaffection The Disloyal Opposition for Alan Greenspan, pointing out his odd theory that the S&L bailout does It Came From Arkansas, Liberty's new book on the Clinton administration, not cost anything because the govern­ is a delightful way to share the wealth oflibertarian thinking ... ment is merely moving money from one group to another. Quirk and Brid­ Never before has a new ad- well are conservatives, but they are far ministration gone so wrong so quickly! from Republican loyalists. They note N ever before has a new ad­ ···_-_·_····---~'l~~~ that if the Democrats' natural constitu­ ministration been subject to such .. ency is those in the bottom 15% of the searing analysis! economic barrel, the Republicans only Douglas Casey, Chester Alan truly represent the top 5%, leaving 80% Arthur, David Bo3Z, R.W. Brad­ ~ of America politically homeless. ford, Harry Browne, Karl Hess, Abandoned covers a broad canvass Randal O'Toole, Shddon Rich­ without unduly overwhelming the man, Durk Pearson, Sandy Shaw ... these are just a few ofthe reader. It only disappoints in the end, writers who make sense ofthe when the authors offer few sugges­ newest threat to freedom. tions beyond holding a second consti­ You can purchase a copy for tutional convention. Quirk and Brid­ $12.95, plus $2.00 shipping and well do a more than adequate job of handling per order. Use the cou­ explaining how the abandonment of pon below, or call the middle class took place, but they 1-800-854-6991 never explain why the middle class went along so quietly, nor why they with your Visa or MasterCard information. can be expected to suddenly express It Came From Arkansas is Arku8u themselves wisely at a constitutional great reading, and the ideal book It falne fro. convention. -Colleen Coleman to pass around to your friends. The HOI OInu.n S".y Buy one book, or two, or three UI~ ~U_ ~lii~ Dedicated Follower o/Fashion ... you are under attack from the f'tuIts "I C. rnl ArkIIII," U Ibi PIIiclil _I"."Gill. II '.(1 "." IIi. 8IIJJ "liD" b~l ~ "M" IiIl"hI'll" ba.l. "ius" lIt.i.clll.rililllclll'~J'Jlllltar. L•. - Former Vice President Dan Quayle Clintocracy, so you'd better reach In tian._ ~I~ ~., CaIJ. _. ~L n -if. iliJ nl.t. Idillalhli"C.l.lIaar.lOi'J seems very stately on the cover of for the best ammunition. Reach l1I~te for It Came From Arkansas! L'. titri \licr Jill Ialr.lic'.wm.1iJlUI'J.I""1IiIiMp." lU 11'1 Standing Firm (Harper Collins, 1994, 402 pp., $25.00). He is wearing a nice, r------, dark-reddish sweater with a pleasant a Mycheck is enclosed Send me - copies of It Came From pattern. It seems a little big for him, ac­ Yes'• Arkansas to the address below. tually, but that could just be how it Chargemy: looks in the picture. a VISA a Mastercard Name Mr. Quayle probably had more to Address do with picking out his sweater than Signature with picking out the words between City the covers of this book, so I think I can Account # be forgiven for reviewing his clothes State Zip Expiration Phone # and leaving the text to someone with more fortitude. -Jesse Walker LSenato:Liberty, Dept. CB43, P.O. Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA98368 ------~ Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994 Index to Volume Seven

Chester Alan Arthur South of the border rf 7:4, 5 The revolution of everyday life m 7:2, 16 The Oldest Established Permanent No time for compromise rf 7:4, 6 Pass it and Move On ar 7:2, 29 Floating Anarchy in Salt Lake ar 7:1, 42 Gun Crazy rf 7:4, 7 Vex populi rf 7:3, 8 Diagnosis confirmed rf 7:2, 14 With friends like these rf 7:4, 10 River Phoenix, 1970-1993 ob7:3, 10 Elections '93 Roundup rf 7:2, 17 David Koresh died for your sins rf 7:4, 10 Catch-666 rf 7:4, 5 The Great Bimbo Eruption of '93 ar 7:3, 48 Festival of nationalism rf 7:4, 13 This is the World Bank! One more thing sb 7:3, 50 A critical review m 7:4, 14 Get that hat off your bed! rf 7:5, 7 And another thing sb 7:3, 50 Later on, Later off m 7:4, 16 Kurt Cobain, 1967-1994 ob7:5, 14 Deconstructing Miss Hillary rf 7:4, 12 Lies, damn lies, and Paleoid b 7:5, 67 Whitewater Was No Accident ar 7:4, 21 health care polls m 7:4, 20 Rock, Paper, Scissors rv 7:6, 61 A Bill of Particulars sb 7:4, 30 Ride a Paleo Horse rv 7:4, 51 I Like Ike b 7:6, 66 Sex and the singular president rf 7:5, 5 Was Ayn Rand a Plagiarist? sb 7:4, 56 Physics for Dilettantes b 7:6, 68 Spinning out of control rf 7:5, 8 And into the fire again rf 7:5, 6 Richard D. Fisher Hillary's indulgences rf 7:5, 12 The libertarian as conservative m 7:5, 16 Behind the Task-Force Veil ar 7:5, 29 Teatime with Hillary ar 7:5, 37 A Free Life ar 7:5, 17 Frank Fox Whitewater evaporates rf 7:6, 7 Reclaiming the Truth ar 7:5, 46 Rainy Nights in Georgia ar 7:4, 43 Non-sequiturissimo rf 7:6, 14 Servility, 101 rf 7:6, 8 Christopher Thomas Freeburn Charles Barr The Brady crunch rf 7:6, 8 Reindustrialization Redux ar 7:1, 49 Rio? Bravo! b 7:6, 65 OJ., Waco, and Letterman rf 7:6, 13 John Bergstrom Murder most foul rf 7:6, 13 Barry Goldwater Karl Hess, 1923-1994 Howard the yuck rf 7:5, 5 This C-note gets an F rf 7:6, 14 ob7:5, 23 Matthew Block Lew "Ideological J. Orlin Grabbe A Kid's Eye View ar 7:5, 49 Diversity" Rockwell rf 7:6, 16 In Praise of Chaos ar 7:3, 17 David Boaz Clift notes m 7:6, 19 Leon T. Hadar Progress report rf 7:1, 7 Pursuing truth at Tribal Man rv 7:5, 51 Mars beckons rf 7:1, 7 The New Republic m 7:6, 19 Patricia Hanson The values of the Elders rf 7:1, 8 A slice of enthusiasm m 7:6, 20 The ill-tempered libertarian rf 7:6 16 Regulation at a new height rf 7:1, 10 John Briggs Stefan B. Herpel Pope's on the ropes m 7:1, 13 Toad Trainers and Justice Forfeited, In the freak range m 7:1, 14 the American Dream ar 7:6, 34 Justice Reclaimed ar 7:1, 19 Old party hand m 7:1, 46 David Brin Congressional relief? sb 7:1, 20 Literary Business b 7:1, 63 The Perennial Threat ar 7:4, 45 Robert Higgs Northern explosion rf 7:2, 5 F.H. Buckley Faulty Clintonomics sb 7:2, 39 Educated hypothesis rf 7:2, 5 Over the Edge? rv 7:5, 57 Business Economics? sb 7:2, 40 Ingrates rf 7:2, 8 Bryan A. Case New boondoggles for old rf 7:3, 6 Gay health rf 7:2, 9 Anthony Burgess, 1917-1993 ob7:3, 12 Legal abuse rf 7:4, 7 Good signals m 7:2, 15 Douglas Casey How low can our rulers sink? rf 7:4, 10 Economics on the air m 7:2, 16 My dinner with Bill rf 7:2, 7 Let's Hear it For Democracy b 7:4, 63 Beltway mafia rf 7:3, 5 Sun, Seegars, and Socialism ar 7:5, 26 Stifled Words Can Kill You b 7:4, 64 Dodge City organs rf 7:4, 6 The Brady brunch rf 7:6, 8 An Economist, The culinary president rf 7:4, 12 Among Other Things b 7:4, 65 Shoes for industry rf 7:4, 12 John Conolley Louis L'Amour, Freedom Writer rv 7:4, 61 Your tax dollars at work rf 7:5, 5 Vicious circle m 7:4, 14 Legal abuse, part 2 Stephen Cox rf 7:5, 10 Free China m 7:4, 16 A modest proposal rf 7:6, 15 20/20 hindsight m 7:5, 16 The Significance of Isabel Paterson ar 7:1, 30 David Horowitz Kathleen Bradford Thuggery, Left and Right ar 7:2, 43 Look Homeward, African? b 7:5, 65 John Stuart Saint-Simon? rf 7:2, 9 Dole Invictus sb 7:2, 38 John Hospers R.W. Bradford Panopticon, U.S.A. rv 7:3, 64 Their day in court rf 7:1, 7 Einstein at the trough rf 7:3, 5 Viva la videotape, again rf 7:1, 9 The sins ofrighteousness rf 7:3, 7 Tom Isenberg The fugitive m 7:1, 13 The motorcade sped on m 7:3, 15 Frank Zappa, 1940-1993 ob7:3, 12 Tree-sucker m 7:1, 14 The Last Straw b 7:4, 63 W. Luther Jett The Real Health Care Crisis ar 7:1, 15 Curious Joe b 7:4, 64 Mostar p 7:5, 28 The First Pundits b 7:1, 61 Hooray for Hollywood! rf 7:5, 5 Bill Kauffman Money Madness b 7:1, 63 Richard Nixon, 1913-1994 ob7:5, 15 At home in the Democracy rf 7:1, 8 A real tax reform rf 7:2, 5 The murderer as hero? rf 7:6, 12 How you gonna come? rf 7:2, 6 Being there m 7:2, 15 The Allure of Organized Crime ar 7:6, 29 Best of 1993 rf 7:2, 10 Blame it on Reno m 7:2, 16 Hallowed Without Nonsense b 7:6, 65 Culinary note rf 7:3, 5 Presidential Malpractice ar 7:2, 35 Ralph de Toledano Breaking away rf 7:3, 6 A Question for Hillary sb 7:2, 38 Karl Hess, 1923-1994 ob7:5, 23 The mass murder thing rf 7:5, 5 Miles from Understanding rv 7:2, 63 Brian Doherty Business as usual rf 7:5, 13 Patriot games rf 7:3, 5 No Place Like Cyberspace rv 7:1, 55 An Independent American rv 7:6, 58 p.e. reservations rf 7:3, 9 Drug Freedom for Me, Greg Kaza What kind of man reads Liberty? m 7:3, 16 But Not for Thee b 7:1, 62 How I Walked into Freedom's Rose rv 7:3, 53 Sucker bet rf 7:2, 9 the Michigan House ar 7:1, 47 Liberty 65 Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

N. Stephan Kinsella Marc Rembert Robert F. Tinney Funny money rf 7:2, 12 The Real Hair Care Crisis ar 7:2, 51 Putting Away Childish Things ar 7:1, 51 Bart Kosko Sheldon Richman Timothy Virkkala Not smart enough rf 7:5, 14 Planners' ritual rf 7:1, 8 Margit von Mises, 1890-1993 ob7:1, 13 Libertarian Pragmatism ar 7:6, 47 The butcher from Independence rf 7:2, 6 Public Choice, 301 rf 7:2, 5 Richard Kostelanetz The myth ofdrug abuse rf 7:2, 10 Getting apocalyptic rf 7:2, 9 Stealing second base rf 7:1~ 7 The moral equivalent rf 7:2, 14 The wages of marriage rf 7:3, 5 Pucker or Perish rv 7:1, 60 Dan Riga An argument for gun control? rf 7:3; 8 Ye Who Enter Here f 7:3,30 The well-tempered libertarian rf 7:1, 12 Question authority rf 7:4, 12 Pierre Lemieux James S. Robbins Thoroughly Modern Slonimsky b 7:5 68 Chaos, Complexity, Lloyd Bentsen in one lesson rf 7:1, 7 Speaking power to truth rf 7:6 7 and Anarchy ar 7:3, 21 Whither the yellow peril? rf 7:1, 9 The Evolution of an A nation of informers rf 7:4, 5 Rambo altruism rf 7:2, 5 Independent Mind rv 7:6 56 Confederacy of Martians rf 7:5, 10 Susan J. Rutter The Devil You Say b 7:6 66 Downloading Big Brother rf 7:5, 12 The Acquisitive Society b 7:1, 65 Jesse Walker Fascism and federalism rf 7:6, 8 Todd Seavey Don't tell Robert Reich rf 7:1, 7 Addicted to lawsuits rf 7:6, 10 The Inevitability of Confederacy of dunces rf 7:1, 8 Ship ofCanucks rf 7:6, 15 the Welfare State ar 7:2, 45 Out in center field rf 7:1, 10 Michael Levine The Man vs the Empire State at" 7:6, 21 How to win enemies Tainted pot rf 7:6, 9 Hans F. Sennholz and influence the people rf 7:1, 12 Addicted to sex rf 7:6, 10 Henry Hazlitt, 1894--1993 ob7:1, 13 The crappy filmmaker as hero m 7:1, 14 Ron Lipp JaneS. Shaw For Whose Welfare? b 7:1, 62 Cubs 21, Kids 9 rf 7:6, 9 Aaron Wildavsky, R.I.P. ob7:2, 14 Denny's disease rf 7:2, 5 Ought there be a law? rf 7:6, 15 What Are We Reforming? sb 7:2, 39 Is nothing sacred? rf 7:2, 6 Loren E. Lomasky The North shall rise again rf 7:3, 9 Why did the skies not darken? rf 7:2, 7 Billionaire boys clubbed rf 7:3, 7 Positively fourth estate m 7:3, 16 Role-model rf 7:2, 8 Rosty's wrongs rf 7:6, 7 Discredit where discredit is due m 7:4, 15 Emily Litella redux rf 7:2, 14 Strikeout! rf 7:6, 10 Beyond bias m 7:4, 18 Restoring hope m 7:2, 15 Wendy McElroy Why Prosperity is Rare rv 7:4, 59 The New Conservative Abortion, Reproductive Sandy Shaw Welfare State rv 7:2, 55 Technology, and Feminism ar 7:2, 48 Biodiversity grows out of Party on rf 7:3, 5 Ladies, your slips are showing rf 7:6, 7 the barrel of a gun rf 7:1, 9 Paint it purple m 7:3, 14 The New Mythology of Rape ar 7:6, 41 Hummurabi or Proudhon? rf 7:2, 9 Cartoons that Kill? m 7:3, 14 Occam strikes back rf 7:5, 8 Kennedy, what is the frequency? m 7:3, 16 William P. Moulton Wading out of Old Muddy rf 7:4, 9 White Liberals Can Jump ar 7:1, 25 James Sheehan (with Fred L. Smith) All the king's apologists m 7:4, 14 Mother superior jumped the gun rf 7:2, 6 The Greening ofTrade ar 7:2, 27 McCaughey the Dragon-Slayer m 7:4, 15 rf 7:2, 12 Guilt and sympathy Jo Ann Skousen Formula-Breaker b 7:4, 65 Rush fools in where Ezra Taft Benson, 1899-1994 ob7:6, 17 Out of the fIre and angels fear to tread m 7:3, 14 Mark Skousen into the frying pan rf 7:5, 6 I'm sorry, which trimester? rf 7:6, 7 Oscar Shrugged rv 7:5, 58 Robert Shea, 1933-1994 ob7:5, 15 Charles Murray Fred L. Smith (with James Sheehan) News briefs m 7:5, 16 Karl Hess, ·1923-1994 ob7:5,23 The Greening of Trade ar 7:2, 27 Inquiring minds want to crow m 7:5, 16 Robert Nelson Gerry Spence Cry the Beloved Continent b 7:5, 65 Secession as a First They Came Offthe dole and high on life rf 7:6, 7 First Amendment Right ar 7:3, 31 for the Fascists ... ar 7:2, 19 Beating the rap rf 7:6, 9 Gwynne Nettler David Ramsay Steele Slouching toward Jerusalem rf 7:6, 14 Trafficking in Numbers ar 7:4, 33 Partial Recall ar 7:3, 37 The tarantula and the widow m 7:6, 19 Victor Niederhoffer Aaron Steelman From beyond the grave m 7:6,20 An Eccentric Genius rv 7:3, 65 Think globally, act locally rf 7:1, 7 The Institutions of The First Speculatrix ar 7:5, 31 By his own hand rf 7:1, 10 Higher Tuition ar 7:6, 37 Carl Oglesby Consider the Source b 7:1, 62 Very Free Speech b 7:6, 64 Karl Hess, 1923-1994 ob7:5, 23 Clark Stooksbury Leland B. Yeager James Ostrowski Catch-22 rf 7:2, 5 After Liberalism ... Liberalism rv 7:1, 57 Back to the Libertarian Party ar 7:4, 48 Uncivil and illiberal rf 7:2, 8 Don't worry, be happy rf 7:5, 7 Randal O'Toole Smoking lamps lit rf 7:2, 10 Quackery, Left & Right rv 7:6, 53 Old-Growth Government ar 7:1, 23 Free at last rf 7:2, 12 Ross Overbeek Tea and stupidity m 7:2, 16 Midnight in Moscow ar 7:2, 23 My Heroes Have Always Isabel Paterson Been Cowboys rv 7:2, 65 A Paterson Collection ar 7:1, 39 My long hair just can't Key cover up my red neck rf 7:4, 5 Robert Pogue Where's Preston Brooks Larry King: Category: Code: when you need him? rf 7:4, 8 rf too black, too strong 7:4, 14 Two thumbs down m 7:4, 18 ar article Warriors on drugs rf 7:5, 5 P.C. smokes rf 7:5, 6 b booknote Howard Stirner? b 7:5, 67 Gunfight at the paleo corral rf 7:5, 8 m medianote Ralph Raico Justice Oprah rf 7:5, 13 ob obituary . Right at the Post m 7:2, 17 Department ofUnintended Irony m 7:5, 16 Justin Raimondo p poem Silver lining rf 7:6, 13 rf Reclaiming the Right ar 7:5, 43 All it takes is guts m 7:6, 19 reflection Bruce Ramsey Optional Reading b 7:6, 67 rv review An American Editor in Asia ar 7:5, 39 Thomas Szasz sb sidebar Marcus Raskin Diagnosis in the Following the category, location of Karl Hess, 1923-1994 ob7:5, 23 Therapeutic State ar 7:6, 25 cited writing is given by volume Scott J. Reid Clifford Thies number, issue number, and page After the Election, Ie Deluge ar 7:2, 31 P.C. sports rf 7:5, 12 66 Liberty Volume 8, Number 1 November 1994

Bolch & Lyons, continued from page 46

experienced an epiphany: it now supported Index Needleman's findings, which became a part of the scientific basis for the lead standards established by the EPA in 1986. The entire to Volume Seven dreary tale is summarized in an article in the August 23, 1991 issue of Science. of Books Reviewed (by book author) Needleman's findings fall into the cate­ gory econometricians call "fragile": they Allen, Robert L., tend to come and go depending on the sta­ Opening Doors: The Life and Work ofJoseph Schumpeter 7:4,66 Arnold, Gina, Route 666: On the Road to Nirvana 7:6,61 tistical angle of attack. Most economists are Asimov, Isaac, I. Asimov: A Memoir 7:6,66 smart enough not to place large bets on Ayittey, George B.N., Africa Betrayed 7:5,65 fragile statistical findings, but regulators Brown, Rita Mae, Venus Envy 7:1,63 are not so cautious. Worse yet, given the Casey, Douglas, Crisis Investing for the Rest ofthe '90s 7:3,65 costs to our economy of near-total lead Churchill, Ward (with J.1. Vander Waal), ed., Cages ofSteel 7:3,64 elimination, there have been reports that Duncan, Dale, Miles From Nowhere 7:2,63 low lead concentrations might actually be 7:4,64 Epstein, Joseph, Pertinent Players: Essays on the Literary Life hormetic. In 1984, Deborah Cory-Slechta re­ Farber, Seth, Madness, Heresy, and the Rumor ofAngels 7:2,55 Funiciello, Theresa, Tyranny ofKindness 7:1,62 ported in Advances in Behavioral Pharmacolo­ Garcia y Robertson, R., The Spiral Dance 7:4,65 gy a classical inverse U-shaped function for Gottfried, Paul, The Conservative Movement 7:5,67 lead in rats, monkeys, sheep, and pigeons. Gray, John, Post-Liberalism: Studies in Political Thought 7:1,57 According to Cory-Slechta, low doses of Gyohten, Toyoo (with Paul Volcker), Changing Fortunes 7:1,63 lead seem to produce an increased rate of Harris, Eddy, Native Stranger 7:5,65 neurological response while high doses de­ Hayek, F.A., Hayek on Hayek 7:6,56 crease the response rate. It is an understate­ Hess, Karl, Jr., Visions Upon the Land 7:2,63 ment to say that more research is needed in Heylin, Clinton, From the Velvets to the Voidoids 7:6,61 this area. Heylin, Clinton, ed., The Penguin Book ofRock & Roll Writing 7:6,61 Hoffman, John, The Art and Science ofDumpster Diving 7:1,65 Conclusions Holtz, William, The Ghost in the Little House 7:3,53 Most toxicological research concentrates Hopkirk, Peter, Trespassers on the Roofofthe World 7:1,61 on the effects of high doses. But even this Kaplar, Richard T., ed., Bad Prescriptionfor the First Amendment 7:4,64 Keith, Jim, ed., narrow purview is further constrained by Secret and Suppressed: Banned Ideas & Hidden History 7:6,64 government-mandated testing procedures Kopel, David B., The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy 7:2,65 and government-funded research ques­ Kostelanetz, Richard, ed., tions. This increasingly unhealthy mix of Nicolas Slonimsky: The First Hundred Years 7:5,68 government and science has led to a neglect Kotkin, Joel, Tribes 7:5,51 of the possibly beneficial low-dose effects Krauss, Lawrence M., Fear ofPhysics: A Guide for the Perplexed 7:6,68 of high-dose toxins. As recently as 1987, Kresge, Stephen (with LeifWener), ed., Hayek on Hayek 7:6,56 L.A. Sagan, in Health Physics, was moved to Krugman, Paul, Peddling Prosperity 7:6,53 Lesher, Stephan, George Wallace: American Populist 7:6,58 publish a paper entitled "What is hormesis Lodge, David, Nice Work 7:1,63 and why haven't we heard about it be­ Magnet, Myron, The Dream and the Nightmare 7:2,55 fore?" Why indeed? Marcus, Greil, Ranters and Cloud Pleasers 7:6,61 America could benefit from a broad­ McKenna, Terence, Food ofthe Gods 7:1,62 based toxicological research program, one North, Douglas C., that could clearly identify at least some of Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance 7:4,59 the presently overregulated substances that O'Neill, William L., A Democracy at War 7:4,63 are actually harmless or hormetic at low Radzinsky, Edvard, The Last Tsar 7:4,63 doses. If such a program brought a man­ Raimondo, Justin, Reclaiming the American Right 7:4,51 Rushdie, Salman, The Satanic Verses 7:6,66 date for sensible deregulation, it would be Semler, Ricardo, Maverick 7:6,65 one of the most cost-effective research pro­ Simmons, A. John, On the Edge ofAnarchy 7:5,57 jects ever undertaken. Slonimsky, Nicolas, Nicolas Slonimsky: The First Hundred Years 7:5,68 Alas, it would be difficult to implement Sowell, Thomas, Is Reality Optional? 7:6,67 such findings in today's politicized scientif­ Sterling, Bruce, The Hacker Crackdown 7:1,55 ic world. As Thomas Kuhn taught us, para­ Stem, Howard, Private Parts 7:5,67 digms shift slowly. Remember: Paracelsus Stiebing, William H., Uncovering the Past 7:1,62 met his death by being thrown out a win­ Sundahl, Daniel, Loss ofHabitat 7:6,65 Volcker, Paul (with Toyoo Gyohten), Changing Fortunes 7:1,63 dow by colleagues irate over his heretical Waal, J.1. Vander (with Ward Churchill), ed., Cages ofSteel 7:3,64 views. Wener, Leif (with Stephen Kresge), ed., Hayek on Hayek 7:6,56 Plus fa change, plus c'est la meme chose. 0 Liberty 67 r------, November 1994 Letters, continued from page 18 only to reinforce their reader's pat parti­ EarlyLiberty san views with the same old nostrums. Only a courageous editor (and reader­ Indulge your mind with the pleasure and stimulation of early Liberty. Or ship!) resists this temptation in order to complete your collection of the most exciting libertarian magazine. The first is­ contemplate new ideas. sue is a reprint; all others are original printings. Enjoy! Regarding the letters, I confess disap­ August 1987, 4Bpp., $4.00 view with L. Neil Smith • David Ramsay pointment. In several cases, the corre­ • "The Films of Ayn Rand," by Stephen Steele on Robert Anton Wilson • "Rand­ spondents imputed beliefs to me that I Cox • "Life or Death in Seattle," by Mur­ Bashing: Enough is Enough," by Ross Over­ simply never articulated. Take Gary Al­ ray Rothbard • "The Mystery Man of the beek Plus Stephen Cox, Tibor Machan, Bill exander's contention (July 1994) that to­ Libertarian Movement," by Ben Best Kelsey, and others. day's wealthy class consists mostly of Plus Ross Overbeek, Butler Shaffer, Ida Wal­ September 1988, BOpp., $7.00 self-made individuals, not old-money ters, Timothy Virkkala, and others. • "Scrooge McDuck and His Creator," by clans. His detailed rebuttal consisted October 1987, 4Bpp., $6.00 Phil Salin • "Liberty and Ecology," by mostly of anecdotes, each of which could • "The Sociology of Libertarians," by J. C. John Hospers • "The Ultimate Foundation be answered by a contradictory one. Green & J. L. Guth • "The Apostasy of of Private Property Rights," by Hans­ However, I will gladly grant that the de­ Robert Nozick," by Ethan O. Waters Hermann Hoppe gree of social mobility in America is de­ • "The Rise of the State," by Murray Roth­ November 1988, BOpp., $4.00 batable, and that I might be wrong about bard Plus Stephen Cox, William P. Moul­ • "Taking Over the Roads," by John Sem­ the amount of aristocratic power wield­ ton, Jonathan Saville, and others. mens • "The Search for We the Living," by ed today by inherited wealth. My own December 1987, 56pp., $3.00 R.W. Bradford • "Cooperation vs Envy," rags-to-comfort story weighs on that • "The Most Unforgettable Libertarian I Ever by John Dentinger Plus Walter Block, Ste­ side of the ledger. Knew," by Karl Hess • "Libertarians in a phen Cox, and others. What Alexander flat-out failed to no­ State-Run World," by Murray Rothbard January 1989, 72pp., $4.50 tice was that my essay was not about • "Easy Living in the Bahamas," by Mark • "AIDS and the FDA," by Sandy Shaw that issue at all. It dealt with the histori­ Skousen Plus Walter Block, Erika Holzer, • "Ronald Reagan's 'Revolution,'" by Wil­ cal conflict between freedom and the Stephen Cox, and others. liam Niskanen Plus John Hospers, Leland aristocratic impulse. By implying that I March 1988, 64pp., $4.00 Yeager, Jane Shaw, and others. favor social levelling and removal of • "Libertarians & Conservatives: Allies or March 1989, 72pp., $5.50 open market incentives, Alexander Enemies?" by John Dentinger & Murray proved that he did not read my article • "Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy," by Murray Rothbard • "Free Speech and the Future of very carefully. Freedom, markets, and Rothbard • "What IfEverything We're Medicine," by Sandy Shaw & Durk Pear­ Told About Safety Were Wrong?" by John openness are the very things I seek to son • "The Majority vs the Majoritarian: Semmens and Diane Kresich Plus writing defend - by pointing out what killed Robert Bork on Trial," by Sheldon Rich­ by Jeffrey Friedman, David Ramsay Steele, such miracles in the past. man Plus R.W. Bradford, William Cate, Sheldon Richman, and others. Prochnow and Myers also put words Stephen Cox, and others. in my mouth, criticizing socialist views I May 1988, 64pp., $4.00 May 1989, 72pp., $4.00 have always rejected and resent having • "The End of the Secular Century," by Mur­ • "Ayn Rand: Still Controversial After All ray Rothbard • "Man, Nature, and State," attributed to me. Still, Prochnow raised These Years," by David Ramsay Steele & by Karl Hess, Jr. Plus David Gordon, Jus­ a very valid point about how conspirato­ David Brown • "The ACLU: Suspicious tin Raimondo, Stephen Cox, and others. rial capitalist aristocrats cheat and harm Principles, Salutary Effects," by William P. the free market - by bribing govern­ Moulton • "The Two Libertarianisms," by July 1989, 80pp., $6.00 ments to pass laws favoring their estab­ Ethan O. Waters Plus Gary Alexander, Na­ • "Viking Iceland: Anarchy That Worked," thaniel Branden, Erika and Henry Mark lished interests and stifling competition. by David Friedman • "The Myth of the Exactly! That is how it was done in Holzer, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, and others. Rights of Mental Patients," by Thomas Szasz Plus Tibor Machan and others. scores of societies past, and the method July 1988, BOpp., $4.00 is used rapaciously today. Prochnow • "Confessions of an Intractable Individual­ For information on later back issues, see ad­ seems to understand this, but he blames ist," by Jerome Tuccille • An inter- vertisement on back cover. only the government tool, and not the .. With any other purchase, buy the December 1987 issue for only $1.00! aristocrats who use it. Circle each issue you want, and add $1.00 shipping & David Elving Schwartz crammed handling per order (foreign orders add 50~ per issue). (J My check is enclosed Fill in the appropriate information below. words into my mouth even more offen­ Charge my: sively than Gary Alexander did. I'll ig­ (J VISA (J Mastercard Name nore his baseless insults about my pur­ ported "Jacobin passion" and address Address the historical points he raises. Signature Regarding Ch'ing China - is he City Account # serious? Does he actually believe win­ State ______Zip _ ners of the civil service tests had no con­ Expiration Phone # nections by birth, bribery, and family in- V'olume 8, Number 1 luence? Or the 990/0 of those chosen did :lot come from a narrow social class that fiercely defended its interests? Every [~=N======O====t ~sian scholar I have read, from Mas­ e====8:===0====n=C====0=====n====t====r=====ib====u====t0=====r====8======:::::] lowe to Bergamini, would disagree. As for the Roman patrician coups Schwartz Jonathan Adler is Associate Director Bart Kosko is author of Fuzzy Think­ ;0 blithely dismissed, not only are the of Environmental Studies at the ing Competitive Enterprise Institute. wars of succession waged by the Roman Richard Kostelanetz is an unsubsi­ republican elite extremely relevant, but Chester Alan Arthur is Liberty's po­ dized gadfly living in New York. so is the later period, in which imperial litical correspondent. law rigidly required men to stay in the Pierre Lemieux is a vagrant econo­ 50cial class of their birth, regardless of Ace Backwords is an infamous un­ mist and pamphleteer. derground cartoonist. talent or ability. Michael Levine is editorial intern at Schwartz also claimed the American "Baloo" is really cartoonist Rex F. Liberty. War of Independence had no dramatic May. social-engineering implications. Say Loren Lomasky is author of Persons, what? Shall we ignore the vast conse­ John Bergstrom is special projects Rights, and the Moral Community quences of the breakup of absentee es­ editor of National Lampoon. and Professor of Philosophy at tates - a third of the land in Maryland, David Boaz is executive vice presi­ Bowling Green State University. Pennsylvania, and other states? Or the dent of the Cato Institute. Harold Lyons is Schering Plough outlawing of patents of nobility and Ben Bolch is McCallum Professor of Professor of Chemistry at Rhodes primogeniture? Or the expansion of Economics at Rhodes University University and coauthor of Apoca­ suffrage? Or the post-war populist and coauthor of Apocalypse Not. lypse Not. democratic experimentation in the new western states? Next to these and R. W. Bradford is editor and publish­ Wendy McElroy is a Jlfellow" at the countless other upheavals, Schwartz's er of Liberty. Independent Institute. list of well-born generals is just plain Colleen Coleman is a writer in Ohio. Linda Seebach is a columnist for the silly. Los Angeles Daily News. I cannot answer David Marhoffer Stephen Cox is Professor of Litera­ head-on, because his basic assumptions ture at the University of Califor­ Jane S. Shaw is a senior associate at lie on a completely different plane than nia. the Political Economy Research Center. my own. His libertarianism takes a re­ Gus diZerega is a senior associate at ligious bent, hearkening back to the the Foundation for Research on Fred L. Smith, Jr. is president of the long tradition of purist theologians who Economics and the Environment. Competitive Enterprise Institute. preached that there is no justification or proof except that of pure faith. I must Leon T. Hadar is Washington corres­ Clark Stooksbury is Liberty's assist­ respect the purity of such conviction, pondent for the Singapore Times. ant publisher. even while pointing out that it is usually Greg Jenkins is a Pennsylvania Jesse Walker is Liberty's assistant held by individuals subsidized by this storywriter. editor. wealthy, tolerant world of today, not by those who have, in fact, competed suc­ cessfully in a world of hard knocks. Per­ ample reasons to interpret Arafat literal­ rays into presidential politics." Both haps he is an exception. , ly. Not to mention the recent attacks on Rothbard and Crane have accomplished Marhoffer is right. Ifhuman nature much for the cause of liberty in other had been at all like Karl Marx fanta­ Israelis and non-Israeli Jews in Buenos ways, as your readers are well aware. sized, I might have been a Marxist. But Aires, London, and Panama. My statement that "both groups human beings are not like old Karl's dit­ Scott Gordon have a knack for picking losers" seems a zy fantasy. Ifmy pragmatism is anathe­ Washington, D.C. bit harsh out of context. I was simply ar­ ma to Marhoffer, so be it. Friendly Amendments guing that those who leave the LP in Mastermind of Murder I wish to clarify certain statements in part because of its sorry performance in Rather than criticize Yasser Arafat's my article "Back to the Libertarian Par­ elections open themselves up to similar call to jihad, Jesse Walker criticizes oth­ ty" (May 1994) that couldbe perceived scrutiny of their own candidates' perfor­ ers for not interpreting jihad more softly, as strident or personal in nature. These mances. figuratively ("Slouching toward Jerusa­ statements pertain to my criticism of An earlier draft of the article ended lem," September 1994). It apparently Murray Rothbard and Ed Crane for their with an exhortation to "our old friends did not occur to Walker that the PLO's strategic decisions to leave the LP. to come back to the Libertarian Party." refusal to annul their charter calling for When I wrote, "None of these fac­ That was the spirit, if not the exact letter­ Israel's destruction and to condemn and tions have accomplished anything of ing, of my essay. confront the terror of Hamas, Hezbol­ lasting value for the cause of liberty," I James Ostrowski lah, and some PLO factions provides should have added, "in their recent fo- Buffalo, N.Y. Liberty 69 Ttrrll Incognitll ~~======:=::;:===::::::..-~~ New York Great Falls, Montana A look into the criminal mind, from the Milwaukee Journal: Administrative rights for the dead, reported by the Bozeman A man held up 18 businesses after casing the places while filling Daily Chronicle: out job or rental applications. The spree ended after he accidentally Four days after she died, Joyce Rennick received a letter from the signed his real name on one ofthe forms. Montana Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, advising her, "Your food stamp benefits will stop effective 07-31-1994 be­ Algeria cause you are now deceased. Your medical assistance benefits will stop effective 07-31-1994 because you are deceased." It concluded Religious tolerance in Northern Africa, as described in the by reminding Resnick that she was entitled to a fair hearing and San Francisco Chronicle: could call with any questions about her loss of benefits. As part of a crackdown on Islamic fundamentalism, the Algerian government is registering all males wearing beards. United States Creative way to relieve employers and employees of the bur­ New York den of health care, suggested by the Consumer Reports: Further advances in protection ofintellectual property, as re­ "What's ideal: A broad-based, progressive income or payroll tax ported by The Wall Street Journal: that would generate enough revenue to cover not only the uninsured "Brrrr," "Huggahugga," and other distinctive noises of the Fat but everyone else as well. That would eliminate the need for employ­ Boys merit copyright protection, said New York Judge Charles ers and, increasingly, employees to shoulder the burden for health­ Haight. care premiums."

San Clamente London Interesting historic discovery, reported by Reuters: The human side of power, as described in U.S. News & In his new book The House of the Messiah, Ahmed Osman, an World Report: Egyptian-born academic, claims that Jesus, King Tut, and Joshua, the "Intimates say it was Nixon who often made the other former Old Testament figure who brought down the walls of Jericho, were presidents feel most at ease on the rare times they were all together." the same person.

Georgia Louisiana Saving the children, as described in the Atlanta Journal: A new tack in the War on Crime, as reported by the Dallas Under a "zero tolerance" policy towards weapons in the schools, Morning News: a Fulton County elementary school student was suspended for bring­ The State Senate approved a bill already passed by the House that ing in a knife to cut cookies for her classmates. would penalize people who tum their car radios up too loud. Under the bill, those who tum up the volume would face a maximum $500 New Jersey fine or up to 90 days in jail, or both. Progress in taxonomy, as reported by the National Law The Vatican Journal: Religion in the information age, as described by the Detroit A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that seaweed is legally a News: fish. Father Pasquale Silla of Rome's "Divine Love" sanctuary has in­ vented an electronic rosary. Punch in a prayer on a gadget like a Washington, D.C. hand-held video game, it goes "beep-beep," and the microchip points Congresspeople say the damedest things, as reported by the way to salvation. "The idea was to help modem man pray," ex­ House ofRepresentative Committee on Government Operations: plains Silla. "Medical experts suggest that it is not uncommon for an individ­ ual, at the time of death, to ejaculate," noted the Hon. William F. Milwaukee Clinker, ranking Republican on the Committee on Government Peculiar way of grieving in the Metropolis of the Cheese Operations. State, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal: Melvin V. Skinner has filed a suit against a local music store that Washington, D.C. sold him a $1,200 guitar and amplifier. "I went to the music store to­ Congressional reform, as reported in Roll Call: tally intoxicated to buy a cheap guitar in memory of my father, who had just passed away. After seeing the condition I was in, they pur­ Until April, signs at Dulles and National airports proclaimed "Re­ posely sold me the most expensive equipment. Now they refuse to served Parking - Supreme Court Justices/Members of Congress/ take it back," he explains. "I don't even play guitar." Diplomatic Corps." Now they simply read "Restricted Parking/ Authorized Users Only." The change went into effect five days after (Readers are invited to forward newsclippings or other items for the Senate rejected a proposal to end the tax-subsidized parking. publication in Terra Incognita.) 70 Liberty April 1993 Stim.ulate Your Mind! • IIHow to Cut Your Taxes by 75o/~" by R. W. Bradford with Liberty back issues • IIClinton and the New Class," by Douglas Casey (continued from back cover) • "Vicious Bureaucrats vs Helpless Wolves," by John Baden • IIPeter Drucker: The Other Austrian," by Mark Skousen Plus articles and reviews by John Hospers, Stephen Cox, and others; Volume 5 and an interview with Roy Childs. (72 pages) September 1991 June 1993 • "AIDS and Marijuana,'! by Robert O'Boyle • IIHolocaust in Waco," by R.W. Bradford and Stephen Cox • IIWhen Bombs Are Smarter Than People,1I by Bart Kosko • IIUnderstanding the State," by AlbertJay Nock • 1150 Really Stupid Ways to Save the Earth," by Karl Hess • "Who Benefits from the Clinton Program?" by Harry Browne Plus articles and reviews by R.W. Bradford, Frank Fox, John Hospers, • lithe FBI Wants Your Codes," by Bart Kosko James Taggart, Mark Skousen, and others. (72 pages) Plus articles and reviews by Leland Yeager, Jesse Walker, Randal O'Toole, and others. (72 pages) November 1991 • "The Road to Nowhere," by David Horowitz August 1993 • IIEthics vs Economics," by Leland Yeager • "How Do I Hate NPR? Let Me Count the Ways," by Glenn Garvin • IIThelma and Louise: Feminist Heroes," by Miles Fowler • IIWhat Happened in Waco?" by Loren Lomasky and R.W. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by Robert Higgs, Carol Moore, and others; • IISomalia: Operation No Hope," by Jesse Walker and a short story by J. E. Goodman. (80 pages) • lilies, Damn Lies, and AIDS Research," by Brian Doherty Plus articles and reviews by David Boaz, John McCormack, Stephen January 1992 Cox, Jane Shaw, and others; poetry by Marc Ponomareff; and fiction • liThe National Park Disgrace," by R.W. Bradford and Karl Hess, Jr by J. Orlin Grabbe. (72 pages) • IIBeyond Austrian Economics: Bionomics," by Michael Rothschild • IIHow To Think About Pollution," by David Friedman Plus articles and reviews by Leland Yeager, Bill Kauffman, Henry Volume 7 Veatch, Jane Shaw, Richard Kostelanetz, and others. (80 pages) October 1993 March 1992 • "The Real Health Care Crisis," by R.W. Bradford • IIAlbert Jay Nock: Prophet of Libertarianism?" by Stephen Cox • "Isabel Paterson, Individualist," by Stephen Cox • IIP.C. or B.S.?" by Meredith McGhan • "White Liberals Can Jump," by William Moulton • IIJFK: The Once and Future Controvery" by Sheldon Richman • lithe Supreme Court vs the American Police State," by Stefan Herpel Plus articles and reviews by Karl Hess, Jane Shaw, William Holtz, Ed­ Plus articles and reviews by Greg Kaza, Brian Doherty, and others; ward C. Krug, Randal O'Toole, and others; and an interview with aphorisms of Isabel Paterson; and an index to Volume 6. (72 pages) Pat Buchanan. (72 pages) January 1994 May 1992 • "First They Came for the Fascists..." by Gerry Spence • IIHong Kong: Free Markets, Full Employment," by Mark Tier • "My Dinner With Slick Willie," by Douglas Casey • "The Dustbin of Prehistory," by Vernon L. Smith • IIPresidential Malpractice," by R.W. Bradford • "Who is Richard Rorty?" by Dan Klein and David Horowitz • "The Inevitability of the Welfare State," by Todd Seavey Plus articles and reviews by Eric Banfield, Karl Hess, Kyle Rothweiler, Plus articles and reviews by Wendy McElroy, Jesse Walker, Ross Over­ and others; and fiction by J. Orlin Grabbe. (72 pages) beek, and others. (72 pages) July 1992 March 1994 • "The 'Lock' on the Electoral College," by David Brin • IIChaos and Liberty," by J. Orlin Grabbe and Pierre Lemieux • "Christians and Libertarians in a Hostile World," by Doug Bandow • IISecession as a First Amendment Right," by Robert Nelson • "God and Man at Bay?" by Timothy Virkkala • "Partial Recall: Manufacturing Child Abuse," by David Ramsay Steele • "The Myth of (Heavy) Metal Illness," by Gracie & Zarkov • IIpanopticon, U.S.A.," by John Hospers Plus commentary on the L.A. Riots, and articles and reviews by David Plus articles and reviews by Victor Niederhoffer, R.W. Bradford, and Kelley, Leland Yeager, George H. Smith, and others. (72 pages) others; and a short story by Richard Kostelanetz. (72 pages) May 1994 • "The Aristocratic Menace," by David Brin Volume 6 • IICreation Myths of the Right," by R.W. Bradford September 1992 • IITrafficking in Numbers: The Seat Belt Scam," by Gwynne Nettler • IIWar on Drugs, War on Progress," by James Ostrowski Plus articles and reviews by R.W. Bradford, Jane Shaw, James Ostrow- • "Five Years of Liberty," by R.W. Bradford ski, and others. (72 pages) • IIStupid About Schools," by Martin Morse Wooster July 1994 Plus articles and reviews by J. Neil Schulman, Murray Rothbard, Wil­ • IIHillary's Trades, Hillary's Lies," by Victor Niederhoffer liam Mellor III, and others; and an index to back issues. (80 pages) • IIInside Cuba Today," by Douglas Casey November 1992 • IIRemembering Karl Hess," by R.W. Bradford • liThe First Time: I Run for the Presidency," by John Hospers • IITribes in a High-Tech World," by Leon T. Hadar • IIWho Kidnapped the Hardy Boys?" by David Justin Ross Plus articles and reviews by Justin Raimondo, Bruce Ramsey, and oth­ ers. (72 pages) • "Remembering John Cage," by Richard Kostelanetz Plus articles and reviews by David Kelley, Daniel Klein, Loren Loma­ September 1994 sky, Gregory Johnson, Jesse Walker, Ben Best, and others. (80 pages) • IIHoward Stem: The Man vs the Empire State," by Todd Seavey February 1993 • "Diagnosis in the Therapeutic State," by Thomas Szasz • "The Economist as Quack," by Leland Yeager • IIA Feminist Defense of Pornography," by Wendy McElroy • IIPerot's 200-Proof Populism,II by Bill Kauffman • "O.J., Waco, and Letterman," by R.W. Bradford and Stephen Cox • liThe New Civic Religion," by R.W. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by Wendy McElroy, Bart Kosko, Jesse Walker, Bill Kauffman, and others. (72 pages) Plus election coverage, and articles and reviews by John Hospers, James Ostrowski, Scott Reid, and others. (80 pages) Information concerning the first two volumes of Liberty can be found on p. 68. Stimulate Your Mind! There is a world of good reading in Liberty! Whether you want to catch up on what you missed, pro­ vide intellectual relief to your friends (or enemies!), or complete your collection, now is a good time to buy. Enjoy! Volume 3 • ULibertarian Intellectuals on Welfare,u by George H. Smith • U Animal Rights and Wrongs,U by John Hospers September 1989 Plus articles and reviews by Sheldon Richman, Richard Kostelanetz, • uHolocausts and Historians," by Ralph Raico Stephen Cox, Loren Lomasky, and others. (80 pages) • UMy Expulsion from the Ayn Rand Cult," by Murray Rothbard 1990 • uSimple Principles vs the Real World,u by David Friedman May • UKilling as Therapy," by Thomas Szasz Plus articles and reviews by R.W. Bradford, Richard Kostelanetz, Lor­ • "A Tribute to Ed Abbey" by Bill Kauffman en Lomasky, Gary North, Jeffrey Tucker, and others. (72 pages) • uThe Death of Thinking in the Schools,u by Karl Hess November 1989 Plus articles and reviews by William Moulton, Richard Kostelanetz, • uThe College Teaching Scam," by Richard Kostelanetz Jane Shaw, Bart Kosko, Loren Lomasky, and others. (72 pages) • uThatcher the Taxer," by Barry Bracewell Milnes July 1990 Plus articles and reviews by Loren Lomasky, Murray Rothbard, Tibor • uConversations with Ayn Rand (part 1)," by John Hospers R. Machan, Joseph Miranda, R.W. Bradford, Michael Christian, and • ulf You Believe in Dentistry, Why Should You Mind Having Your others; and an interview with Russell Means. (72 pages) Teeth Knocked Out?" by William Moulton January 1990 • uThe State Against the Family," by Terree P. Wasley • uThe Politics of the Millenium," by Murray Rothbard Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Bill Kauffman, James • uThe Case for Paleolibertarianism," by Llewelyn Rockwell Robbins, Mark Skousen, John Baden, and others.,(72 pages) • uThe Not-So-Good War," by Sheldon Richman Plus writing by Patrick J. Michaels, Karl Hess, R.W. Bradford, Stephen Volume 4 Cox, William Moulton, David Gordon, and others; and an interview September 1990 with Barbara Branden. (80 pages) • uConversations with Ayn Rand (part 2),U by John Hospers March 1990 • UMe and AIDS," by Richard Kostelanetz • UFighting the Draft in World War II," by Jim Bristol • UH.L. Mencken: Anti-Semite?" by R.W. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by Jane Shaw, Ron Paul, James Robbins, and ., others; and a ficci6n by Harvey Segal. (72 pages) send me the back issues of Liberty r ------November 1990 PIease I have marked. • UWhy We Should Leave the Middle East," by Sheldon Richman I • "Searching for the Home of Truth," by R.W. Bradford I __ Sep. '89, $4.00 __ __ Mar. '92, $4.00 _ • UGovemment vs Farmers," by Leslie Fleming __Nov. '89, $4.50 __ __ May '92, $4.00 __ Plus articles and reviews by Robert Higgs, Richard Kostelanetz, David I __ Jan. '90, $4.00 _ __ July '92, $4.00 __ I Friedman, and others; and an interview with Ed Crane. (80 pages) __Mar. '90, $3.50 __ __Sept. '92, $4.00 __ January 1991 __ May '90, $4.00 __ Nov. '92, $4.00 __ I·uGordon Gekko, Mike Milken, and Me," by Douglas Casey I __ July '90, $6.50 __ Feb. '93, $5.00 _.__ • uThe Bonfire of the Subsidies," by Michael Christian __Sept. '90, $5.50 __ Apr. '93, $5.00 __ • uSkatepunks, UFOs, and Anarchy for Fun," by Lawrence Person __Nov. '90, $5.50 __ June '93, $4.00 __ I Plus articles and reviews by Karl Hess, David Boaz, Ralph Raico, Loren I __ Jan. '91, $5.50 __ Aug. '93, $7.00 __ Lomasky, and others; plus special election coverage. (80 pages) __Mar. '91, $5.50 __ -- Oct. '93, $4.00 __ March.1991 __ May '91, $5.50 __ -- Jan. '94, $4.00 __ I I • "The Myth of War Prosperity," by Robert Higgs __ July '91, $5.00 __ --Mar.. '94, $4.00 __ • UIn Defense of Nude Rights," by David Danielson __Sept. '91, $4.00 __ --May '94, $4.00 __ ·uDownloading Education," by David Friedman __Nov. '91, $5.50 __ -- July'94, $4.00 __ I • "The Strange Death of the McDLT," by R.W. Bradford I Jan. '92, $5.00 __ __ Sep.'94, $4.00 __ Plus articles and reviews by Jan Narveson, Jane Shaw, Richard Weaver, Shipping: --..u.o.a. I Linda Locke, William Holtz, John Baden, and others. (72 pages) foreign buyers add SOt per issue Total: I o My check is enclosed May 1991 UChristiania: Something Anarchical in Denmark," by Benjamin Best Charge my 0 VISA 0 Mastercard Expires: __ · • "Journalists and the Drug War," by David Boaz I Account # _ I • uThe Brain as Market," by Peter Reidy Plus writing by John Baden, Scott Reid, Richard Stroup, Leland Yeager, I Signature I and others; and a short story by Lawrence Thompson. (72 pages) Name July 1991 ·"Say 'No' to Intolerance," by Milton Friedman I Address I • uEx-Nazis Say the Damdest Things," by Richard Kostelanetz • "The Owls Are Not What They Seem," by R.W. Bradford City Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Loren Lomasky, Sheldon I State __Zip Phone I Richman, Karl Hess, James Robbins, Richard Stroup, and others; and Mark Skousen's interview with Robert Heilbroner. (72 pages) Liberty, Dept. B43, PO Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368 ..- (continued on previous page) L ------_....