The Bell Curve, Stupidity, and

January 1995 Vol. 8, No.3 $4.00 You

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c Libertarian Bestsellers autographed by their authors - the ideal holiday gift! Investment Biker The story of a legendary Wall Street investor's·travels around the world by motorcycle, searching out new investments and adventures. "One of the most broadly appealing libertarian books ever published." -R.W. Bradford, LffiERTY ... autographed by the author, Jim Rogers. (402 pp.) $25.00 hard cover. Crisis Investing for the Rest of the '90s This perceptive classic updated for today's investor! "Creative metaphors; hilarious, pithy anecdotes; innovative graphic analyses." -Victor Niederhoffer, LffiERTY ... autographed by the author, Douglas Casey. (444 pp.) $22.50 hard cover. It Carne froIn Arkansas David Boaz, Karl Hess, Douglas Casey, Randal O'Toole, Harry Browne, Durk Pearson, Sandy Shaw, and others skewer the Clinton administration ... autographed by the editor, R.W. Bradford. (180 pp.) $12.95 soft cover. We the Living (First Russian Edition) Ayn Rand's classic novel ofRussia translated into Russian. A collector's item ... autographed by the translator, Dimitry Costygin. (542 pp.) $19.95 hard cover. The God of the Machine Isabel Paterson's classic defense of freedom, with a new introduction by Stephen Cox. Autographed by the editor. (366 pp.) $21.95 soft cover. Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logic A mind-bending meditation on the new revolution in computer intelligence - and on the nature of science, philosophy, and reality ... autographed by the author, Bart Kosko. (318 pp.) $12.95 soft cover. Freedorn of Informed Choice: The FDA vs Nutrient Supplements A well-informed expose of America's pharmaceutical "fearocracy." The authors' "'split label' proposal makes great r------,sense." -Milton Friedman ... autographed by the authors, Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw. (126 pp.) $6.95 soft cover. I Yes'Send me the libertarian Bestsellers I have marked below. I understand that each is autographed by its I • author. DI have provided a separate sheet with the names and addresses of the people on my gift list; I please send the books to them, as I have instructed. D Send them to me! I qty amount I I name __ Investment Biker, by Jim Rogers @$25.00 = I __ It Came From Arkansas, edited by R.W. Bradford @$12.95 = address I I -- Crisis Investing for the Rest ofthe '90s, city, state, zip I by Douglas Casey @$22.50 = DI enclose my check (payable to Liberty) I -- We the Living (first Russian Ed.), by Ayn Rand @$19.95 = D Charge my D VISA 0 MasterCard I __ The God ofthe Machine, by Isabel Paterson @$21.95 = I __ Fuzzy Thinking, by Bart Kosko @ $12.95 = signature I I -- Freedom ofInformed Choice, by Pearson & Shaw @ $6.95 = account # I Shipping & Handling ($3.00 per address) expires phone I ~~~ I L. ------Liberty Bookshelf, P.O. Box 1181, Port T.ow.nsend, WA 98368 -ua 800/854-6991, ext 40 .I January 1995 Inside Liberty Volurne8,Nurnber3

4 Letters Liberty is a two-way street. But no passing. 7 Reflections Liberty's editors eat doughnuts with prostitutes, vote for fictional persons, join the white flight, and toast the health benefits of wine. And still, they are a sober lot. The 1994 Election 15 The Turtle and the Hare-Brains Stephen Cox draws a message from the defeat of Democrats. Neither the Republicans nor their left-leaning opponents will like it. 19 A Crisis of Faith The Republican triumph offers evidence that Americans have lost their faith in government, but haven't yet lost their faith in faith. R. W. Bradford explains. 25 To Vote or Not To Vote Loren E. Lomasky does it on the margin. Features 27 Russo and Revolution Chester Alan Arthur interviews Hollywood heavyweight Aaron Russo about his new Constitution Party: serious political alternative, or another road to nowhere? 34 Free Speech, Blah, Blah Brian Taylor palavers with freedom's fair-weather friends on the Right. 37 Back to Work Richard K. Vedder and Lowell E Gallaway show why this century's obsession with "unemployment" worked so poorly. 43 I'll Take Manhattan Richard Kostelanetz espies utopia in the world's greatest metropolis. 45 Memoirs of a Soviet Dissident (in Canada) You don't have to live in a totalitarian society to feel the effects of ideological oppression, as Pierre Lemieux has learned. 52 Minds, Drugs, and the State Sandy Shaw defends the science of psychopharmacology. Seth Farber reiterates his warning: institutional psychiatry and its allied drug pushers are a grave threat to liberty. Reviews 54 Not to the Swift, But to the Smart Jane S. Shaw makes sense of The Bell Curve, America's most controversial book. Leland B. Yeager looks at the science upon which it either stands or falls. 60 Requiem for Government Schools Critics of government schooling are easy to come by. Jesse Walker sets the standard for grading their proposals. 62 Farce and Madness Ronald F. Lipp finds that our decadent society is not only turning ugly, it is turning and turning in the widening gyre. 64 Radio Ga-Ga Phil Leggiere listens to a medium and its messages. 65 Booknotes on dead anarchists, white racists, wise economists, foolish newspapermen, and other specimens of Homo sapiens sapiens.

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67 Classified Advertisements The free market, at 50~ a word. 69 Notes on Contributors The authors sans muses. 70 Terra Incognita Gravity pulls at even the lightest of elements. ~::~995 [ Let t ers Jto treat living things as more ...:::::======::::: idea,means.despiteThis isBradford'snot reallyuncalled-fora revolutionarybe- littlement of diZerega as some sort of mo­ Anything Else accord legitimacy to the concerns and principles of the deep ecologists." Even ral cripple who must have "a difficult Would Be Uncivilized ignoring deep ecologists' animal rights enough time in the world without my I didn't comment on Gus diZerega's arguments, as diZerega claims to do, this getting on his case." "Deep Ecology Meets the Market" (No­ still leaves us with the movement's moral Although Bradford may find this vember 1994) prior to R..W. Bradford's re­ equalization of human and non-human hard to swallow, even the men and wom­ sponse ("The Market Meets Deep Ecolo­ life. DiZerega's"rejection of the despotic en who raise dumb cows for food rarely gy," December 1994) because I see notion of property rights" and his will­ envision their domestic wards in the ex­ responsible stewardship of resources as a ploitative.light of pure means. To many legitimate concern, whether or not own­ ingness to allow a full-scale "wartime" assault on environmental problems "in of them, hvestock-raising circumscribes a ership is private. It's just another facet of an emergency" are evidence enough that culture of caring and stewardship, one the self-control libertarianism requires. that invariably ends in death but which DiZerega simply opposes the right­ there can be no synthesis between human rights and government intervention on until that moment is constrained by a wing "it's mine, all mine, to slash and powerful ethic of love and responsibility. burn, tee-hee" approach that says it's behalf of non-human rights. DiZerega also tries to synthesize the No rancher I know who is worthy of the okay to cut down all the old growth in name has ever reduced the human­ the northern hemisphere to make dispos­ individual and society with the hoariest, most hackneyed objection to individual­ animal relation to one of pure means. able chopsticks, and it's okay to hunt Bradford may be unwilling to ac­ wildlife to extinction so recreational ism: "individuals are members of socie­ ties." The real question is whether this knowledge human responsibility in the hunters can get their kicks. This cavalier natural world, but libertarian-minded readiness to destroy the irreplaceable is nurturing social cradle exists to enslave the individual. DiZerega seems to think people ~ho see nature in a different light antisocial, whether or not you own it. should Inundate the pages of Liberty with Some things transcend property rights. that's okay - in an emergency, of course. DiZerega even offers a synthesis of principled arguments to the contrary. . Raising and harvesting plants and an­ Karl Hess, Jr. Imals for food and clothing can be done self-interest and altruism: since humans Las Cruces, N.M. ~umanely, much as diZerega may doubt are capable of imagining their long-term It. Humans are part of the food chain, af­ self-interest, they act onthe basis of some­ The Despotic Editor ter all, and these activities are no more onewho"does not exist yet," and since R.W. Bradford's criticism mostly ig­ than organized hunting and gathering. "concern for others and concern for our nores ~y ~rguments, except to complain future self are two sides of the same coin" ~u~ ~here's always a line that separates fo~ that I dIdn t spend enough time making CIVIlIzed ways of meeting human needs one should embrace altruism not only them. I wrote my piece to fit the general from barbarism and savagery, and prop­ humans, but for animals as well! Again, length of Liberty articles, so this seems a erty rights don't exempt anyone from the lust for synthesis creates a muddle, as bit petty. IfBradford had wanted me to toeing that line. when diZerega discerns "theecological elaborate a point, all he needed to do was I didn't object to diZerega's article be­ equivalent ofcapital consumption" or dis­ ask. .But he admits he only wanted to cau~e I agree with him in theory: proper­ c.overs that the"ecological community, ~ra,:" fire by publishing my piece. Explor­ ty rIghts do carry responsibilities. But hke the market, is a spontaneous order." Ing Issues was not his intent. diZerega needs to admit that people have This kind ofthought culminates in princi­ Bradford credits me with weakening to kill for food and shelter, and Bradford ples that arewithout content. ~y res?ect argument by allowing it to be n~e~s to concede that society can and Terry Hulsey occasIonally overridden." He misread. I wIll Judge what activities are appropriate Richardson, Tex. allow for such overriding for the three uses of property rights - whether or not Join Usl p~in~iples grow~g out of membership either of you likes it. As both a libertarian activist and an wIt~In the ecolOgIcal community, and ex­ Leslie Van Sickel environmental activist, I was pleased to pl~Ined why. I do not allow overriding Topeka, Kan. read "Deep Ecology Meets the Market." WIth regard to the principle of respect, Hegelian Hooey Unfortunately, because we are afraid of where those reasons do not apply. To be sure, people often act thought­ . ?ne of the hallmarks of sloppy think­ state intervention, most libertarians try to ~ish le~sly. My argument concluded that they Ing IS the yearning for "synthesis" where environmental problems away. Gus WIll b~ better people, living more fully up none is to be had. Gus diZerega's grand diZerega faces the issues head on. Envi­ ronmentalists are looking for non­ to theIr human capacities, when they are s.ynthes.is is his claim that "any consistent more respectful of their relations with hbertarIan philosophical position must governmental solutions. Libertarians like diZerega are entering the environmental their environment. The deep ecological 1/ ~ovement with fresh thinking. I urge argument for respecting life is not anti­ Letters Policy Lzberty's readers to join us. human. It is rooted in our being human. Gordon LaBedz Like honesty, integrity, and kindness, the We invite readers to comment on articles fact that it is frequently violated in no that have appeared in Liberty. We reserve Seal Beach, Calif. the right to edit for length and clarity. All way weakens its value. lett.ers are assumed to be intended for publi­ More on Cows But there is still more amiss with catIon .unless otherwise stated. Succinct, R.W. Bradford distorts Gus diZere­ Bradford's attack. His history is mistak­ typewntten letters are preferred. Please in­ ga's main point: that humans have the ca­ clude your phone number so that we· can en. Throughout history, most societies verify your identity. pacity - indeed, the moral obligation - denied that animals, plants, and even the The Magazine for Libertarian Environmentalists

C~~E-MI~S~ Different Drummer follows Henry David Thoreau's philosophy of saving the environ­ • Why decentralized markets workbetter than ment without big government. Future issues centralized government; will cover such subjects as the National ~~Pork" • How markets can protect the environment better than big government; Service, forest health, and endangered species. • How we can use markets to solve such prob­ Contributors will include Randal O'Toole, Karl lems as air pollution, urban congestion, and Hess, Jr., John Baden, and many others. endangered species. Liberty magazine readers may subscribe now to receive a year's subscription at a 10 percent discount-just $19.95 per year or $35.95 for two years ($27.50/$49.95 for government agencies and commercial)-plus get the latest issue on the environmental supermarket at no extra charge. Don't Miss These Fascinating Issues

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CJ Yes! Subscribe me to D~~ D~ for 0 one year 0 two years, plus send me the latest issue on Creating the Environmental Supermarket at no extra charge. D Please also include the 0 Biodiversity, 0 Pork Barrel, and/or 0 Western Range issues as a part of my subscription. o Please send me the 0 Supermarket, 0 Biodiversity, 0 Pork Barrel, and/or 0 Western Range issues for $5.95 each. o Enclosed is $ . 0 Bill me. o 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 since 1980. Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 earth, water, and sky were pure means to nature of our uniqueness. In addition, beings to use other living things only as a our ends. The view that they are is large­ anyone believing in evolution should be pure means to human ends; in other ly an Enlightenment legacy predicated very careful about delineating the differ­ words, you can only keep your cow as a upon a mechanistic view of nature com­ ences between ourselves and other ani­ friend. (The position, with an insignifi­ bined with a purely transcendental view mals, and their ethical significance. Cer­ cant qualifier, that diZerega advocated in of God. It persists today due more to cul­ tainly Darwin believed evolutionary his essay.) tural inertia than philosophical or scien­ insights pointed toward expanding our (3) It is appropriate, under certain cir­ tific rigor. For more on this, I recommend ethical circle to include animals. cumstances, for humans to use other liv­ Mary Midgely's Science as Salvation. Friends tell me R.W. Bradford is wis­ ing things as a means to their own ends, Bradford is incredulous because I er and more decent than his argument and appropriate at other times for them deny that life is always the ultimate val­ would imply. I believe them, for I respect to use other living things as an end in ue, yet hold that respect for it is an ulti­ their judgment. But many good and de­ themselves; in other words, you can feel mate value. I do not see the problem. We cent people have been seduced by argu­ as much affection for your cow as y:ou probably all agree that sometimes it is le­ ments with subtly inhuman implications. like, but if you want to milk it, that's fine. gitimate to give one's life for a value. But Gus diZerega (My position, and the position of almost it is the importance of life that makes that Sebastopol, Calif. all human beings.) sacrifice meaningful. Sometimes we sacri­ Bradford responds:.Contrary to Hess, diZe­ DiZerega's comments are more mys­ fice our life in support of a value that can rega did not simply assert "that humans terious still. I never complained that he only then be enjoyed by others. Dare I have the capacity - indeed, the moral "didn't spend enough time" making his suggest it is my respect for others that mo­ obligation - to treat living things as arguments, though I did observe that in tivates me to give my life in such a case? more than pure means." Ifhe had made an article of some 4,000 words he invest­ Moving closer to the issues in my arti­ such an observation, I wouldn't have crit­ ed fewer than 200 to explaining how he cle, ifI eat meat (and I do), the conditions icized it, since it is obViously true. But arrived at his astonishing conclusions. under which an animal is raised can still diZerega proposed that "Nothing living Nordid I saythat I"onlywanted to matter greatly to me. I can want it to can be appropriately treated as a pure draw fire bypublishing [diZerega's] have had a decent, even a good, life, and means." And this, I argued, is balder­ piece," orthat "exploringissues was not for its death to have been as painless as dash. Human civilization could never [my] intent." To the contrary, I wrote, possible. In such a case I do not treat the have developed and could not survive "WhenI accepted it for publication, I fig­ animal as a pure means. unless we sometimes use other living ured sucha bizarre thesis would stir up Liberty can be valued for many rea­ things as pure means. But I never sug­ considerable controversy, thatthis journal sons. Bradford's seem different from gested that humans should use other liv­ wouldbeburiedinresponses from read­ mine. He apparently values liberty be­ ing things exclusively as pure means to ers ..." Nor did I suggest he weakened cause it allows him to do anything he our ends. his respect argument when he qualified it wants. Why else object to my criticism of Nor did I suggest that ranchers treat by allowing it to be "occasionally overrid­ using other beings as pure means? Ap­ their cattle exclusively as pure means. den." Indeed, I believe his qualification parently everything is either a tool, an What I did suggest was that no rancher strengthened his argument. Without that impediment, or unimportant. This reason ever treated his cattle exclusively as an qualification, humans could never use ani­ for valuing liberty would be endorsed by end in themselves. Virtually all ranchers, mals or plants as "pure means," a prohi­ would-be despots who, realizing they I am sure, sometimes treat their cattle as a bition that would preclude human life as will never be king, still seek as large a do­ pure means to human ends (when they we know it. With his qualification, hu­ main of arbitrary power as possible. They slaughter cattle for meat or hide) and mans could use plants and animals as are libertarians because they cannot be sometimes treat their cattle as ends in "pure means" if they first went to the kings. I call this the despotic defense of themselves (when they develop an affec­ trouble ofjustifying it by his rather re­ liberty, for it equates freedom with unre­ tion for 01' Bessie). I myself raise plants strictive criteria. stricted arbitrary will. and animals, primarily for ends in them­ I am delighted to learn that diZerega An example illustrates my point. .~elves. But I confess that occasionally I eats meat, behavior that surely violates Only a despot or a sadist would chafe un­ use one for my own end (e.g., I occasion­ his injunction that "Nothing living can be der laws forbidding the mistreatment of ally uproot an onion plant and eat it). appropriately treated as a pure means." animals. Bradford seems to say that ani­ Like Hess's rancher, I treat that onion Whether this is a retreat from his previ­ mals are simply means to his ends, what­ plant with "love and caring" until the ous position or an admission that he ever they may be. Assuming he is no sad­ moment that I uproot it. As I eat it, I must doesn't take his own philosophical ram­ ist, his ends do not include deliberately admit, I love it even more, though I am blings very seriously is not clear. My own mistreating them. It is the idea of limits, no longer caring for it. suspicion is that it is the former. not any actual interference, that he appar­ There are three possible positions re­ Of course, meat-eaters often care ently finds objectionable. Louis XIV garding treatment of other living things: about "conditions under which an animal would have understood. (1) It is never appropriate for human is raised" before it is slaughtered on their Perhaps Bradford will say I distort beings to use other living things except as behalf. I share diZerega's concern for him as badly as he distorted me, and that a pure means to human ends; in other minimizing the pain an animal suffers in people should not be pure means but words, you should never feel affection death, and want the animal "to have a de­ everything else should be. He would pre­ for your cow, but keep it only as a source cent, even a good, life," prior to its sumably base his distinction on our of milk, meat or hides. (The position Hess slaughter, at least to whatever extent that uniqueness. But then Bradford would attributes to me.) the concepts II good" and IIdecent" in this have to address my argument about the (2) It is never appropriate for human continued on page 36 6 Liberty Note to political scientists - Democracy is This was actually a pernicious form of double advertising. In the theory that the country should be ruled by the marginal exchange for coming in to propagandize about the impor­ (Le., indifferent and ignorant) voter. This sad fact was illus­ tance of public education, the NBA was allowed - after trated recently by a pre-election poll in which one in four months of saturation coverage of O.J. Simpson's wife-beating voters in Tom Foley's old congressional district believed that and probable nlurder - to inculcate in children the impor­ Foley's Republican challenger would inherit the incumbent's tance of worshipping professional jocks. position as speaker of the House. -CAA This is not the only form of advertising that occurs in school. Police are brought in to advertise the importance of Wining, not whining - America's long, dark obeying the police and to spread the official truth about night of the puritanical soul may be lifting - not by much, drugs. Mainstream politicians come in to advertise to children but by a crack. To be sure, sex is still potentially lethal even the importance of "public service" and to the public their con­ for those who dress in designer condoms, almost anything cern for"our children." that tastes good will turn your blood to ooze, sun tanning The public school system is one huge advertisement, and will make you a motel for melanomas, heavy metal blasts when an earnest writer for The Nation relays the story of your eardrums, marijuana will get you busted, hockey has young high school students organizing to protest that, real followed baseball into class struggle limbo, any attempt at progress will have been made. -es humor is sure to offend some group or other, and Elvis ap­ parently is still dead. But now one suspect pleasure has es­ Bad whore! No doughnut! - The L.A. police caped the slings of the health commissars. It seems that St. have ordered doughnut store owner Zuita Contador to stop Paul was indeed right: a little wine is good for you. serving prostitutes, perhaps in fear that there would be no So says no less an authority than the Journal of the Ameri­ doughnuts left for the LAPD. "Tell me who is and who is not can Medical Association, in its September issue. Alcohol con­ a prostitute," Zuita queried. "You should know one when sumption lowers heart attack rates by bumping up levels of you see one," replied the cops. "good" cholesterol and by preventing clotting. JAMA's dis­ Located in a high-erime area, the mom-and-pop business pensation doesn't mean that "anything goes"; five-day bend­ is a victim of L.A.'s new mania: community-based policing. ers still fry your brain and pickle your liver. It's not good to After hundreds of hours of legal work, Guita has convinced empty too many gin bottles at one sitting. But neither is it the L.A. Zoning Administration that her shop is not a public good to empty none at all. The number of premature deaths nuisance. The lawyer is being paid in doughnuts. -WM that result from unrestrained guzzling are almost matched by the number of coronary fatalities averted through moderate Postal hellhounds on his trail - The u.s. imbibing. Postal Service has issued a stamp commemorating the great How refreshing it is finally to hear that not indulging may Delta bluesman Robert Johnson. The picture chosen for the be hazardous to your health! Join me in toasting the good stamp shows Johnson with a cigarette dangling from his news. -LEL mouth, and, in contemporary America, this will not do. So the Postal Service engaged - for our children's sake, of course ­ You deserve a state today - In the November in a little historical revisionism, and erased the cigarette from 21 issue of The Nation, writer Margaret Spillane gloated over the picture. the financial troubles that forced Chris Whittle to sell Channel Considering the kind of man Johnson was, this petty puri­ One, the school-based news program that is infamous for in­ tanism seems a little, um, misplaced. Johnson's vices are often cluding advertising. She also told of a youth organization more interesting to people than his musicianship; he may be callpd "Unplug" that is working to get rid of the program al­ better known for the legend that he sold his soul in exchange together. I share the writer's concern that children not be held for his prowess on the guitar than for that prowess itself. The captive for advertisers. But she is painfully naive if she be­ real Johnson was notorious for drinking and womanizing; he lieves that children are not already being advertised to in is reputed to have met his maker via the gun of a jealous hus­ public schools. In reality, such schools are rife with advertis­ band. That Johnson was an adulterer may not be of concern to ing, and the messages are usually more noxious than paeans our moral guardians at the Postal Service, but the thought of to overpriced Reeboks or larded Big Macs. him lighting up after the deed has them frothing at the mouth. The most prominent advertising in public schools is for By erasing the cigarette from Johnson's picture, the stamp­ the importance of public schools. Right before the start of the makers are trying to remove smoking, not just from his histo­ NBA season, basketball players fanned out across the country ry, but from America's history. From Jamestown to Johnson to to proclaim to children the importance of staying in school. Humphrey Bogart, smoking is intimately woven into the Liberty 7 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

American· fabric. A sane Postal Service might note this and sorting to unusually inflammatory rhetoric when talking give the cigarette itself a commemorative stamp. But then, about their government and its functionaries. Some are begin­ one usually commemorates someone who is dead, and tobac­ ning to sound rather like the sainted Locke when he declared co, despite the current holy war, lives on. -ML that "Whosoever uses force without Right . .. puts himself into a state ofWar with those, against whom he uses it,and in that Collaborators all - A new biography of French state all former Ties are cancelled, all other Rights cease, and President Fran~ois Mitterrand, written with Mitterrand's co­ everyone has a Right to .defend himself, and to resist the operation, finally tells. the story the leader of French socialism Aggressor." has been concealing for decades: as a youth, he was a sup­ The vocal resurgence of Lockean sentiments is a hopeful porter of ultra-right-wing (i.e. semi-fascist) groups; later, Mit­ sign. -RH terrand worked with the Vichy government, and was person­ ally close to men afterwards accused of war crimes. Girls, guts, and guns - Analysis of family homi­

There has been the usual handwringing about 1/collabora­ cide data reveals an interesting pattern. When women kill tion": how could Mitterrand have collaborated with a regime men, they often use a gun. When men kill women, they usual­ that itself collaborated with the N'azis? Meanwhile, the moan­ ly use some other weapon, such as their hands or a knife. The ers and groaners conveniently forget that the biggest collabo­ difference: men's phYSical strength allows them to wield al­ rators in the Second World War were Roosevelt and Church­ most every weapon more effectively than women can - ex­ ill, who collaborated with Stalin. If it is objected that that cept a handgun. That one doesn't require strength, only a relationship was· purely pragmatic, necessitated by the cir­ steady aim. cumstances of the war - well, that was also the case with People kill for many reasons. The best is self-defense. In­ Marshal Petain and Vichy, unless it is suggested that 40 mil­ deed, defending yourself with a gun rarely requires killing; in lion Frenchmen could have followed de Gaulle across the 98% of the crimes stopped with a handgun, the gun· is not Channel to London. fired. "But Vichy aided the Nazis in transporting Jews to the Yet Sarah Brady wants to ban the civilian possession of camps in Poland." True - just as in 1945 the United States handguns. She would leave women to the dubious mercy of and Britain handed over to Stalin a much greater number of powerful men. Soviet subjects who had fought against the Reds - Vlasov's Removing handguns from domestic situations won't Russian Army of Liberation, the Cossacks, and others - for change the number of people who get killed. It will only execution by the NIRalph Raico why this part of government is called the ex­ about it and what they may ultimately do CS Clark Stooksbury ecutive branch.) The power to veto legisla­ JW Jesse Walker about it. Today, more and more people are re- tion was intended as a restraint on Congress. 8 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

A line-item veto would give the president a stranglehold on the globe - that's the old Muravchik-Wattenberg neocon line. both legislation and appropriation, allowing him to horse­ No, according to Mandela, it is incumbent upon us to insure trade much more effectively. world happiness: "If what we say is true, that manifestly the A better approach would be to pass a constitutional world is one stage and the actions of all its inhabitants part of measure restricting laws and appropriations to a specific the same drama, does it not then follow that each one of us as range of effects. This approach has been used with reason­ nations, including yourselves, should begin to define the na­ able success by several states. In my own state, a judge re­ tional interest to include the genuine happiness of others, how­ cently overturned a conviction on the grounds that the law ever distant in time and space their domicile mightbe?" in question violated the Washington constitution's prohibi­ Most intriguing to me in this blather is what Mandela tion on multiple-subject legislation. might mean by those "distant in time." And they call Aristide But why do anything? Worse things could happen to the crazy! -RR United States than returning to a system in which Congress passed laws and made appropriations while the president The pagan voter - One single ballot is not going to executed laws and oversaw operations of government. make a difference in an election, except occasionally on a local Speaking for myself, I'll take the wisdom of the founding fa­ level; voting is more an act of devotion than an act of demo­ thers over the wisdom of Newt Gingrich any day. -RWB cratic input. The United States is a participatory democracy only in the sense that one participates in a crowd singing a The Manchurian candidate - A prominent fight song or reciting mass. Voting is the holiest ritual in opponent of Clinton's occupation of Haiti was John McCain, America's civic religion, and not much else. Republican senator from Arizona. When this alleged conser­ There are two alternatives to this faith. One is civic athe­ vative was interviewed on the Brinkley show, he protested ism: refusing to vote. The other, usually ignored, is civic pa­ that, though an opponent of intervention in Haiti, he certain­ ganism: casting your ballot for your own pantheon - invent­ ly did not deny the president's right to intervene if he so ed, if necessary, on the spur of the moment. I know a lot of chose. George Will asked him if he believed that a president self-styled radicals who think they're making an anti­ has the right to send American troops anywhere in the authoritarian statement by not voting, but in my book, pagan world, at any time, simply on his own authority. McCain re­ write-in ballots are a greater threat to the system. Consider: plied, yes. Perhaps unable to fathom that a ·U.S. senator could (1) Not voting is interpreted as a sign of apathy. Write-in so blithely break his oath to uphold the Constitution, Will votes are interpreted as a sign of disrespect. Which do you persisted: Did that mean, for instance, that Wilson had the think the powers that be prefer? right to send the AEF to fight in France in 1918, without ask­ (2) Write-in ballots are a real pain to count. If every citizen ing Congress for a declaration of war? McCain again replied, were to vote for just one write-in candidate, the do-good yes, he did. League of Women Voters types who tally the ballots would It seems that during McCain's years of captivity, the phi­ be overwhelmed. Once a couple of elections full of write-ins losophy of government of his Vietnamese captors penetrated go past, they'll stop their "get out the vote" drives and start rather deeply into the war hero's brain. -RR telling people they oughta just stay home if they can't take Self-restraint - One of the first orders of business their goddamn precious right seriously. of the new Republican Congress will be to vote on a term (3) Write-ins keep you morally pure: if you pick your can­ limitation proposal. And it will almost surely pass, if only didate right, there's little chance that he or she will go on to because the Republicans who have long advocated term lim­ disappoint you. The only person I know who looks back on its will want to avoid being perceived as hypocrites after all his vote In the 1990 Michigan gubernatorial race with true these years of advocacy. pride is my friend Des Preston, who voted for "Mimi, the 19­ So it will likely come to pass that the first victims of term Foot Lobster." limits at the federal level will be the very individuals who ~~\L 6AIV~ ~ enacted them in the first place. And it won't be the first time. AU. 13ILLlCULA 1A~EAf~Nf~ or (f1\lJ\t\ The nation's first term limitation measure - a.k.a. Amend­

This year, I .grudgingly voted "realistically" in the local ga's notion of how to marry the two processes: a "presump­ races, casting my lot with the Republican candidate for tion in favor of maintaining [ecological] communities," based county commissioner and the Democratic hopeful for sheriff, on four vague "principles" (e.g., /lno extinctions of life forms both on lesser-of-two-evils grounds. Both lost anyway. I also not actively injurious to humans"). voted for a few cranky, charming populist types who some­ Consider an economist who argues in favor of "maintain­ how got nominated for state-level offices; they all lost, too. ing economic communities," through state action if necessary, Then came the fun part: whipping my pen up and down the and who ignores what Joseph Schumpeter called the "creative rest of the ballot, writing in Sir Philip Sidney, J.R. "Bob" destruction" of the marketplace. Such an economist would be Dobbs, and anyone else who occured to me at the moment. labelled a' protectionist, not a free marketeer. DiZerega, in Yippie! turn, sounds like an eco-protectionist, for all his talk of spon­ Back in the nineteenth century, there were no official bal­ taneous order and evolutionary liberalism. lots - and, hence, no ballot access laws. Instead, people A truly liberal approach to environmental problems made their own ballots, or helped themselves to one of the would stress procedural rules,not preservationist prohibi­ ones candidates and parties would distribute to the faithful. tions; DiZerega's article fails this test. -JW It took a lot longer to total the results, but it was a far rowdi­ er, freer system. And it wasn't any more open to fraud than Out Of Washington - It looks as though that sex­ those allegedly tamper-proof voting machines used in most starved, power-hungry black nationalist and ex-drug addict, urban areas are. Marion Barry - who as mayor of Washington, D.C. bank­ Until we return to that system, I'll be doing my best. to rupted the capital of "the only remaining superpower in the replicate it with my write-in votes. Mimi in '96! -JW world" and turned it into the murder capital of the universe - is returning from jail to reign over the city he helped de­ Just say treason - Ought libertarians consider stroy. So it's time for me, I think, to bid farewell to themselves men of the Right? Should they take pride or Washington. pleasure in the electoral and ideological victories of the right I've been a resident of the District for the last ten years or wing? Let's listen to movement leader Paul Weyrich, head of so, living in Ward 3, the part of town the upper-middle-class the right-wing cable channel National Empowerment Televi­ whites inhabit - lawyers (many, many lawyers!), govern­ sion, when he's mulling over ideas among friends. This, from ment workers (a lot of them, too), journalists (my competi­ the Free Congress Foundation's "Essays on our Times" se­ tors), and psychiatrists (who have to take care of the members ries: "We should consider a formal Congressional declaration of the three other groups). This affluent population produces of war on drugs.... Under the declaration of war, any for­ D.C.'s tax base, providing the leaders of the corrupt and inef­ eign national apprehended for violation of drug laws or any ficient local government with the resources to enrich them­ American citizen taken under arms while in. possession of selves and put the rest of the city on welfare. The residents of drugs would be treated as a prisoner of war. He would have the White Ward are mostly liberal Democrats who send their no legal rights beyond those in the Geneva Convention; no kids to private schools, love Hillary Clinton, feel sorry for the right of habeas corpus or of trial. His imprisonment would be black underclass, want to send U.S. troops to Bosnia, hate of indefinite duration, since he would not be released until smokers, and. believe that they are soooo good·and soooo the war is over." smart! You know the types. While Weyrich doesn't extend his thinking this far, his Things have traditionally been cleaner and safer in this logic implies that anyone advocating drug legalization ­ part of the city than in the black and Hispanic neighborhoods. e.g., George Schultz, Milton Friedman, and William Buckley The residents here usually learn about the recent nightly gun­ - would be guilty of treason. -BD fight and latest body count only when they watch the local Creative destruction - In the November Liberty, nightly news. "How awful," they gasp. "It's all the result of Gus diZerega compared the spontaneous order of an ecosys­ Reagan's budget cuts!" tem to the spontaneous order of a free marketplace. That is a But even here, the mood has been getting ugly lately. Ac­ familiar comparison, and a fair one. What is not fair is diZere- tually, on Connecticut Avenue, where I live, the residents re­ ceive long reports each week detailing the assaults, rapes, rob­ beries, and car thefts that took place in the area in recent days. It's quite a long list. Residents are warned not to stroll on this or that street after dark and to watch out for "suspicious" characters. Last month, middle-class Washington experienced one of its occasional shocks. Michelle Miller, an attractive white 20­ year-old fresh from Princeton, had moved to Washington a couple of months before, looking for a government job so she could "make a difference." As she was parking her car, she was attacked by two teenagers, who demanded she give them her car keys and then killed her. (It makes you feel nostalgic for the thieves of the old school, who'd only tie you up and ------1)/" steal your watch and jewelry.) "I ask you, Your Honor - is this the face of a dishonest man?" So white Washington has been getting a little worried. Its 10 Liberty The xnost faxnous coin of the Bihle Widow's Mites

In the New Testament, Jesus and His disciples witnessed many rich people making conspicu­ ous gifts to the Temple coffers, followed by a poor widow who gave a mere two mites, which togeth­ er had the value ofa quarter ofa penny. Jesus drew a moral from this: "Verily I say unto you, This poor widow hath cast more in than all they who have cast into the treasury; For all they did cast in oftheir abundance, but she ofher want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." We are proud to offer genuine specimens ofthat same coin, the "Widow's Mite" ofthe books ofSt. Mark and St. Luke. The "Widow's Mites" of the Gospels were actually a procurator who, the Gospels tell us, "washed his hands" tiny copper coin called Lepton, the smallest denomination of the most famous verdict of a capital case in human in the monetary system of the Greeks of the eastern history. Mediterranean. The Bible does not mention what particular type of We recently acquired a hoard of more than 500 speci- Lepton was given up as an· offering by the poor widow. It mens ofWidow's Mites, all dated from 100 B.C. to 35 could have been any of the coins we offer here. But you A.D. - coins ofprecisely the type that circulated in the won't want to miss owning a Widow's Mite of the most Holy Land while Christ walked the earth. infamous Roman politician ever! They were issued under the authority of Roman em- Act Today! This is such a wonderful coin, and our perors and their client kings (the Herods) and procurators treasury is limited, so there is an excellent chance that we on the Levant, but none of the coins have representations will sell out completely at our special price. Call us toll of human figures, respecting the Jewish proscription on free at 1-800-321-1542 to confirm your order. (In Michi- graven images. Among the images featured on the coins gan call 1-800-933-4720.) Or simply return the coupon are cornucopias, ears of grain, palm trees, ladles, and oth- below! er.devices.Mostcoinsareinscribed.inHebrew ~ , ~Ith the name of the ruler under WhICh they are y'Please send me the Widow's Mites I have selected Issued. I eS•below. I understand that I can return any coin for a I Thanks to our fortunate purchase, we offer these 100% refund at any time within 15 days of my receiving it. small coins at a remarkably price: $16 each! low I __Widow's Mite(s) @ $ 16.00 = _ I These coins, the most famous small coins of the I __I purchased ten or more Widow's Mites, so I Bible, are the perfect beginning for your ancient be sure to include one specimen from Pon- coin collection, the best place to start for the novice I tius Pilate with each ten coins I ordered. I investor. Or simply collect them for their historic Shipping &Handling $5.00 value - or as object lessons of the Gospel I Total _ I message. I Name _ I Special Offer - Address _ A Coin from Pontius Pilate I City State_Zip I Phone (-) Confirmation # I With ten Widow's Mites you purchase, we will I Liberty Coin Service include one issued by Pontius Pilate, the Roman L 300 Frandor Ave, Lansing, MI 48912 'I!' 800-321-1542 ------...--- iii Volume 8, Number 3 members were really traumatized when their favorite politi­ cian, John Ray, a friendly and light-skinned black lawyer ­ the Last Black Hope, if you will -lost the Democratic pri­ mary to Barry. "How could they do that?" they wonder. (The Liberty •• • first "they" refers to the black majority of the city.) Intellectual sparks flew in Tacoma at the 1994 Liberty Political experts explain that the poor black Washington­ Editors' Conference. There, the best individualist minds met ians voted for Barry to send an angry "message" to the afflu­ to discuss the future of liberty and society - and have a ton ent whites, to spit in the face of those who pay for their un­ employment benefits and food stamps and who finance, of fun in the process. among other things, such great D.C. academic institutions as "The best libertarian conference I've ever attended!" Howard University, home of Louis Farrakhan's groupies, declared one attendee. and the University of the District of Columbia. The message: "More than my money's worth!" said another. "We'll show those whities!" Now you can witness the proceedings for yourself! A Barry says whites should get used to the idea that he's complete set of videotapes (including an audiotape of the one going to lead the city over the coming years. "Get over it!" panel that was not filmed) costs only $420. A complete set of he told one white Washington audience. But the whites ­ audiotapes is just $165. Sessions can also be ordered even our flaming liberal crowd - are not looking forward to individually: $19.50 per videotape, $5.95 per audiotape. a new Barry regime, and they are voting with their feet. Any­ Join in the excitement of the 1994 Liberty Editors' one who drives through northwest Washington can't fail to Conference. With these tapes, you can experience it all year! notice the many new "For Sale" signs in the area. Some sug­ gest that the flight from D.C. has just begun. Panels There is, by the way, a secession movement underfoot: 1969: 25 Years After: Durk Pearson, Sandy Shaw, Karl John Nelson and Paul Egan's "Free Ward 3" movement is Hess, Jr., David Schumacher, R.W. Bradford & Don calling for the "removal of Ward 3 from the District and un­ Meinshausen (Video:VI01; Audio: AI0l) Looking back ion with the State of Maryland." I like the idea, and even on the 1960s ... contributed a few dollars for the secession campaign. But I'm Searching for Liberty in Small Town America: R.W. Brad­ not holding my breath, and I'm beginning to pack to emi­ ford, Bill Kauffman, Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw grate to Maryland. (Video: VI02; Audio: AI02) Can freedom be found in the So, Marion, I wish you and the rest of the District all the rural U.S.A.? best. Good luck with all your plans and programs - Afro­ Searching for Liberty Around the World: Doug Casey, Bruce centric public education, raising taxes on business, releasing Ramsey, Jim Rogers, Scott Reid & Ron Lipp (Video: the criminals from the jails (and providing them with "sti­ VI03; Audio: AI03) How freedom is faring in other cor­ pends"), and "independence" for the State of New Columbia ners of the globe ... (with its mayor, governor, and two senators, it will provide a Searching for Liberty in a Virtual Country: David Friedman, lot of job opportunities for the political class). Doug Casey, R.W. Bradford, Pierre Lemieux & Scott And Marion, next time you do a little coke, make sure no FBI agent is making a movie. -LTH Reid (Video: VI04; Audio: AI04) If we can't find a free country, we may have to invent one ... They should've sentMark Slackmayer- The Economy ofthe Twenty-First Century: Jim Rogers, Vic­ Garry Trudeau, author-artist of Doonesbury, tore himself away tor Niederhoffer, David Friedman, Doug Casey, Harry from his valiant, lonely fight against the tobacco companies Browne, R.W. Bradford, & Leland Yeager (Video: long enough to plunge into the election campaign in a big VI05; Audio: AI05) How will the economy fare over the way. Some of his most savage attacks were directed at Mi­ next 100 years, and how can investors protect themselves? chael Huffington, and in those Trudeau did not spare Huff­ The Assault on Private Property: Wayne Hage, Jane Shaw, ington's wife, Arianna. But if the once-talented comic-strip Karl Hess, Jr., Richard Stroup, R.W. Bradford, John writer wanted a wife of a prominent figure to satirize, there & (Video: VI06; Audio: was no need to go across the continent to California to find Baden, Jane Shaw Fred Smith one. He could have looked across the breakfast table. AI06) News from the frontlines of the latest government Trudeau's own spouse is Jane Pauley, the pretty canta­ assault on human liberty ... loup-brain who once"earned" a half million dollars a year as Does Libertarianism Need Foundations? David Friedman, "anchorwoman" on The Today Show. Trudeau might have Wendy McElroy, Bart Kosko, R.W. Bradford, James tried, for instance, to recapture a priceless moment during Taggart, Leland Yeager & John Hospers (Video: VI07; Pauley's interview of Dick Francis, the British mystery writ­ Audio: AI07) What are the philosophical bases - if any er, and Francis' charming little English wife. Francis' new - of libertarianism? thriller had just appeared, and it concerned horse-racing (of Pop Goes the Culture: Jesse Walker, Brian Doherty, Gary course) and wine-making. Pauley asked, "Well, where does Alexander & Timothy Virkkala (Audio only: AI08) Is the best champagne come from?" Mrs. Francis, in the best there room for individualism in contemporary pop culture? courteous-killing English way, replied: "Why, it comes from Global Trade or Globalony? Fred Smith, Brian Doherty & Champagne, dear - that's part of France." John Baden (Video: VI09; Audio: AI09) Do trade agree­ continued on page 14 ments like GATT promote free trade or statism? 12 Liberty Share the Excitement! How Long Can We Bear Arms? Pierre Lemieux, Clark dio: A128) "Fuzzy logic" meets liberty: a scientist's case Stooksbury, R.W. Bradford, John Bergstrom & Jesse for pragmatism ... Walker (Video: VllO; Audio: AllO) How to protect our Jazz: The Music ofLiberty, by Gary Alexander (Video: right to guns - and a few other weapons ... V129; Audio: A129) A musical history tour of the most Looking to 1996 - and Beyond: Robert Higgs, Doug Casey, individualistic brand of American music ... Gary Alex8;nder & R.W. Bradford (Video: VIII; Audio: Canada's Reform Party: Libertarianism in Sheep's Cloth­ Alii) What happens next in American politics ... ing? by Scott Reid (Video: V130; Audio: A130) A Ca­ Talks nadian activist's report on rumblings from the north ... Chaos and Anarchy, by J. Orlin Grabbe & Pierre Lemieux Ayn Rand As I Knew Her, by John Hospers (Video: V131; (Video: Vl12; Audio Al12) The religion and science of Audio: A131) A personal memoir ... unpredictability ... The Nazification ofthe Money Supply, by J. Orlin Grabbe Will the Death ofLiberalism Bring a New Birth ofLiberty? by (Video: V132; Audio: A132) Another front in the R.W. Bradford (Video: V113; Audio: A113) Liberalism is government's battle for surveillance and control ... on its last legs. Is statism? Unlocking the Human Genome, by Ross Overbeek (Video: How Hillary Got Rich, by Victor Niederhoffer (Video: V114; V133; Audio: A133) The latest in genetic science ... Audio: Al14) The ins and outs ofthe commodities market ... Women and Pornography, by Wendy McElroy (Video: The Next Hundred Years, by Doug Casey (Video: VII5; Au­ V134; Audio: A134) The feminist case for porn ... dio: A115) The world according to Doug Casey, iconoclast A Crash Course in Political Economy, by Leland Yeager extraordinaire ... (Video: V135; Audio: A135) A fun, easy explanation of Anarchy via Encryption, by David Friedman (Video: Vl16; economics for a lay audience ... Audio: A116) How new encryption technologies will erode Workshops the power of the state ... How to Write Op-Eds, by Jane Shaw (Video: V136; Audio: Investment Biker, by Jim Rogers (Video: V117; Audio: A117) A136) How to get published on the opinion pages ... A libertarian investor motorcycles around the world ... How to Get Published in Liberty, by R.W. Bradford, Jesse The Forest Service's War Against Me, by Wayne Hage (Vid­ Walker & Timothy Virkkala (Video: V137; Audio: eo: V118; Audio: A118) A property rights activist's battles A137) What Liberty looks for ... with the feds ... Pretense ofProtection: The FDA and Medical Devices, by ~------, Robert Higgs (Video: Vl19; Audio: Al19) Government ' Please send me the tapes of the 1994 Liberty • Conference that I have marked below. "protection" that kills ... Yes The Property Rights Movement: Where Do Libertarians Fit In? __Complete Set Video @ $420.00::;: _ by Jane Shaw (Video: V120; Audio: A120) Is there room __Complete Set Audio @ $165.00::;: _ for libertarians in the property rights movement? Individual Sessions (list by number): Speakeasies in a New Age ofProhibition, by Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw (Video: V121; Audio: A121) The other war on drugs ... How Property Rights Promote Peace, ty Richard Stroup Total Audio Cassettes @$ 5.95::;: _ (Video: V122; Audio: A122) The new wars of religion ... @ $19.50::;: _ A Globe ofVillages: Toward a Localist Culture and Politics, Total Video Cassettes by Bill Kauffman (Video: V123; Audio: A123) The case Postage & Handling ($5 per order)*

against gigantism, and for human scale communities ... .. foreign orders add $1.00 per audio, $2.50 per video Total _ Why Vote? by Loren Lomasky (Video: V124; Audio: A124) o My check is enclosed Why do people vote, when they're almost certain not to af­ o Charge my 0 Visa 0 MasterCard Expires _ fect the outcome? Building the Cause, by Harry Browne (Video: V125; Audio: Signature _ A125) How to bring freedom back to America ... Account # _ Why Libertarians Hate, by R.W. Bradford (Video: V126; Au­ dio: A126) The roots ofinternecine libertarian strife ... The Welfare State as Universal Solvent, by John Baden (Vid­ NAME

eo: V127; Audio: A127) The ill effects of government­ ADDRESS imposed "hannony" ... For a Fuzzy Libertarianism, by Bart Kosko (Video: V128; Au- L Li~:;;T~~~:'~45, P.O. Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368 ------~ Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

I think, though, that it would take a better artist than Tru­ I met Schiff once, and he seemed like a nice guy, so I regret deau to catch the look of stunned and frightened stupidity on having to ~ay what I am about to say. I will not vote for Irwin Pauley's pretty face at that moment. --RR Schiff, even if he gets the Libertarian nomination. I'd sooner cast my ballot for Bill Clinton. Or Dick Cheney. Or Bo Gritz. Sinners in the hands of an angry Senate Or Gus Hall. -Jw - In the wake of widespread electoral victories by conserva­ tive Republicans, whose love of liberty is a mile wide and a Instead of a vote, by a man too busy to millimeter deep, my advice to fellow citizensis: Board up your cast one - Another election has come and gone. Or so bedroom windows and pray to God you don't piss off a prose­ I've heard. I didn't vote and I didn't follow much of the "ac­ cutor. --EUi tion." But since"alternative lifestyles" are so much in vogue these days, I thought I would offer up the following alterna­ The shaft to Schiff- In Harry Browne, the Liber­ tives to voting, which can take up to a half-hour -- maybe tarian Party has attracted an articulate, intelligent candidate more--of precious time onEarth. for its 1996 presidential nomination. I'm not the most enthu­ Stare out into space -- it's very relaxing and you won't siastic voter in the world, but if I do slink back to the polls two get polled afterwards. Novembers from now -- and I probably will, like a battered Listen to a great piece of music. Kiss's "Black Diamond," wife who returns, again and again, to the man who beats her for instance. --I could happily cast my ballot for Browne. Pursue someone of the opposite sex. If unsuccessful, mas­ There is a second candidate for the LP nomination: tax turbate. It's still legal in most states. rebel Irwin Schiff. Schiff has told the Libertarian Party News Pursue someone of the same sex. This is still legal in some that he can "probably get four or five million votes," on the states as well. theory that what voters want to hear is not "lectures on why Read a book. Almost anything you pick will be better less government is better than more government," but "15-20 than what you read inside a voting booth. second soundbites" on "why they are not legally required to Have a party. Dance the night away knowing that more pay income taxes." A prolific writer and speaker, Schiff has civic-minded people are standing still. convinced thousands of impressionable activists that they can Sniff glue. All the bars are closed anyway. refuse to pay the income tax with impunity. The courts, by In fact, almost anything you do will be more productive contrast, remain unconvinced: he has spent seven years in jail than voting. Some people say that if you don't vote, you have for tax evasion. no right to complain. Personally, I find life is far too short to This stint behind bars is now part of Schiff's schtick: he do either. -TL argues that his being "the first convicted felon ever nominat­ Asimov III: the final chapter - In "I, Hack" ed" for president will bring him plenty of press attention. (Reflections, November 1994), R.W. Bradford seems to mis­ (Sorry, Irwin: Eugene Debs got there first.) Left unexamined characterize my arguments ("I Like Ike," September 1994) is the question of just how useful voters will find the tax ad­ about Isaac Asimov's alleged hackdom by claiming that I of­ vice of a man who was imprisoned for ... er, following his fer no evidence beyond testimony that he played an impor­ own tax advice. tant role in my life. Actually, as I stated in my original piece, Asimov's "love of explaining is the only thing that can ex­ plain his ability to make everything he wrote flow with such supple grace." That is clearly my explanation as to why he is not a hack; my personal response to his writing is merely icing. Asimov's lack of interest in peering through a telescope does not mean that hefvas uninterested in the facts and dis­ coveries of astronomy. Such observation, for someone like Asimov, would be purely aesthetic: "look at the pretty stars." For a second-hand dealer in facts, it would teach him nothing new. -BD Erwin Knoll, R.I.P. - I used to host a weekly talk show at a small, college-affiliated radio station. Occasionally, a guest wouldn't show up, or I'd get sick, or I'd just be too busy the week before to get a show organized. On those occa­ sions, we'd instead broadcast Second Opinion, a syndicated in­ terview show hosted by Progressive editor Erwin Knoll. We must have had dozens of as-yet-unplayed Second Opinion tapes lying around the station; they were all-purpose stuffing for anyone with a half-hour to fill. / ';"Lwl~,~~lji+ Erwin Knoll died November 1. I'm sure that won't keep continued on page 26 14 Liberty Election '94 The Turtle and the Hare-Brains by Stephen Cox

The Republicans emerged from the November elections victorious. Clinton emerged a humbled man. What could Americans be up to?

On election eve, President Clinton, smiling his little Bobbsey-twin smile, went before a campaign audience and gave vent to some Arkansas folk wisdom. He was worried, he said, that people might fail to give him credit for the nation's "economic recovery." He did not mention the possibility that people might simply have missed this great event. If you were washing the dog or opening a recovery." It was the Democratic Par- and wiggled its flippers as if to jump, can of soup, the "recovery" might eas­ ty, the nation's loftiest and (arguably) it started getting dizzy. There were ily have passed you unperceived. most self-isolated political organism, mean things down there, things that Anyway, Clinton said that down protected and imprisoned by its dom- lay in wait for the turtle in case it ever in Arkansas there is a saying that if inance of Congress and the lost its perch. There were investi- you're walking along the road and see presidency. gations and indictments a turtle on a fence post, you know that This turtle had and trials; there was somebody put it there. What he seems enjoyed its su- even the necessity to have meant was this: if a voter (i.e., preme position of providing for a person walking along a road) sees for two years, itself, like all the evidence of an economic recovery but now, sit- other creatures (i.e., a turtle on a post), then the voter ting there in the swamp. should conclude that somebody on its fence So the turtle caused this recovery (i.e., put the tur­ post, it stayed where tle on the post), and that this some­ had no it was. It body must be the president (i.e., food, it knew that himself). had no Bill Clinton, Well, on the next day, election water, and in his sin- day, the president's folk metaphor it was gle-minded really showed its mettle, though not broiling in pursuit of in the way that he intended it to. The the embar- power, was voters walked down the road, they rassing light responsible saw a turtle on a fence post, they con­ of public scru- for its plight. cluded that somebody had put the tiny. This turtle He had put it turtle there, and they knew that some­ couldn't even shit there and left it body must be Clinton. But the turtle in private, and tur- there, where everyone they saw was an old, slow, one-eyed, tles shit a lot. Probably Exit Porkmeister Foley could witness its double- hidebound, dirt-stained amphibian it just wanted to be left alone dealing, double-talking, self­ with a nasty habit of biting any hand to waddle off and hide in some dim, righteous, obscurantist misery. that dared to feed it. This turtle was nutrient swamp that only turtles When the voters sawall this, they nothing so wonderful as "economic know. But every time it looked down knocked the turtle off its post. Liberty 15 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

Clinton lost the election, and he lost what the voters had voted for, both collectivist moral principles. Oregon it on the old-fashioned collectivist pro­ when they elected him and when they passed an assisted-suicide initiative gram that wraps the Democratic Party elected his Republican enemies. Clin­ over the objections of people who like a hard, dull, dirty shell. He cam­ ton's decision to run and cover from argued that somebody besides the indi­ paigned to the bitter end, and as he the pro-government campaign he had vidual has the right to govern choices neared that end, he campaigned harder just conducted must have come hard. of life and death. In California, the Lit­ and more explicitly on the premise that His new and outrageous claim, devised tle Hillary initiative, a proposal to col­ government is good, and more govern­ by the proposer of the largest peace­ lectivize health insurance and subject it ment is better, because government time takeover of the American econo­ to the control of the state government, does things for you that you couldn't my, the "health care initiative," is fur­ went down to ignominious defeat. conceivably do for yourself. The Re­ ther testimony to the power of the lim­ Many states passed term-limits propo­ publicans countered with the idea, ited-government idea. Hypocrisy is the sals, which were carried against the op­ largely borrowed from libertarians, tribute that vice pays to virtue. position of people who believe that no that government should be limited. The collectivist defeat took a variety limits should be placed on the power of The Republicans were often lying of concrete forms. Nationally, Republi­ majorities to make fools of themselves about their allegiance to that idea. But can victory in the House of Representa­ in perpetuity. The practical principle of the fact that they lied in this particular tives put new and unexpected strength republican government, as Madison way simply enforces the point: the elec­ into the machinery of limited govern­ argued, is limitation of the majority's tion was won by anti-collectivist ment, which depends on effective power to do as it pleases. sentiment. checks and balances. Because of this In several localities, voters threw The president himself claimed, on election, no one can take the inherited out Democratic grandees who had the morning after the election, that he institutional authority of one party for thriven for years on collectivization of had spent the last two years struggling granted any more. In local elections, money and influence, taking individu­ for smaller government, which was voters showed renewed resistance to als' power and money and serving them back to the collective in the form of pork. Speaker of the House Foley ran Terms ofIndictment - The most much of the fact that with a chairman for reelection solely on his ability to overlooked consequence of the 1994 from tobacco-producing Virginia, the dole out pork to his district in eastern election is that it has taken away Bill House Subcommittee on Health won't Washington. He lost his district. (Head­ Clinton's immunity from prosecution. be presenting cute ten-year-old asth­ line, front page, above the fold, Los An­ Although Clinton is only marginally matics to the television cameras with geles Times, November 10, 1994: "With more corrupt than most politicians, he tales of how sick they get from second­ Foley, Noble Era Will End.") Senator and his larcenous wife felt no need to hand smoke. Similar changes will oc­ Sasser of Tennessee and Governor Cuo­ cover their tracks very well. His misfor­ cur at the House Banking Committee mo of New York - big taxers and tune was to have been reared in a one­ under Jim Leach and the Senate Bank­ bigger spenders - claimed that their party state with a meretricious press, ing Committee under AID'Amato. three terms in office constituted an "in­ and thus a political climate without And, for that matter, the committees vestment," as Sasser said, that would in scrutiny from the press or opposition. that oversee securities laws, whose the very next term be returned to the So he protected himself under cover new chairmen might be interested in people in a millennium of sufficient of Henry Gonzalez, Donald Riegle, and the details of Hillary's remarkably suc­ pork for every pot. Sasser and Cuomo the other old pols of the Democratic cessful cattle futures trading. Or the In­ lost their states. Party, whose hold on the levers of terior committees, whose new chair­ Race-mongers, propagandizers for power in Congress was absolute. Re­ men might conceivably have an the most vicious form of collectivism, member the Senate Whitewater hear­ interest in just how thoroughly the also lost. Mrs. Cuomo threatened that ings? Donald Riegle refused to sched­ Park Police investigated the suicide of race riots would erupt if her husband ule hearings until the evidence against Vincent Foster. were not reelected, but no one seemed Clinton accumulated to the point If the committees can find a smok­ to be listening. Opponents of Califor­ where it could fill a modest library. ing gun on only one of the charges nia's Proposition 187, an attempt to Then he postponed hearings for four against the Clintons, their goose will deny welfare "rights" to illegal immi­ moz\ths. When they were held, he lim­ be cooked. More likely, Bill will resign grants, merely damaged their cause by ited testimony to subjects having noth­ as they close in. Prominent Republi­ sending children into the streets to riot

ing to do with Whitewater. Lo and be­ cans who are rubbing their hands at against the"racism" and 1/genocide" of hold, the hearings came up with no the prospects of taking him on in the the proposition. (As a libertarian, you hard evidence. The Whitewater investi­ 1996 election should start thinking may not be in favor of restrictions on gation in the House was even more about a strategy to defeat Al Gore. This immigration, but are you really in fa­ outrageously perfunctory. might not be as easy as it seems - af­ vor of inviting immigrants to come On January 3, a new Congress con­ ter the blazing corruption of the Clin­ here by giving them welfare?) Nobody venes, one in which Republicans will tons, the woodenness of Al Gore might except Rush Limbaugh's audience decide what investigations will be seem reassuring. He seems too dumb seemed to care that Charles Rangel, held. The media has already made to steal. -Chester Alan Arthur who has represented a black district in 16 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

Manhattan for about 1500 years, tried cans. And the Republicans survived ginal ideologues as Governor Engler of to convince people that a vote for tax and prospered because of their anti­ Michigan. A few months ago, Engler cuts is actually a vote for "racism." The government rhetoric. was considered a loser because he argument just didn't work any more. Now, no one expects Republican slashed welfare and destroyed the po­ To keep Rush's show amusing,·God legislators to live up to their rhetoric. litical influence of the public-school decided to spare a few of the most egre­ Few of them, obviously, are dedicated teachers' union, which was a mighty gious Democrats from destruction. to free-market c1assicalliberalism. They power in a union state. Engler stuck to What would Rush, or any of us, do are politicians, mostly small-town poli­ his guns, refused to compromise, and without Senator Kennedy - that enor­ ticians, who are infected by classical lib­ won reelection by a big majority, mean­ mous punching bag, chock-full of crap? eral ideas - and, often enough, con­ while pulling a Republican candidate While the senator was being reelected, fused by them. The realignment of into the U.S. Senate. several other Kennedys got elected or American politics that is now happen­ To make realignment work in their reelected to relatively minor offices, a ing - typified by the desertion of Sena­ favor, Republicans need to study exam­ development that may promise the rest tor Shelby of Alabama from the Demo­ ples of success like that rather than the of us some fun later on. Not that wick­ crats to the Republicans - will have advice so eagerly offered by the politi­ edness is confined to the Kennedys, or contradictory effects. The Democrats cal"experts" and the media. As soon as even to Democrats. A good number of who survived the election are the shape of the election started to evil and Iunatic Republicans gained disproportionately representative of emerge on the evening of November 8, election, in some cases despite the elec­ safe districts with far-left values. The the experts were already offering the torate's full knowledge of their charac­ Republicans who triumphed are most­ Republicans a stale concoction of "bi­ ter. Again, a clear point is made: this ly (A) safe-district conservatives full of partisanship." William Schneider, who election was about an issue, the power down-home values, which are a mixed for some reason is eNN's political con­ and loftiness of government. Whoever bag at best, and (B) committed ideo­ sultant, assured viewers that the "mes­ got on the wrong side of that issue was logues who might never have achieved sage" of the election was the need for in danger; whoever got on the right election in a normal year. bipartisanship. OtherCNNers chimed side was not. All incumbent senators, But if the Republicans want to keep in: "I'm not sure it's a mandate to move representatives, and governors sur­ winning, they might do well to think to the right; it's a mandate for action" vived - so long as they were Republi- about the careers of such formerly mar- - any kind of action, presumably, that "This Book Should Be in the Hands of Every Teacher

and Every Parent." -John Hospers Professor Emeritus of Philosophy University of Southern California

Laissez Faire Books, the world's largest source of books on liberty, says this about Separating School and State: '~This is a thrilling book! It goes where no one has dared go before. This book mounts the most fundamental challenge to the government school monopoly and provides an exhilarating vision of how much better off everyone will be with 100% private, voluntary schools." John Taylor Gatto (New York Teacher of the Year) says: "Mr. Richman is right-state schooling doesn't work because it can't work." And Dr. Walter E. Williams Oohn M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University) calls this book "a powerful contribution." You'll call it an essential addition to your bookshelf. Separating School and State by Sheldon Richman Future of Freedom Foundation VISAiMasterCard accepted 11350 Random Hills Road, Stet 800 $14.95 paper' $22.95 doth Fairfax, Virginia 22030 (includes shipping) Tel.: (703) 934-6101 Full money-back guarantee. Fax: (703) 803-1480 Volume 8/ Number 3 Janu 1995

would win bipartisan approval. pIe "demand[ing] that a more equally press conference, he offered to take his The cry, or whimper, was taken up divided [!] Congress work together "share of responsibility" for the Demo­ by the Democrats. Cuomo, that un­ with the president." The point of this crats' shell-shattering fall, but he had yielding partisan of modern liberalism, pishposh was to spread responsibility awful trouble with the word "I." "We," assured everyone that "partisanship wherever it could possibly be spread, he said, "made mistakes in govern­ for its own sake is a waste of time." so that the Democratic elite would nev­ ment, but I'm proud of the things Senator Robb of Virginia, who threw er again have to sit on that fence post we've been able to accomplish everything but the kitchen sink at his and endure that sun. together." Republican opponent, said that the Clinton, of course, always tries to The Republicans must make sure election "will force us to work togeth­ diffuse responsibility until there's not a that Clinton's "together" doesn't in­ er." Clinton thought he heard the peo- smidgen of it left. In his post-election clude them. 0

Periphery Vision - Almost over­ Florida and of David Morris to the"Ad­ they are, they will deliver more of the looked in the hubbub of the smashing visory Neighborhood Commission 2F" same, irrespective of any nonsense they GOP victory November 8 were several in the District ofColombia.) chatter about "bipartisanship." record-setting performances by Liber­ Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Ac­ As if the humiliation of Bill Clinton tarian Party candidates. In Arizona, cess News, estimates that the LP re­ were not enough, there were other rea­ Senate nominee Scott Grainger got 7% ceived the votes of about 1.7% of vot­ sons to celebrate the 1994 election. of the vote - the highest in any state­ ers who had the option of voting for an Some big-name congressmen who be­ wide three-party race by any LP candi­ LP candidate, compared with 1.9% in trayed gun owners on the assault weap­ date ever. In Indiana, the party's nomi­ 1990 and 1978. ons ban after years of cultivating their nee for secretary of state got 2.2% of the Whether the LP's performance is en­ support paid with their jobs, including vote, more than three times its previous couraging in the context of the high vot­ Jack Brooks of Texas and former House best and enough to win it a spot on the er dissatisfaction with major-party poli­ Speaker Tom Foley. Jim Sasser, who 1996 ballot. In Missouri, Senate candi­ tics is debatable. But at the very least the was instrumental in passing the last date Bill Johnson got 5%; in Michigan, LP showed that itcan appeal to a visible two major tax increases, was also Senate candidate Jon Coon got 4%. In number ofvoters when its mounts high­ turned out by a healthy margin. And Wyoming, Dave Dawson got 6% in a profile campaigns, as did its Senate can­ the defeats of Mario Cuomo and Ann race for the state's only House seat. didates in Arizona, Missouri, and Mich­ Richards were enjoyable, if only be­ In five states, the Party garnered igan. -Chester Alan Arthur cause that will silence their legions of enough votes to gain ballot status, media acolytes. -Clark Stooksbury thereby insuring its 1996 presidential Welcome Back, Gridlock - I candidate a spot on the ballot without have to admit that I was delighted to Sic Transit Gloria Magistrati the expense and hassle of petition see the massive Republican victory. I -- Readers may be wondering what drives. And in 17 other states, the LP was overjoyed at the humiliation some of the big names who lost in the retained ballot status that it had won at heaped upon President Clinton and November election will be doing in the the ballot box in previous elections. the repudiation of his program, but I future. I will now offer some of my But the news was not all good. As don't want to get too enthusiastic over usual, the LP failed to elect a single can­ the Republican takeover of Congress. predictions: didate in a partisan race, except in cases After all, this is the same crowd that Oliver North will team up with Oli­ where its candidates cross-filed on a brought us the drug war, a wasteful ver Stone to play Alfred E. Neuman in major party ticket. And these victories defense buildup, and a multitude of The Mad Magazine Story. were down from 1992: New Hampshire needless military expeditions in Cen­ North won't be the only big name to voters re-elected Don Gorman to the tral America and the Middle East. As go into showbiz: Ann Richards of Texas State legislature (no surprise here, since purveyors of a positive political pro­ will be added to the cast of Hee Haw. he had the nomination of the Republi­ gram, the Republicans are pretty weak. Former Iowa Congressman Fred cans, Democrats, and Libertarians) and But it is in their other, much more "Gopher" Grandy, who lost in his elected long-time activist Jim McLarin important role - as mindless obstruc­ state's gubernatorial primary, will (running on the LP and Republican tionists - that a Republican Congress found the Department of Love Boat tickets) to the same position, but the may be most useful. The victory of the Studies at UCLA. LP's two other incumbent dual-party Republican Party in the 1994 election After beating the rap for his House members of the New Hampshire House was a reward for their stalwart efforts Bank-related indictment, Dan Rosten­ both lost their elections. As usual, the to block the Clinton program. They kowski will dedicate the rest of his life LP national office had to pad its list of have managed to kill Clinton's "stimu­ to establishing the Richard J. Daley electoral successes.with extremely low­ lus" package and health care plan and Foundation to Promote Democracy. level non-partisan victories (e.g., the they came very close to killing his tax Former New York Governor Mario election of Daniel Walker and Dick By­ increases, the Brady Bill, and the exe­ Cuomo will succeed Pope John Paul II. ornseth to the "Ochlockonee Soil & Wa­ crable "crime bill." If Bob Dole and Larry King will immediately convert to ter Conservation District Board" in Newt Gingrich are smart, and I think Catholicism. -Clark Stooksbury 18 Liberty Election 194

A Crisis of Faith by R. W. Bradford

Something is happening here, but you don't know what it is - do you, Mr. President?

Contrary to the political consultants, news spinners, and media commentators, the Republican landslide was neither a "sea change" nor a "revolution./~ It was a public rejec­ tion of the· established political religion, a rejection so profound that it shocked the political establishment and the media elite. But the public made no profession of a new faith, nor did sonallives of the people. During the it reject political faith altogether. selves a remnant of the previous liber­ early years of the Welfare State Era, From the 1930s to the 1990s, al social order. Others considered American public life has been domi­ totalitarian dissent came from both themselves prophets of anew, even nated by the notion that government the Lefl' and the Right. freer social order. These old-fashioned is a magical entity that can take mon­ The left-totalitarians liberals, libertar- ey from all of us and give back more were in league with ians, and anar­ than it took, making us all richer in the Soviet Union, chists were the process. Stated baldly like that, the right-totalitar­ few and unor- this theory seems crazy. But it was ians with Nazi ganized. All seldom stated baldly. Germany. The alli- '1~.:-1 ' were pro- ance of the Unit- v: ~ A~ foundly alienat­ This belief underlies all sorts of ~ \ government policy, from subsidies to ed States with !f- ed from a society f~rmers to·/lfree" college tuition, from the Soviet Un- '---\:", that considered Social Security to deficit spending to ion against Ger­ their views reaction­ the Great Society to military adven­ many in World ary, lunatic, or tures overseas. This faith dominated War II pretty irrelevant. American political culture while most 'well wiped out For a while of us grew up - dominated so pow­ the totalitarian the theory of gov­ erfully and so totally that it needed Right in this ernment as magi­ no name. It just passed as common country, but cal institution seem­ belief. But it went by many names: the totalitarian ed to work. The modern liberalism, left-liberalism, the Left continued twentieth century middle of the road. It has been tem­ to prosper until was the American pered only by the American tradition the collapse of Century. As Europe of an open society, which provided its sponsor. fought two bloody limited protection for freedom of There was and almost incalculably speech and religion. also dissent from expensive world wars, There were dissenters from this another direction, and one third of the faith, of course. There were totalitari­ from people who world's population fell un­ ans, who took it to its logical extreme, altogether rejected faith in govern­ der the control of a psychotic and reac­ arguing that the state should control ment as a magical institution. Some of tionary Communist system, the U.S. the economic, social, and even per- these dissenters considered them- became the richest country on earth. Liberty 19 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

But Communism failed, and Europe tremism of Johnson's programs. In Ronald Reagan for the presidency. and Japan emerged from their wars 1968, Johnson's hand-picked successor Reagan eloquently opposed the with freer economies than before. got only 43% of the vote, a decline of growth of government and proposed Gradually, they have caught up with 30% in just four years. But the winning to reduce its size and power, cut taxes, and surpassed the U.S. candidate made no challenge to the and increase individual freedom. He Along the way, the old faith began ideological status quo, and the size and was elected in a landslide, and brought to subside. In 1964, the Republican Par­ power of government continued to in a GOP majority in the Senate - the ty briefly stopped saying "me too" to grow during the administrations of first time the party had enjoyed a ma- the welfare state (though not, alas, to welfare state Republicans Richard Nix­ the warfare state) and chose Barry on and Gerald Ford and "moderate" Goldwater as its presidential candi­ Democrat Jimmy Carter. Clinton traipsed from one date. The intellectual establishment It was obvious that things were end of th.e country to the other recognized Goldwater for the revolu­ changing during the 1970s. In 1971, the tionary he was and vilified him in the Libertarian Party was founded, and by like a political Joe Blfstk, rankest terms. After a brutal smear 1976 it had established itself on the po­ spreading disaster wherever he campaign, Lyndon Johnson was elect­ litical landscape as a vocal challenger went. Everywhere he visited, ed with 610/0 of the popular vote, which to the political faith. In 1978, California he and the statolatrous establishment voters passed a tax limitation measure, his fellow Democrats fell in the took as a mandate to accelerate govern­ despite the direst of threats from the polls. ment power, in the form of vast in­ media, politicians, and intellectuals, creases in domestic spending (the groups who benefited from the growth Great Society) and foreign policy (the of government and whose piety was jority in either house of Congress since Vietnam War). undiminished. 1954. Reagan pursued his program, but The public reacted against the ex- In 1980, the Republicans nominated with only limited success. Everywhere it ran into two problems: (1) Welfare state Democrats con­ Keep Ted Alive - Right-wing di­ But lest anyone think that the repu­ trolled the House of Representatives, rect mail fundraisers held their collec­ diation of the quintessential big gov­ and welfare state Republicans among tive breath until the results of the Mas­ ernment Democrat is an indication that the GOP majority in the Senate limited sachusetts Senate election came in. A Chicagoans have decided to pave the Reagan's ability to enact his program. great bogeyman like Ted Kennedy way for the open society, I report that (2) The American people were very would have been hard to replace. people in myoid 'hood are happier reluctant to give up the favors that -Clark Stooksbury than ever to push others around via government had seemed to have be­ the legislative broom. For example, stowed on them. My Kind of Town? - The defeat "community-based policing" has taken Reagan dealt with both these diffi­ of Dan Rostenkowski feels like having root, and the paranoid are informing culties by compromising. Because he a hideous birthmark removed from my police of "suspicious activity" such as believed the greatest threat to Ameri­ face: it is the loss of a familiar sight, but people coming in and out of houses at can liberty was international Commu­ I'm feeling nothing but pleasure for it. "all hours of the night." Obviously, nism, he made increasing the military Rosty, you see, is the only representa­ drugs are being used! Or: certain peo­ power of the United States his top pri­ tive my native district has had in my ple are renting out their basements ority. To get Democrats to agree to in­ lifetime. He was always "Chairman" without proper zoning, and by George crease military spending, he agreed to we must put a stop to it! Or: ... accept increases in spending for social Rostenkowski, the man who brought You get the message, I hope. I've no programs. home the goods -- and he was re­ doubt that some libertarians will huff Reagan made a similar compro­ warded for it, time and again, with re­ and puff about an anti-government mise with the American people. When election. When the law caught up with mood, pointing to the overthrow of he broached the idea of cutting mid­ him this year, my neighbor nonethe­ Democrats in Congress. This is non­ dle-class welfare spending (programs less canvassed the area for him, saying, sense. People want their taxes lowered, such as Social Security and guaranteed in effect, "Yeah, he's a scoundrel, but sure; but there are plenty of busybod­ student loans), many voters reacted Sb what? He's provided so much for ies out there, and plenty of people de­ with horror. So Reagan limited his us!" lighted to take government handouts if free-market reforms to a few areas: he Ah, yes, my kinda town. But some­ others pay for them. They will expect tried to privatize a few government thing was amiss this year. Even the Republicans to provide the goods. programs, lifted price controls on oil, Chicago voters have an intolerance So, let us revel for a moment that opposed increases in the minimum threshold, I guess, and Danny-boy's ar­ such jackasses as Rostenkowski have wage, fought gun control, broke the rogance and obvious contempt for the gotten their comeuppance. But then back of the powerful air traffic control­ laws the rest of us have to obey, not to calm down, take a deep breath, and lers' union, and made a few other pro­ mention his allegiance to Bill Clinton, start harassing the Republicans. market moves. But by and large, he exposed it. -~ichaeILevine made no attempt to cut back the pow- 20 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

er of the welfare state. Reagan and partly to the Democrats' ulators to head federal agencies. He Almost every government program foolish decision to nominate an unre­ sought to address the health care prob­ benefits someone, if only the people constructed big-government, high-tax lem by having the government take who are given money by it. Only one liberaL It quickly became evident that over the entire industry lock, stock, form of government activity has no faith in big government was fading and barrel. By returning to the old wel­ popular support: taxation. So Reagan fast. Despite universal opposition from fare state agenda of higher taxes, more ended up cuHing taxes and increasing the m.edia, politicians of both parties, regulation, and more gigantic, elabo- spending. And everything seemed and the entrenched bureaucracy of nice. Americans got the "benefits" of government, voters in numerous states higher spending without paying the passed term limitation measures. State These old-fashioned liberals, costs of higher taxes. Student loans, after state passed tax limits. matching funds, grants for public In 1990, Bush raised taxes and lost libertarians, and anarchists buildings, summer job programs, high­ the support of those who had elected were few and unorganized. All er military spending, pork-barrel pro­ him. In 1992, the Democrats nominated were profoundly alienated from jects galore. To pay for all this, we bor­ a "New Democrat," Bill Clinton, who rowed money. Our kids (or maybe claimed to favor less government pow­ a society that considered their their kids, or their kids' kids) could pay er and lower taxes. Maverick populist views reactionary, lunatic, or it back. Someday. The program Ross Perot entered the race with the irrelevant. "worked." We were all living beyond aim of settling an old score with Bush. our means, thanks to the fact that our Perot got 19% of the vote, and Bill Clin­ government had borrowed over ton squeaked into office with 43%. rate government programs, Clinton fo­ $1,500,000,000,000 and lavished it on cused the voters' attention on the fail­ us. The Election In 1988, it was widely and accurate­ ures of their old faith. Democrats had always had trouble The results were predictable.* Every­ getting away with this sort of thing. ly observed that an incumbent member of Congress had a better chance of be­ where, energized anti-government con­ Prior to the Reagan years, whenever servatives sought Republican nomina­ Democratic presidents proposed huge ing re-elected than an incumbent mem­ ber of the Soviet Politburo. It's easy to tions for elective office. Almost see why: congressmen had voted them­ everywhere, elected Democrats tried to selves huge powers to reward their downplay their records. They omitted The Republican Contract constituents with spending bills, built the word "Democrat" from all adver­ with America is fundamental­ up huge staffs to perform "constituent tising, claimed to favor downsizing services," acquired tremendous gov­ government, claimed to be trying to ly dishonest. Yet this dishones­ balance the budget. In my state, the ernment-subsidized campaigning priv­ only political advertisement I saw that ty pales beside the dishonesty ileges, and taken in huge amounts of could even remotely be described as fa­ of the Democratic alternative. IIcontributions" from special interests voring the welfare state was a pro­ groups. But in 1992, things were differ­ Social Security ad by the incumbent ent: 122 congresspeople lost their re­ Republican senator. budget deficits, Republicans and con­ election bids or retired. (The retirement The voters weren't buying it. Forty servative southern and western Demo­ rate was extraordinarily high, thanks years of Democratic control of the crats would complain that we were to two factors: many congresspeople House were enough. Clinton clearly mortgaging our future, that the pro­ were under fire for corruption and de­ didn't have a clue about what was hap­ gram was fiscally unsound, that in the cided that discretion was the better pening. After watching his popularity end there would be a disaster. form of valor, and a law prohibiting re­ drop in the polls all year, he tried the But Reagan's followers were reluc­ tiring congresspeople from pocketing oldest trick in the book: invade a tiny tant to criticize their leader. They were for personal use campaign funds ex­ tired of losing elections, and Ronald torted from lobbyists and special inter­ country, then go on a triumphant tour of the world. Sure enough, this boosted Reagan had shown them that if only ests was about to take effect.) his popularity, to the point where al­ they would stop complaining about Clinton and the media saw his 430/0 most half the American people thought deficit spending and go along with the of the popular vote as a mandate, and program, they could win for a change. immediately set about promoting a tra­ Americans were prosperous and ditional Democratic program. He happy, as prosperous and happy as a sought to fight crime by pouring $30 ... I myself predicted the outcome of the family that borrows against the value billion into midnight basketball election pretty accurately in mid-July, of its home and spends the money on leagues and other welfare programs and reiterated my prediction inSeptem­ parties. But like that family, we were in and preventing private citizens from ber. I also predicted in each article that danger of losing our way of life. owning guns for self-defense. He Bill Clinton would not be re-elected in Voters elected Reagan's vice presi­ sought to reduce the deficit by raising 1996 and that he would be the last dent George Bush in 1988, thanks part­ taxes. He stepped up regulation of Democrat to be elected president for a ly to the good will Americans had for business by appointing aggressive reg- half-century, ifnot forever. Liberty 21 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

maybe he wasn't doing such a bad job. nent Democratic casualties included act of hypocrisy. Even so, neither in­ But then he made a mistake. He House Speaker Tom Foley, indicted cumbent .Democratic senator managed came home and decided to hit the cam­ Ways and Means chairman Dan Ros­ to get half the popular vote. paign trail on behalf of his fellow tenkowski, and Judiciary chairman The president's spin doctors went Democrats. He traipsed from one end Jack Brooks. to work, claiming that the voters were of the country to the other like a politi­ Republicans won virtually every just expressing anti-Congress feelings. cal Joe Blfstk, spreading disaster campaign they seriously .contested. The trouble with this theory is that wherever he went. Everywhere he vis­ The exceptions merely illustrated their Clinton's fellow Democrats did even ited, his fellow Democrats fell in the strength, though not always· their worse running for governor than they polls. He destroyed the campaigns of sense. In Virginia, the party lost when did running for Congress, winning just Democratic Senate candidates in Mich­ they nominated a convicted perjurer nine of 31 races and losing the govern­ igan, Washington, Minnesota, and and the party's senior elected official orship of every large state except Flori­ Pennsylvania. Of 21 Democrat-held sponsored an "independent" candida­ da. The spin doctors also tried claim­ Senate seats up for election, the Repub­ cy by another Republican to split the ing that the voters weren't rejecting licans won eight. Every Republican­ GOP vote. In California, their nominee Clinton or his policies; they were just held seat stayed Republican. Of .278 was an airhead who spent $26 million rejecting incumbents. The problem seats in the House held by Democrats, of his inheritance on his campaign but with this theory is that the only incum­ Republicans captured 56, including 33 never figured out where he stood on bents rejected were Democrats. Every where they ousted incumbents. Promi- the issues and was caught in a blatant single Republican incumbent in the

Measure for Measure - As in voters repealed rent control by a 51-49 Health Care: In what might be the past elections, I have attempted to margin. This is probably a reaction to most important ballot measure in the gauge the mood of the electorate by an­ the gross impracticality of rent control, country, California voters overwhelm­ alyzing the state-wide ballot measures evident to voters who have lots of actu­ ingly rejected (by a whopping 730/0 of of special interest to libertarians. This al experience with it, rather than any voters) a measure for socialized medi­ year, I identified a total of 41 such meas­ new found commitment to property cine of the "single-payer" variety, a ures, mostly ontaxes or term limits. rights by residents of the Bay State, slightly more honest version of the Property Rights: It has been ob­ who also re-elected Teddy Kennedy by Clintons' plan. Also, Pennsylvania vot­ served that if the Bill of Rights were a wide margin. ers removed Harris Wofford from the put to a popular vote, it would have a Taxes and spending: A mixed bag Senate in favor of a young, unknown very tough time finding a majority. In here. Big tax cuts were rejected by big conservative opponent of socialized Arizona, voters were allowed to vote margins by voters in Oregon, Monta­ medicine. (Wofford was originally on the Fifth Amendment ("No person na, and Missouri. Tobacco tax hikes elected in 1991 on a "universal health shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or were accepted in Arizona, but rejected care" platform, a phenomenon that property, without due process of law; in Colorado and California, where vot­ was greatly celebrated in the media nor shall private property be taken for ers also overwhelmingly rejected a and is said to have inspired the Clin­ public use, without just compensa­ bond issue for a mass-transit boondog­ tons' health care proposal.) tion.") Their chance to confirm their gle. Soft drink taxes were repealed in Abortion: A measure to criminalize support for the Bill of Rights came Ohio and Arkansas, but extended in abortion was turned down by a 60-40 with a referendum on a law passed by Washington. An amusement tax to fi­ margin by voters of conservative Wyo­ the Arizona legislature requiring state nance breast cancer research and treat­ ming, the state that has the fewest agencies to identify potential takings ment failed in Oklahoma, but a hefty abortions per capita in the U.S. and their costs when regulating private bond issue for human services passed Miscellaneous: Colorado voters re­ property, thereby insuring that private easily in New Jersey. Montana rejected jected a measure that would allow the property would not be taken for public a flat income tax to replace its heavily state to force grandparents to pay for use without compensation. graduated tax, while Massachusetts re­ teen pregnancies. Oregon legalized The environmental movement, jected a graduated tax to replace its flat doctor-assisted suicide. Alaska prohib­ aware that environmental regulation tax. Nevada voted to require a super­ ited local governments from restricting takes private property for the public majority for tax hikes in its legislature, guns. Colorado rejected a measure to good without compensation, mounted but a similar measure was rejected in freeze legislators' pay, but New Mexi­ an aggressive campaign against the Montana. And voters in Montana and co rejected a pay raise for legislators, measure, arguing that its passage Oregon rejected measures to require and illinois forced its legislature to would mean higher taxes and a degrad­ popular votes for taxes. meet only part-time. Voters in. North ed environment. Defenders of the Bill of Term limits: Term limits were Dakota and Massachusetts approved Rights lost, and lost big: voters turned passed everywhere they were up, ex­ mandatory seat-belt laws. And voters downthe measureby a 60-40 margin. cept in Utah. Nevada even passed two in Oklahoma legalized the use of out­ Advocates of private property of them, one for state politicos and an­ of-state grapesby in-state wineries. fared better in Massachusetts, where other for feds. You figure. -Chester Alan Arthur 22 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

House, the Senate, and the governors' Republicans only want to socialize at The Republicans understand this mansions was re-elected. The salient 50 miles per hour." evasion. That's why their Contract characteristic of the overwhelming Re­ With America promised tax cuts and a publican victory is its pervasiveness. Americans Wake Up balanced budget and promised to keep Republicans gained control of the Sen­ But in 1994, things were different. the biggest entitlement programs intact ate, the House, most governorships, Republicans had adopted a new theme, and increase defense spending. The Re­ and many state legislatures. The last and proclaimed it in virtually all their publicans have fudged the math, pre­ time the United States saw anything races: the old faith isn't working. The tending that the economy will be stim­ like this was in 1930, when the Depres­ old system of raising taxes, increasing ulated so much by their tax cuts that sion converted the Republicans from regulation, and solving every problem personal income will rise sharply the natural majority party everywhere by throwing money at it has wasted bil­ enough that taxes, even at their lower but the South into what seemed like a lions of dollars, left our streets unsafe, rates, would cover the shortfall. permanent minority. strangled the American economy, and This is so idiotic that hardly any Re­ Today, the Democrats are in created a Congress whose members live publicans actually believe it. It is sim­ virtually the same condition as the Re­ like oriental potentates while ignoring ply impossible to increase military publicans were in 1930. They still con­ the people. The Republicans wrote a spending, cut taxes by $50 billion per trol the presi­ year, and dency, and 350 eliminate a they still have Federal Government Entitlement Spending, 1995 $200 billion a few small 300 (billions of dollars) deficit with­ constituencies out touching that will con­ 250 the $885 bil­ tinue to give lion of entitle­ them their die­ 200 ments. But hard support. 150 Americans But their day is were not yet through. 100 ready to bite After 1930, the bullet, so Republicans 50 not a single lost the next o Republican five presiden­ ~ ..... tf) tf) congressional ~ ~ tial elections. 'ca -~ ~ § - E co candidate u ~ E ~ 0 $-4 OJ OJ co ~~ OJ The Democrats ;a OJ S ..... could sum­ Q) ~~ en sa~ E· OJ controlled the ~ ~~ ~~ ~.c- > mon the cou­ presidency and ] ~P-'~ rage to admit both houses of 88 (J) that Congress Congress for Source: Congressional Budget Office cannot cut tax- 32 of the fol- es without in- lowing 62 years. The Republicans con­ "Contract With America" that prom­ creasing the deficit or cutting popular trolled the presidency and Congress ised to address these problems in the programs like Social Security and Med­ for just two years. The single two-year first 100 days of a Republican Congress. icare. The Contract With America is period of Republican domination And almost everywhere, the Republi­ fundamentally dishonest. (1953-54) was achieved by the Republi­ cans won. Yet the dishonesty of the Contract cans' accepting virtually all the pre­ The '94 election signifies a loss of the With America pales beside the dishon­ cepts of the Democratic New Deal: old faith in government. But Americans esty of the Democratic alternative. "All ever-expanding social programs, ever­ still don't understand the full implica­ politics is local," Democratic House more-i~trusive government, ever­ tions of rejecting the legacy of FDR, Speaker Tip O'Neill used to say. What greater regulation, and ever-increasing JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Carter, and Clinton. O'Neill (and the Democrats who like to taxes. The agenda of American politics, They still don't understand that they're quote him) meant was that you can in­ set by the Democrats from 1932 until going to have to wean themselves from crease government power and taxes in 1980, never varied: the Democrats pro­ the teat of government and live within Washington, D.C., then go home to posed bigger programs, more power­ their means, that there ain't no such your district and tell the voters that ful government, and higher taxes; the thing as a free lunch. They aren't yet you are working to cut taxes and regu­ Republicans· responded by proposing ready to give up their welfare benefits, lation. If you deliver enough pork bar­ to expand the power of government at but they do understand that something rel spending, answer constituents' let­ a more moderate pace. In 1960, conser­ is fundamentally wrong, and that if ters promptly, and don't get caught vative commentator Tom Anderson they continue to expand the power of with your hand in the cookie jar, your summed it up: "Democrats want to government, their quality of life will district will re-elect you forever. So move to socialism at 100 miles an hour. continue to deteriorate. Democrats ran for office with no pro- Liberty 23 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

gram at all, just vague sloganeering But neither the Republicans nor the mentation, they can become a long­ about "moving forward." Democrats will cut entitlements for the term majority party. If they fail, they Of course, the Republicans do advo­ middle class. This is one thing you can will be dumped into the ashcan of histo­ catecuttingsome entitlements- justnot bet on. The Democrats designed the ry, and the voters will elect a new party for their middle-class constituents. Take programs and have always supported that can provide a coherent program. a look at the chart on the previous page. them. The Republicans are sometimes But whatever happens in the next It details entitlement spending for 1995. a little bit critical, but they don't want few years, one thing is certain: the po­ This is all so-called"off-budget" spend­ to risk losing votes by supporting cuts. litical theory that has dominated the ing; that is, itwill be spentwithoutCon­ During the eight years of the Reagan twentieth century so powerfully that it gresshavingto approveit. administration, spending on entitle­ was advocated by almost all politi­ Note that the overwhelming per­ ments rose substantially, despite Rea­ cians, whether Democratic or Republi­ centage of this entitlement spending gan's rhetoric against them. can, is dead. The 1994 election is a cri­ There is one exception. InCalifornia, sis of faith. Americans now realize that Republican Governor Pete Wilson faced we cannot spend money we do not The 1994 election signifies a a budget crisis. He was afraid even to have, that we cannot take money from stand up to the state's teachers (who are loss of the old faith in govern­ politically organized and view their ment. But Americans still outrageous salaries as an entitlement), The Republicans have don't understand the full im­ let alone the beneficiaries of the state's IIgenerous" welfare system. So he raised fudged the math, pretending plications ofrejecting the lega­ taxes and watched his voter approval that the economy will be stim­ cy of FDR, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, ratings collapse. Then he discovered an ulated so much by their tax Carter, and Clinton. entitlement he could oppose: govern­ ment aid to illegal immigrants, the one cuts that personal income will group of people who live in California rise sharply enough that taxes, goes, not to the poor, but to the IIforgot­ but cannot vote. Of course, he didn't even at their lower rates, ten" middle class. Of the $885 billion suggest that since illegal immigrants spent on federal entitlements in 1995, can't get the emoluments to which their would cover the shortfall. only $140 billion goes to the poor (and fellow Californians are entitled, they their middle-class social workers). The should be exempt from taxes. He pre­ rest goes to programs that primarily fers to collect their taxes and show them ourselves and spread it around and benefit the middle class: Medicare, col­ the back of his hand. Capitalizing on the make ourselves better off. lege loans, federal retirement benefits, issue, he rose from 20 points behind to Whether Americans will emerge Social Security, veterans'benefits, etc. aneasy victory. from this crisis with a new Republican These entitlement programs So this is where we are today. Most faith in government as miracle-worker amount to over half of all federal spend­ Americans have come to realize that - one that can solve the problem of ing. Together with interest on the na­ the tax-and-tax, spend-and-spend, the breakdown of the family by throw­ tional debt (which is also spent whether elect-and-elect philosophy of the ing money at it, the problem of drug Congress authorizes it or not), in less Democrats isn't working. They realize abuse by arresting marijuana smokers, than a decade they will consume more that changes have to be made, and the problem of crime by hiring more than 75% ofall federal spending. they are willing to turn to the Republi- policemen and giving mandatory life cans. But so far, the sentences to people caught with for­ "'" ~ v. Republicans have eign bank accounts - remains to be v c.... .,I'Cl "'lacked the will to seen. -/~ ~ provide real leader- The alternative is to dispense with ~ ~ship, to make the faith in government altogether, to re­ .------~ ~ J turn to the older view of government hard decisions to cut ~. middle-class entitle- as a human institution bound by the C 11;':'.0 ments. same natural laws as the ecosystem ~::.£ !~ \, The 1994 election and the same economic laws as society itself, and to realize that a system ,J\., ., ( , gives the Republi- t , - -a",~ t ( rv. cans an opportunity where individual liberty is maximized will optimize the ability of human be­ I I _" _ -: M ("-1 similar to the one -- fv\ J handed the Demo- ings to flourish. There is substantial rhetorical support for this view. The \I ' ~ -:=-' -::> crats in 1930. If.they most prominent Republican who ------_ ~ ---::::::.--::::> ,.., -:::;;;tI can come up wIth a --:::>--:::::- ~~ ~ ~ "7 B~/,I.. vision for the future seems determined to reduce the size and power of government and enhance "Ifthey can put a man on the Moon, why can't they and a coherent pro- open the bars on Election Day?" gram for its imple- continued on page 26 24 Liberty Election /94

To Vote, or Not To Vote by Loren E. Lomasky

There was much talk, not long ago, of a "politics of meaning." But all that most politicians can ac:hieve is a politics demeaning.

I'm an academic who thinks and writes mostly about political subjects. I am also an adult citizen of the United States who is thereby eligible to trek to the polls every Novem­ ber and vote. When I came of age I tossed away my fake ID and began to patronize watering establishments under my But this year I had resolved to go I had not, however, realized how own name. I also registered to vote back to myoid ways. I now live in a far down the pipe the political sewage and three months thereafter cast a bal­ very small town in a rural county of had flown. Local races too had be­ lot for someone who became presi­ northwest Ohio. Although I remain come thoroughly noxious. This year dent, someone who became vice presi­ only too glad to distance myself from the prevailing theme was a mindless dent, and assorted other men of the official predations of Washington, display of "toughness on crime," re­ dubious character. In subsequent here where I live and work politics gardless of whether the office being years I continued to vote whenever isn't the preserve of goons and gran­ sought had anything to do with chas­ presented with the opportunity to do dees. It's how we get our snow tising criminals. It was not enough to so, although I made sure that I never plowed in the winter, our swimming be in favor of.capital punishment for again would be implicated in support­ pool staffed with life guards in the murderers, drug dealers, and high­ ing a victorious candidate. summer, a gate installed at the dan­ profile perverts; to outflank one's op­ About ten years ago I began think­ gerous train crossing, strayed children ponent it was necessary also to op­ ing in a serious way about how demo­ found and deposited back home. Our pose judicial appeals ("Frivolous!"). cratic decision-making works (and politics is not a big deal - and that An extra plus was to demand not just fails to work). These reflections cen­ perhaps is its greatest virtue. I was hanging but preparatory drawing and tered on the extreme unlikelihood in under no illusions that my votes quartering. When they had finished any large-numbered electorate of one would appreciably lubricate the proclaiming their toughness on crime, individual's vote making a difference workings of public business, but I each candidate vowed to cut taxes to the outcome. I quickly came to be­ would thereby express solidarity with and decrease spending, but beef up lieve that if there is some reason why my fellow residents of the state of support for every program that some one morally ought to vote, it cannot Ohio, Wood County, and town of constituent somewhere might favor. be because of any straightforwardly Rudolph. And if some question was raised consequentialistic factors. Less quick­ But then the political ads com­ about how this could be accom­ ly I came to believe that there is no menced. Our Senate candidates plished, they would mumble some­ good reason of any kind to suppose matched each other for sleaze, duplic­ thing about saving funds by not cod­ that it is morally dutiful to vote. This ity, and unflinching reliance on the ir­ dling killers. is one of only two instances in which remediable stupidity of their would­ Despite their common attachment my scholarly work led me to change be constituents. In other words, my to a low level of public discourse, my mind concerning some practical Senate race probably was very much these candidates didn't much care for conclusion. And then I stopped like your Senate race. And this was no each other. Or so it seemed from the voting. more than I expected. barrels of vitriol they poured over Liberty 25 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

each other's heads. I had previously the final straw was when one legisla­ want to associate myself symbolically believed that no one could match my tive race descended into a brawl con­ with these manifestations of the demo­ fourth grade teacher's petty vindictive­ cerning how many elections in which cratic spirit? Answering wasn't diffi­ ness, but these public servant wan­ the Republican candidate had declined cult. Election day came and went with­ nabes matched his bile secretions drop to exercise his franchise. "If he doesn't out my making a pilgrimage to the by corrosive drop. Below-the-belt­ vote at home, how can you rely on him polls. I do continue to hope that the politics? Hell, these blows were low to vote in the House?" was one ad snow will be efficiently removed from enough to shatter ankles! writer's catchy contribution. the roads this winter, but it will have My name is not Pollyanna, so I can "Doesn't vote ... doesn't vote ..." to be done without any electoral in­ tolerate a level of political interchange - it was a simple tune I couldn't get volvement from me. I've already been considerably less than Ciceronian. But out of my mind. I asked: Do I really snowed enough. a

R.W. Bradford, IIA Crisis of Faith," continued from page 24

human liberty is Senator Phil Gramm of many new government regulations. halfway in the wrong direction? Texas. In a press conference the day af­ They are going to be coming to If the Republicans or some new ter the election, Gramm told reporters: Washington to reverse that process, party can find the courage and the in­ to cut government spending, to re­ It is not going to be easy to reverse telligence to articulate to the American duce regulations to let working peo­ 40 years of government policy. It is ple keep more of what they earn. people that the way to return to per­ not going to be easy to reform a pro­ manent prosperity and a free and open Those are powerful words. But gram like welfare. It is not going to society is to return to the principle of we've heard powerful words before, be easy to ask and demand that the self-reliance and individual responsi­ only to see those who spoke powerful­ 40 million people riding in the wag­ bility by cutting spending, cutting tax­ ly compromise and the government on get out of the wagon and help the es, eliminating regulation, restoring continue to grow. Gramm seems rest of us pull it. But it's something civil liberties, and re-establishing prop­ aware of this danger: that has to be done if we're going to erty rights, then the future of our coun­ save our country. The American peo­ I am willing to compromise with try can be greater than its past. But if ple are for it. They have given us the the president as long as we're mov­ no one finds that vision, if no one has mandate to do it. They have sent us ing in the right direction. If we're the necessary courage, if no one articu­ eleven new Republicans who are go­ talking about compromise where ing to come into Washington like we meet the president halfway in lates the policies that are needed, then Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, moving in the right direction, that's the U.S. can look forward to a period and they are not going to be of· a a compromise that I'm willing to of lengthy decline of the sort that has mind to cut some type of a deal with consider. But I am not willing to turned Britain from the wealthiest na­ Bill Clinton to raise taxes half as compromise meeting the president tion on Earth at the beginning of this much, to increase spending half as halfway and going in the wrong di­ century to the poverty-laden welfare much, and to implement half as rection. Why should we want to go state it is today. a

Reflections, continued from page 14

hapless DJs at low-watt community reading it, The Progressive has been rep­ saying the same old thing for so many stations around the country from air­ etitious and dull. It is occasionally years, he could have been sending out ing his shows whenever their usual spiced up by some good journalism, ten-year-old interviews to radio sta­ programming fountains run dry. The yes, but it usually offers little more tions before he died and no one would man has achieved a kind of immortali­ than the tired leftism of a graying col­ have been the wiser. ty through his scattered recordings; a lege sophomore. (There is one impor­ Knoll preached his gospel of Old decade from now, he'll still be playing tant exception to this: Knoll's Progres­ Left socialism (leavened by a bit of himself out over one tiny station or sive has always been a stronghold of mod multiculturalism) from one of the another. And no one will be able to First Amendment absolutism, a posi­ rare remaining preserves where his tell the difference. tion that is, alas, no longer fashionable opinions would turn few heads: Madi­ I'm sorry. That was mean. But it's among the sophomoric cadre.) Indeed, son, Wisconsin. And now he's dead. also true. For as long as I've been the magazine and its editor have been His passing is an unhappy event, not only in the sense that any decent S~tement of Ownership, Management ,and Circulation (required by 39 U.S.c. 3685) Title of Publication: Liberty. Publication Number: 002132. Date of filing: Oct. 1, 1994. Frequency of Publication: Bimonthly. Number of issues published annually: 6. Annual Subscription price: man's death is sad, but because it $19.50. Complete mailing address of Known Office of Publication: 1619 Lincoln Street, First Floor, Port Townsend, WA 98368. Complete mailing address of the Headquarters or General Business Office of the Publishers: P.O. Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368. Full name and means the departure from this planet complete address of the Publisher, Editor, and Assistant Publisher: R.W. Bradford (publisher & editor), Clark Stooksbury (assistant publish­ er), Uberty Publishing, P.O. Box 1181, Port Townsend, WA 98368. Owner: The Invisible Hand Foundation. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, of a crusty old anachronism. And I and Other Security Holders: None. Total Number of Copies Printed-(average issue during the previous 12 months): 12357; (issue nearest filing date): 12100. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales-{average): 2812; (issue nearest filing date): 3703. have·a soft spot in my heart for crusty Mail Subscription-{average): 8459; (issue nearest filing date): 7947; Total Paid and/or Requested-{average): 11271; (issue nearest filing anachronisms of all political stripes. date): 11650. Free Distribution by Mail, Carrier, or Other Means-{average): 87; (issue nearest filing date): 94. Total Distribution-(average): 11358; (issue nearest filing date): 11744. Copies Not Distributed: Office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing-{average): 697; (is- -JW ;~~e~:~~:f~f~a~: :tif~e~~s t~~~~::::~~~~(~~er~~e)~:2;~ (~:~~::~~s~~~o~;~~2:' Is~~~a~~~fe§t~~~~S:;u(~~~::: publisher). Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 The·Liberry Interview Russo and Revolution film producer turned politician Aaron Russo explains why he is working to create a new libertarian party

Aaron Russo burst upon the political scene earlier this year with I think the Republicans and Democrats are both the same a· call for Americans to organize a new political party. But the party, with just a few minor differences. I think that the Constitution Party he has proposed on talk-radio programs from Right is going to make certain that the government gets a coast to coast has an agenda a lot like the Libertarian Party's, which little bit smaller. They'll probably save a few dollars on tax­ raises the question ofwhy he believes a new party is needed. es. But they're not going to eliminate taxes. They're not go­ Russo'sfirst job was with his father's lingerie business in 1967: ing to stop the trend of big government. "I was designing ladies' bikini panties," he says. But then he moved I'm very scared because I think the Republicans are go­ from New York to Chicago, where he 0pe1ted the Kinetic ing to come in and impose lots of restrictions, build Playground, a rock music club. Before long, he was a major music ~ more jails, try to arrest more people, and try to promoter. In 1971, he met Bette Midler and began to manage / ~~ ~\ impose their will and their morality on the her career. He produced a Tony-winning Broadway play I(~ I))", \ rest of America. The Left imposes their mo- and an Emmy-winning television special, both show­ ~ lVU):\.'-... rality and ~he Right imposes .their casing Midler's talents, before turning to Hollywood. f1~ jJ't I) ~ morahty. No one recognIzes that His first film, The Rose, also starring Midler, J~ we're all individual people and was nominated for four Oscars. His second ~ ~'r we have our own morality, and film, Trading Places, was a major hit. " 1\: government doesn't have the ""'- ' After producing two more Hollywood ' I . :', right to impose its morality onus. fi'.l.ms at major studios, he ret.urned ~~...... !, :~ >.,~::"."" ..../.~: ":" to New York to work as an lnde- .. I' ",:;" ':,' I. '• : .. Liberty: That has something to (I.:~tl/ ~ ~" pendent film producer. He then di- I ",,: • '/_.: (":'; do with your attempt to rected Rude Awakening, a i~~/iJd/ ,,' , ~'. -' launch the Constitution Party. commercial and critical failure __ I " You've been working on it for Roger Ebert awarded it zero stars ) three months now. What and suggested that Hthe perpetra­ progress have you made? tors of this film should seek out Russo: Starting a new political new directions. " party is like climbing Mt. Everest. After producing two more movies It's like we start up a mountain, and retiring brieflY to Tahiti, Russo took we're doing real well so far, but we Ebert's advice and turned his attention -- at least partially haven't hit the heights where we can -- to politics. lose oxygen. People seem to be respond­ Russo spoke with Liberty's political correspondent, Chester ing to the idea.of the party. They under­ Alan Ar~hur, on November 12, four days after the 1994 election, stand what the name of the party implies and what we're about. We're doing really well, but we're fighting difficulties Liberty: Why did the Republicans do so well on Tuesday? with the very far Right because we don't oppose abortion. Russo: Oh, boy. I think they did well because people are terri­ I've taken on the right-wing fundamentalist Christians, and fied of Big Brother. People revolted against the fact that we're not going to kowtow to their ideas about abortion Clinton tried to put out all these leftist policies. The fact and homosexuality and drugs and those areas of morality. that Clinton tried to pass the health bill was a big problem They think that they have a right to legislate morality. We for a lot of Americans. I think this crime bill and the gun don't. We've also had a problem with the very far Left, who ban were enormous problems. There are militias forming believe in the redistribution of wealth, banning guns, stuff all over this country to fight the federal government so they like that. But everywhere in-between, we're doing great. can keep their guns. We've been getting thousands and thousands of calls, And I don't know if the Republicans can do any better. and people are signing up very quickly. Never having been Liberty 27 Volume 8, Number 3 The Liberty Interview January 1995

in this position before, I don't know how to judge it exactly dorsed GATT and they've endorsed NAFTA. We're against except that people are very enthusiastic. We're getting lots of both of those. We're against open immigration, which the volunteers. Libertarian Party is for. Liberty: How many members do you have? Liberty: What immigration restrictions do you favor? Russo: Between two and three thousand. That's in three Russo: Before I can tell you what restrictions I favor, I have to months' time. do the appropriate research. All I'm saying is that I do not Liberty: Where are your members coming from? favor open immigration. What restrictions there should be I Russo: My doing radio'talk shows, mostly, and giving speeches can't tell you that at this moment. in different places. I did a speech with National Review a Liberty: Does the Constitution authorize restrictions on couple of weeks ago, and got a standing ovation. I just gave immigration? a speech to all the alternative medicine doctors. Russo: Not that I'm aware of. Liberty: Are you the Constitution Party's only spokesman? Liberty: Ifthe Constitution doesn't authorize them, why do Russo: So far. We're going to have to getmore spokesmen be­ you favor them? cause I obviously can't do the whole thing. But the party Russo: I think that it's impossible to have 100 million people wasn't even supposed to be announced until after this elec­ come into this country and have the country be run proper­ tion. It came out ahead of time and we've been trying to play ly. I think it's an impossible situation. I think if you elimi­ catch up. In a way we're ahead of the game but in a way we nate welfare, you're going to eliminate the real problem of weren't ready for what happened so quickly. immigration, because people aren't going to be coming Liberty: How many states are you organized in? here on a free ride. So I think it almost becomes a moot Russo: We have coordinators in around 15 states and we have point. Once entitlement programs are eliminated, then the more people signing up. We have members in almost every immigration problem will cease to exist for the most part. state, so we're trying to decide which are the right people to But there have to be limits somewhere. be state coordinators in those particular states. Liberty: It seems to me that you've made two different sug­ Liberty: Have you gotten the Constitution Party registered in gestions. On the one hand, you say we should have some California as a political party? kind of legislative restrictions; on the other, you say if we Russo: We're doing that, yes. get rid ofentitlements, the problem will solve itself. Liberty: Are you attracting people who have political Russo: What I'm saying to you is this: Ifyou get rid of entitle­ experience? ment programs, then I don't believe immigration will be a Russo: Yes, we're getting some. We're getting mostly people problem any longer. But if that theory is wrong, and immi­ who see the fact that there is no party out there for them to gration remained a problem, then you stillmust draw a vote for, there's no one who is really there promoting our line at some point. You can't let 200 million people come. If values. I guess the closest people are the Libertarians and a there is no welfare here, but all of a sudden there's a prob­ lot of people just don't want to be Libertarians, so they're lem in another country and everybody decides to come to coming to us. America because it's open, and some absurd number of Liberty: How's your program different from the Libertarian people want to come here, you just cannot allow it. Party's program? The only way I would agree with the libertarians about having an open border is if the whole world were living Russo: First of all there's the difference in terms of effectiveness. under the same philosophy and we weren't such a stand­ The Libertarians have had 23 years to be effective, and in my out attracting everybody. But if we are the freest country in view they've failed. Ross Perot did in one year what they the world, and we're living under the philosophy of the haven't done in 23 years. In this last election, the LP did noth­ Constitution Party or Libertarian Party, billions of people ing. As a matter of fact, in the state of Pennsylvania, the wom­ are going to want to come here. an who ran for governor ran on a platform which is basically the platform of the Constitution Party, and she got almost Liberty: What do you think of Harry Browne's candidacy for % % president? 13 of the vote. The Libertarian candidate got less than 1 • I think their name is a tremendous hindrance to them. Russo: I think Harry Browne is a very intelligent man. As a People think it means "liberal" or "libertine." People don't matter of fact, he's probably the first person who got me in­ understand that it stands for liberty. People don't even know volved in investing. How to Profit From the Coming what liberty means! Packaging is very important in today's Devaluation had a remarkable effect on my life and my ca­ world, and I don't think the Libertarians know how to pack­ reer. When I read it, I understood everything he was saying age themselves well. and I totally agreed with him. I read How I Found Freedom Also, I think one of the key differences between us and in an Unfree World. He amazed me even further, I think he's the Libertarians is the perception of us. The Libertarian Party a brilliant man. I have an enormous respect for the man. is perceived as a bunch ofintellectual, egg-headed people that But I don't think he can run for the presidency and the common mancan't relate to. The perception of our party succeed. is that we're here to defend the Constitution of the United Liberty: Why is that? States and to restore it to its proper role as the law of the land. Russo: I don't want to say anything negative about Harry Liberty: Okay, so you have a different image. But what about Browne. differences in the program you advocate? Liberty: Would he make a good candidate for your party? Russo: We don't believe in GAIT. The Libertarians have en- Russo: I'd have to sit down and talk to him before answering 28 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 The Liberty Interview January 1995

that question honestly. I just don't think Harry Browne is it and bucks forward, bringing interest rates up higher, well enough known to become a national candidate. He creating more deflation, and acting as a governor on the in­ sets a good example for the kind of party you want and flation. So as the bond market sees inflation starting, it starts what the party stands for. However, I don't think Harry to crack, and as the bond market starts to crack, losses start Browne is a good candidate if you want to win an election. mounting into the billions of dollars. It's like money going He's a good candidate if he wants his position to be under­ into a black hole, stopping the inflation and creating further stood by people, but I don't think he's going to win an elec­ deflation. tion for anybody. But I'd love to have Browne involved in My feeling is that this country is going to enter into a the Constitution Party. I have an enormous respect for the massive deflation in the next couple years and the thingthat guy. we have to do to prevent that and to fight that is to get rid of Liberty: But probably not as a presidential candidate? taxes. Eliminate taxes to help fight the deflationary scenario. Russo: I would have to put that in the context of the choices Ross Perot wants to raise taxes to get rid of the deficit. The that I have. only place that I know that we're in agreement with Ross Liberty: You say you want someone with a high profile as a Perot is to get rid of the debt. I don't know the rest of his candidate. Russo: Yes. Liberty: Do you have anyone in particular in mind? Do you have anyone involved? I think the Republicans are going to impose Russo: I have somebody in mind, but not involved. I have a lots ofrestrictions, build more jails, try to arrest ticket that I'd like to put together, but it's nowhere near more people, and try to impose their will and happening yet. their morality on the rest ofAmerica. Liberty: Does this mean you can't tell me who it is? Russo: I'd rather not say it. Liberty: Are you going to pursue cooperation with the Libertarian Party? platform and I know we certainly don't agree on how to get Russo: Sure. rid of the debt. Liberty: How? Liberty: There are two ways to get rid of the debt. One is to Russo: I don't know. When I say "sure," what I'm saying is pay it back and the other is to repudiate it. Which do you that I'm open to that. I'm not sure anything is going to favor? happen. Russo: I favor paying it back, obviously. Ifyou repudiate it, Liberty: Have you had any talks with officials in the you're in a very difficult situation if you ever need to raise Libertarian Party? debt again. And you should always payoff your debts. Russo: I've spoken with a number of people who have come However, that has to be done by downsizing the federal to us. As a matter of fact, the Colorado chapter of the government: selling off a lot of the federal government's as­ Libertarian Party wrote a very nice story about us. I've sets, not national assets. Once you start paying down the been speaking to them. debt, you can start wiping out the interest payments. You Liberty: Obviously there are some similarities between your get rid of the entitlement programs. efforts and Ross Perot's. What are the differences between Liberty: What is the distinction between federal government what you are trying to do and what he has done? assets and national assets? Russo: Well, first of all, he's got a lot more money than we do. Russo: National assets are like Yellowstone National Park. (Laughs.) I've never seen a platform from Ross Perot, so it's Liberty: Well, the federal government owns about 85% of hard to know what our differences are. I know that I've Nevada. been told, and I've never seen this or heard it myself, that Russo: I'd like to know whatthey own. I don't see how they Ross Perot said we should throw out the Constitution; can own 85% of Nevada. How could they get to own 850/0 of that's one of our biggest problems, having a Constitution. If Nevada? Under the Constitution, the federal government he said that, that's obviously a big area of disagreement be­ only owns Washington, Guam, Puerto Rico, and certain ter­ tween us. ritories. How could they own 85% of Nevada? I don't under­ The only place I know I agree with Ross Perot is in get­ stand that. According to the Constitution, it's not feasible. I ting rid of the deficit. We're certainly in agreement with doubt that they really own 85% of Nevada. As a matter of that, but not in the same way. Perot wants to raise taxes to fact, I understand there was just a big showdown in Nevada solve the problem. Ifyou raise taxes in this country, it onJuly 4, where one of the county commissioners in Nevada would be a disaster. We're heading as it is right now into a was going to build a county road and the federal govern­ severe deflationary scenario in this country, and if you ment came to him ... have you heard about this yet? raise taxes, deflation will accelerate and you could have a Liberty: Fill me in. depression in this country worse than the 1930s, because Russo: The federal government came to this gentleman and the debt is much, much larger. Right now, the debt in this said you can't build a county road there, it's government country is so large that to finance the debt, we have to keep land. He said, "Bullshit, it's county land." They said if you re-inflating. try to build it, we're going to stop you. He said, "8: 00, July As we inflate to finance the debt, the bond market sees 4th, I'm going to build that road." The federal government Liberty 29 Volume 8, Number 3 The Liberty Interview January 1995

showed up, they told him not to build it. He said, "I'm go­ can't function that way for long. ing to build this road." They went back to their cars, got Liberty: Has the Constitution Party recruited any high-profile their guns out, and said, "Don't build it." The sheriff was people? there from the county and a bunch of ranchers, and they all Russo: Julian Whitaker is the latest recruit. He's very high­ pulled their guns on the feds, and the feds left. This is hap­ profile in the alternative medicine movement. He's just pening all over America. Counties are taking back their joined now and has become one of our founding members, rights, taking back their land. Where does it say that the and he's writing about us in his medical newsletter. We're federal government owns the land? getting all of the alternative medicine doctors to come with Liberty: Where does it say that the federal government owns us. We're focusing on them, we're focusing on the gun Yellowstone National Park? groups, and we're focusing on the hard money people, and Russo: They don't. That's what I'm saying. on the drug people. Liberty: I'm sorry, I thought you said that was a national asset Liberty: Does the party have a staff in place? that you were going to have the federal government keep. Russo: Yes. Russo: What I said was I don't consider Yellowstone National Liberty: How many people? Park a federal asset, I consider it a national asset of that Russo: It's not a huge staff. We have eight people that work state, but that people from all over America can go visit it. here on and off. And I'm always here. And we have people Better put, it's a national treasure and not an asset. The fed- in different states working. I've never actually made a tally of how many people are working for the party. Liberty: Does the Constitution Party intend to contest races for The Libertarian Party is perceived as a bunch state legislature and governorships, or is it just a federal party? of intellectual, egg-headed people that the com­ Russo: This is such a monumental task that we're focusing on mon man can't relate to. the presidential elections in '96. However, many of our peo­ ple have been calling us and saying they want the party to challenge senators and members of the House in '96. We eral government doesn't own Yellowstone National Park in haven't committed to that yet, but if the growth of the party my opinion. Under the Constitution the federal government is big enough, I'm sure we'll be doing it. owns Washington, D.C., that ten square miles. Liberty: When you say "we" haven't made a decision yet, Liberty: Do you favor privatizing some of the national parks who's "we"? and other federal land? Russo: The people in the party, the founders and every mem­ Russo: I haven't thought about that, honestly. When you say ber of the party. This is going to be a grass-roots movement "privatizing," what do you mean? with everybody in the party taking a part in it. If it doesn't . Liberty: I mean selling them off. That would be one way to pay happen that way, if they don't get involved, the party will off the national debt. ultimately fail. Russo: But they can only sell it off if the federal government Liberty: You bring some skills as an impresario to this. I un­ owns it. My feeling is that the states own the property, and derstand that your early career involved the management the federal government cannot sell any of that off. and promotion of rock music. Did this experience prepare Liberty: So you're talking about paying off the national debt for launching the CP? through taxes. Russo: I would think so. Russo: I'm talking about paying off the national debt through Liberty: Who'd you work with? downsiZing the federal government. Selling off the federal Russo: The Who, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, government assets, whatever they may be. I don't know everybody. I used to promote the shows. what assets the federal government has. I'd like to know Liberty: Whereabouts? how much gold we have in Fort Knox. There hasn't been an Russo: Chicago and Detroit and St. Louis. Do you remember order of that gold in years. Bill Graham? They used to call him Hertz and me Avis. He Liberty: What about the question of money? The Constitution was number one inthe rock promotion business and I was prohibits states from making anything but gold or silver le­ number two. I controlled the midwest and Bill controlled gal tender. It grants Congress the right to coin money. the coasts. Russo: It grants the Treasury the right to coin money. Liberty: How'd you get started? Liberty: I believe it's listed in Section 8 as one of the powers Russo: I got a job in New York at a club called the Electric granted Congress. What sort of money do youthink the Circus, and they made me a manager. At first I was a go­ United States should have? pher. It was like a psychedelic nightclub in 1968. From there Russo: Sound money, intrinsically valuable whether it's gold I learned the business, and then left for Chicago and be­ and silver, or some combination of intrinsic money that came incredibly successful. makes it have a value, so that the dollar bill is only a receipt In Chicago I got my first taste of what big government for something more valuable. The dollar shouldn't be the can do during the Democratic convention in '68. My club money in and of itself. You should always be able to trade in was the club for the hippies, and the cops raided my club that receipt to get something real for it. The fact that the gov­ and beat the shit out of me and a bunch of kids in the club. ernment can arbitrarily print money is a disgrace. Things The Chicago police were like the Gestapo. They could come 30 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 The Liberty Interview January 1995

in and do whatever they goddamn pleased. Nobody cared Russo: I made another big movie called Teachers with Nick what they did and nobody paid attention to it. They came Nolte, and Wise Guys with Danny DeVito, and then I direct­ into my club like stormtroopers, beat the hell out of people, ed a movie called Rude Awakening, which was my first di­ split kids' heads open with clubs, even if they offered no re­ recting job and I loved doing. If I can ever get out of politics sistance. I went on television and screamed about it, and I'll go back to directing movies. nobody cared! Liberty: How did Rude Awakening do? After a few years I forgot about it. But as I grew older Russo: Not very well. It got some tremendous critical ap­ and wiser I began to see that what happened in Chicago plause, but it didn't do well financially. was happening in all of America. The police have total con­ Liberty: What have you done since then? I read about a couple trol of our lives. of HBO films, one called Offand Running. Liberty: When did you first become politically active? Did the Russo: That was something with Cyndi Lauper. I also made a events of 1968 get you started? movie called Missing Pieces. Orion, my distributor, went Russo: No. I was a 24-year-old kid then. I was a pseudo­ bankrupt and it was never released. hippie. Liberty: I heard that you are working on a film about the IRS. Liberty: What does that mean? What stage is this in? Russo: It means I was involved with the hippies. I wasn't liv­ Russo: I've hired a writer, Paul Haypenny, and he's writing a ing the life of a hippie, but I had the style of a hippie. script. We've met with a few people in the tax movement ­ Liberty: You mean you actually had an apartment? Larry Beecraft from Alabama, Kenny Royce, and a number Russo: Exactly. I wasn't living on the street, and I wasn't at of other people who are very familiar with the IRS. We're Haight-Ashbury. But I sympathized with the hippie movement. Liberty: Have you been involved with the Republicans or If you and I are walking down the street and Democrats or any other party? Russo: Never. Never. I've never been involved in politics be­ we see a homeless person, do I have the right to fore. I've never registered Republican or Democrat. I'm one put my hand in your pocket and give him your of those people who was never active in politics. money? Ofcourse I don't. And neither does the Liberty: Were you registered at all? Russo: I didn't register at all, no. government. Liberty: Oh, wow. So you've never voted in a presidential election? Russo: I think the only time I voted was for John Kennedy. writing a script about what the IRS is really about. I think He was the only one I've ever wanted to vote for. They al­ it's going to be an Academy Award movie for me. ways say that if you don't vote, you're not doing your Liberty: When do you think it will reach production? duty, and I don't believe that. My philosophy is that if Russo: The script should be done in six to eight weeks, and there is no one to vote for then you shouldn't vote, because then we'll take it out to different stars and get it packaged. I they perpetuate the system by everybody saying they vot­ want to tie this in with what I'm doing with the party. ed and that they've done as much as they can do. Ifnobody Liberty: I read somewhere you personally have IRS problems. showed up to vote, that would send a strong message! Any truth to this? Liberty: Getting back to your personal history ... Russo: Where'd you read that? Russo: After Chicago I moved back to New York and met Liberty: In of the trade papers. Bette Midler. She consumed my life for the next nine years Russo: That must of been a few years ago. When I moved to or so. At that point I just worked on Bette. That's when I Tahiti, that rumor started, - people wondered why I left read Harry Browne's book and got involved in the gold the country. There was no truth to it. market, the silver market, and started understanding Liberty: Getting back to the Constitution Party... your plat­ finances. form calls for the United States having the strongest military Liberty: You produced Midler's first film? in the world, but it eschews military interference in the af­ Russo: In the '70s I thought that she should play Broadway, fairs of other nations. so I produced Clams on a Half-Shell, which won a Tony. Russo: Absolutely. Then I produced a TV show she did with Dustin Hoffm~n, Liberty: What do we need the strongest military in the world called 01' Red Hair Is Back, for which I won an Emmy. And for ifwe're not going to interfere in other nations? then I produced The Rose for her, which got her an Russo: Defensive reasons. The prime purpose of the federal Academy Award nomination. government is to defend the individuals of this country. It's Liberty: A real string of successes. for everybody's common good. If we're going to have a fed­ Russo: Oh yeah. And then we went on a world tour, and after eral government that's there to defend us, it should be the that tour she and I split up. We were together from '71-'79. finest in the world. But I also believe that it's not our place Then I went over to Paramount and made Trading Places, to be in Haiti, or anyplace else. We do not have a right to vi­ which was an enormous hit. Since then I've just been roll­ olate other nations' sovereignties. ingaround. Liberty: So you see a much smaller role for the federal govern­ Liberty: What other films have you made? ment than it currently has. Liberty 31 Volume 8, Number 3 The Liberty Interview January 1995

Russo: (Laughs.) I wouldn't say much smaller. I'd say dramati­ that you think weren't legally ratified? cally smaller! Russo: I understand that the thirteenth might have a problem. Liberty: Let me check off some current issues. You've already I've heard rumors concerning the fourteenth. But the only told me your opinion about Haiti. What about health care? one that I can feel certain about is the sixteenth. Everything Russo: I'd eliminate government involvement in it. else I've been told about the other amendments I don't have Liberty: What about crime? any evidence for. On the sixteenth I've read the books and Russo: I believe that there should be no such thing as a victim­ seen some first-hand documents that prove it. less crime. Ifthere is no victim, there is no crime. Ifsome­ Liberty: What taxes are you going to leave in place? Or will body wants to smoke pot or shoot heroin, that's their own you create new taxes to replace the ones you abolish? Russo: We would create a national sales tax, as defined by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, which says we have a right to have excise taxes. That would be fine: a very small As far as we're concerned, there should be the national sales tax to take care of the military that this coun­ total elimination of the IRS. There should be no try needs. Hopefully, the national sales tax would be 2 or more income tax. 3%. Liberty: What about import duties? Russo: Import duties are authorized by the Constitution, but I don't know if there's a need for them or not. That's some­ business. It's their life, and government doesn't have the thing that we'd have to find out fiscally. They're not some­ right to legislate morality. thing I really like the idea of in my own philosophy, but They're the most immoral people of all, the people run­ we're trying to get back to the Constitution and the ning our government. They don't have the authority to legis­ Constitution does allow them, so they would be something late morality. They don't have the right to legislate morality, I'd be willing to swallow in order to get back to the they don't have the ability to legislate morality, and it's Constitution. Once we get back to the Constitution, whatev­ none of their goddamn business what people do with their er amendments need to be looked at and passed to adjust it own lives. People want to commit suicide, that's their life. for today's world, we should do. People who want to do drugs, that's their business. Liberty: Earlier, you mentioned that militias are being orga­ I think that government outlaws drugs because it gives nized. How extensive is this phenomenon? them police powers, and they use drugs as a propaganda Russo: When I started this party, I didn't know about these weapon to take over and control people's lives. militias. I started this party because I was fed up with the Liberty: What exactly should the government do? The only laws, the regulations. I've never been into guns myself, thing you've mentioned so far is defense. though I think you have the right to own a gun. It's your Russo: Itshould provide a judiciary system. I'm talking about life, your right. Then I started this party. All of a sudden I federal government, notJocal. The federal government's ba­ started getting calls from all these militia people all across sic job should be the judiciary system and defense. I don't even think they should be running the postal service! Liberty: You've got the federal government doing vastly less than it is today. That means it's going to cost a lot less, so I'm very scared there's going to be a serious that means presumably we're going to have a massive re­ uprising in this country. Because the govern­ duction in taxes. Can you give me an idea of what taxes you would reduce or cap? ment is just choking people. Russo: As far as we're concerned, there should be the total elimination of the IRS. There should be no more income tax. There should be no more estate tax. The Constitution states the country who wanted to join the party, asking me about very clearly that there should be no direct taxes, and we the party, what does it stand for. We lost a lot of them be­ want to get back to that. cause we weren't right-wing Christian fundamentalists. We Liberty: Does that mean you want to get rid of the Sixteenth don't believe in homosexuals not having rights and we Amendment? don't believe that Christian morality should be forced on Russo: The Sixteenth Amendment, as you mayor may not everybody else. So we lost a lot of them. Of course, we be­ know, was never ratified. It's a totally illegal amendment. lieve that the Christians have a right to their own morality, An amendment to the Constitution takes ratification by 75% just like other people have a right to theirs. of the states and two-thirds of the Congress. And the states But what did happen was the militias started calling, never ratified the Sixteenth Amendment. It is a hoax and a and from what I can tell and from the knowledge I have, it fraud. We want to see the federal government acknowledge seems to me that there are millions of men in the militias that it was never ratified and take it off the books. Even the across the United States at this point. At least 30-40 states Supreme Court has just said the Sixteenth Amendment have called me already - in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, gives the federal government no new taxing powers. Direct Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, several west­ taxes are wrong, they're illegal, and they're a detriment to ern states -I mean, there are militias all across the country, the people in this country. and there's millions of people in these militias, and I think Liberty: Are there any other amendments to the Constitution that the militias are very happy that the Republicans won. 32 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 The Liberty Interview January 1995

But I also think that they're going to find out that it's not go­ Liberty: Are you investing your own money in the ing to matter much. I don't think it's going to prove to be Constitution Party? their salvation. I'm very scared there's going to be a serious Russo: Of course I am. uprising in this country. Because the government is just Liberty: Is you commitment for the long term? Just how far do choking people. you intend to go with this? Liberty: When you say "serious uprising," do you mean a vio­ Russo: Ifthe time ever comes where this thing isn't going to lent uprising? happen, and people just don't give a shit, and people are Russo: Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. I certainly hope it too apathetic - if that should ever happen, at that point, I doesn't happen. The Constitution Party is here to do things don't know what I'll do. I do know that I can't think about in a peaceful manner. We're trying to give people a choice that yet, because everything is working so well at this point. so it doesn't get violent. These militia guys are saying to me I just want my kids to be free. Look at the crime bill, for that if the Constitution Party doesn't work, then there's go­ example. The government can now come in and say: we're ing to be violence. As I understand it, there are many U.N. suspicious of you, and we're going to investigate you, and soldiers on American territory training to fight these mili­ because we're doing so, we're going to take away your as- tias. There are detention camps being built to put people away. Liberty: Where are these camps? We're not a free society any more. People Russo: I don't know. Liberty: What makes a country a police state? have to recognize that. Russo: In a free country you have a right to be left alone as long as you don't hurt anybody else. You have a right to live your own life peacefully and enjoy your property, and to be sets, your house; car, money. We're selling it, dividing up free from government interference. all the proceeds among the different agencies, so we can in­ In a police state, the government can legally ransack vestigate you. And we're not charging you with anything, your house; they can come into your business; they can take and you haven't been convicted of anything, but we're tak­ whatever you own; they can assault you with impunity; ing your whole life's work. Now what the fuck is that? they have no accountability. In a free society, government There's no more due process of law. The fact that the gov­ can't do that. And we're not a free society any more. People ernment can do that to us means that we are now in a police . have to recognize that. state, whether we want to recognize it or not. That's what Liberty: How did you react to the events in Waco? has to stop. That's why I'm building this party. They come in and take your house because you're Russo: It gotme crazy. Itjustblew my mind. There's a bunch of people, minding their own business, they've done noth­ smoking pot. Who gives them thisauthority? I don't. You ing wrong, they have their own little church, their own com­ have to work for the government from January to July. You're their slave! This has to stop because they don't have munity, everybody's there because they want to be there, the legal authority to do this. The only reason they do this is nobody'sbeing coerced. Everybody is there of their own free will, and have a life they liked! And all of a sudden the because they have the guns and the weapons. This is why they want to take away everybody else's guns, just like government decides to come in and destroy these people. They used CS gas on these people. Do you know CS gas is Hitler did, so they can enforce these rules on us, and make banned? It's not even allowed to be used in wartime. And us live by their code, be it Democratic or Republican. It's big government's code. these are little children, and they shoot these people, they I want to stop this assault on our freedoms in this kill these people. The government fired first, they came in with helicopters and machine guns. They used army weap­ county. I want this country to be free and sovereign, and for ons against civilians. All this stuff is illegal, it's not allowed. my children to have a future here again. And I want to see the income tax repealed. Do you know what would happen And they lied,they manipulated the press. What really killed me is, with all the stuff that happened, the press if the income tax were repealed? All of a sudden, business would flourish, it would skyrocket. There would be millions doesn't report any of it! Itjust showed how manipulated the press was - they were dupes! and millions of jobs created. The welfare lines would be de­ creased dramatically. The unemployment lines would go Liberty: I understand you are thinking of doing some kind of down. You'll have a small bunch of people who would need movie about Waco. help, and charity should take care of that. We don't need re­ Russo: Yes. It's not as far along as I'd like it to be. I'm going to distribution of wealth. We don't need welfare! That's make David Koresh a hero in my Waco movie. ridiculous. Liberty: Did you see the TV movie? If you and I are walking down the street and we see a Russo: What a disaster. That was so disgusting. That's what I homeless person, do I have the right to put my hand in your mean about propaganda. This is what's happening in pocket and give him your money? Of course I don't. And America. It infuriates me. neither does the government. It has nothing to do with lt makes me nuts that people are actually being fooled government! by this. I had dinner a week ago with a friend of mine, and I All this stuff has to stop. That's why I'm starting this was telling him that militias are forming. He started laugh­ party. We've got to say to the government: "FUCK YOU! ing at me like I was an idiot! WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS SHIT!" Q Liberty 33 Dispatch

Free Speech, Blah, Blah by Brian Taylor

Loose lips and tight asses in the war against (some) censorship.

Dave Gentry, conservative president of the recently founded First Amendment Coalition, claims that his organization is trying to recruit moderates, centrists, and leftists. "I'm always reminding people that we're a centrist organization," said Gentry. "We do not take a position on immi­ gration, gun control, or homosexuali- ty, but will sponsor debates on these issues." giate Studies Institute, Young Ameri­ ginning, nor the end of the beginning, Maybe so. But I'm the president of ca's Foundation, the Madison Center but maybe the beginning of the end." I the Binghamton University chapter of for Educational Affairs, Accuracy in. was perplexed by the first statement, First Amendment Coalition, and Academia, the College Republican which was supposed to refer tospeech while I don't consider myself a con­ National Committee, the National As­ codes. I don't presume to speak for servative, I sure do feel like I'm in a sociation of Scholars, and Delta Kap­ Schorr's family, but I'm fairly confi­ minority. pa Epsilon. In all, about 130 students dent my parents haven't penned any FAC recently merged with the participated. speech regulations recently. His sec­ ond statement, of course, was simply Individual Rights Foundation (IRF) Talkers, Talkers, Everywhere, and the Center for the Study of Churchill made incoherent. Popular Culture (CSPC). The CSPC is and Not a Stop to Think Then came Berkeley's Scott Yent. As is typical at academic confer­ a right-wing group headed by The free speech movement of the '60s radicals-turned-conservatives David ences, most of the speakers had im­ began at Berkeley, he pointed out, but Horowitz and Peter Collier. The IRF pressive titles but less-than-impres­ it didn't get far. Now an ambiguous was founded in 1992 by Horowitz and sive things to say. speechcode is in place. A particularly John Howard. It has over 300 affiliate Take Ron Robinson. The president obscure clause in it holds up the "or­ lawyers across the country committed of Young America's Foundation did a dinary" person as a standard. "Who's to "defending First Amendment fine job suppressing his sense of hu­ 'ordinary' at Berkeley?" asked Yent. rights in the academy" by suing mor - assuming that he has one to "I was roommates with 'the naked universities. A typical IRF case was suppress. He was mostly concerned guy.II' their recent defense of a UC-Riverside with the "monopolistic mentality of After that, Peter Collier took the fraternity accused of producing an of­ the Left," going on incessantly about mike and feigned surprise when' he fensive T-shirt; the frat was. exonerat­ their efforts to restrict two essential, "realized" that he was preaching to ed and campus administrators were highbrow conservative mediums: talk the converted. This shock didn't pre­ forced to attend a "First Amendment radio and direct mail. vent him from remembering his talk. sensitivity seminar." After he spoke, U-Penn's Dan If leftists were really concerned with On October 28 and 29, I attended a Schorr gave a short address, from diversity, he said, they would seek "Censorship on Campus" gala at Co­ which I recall only two slogans: out fundamentalist Christians and lumbia University sponsored by FAC "Don't do to our children what our outspoken pro-life women to serve as and the IRF. Other participating or­ parents are doing to us" and "This is faculty members. I can't speak for the ganizations included the Intercolle- not the end, and definitely not the be- leftists, but I know I wouldn't pursue 34 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 Janua 1995

contact with those groups; it's bad (Nothing like a bunch of drunk frat Because Binghamton is a state enough when I run into them by boys to spice up Nock's Remnant, eh?) school and the diversity proposal re­ accident. The other speakers weren't much more quires teaching from a particular politi­ Then, either for balance or the ap­ interesting. Daily News columnist Jim cal view, it has been argued that the re­ pearance thereof, left-liberal Washing­ Sleeper argued that multiculturalists quirement is unconstitutional. Its ton Post columnist Richard Cohen gave should value American civic culture, proponents do not care. Neither, to tell an address eDlphasizing the iDlpor­ because that is what allows theDl to you the truth, do 1. The Constitution tance of sensitivity when discussing protest against it. "Try to protest Islam­ may read well, but on a practical level, minorities and other "historically un­ ic culture in an Islamic country," he it's failed to protect our freedoms. derrepresented groups." He also gave suggested, on the odd chance that etiquette advice, counseling a young someone in the audience was not al­ woman in the front row that it was not ready in agreement with him. The Constitution may read polite to hiss at him. Some in the audi­ Tales From the ence were visibly shaken when he told well, but on a practical level, a North-Central Florida student that he Frontlines - Sort Of it's failed to protect our free­ Next came the fun part: hand­ was insensitive. The student had re­ doms. After all, it didn't pre­ fused to remove a confederate flag fly­ picked students scaring the audience ing over his fraternity house, despite with politically correct horror stories. vent slavery, the New Deal, repeated requests from offended mi­ Gentry had spoken to me before the the Great Society, or Spam. norities to do just that. gathering about the· possibility of my Later, attorney Edward Cleary de­ speaking at this point, but never got fended what he called "the right to of­ back to me. At the conference, I spied a After all, it didn't prevent slavery, the fend." Cleary had successfully argued tag embossed with a name suspicious­ New Deal, the Great Society, or Spam. R.A.V. vs St. Paul- the "cross-burning ly similar to my own, and asked a I'm an outspoken critic of the diversity case" - before the Supreme Court. In friend what it meant. "It means you're requirement, not because it's unconsti­ its decision, the Court decided that the speaking," he replied. He was right. About an hour later, I was telling tutional, but because there's not much the audience about P.C. at Bingham­ else at my university worth protesting. ton. One example: 70 or so militant Other students told their anti-P.C. Peter Collier took the mike youths and their professors chanting, tales. Students from Swarthmore Col­ and said that if leftists were yelling, and reciting bad poetry as they lege's Conservative Union reported really concerned with diversity "occupied" the administration build­ their attempt to fly the American· flag ing for a couple of days. They were over their campus last year, only to see they would seek out funda­ clearly amateurs, as they neglected to it removed on the grounds that it is "a mentalist Christians and out­ assign anyone to guard the doors, al­ symbol of oppression and exploita­ spoken pro-life women to serve lowing secretaries and others to enter tion." The flag had been prohibited on and exit the building at will. Their de­ campus since the '60s, and the admin­ as faculty members. mand: a more stringent "diversity re­ istration demanded a student vote be­ quirement." Here's part of their fore allowing it to return. The motion proposal: carried by a vote of 376 to 239, and government may not engage in "view­ Harpur College [part of Binghamton Swarthmore is once again a host to point discrimination." In other words, University] requires that all students "oppression." it can't single out one set of fighting take two diversity courses to ensure Mark Hardie, a black conservative words that express bias while not pun­ that students encounter and under­ student from the University of Califor­ ishing others. stand the social construction of hu­ nia at Riverside, told us about how he Cleary's talk was interesting and in­ man diversity and the consequences wrote a critical review of "gangsta telligent, but he forgot to bash the Left. of that construction. IIHuman diver­ rap" and picketed an appearance by We'll see if he gets invited to the next sity" refers to the differences which Khalid Abdul Muhammad. For these conference. have hitherto been underrepresent­ actions, he and his family received nu­ The presentations rolled on, and ed in the traditional U.S. curriculum: merous death threats. He was also on, and on. David Eastlick, Jr., execu­ that is, differences conventionallyex­ called "Uncle Clarence Thomas" and pressed by such categories as race, tive director of Delta Kappa Epsilon, an "oreo." gender, religion, nationality, sexuali­ explained why "fat, dumb, happy guys ty, class, and culture as well as their Delgado Dunks Hentoff drinking beer" are the answer to cam­ interrelations and intersections. Not At the end of the day, one of the pus censorship, claiming that "fraterni­ only do these courses consider as few non-conservative civil libertarians ties are the last bastion of heterodoxy, central to the social construction of present - Village Voice columnist Nat the last place on campus where you human diversity the asymmetries of Hentoff - debated University of Colo­ have free speech." The way to over­ power in structures of oppression, rado law professor Richard Delgado come campus repression, he suggest­ but also resistances to the hierarchi­ over campus speech codes. Delgado, in ed, is a conservative-fraternity alliance. cal relations of dominance. proper debate form, presented clear, Liberty 35 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

sequential arguments: there was no and have become socialists" attended neither know nor care whether this is empirical evidence that colleges with the conference: they would have re­ true; anyone who helped bring us speech codes have suffered any harm; ceived a chilly reception from speaker Troopergate deserves the benefit of the "a racial slur is not a point o~ view, but Tanya Daly. Daly, a senior program of­ doubt. a slap in the face"; speech codes make a ficer at the Madison Center for Educa­ Fair-Weather Libertarians campus environment more hospitable; tion Affairs, oversees the 30 or so Over some cold pizza, I asked Da­ prompting others to change their lan­ "independent" (read: conservative) col­ vid Horowitz why the IRF didn't de­ guage can effectively help them change lege papers her group funds. She gave fend Berkeley's "naked guy." their attitudes, which is a function of a pep talk that put many to sleep. "It's public indecency," he ex­ education; many forms of speech are The next speaker was Robert Bul­ plained. "I don't want my grandchil­ already limited, such as fighting lock, managing editor of Campus dren exposed to that." words, libel, slander, defamation, and "What if they want to see 'that'?" I copyright. asked. In rebuttal, Hentoff retold anec­ By the time David Horo­ "It doesn't matter," he replied. dotes from his book, Free Speech for Me At dinner, Horowitz gave the key­ But Not for Thee, used the word "star witz observed that /Islavery note address, in which he apoplectical­ chamber" a lot, and generally didn't did not destroy black families," ly declared that "it's the left-wing ra­ bother responding to Delgado's points. the black and Latino wait staff cists who have stoked the fire of racism He would have done as well had he and denigrated America." What, exact­ not shown up. had finished serving the lily­ ly, does this have to do with free speech The debate was followed by a Q&A so I white audience, was un­ and censorship? About as much as the with the audience. "Mr. Delgado," a able to gauge their reaction. rest of his talk. "Nobody is oppressed young woman asked benignly, "if I in America," proclaimed Horowitz, "If was arguing with my boyfriend in his America is racist, why do all the Hai­ campus dorm room and he called me a tians want to come here? There is only bitch, could I charge him with violating Report, a nationwide college paper pub­ one group being attacked in America a speech code?" lished by Accuracy in Academia. Bul­ - white males. Yet they take it and still "Yes," replied Delgado, prompting lock rambled on for a while about col­ achieve, they're the role model." the audience to laugh in disbelief. lege curricula, making fun of a course By the time he observed that "slav­ Delgado may be wrong, and Hent­ on witchcraft, sorcery, and Ouija ery did not destroy black families," the off may be right, but Delgado still won boards. (A perceptive student from black and Latino wait staff had fin­ the debate. Maybe Nat is in better form Michigan muttered, "That sounds like ished serving the lily-white audience, when he doesn't already have his audi­ Reaganomics.") He also inadvertently ence in his pocket. raised a few questions about his organ­ so I was unable to gauge their reaction. ization's name when he asserted that "Political correctness is anathema to Another Day the Aztecs were conquered by Colum­ the center," said Horowitz, "presenting When the next day's sessions be­ bus. Even Cortez knows that Marco a great opportunity for coalition­ gan, half the students were adorned in Polo was the one responsible. building." Perhaps. But there wasn't suits and ties. The other half had slept Next, American Spectator editor­ much coalition-building going on this in or never returned from a night on founder R. Emmett Tyrrell was to de­ weekend in Columbia. For decades, the town. Only the committed - and liver a call to arms called "The Rise of leftists defended the First Amendment those who wanted another free meal ­ the Intellectual Warrior Spirit," but he when it favored them, only to embrace remained. called in sick with the stomach flu in­ censorship when that was to their ad­ It was fortunate that few blacks, stead. Someone allegedly in the know vantage. Today, the opportunistic de­ gays, and "women from Third World told me that this was a euphemism; ac­ fenders of free speech are to be found countries who were educated in France cording to him, Mr. Tyrrell is a drunk. I on the Right. 0

Letters, continued from page 6

context are meaningful and not merely peoplemustneverbetreated as "pure close to Clinton on the ideological anthropomorphic drivel. But my pref­ means"becauseof"our uniqueness." spectrum who have refused to con­ erence for humane treatment of ani­ Contrary to diZerega's friends, I am demn the invasion of Haiti, but he is mals does not mean that I believe the no more decent than my argument im­ wrong about actual pacifists. animal is not being treated as a "pure plies -I take full credit for whatever Specifically, the AmericanFriends means" when it is slaughtered, even if indecency diZerega and others have Service Committee, whichhedenounc­ it is slaughtered relatively painlessly. discovered in my essay. es as being "noplace" onthe issue, For therecord,I valuelibertybe­ stronglycondemned the invasion. My causeitoptimizeshumanflourishing, Pacifism vs Ignorance source: Rush Limbaugh, who read the notbecauseitenables meto"do any­ Stephen Cox ("Kill for peace," No­ AFSC press release onthe air along with thingIwant." NordoIbelieve thatother vember 1994) may be right about those continued on page 69 36 Liberty Pink Slil2-

Back to Work by Richard ,K. Vedder and Lowell E. Gallaway

u.s. labor policy creates and prolongs unemployment. It's time to give it its walking papers.

The word "unemployment" wasn't even invented until 1888. During the first three decades of this century, government did very little about unemployment. Indeed, gov­ ernment involvement in labor markets was negligible: there was no federal minimum wage, no Davis-Bacon Act, no federal unemployment insurance, no anti-discrimination laws, no laws promoting unionization, no AFDC or nearly 30% over the 4.70/0 rate of this higher unemployment and no greater food stamps. Policymakers did not try century's first three decades. economic stability. On top of that, tax­ to "stimulate" the economy with Some would argue that, despite es are higher, and all the activism they "countercylical" fiscal policy during this increase in unemployment, the are financing is crowding out private downturns. negative consequences of joblessness investment: while public spending as Since the 1930s, all this has have fallen because the government­ a percentage of total output has risen changed. Unemployment has become provided safety net has made unem­ since the 1920s, private investment as a dominant topic of public policy de­ ployment more bearable. This argu­ a percent of total output has fallen. bate throughout the industrialized ment is weak. While it is true that un­ This drop has reduced our ability to world. We have tried to stimulate de­ employment insurance reduces the modernize our capital stock, slowing mand by increasing disposable in.. pain of being unemployed, it does so productivity and, therefore, keeping come and lowering interest rates; we in a costly and inefficient fashion; a the standard of liVing from rising as have created a myriad of regulations private system would do a far better quickly as it could. to "protect" workers on and off the job. Moreover, many Americans now job; we have built massive training have a new form of income protec­ Creating Unemployment programs; we have· passed anti­ tion: their spouses. The present unem­ In our book Out of Work: Unem­ discrimination laws; we have intro­ ployment compensation system was ployment and Government in Twentieth duced massive transfer payments to conceived in an era when two-worker Century America, we argue that unem­ alleviate the problems associated with households were rare. .Today, few ployment results when the price of la­ being out of work. In short, we have families face starvation if one member bor rises above a level that will clear created a welfare state. loses a job. labor markets. What we call the ad­ These efforts have been mostly Other defenders of the status quo justed real wage will rise if money wag­ well-intentioned - and largely un­ might argue that sharp fluctuations in es go up or if prices or productivity successful. Indeed, they have prob­ unemployment are a thing of the past. falls. Most of the book is given over to ably destroyed more jobs than they But painstaking research by Christine documenting that this relationship ex­ have created, lowering both produc­ Romer at Berkeley has shown that ists, and that many recessions were tivity and income in the process. In business fluctuations were no greater caused by well-intentioned but inap­ the past three decades - the years of in the era prior to interventionist gov­ propriate government interventions the most active intervention - the av'" ernment policies than today. that raised the price of labor. erage unemployment rate has risen to In short, after expending much It is instructive to compare the de­ nearly 6.10/0. That's an increase of money and effort, we are left with pression of 1920-21 to the Great Liberty 37 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

Depression of the 1930s. The 1920-21 fell over 5%. Then Roosevelt's National free society. downturn was, by most measures, Industrial Recovery Act, passed in By 1945, all the Keynesian gurus more severe than the first six or seven June, started to take effect. The NlRA's were predicting that double-digit un­ quarters of the depression that fol­ minimum wage provisions led to an employment would return after the lowed 1929. Industrial production fell extraordinary increase in factory wag­ war. Goverriment spending was re­ more, as did prices. Yet we recovered es of over 20% in just six months. The duced by about 75% almost overnight. quickly from the 1920-21 downturn, fall in unemployment came to a Within a year, 10,000,000 people lost while the Great Depression lingered screeching stop, and the country be­ defense-related jobs. The huge deficit for a decade. came mired in 20% unemployment for gave way to a sharp budget surplus, What made the difference? In 1920­ two years. the equivalent today of moving from a 21, the government did little or nothing Finally, in 1935, the Supreme Court more than $1 trillion deficit to a $250 to end the recession. As the downturn ruled the NlRA unconstitutional. The billion surplus in one year. But despite began, President Woodrow Wilson had adjusted real wage then started to fall the Keynesian warnings of a howling significantly, bringing unemployment depression, unemployment never rose rates down to around 130/0 by early above 4%. This century's massive ef- 1937. At that point, though, the Why didn't the depression come? Wagner Act took effect, leading to Because markets worked. Real wages forts to curb unemployment massive unionization, another double­ (adjusted for the change in productivi­ have destroyed more jobs than digit wage increase, and 20% unem­ ty) fell, allowing millions of civilian they have created, lowering ployment rates. New Social Security workers to be absorbed back into the and unemployment insurance taxes economy. Truman did not initiate a job both productivity and income didn't help matters either, as they stimulus program - indeed, he pur­ in the process. pushed the real cost of hiring workers sued the most severely contractionary up further. fiscal policy in modern American his­ The New Deal didn't restore pros­ tory - but the expected depression a stroke and refrained from interven­ perity. It prolonged the economic mis­ did not come, because the falling real tion. (As one colleague once rather ery. The Great Depression is often de­ price of labor made hiring attractive. tastelessly put it, this was truly a stroke picted as a spectacular market failure. Ever ingenious, the Keynesians of luck.) He was replaced, five quarters In fact, it is the best example of govern­ quickly came up with a theory to ex­ into the downturn, by Warren Hard­ ment failure in this century. plain what had happened: Postwar ing, who was committed to a policy of prosperity resulted from pent up demand non-intervention. The Mark of Keynes for consumer goods. But while that de- Compare this with 1929. Within a The old classical economics that month of the stock market crash, Presi­ had more or less prevailed until the dent Herbert Hoover summoned the late 1920s had argued that market ad­ nation's business leaders to a confer­ justments in wages, prices, and/or pro­ The Great Depression is of­ ence at the White House, where he ductivity will reduce labor costs, in­ ten depicted as a spectacular urged them to keep wages high in or­ creasing hiring and thereby alleviating market failure. In fact, it is the der to stimulate consumption. They unempoyment. Undergirding the followed his advice, which resulted in Hoover-Roosevelt policy of increasing best example of government higher unemployment, deteriorating government expenditures to offset failure in this century. corporate balance sheets, and a decline "underspending" in private markets, in ability to repay bank loans. This in however, was the new economics of turn brought down the market value of John Maynard Keynes, who argued mand certainly existed, the relatively bank assets, leading to a decline in in­ that massive increases in budget defi­ painless shift to a low-unemployment vestor and then depositor confidence cits will stimulate demand and thus peacetime economy occurred long be­ in banks, which in turn ultimately led employment, while reduced spending fore civilian durable goods production to the banking crisis of late 1930. Com­ will lead to rising unemployment. and housing construction returned to pounding the high-wage folly were the On a superficial level, World War II normal levels. Smoot-Hawley tariff, deflationary poli­ seemed to justify Keynes's theory: U.S. In short, the most successful post­ cies at the Fed, and a large increase in budget deficits soared and unemploy­ war economic transition in American the income tax. ment decreased. Yet over half of this history came during a period of sharp In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was decline in unemployment actually oc­ reduction in federal involvement in la­ elected president on a platform of fis­ curred before PearI Harbor. Moreover, bor markets, a period when wartime cal conservatism. But once in office, much of the decline can be attributed wage and price controls ended. FDR continued Hooverism with a ven­ to conscription. Take ten million The late'40s and the '50s saw more geance, institutionalizing the high­ people out of the civilian labor market economic good times. There were sev­ wage policy in legislation that priced and unemployment is bound to be eral increases in the federal minimum labor out of the market. From March to reduced, but that's hardly a long-term wage during this period, but on the August 1933, the unemployment rate means of curing unemployment in a whole, the government avoided serious 38 Liberty liThe mostcomprehensive book ever on unemployment in the United States." - GEORGE GILDER Unemployment is used to justify ever bigger government programs - from continuing high military expenditures to a return to New Deal-type make-work agencies. Now, Out oJWork presents the devastating case that the major cause of high unemployment, both cyclical and secular, is government itself. Out ofWork challenges Keynesian fiscal demand-management, and then shows that such policies as minimum wages, labor controls, civil rights legisla­ tion, unemployment compensation, and welfare have all played significant roles in generating joblessness. Too, Out ofWork lucidly and absorbingly recounts the history of American unemployment. It demonstrates, for example, that the policies of both presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt not only prolonged and exacerbated the unemployment of the Great Depression, but directly contributed to the depression's banking crisis as well. Out ofWork shows how real eco­ nomic growth can be produced and how one of the most explosive issues of the 20th century can finally be ended.

1/Out of Work is a triple hit: an engaging "Vedder and Gallaway'S masterful book narrative ofa century ofu.S. economic history that demonstrates that the invisible hand ofthe market focuses on real wage rates adjusted for productivity works better in preventing high unemployment than changes to explain· unemployment.patterns; an the visible foot ofgovernment." attack on the mythology that high wage rates and - CONGRESSMAN RICHARD ARMEY government spending reduce unempTOyment; a Joint Economic Committee, U. S. Congress critique ofwrongheaaed public policies since 1930 that have raised unemployment levels." "Out of Work is fascinating and brilliant - a -ANNA}. SCHWARTZ comprehensive and important book." National Bureau of Economic Research - LAWRENCE A. KUDLOW Economics Editor, National Review "Out of Work is more than ahelpful handb~ok to "Out of Work should be required readingfor the understand unemployment. It brIngs clear-sIghted Clinton Administration's economic and labor advisers." insights and is invaluable to the debate." - LINDA CHAVEZ, Former Executive Director, ~ VACLAV KLAUS U. S. Civil Rights Commission Prime Minister, Czech Republic Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute 1994 Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award I 31 Figures· 48 Tables· Index· 388 pp. Paperback The . INDEPENDENf Holmes & Meier, Publishers, New York and London \.INSflTUTE $16.95 plus postage ($3.00Ibook, CA residents add sales tax)

The Independent Institute, Dept. BL9, 134 Ninety-Eighth Avenue, Oakland, CA 94603 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

new interventions in labor markets. The unexpectedly reduced, leading to a unit of labor-produced output. A new Taft-Hartley Act trimmed union power, temporary surge in the purchasing civil rights act raised fears that workers and union membership began its ongo­ power of wages that triggered the would have to be hired and paid ac­ ing decline. Keynesian-style fiscal poli­ short but potent 1982 recession. In cording to considerations other than cy was used tepidly, if at all. The real 1983, however, the longest peacetime productivity. New environmental leg­ per capita federal public debt was recovery in American history began. islation also raised costs, as did a big smaller at the end of the Truman ad­ The '80s boom was further fueled 1990 tax increase. ministration than at the beginning. By by a retreat from government interven­ You can shock markets, you can the end of the Eisenhower presidency, tion. Labor unions became even weak­ mutilate markets, you can spook mar­ it was smaller still. er, aided by Reagan's symbolically im­ kets, but they always come back. De­ The '60s marked the high tide of portant firing of air traffic controllers spite the awful policies of the Bush era, Keynesianism. The economy was labor markets adjusted. Declining real strong, with unemployment falling ­ wages gradually made American labor though not to levels as low as were You can shock markets, you more attractive, as did soaring labor sometimes reached in the'40s and '50s. costs in other nations. A year or so ago, Real output rose sharply, and the coun­ can mutilate markets, you can job expansion resumed ata healthy try went 100 months without a down­ spook markets, but they always clip. A recovery was underway. turn. This success seemed to be accom­ come back. More than four million jobs have plished with Keynesian policies. been created over the past couple of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson delib­ years, and nationwide unemployment erately induced inflation, reducing real has fallen below 6%. This job expan­ after their illegal strike. In real terms, wages and increasing the attractive­ sion has been aided by what some the federal minimum wage fell by ness of labor. Richard Nixon not only would call. obstructionism and grid­ more than a fourth. Deregulation in­ continued the policies into the early lock. Bill Clinton and his key aides creased the mobility. of resources and '70s, but expanded the role of govern­ have an interventionist domestic agen­ the ability of·. market forces to reallo­ ment further. "We are all Keynesians da that would dramatically increase la­ cate resources efficiently. Labor pro­ now," he explained. ductivity rose much faster than in the bor costs. Fear of those plans kept job Yet the prosperity of the late '60s 1970s, lowering the real cost of labor growth modest in the early months of set the stage for the stagflation of the per unit of output produced. Nearly 20 the administration, but there has been next decade. It didn't take long for million jobs were created, the stock a growing realization recently that workers and creditors to catch on to market more than tripled in value, and Clinton will not be able to push what was happening and alter their be­ prosperity reigned. through the more extreme elements of havior. Workers demanded greater The new approach might best be his program. wage increases to compensate for the understood by contrasting Reagan's re­ In particular, the tabling of health inflation. Bankers demanded higher in­ sponse to the 1987 stock market drop care "reform" removed, at least tempo­ terest rates. Inflation became anticipat­ to· Hoover's response· to the crash of rarily, a threat of significantly in­ ed, and government fiscal stimulus be­ 1929. Reagan did, roughly speaking, creased labpr costs. Had that legisla­ came ineffective. It had worked in the nothing, and the 1987 crash quickly tion passed, as many as one million past only because people were fooled passed into memory. Today the Dow jobs would have been lost, .and there into accepting abnormally low real Jones is more than double what it was would have been a sharp reduction in wages or interest rates. after the events of October1987. real· wages. In addition, Labor Secre­ The Keynesians of the stagflation The election of George Bush tary Robert Reich has failed .to per­ era - Democrats and Republicans brought in renewed government acti­ suade President Clinton to push for a alike - thought the solution was still vism,· resulting in a new stagflation higher minimum wage, and .the 10% more stimulus, more jobs programs, barely a year after Reagan left office. decline in the real minimum wage over more intervention. From 1970 on, bud­ On May 1, 1990 the minimum wage the past 41 months has aided job ex­ get deficits were the rule. But unem­ wentup for the first time in nine years, pansion. Other threats to employment, ployment remained high. In 1980, we followed by another large increase a such as the striker replacement bill and had both double-digit inflation and 7% year later. The total increase was 27%, a stronger plant-elosing law, have di­ unemployment for the. first time in creating a wage inflation that made la­ minished with the president's shrink­ American history. The misery index ­ bor too expensive and led to rising ing popularity. the sum of the unemployment·and in­ unemployment. But some fear remains. Employers flation rates - had been running in the Compounding the problem were worry that under Clinton, full-time single digits in the '50s and '60s, but hit some new federal policies that in­ workers will become a fixed cost that 20 in 1980, the highest level in modern creased. employer· uncertainty and cannot be reduced in downturns. To an history. raised· the potential financial liabilities unprecedented extent, they have re­ Enter Fed Chairman Paul Volcker of hiring workers. The Americans with sorted to paying existing workers over­ and President Ronald Reagan. The Disabilities Act threatened labor pro­ time and hiring part-time and tempo­ Great Inflation was dramatically and ductivity and thus the real cost of each rary help. 40 Liberty "Voila logic!" -~ J. 0' ROURKE

"A "A senous• splendid blueprint collection for change." of -GEORGE E WILL informed analyses ... mustreading." "A futuristic -MILTON FRIEDMAN •• VISIon ••• charts new territory for "Bristles the decades -with ahead." uncomfortable -Go~WILLIAM E WELD ideas." -PETE DU PONT "Provocative ne-w­ "Should be ideas ... a road the principal map for our "Fads, compass new president." reason, for -Go~L. DOUGLAS WILDER clear-eyed policymakers and and " Should be read disinterested public servants." andre-read analysis ... -·MALCOLM S. FORBES, JR. by every l11.el11.ber voila logic!" of Congress." -~ J. O'ROURKE -JACK KEMP

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The lessons of history are clear. Un­ stroyed job opportunities for the most that would maintain the intent of cur­ employment is generally low when disadvantaged groups in society. The rent legislation but lead to much great­ markets are left unfettered. Major up­ welfare state is keeping people poor. When er efficiencies and higher employment surges in joblessness often reflect labor a person goes on relief, he may im­ in labor markets. Americans would be cost shocks, usually resulting from prove his immediate economic posi­ immensely better off if they privatized well-intentioned but damaging gov­ tion, but he will miss out on far more the unemployment compensation ernment policies. important long-run benefits. Job expe­ system - and we do not mean merely rience leads to higher incomes. Welfare turning its administration over to pri­ Paying People Not To Work experience does not. vate insurance companies. One good Meanwhile, the modem welfare idea would build on the idea of the state offers an alternate source of in­ Toward Full Employment Individual Retirement Account. Indi­ come, allowing many to choose to be In August 1994, West Virginia's un­ viduals could deposit tax-free dollars unemployed. Unemployment compen­ employment rate was 9%; Nebraska's % in an Income Security Account, or ISA; sation raises unemployment rates by as was 2.4 • This difference is not new; withdrawals could be made after a % throughout the past third of a century, much as 1 by raising what in eco­ worker loses his or her job or· retires. unemployment rates have always been nomics jargon is called the Withdrawals might. also be made for "reservation wage" - the minimum dramatically lower in Nebraska than non-routine medical expenses, as in a acceptable wage. If someone making West Virginia. Why? Medical Savings Account, solving $300 a week loses her job, why should While our analysis is still prelimi­ many of our health care problems. she take another job at $200 a week nary, statistical evidence suggests that By privatizing unemployment insu­ when she can receive about that states with relatively high long-term rance, we would reduce the work dis­ amount in unemployment compensa­ unemployment rates tend to have rela­ incentives in the present system. A tion? Why work when you can stay tively high levels of public assistance, worker who lost her job could draw on home and watch General Hospital and her ISA, and thus receive income pro­ live just as well? tection. Yet she would have every in­ The welfare state's impact on job­ lessness varies enormously among dif­ States with relatively high centive to quickly find a new job, as ferent groups. In the era of Jim Crow long-term unemployment rates she would be living off personal sav­ laws, KKK terror, and lynch mobs, the ings, not off the taxpayer. unemployment rate among black tend to have relatively high Another sensible reform would be Americans was about the same as it levels of public assistance, ris­ to reduce the hidden taxes of regula­ was for whites. But in the past 40 ing state and local tax bur­ tion by forcing regulators to take the years, as the lives of African Ameri­ private costs of their actions into ac­ cans have. improved in so many other dens, and very high rates of count when making pronouncements respects, the black unemployment rate unionization. about private economic behavior. We has typically been about twice that of can end damaging and ineffective at­ whites. Why has black unemployment tempts at fiscal policy stimulus risen so much? rising state and local tax burdens, and through a variety of constitutional Part of the answer relates to demo­ very high rates of unionization. In means, ranging from a balanced bud­ graphics, but much of it reflects the short, anywhere public policy and in­ get amendment to line-item vetoes to fact that the modem welfare state in­ stitutional rigidities tend to make labor requirements for voter or supermajori­ duces incongruous numbers of blacks expensive, more people will be with­ ty approval of major tax or spending to choose public assistance payments out jobs. initiatives. over work. Welfare has raised the res­ To improve job opportunities, In short, the worthy goals of the ervation wage. If a head of a house­ many restraints on labor markets, such welfare state can be achieved in ways hold making $1,200 a month in cash as minimum wages, should simply be that empower individuals, that restore and noncash welfare benefits takes a abolished. In addition, welfare should a sense of individual responsibility, job paying the same amount, he will be privatized. John Fund of The Wall that unleash the spirit of enterprise, lose virtually all of his benefits. His Street Journal has proposed a system and that reduce disincentives to em­ short-run gain from working is zero. that would freeze welfare spending ployment of both physical and human In essence, the government is impos­ but grant tax credits to citizens wish­ capital. We can aim to achieve the low ing a 100% work tax on the poor. This ing to help the poor through private unemployment of the pre-Keynesian applies to people of all races, of charities such as the Salvation Army. era, when the joblessness rate averaged course, but African Americans are dis­ This would dramatically reduce the under 5% and periods of prolonged proportionately poor, and thus dispro­ work disincentives of the current wel­ high unemployment were rare. In portionately eligible for welfare. Ac­ fare system; few private charities short, we can restore the labor market cordingly, a large number of blacks would give someone $1,200 in month­ vitality that once reigned in our nation, have, quite rationally, chosen to be un­ ly benefits for extended periods of a vitality that made the United States employed. time. the leading economic power in the Thus, the welfare state has de- There are other ingenious policies world 0 42 Liberty Encomium I'll Take Manhattan by Richard Kostelanetz

City air makes men free.

When a libertarian friend once asked me what I thought was the most livable place in America, I was surprised at how rural-centric the criteria he gave me were. Seat belt laws, for example - how would I know anything about that? As a native New Yorker, I've never owned a car; I ride in private automobiles, as distinct from taxis, less than once a month. Don't think that I suffer from the lack sellers don't need licensing at all, lovers, merchandise, friends, cultural of a car. I can get to my seat in Yankee thanks to the First Amendment. events. I remember that when I was in Stadium in less than 45 minutes from Taxes? I'm told they're terribly college in Providence there would be my house and to a good beach in less high, mostly to support a bloated city occasional cultural events of a quality than an hour, reading most of the way, bureaucracy, but since I don't pay that could not be missed. In New with no worry about traffic jams or them directly, I don't "feel" them. Call York, every week there are several finding a parking space. One amenity me naive. events of comparable quality, few of unique to New York, in contrast to We've gotsales taxes up the wazoo, which I ever get to see, though I'm London or Paris or Berlin, is subways butwealso have such a competitive re­ glad they're there. that operate all night, implicitly mean­ tail environment that even after the New York has a tradition of spe­ ing that the poor need not get home by surplus gouge, common merchandise cialized "public" high schools that midnight. I can also purchase beer is much cheaper here. Since I purchase provide the best applicants, in a re­ (though not hard liquor) in any of sev­ my Sony Videotapes at $2.03 each (and portedly honest competition, with the eral all-night grocery stores within my Goldstars for $1.52), I don't much most advanced educations known. walking distance of my home. When mind paying that additional sales tax; You may recall the pop movie Fame, in fellow libertarians tell me they for some purchases I show the exemp­ which teenagers receive a theatrical wouldn't live in a state with an income tion certificate, mentioned above, that I education elsewhere reserved for tax, my response is that I won't live obtained for selling my art. I assume adults. As a freshman at an Ivy League anyplace where I might need to use a that this competition keeps outthe vul­ college, I noticed that the best­ seatbelt, which is to say, own a car. gar chains that fill suburban-exurban prepared students - the guys and Licensing restrictions? Doesn't malls. We have no Sears, no K-Marts, gals who knew how to write long pa­ Hernando de Soto hold up New York few Red Lobsters. Partly because you pers and take tests - had gone to one as the free-market contrast to his na­ can survive without a car, it is possible of only six schools: Andover, Exeter, tive Peru? To open a biz here you to live here for far less than, say, in the Bronx Science, Stuyvesant, Boston Lat­ only need to get a d/b/a certificate, suburbs. That - along with proximity in, and Hunter, three of them "public" unless you plan to use your own to international airports - accounts in New York City. Iremember being in name, and a sales tax exemption, for why 400/0 of New York is foreign­ awe of them, as well as annoyed: I had which lets you purchase without pay­ born. (The surest way the federal gov­ gone to a suburban high school that ing the tax and requires you to collect ernment could kill New York City's billed itself as "one of the best in the 8.250;0 on sales. Most street vendors economy would be to further limit country." That was just a real estate wear some kind of city-authorized immigration.) ploy; the parents with whom we lived badge, but a lot don't - and don't Choice? That's what we have more wouldn't have tolerated the amount of collect sales taxes either. Street book- of than anywhere else, in schooling, work required at those six schools. Liberty 43 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

Sexual freedom? Freedom of in this allegedly expensive metropolis, an unnecessarily bad business but, speech? Freedom of drug use? Pornog­ the best things in life are free. (Another more importantly, that people don't raphy? Social tolerance? Are you jok­ free benefit is the variety and quality of move unless their income suddenly in­ ing? Remember our motto: "None of radio here, with two stations playing creases. Likewise with ownership. My your business." I know a European classical music most of the time and SoHo co-op loft is now worth many woman, well over six feet tall, who university stations playing it and much times what I paid for it, thankfully, but once told me one of her greatest pleas­ else esoteric some of the time. And the rest of the real estate in this city has ures in New York: "People don't stare whenever I see a psychotic performing also inflated, so I can't afford to move. at me." I remember once being on St. on the subway, I congratulate myself Colleagues elsewhere innocently won­ Marks Place - a genuine parade­ on the experience of "free theater.") der why none of their New York ground for the odd and eccentric - Climate? Well, to each his own. I live friends change their addresses. here because I like changes in the sea­ A few years ago, I considered pur­ sons. Given my taste for ball games and chasing an empty city space, to build a Whenever I see a psychotic the beach, it is not surprising that I get a simple cinder-block structure from lot more work done in the winter. Our scratch. All the contractors I inter­ performing on the subway, I airports are funnels aimed at Florida viewed cited the same price - a "mini­ congratulate myself on the ex­ and Puerto Rico, with so many flights mum of $75 per square foot" - which I perience of'free theater." each dayyouneed not fear getting stuck knew to be too expensive. What ac­ waiting for the next plane out. counted for the unanimity of responses Scenery? The great painter Ad was their sense of the cost of "bringing . Reinhardt inherited enough money, 40 the building up to code," through their and noticing that no one could make years ago, to take a trip around the own efforts and/or payoffs to inspec­ eyes turn, not even scantily clad wom­ world. He took slides of whatever tors. Left-liberals frequently complain en. Then I saw the exception: four West caught his eye. These slides, which I've that no developers build moderate-rent Point cadets in costume. seen, represent a wealth of verticals housing,butgiven theelaboraterules­ Nearly two decades ago I taught at and horizontals, which is to say that including some well-meaning ones, John Jay College, whose students were everywhere he went Reinhardt cap­ such as wheelchair access - it can't be mostly policemen. It was they who done. The best solution to my problem told me that any NYC cop making a tured a "nature" parallel to ours. I too bust for drug use would be ridiculed prefer the urban landscape to any col­ by his colleagues; it was they who told lection of trees. To my professionally me that the only cure for our putative estheticized sensibility there are few A friend in medical school drug problem was decriminalization. views in the world equal to that of the told me that he could distin­ The surest measure of a communi­ New York skyline - which, incidental­ guish NYC cadavers by the ty's social tolerance is the visible pres­ ly, I can see from the rooftop of our ence of homeless people. Anyone eight-story house. Murray Rothbard amount of "black junk in their found undomiciled within a hundred and I may not agree on much nowa­ lungs. " On the other hand, miles from here, without a family near­ days, but on these issues we'll stand I've lived here nearly all my by, is reportedly put on a bus to New united, taking on all comers. Woody York - as one backwoods official once Allen once complained that whenever life and I don't feel a thing yet. told me, "They know how to deal with he visited Mia Farrow in the country, such people there." Or not deal with he couldn't go out at night to look at them, to be more precise. A friend of people on the street. To him, as to me, would have been to become my own mine lives in a mostly black neighbor­ .that is compelling "scenery." contractor and hire my own workers, hood of middle-class homeowners in Let me tell you a secret. When a since, unlike the full-time contractors, I the north Bronx. "No homeless," he re­ woman brings a bunch of flowers wouldn'tneed to deal withtheconstruc­ minds me as we come out of the sub­ (a.k.a. "nature") to my home, my tion police again. Common wisdom way onto his street. What he's really guard goes up - experience tells me holds that, New York beingNew York, I saying. is that since his neighbors I'm going to be subjected to some all­ "could havegotten awaywithit." wouldn't give money to street beggars too-human abuse. New Yorkers are an instinctively (and are generally inhospitable), those Level of pollution? A friend in med­ anti-authoritarian bunch, the right independents have gone elsewhere. ical school told me that he could distin­ folks with which to people my libertar­ Recreational opportunities? I've al­ guish NYC cadavers by the amount of ian heaven. Nearly half a century ago, ready mentioned the proximity of Yan­ "black junk in their lungs." On the oth­ the street between Seventh Avenue kee Stadium and the beach, but more er hand, I've lived here nearly all my and Fifth was officially renamed "Ave­ important is my living in a neighbor­ life and I don't feel a thing yet. nue of the Americas," and even though hood filled with art galleries, with their I'll admit the real estate situation all official signs on that thoroughfare regular "openings" - parties where here is more screwed up than outsiders are emblazoned with that name, New friendships are renewed, new lovers know. Rent control means not only that Yorkers still call it "Sixth Avenue." are met, and one is reminded that even certain kinds of housing ownership is Bless 'em. a 44 Liberty Lament

Memoirs of a Soviet Dissident in Canada by Pierre Lemieux

Some Soviet dissidents have never touched Russian soil.

Even in,the 50-called free countries, the 'libertarian intellectual must live the life of a Soviet dissident. Whether he lived in the U.S.S.R. a few years ago or lives in Canada to­ day, the Soviet dissident defends radical ideas that are incomprehensible to his contemporaries. He is isolated, with virtually no friends with real in- fluence - or at any. rate, virtually none who will put themselves in jeop- the liberty of opinion." -The author societies have become. I am sure that ardy to support him. who steps -beyond them "is not ex­ other dissidents will recognize them­ The dissident is often consulted by posed to the terrors of an auto-da1e, selves in this account. people from faraway lands. He corre­ but he is tormented by the slights and sponds with Nobel Prize winners. His persecutions of daily obloquy.. .. The Making of a Dissident name is mentioned in encyclopedias. Every sort of compensation, eventhat I was raised with the right mindset But he is a stranger where he lives. He of celebrity, is refused to him." To be to become a Soviet dissident. My fa­ cannot get a job that would put him in treated as an alien is his punishment ther/ a practicing lawyer for most of the limelight, nor an ordinary job for - to be shunned "like an impure be­ his career/was (and still is) a fierce in­ which he would be overly qualified. ing." If you dissent, then "even those dividualist - not very talkative and He is poor, lives in perpetual insecuri­ who believe in your innocence will not always consistent, but deeply ty, and is vulnerable to the slightest abandon you, lest they should be committed. He was a staunch conser­ accidents of life. His few friends think shunned in their turn." vative and nationalist, but also the he is a fine man, that he will make it/ What de Tocqueville had in mind kind of person who thought that one and wish him good luck. His family was the tyranny of majority opinion should refuse family allowances as a may think he is slightly crazy. The in America, which, he argued, was matter of principle. A practicing Cath­ government does not like him and only a prefiguration of all modem olic (like all small-town Quebecois), makes his life as difficult as it can. democratic societies. I suspect that he he was however a libre-penseur/ and Certainly, the Soviet dissident may have underestimated -the power his bookshelves were crammed with would rather live in Montreal or Paris of free expression in his time. His de­ works on the Index. thjin the Gulag Archipelago. The scription applies more to our day, At the Catholic high school I at­ more totalitarian the country, the easi­ when oversized govemment power tended/ I rapidly became known as a er it is for the government to harass, lends support to, or manipulates, ma­ mauvais esprit, but it took some time persecute, or jail him. In more open jority opinion. De Tocqueville's pre­ for the clerical management to sug­ societies, like ours/the process is dictions apply to all modern democra­ gest that I might be happier else­ more diffused and less easy to recog­ cies, especially the most statist and where, for I had the best grades in my nize - but from the dissident/s point regulated ones -like Canada. class and this was something they re­ of view, not terribly different. I am a Soviet dissident in Canada. spected. lowe a lot to a couple of Alexis de Tocqueville explained in While the follOWing account of my ex­ priests who, for all their faults, taught Democracy in America how "the major­ perience is, of necessity, not objective, me how to write - i.e., how to shuffle ity raises very formidable barriers to it still says something about what our simple words to convey complicated Liberty 45 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

thoughts. Had I gone to public school, those suffered by the people that the In the mid-'70s, I was fortunate to I probably would have missed this American with Disabilities Act pur­ be awarded a fellowship by an Ameri- . lesson. ports to help. He has to be twice as can foundation. I moved to California I left the Church on my eighteenth good as the normal person to have half with my wife and baby son. That was birthday by telling my father that I was the opportunities. There is no affirma­ probably the best and most productive not going to church that day, and in tive action program for him, and even time in my life, as I was able to indulge fact would never go again. Like many if there were, he would resort to i.t only in my research and writing without fi­ individualists, I've avoided beingiden­ in the direst circumstances. Moreover, nancial worries. Out of this stay came tified as a member of a given chapel. I he is subjected to a flurry of laws and my first book, published at a major even try to avoid the libertarian label, regulations that not only violate his Paris publishing house.* though I don't know how else I could ethics and dignity but continuously This was still the time when one characterize my outlook. put obstacles in his path. could open a bank account without a I started down the road to Damas­ Around the time I was becoming a Social Security number and lead a cus in the late '60s, as a graduate Soviet dissident, I held a position as an peaceful life as an illegal alien. This is assistant professor at a major Quebec one of the few crimes I will admit (al­ university. The atmosphere there was though I confessed a few more in my not very congenial to my inquiries, es­ last book). After one year in California, The Soviet dissident defends pecially after the free-market dean who my visa expired. I tried to phone the radical ideas that are incom­ hired me left. This impression of incon­ INS office in San Francisco, but the line prehensible to his contem­ gruence was shared by many of my was always busy. So with a "The heck poraries. sheepish colleagues and all-powerful with the bureaucrats!" I continued to students, and I was not able to stay live peacefully until the birth of my there long. second son. As I suspected, registering Then I had a stint as an analyst the birth raised no problem; we didn't student in economics at the University with a large oil company, where I met have to provide any paper or proof of of Toronto. Many of our teachers were many interesting pro-market business-· anything. The only information the Chicago-type economists, while most men who, alas, were often more prone State of California was interested in of the students (including myself) were to cajoling powerful politicians than was the name and date of birth of the leftists. I never paid much attention to defending liberty. I resigned this job to newborn, and the names, ages, and the small group of Randian "Radicals study for a second graduate degree, in birthplaces of the father and mother. When, one month after the birth, I for Capitalism," who put up propagan­ philosophy, and to do some part-time da stands next to the Trotskyists. Mil­ lecturing in economics. ton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom In Canada, intellectual life has been was on our microeconomics reading almost entirely nationalized. Publish­ If you dissent, even those list, but my classmates' standard rec­ ers rely on government subsidy or pro­ who' believe in your innocence ommendation was, "Don't read this ­ tection. Nearly all social science re­ he's a fascist!" search is done in public institutions, or will abandon you, lest they A couple of years after graduating, else is subsidized directly by govern­ should be shunned in their I decided to read the fascist book. ment bureaus. Quebec still contains turn. Somebody trained as a classical econo­ some nominally private universities, mist (or, for that matter, as a classical but 90% of their budgets comes from lawyer) cannot easily forget the indi­ the state, which approves their pro­ drove back to Quebec with my wife, vidualist foundations of his training. A grams and regulates them intensively. thought that had been insidiously sister, and two sons in the car, I was University professors have academic stopped for (barely) speeding on a creeping into my mind for years finally freedom, but tenure forces them into surfaced: liberty was not in traditional straight, endless, desert road in the the mold. They must teach their stu­ great Western plains. The large-hat leftist ideologies, but in capitalism ­ dents what they want to learn - i.e., as real capitalism. I then read Robert No­ cop, completely'unaware that 600/0 of little as possible. It is better not to have zick, F.A. Hayek, some Ayn Rand, and, his catch were illegal aliens, gave me opinions, not to believe anything that later, David Friedman, Murray Roth­ only a speed warning. goes against the Ptolemaic wisdom, to bard, and others. After reading Capital­ One reason why living a dissident's . have nothing to teach but textbooks. In ism and Freedom, I wrote to its author ­ life has become increasingly difficult in virtually all universities, the teachers who, like all great men, replied to the the Western world is the tightening of are unionized, and departmental as­ young one. Fri'edman put me in touch government controls - tax, ID, immi­ semblies are all-powerful in hiring and with some U.s. organizations devoted gration, etc. The right to ignore the promoting. 'It may be as difficult for a to the ideal of liberty. state was never officially recognized, known libertarian radical to find an ac­ Socially Challenged ademic position here as it was for a So­ The Soviet dissident must over­ viet dissident to be admitted to the * Du libereralisme al'anarcho-capitalisme come a handicap much heavier than U.S.S.R.'s Academy of Science. (Presses Universitaires de France, 1983). 46 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

but its practical exercise used to be island was spread on the floor of· the barring the use of the word "liberty" in possible, to a certain extent... Nowa­ Council of Ministers' boardroom, and our title, stopping the distribution of days, you need state authorization to the minister of agriculture and the the first issue, and forbidding anybody fight the tyrant. minister of economic development to call attention to Liberte-Magazine un­ My return to Canada was difficult. crawled over it hassling over which til the matter was resolved in a future I was still only a small-fry dissident, pieces of land would be expropriated. trial. This court order was issued with­ relatively unknown, and probably not So much for rational economic plan­ out prior warning and without a pub­ very efficient at lobbying for jobs. I had ning. I requested a tape of the program lic hearing, which apparently is not un­ already been called all possible names from the public radio station, but they usual for provisional court orders here. after a series of articles I had authored would only allow me to listen to it at A Soviet dissident cannot be si­ on separatism and for a speech on clas­ their offices and take notes. I went lenced so easily. Despite my lawyer's sicalliberalism I had delivered at a po­ with a portable tape recorder hidden warnings, I contacted a few journalists. litical convention. People thought I under my coat, and recorded it. When Either because they considered the had strong, strange ideas they had nev­ matter unimportant or because they er heard before. For a couple of years, I feared being held in contempt of court could not find any employment. I ap­ themselves, they would not talk about plied to many small colleges but was I met many businessmen it. Then a reporter from a large­ turned down everywhere. who, alas, were often more circulation tabloid phoned me to in­ With two young children to feed, prone to cajoling powerful pol­ quire about the matter. I went out of my wife and I quickly depleted our my way to explain everything and to modest savings. Since I had life insu­ iticians than defending liberty. provide supporting documents. A few rance, the fleeting thought of commit­ days later, a citation for contempt of ting suicide with the gun I had brought court was issued on the basis of an affi­ from the United States crossed my davit sworn by the reporter, who ac­ mind (which shows how dangerous some time later I was consulted by a cused me of having "incited him to guns are), but I decided that a respon­ journalist working on a TV documen­ write an article." Delivered to my sible man with young children does tary, I gave him the tape, which he home at night by a court bailiff, the ci­ not do this. I also thought of becoming broadcasted in his film. tation requested $150,000 in fines and a a drug dealer, which would have been Harassment and three-year jail sentence. a better idea. Beautiful Spies Nobody ever looked into the un­ I submitted many articles to news­ In the early '80s, with the help of a derpinnings of this story, which re­ papers and magazines. These usually few business friends, I created my own main unknown. Anyway, the court paid nothing, but they brought liber­ monthly magazine, Liberte-Magazine. It contempt citation did not make much tarian ideas to the attention of a few was basically a classical liberal maga­ news, even though I was still willing to business executives worried about the zine, though the paucity of editorial re­ talk to whomever was willing to listen. drift away from liberty. This led to sources and the need to keep its busi­ Before this accusation was disposed of, some consulting contracts. The chief of ness support did lead to some a trial was held on the original court the opposition in the National Assem­ conservative compromises. I reflected order. I spent two days in court, facing bly even hired me for some months; a that this society was still, underneath it alone many members of the literary es­ conservative welfarist, this unconven­ all, free - after all, I could start my tablishment; only one of my friends tional politician felt that Soviet dissi­ own magazine without asking any­ came to attend the trial. The judge fi­ dents ought to be heard. Although it is body's permission. Then, right after nally agreed with the suing party and easier to be an enterprising Soviet dis­ the first issue hit the newsstands, a issued a permanent order barring the sident in an open society than a closed strange string of events unfolded. word "liberty" in the magazine title. one, life was still tough. There was a small journal called Li­ We had already changed it, because I pursued my subversive activities, berte, edited by a who's who of the lit­ otherwise nobody would print, distrib­ often making small hits. One day, for erary establishment and heavily subsi­ ute, or advertise in the magazine. The instance, I heard on the radio a speech dized by the federal and provincial contempt fight dragged on and on, un­ excerpt from the then-prime minister governments. I had been barely aware til my accusers more or less backed off, of Quebec (now dead and adulated, of its existence, and would never have probably because it was becoming an with streets named after him in Mon­ thoughtthat "liberty" was a trademark expensive proposition for them and be­ treal and remote villages). He was ex­ of the statist; moreover, the format and cause the case had by then received plaining how the government had de­ the contents of the two publications some public attention. cided which sectors of Laval Island were unmistakably different. Arguing All this did not help the magazine, (north of Montreal) would be zoned that the very name of our magazine in­ which folded after a few issues. I agricultural, thereby forbidding land tentionally created a confusion in the found myself deeply in debt and with owners to sell or subdivide their land public, the. publisher of the literary vanishing support - although some of for commercial or residential purposes. journal - the "Liberty Collective" ­ my business friends did finally take As he told the story, a map of the obtained a provisional court order care of the legal bill. Some friends tried Liberty 47 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

to get me hired as a columnist for one when they both immediately resigned. may have been more discrete, for I of the main Montreal dailies, with no Strangely, most people I meet now never recognized them in any of my success. Very worried about my fami­ seem to think that I was one of· the strange encounters. I suspect that they ly's future, 1 was willing at this point principals in this magazine - a con­ are too politically correct to hire any­ to take any job and, as de Tocqueville venient interpretation of history, as it body other than retired Air Canada said, "to subside into silence." allows them either to explain why it hostesses. A few remaining supporters in the also folded, or to rest confident that the Even without any overt conspira­ business community persuaded an im­ dissidents have had their day. cies against him, the Soviet dissident is portant association with a free-market The Soviet dissident has enemies subjected to much small but nerve­ philosophy to offer me a consulting who will take any occasion to injure racking harassment. Once, I mistaken­ contract, which eventually evolved him. Not believing in efficient conspir­ ly left a copy of a restricted firearm into a position as an economic advisor. acies, 1never discovered any, nor have registration form on a Xerox mach~ne. Although this contract was not very se­ One of my foes at the business associa­ cure, it did allow me to survive, and tion found itand cleverly deduced that provided me over a period of nearly It may be as difficult for a I might have a gun in my office. And ten years with some institutional sup­ known libertarian radical to indeed I did -I often came in late at port. The research and writing 1 was find an academic position here night or over weekends to work on my doing for the association was obvious­ personal writings, and there had been ly useful to them. It also often fell with­ as it was for a Soviet dissident burglaries in our former office build­ in my own fields of interest, and 1 was to be admitted to the Academy ing. Moreover, I am a free man. One able to grapple some time away for my ofScience. day, a police detective unexpectedly own work. 1 published many articles asked for me at the reception desk and and two more books in Paris.* requested that I show him the gun. This was back when you weren't nec­ But my contractual position was I looked for one. I never had my phone essarily deemed a criminal for owning uncomfortable, since 1 had to take care line checked for taps, although 1recent­ a registered handgun, but not comply­ to distinguish my own opinions from ly learned to use PGP ("Pretty Good ing with this request would have been my employers', and to hope that at­ Privacy," the "encryption software for professionally, if not legally, risky. tacks on me were not deflected onto the masses") for sensitive e-mail: even When I showed him the Smith & Wes­ them. 1 now realize, and acknowledge, paranoids sometimes have real ene­ son in my desk drawer, the policeman the personal risks some officers of the mies. Anyway, 1 was too busy defend­ saw that it was not loaded, although a association took on my behalf. One edi­ ing the victims of whatever attacks the torial writer singled me out in her Powers That Be can wage. 1wrote arti­ ready speed-loader was right beside the revolver. The cop mumbled some­ paper as the business association's cles, and later a book,t in defense of "outrageously libertarian economic ad­ Michael Milken and other honest in­ thing to the effect that there was noth­ viser." (At least 1 had taught her the side traders. My wife wondered why I ing to make a fuss about, and left. word "libertarian.") would defend people who did nothing Today, with the new Canadian fire­ Respectable people continued to for me in return. arm controls, they would seize the gun and I would be charged with a crimi­ distance themselves from the Soviet About the time my third book, on dissident. A few years after the failure anarcho-capitalism, appeared ina pock­ nal offense. Soviet dissidents can't pro­ of x;ny magazine, a small group of clas­ et-encyclopedia collection that was tect themselves, and their increasing sicalliberals and conservatives ~ with well-known and widely read in France, dependency is a great victory for the a high proportion of the latter - start­ 1was invited to lunch in Montreal, and tyrant. ed another one. Although one could then to dinner in Paris, by a man who Occupational Hazards argue that it transmitted the wrong im­ was probably a French counter-spy In the late '80s, a group of "prag­ age of liberty, it did provide a much­ (from the DST, or Direction de la Surveil­ matic" businessmen decided the busi­ needed outlet for classical liberal writ­ lance Territoire). He obviously wanted ness association was too dogmatic, ings, and a few friends of mine were to know who 1was and what 1was up fired the top management, and regular. contributors. However, to to. Just as in the movies, I had been set brought in a new team. Even before avoid being seen as too radical, the up for these meetings by a beautiful the change of guard was completed, principals cleverly decided not to in­ 20-year-old secret agent - who, unfor­ they reallocated office space and asked volve me. Their editorial committee tunately, did not complete her mission. me to work from home. That was fine even rejected one of the two or three (I would have talked much more on with me, but I wasn't surprised a few articles 1 later submitted; 1 knew I had the pillow - were I not married, of months later to learn that my contract two real friends on the committee course.) The Canadian secret police would not be renewed. I was back to square one. 1 always had a few loyal friends in * La souverainete de l'individu (Presses Universitaires de France, 1987); and L'anarcho­ the business community, even if not capitalisme (Presses Universitaires de France, 1988). many of them would go out of their t Apolgie des sorcieres modernes (Les Belles Lettres, 1991). way to support the cause of liberty. 48 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

Some of us attempted to start a free­ the academic from whom I've received need to have me arrested, since I was market institute in Montreal. After the greatest practical support is a proudly buying and smoking them. months of meetings and reports, we Marxist turned social democrat (but a His reply was friendly but skirted the managed to raise only a few miserable personal friend). The problem is, he be­ question, and I am still waiting for his thousand dollars. came a university president, a political goons. I have often observed that it is position with little leeway. And being I was struck by the progress of sta­ mainly among the businessmen that admired by the general gives the sol­ tism in Canada during the few years I one finds whatever liberal and individ­ diers yet another. reason to reject the had been away. The value-added tax ualist instinct remains: they are the dissident. introduced by the federal government only ones who know of a world where In the late '80s, some American and implied new reporting requirements individuals and entrepreneurs live by French friends offered me an opportu­ and tax controls for any businessman voluntary relations and make responsi­ nity to earn a living in France. I wel­ ble decisions. With growing govern­ comed the chance to substitute one ty­ ment subsidies and intervention, rant for another, and moved to Paris A citation was issued on the though, many corporate executives with my family. I survived quite suc­ and even small businessmen have be­ cessfully in Paris' more lively, less Toc­ basis of an affidavit sworn by come players in the political game and quevillian intellectual environment. the reporter, who accused me of lost all sense of liberty. Not only did I pursue my subversive having Uincited him to write One would think that in a polar­ intellectual activities and publish an­ ized, bi-P.C. society like Quebec, the other book,* but I also got an interest­ an article." It requested Soviet dissident would find support in ing consulting contract with a major $150,000 in fines and a three­ one group or the other. Not really. The French company. year jail sentence. majority - in Quebec, the French­ I returned to Montreal, mainly for speaking Quebecois - keeps a good family reasons. Some friends in the distance from the dissident, as it (with Montreal business community had good reason) suspects him of being in­ missed their national Soviet dissident, or independent professional trying to clined to side with minorities. The mi­ and offered me an opportunity to justi­ earn a living on the market. The tax nority, meanwhile, won't touch him fy my move. They told me they were and customs bureaucracies had be­ with a ten-foot pole, for fear of endan­ willing to "take a certain amount of come noticeably more powerful and in­ gering their already tarnished public heat" on my behalf, but their resolu­ trusive. Firearm controls had been, and image. Quebec separatists resent those tion did not survive the first economic are being, tightened to the point of downturn. This was followed by an near prohibition. As a reflection of all unusual and more or less unofficial ar­ this, total public expenditures now ex­ Since I had life insurance, rangement as a visiting professor, of­ ceed 50% of GDP, a first in peace and fered by my friend the university presi­ wartime. In all, a bad country for a So­ the fleeting thought ofcommit­ dent. This last arrangement has now viet dissident. ting suicide crossed my mind. run its course, and the Soviet dissident is back to square minus one. The Economics of Dissent I also thought of becoming a There is dissent and there is dis­ As I glide over thousands of events, drug dealer, which would have let me mention that after having quit sent. There is Scharansky and there is been a better idea. smoking for nearly 15 years, I started Yevtushenko. There is radical criticism again. This is mainly a result of occu­ and there is official opposition. One pational hazards: the Soviet dissident's must distinguish the real, Soviet dissi­ who take aim at their national tyrant, stress, the sensuous atmosphere of dents from the false, official dissidents. as I often did at the beginning of my France, and one lunch with Fernando One sort of false dissident is that of dissenting career, while Canadian Arrabal, who ordered Havanas. But I the politically correct, who basically es­ "federalists" don't appreciate attacks am also doing my civic duty by resist­ pouse the intellectual mainstream and on their preferred tyrant, which I've ing the new state puritanism. In this only push its logic farther. They criti­ done a lot more recently as the central day and age, smoking is, as they say, a cize the government for not doing tyrant became more dangerous. "social responsibility." I smoked in my enough, or attack the actual state in the And businessmen, even persecuted university office, where P.C. regula­ name of the state that could be. Be­ ones, prefer to lie low and reach tions were not really enforced. When cause they bring grist to the mill of accommodations. the Quebec government introduced state power, they are not only tolerated I had a few friends in the academic steep fines for smoking contraband cig­ but also heavily subsidized through community too, but none who could arettes, I wrote the minister of public the nationalization of academia, cultu­ get me a university appointment. An security a letter saying that he would ral policy, and trade union protection. internationally renowned University of They have taken over most public in­ Montreal criminologist tried, to no stitutions, and university departments avail, to persuade the Department of * Le droit de porter des armes (Les Belles are full of them. At least in the social Economics to hire me. Paradoxically, Lettres, 1992). sciences, you are pretty sure to get an Liberty 49 Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

academic appointment if you are a '60s created by state intervention. The more intellectual establishment or the jour­ activist, a former unionist or politician nationalized a society is, the more the nalists' unions. - in brief, a docile member of the in­ Soviet dissident is forced to finance the Most of my books have been favor­ tellectual flock. It does not matter public good he provides himself. I did ably reviewed by the Montreal French whether or not you have a Ph.D. or much of this over the years, devoting a press, sometimes with glamorous in­ "the equivalent," or even if you don't sizable portion of my scarce resources terviews. I also gave a fair number of have a Master's degree. (including time) to subversive intellec­ interviews on radio and TV stations, al­ The real dissident, the Soviet dissi­ tual activities. beit quite interspersed in time. Often, dent, is something else. Since he radi­ Bertrand de Jouvenel argued that the media only need a pet radical to cally questions the existing order, the forced redistribution of income de­ parade to the masses. Yet more than doors of the intellectual institutions are stroys the elite that would privately fi­ once I have met producers and inter­ closed to him, unless he has two Ph.D.s nance the provision of public or cultu­ viewers who were libre-penseurs genu­ from Harvard and Berkeley or got his ral goods, including literary salons, inely interested in the dissident's ideas. appointment when he was 20. He finds large receptions and dinners, and other These people generally haunt the fed­ bureaucratic obstacles everywhere, in­ erally owned Canadian Broadcasting cluding in the heavily unionized press. Corporation, not the private radio or This asymmetry means lots of false dis­ I am doing my civic duty by TV stations. This is not as paradoxical sidents agitating for more government as it may seem. Public radio and TV power, and very few Soviet dissidents resisting the new puritanism. are divorced from the market, and fighting tyranny. In this day and age, smoking is among the disproportionate number of I don't mean to disparage all intel­ a social responsibility. intellectuals they have attracted, you lectuals and academics who hold es­ are bound to find a few foes of political tablished positions, for I know among authority. Private stations, meanwhile, them a few quasi-Soviet dissidents mainly cater to the debilitating tastes productive socializing activities. One who have done much to promote liber­ of their fin de siecle audiences. Radio­ of my tiny contributions to keeping ty. Neither do I want to imply that Quebec, the provincially owned TV these alive was, in 1986, to declare character traits and the random acci­ network, is the counterexample. It March 15 the International Day of the dents of life bear no responsibility for combines all the failures: decadence, Individual. At least we now had one the real Soviet dissident's difficulties. sheepishness, and implicit (or perhaps non-collectivist international day, even Unless he is a professional hustler, the if only a handful of individuals knew even explicit) political control. Need­ Soviet dissident does not know when it. To celebrate the first International less to say, it seldom invites Soviet dis­ his exclusion is caused by the Tocque­ Day of the Individual, I organized a sidents, or does so only, as once hap­ ville syndrome, personality clashes, fancy-dress ball at my Montreal apart­ pened, to set up a trap. personal jealousy, or the lack of any or­ ment, which I financed with whatever On CBC radio in Montreal, there ganized dissident network. Some dissi­ money was left after the highwayman was recently an impromptu, on-air de­ dents are more efficient than others at had passed. The neighborhood news­ bate between the morning man and fighting by the rules. My main point paper turned the event into a one-page one of his regular contributors. The lat­ here is twofold: growing statism makes feature. ter had read some of my writings on it more and more difficult to promote The Soviet dissident living in Cana­ the right to keep and bear arms, and he liberty while abiding by the rules; and da does have access to a free press, naively suggested that some conven­ there is an unwritten rule that the clos­ doesn't he? Over the last 15 years, tional wisdom might have to be recon­ et dissident is better off not openly probably half the articles I submitted sidered. This brought the wrath of the supporting the real one. to Canadian publications were accept­ P.C. morning man, who tried to ques­ Real dissent is a public good that ed. The traditionally Catholic and now tion my credibility. He even resorted to you cannot expect government to pro­ social democratic Montreal daily Le De­ one of Quebec's oldest xenophobic in­ vide. In a free society, it is provided by voir did not treat me badly, even before sults: "Moreover, he is a Frenchman." private institutions, wealthy patrons, I had published books in Paris. Three Who else but a Frenchman could ever and other independent social authori­ of my article series even made it to contradict what everybody thinks are ties. But independent social powers their front page, and I should have articles of faith? The irony is that I was have been all but destroyed by central­ been more grateful to a couple of their born in Canada 300 years after my ized governments. Wealthy patrons editors who probably incurred much Norman ancestors touched shore, have been decimated by tax loads ­ risk in doing so. I have not been of­ while my attacker is himself an immi­ the Canadian government even denies fered the front page recently, but the grant from ... France, whose nice-talk tax-deductible donations to non-P.C. proportion of my pieces accepted for and newspeak must have seduced research organizations. As for private publication has come close to 100%. some moron in the CBC management. firms, they are either scared of offend­ Mind you, the dissident does this for Fortunately, the Western Soviet dis­ ing the state or its trade union crea­ free, and no media would offer him a sident still has an advantage that was tures, or they have lost any leeway regular column, lest he get some real unknown to his predecessor in the through difficult economic conditions influence and alienate the all-powerful Communist bloc: access to cheap and 50 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 Janu 1995

efficient communications technology. Obviously, the Soviet dissident is I was the only one out of seven million As long as the state does not succeed in not morally obliged to refuse all gov­ to repeatedly question Quebec's tyran­ taming or killing this tool, a single dis­ ernment money when this would con­ nicallaws forbidding anybody but offi­ sident is multiplied manyfold. Had I demn him to starvation and stop him cial parties to spend their resources on not gotten my first personal computer from producing the public good of re­ expressing their opinions in electoral in 1986, I could not have done a frac­ sistance. The problem with govern­ or referendum campaigns. I often suc­ tion of all I've accomplished. And since ment money mainly lies in the danger ceeded in deflecting the terms of the I went on e-mail more than two years of corrupting the dissident's sense of debates toward the real issues - like ago and started exploring cyberspace, I personal dignity and affecting his will­ the rights issue in firearm controls. I have been able to establish more con­ ingness to fight. brought up topics that mainstream aca­ tacts in the world than in the ten pre­ demics were to consider only years ceding years. The Cost of Influence What is perhaps most difficult for The most difficult challenges for a the Soviet dissident is making his per­ Soviet dissident may be to avoid cyni­ The most difficult challeng­ sonallife as congruent as possible with cism and not let his personal difficul­ his beliefs. In a statist society, you can­ ties taint his opinions, his relations es may be to avoid cynicism not avoid taking advantage of govern­ with his children, or his loyalty to his and not let his difficulties taint ment programs, if only because health friends. This last moral requirement is his opinions, his relations with care is nationalized and private schools especially difficult to fulfill, as it is subsidized heavily. But I think I have sometimes difficult to distinguish real his children, or his loyalty to done as well as one can: my children from false friends. On this point, I his friends. never went to day care centers and al­ might have some confessions to make, ways attended private schools (with but this is not the place for an auto­ the exception of one year in a village critique before the large masses. Once in a while, perhaps when he later, Le., after they noticed that they nursery school), and we never asked were debated in the U.S. or France. reaches his mid-life crisis, the dissident for government scholarships. For the What my influence will have been wonders if whatever influence he has last two years, I did not claim family in Quebec is too soon to tell, but I sus­ had was worth it. His childhood bud­ allowances. And, of course, I never pect that most of it will have been indi­ dies, his university classmates, his. col­ took a cent in unemployment insu­ rect and anonymous. I have often seen leagues before he became a Soviet dis­ rance or welfare. ideas I just put forward attacked, sident, even his present personal An alternative approach is to sometimes in government press confer­ friends - most of them have had se­ scrounge as much as possible of the ences, without my name being men­ cure jobs and regular incomes for dec­ money that was stolen in taxes. Stealing tioned. That's their first rule: don't give ades, own a house and a pension fund, credit to a seemingly credible can show a positive net worth to their dissident. bankers, and don't have to worry each In 1986, I declared March One recent (happy) event illustrates month about how they will pay. the this last point. After my book, articles, 15 the International Day ofthe rent, the school bills, or the car install­ and interviews had raised some hell on ments. True, their own mid-life crises Individual. Now we have at firearm controls, the main Quebec bring forth other kinds of concerns: the least one non-collectivist inter­ newsmagazine sent a reporter to nearing peak of their careers, problems Washington and ran a feature inter­ national day, even if only a with their bosses, only making it once view on self-defense with attorney to Paris and San Francisco, the mean­ handful know it. Jeffrey Snyder. I had not yet met Jeff, ing of their lives, and, perhaps, the va­ but I had publicized the great article he cuity of their servitude. But most of wrote in the fall 1993 issue of The Pub- them have an easy life. from the thief is no theft. In academia, , lie Interest - just as my book on the What is the Soviet dissident's influ­ you cannot avoid this. I confess that my right to bear arms came out in Paris. So ence? In my own case, I think I can say recent two-year visiting professorship I was delighted that Snyder received that many of the debates that were to at a public university was partly fi­ this unusual press coverage here. In (softly) agitate Quebec society at some nanced bya federal grant. But, as the the presentation of the interview, the point were started under my pen, at a president said, the money had been reporter did mention my book (which time when nobody thought there was a laundered by the university. had not been reviewed in her maga­ matter for debate. Nearly 15 years ago, zine). One of my sons remarked that it I was the first, in a major feature in was just as if they had said: "We went L'Aetualite magazine, to question cor­ Erratum to Katmandu to interview one of the The recent biography of Kenneth Rex­ and regulations in the con­ poratism inventors of the four-hole button. Inci­ roth referred to in Richard Kostelanetz's struction trades. About the same time, "The Critic, Years After" (December 1994) dentally, the co-inventor lives here in I was also the first, in a series of front­ was written by Linda Hamalian, not Linda Quebec." But just a few years ago, the Hamilton. page Le Devoir articles, to report on the typical reporter would have taken libertarian movement. For many years, continued on page 68 Liberty 51 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 Dispute

Minds, Drugs, and the State

There is mind, and there is body, and between the two the war ever rages. Pharmacists supply some of the biggest guns.

related to the biochemical states in the in altering specific aspects of brain bio­ Comment brain. You can change your brain's bio­ chemistry and causing a change in chemistry by changing your behavior; emotions and/or behavior. This can be Better Living Through you can also change your behavior by very useful to distressed people. (Voluntary) Chemistry altering your brain's biochemistry. Farber approvingly quotes Peter Behavior, emotions, and the under­ Breggin's comment that psychiatric by Sandy Shaw lying biochemistry are just different as­ drugs are part and parcel of a "multi­ pects of the same thing, just as steel billion-dollar psychopharmaceuti­ Seth Farber's "The Bedlamming of girders and iron atoms are different as­ cal complex that pushes biological and America" (December 1994) attacks co­ pects of the same building. The physi­ genetic theories as well as drugs on so­ ercive psychiatric hospitalization - in cal and chemical properties of iron at­ ciety" (35). I am sure there are many particular, the practice of drugging in­ oms are directly related to the physical asinine theories out there. But Farber mates into a stupor to make them and chemical properties of steel gird­ has overlooked the fact that there is a more controllable. More of this kind of ers. You could not change the basic coercion, he explains, will occur under properties of one without changing the Clinton's health "reforms." While I other. Behavior, emotions, and the agree with his conclusion about Clin­ Elsewhere Farber writes: "Since the ton's takeover of medical care, there underlying biochemistry are feelings of distress and unhappiness are two things about this article that that lead people to seek psychiatric just different aspects of the bother me: (1) Farber fails to distinguish be­ help are not medical in nature, except same thing, just as steel gird­ tween involuntary and voluntary drug when they are actually physically ill, it ers and iron atoms are different use. is not surprising that the mental health aspects of the same building. (2) He seems to believe that genetic system has been so unsuccessful in or medical theories of mental function solving them" (37). I do not know ex­ are all invalid. actly what Farber means by "the men­ well-developed and rapidly growing Farber tells us of·the horrors of a tal health system" or being "actually scientific literature that reports on bio­ study by the National Institute of physically ill," but I am quite familiar logical and genetic theories of mental Mental Health: "the NIMH study is with work on psychobiochemistry re­ function, including learning, memory, based on the questionable assumption ported in such respected peer­ depression, anxiety, sexual behavior, that unhappiness has nothing to do reviewed research journals as Science impulsive violence, and more. Where with' anything in individuals' lives, and Nature. Distress and unhappiness have Farber and Breggin been? A but is a manifestation of a medical or are not floating abstractions with no search of the National Library of Medi­ biological disorder requiring medical connection to physical reality; every cine's MEDLARS database on, for ex­ intervention" (p. 36). I do not know emotion, every thought, every physical ample, the effects of the neurotrans­ what the NIMH study actually said, act depends upon the brain's biochemi­ mitter serotonin on behavior (including since I didn't read it. But I do know cal states, including the movement of impulsive violence, suicide, and obses­ that, while it is undeniably true that chemical messengers called neurotrans­ sive-compulsive behavior) yields hun­ unhappiness is related to what a per­ mitters that carry information between dreds of studies. son does and what happens to him/ nerve cells. There are many modern Antidepressant drugs that increase her, it is also true that unhappiness is psychiatric drugs that are very effective serotonin activity, such as Prozac, have 52 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

benefited millions of people - taking chemistry is offering millions of peo­ is not based on informed awareness of them voluntarily - providing them ple a freedom of choice that has never the benefits and risks of particular with increased confidence and self­ existed before: an ability to turn your­ drugs. How could it be, when the gov­ respect. Some puritans find this ob­ self into the person you want to be by ernment-licensed drug pushers known noxious because, without any appar­ directly intervening in biochemical as psychiatrists, who are venerated by ent self-denial, one can increase his or processes. Libertarians should cele­ the public, will go to any extreme to her mental and/or physical perfor­ brate, not oppose, this option. CI market their drugs? How could it be, mance and happiness by taking the when they have no compunction right pill. Does Farber fall into this References against withholding from their custom­ These are just a few examples of the category? ers the facts about tardive dyskinesia, On page 38, Farber comments that scientific work that has been done in the field of psychobiochemistry. Interested no moral qualms about using their au­ "Large segments of the American pop­ readers should also examine CA Selects: thority to persuade nervous parents ulation are now on toxic psychotropic Psychobiochemistry, published by the Amer­ that a restless or energetic three-year drugs." This may be true in some cas­ ican Chemical Society. Each issue of this old has a biochemical imbalance that es, but why doesn't Farber at least al­ biweekly journal contains nearly 400 ab­ can only be corrected by ampheta­ lude to the existence of many useful stracts of recent scientific papers on psy­ mines? How can consent be informed and reasonably safe psychiatric drugs chobiochemistry. A MEDLARS search when the government itself is involved that are also part of the pharmaceuti­ (which can be done at any university med­ in this conspiracy? Is it cynical to ex­ cal industry and modern psychiatry? ical library) of several thousand indexed pect that the FDA will deem Prozac As with any powerful technology, biomedical journals is recommended for "safe" and "effective" when five out of the unpersuaded. these drugs must be used with care the ten members of their Psychophar­ Ader et al., Psychoneuroimmunology. Aca­ and responsibility. But that doesn't macologic Drugs Advisory Committee mean they shouldn't be used. demic Press, 1991. Anisman et al., "Noradrenergic and Dopam­ had ongoing relations with the manu­ Some people are using certain nu­ facturers of antidepressant drugs? trient supplements to alter their men­ inergic Interactions in Escape Behavior: Shaw is correct on one point: I do tal state, and there has been a fairly Analysis of Uncontrollable Stress Effects," not accept the medical theory of mental large amount of research on this sub­ Psychopharmacology 74:263-268 (1981). illness. That does not mean that I am ject. But no psychiatric patients are be­ Linnoila et al., "Low Cerebrospinal Fluid 5-Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid Concentra­ unaware that there is a relation be­ ing forced to take vitamins, minerals, tion Differentiates Impulsive from Non­ tween the mind and the body, and a and amino acids. Using nutrients to impulsive Violent Behavior," Life Sciences correlation between mental and physi­ alter brain biochemistry is likely to be 33:2609-2614 (1983). cal states. But - need it be stated safer than using xenobiotic drugs Nutrition and the Brain, volumes 1-5. Ra­ again? - correlation is not causation. De­ (substances not normally found in the ven Press, 1977-1979. human body). spite decades of trying, mental health Osborne (ed.), Biology of Serotonergic Trans­ professionals have failed to prove that Unfortunately, the FDA doesn't al­ mission. Wiley, 1982. low those who manufacture or sell nu­ human unhappiness is genetically Seiden and Dykstra, Psychopharmacology: A caused or the manifestation of illness. trient supplements to make any claims Biochemical and Behavioral Approach. Van of improved performance or mental Nostrand Reinhold, 1977. Yet they have managed to sell their the­ ories to the American public, to con­ attitude for them. The FDA is unlikely Wolkowitz et al., "A Psychopharmacolog­ to permit nutrient supplement compa­ ical Perspective of Cognitive Functions," vince millions of people who are un­ nies to provide much information on Neuropsychobiology 14:133-156 (1985). happy for real reasons that they are the relation between "structure and constitutionally defective, thus instill­ function" (which is supposedly al­ Response ing in them the seeds of self-contempt, lowed under the recently passed rendering them even more unhappy, Hatch-Harkin bill). Truthful state­ When Pushers and sending them scurrying to psychia­ ments about structure and function Come To Shove trists for their quick drug fix and a pat are not health claims at all, but state­ on the head to help attenuate the inse­ ments of well-established chemical re­ by Seth Farber curities that the mental health profes­ lationships; for example, that vitamin sionals have worked so hard to culti­ C is required for the body's manufac­ vate. They have managed to obscure ture of collagen or that neurons can I fail to distinguish, Sandy Shaw the interpersonal, environmental, and make the neurotransmitter serotonin states, between involuntary and volun­ political causes of unhappiness, render­ from the nutrient amino acid trypto­ tary drug use. I agree with her that this ing people helpless to alleviate their phan, along with cofactors vitamins distinction is useful, and unlike "some problems. B-6 and C, copper, and folic acid. But puritans," I do not advocate abstaining This perpetuates the social crisis the FDA believes - rightly - that from all mood-altering substances. But that disposes many to look to the men­ even that much information would this distinction fails to take into account tal health system as a scientific beacon threaten its attempts to strictly limit the fact that most psychiatric drug usage of salvation - and leads a small group the use of nutrient supplements. (even when uncoerced) is not voluntary of dissidents to recognize it as the Increasing knowledge of brain bio- in any meaningful sense of the term: it Grand Inquisitor in modern garb. 0 Liberty 53 The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, by didn't. They chose to discuss the social Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray. Free Press, 1994, 845 pp. $30.00. implications of intelligence and to challenge one of the most highly charged of present-day taboos. Murray may reap the traditional reward: ostra­ cism. (Herrnstein died shortly before Not to the Swift, the book's publication.) Herrnstein and Murray offer two reasons for taking intelligence serious­ But to the Smart ly. First, they provide evidence that low intelligence correlates closely with poverty, illegitimacy, and crime. The implication is that if we had fewer peo­ They also report that intelligence is JaneS. Shaw ple of low intelligence, we would have at least partly inherited. They estimate fewer social ills. Thus, steps that im­ that somewhere between 40% and 80% prove the intelligence of the underclass The media buzz over The Bell Curve of cognitive ability is passed on geneti­ - if such a thing is possible, a point may lead the unwary reader to think cally. This finding is not new, either; which hasn't been determined - are that the book is obsessed with race and everyone knows that bright children good for society. intelligence. In fact, this subject is only are likely to be born to bright parents, Second, The Bell Curve argues that one segment of a book that aims to and dull children to dull parents. an efficient sorting process based on make three major points: So why the firestorm of outrage? cognitive ability is creating a new and (1) Intelligence can be measured Because the authors have linked these dangerous power elite. If correct, this is and is important in predicting perfor­ findings to suggest that blacks are less an important inSight. mance in jobs and other aspects of life; intelligent, on average, than whites (al­ According to Herrnstein and Mur­ (2) Over the past few decades, high­ though there are plenty of blacks who ray, this trend took off in the 1960s, ly intelligent people have been segre­ are more intelligent than plenty of when large numbers of bright young gating themselves into a IIcognitive whites), and that a major cause of this men and women began to go to col­ elite" that is increasingly powerful and difference is genetic, not environmental. lege, the brightest attending the most isolated from the rest of society; and Furthermore, while linking race and elite schools. The authors illustrate this (3) Ethnic groups differ in their av­ intelligence is not the book's major fo­ process by noting the dramatic rise in erage intelligence, thanks in large part cus - it is not brought up until the thir­ the SAT scores of incoming Harvard to genetic inheritance. teenth chapter - once it is introduced, students between 1952 and 1960. In The bitter controversy over the last the authors present it with single­ eight years, Harvard changed from a point has not erupted because the au­ minded determination. They do not sof­ finishing school for the social elite to a thors, Charles Murray and the late ten their message or make it more palat­ university for people with high intelli­ Richard Herrnstein, have introduced able by discussing the varying IQs of gence. The authors argue that this is any shocking new information. Rather, racial subgroups, as Thomas Sowell only an extreme example of an intellec­ they have reported, in exhaustive and does. They make the reader swallow tual stratification that has gone on for unflinching detail, their analyses of the the bitter pill without sugarcoating. several decades. psychological studies of race and intel­ It's almost as though there are two Earlier in the century, the vast ma­ ligence. They find that on most IQ tests books inside this 845-page volume. One jority of smart people didn't go to col­ blacks score lower, on average, than is a stern and depressing discussion of lege at all - certainly not to elite whites, by about 15 points or one stan­ race and intelligence and its implica­ schools like Harvard. In 1900 only 2% dard deviation; Asians score a little tions (mostly, for affirmative action pro­ of the nation's 23-year-olds had re­ higher than whites, by about three grams). The other is a much longer ceived college degrees. Even if all were points or so. (You can read essentially book, a broad discussion of intelligence among the smartest people, it is evi­ the same message in Thomas Sowell's and its social impact. 1'd certainly be dent that many highly intelligent peo­ new book Race and Culture, leavened happier if they had written two books ple didn't go to college at all. That has with more detail about subgroups and and let the one about race be published changed. The sorting process has be­ a more upbeat discussion.) in an obscure university press. But they come highly efficient; sorting by col- 54 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 lege is followed by sorting by occupa­ The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life, by tion and even marriage. Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray. Free Press, 1994, 845 pp. $30.00. The most dangerous potential effect of this process is a growing separation between the intellectual elite and the rest of society, especially the under­ class, which the authors contend is Politically Sensitive heavily weighted with people of low cognitive ability. Admitting that they are being somewhat apocalyptic, they Science warn of a coming 1/custodial state" in which the smart upper class protects it­ self with a grim "expanded welfare state for the underclass," an increasing­ Leland B. Yeager how certain variables are related when ly totalitarian "high-tech and more lav­ "corrected" for the influence of others. ish version of the Indian reservation for Lengthy appendices show the numeri­ some substantial minority of the na­ In The Bell Curve, Richard Herrn­ cal details of the authors' calculations. tion's population." To forestall this stein and Charles Murray investigate Measured intelligence turns out to nightmare, Herrnstein and Murray rec­ relations between intelligence and vari­ be associated with educational attain­ ommend a number of steps, ranging ous indicators of successful lives and ment, income, socioeconomic status, from changes in immigration policy social pathology. and civic responsibility (proxied, for ex­ that would encourage competence as a Their methods are primarily statisti­ ample, by voting). The authors find low criterion for entry to simplifying bu­ cal. They make heavy use of the Na­ intelligence associated with low positive reaucratic regulations that hold people tional Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a attainments and with crime, births out who are cognitively weak back from representative sample of 12,686 Ameri­ of wedlock, low birth weight of babies, opening shops and running businesses. can men and women aged 14 to 22 at unemployment or absence from the la­ Other recommendations include the start of the study in 1979 who have bor force, and enrollment on welfare. In­ abolishing welfare been followed ever telligence appears to playa distinct role; (Murray, of course, ~::\ since. Dropouts it and education are far from the same has argued that ,,~\\ from the sample thing. Herrnstein and Murray do not case persuasively have been kept maintain that the correlations they find before) and restor­ few, and the quali­ would persist, and to the same degree, ing more functions ty of the data, under radically changed circumstances. to neighborhoods, gathered by the It is easy to question whether intelli­ so more people can National Opinion gence, socioeconomic status, and the find "valued plac­ Research Council like are measurable. Herrnstein and es" in communities under the supervi­ Murray take such questions seriously, regardless of their sion of experts at citing abundant evidence that IQ and intelligence. They Ohio State Uni­ similar tests do indeed measure some also argue.for sim­ versity, has been actual quality, called g, or general intel­ plifying rules about judged excellent. ligence. They also confront questions of what constitutes a The survey brings whether the tests might not be vitiated crime and what ob­ detailed informa­ by the "cultural biases" so routinely ligations marriage tion on childhood but vaguely invoked. It would be a rare demands. (The rela­ environment, pa­ critic, I suspect, who could raise plausi­ tively new practice rental socioeco­ ble objections that the authors have not of forcing unwed fa­ nomic status, sub­ already carefully considered. thers to. pay child support by­ sequent educational and The ingenuity of Hermstein, Mur­ passes marriage; Herrnstein and occupational achievement, ray, and other researchers in measuring Murray think that the obligations of work history, and family forma- psychological and social variables and wedlock should be clear, and that the tion together with measures of intel­ in finding apparently reliable associa­ institution should be returned to its "for­ ligence. Herrnstein and Murray also tions among them testifies that social merly unique legal status.") employ meta-analysis, systematically science need not be a mere refuge for They also recommend redirecting pulling together, evaluating, and com­ fuzzy thinkers. It can be a challenging (to some extent) public education mon­ bining the findings of hundreds of oth­ enterprise. Work like theirs goes far to­ ey from serving the disadvantaged, er researchers' studies. They take pains ward dispelling the snobbish condes­ which hasn't worked very well, to pro­ to explain their procedures. Useful cension with which we economists too viding a better education for the gifted. analogies aid their exposition. Ingeni­ often dismiss "sociology." Herrnstein Right now, a minuscule portion of ous diagrams portray the results of and Murray are indeed doing science continued on page 58 their multiple regressions, showing - framing hypotheses, thinking of Liberty 55 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 what observations would tend to dis­ elite of intelligence increasingly confine Today, the unnecessary complexity credit some hypotheses and leave oth­ their professional and social contacts of life gives the intellectual elite still ers looking better, and then hunting for and their marriages to each other, be­ further opportunities to outrun the oth­ the facts and doing the calculations. coming ever-more isolated from the ers. It multiplies demands for lawyers They also conscientiously point out oc­ lower strata. Differential reproduction - and in the adversarial business, be­ casional anomalies requiring further re­ rates between these classes make for an ing absolutely top-notch is worth vastly search. Even the reader who opens The overall dysgenic effect. At the bottom more than being merely very good. Bell Curve already harboring some of society, poverty, drugs, and crime (Here the theory of positional goods ex­ are rampant, and the traditional family pounded by Fred Hirsch and Robert decays. For the most unfortunate, tech­ Frank would come into the story.) Not only technology but nology is no boon but, through TV, "an Growing burdens on entrepreneurs, in­ also the increasing complexity electronic opiate." In the information cluding tight government restrictions age, technology seems to be developing on occupational testing and the de facto of life and the increasing cen­ in ways that put a growing premium mandating of quotas obstruct the crea­ tralization of authority are on brains and render hard-to-train tion of jobs. (Relevant here is the work eroding the relative status of workers ever more a glut on the labor of Richard A. Epstein.) In particular ­ market. Not only technology but also so I conjecture - burdens on employ­ the less intelligent. the increasing complexity of life and ers obstruct innovative experiments in the increasing centralization of authori­ enhancing the market values and self­ ty are eroding the relative status of the esteem of less intelligent workers. Most notions about it can share its authors' less intelligent. generally, policymakers and their con­ evident excitement in their quest and Education does not appear to offer stituents should avoid presumptuously some suspense about what detailed an easy way out. Barring some unfore­ supposing that legislation, regulation, conclusions they will reach. seen revolution in teaching technology, and lawsuits can solve any problem, Some of their findings are political­ all the fine rhetoric about "investing in ly awkward. This raises the question of human capital" will not overturn stark whether the authors are pursuing a po­ reality: "For many people, there is Herrnstein and Murray's litical agenda. No scientific findings, of nothing they can learn that will repay course, can be guaranteed correct and own findings may be unpleas­ the cost of the teaching" (p. 520). ant, but serving one's values immune to revision, and no work of Between the two extremes, the mass this scope can be free of error. (A trivial of the nation finds their lives shaped by - even deeply humanitarian example: the last three endnotes of the power of the few and the plight of chapter 22, promised by the usual su­ values - presupposes perceiv­ the underclass. Civility erodes, as does perscripted numbers, are nowhere to ing reality correctly. the prevalent sense of right and wrong. be found.) But this reviewer, anyway, Herrnstein and Murray worry about could find none of the usual signs of the possibility of a Latin American­ dishonesty or biased sloppiness, and I actual or contrived. They should take to style "custodial state": driven by guilt, doubt that dishonest researchers would heart the law of unintended conse­ condescension, paternalism, and fear, offer potential critics so many details quences. They should beware of gurus and citations to challenge if in fact they the elites will keep the unintelligent attuned less to science than to ideologi­ decently fed and housed, but had committed misrepresentation. As cal fashion, political expediency, and things now stand, Herrnstein and Mur­ marginalized. character assassination. ray have earned a strong presumption In their worries and diagnoses and Race is not Herrnstein and Murray's of intellectual integrity. in their very tentative suggestions for main topic. This point deserves empha­ Besides reporting their research, the how to build a society in which all can sis, since commentators (including me) authors discuss why the topics they in­ live together in mutual respect, each tend to emphasize topics made exciting vestigate are important. They offer person filling a valued role from which by controversy or taboo. Still, Herrn­ frank conjectures about social trends he would be missed, Herrnstein and stein and Murray can hardly avoid ob­ and policy implications. They worry Murray come across to me as deeply serving racial patterns in the course of about increasing intelligence-based humanitarian. They simply are not in­ their research. In agreement with doz­ stratification of American society, espe­ sensitive or mean-spirited. They are de­ ens of other studies, they find a differ­ cially as other barriers to equality of cent, compassionate human beings. Al­ ence between blacks and whites in opportunity fall. Persons at the upper though they might not phrase the average measured intelligence. It reaches of the intelligence distribution matter exactly as I would, they would amounts, roughly, to one standard de­ attend the best colleges and graduate regret having one single scale by which viation. "[T]his means that the average or professional schools, enter fulfilling everyone's status is ranked; they value white person tests higher than about 84 and prestigious careers, and enjoy ris­ a diverse society instead, one affording percent of the population of blacks and ing incomes. Advancing technology en­ a great variety of self-chosen niches in that the average black person tests hances their options, freedom, and ca­ which people have a chance to excel in higher than about 16 percent of the pacity to enjoy life. Members of this their own individual ways. population of whites" (269). 56 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

This difference cannot be plausibly tion, and frequency of dizygotic twins. great parental care. Homo sapiens is far explained away as a meaningless fluke. Several, at least, of such physical differ­ toward the pole of few offspring, well To an apparently slighter degree, esti­ ences seem hard to explain on nonge­ cared-for and given high chances of mated at from a few points to ten netic grounds. survival to maturity. Within the human points on the IQ scale, East Asians also They do fit in well, though, with ob­ species, however, some groups tend show a different intellectual distribu­ served differences in reproductive strat­ more toward this polar strategy, while tion than whites, scoring higher in non­ egies among species and among groups others lean closer to the strategy of pro­ verbal intelligence and the same or within some species. At one extreme, miscuous reproduction and slight pa­ perhaps slightly lower in verbal intelli­ the strategy is to produce many off­ rental care. Fathers and mothers tend to gence. Racial differences persist wheth­ spring per parent, of which only a few differ in these respects for obvious bio­ er the tests are given in the United survive. The opposite strategy is to pro­ logical reasons. So do the human races. States or in Africa and East Asia. duce few offspring but give each one Natural selection operating in the races' Though the measured black-white difference appears genuine and is large in statistical terms, how much it really matters in job performance and other aspects of life is not intuitively obvious. Herrnstein and Murray emphasize that many blacks are brilliant and many whites are dumb; it is the whole distri­ Jeffrey F. Jackson's butions that fail to coincide. In the past shocking film expose tells few decades, furthermore, the gap be­ the story of Gordon Kahl. a North Dakota farmer tween black and white test scores has who became America's been narrowing slightly, apparently be­ "most-wanted" fugitive. cause of fewer very low scores in the How did a WWII hero black population rather than because of become the target of one a growing number of high scores. of the largest manhunts Herrnstein and Murray believe that in FBI history? Was Kahl the available evidence (including stud­ a gun-toting fanatic or a ies on twins and adoptions) suggests victim of the IRS? Did that this gap has at least as much a ge­ Bill Clinton conspire to netic or hereditary basis as a purely en­ cover-up his torture and execution? Was the badly vironmental basis, but they attach little burned and mutilated importance to the question. Even a body found in Arkansas, purely environmental difference is nev­ in fact. Gordon Kahl? ertheless real. A child whose brain has DEATH & TAXES been damaged by his mother's alcohol explores the myths and abuse during pregnancy - an environ­ controversies mental factor - is still intellectually im­ surrounding a man who paired. As this very example suggests, dared to challenge the however, knowing the sources of differ­ IRS. The movie follows ences in intt~lligence may carry implica­ the documentary trail tions about possible improvements. of Kahl as his body is exhumed for a new Herrnstein and Murray comment autopsy. Building on briefly on research that J. Philippe newsreel clips, Rushton, a developmental psychologist interviews and eye at the University of Western Ontario, witness accounts of reported in numerous articles and has the two fiery shoot­ now (since Herrnstein and Murray outs between Kahl and wrote) pulled together in Race, Evolu­ federal agents, tion, and Behavior. Rushton argues that DEATH & TAXES reveals for the first differences among races in average in­ time the true story as it telligence scores correlate not only with happened and as it continues to several other behavioral differences but reverberate nationally. also with differences in such physical characteristics as brain size, size of gen­ itals, conspicuousness of secondary sex characteristics, gestation time, age of sexual maturity, rate of skeletal and dental development, gamete produc- Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 different ancestral environments could loath to judge "whether his work is quickly, cheaply, and dependably explain those differences, as Rushton timely or worthwhile," but "it is plainly knowable because it always coincided shows. science" (643). This is my own judg­ with our wishes or with what is politi­ Recognizing how the observed be­ ment also, for what it may be worth, af­ cally palatable. But it isn't. havioral and physical differences fit to­ ter reading Rushton's book. "As sci­ In a research program as difficult gether in the light of the theory of diffe­ ence," the authors write, "there is and ambitious as theirs, Herrnstein and rential reproductive strategies, Rushton nothing wrong with Rushton's work in Murray almost surely have made errors concludes that even the racial differenc­ principle; we expect that time will tell of fact and reasoning. These need to be es in average intelligence do indeed whether it is right or wrong in fact." found and corrected by painstaking have a largely genetic basis and an evo­ Herrnstein and Murray's own find­ further research. Sweeping imputations lutionary explanation. This conclusion ings may also be unpleasant, but serv­ of agenda, motives, and character flaws has drawn charges that Rushton is a ing one's values - even or especially are no substitute. Critics of The Bell crackpot or bigot, as well as demands deeply humanitarian values - presup­ Curve have their work cut out for them. that he be fired from his tenured pro­ poses perceiving reality correctly. It For starters, they should actually read fessorship. Herrnstein and Murray are would be convenient if truth were the book. a

Shaw, "Not to the Swift, But to the Smart," continued from page 55 federal education funds are going to These factors may have played a their jobs much more effectively than the gifted, who, it turns out, aren't get­ role. But I suspect the authors believed colleagues who probably have more ting educated very well in spite of their that their writing would be so engag­ raw intelligence." In other words, high intelligence. (Murray and Herrn­ ing, their evidence so extensive, and "moderate correlations mean many stein assume that government will re­ their arguments so persuasive that peo­ exceptions." tain control of the schools, though they ple would come around and accept They then explain that this does not do recommend vouchers and other their message after all. They were invalidate their findings. Correlations programs allowing more choice.) wrong. between IQ and various measures of These recommendations have little Of course, people will come around job performance tend to be between .2 or nothing to do with the issue of race if the ideas withstand scholarly chal­ and .6, they say, and in social science and intelligence (another reason why I lenge over time. While I cannot judge this is a "highly significant correlation." wish they hadn't focused on that so the truth of their findings, the authors At the same time, it leaves room for much). Two chapters, however, discuss clearly are careful in making their argu­ many exceptions. affirmative action, and the harms it has ments (approximately three hundred Along the same lines, they say later brought. The policies recommended in pages are devoted to appendices, notes that knowing that if one child has an IQ this area will bring few surprises; the and bibliography) and, from what I've of 110 and one an IQ of 90, on many im­ authors want to do away with current heard and seen, the critics have failed portant topics "we can tell you nothing programs and go back to the original to draw blood. with any confidence." But that is differ­ idea behind affirmative action, which If it is possible for good writing to ent from the question, "Given two they say was to expand job opportuni­ overcome a hostile audience, this book sixth-grade classes, one for which the ties and places in college by widening will: like other Murray books, it is average IQ is 110 and the other for the search for applicants and voluntari­ beautifully written, in many ways a which it is 90, what can you tell us ly giving slight preference to qualified pleasure to read. Herrnstein and Mur­ about the difference between those two but disadvantaged candidates. ray take many steps to win over the classes and their average prospects for Given the furor, perhaps it's fair to reader, not the least of which is flattery. the future?" On this, they can say a lot. ask why Herrnstein and Murray wrote (They imply that any reader is virtually Such careful, skillful writing might this book. They. ask themselves this in the cognitive elite or close to it; at the work, over time. In any case, the infor­ question, but I didn't find their an­ same time, they provide an appendix mation is now there. If the content of swers - that they had an important that explains "Statistics for People Who The Bell Curve has merit, some of the idea and they thought that it would Are Sure They Can't Learn Statistics"!) thousands of purchasers will pay atten­ help public policy - particularly en­ Those familiar with Murray's other tion to it. lightening. There are other possible books will recognize the pleasing, con­ reasons, of course. Perhaps they want­ versational tone and the "thought A More Personal Note ed to sell a lot of books. Perhaps Herrn­ experiments." Before reading this book, I was, like stein's previous work with James Q. They go to great lengths to disarm many Americans, concerned· about Wilson relating crime to IQ suggested an initially antagonistic reader. For ex­ what seemed to be a society in disarray. this more recent re~earch. Or perhaps ample, they stress that intelligence is From drive-by shootings to the decline they felt that once they started on the not everything (even while making it in SAT test scores, I saw signs of civili­ subject, it was a matter of intellectual count for very much indeed). They zation imploding through the decay of integrity to get it all out on the table, to write: "We all know people who do not values, absence of intellectual disci­ end the taboo. seem all that smart but who handle pline, and loss of civility. However, in 58 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 the face of this deterioration, I thought permitting processes to make small I can see this happening now. What that I was helping to counter it, simply changes such as adding a porch. the authors foresee, somewhat farther by bringing up my son properly. It used to be possible to open busi­ into the future, is an even more com­ By living in a small town where nesses or build homes through "sweat plete separation of the elite, and the ex­ crime is rare, by sending my son to the equity," but the barriers are getting pansion of today's welfare state to keep best school I knew, and by taking him more difficult. "Anyone who has tried the underclass "out from underfoot." to church each Sunday, I was doing to open or run a small business in re­ This is the "custodial state," with gov­ what I could at the very least to shelter cent years can supply evidence of how ernment in charge of virtually him from this decay. I even thought I formidable those barriers have be­ everything. might be somewhat heroically contrib­ come," the authors say. Yet for the cog­ So, if Herrnstein and Murray. are uting to the preservation of a civil nitive elite the barriers are easy to sur­ right, my efforts to raise an intelligent, society. mount, if necessary by hiring someone educated son are not likely to advance But if Herrnstein and Murray are to figure them out. So, write Herrnstein a more virtuous society. Instead, i may correct, I completely misunderstood the and Murray, this group "busily goes be training a centurion to man the bar­ situation. If they are right, thousands, about making the world a better place," ricades of the custodial state. It is a perhaps millions, of other parents are at the price of making life difficult for frightening dystopia, and the matter of doing precisely what my husband and I everyone else. race has little to do with it. 0 do. They are rescuing their children from ignorance and incivility by sending them to prestigious nursery schools, enriching their education with travel, introducing them to dictionaries, Sliding Down computers, and the Great Books, and teaching moral virtues. The problem is that the people who the Bell Curve are really good at this, the cognitive elite, are also moving more and more To observe that The Bell Curve has comes OK to cut black people adrift, into a separate class. Most of the cogni­ had a hostile reception is a gross under­ poor whites, old people, people with tive elite live in metropolitan areas. To statement. Typical of the media reaction disabilities, well just about anybody achieve their goals for their children, is the treatment of the book in the Seat­ not in that perfect elite, will be sub­ they must separate themselves and their tle Times. In order to be fair about the ject to being judged a liability and treated as such. That kind of think­ children from the social ills that are all controversial book, the Times headlined ing isn't new, but there has usually around them. They have separate neigh­ a page of its Sunday book review sec­ tion "Two Views of The Bell Curve." been some kind of legal and moral borhoods and separate schools and sep­ mitigation. This current intellectual arate play groups. The symbol of their The first view, by Times columnist Jerry Large, observed: push would change discrimination isolation is "the gated community, se­ from an embarrassment to a duty. cure behind its walls and guard posts," Ever since someone had to come up The second review, by Times colum­ say Herrnstein and Murray. with a justification for slavery, the hunt has been on for reasons why nist Jennifer James, is even more And this cognitive elite is not just hostile: isolating itself from the rest of society; blacks are lesser humans. The au­ it is beginning to control it. In the mod­ thors of this book dismiss studies that One of the news stories this week show children of any race can im­ was another attempt to divide Amer­ ern welfare state it is the cognitive elite prove their IQs if their environment icans for political gain. Charles Mur­ who structure the laws and regulations. is enriched. They downplay environ­ ray and Richard Herrnstein's book And because they are so bright, these mental and cultural factors that affect on race and intelligence, The Bell members of the elite see nothing wrong mental development, and they ignore Curve, is such bad science and so ob­ with making the rules of life very tech­ the last 100 years of neuroscience. But viously a racist polemic that it could nical and complicated. this is all less about science than have been published by a Ku Klux The elite want less pollution, so it re­ about social order. The authors say it Klan press.... quires businesses - even small dry nicely, but they still say it: Know Citizenship in a democracy requires cleaners, for example - to meet oner­ your place and keep to it. ... so much more than Murray's lifelong ous and complex environmental stan­ We don't wear IQ tags, so black peo­ dedication to trying to prove his skin dards. While there may be ways to get ple who are at the top of the chart alone makes him smarter and there­ around these standards, they involve will be assumed by the casual observ­ fore entitled to be an elite. He reveals complicated forms and permits; and the er to be lesser lights until they prove his own intellectual limits. He is un­ otherwise, every day, to every new elite see nothing wrong with making able to SYnthesize data, accept mod­ person, over and over. ern intelligence research or maintain failure to fill out a form a criminal act. And maybe learn to resent other an awareness of the world he lives in. In the same way, to ensure nice houses black people. "If it weren't for all He tries to demonstrate his lack of and authentically historic buildings in those dumb black people everyone bias by pointing out that on the IQ its communities, the elite is forcing peo­ would love me." tests he uses "Asians" are now ple to go through complex zoning and But make no mistake, once it be- smarter than "Caucasians" (he never Liberty 59 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

defines "Caucasians," he just knows their self-worth is dependent on set­ texts of the choice movement as John one when he sees one) but he ting themselves apart and therefore Chubb and Terry Moe's Politics, Mar­ doesn't suggest giving Asians con­ hoping to claim unearned privileges? kets, and America's Schools. All things trol over the future. Charles Mur­ What is wrong with our self-worth considered, condudes Wooster, "school ray's need to reinforce his own poli­ that we are still printing and discuss­ choice will not convince parents that ing these ideas in our newspapers tics reveals him as a sad fool. education is worthwhile, tell students without qualification? The deeper questions revealed in to do their homework, teach right and this book and the dialogue about it How's that for a full range of opin­ wrong, dissolve red tape, or even en­ are: What is so wrong with Charles ions on a controversial book? sure that students are as educated as Murray or any other racists that -R. W. Bradford their parents and grandparents. Cer­ tainly school choice will provide some Angry Classrooms, Vacant Minds, by Martin Morse Wooster. Pacific improvements in schools, but these im­ Research Institute, 1994, 198 pp., $19.95. provements will probably be incremen­ Separating School & State, by Sheldon Richman. The Future of Freedom tal and take place over time. The availa­ Foundation, 1994, 128 pp., $22.95 hc, $14.95 sc. ble evidence suggests that the benefits school choice will provide are more gradual and less dramatic than either friends or foes of the reform contend will take place" (171). Sometimes choice programs don't even offer much in the way of choice. Scandal/or When Michigan's "schools of choice" legislation passed, most districts saw it as a mandate imposed from Lansing, not an opportunity to innovate. In Mas­ Schools sachusetts, the school guides provided to parents were extremely vague: "eve­

ry school in Worcester appeared I to be committed to two things: recognizing appeared sui generis than to investigate diversity and using computers'" (158). Jesse Walker its roots. Furthermore, unlike a real market, no Martin Morse Wooster's book Angry choice plan yet implemented allows public schools to go out of business; in­ School brings out the critic, or at Classrooms, Vacant Minds: What's Hap­ least the cynic, in all of us - bored stu­ pened to Our High Schools? is a noble effort stead, they simply receive more gov­ dents, harried teachers, and frustrated to provide a short, readable summary of ernment money. parents alike. Reformers all have their the history of American schools - not The other decentralist proposal pet panaceas - values curricula, or just high schools, as the subtitle suggests Wooster examines is "site-based man­ Outcome-Based Education, or national - a "book useful to parents, teachers, agement," the transfer of decision­ standards, or school choice, or whatev­ and concerned citizens who want to making power from central offices to er remedy is currently being touted on learn about the problems of American individual schools. This is a sensible the op-ed pages of the New York Times. educationbut do not have the time or the idea, but a hard one to put into prac­ Some of these ideas have merit. Some patience to read all the books about the tice; most efforts to implement it have don't. The best way to judge them is to schools that I have read" (p. ix). Woost­ proven to be Iittle more than 10caIist look at the historical record: Has this er's overview of the fads and trends of window-dressing for business as usual. plan been put in place before? How well the last 150 years tries to be objective, but Still, Wooster argues, meaningful edu­ did it do then? his prejudices aren't difficult to discern: cation reform will have to restore the But today's debates seem to take he prefers decentralization to centraliza­ authority principals and teachers have place in a historical vacuum. Few real­ tion and initiative to bureaucracy, and is lost to the school bureaucracy. ize (that Vermont has had what particularly interested in attempts to re­ All this is well and good, but there's amounts to a voucher system for over a store some semblance of local control to something missing here, a dimension of century, or that today's centralized ef­ the schools. criticism that Wooster avoids. That cri­ forts to inculcate "values" were tried, That leads him to examine two tique can be found in another book, without much success, 80 years ago. broadly defined reforms. One is Sheldon Richman's Separating School Few know the typhonic history of the "choice," the policy of allowing parents and State: How to Liberate America's Fam­ relationship between public and pri­ to select, within variably defined param­ ilies. Where Wooster is a reformer, vate schools, or between federal, state, eters, which schools their children will Richman is a revolutionary. Where and local education bureaucracies. Few attend. Though sympathetic to the idea, Wooster examines the origins of cen­ seem to care about the past at all: better Wooster is far from pollyannish about it, tralized schooling, Richman digs out to pretend the latest public policy fad and is unafraid to criticize such sacred the roots of government schooling. 60 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

Where Wooster evaluates quasi-liber­ Interestingly, some of these critics' ide­ ability to say something new. His tarian proposals for improving public as had considerable influence on public imagination is "schooled" to accept education, Richman steps out of the de­ school policies in the 1970s. Wooster service in place of value. Medical bate altogether, daring to ask whether makes this point in a passage that, in a treatment is mistaken for health there is a need for public schools at all. burst of bad editing, appears twice in care, social work for improvement of That notion may sound radical, but his book: community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national se­ it isn't as unpopular as one might Many of the new teachers, fortified curity, the rat race for productive think. A 1994 survey by the Wirthlin by reading John Holt or Jonathan work. Health, learning, dignity, in­ Group, a respected national polling or­ Kozol, listening to Jefferson Airplane dependence, and creative endeavor ganization, found that 13% of their or Bob Dylan albums, or watching To are defined as little more than the ~ Sir With Love, attempted to alter the schools radically. The result was to performance of the institutions destroy the informal moral consen­ which claim to serve those ends, and Martin Wooster's book is a sus that had governed public schools their improvement is made to de­ litany ofreforms that went bad and replace it with what sociologist pend on allocating more resources to once they left the world ofideas Gerald Grant calls a "more imperson­ the management of hospitals, allegal-bureaucratic order." The de­ schools, and other agencies. and entered the realm of cisions teachers made were no longer In this perspective, schooling is not bureaucracy. based primarily on whether or not a only unconducive to real education; of­ student's action was right or wrong ten, it is diametrically opposed to it. but on whether or not a student act Richman sympathizes with this view, violated federal statutes and district commenting that schools "teach chil­ sample supported an end to compulso­ regulations. (xiii, 72) ry, tax-funded education, and that a dren that learning can take place only It's clear from Wooster's tone that when they are shut away from the full 26% at least sympathized with the he has little use for the John Holts of world with children their own age in a idea. That's a minority, but it's a far the world. And, on one level, he is more substantial minority than most right. While some alternative education observers would expect. Separating experiments worked pretty well- usu­ School and State is a persuasive argu­ ally programs in private schools, such Richman steps out ofthe de­ ment for their position. as those run by the Quakers, or in au­ bate altogether, daring to ask Richman brings up issues that many tonomous charter schools - many whether there is a need for people don't bother to think about any­ failed. "Open classrooms" and the like more: the difference between schooling eroded personal responsibility in the public schools at all. and learning, the insanity of expecting name of a fabricated freedom, a process different students with different apti­ summed up in the infamous, perhaps tudes to learn at the same rate, the cor­ apocryphal anecdote of the little girl special place and are under the direc­ rosive effects of government schooling who asked her teacher, "00 we have to tion of a specially trained adult. The on families and other intermediary in­ do what we want to do again today?" children are empty vessels into which stitutions. He takes on the propaganda But while Wooster sees this as evi­ the teacher pours knowledge" (p. 91). included in school curricula, relating dence against Holt's critique, Holt saw And that, of course, is nonsense. his daughter's scholastic encounters it as evidence against schooling itself. Richman has little patience with with Gulf War sloganeering, anti-drug By the '70s, Holt realized that the most of the reforms Wooster examines. puritanism, and discredited environ­ deinstitutionalized learning he advocat­ Charter schools - the ultimate in site­ mental theories. He points out the ab­ ed was incompatible with an institu­ based management - are to Richman surdity of referring to government tionalized learning environment. Even a mess of contradictions, allegedly au­ schools as "public schools," as though as other critics, such as Kozol, devolved tonomous but still financed by the state they were somehow closer to the com­ into the left flank of the educational es­ and unable to go out of business. munity than the "private" academies tablishment, Holt and others began to Vouchers he sees as a sly means for that parents voluntarily support. He adopt a more radical position, summed government to extend control over pri­ demonstrates that even curricula de­ up eloquently on the fiery first page of vate schools. Contracting out school signed to teach critical thinking usually Illich's Deschooling Society: management to private firms, a new re­ wind up reinforcing conformity. form in Baltimore, comes under fire for Richman puts his views in a histori­ [People are schooled] to confuse pro­ maintaining government financing and cess and substance. Once these be­ cal context, pointing out similar criti­ come blurred, a new logic is as­ monopoly. Some of these may be steps cisms offered in their day by such clas­ sumed: the more treatment there is, in the right direction, Richman con­ sicalliberals as Wilhelm von Humboldt the better are the results; or, escala­ cedes, but they still leave the funda­ and Herbert Spenc~r. But many of his tion leads to success. The pupil is mental problems in place: compulsory positions also resemble the radical cri­ thereby "schooled" to confuse teach­ attendance and government control. tiques of the 1960s and '70s, critiques ing with learning, grade advance­ Even readers who agree with Rich­ associated with such figures as Ivan ment with education, a diploma with man might argue that his radicalism is Illich, Paul Goodman, and John Holt. competence, and fluency with the far less practical, strategically speaking, Liberty 61 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 than incremental change. But Wooster's On Looking Into the Abyss, by Gertrude Himmelfarb. Alfred A. book is nothing if not a testament to the Knopf, 1994, 192 pp., $23.00. pitfalls of working within the system, a litany of reforms that went bad once they left the world of ideas and entered the realm of bureaucracy and politics. I have little doubt that a sensibly de­ signed choice or decentralization plan might make the world a little more free Farce and Madness and livable. But Richman offers an immediate out: homeschooling - Of, as he prefers to call it, "family-based education." portrait. Himmelfarb describes a pro­ In the media, homeschooling is usu­ Ronald F. Lipp gressive flinching from reality: if early ally associated with the Christian Right, modern man recoiled in horror from hu­ but in fact it crosses all religious and Early in our century, at a time of man evil, he has now·dispensed with it, political lines (Richman, after all, is a cynicism and fatigue born of war and' first by denying that the denizens of the secular Jew and an anarchist). It rarely the collapse of the old order, W.B. Yeats abyss are monsters and then by reject­ involves reinventing a classroom envi­ penned the celebrated lines that have ing the very process of judgment which ronment at home, relying instead on come to symbolize the despair of mod­ admits the possibility of monsters at all. considerable self-directed learning, ern times: If Himmelfarb is correct, the salient though most homeschoolers are happy Things fall apart; the centre cannot characteristic of our postmodem retreat to turn to specialized instructors where hold; from the abyss is a disconnection from necessary. Most homeschooled children Mere anarchy is loosed upon the reality that amounts to a kind of collec­ outperform their peers by the standard world, tive madness. The modern abyss is the academic measures. This should not be The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and habitat of meaninglessness, of unbeing surprising: as Richman points out, liter­ everywhere embraced as such. acy rates were far higher in the years The ceremony of innocence is Exhibit A for Himmelfarb is Richard drowned; before compulsory government school­ Rorty, /Ione of America's most respect­ The best lack all conviction, while the ing than after. ed philosophers." Rorty, she says, pro­ worst Not every child is inclined to learn Are full of passionate intensity. poses to abolish reality, knowingly and this way, of course, nor does every par­ altogether: The horror Yeats captured was the ent have the time or enthusiasm to impotence of modern man in confront­ It is getting more and more difficult, spare for it. The greatest practical obsta­ ing the destructiveness latent in all hu­ Rorty goodhumoredly observes, to cle to family-based education is that locate "a real live metaphysical prig" man society. A generation earlier, parents tire of dealing with their kids who thinks there is a "reality" to be Nietzsche had warned that man must all the time; school may not be the best explored and a "truth" about reality either master the abyss or be mastered babysitter around, but it's cheap and to be discovered.... by it. compulsory. But if as few as 10% of the Rather than seek an essential truth, The distinguished historian Ger­ in a single state were to decide Rorty calls upon philosophers to ... families trude Himmelfarb has now provided to homeschool, compulsory schooling [adopt]. a "lightminded aestheticism" us with an assay of our progress with would become a dead letter there. At to traditional philosophical ques­ this struggle in the intervening 70-odd that point, government regulation of tions, for only such an aestheticism years: can further the "disenchantment of schooling would also begin to crumble The abyss has grown deeper and the world." The disenchantment, - if parents can homeschool legally, more perilous, with new and more moreover, must extend to morality as why can't a group of unlicensed neigh­ dreadful terrors lurking at the bot­ well as truth. bors or entrepreneurs start a storefront tom. The beasts of modernism have In response, Ms. Himmelfarb offers school of their own? And then real mutated into postmodernism, relati­ her book for a purpose which would choices in education would emerge for vism into nihilism, amorality into im­ once have seemed both prosaic and those families who prefer not to teach morality, irrationality into insanity, self-evident: their own but are dissatisfied with the sexual deviancy into polymorphous government's schools and ·can't afford perversity. Perhaps this book should be labeled "The Confessions of an Unregenerate to send their kids to a private one. In On Looking Into the Abyss, a slen­ Prig," for it is dedicated to the propo­ Both of these books are worth read­ der volume collecting and expanding sition that there are such things as ing. But only one offers real hope to seven essays written over a three-and­ truth and reality and that there is a people interested in seeing substantial one-half-year period, Himmelfarb has connection between them, as there is change in the American education sys­ provided a compelling analysis of the also a connection between the aes­ tem in their lifetime. Ironically, it's the pathology of the late twentieth century. thetic sensibility and the moral imag­ "impractical" one. 0 It is more disturbing than Yeats' grim ination, between culture and society. 62 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3

It is a mark of our times that such a able and indeterminate as to render lit­ POWER INVESTING bald proclamation should seem remark­ erature devoid of any meaning at all. able and, in today's intellectual circles, In history, philosophy, anthropolo­ THE COLLECTIVISTS ARE KILLING even a little embarrassing - rather like gy, law, theology, and architecture, THE ECONOMY. BUT YOU CAN cousin Fyodor, recently emigrated from Himmelfarb sees various strains of con­ PROSPER WITH THIS FAST TRACK Minsk, who shows up at a neighbor­ temporary thought denying the exis­ INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY. hood party wearing a double-knit lei­ tence of any "essential reality" and re­ sure suit and vinyl shoes. Much of what ducing intellectual inquiry to a kind of A professional futures market specu lator (and writer on Objectivism Himmelfarb says - about the evils of aesthetic exercise for the amusement of and Libertarianism) will soon offer relativism and the deconstruction of its practitioners. private managed accounts to quali­ history, of the abasement of our values At best, these activities make intel­ fied investors. No minimum account and even of the concept of value itself, lectual inquiry an emasculated farce. At size. Fees based on percentage of and of the conscious, deliberate, and al­ worst, they embody a cognitive profits. Original, sophisticated, together too successful campaign to madness. highly-leveraged trading system; fully denigrate Western civilization - has By disclaiming the existence of truth computerized; massive database; been said before. But it is said here so or reality, all moral judgments are dis­ thirty-five years of experience. coherently, so succinctly, and with such avowed and all modes of perversion grace, that the volume itself stands as equilibrated. Thus, Rorty has asserted You still have time to preserve and that the failing of the Nazi is not a lack enhance your capital base with our of morality, but of feeling or heart. Sim­ unique recession-proof and de­ The salient characteristic of ilarly, he confesses that he can find no pression-proof investment program. plain moral facts in the world, no truth Extensive documentation is available. our postmodern retreat from outside language, nor any inherent rea­ the abyss is a disconnection son to prefer kindness over torture. GOLDEN HARVEST from reality that amounts to a The depth of moral disengagement FUTURES RESEARCH is astonishing. One of the founts of post­ 6190 Spring Arbor Road kind ofcollective madness. Jackson, Michigan 49201 modernism, Martin Heidegger, was an 517-750-2500 early and opportunistic member of the Nazi party who remained unrepentant an exposition of the culture it champi­ even after its horrors, including the ons and whose loss it deplores. Lest it Holocaust, were well known. Himmel­ Business School all be blackness and horror, Ms. Him­ farb quotes him writing in 1949: Students, Graduates, and melfarb offers as a kind of midcourse Agriculture is now a motorized food Nascent Entrepreneurs sorbet a witty and self-deprecating dis­ industry, in essence the same as the course titled "Where Have All the Foot­ manufacturing of corpses in the gas notes Gone?" - to the delight of all of chambers and extermination camps, Learn at us who as students in bygone days the same as the blockade and starva­ worshipped at the alter of her inspira­ tion of the countryside, the same as tion, Saint Kate Turabian. the production of the hydrogen bomb. Himmelfarb's essays focus on three Rorty, while admitting that "as a IILibertyl1 areas of intellectual activity: philoso­ human being," Heidegger was a "rath­ phy, literary criticism, and the study of er nasty piece of work," denies that any Are you interested in putting history. In these venues, she dissects de­ connection can be drawn between the your business education or ex­ constructionism, nihilistic relativism, man and his philosophy. Heidegger perience to use by working for the new historicism, and postmodern­ should, Rorty says, be seen as an "origi­ an entrepreneurial organiza­ ism generally. But a central theme runs nal and interesting writer" whose work tion? Why not consider gaining management experience at lucidly throughout her work: the pre­ should be read "in a cool hour, with cu­ Liberty? vailing modes of thought involve a fun­ riosity, and an open tolerant mind." dam~ntal detachment from reality and Ms. Himmelfarb's book is both ele­ Liberty offers full-time, paid abandonment of moral integrity. As gant and compelling. As adjuncts to her internships at all times of the Derrida once smirked that metaphysics main thesis, she also provides an in­ year to business school gradu­ ates and under-graduates. is mere mythology, Rorty reduces mo­ sightful exposition of the triumph of rality to idle aestheticism. Post­ Hegel over Marx as seen by Vaclav Liberty is growing; why not structuralism has de-historicized histo­ Havel, a critique of John Stuart Mill as grow with us? ry, trivializing and demoralizing it so a harbinger of the value-free society, For information, write: far 'as to make it utterly banal. Contem­ and a sketch of "the dark and bloody R. W. Bradford, Publisher porary literary theory has elevated criti­ crossroads where nationalism and re­ Liberty cism above creation at the same time ligion meet." It is, in all, a virtuoso P.O. Box 1181 that criticism itself has become so malle- performance. 0 Port Townsend, WA 98368 Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

Radiotext(e), edited by Neil Strauss with Dave Mandl. Semiotext(e), does the debate between Walter Benja­ 1993,365 pp., $12.00. min, who argues for the liberatory po­ tential of radio, and Theodore Adorno who saw radio as the epitome of com~ merciaI society's drive to reduce all au­ thentic culture to a commodity. Ex­ changes like these, while fascinating in themselves, are even more interesting Radio Ga-Ga for their uncanny resemblance to to­ day's debates between infotopians and cyberspace pessimists. Radio's dual nature - tool of con­ (hams were the original hackers). From Phil Leggiere trol, conduit of grassroots communica­ there, in one of the less investigated tion - is explored in a playfully devel­ and more important subtexts of the '20s oped clash of first-person accounts and and '30s, the medium was corporatized With only a few sporadic exceptions historical narratives. Joseph Lanza's that even a confirmed radio addict·can in the U.S. and bureaucratized in "Adventures in Mood Radio" and Europe. But this happened neither count on the fingers of one hand, radio Steve Post's "Son of Playlist" delineate smoothly nor without resistance. It has - commercial and "public" stations the convoluted workings of the regime been a process fraught with conflict ­ alike - has become a chronically, ba­ of format as it has shaped most of what conflict that, as this book makes clear nally familiar environmental white we've come to accept as radio as usual. continues to this day. ' noise in our lives, the antithesis of au­ "Mood Radio," a fascinating history of Early visionary hopes for the tech­ thentic communication, much less art. Muzak (the word's a jabberwocky jum­ nology make for alternately poignant, Yet as Radiotext(e), a collection of radi­ ble of music and Kodak), shows in ironic, terrifyingly prescient, and still cal writings on and about radio, re­ great detail. how the very lucrative in­ inspired reading. Few, in the context minds us, the wireless remains the dustry of easy-listening radio has they are presented here, are merely of most protean, mysterious, and poten­ evolved at the cutting edge of the pur­ tially powerful of cultural media. nostalgic interest. To read Bertolt Brecht's elaboration of radio as vehicle suit of the pacified consumer. "Son of The challenge and substantial Playlist," written in the mid-'70s, is a achievement of Neil Strauss and Dave for populist theater, George Orwell's "Poetry and the Microphone," or Ru- case study and personal account of the Mandl's anthology is to defamiliarize short life and gruesome death of free­ radio, to provoke and compel us to dolf Arnheim's prophecy of a new audio art along­ form FM radio as it existed from the listen to it with a new sense of its mid-'60s to the early '70s. Post's ac­ possibilities. Mixed like an eclectic side Derrick Sington and Arthur Weiden­ count, which focuses primarily on the all-night freeform show, this book saga of WABC-FM (now WPLJ) in New incorporates obscure and forgotten feld's classic analysis of Nazi broadcasting York, sketches the process by which the documents, manifestos, and analy­ great exception, "alternative commer­ ses covering all phases of the medi­ (written in 1932, be­ fore the Reichstag fire) cial" programming, ~ltimately proved urn's development. Above all, it the rule of increasing corporate control makes it clear that radio's history, gives one a dramatic sense of the inherent vari­ of format. In some senses, as Post far from being seamless or innocu­ shows, freeform actually paved the ous, has been socially and politically ability of the medium. Tony ,:ay for the fine-tuned, ever-more pre­ tumultuous from the start. Faulkner's "FM: Frequency Modulation or Fallen Man" CIse, fragmented, and airtight niche The book is clustered around programming of the '80s and '90s. a series of themes, beginning explores a particularly While such accounts seem to vali­ with the development of radio brutal example of the date Adorno's worst nightmares, this technology itself. In the chap­ war for financial con­ collection is also rich in evidence that a ter "Early Radio Bigwigs," trol of the technolo­ countervailing tradition of grassroots Dwight Frizzell and Jay Mande­ gy, a process that rebel radio tenaciously persists, occa­ ville make it clear that the wire­ literally (as in the sionally even prevailing. These emana­ less was the Internet of its day. A case of engineer/ tions range from the eccentric fringes of technology inadvertently devel­ inventor Edwin oped to speed and facilitate com­ Armstrong) left dead commercial broadcasting (nicely me­ munications within the command bodies and defeated morialized in "Lives of the Great DJs," structure of the military and the minds in its wake. a fun tribute to Wolfman Jack and oth­ shipping industry, radio soon spilled Such writings, raw and unpolished ers), to the entrepreneurial outlaw ad­ over into the enthusiastic hands of ar­ as they may seem, convey a sense· of ventures in offshore "pirate" radio tistic and political visionaries, grass­ the excitement and urgency prompted (particularly Radio Luxemburg, which roots entrepreneurs, and hobbyists by a burgeoning communications tech­ successfully challenged the monopoly nology of unprecedented scope. So too and monotony of the 1960s BBC), to a 64 Liberty Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995 myriad of anarcho-experiments in non­ middle-class white adolescent into the perimental radio today. Finally, de­ commercial community radio. lores and traditions of black and poor spite frequent allusions to the impor­ Accounts of these "free radio" initia­ white music. I also would have liked to tance of radio in the national liberation tives and cultural guerrilla actions see more on the two major counter­ movements of the Third World, little make for some of the anthology's best institutions designed to provide alter­ documentation of these struggles is ac­ reading. Tetsuo Kogawa's "Free Radio native (as in more expressive, experi­ tually offered. in Japan" recounts how a small core of mental, dissident, and controversial) Other readers are likely to notice students, artists, and other troublemak­ programming: Pacifica and - warts other omissions, but that's a sign of ers monkeywrenched the normal, bor­ and all - National Public Radio. The this book's vitality as a critical ing functioning of official Tokyo radio omission of Richard Kostelanetz and stimulant. Despite the gaps, one thing by broadcasting from local bookshops, Peter Bochan's thoughts on sound art is sure: you'll never listen to radio bars, and parks with low-power FM weaken the section on radio and acous­ quite the same way after reading transmitters capable of covering about a tic art, as each are in the forefront of ex- Radiotext(e). 0 third of a mile. WFMU's underground radio luminary, Bart Platenga, delivers a similar report on free radio in France. Other essays· detail radio insurgencies Booknotes in Italy, Germany, and around the world. And Jeff Zilm offers a hilarious account of a mobile CB-based operation Renaissance Economist - The have a serious interest in the human called Radio Asphalt Nomad. few economists who write well, such as sciences and you enjoy dazzling intel­ Essays by composer LaMonte John Kenneth Galbraith, are usually lectual aerobics, then McCloskey's Young, philosopher Murray Schaefer, bad economists. A remarkable excep­ writing is for you. He brings to his ex­ tion is Donald N. McCloskey, whose position an extraordinary grasp of lit­ latest book is Knowledge and Persua­ erature, literary criticism, poetry, histo­ sion in Economics (Cambridge Univer­ ry, philosophy, and the natural and Radio's dual nature - tool sity Press, 1994,445 pp., $17.95). social sciences, and delivers his mes­ of control, conduit of grass­ McCloskey is the leader of the small sage with stunning ingenuity and roots communication - is ex­ but growing "rhetoric school" of eco­ flourish. Reading McCloskey is fun. nomics. Proponents of this approach Whatever you learn is a bonus. plored in a playfully developed hark back to the Aristotelian concep­ -Robert Higgs clash of first-person accounts tion of rhetoric as the full collection of and historical narratives. noncoercive devices speakers use to Broken Promise - James D. persuade their audience. McCloskey Squires' Read All About It!: The Cor­ and his followers argue that, despite porate Takeover ofAmerica's Newspa­ performance artist Jacki Apple, and the "official" methodological doctrine pers (Times Books, 1994, 244 pp., $12), Negativland (a unique avant-garde of modern economics - roughly, that while necessary for any student of rock band that "broadcasts" live from economists should ape physicists ­ modern journalism, is in the end an in­ their Berkeley apartment, over the economists actually use a variety of furiating book for the same reasons phone lines, via a network of college ra­ means to make their arguments, includ­ that most old newspapermen's nostal­ dio stations) explore the notion of radio ing mathematical models, accounting, gic or hortatory writings on their craft infuriate. It's a fault you'd think a as a medium for a new acoustic aesthet­ appeals to authority, stories, arguments by analogy, and statistical studies. crusty old newsman would instantly ics and musical and theatrical art Rather than regarding this motley col­ catch with his first glance over the forms, rounding out an unpredictable lection as an indication of deplorable rough copy: details, details, details are collection. scientific disarray, the rhetoricians view missing, missing, missing. Squires' If eclecticism, passion, and provoca­ it as desirable and, in any event, inevi­ thesis is that the takeover of most tive organization are the criteria for a table. Economics, they say, is not only a newspaFers by huge corporate chains strong anthology, this book must be science about humans; it is practiced by has been fatal to the editorial quality judg~d a success. My only criticisms humans, and economists resort to and independence of papers. But he spring from the few gaps in Strauss's whatever rhetorical devices will help to provides virtually no details, either rich mix. It would have been interest- persuade the human beings who com- anecdotal or analytical, to back up his ing to include more on the regional, prise their audience. Philosophers of point. He just complains about what R&B, country, and Mexican border ra­ science and other outsiders may deliver jerks his old paymasters at the Tribune dio of the 1950s - the stations which, uninvited lectures on "scientific metho­ Company were, for whom he edited outside the purview of the national net­ dology," but real scientists need not ­ the Chicago Tribune from 1981 to 1989. works, nurtured the development of and usually do not - take their counsel His major points: newspapers in that grassroots, spontaneous revolu­ seriously. general make a ton of money, and are tionary direct action known as Don't worry about whether or not making more and more all the time. rock'n'roll, initiating many a sheltered you find this thesis compelling. If you But when newspapers are part of larg- Liberty 65 January 1995

er conglomerates, their profits are not Until now, the primary collection of churned back in to help fertilize jour­ selections from Liberty has been Instead Learn at nalism; they are used to prop up the of a Book, by a Man Too Busy To Write Big Money's bottom line. Executives One, published by Tucker in 1893. But are expected to keep that profit line it consists almost entirely of Tucker's heading up eternally, and at eternally own contributions, and draws only higher rate. The better a newspaper from the journal's first twelve years. IILibertyl1 does for the Big Bosses, the less it is al­ The Individualist Anarchists (Transac~ lowed to do for itself. He recounts sad­ tion, 1994, 330 pp., $39.95), edited by Are you interested in ly his own culpability in this trend at Frank H. Brooks, is an attempt to pro­ working as a journalist? the Tribune. duce a more complete and representa- Would you like to im­ But while praising the kind of real, tive anthology. . prove your writing and meaty, shoeleathery journalism that is The book contains over 70 articles editing skills? now missing from papers because of and is divided into four parts: "The Po­ the almighty bottom line, he gives only litical Theory of Individualist Anar­ Liberty offers full-time, one example: John Crewdson's expose chism," "Economics," "Social Contro­ paid internships at all on Robert Gallo and the discovery of versies," and "Strategies for Advancing times of the year. Interns the AIDS. Anarchism." Among the more interest­ are involved in all aspects Squires never explains why the evils ing pieces are Tucker's obituary for of editing and publishing he sees - kowtowing to local business Karl Marx, "The Ethics of Dynamite," a Liberty. and political interests and advertisers, debate between Auberon Herbert and For information, write: mostly - were any less prevalent un­ Victor Yarros, and the essay for which der the old regime, about which he is Tucker is best known, "State Socialism R. W. Bradford, Editor resolutely rosy-eyed. And he laments and Anarchism: How Far They Agree, Liberty the fact that the New York Times and the P.O. Box 1181 And Wherein They Differ." Port Townsend, WA 98368 Washington Post have lost the power to The Individualist Anarchists is a fine ignore a story and thus "keep it from introduction to a fine paper. Readers becoming one." He also mourns the with a continuing interest in the topic passing of hard news in favor of mere may prefer to examine Greenwood's entertainment, but never makes a com­ multivolume reproduction of Liberty, pelling case for what hard news is and published as part of their Radical Peri­ why it should be privileged. odicals in the United States series. But As an entertaining memoir of one those simply looking for a solid survey old journalist's experience and perspec­ of nineteenth-century individualist an­ tive, this book is well worth reading. archist thought need look no further But ultimately, Squires fails to deliver than Brooks' excellent book, ironically what he promises. -Brian Doherty supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Mother, Not the Daughter, -Aaron T. Steelman of Order - Benjamin Tucker began publishing Liberty from his Boston Atlas shmucked- Many of Liber­ home in 1881; it lasted until 1908, when ty's readers have read and loved Ayn .afire ended Tucker's publishing career. Rand's monumental novel Atlas During its 27 years, Tucker's Liberty Shrugged, no doubt. But few have seen published a wide range of individualist through the surface of that engaging FED UP WITH TAXES? writers, from the English minimal­ fiction to the sinister symbolic reality statist Auberon Herbert to disciples of beneath. Apparently, Atlas Shrugged, Find out how easy it is to be Bakunin and Kropotkin. But at all written at the behest of Phillippe Roths­ free of the IRS! Not a scheme. times, Tucker, a proponent of the labor child, for whom Rand served as mis­ Attorney and CPA approved. theory of value who eschewed natural tress, is in fact a secret codebook for sa­ Court tested and affirmed. Self­ rights as a "fiction," was the guiding tanic world Jewry's diabolical plans for implemented in 10 minutes. hand. Liberty, Tucker wrote in the first world conquest. Skeptical? Send only $14.95 issue, "will be edited to suit its editor, The full outline of the incontroverti­ for our report. Satisfaction not its readers. He hopes that what ble facts leading to this conclusion can guaranteed or your money re­ suits him will suit them; but if not, it be found in an engaging little pamphlet turned. Make check or M.O to: will make no difference. No subscriber, called Witchcraft and the Illuminati, A.L.H., c/o Freedom Press, or body of subscribers, will be allowed which I picked up about a decade ago Dept. LM, 1409 E. Olive Ct., to govern his course, dictate his policy, in a Jacksonville, Florida bookstore. I #E, Ft. Collins, CO 80524 or prescribe his methods." read the pamphlet, chuckled, and since Volume 8, Number 3 January 1995

it wasn't perfect-bound it never found cal categorization and not enough get­ Christian Identity movement without its way onto my bookshelves, languish­ ting down in the dirt to explain in detail having to meet any of its adherents, but ing instead in random piles of papers, why Identity believers actually think it isn't the way to guarantee an interest­ miraculously surviving the ten or so the way they do - as individuals, not ing volume. There are plenty of good times its peripatetic owner has moved links in a historic ideological chain. books to write on this topic, but this, in the past decade. I can certainly understand why one alas, is not one of them. I was delighted to be reminded of it might want to write a book on the -Brian Doherty when I read Michael Barkun's Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins ofthe Christian Identity Movement (Universi­ ty of North Carolina Press, 1994, 290 pp., $39.95 hc, $15.95 sc), and to discov­ er exactly which ideological cubbyhole produced this curious and fascinating screed. Barkun identifies the author as James Ellison of the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord, a Christian Identi­ Classified Advertising is available for 50¢ per word, with a ten-word minimum. 10% discount for six or more insertions. Payment must accompany order. Please suggest ty organization. classification. The subject of Christian Identity is far more dramatic, zany, and fascinat­ Business/Investments $2 postage and handling to 5 Star Publishing Company, P.O. Box 1432, Galesburg, IL 61402­ ing than this book, which mostly leech­ $800+ weekly! Help promote term limits for 1432. es its information from secondary Congress. Distribute our literature, 5-10 hours/ sources and refuses to grapple with the week. 210-697-3290 (24 hours), or long SASE to: Frustrated persuader? 27-page pamphlet makes the libertarian position inescapable! $3.00 each, or sheer crazed absurdity of many of the PTL-2, 5492 Walzem Rd., Ste. 101, San Antonio, TX 78218. $2.50 each for 10+. Postage included. Maresca, ersatz religion's tenets. Worse yet, the 800 Flying Hills, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. author does not bring to his subject the Offshore corporations, asset protection trusts, tax planning by American-qualified CPA. Enti­ Get economic revenge: The Secrets ofWealth. Over requisite wit and irony. ties in most tax haven jurisdictions can be ad­ 250,000 sold. $24.00, delivered priority: Mentor, Barkun blandly and straightfacedly ministered at low cost from Panama. For infor­ 11401 N. Freeway, Ste. 223-L, Houston, TX 77060. reports that Christian Identity types see mation on services offered write to: The Harris Refute liberals! Informal debate primer. $4.00 to Organization, Attn: Traditional Client Services, the white Anglo-Saxon-Celtic-Germanic Showdown, P.O. Box 246512, Sacramento, CA Apartado Postal 6-1097, Panama 6, Panama. races as the true Israel of the Bible. 95824. God's Chosen are in an eternal war You must learn a practical, reality-based invest­ ment philosophy before you can hope to pre­ Periodicals with the "pre-Adamic" races (blacks serve your hard-earned wealth! Wealth Preserva­ and orientals) and Jews, the literal bio­ tion & Growth Consulting Services. Box 129,22 W. Directory of Libertarian Periodicals, updated logical spawn of Satan through the line Bryan St., Savannah, GA 31401. latest edition, lists around 150 titles, with ad­ of Cain. Their visions of history and es­ dresses, other information. All believed to be Collectables/Merchandise presently publishing. $3.00 postpaid, $4.00 over­ chatology are wild, dynamic, frighten­ The best pre-income tax furniture designs seas. Jim Stumm, Box 29LB, Hiler Branch, Buffa­ ing, and apocalyptic, incorporating fly­ hand-built for you. American Arts & Crafts, lo, NY 14223. ing saucers, ancient Babylonian one­ lithe thinking man's furniture." Exquisite mu­ Dispatches from The Last Ditch. Anarcho­ world government, satanic cults, ritual seum quality reproductions of Stickley, Limbert, pessimists, post-neo-Objectivists, crypto-Cop­ murder of infants, and bloody and vio­ etc. Catalog available $5.00, rebated with order. perheads, and other enemies of the permanent lent tribulations from which the right­ Paul Kemner Furniture Craftsman, Dept. L, regime opining monthly, from individualist and 2829 Rockwood, Toledo, OH 43610-1625. (419) won't European-American perspectives, on the end of eous be raptured away, but must 241-8278. be prepared to tough out. But Barkun civilization. Write for free issue. $15 for 4 issues; Literature $42 for 12. WTM Enterprises, P.O. Box 224, Dept. runs them through the strainer of the LIB, Roanoke, IN 46783. Make checks payable to political scientist and sociologist, and Association of Libertarian Feminists, send WTM Enterprises. what comes out is a tasteless mush, a SASE for literature list. Membership/newsletter The only publication that takes libertarian ideas nUIl}bing adumbration of the gradual sub, $10/year. ALF, Box 20252, London Terrace P.O., New York, NY 10011. seriously enough to debate them and test their evolution of their ideology from its limits. In Critical Review, the best free-market DYOB - Brew Your Own Beer Easy. Complete scholars in the world debate eminent writers of source in British Israelism (surviving to­ book only $10. S. Brennan, P.O. Box 4561, Whit­ other persuasions in every social science. Forth­ day mostly through the Worldwide tier, CA 90607. Church of God, publishers of The Plain coming and recent authors: James Buchanan, Crying Wolf: Hate Crime Hoaxes in America, by Harold Demsetz, Roger Garrison, Nathan Glazer, Truth, a nifty giveaway zine you might Laird Wilcox. Reviewed in December 1994 Liber­ John Gray, Robert Higgs, Charles Kindleberger­ be familiar with) to present-day organi­ hJ. $19.95 postpaid. Laird Wilcox, Box 2047, er, Israel Kirzner, Leszek Kolakowski, Donald zations such as the Order, and occasion­ Olathe, KS 66061. McCloskey, Charles Murray, Jan Narveson, Rich­ al plots to overthrow the Zionist Occu­ Don't understand trinitarianism? Christianity, ard Posner, Anna Schwartz, David Ramsay pation Government of America or Crime Against Humanity by Arnold Gordon ex­ Steele, James Q. Wilson. Four 160-pp. issues/ poses the pagan origins of false Christianity, in­ year. $15 students with copy of ID; nonstudents: secede into a racially pure stronghold. cluding Christmas, Easter, the fish symbol, the $29 U.S., $35 foreign, $50 foreign air. P.O. Box This book has too much dull sociologi- cross, church steeples, and more! Send $9.95 and 25068, Dept. L, Chicago, IL 60625. Liberty 67 Janu 1995

Lemieux, "Memoirs," continued from page 51 How to great care not to mention the name of the real wide world may have been the local Soviet dissident. larger. After the publication of one of Until very recently, 1 could not in­ my books, French novelist and Acade­ Subscribe terest the local book publishers in my mician Jean d'Ormesson wrote to me: work. 1 had to publish in Paris, which "You are among those who will have to was a good idea anyway: as far as Que­ redirected the intellectual history of bec is concerned, the North Atlantic is a our time." I am quoted more often in one-way street for books and ideas. An France, and perhaps better known Liberty association for the reduction of public among the intellectuals there, than in expenditures was launched in Quebec, my Canadian Siberia. When I was liv­ but 1 only heard about it after the at­ ing in Paris, I met the Spoonerian pres­ Liberty takes individual tempt had failed. I recently applied for ident of Les Belles Lettres, a small but a university position, with little hope, well-known publishing house, who freedom seriously ... and but 1 thought that the worst that could has given me unflagging support. (Be­ the status quo with more happen would be to give me a couple fore you find a Canadian publishing than one grain of salt! more lines for my memoirs. Although, house with a Spoonerian president, the or perhaps because, the rumor quickly pope will have posted Playboy center­ Liberty tackles the tough problems. spread (I am told) among the faculty, 1 folds in the Sistine Chapel.) Every issue of Liberty presents es­ was turned down by a word-processed At Les Belles Lettres, we created a says studying current trends in letter. If1liked to complain, 1could tell book series that catered to anti-statists political and social thought, discus­ many other such stories. from Left to Right, and which was fa­ sions of the strategy and tactics of English Canada is another planet: 1 vorably reviewed in the Times Literary social change, analyses of current have never been able to do anything Supplement: "They order this matter events, and challenges to popular with any established institution there. better in France," the reviewer wrote. beliefs. Liberty also offers lively Recently, a group considered creating Among the authors we published are book reviews, fiction, and humor. a free-market think tank in Quebec but Lysander Spooner, Herbert Spencer, You won't want to miss a single kept me in the dark, even though I had and Ayn Rand. issue! put myself in touch with some of the Here, 1have to be careful, since my Act Today! principals involved. But after the To­ readers may know first-hand what I ronto Globe and Mail published a piece am talking about. For 1 also like to Liberty offers you the best in liber­ of mine a few months ago, I have been think that 1have had some audience (if tarian thinking and writing. So in touch with a few interesting individ­ don't hesitate. You have nothing to only for my Wall Street Journal pieces) lose, and the fruits of Liberty to uals from "ROC" (the "Rest of Cana­ in the land of Spooner, where 1 have a gain! da," as we say here), including the few great friends. Perhaps there are John Locke Institute. just more freemen left there. Only two 1 have often brought subversion periodicals have ever asked me to be a Use the coupon below or call: right into the tyrant's fortress. The to­ contributing editor: both were Ameri­ talitarian federal minister of justice can, and one of them is Liberty. One re­ 1-800-854-6991 phoned me at home one weekend as a cent night, while electronically won­ kind of goodwill gesture after he disa­ dering through D.C. on the World greed with one of my articles against Wide Web, I had a Soviet dissident's ~------,' Please enter my subscription firearm controls. Following another ego trip: 1 discovered that the Library I·YeS to Liberty immediately! I one of these articles, the Quebec minis­ of Congress catalog lists more of my 0 Six issues (One Full Year) $19.50 I ter of public security wrote me a rather books (in the original French) than I o Twelve issues (Two Full Years) $37.00 congratulatory letter on his official let­ most university libraries in·Quebec. I Add $5 per year for foreign subscriptions. I terhead. On the morning CBC radio To tell the truth, 1 enjoyed this life show in Ottawa, 1 gave a long inter­ when 1 was younger and had some view on the right to keep and bear temporary financial security for my I arms, just as the bureaucrats were family. Fighting the tyrant isn't just a I caught in the traffic listening to their moral duty; it's more fun than being a car radios. I sometimes had pieces of nine-to-four-thirty bureaucrat with an subversive research done for me by ugly wife, fat kids, and a suburban people within government. Without swimming pool. But in this society, the much institutional support, though, personal costs imposed on Soviet dissi­ the results of all this have been mitigat­ dents are getting prohibitively high. I signature ed, and we lost many would-be fellow Yet ... yet, perhaps the new gener­ travelers. ations will one day discover that the Fortunately, 1think my influence in Soviet dissidents were right. 0 Volume 8, Number 3

Letters, continued from page 36 one from another religious pacifist organ­ ization, Clergy and Laity Concerned. I know other pacifist organizations have taken similar positions. Chester Alan Arthur is Liberty's politi­ Michael Levine is an editorial assistant Cox has not outgrown the right-wing cal correspondent. at Liberty. ignorance of the difference between left­ ist opponents of only IIcapitalist" wars "Baloo" is cartoonist Rex F. May's fa­ Ronald F. Lipp is an attorney in Sacra­ and pacifist opponents of war, period. vorite pseudonym. mento. Like libertarians, pacifists tend to take John Bergstrom has gone back to Loren E. Lomasky is author of Persons, positions based on principles rather than Rights, and the Moral Community and political expediency and, like libertari­ school, God help him. other books. ans, they are condemned as left-wing or R. W. Bradford is editor of Liberty. right-wing depending on who is doing Tom Loughran is an editorial assistant the warmaking at the time. Stephen Cox is Professor of Literature at Liberty. In my experience, most pacifists are at the University of California at Wendy McElroy is a fellow at the Inde­ natural libertarians who will become San Diego. pendent Institute. more so as they come to realize the vio­ lent nature of the state. Rather than mak­ Brian Doherty is an assistant editor at Ralph Raico is Professor of History at ing ignorant accusations of hypocrisy, we Reason magazine. SUNY-Buffalo. should be encouraging them to under­ Seth Farber is author of Madness, Jane S. Shaw is a senior associate of stand that IIwar is the health of the state" Heresy, and the Rumor ofAngels. the Political Economy Research and that limiting government is requisite Center in Bozeman, Montana. for achieving a peaceful world. Lowell E. Gallaway is coauthor of Out Bruce Baechler ofWork and a research fellow at the Sandy Shaw is coauthor of Freedom of Austin, Tex. Independent Institute. Informed Choice: The FDA vs Nutrient Supplements. James Gill is Liberty's staff artist. How It Plays in Peoria Aaron T. Steelman is publisher emeri­ I was just beginning to develop a Leon T. Hadar is the author of Quag­ tus of The Michigan Review. great respect for your publication until mire: America in the Middle East. your November 1994 issue dashed it Clark Stooksbury is assistant publisher practically to pieces. I find "Talking Sex, Robert Higgs is research director for of Liberty. the Independent Institute. Not Gender" by Wendy McElroy trash Brian Taylor is editor of Guillotine: A unworthy to be published in a magazine Richard Kostelanetz has produced Slice of Reality. such as Liberty. Maybe in Playboy or Pent­ many books, tapes, and other me­ house, but not Liberty. You do nothing to Richard K. Vedder is coauthor of Out of dia, virtually all of which are availa­ advance the cause of liberty by publish­ Work and a research fellow at the ing such depraved material. ble from Archae Editions. Independent Institute. I believe McElroy has a right to have Phil Leggiere is a journalist and critic Jesse Walker is assistant editor of her article published in any magazine in New Jersey. Liberty. that will accept it, but you should have shown better discretion in deciding Pierre Lemieux is author of French­ Leland B. Yeager is Ludwig von Mises whether or not to print it. language books on gun control, an­ Distinguished Professor of Econom­ I hope that any new readers of Liberty archism, and other topics. ics at Auburn University. will not judge libertarians on the whole as being callous to the moral sensitivities of others. I also hope that this is the last time you publish a graphic, perverted ar­ ticle - or, regretfully, I will look else­ where for current libertarian thought. Mark Manthey Peoria, Ill.

U.K. Jive signed by a reluctant King John in 1215, Bradford responds: The British Bill of Rights Given his penchant for deep research was simply a bill of rights by another protects the rights of Britain's Parliament, and accuracy - as well as his broad name. This earlier document enshrined not its citizens. The trouble with "unwrit­ knowledge of history - I was somewhat such cornerstones of liberty as the rule of ten" constitutions is that they're always amazed by R.W. Bradford's recent com­ law (outlawing arbitrary acts by the gov­ "evolving" to fit whatever the current ment ("Conservatism tiber alles," No­ ernment), and became the basis for simi­ government wants to do. Despite all of vember 1994) that "Great Britain has nei­ lar documents in many other countries. America's problems, it is much harder, to ther a Constitution nor a Bill of Rights." And Britain has a constitution. We give one example, for the state to censor Britain obtained a bill of rights in simply do not have a written constitution. here than in Britain. If you don't believe 1689, 100 years before your country got Adrian Day me, ask yourself in which country it is its document. Further, the Magna Carta, Annapolis, Md. easier to buy a copy of Spycatcher. Liberty 69 lncognitll

Reno, Nevada Port Townsend, Wash. _, The ongoing persecution of Jesus Christ, as reported in The A penetrating comment from Together: A Newsletter for the Progressive: Port Townsend School District Community. Actor Mark Williams, wearing a beard, robes, and sandals for his "All children and adults, regardless of economic class, experience title role in Jesus Christ Superstar, was ejected from the Pioneer what is known as 'transient hunger.' This is occasional hunger a;nd is Center for the Performing Arts when the theater's director mistook eliminated by eating." him for a homeless person. Florida Maricopa County, Ariz. Covering all bases, as reported by the Washington Post: Consumer protection, Southwestern-style, reported by Free­ Michael Gifford should be acquitted of shooting abortionist Da­ dom Network News: vid Gunn on grounds of diminished capacity,because anti­ Undercover agents from the Maricopa County Health Depart­ abortionists brainwashed and crazed him by showing him fetuses and ment have been crashing weddings to seize cakes baked without li­ hateful, blood-drenched effigies, his lawyers told jurors. And, they censes by friends or relatives. added, he didn't do it.

Milwaukee Prince William County, Va. An Earth-shaking law suit, described by the Milwaukee Advance in the ongoing fight against child abuse, reported Journal: by The Amicus Curiae: Harmanjit S. Saini has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for Social workers may seize latchkey children as old as ten and put "unprecedented discrimination as the result of a worldwide conspir­ them in foster homes for three days with no hearing or notice, the acy to prevent him from making a decent living and marrying a Fourth Circuit ruled. white woman." The 249 defendants named include CBS, Chrysler, the ambassador of Kuwait, Milwaukee public schools superinten­ Albany, N.~ dent Howard Fuller, and Sen. Ted Kennedy. Judicial progress in the Empire State, reported by the Asso­ Russia ciated Press: Owners of property near high-voltage power lines can be awarded Pre- and post-revolutionary protective headwear, described damages when "cancerphobia" lowers their property value, even by the Russian newspaper Segodnya: without proof of a health risk, New York's Court of Appeals ruled. The familiar big fur hats worn on Soviet holidays by Politburo members were actually lined with steel. They were custom-made by Mentor, Ohio a helmet factory, which now offers. similar hats to entrepreneurs art who fear attacks from gangsters. City planning meets criticism in Middle America, as re­ ported by the Lake County News-Herald: China Applebee's plans for a new downtown restaurant is facing prob­ Advice to Chinese travelling abroad, from a four-page gov­ lems from Mentor's city planners, who fear that its architectural fla­ ernment-issued guide quoted in the Baltimore Sun: vor is "a bit bland." Meanwhile, Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurante is being challenged from the opposite direction. "I think those canopies "Ifa problem comes up or you did something wrong due to inex­ might be too gaudy," says Municipal Planning Commission Chair perience, be sure to report the truth of what happened as soon as Ray Kirchner. possible in case of the possibility of being taken advantage of by spies and special agents." Fort Lauderdale New York The declining education standards of American Nazis, as re­ Evidence of progress in social engineering, from an essay ported by the Washington City Paper: by Tamar Jacoby published on the editorial page of The Wall Donald Leroy Evans, accused of strangling a prostitute, filed a Street Journal: motion before his trial to wear his KKK robe and for his name to be changed on all court documents to "the honorable and respected "A renewed pursuit of integration need not mean a return to name of Hi Hitler." Courthouse employees explained that Evans '60s-style social engineering. Washington can provide some oppor­ thought Hitler's followers said "Hi Hitler" rather than "Heil Hitler." tunities for black and white to get to know each other: a conscripted national service corps, for example." Hillsboro, Ill. Missoula, Mont. Avant-garde religious education, described in USA Today: A change in policy in the Treasure State, reported by the As­ To demonstrate how God will treat Satan on the Day of Jubilee, sociated Press: Rev. Anthony Dearinger picked up and threw an eight-year-old boy. Hank Hudson, director of the Department of Family Services, said that his agency would no longer place children with known sex (Readers are invited to forward newsclippings or other items for offenders. publication in Terra Incognita.) 70 Liberty • "Who Benefits from the Clinton Program?" by Harry Browne Stim.ulate Your Mind! Plus articles and reviews by Leland Yeager, Randal O'Toole, Bart with Liberty back issues Kosko, C.A. Arthur, and others. (72 pages) (continued from back cover) August 1993 • "Canada Explodes," by Scott Reid and Barry Chamish • "How Do I Hate NPR? Let Me Count the Ways," by Glenn Garvin Plus articles and reviews by R.W. Bradford, Frank Fox, John Hospers, • "What Happened in Waco?" by Loren Lomasky and RW. Bradford Mark Skousen, Sheldon Richman, and others. (72 pages) • "Wildlife Management: Public vs Private," by John McCormack Plus articles and reviews by Stephen Cox, Jane Shaw, and others; poet­ November 1991 ry by Marc Ponomareff; and fiction by J. Orlin Grabbe. (72 pages)

I • "The Road to Nowhere," by David Horowitz • "Thelma and Louise: Feminist Heroes," by Miles Fowler Plus articles and reviews by Robert Higgs, Leland Yeager, Carol Volume 7 Moore, and others; and a short story by J. E. Goodman. (80 pages) October 1993 January 1992 • "The Real Health Care Crisis," by RW. Bradford I• "The National Park Disgrace," by RW. Bradford and Karl Hess, Jr • "White Liberals Can Jump," by William Moulton I• "Beyond Austrian Economics: Bionomics," by Michael Rothschild • "Isabel Paterson, Individualist," by Stephen Cox • "How To Think About Pollution," by David Friedman Plus articles and reviews by Greg Kaza, Brian Doherty, and others; Plus articles and reviews by Leland Yeager, Bill Kauffman, Henry aphorisms by Isabel Paterson; and an index to Volume 6. (72 pages) Veatch, Jane Shaw, Richard Kostelanetz, and others. (80 pages) January 1994 March 1992 • "First They Came for the Fascists..." by Gerry Spence • "Albert Jay Nock: Prophet of Libertarianism?" by Stephen Cox • "My Dinner With Slick Willie," by Douglas Casey • "P.C. or B.S.?" by Meredith McGhan • "Presidential Malpractice," by RW. Bradford • "Sylvan Socialism," by John Baden and Randal O'Toole • "The Inevitability of the Welfare State," by Todd Seavey Plus articles and reviews by Karl Hess, Jane Shaw, Edward C. Krug, Plus articles and reviews by Wendy McElroy, Ross Overbeek, Jesse and others; and an interview with Pat Buchanan. (72 pages) Walker, and others. (72 pages) May 1992 March 1994 • "Hong Kong: Free Markets, Full Employment," by Mark Tier • "Chaos and Liberty," by J. Orlin Grabbe and Pierre Lemieux • "The Sex Lives of Animals," by Kyle Rothweiler • "Secession as a First Amendment Right," by Robert Nelson • "Who is Richard Rorty?" by Dan Klein and David Horowitz • "Partial Recall: Manufacturing Child Abuse," by David Ramsay Steele Plus articles and reviews by Eric Banfield, Karl Hess, Vernon L. Smith, • "Panopticon, U.S.A.," by John Hospers and others; and fiction by J. Orlin Grabbe. (72 pages) Plus articles and reviews by Victor Niederhoffer, R.W. Bradford, and others; and a short story by Richard Kostelanetz. (72 pages) July 1992 • "The 'Lock' on the Electoral College," by David Brin May 1994 • "Christians and Libertarians in a Hostile World," by Doug Bandow • "The Aristocratic Menace," by David Brin • "The Myth of (Heavy) Metal Illness," by Gracie & Zarkov • "Creation Myths of the Right," by RW. Bradford Plus commentary on the L.A. Riots, and articles and reviews by David • "Trafficking in Numbers: The Seat Belt Scam," by Gwynne Nettler Kelley, Leland Yeager, George H. Smith, and others. (72 pages) Plus articles and reviews by RW. Bradford, Jane Shaw, James Ostrow- ski, and others. (72 pages) Volume 6 July 1994 • "Hillary's Trades, Hillary's Lies," by Victor Niederhoffer September 1992 • "Remembering Karl Hess," by R.W. Bradford • "War on Drugs, War on Progress," by James Ostrowski • "Tribes in a High-Tech World," by Leon T. Hadar • "Five Years of Liberty," by RW. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by Justin Raimondo, Douglas Casey, Bruce • "Stupid About Schools," by Martin Morse Wooster Ramsey, and others. (72 pages) Plus articles and reviews by J. Neil Schulman, Murray Rothbard, Wil­ liam Mellor III, and others; and an index to back issues. (80 pages) September 1994 • "Howard Stem: The Man vs the Empire State," by Todd Seavey November 1992 • "Diagnosis in the Therapeutic State," by Thomas Szasz • "The First Time: I Run for the Presidency," by John Hospers • "The New Mythology of Rape," by Wendy McElroy • "At the Margins of the Republican Convention," by Thomas D. Walls Plus articles and reviews by Bart Kosko, Jesse Walker, Leland Yeager, Plus articles and reviews by David Kelley, Richard Kostelanetz, Loren Bill Kauffman, and others. (72 pages) Lomasky, Ben Best, Gregory Johnson, and others. (80 pages) February 1993 Volume 8 • "Perot's 200-Proof Populism," by Bill Kauffman November 1994 • ~How to Secede in Politics," by Scott Reid • "Hail to the Wimp!" by Leon T. Hadar • "Malcolm X Reborn," by Jesse Walker • liThe WTO: Trading Away Free Trade," by Fred L. Smith, Jr. Plus election coverage, and articles and reviews by John Hospers, • "Deep Ecology Meets the Market," by Gus diZerega James Ostrowski, Jesse Walker, Ron Lipp, and others. (80 pages) Plus articles and reviews by Wendy McElroy, Bart Kosko, and others; a April 1993 short story by Greg Jenkins; and an index to Volume 7. (72 pages) • "How to Cut Your Taxes by 75%," by R W. Bradford December 1994 • "Clinton and the New Class," by Douglas Casey • "The War Against Cuban Refugees," by Grover Joseph Rees • "Peter Drucker: The Other Austrian," by Mark Skousen • "Where Taxes Rise Fastest," by RW. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by John Hospers, John Baden, Stephen Cox, • "Truth and Lies in the Balkan War," by George Manolovich and others; and an interview with Roy Childs. (72 pages) Plus articles and reviews by Richard Kostelanetz, David Ramsay Steele, June 1993 Susan Rutter, Stephen Cox, Wendy McElroy, and others. (72 pages) • "Holocaust in Waco," by R.W. Bradford and Stephen Cox Back issues from the first two volumes also available; see Liberty, • "Understanding the State," by Albert Jay Nock September (p. 40), or write Liberty Back Issues for information. Stimulate Your Mind! There is a world of good reading in Liberty! Whether you want to catch ul? on what.you misse~, pro­ vide intellectual relief to your friends (or enemies!), or complete your collection, now 1S a good time to buy. Enjoy! Volume 3 • "Libertarian Intellectuals on Welfare," by George H. Smith Plus articles and reviews by Sheldon Richman, John Hospers, Stephen September 1989 Cox, Loren Lomasky, Richard Kostelanetz, and others. (80 pages) • "Abortion Without Absurdity," by R.W. Bradford • "The Argument from Mere Argument," by Loren Lomasky May 1990 • "Killing as Therapy," by Thomas Szasz • "Reconstructionism and Liberty," by Jeffrey Tucker and Gary North • "Smokestacks vs Rhinos," by Robert Higgs Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Murray Rothbard, Rich- • "Liberty Without Romance," by Bart Kosko ard Kostelanetz, Ralph Raico, and others. (72 pages) Plus articles and reviews by Bill Kauffman, Richard Kostelanetz, Jane November 1989 Shaw, Karl Hess, Loren Lomasky, and others. (72 pages) • "Loathing the Fear in New York," by Murray Rothbard July 1990 • "The Case a Capital Gains Tax Cut," by Michael Christian Against • "Conversations with Ayn Rand (part 1)," by John Hospers Plus articles and reviews by Loren Lomasky, Richard Kostelanetz, Ti- • "IfYou Believe in Dentistry, Why Should You Mind Having Your bor R. Machan, Joseph Miranda, R.W. Bradford, and others; and an Teeth Knocked Out?" by William Moulton interview with Russell Means. (72 pages) Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Bill Kauffman, James January 1990 Robbins, Mark Skousen, John Baden, and others. (72 pages) • "The Politics of the Millenium," by Murray Rothbard • "The Case for Paleolibertarianism," by Llewelyn Rockwell Volume 4 • "In Pursuit of Charles Murray," by David Gordon September 1990 Plus writing by Patrick J. Michaels, Karl Hess, R.W. Bradford, Stephen • "Conversations with Ayn Rand (part 2)," by John Hospers Cox, William Moulton, and others; and an interview with Barbara • "Me and AIDS," by Richard Kostelanetz Branden. (80 pages) • "Fighting the Draft in World War II," by Jim Bristol March 1990 Plus articles and reviews by Jane Shaw, Ron Paul, James Robbins, and others; and a ficci6n by Harvey Segal. (72 pages) • "H.L. Mencken: Anti-Semite?" by R.W. 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