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Liberty Magazine May 1998 Mime Type The Final Days of May 1998 Vol. 11, No.5 $4.00 "Bill Clinton o. .•. 1211Ijj;ili~f0E1j&11J82ilif(";;t81TIIH24·ITl~18t211*lillJili£]rl8tj1fJl8iliit£iTd0j8j8~itTB2t&08tlt;Elijiliflli;12·i®8tllii§£Di£1Giffin 0. .. .... o .. 00 . o . !il- --~- -- f'o-----------------....... f'o~~-------....--------- ...... "It is seldom that Liberty ofany kind is lost all at once." -David Hume LIBERTARIANS When you've had enough of majority rule ... We can assemble the resources to lease a new Hong Kong, as soon as we build a vision -which we believe- of how that free nation will work. Daylong Forums address topics vital to a successful free nation. Property Rights. Saturday, 11 April 1998, Hillsborough, North Carolina. What are the origin and nature of property rights? How will these rights be defined and policed in a free nation? lOAM - 5PM, Oliver's Restaurant (Yl mile north of1-85 exit 164). Admission: $15 general; $12 for FNF Members. Law. October 1998. Specific date and place to be announced later. Free Nation Foundation III West Corbin Street Hillsborough, NC 27278 HTTP://WWW.FREENATION.ORG Subscriptions to Formulations: $15 per year (four issues). Single sample issue: $4. Membership: $30 per year. (In addition to Formulations, members receive: Annual Reports, invitations to attend meetings ofBoard ofDirectors, use ofthe FNF library, more inclusion in the process.) Prior publications: catalog available upon request. FNF, incorporated in 1993, is an IRS 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt educational foundation. another road lies wide open before us. May 1998 Inside Liberty Volume 11, Number 5 4 Letters To subscribe to Liberty does not mean to subscribe to everything in its pages. 9 Reflections The ladies and gentlemen on Liberty's masthead head off the onslaught of the pollsters, slough off the lightweights of the media, put off till tomorrow the asteroids of today, and turn on our own kind. 19 Clinton's Follies Liberty's editors review this famous comedian's farewell performance. Features 28 The DEA Wishes Me a Nice Day The War on Drugs continues, even against the wishes of the California voters, as Peter McWilliams discovered, when those nice chaps at the DEA broke down his door. 33 Freedom and Madness Thomas S. Szasz examines psychiatry's peculiar institution. 37 The Temptation of Bill Gates Brien Bartels wonders whether Microsoft will give in to the temptations of power. 38 Free Speech for Software Writers Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw argue Microsoft should stand behind the First Amendment. 42 The Empire Strikes Out Alan Bock suggests the citizens of the"Adolescent Empire" should put away their childish things. 45 How the EPA Made us Rich Washington D.C. is not known for its cuisine, but some regulators sure know how to cook the books. Ben Bolch and Bradford Pendley sample the exotic bureaucratic fare. 4 7 The Pontiff's Polemic James M. Vinoski explains why the Vicar of Christ comforts Castro and condemns markets. Reviews 49 The Fading Myth of JFK R.W. Bradford wonders how the world would have been different ifJack Kennedy had not, on that fateful day in 1963, grabbed one of his sexual playmates and injured his back ... 53 Fool Britannia Martin Quoile examines a "pro-liberty" novel and finds a nationalist attack on freedom. 56 A Public History of the Campaigns That Failed Truth may be the first casualty of war, writes Mark Brady, but liberty is the second. 58 Simplicity Rules Richard Epstein makes a powerful case that complex societies need simple laws. John Hospers cautions against oversimplification. 61 The Closing of the Japanese Mind Americans complain about Japan's barriers against foreign intellectuals, but as Michael J. Oakes shows, those barriers hurt the Japanese far more than Americans. 64 Making Sense of a Life The trouble with the Oscar-nominated documentary about Ayn Rand, explains R. W. Bradford, is that it doesn't even try to tell the truth. 65 The Number of The Best Richard Kostelanetz finds that a catalog listing his books may be at least 50 percent accurate. 67 Science Fiction Fandom Strikes Back Victor Koman, Rex F. May, Michael Grossberg, and Victoria Varga explain what's wrong with what Martin Morse Wooster had to say about libertarian science fiction. 70 Notes on Contributors Who we are and what we do. tion of events, but that sure sounds like (~============================L ==============~J more than an injunction against disrupt­ e=======tt========e========r s ing class. Cops Against Gun Control ate amount of outrage suggests that It's a shame that Rushton's experi­ ence fighting censorship didn't instill in Harry Browne's apparent belief that there is something else about this evi­ him a respect for the free speech of most police officers favor gun control dence that is disturbing to the left. I sus­ others. ("Unequal protection for the Law," pect that it is because the evidence Jesse Walker March) is probably the result of the exonerates capitalism. After all, if, under Washington, D.C. press's proclivity to report surveys of capitalism, whites go to the top even chiefs of police - many of whom are though blacks are their equals, then cap­ Rushton responds: Good grief! Since political hack appointees - rather than italism condones racism, and is there­ when does free speech include the right rank-and-file officers. fore evil. On the other hand, if whites to make threats of physical violence, but In a 1993 poll of 10,614 police offi­ rise due to superior inborn ability, capi­ not the right to threaten a libel suit? Is cers, the Atlanta Journal reported that 90 talism can't be faulted for this. there no difference at all between the percent of respondents believe that citi­ Richard Fuerle threat to free speech posed by criminal zens have the right to defend them­ Grand Island, N.Y. prosecution and that posed by libel laws? selves with guns, and that 96 percent Freedom Is for Everyone believe that gun ownership should not I'll grant that my views are offensive Freedom of expression should and odd, to some people, anyway, be against the law. belong to everyone, even those whose though what's offensive and odd to me Yes, we've all seen rows and rows of views are offensive, wrong, or - in the is that conducting research on race dif­ uniformed police officers standing on case of J. Philippe Rushton - both. I'm ferences in exactly the same fashion as the steps of some capital building in pleased that he has fended off those my previous work in social psychology support of anti-gun legislation. But the who would restrict his academic free­ has resulted in my becoming a pariah, press fails to report that these officers dom, and I certainly understand that in my life threatened, my property are often required to attend these media printing his account of his troubles, destroyed, criminal charges leveled affairs regardless of their own views. Liberty is not endorsing his odd views. I against me, and my livelihood Gerald T. Lang look forward to future discussions of threatened. Newman, Ga. this theme - perhaps an article by But I will not grant my views are Hidden Agenda fringe Afrocentrist Leonard Jeffries, who wrong. If Walker had offered so much J. Philippe Rushton's article ("The many conservatives think should be dis­ as a scintilla of a hint as to why he New Enemies of Evolutionary Science," missed from his academic post for the thinks they're wrong, I'd be happy to March) was fascinating, reminiscent of "crime" of espousing ideas as offensive respond. But it is difficult to respond to Galileo's problems with the Church. It as, and even more absurd than, pure denunciation. is tempting to argue that Widespread Rushton's. As to whether he will find an article vehemence against an idea is itself evi­ Unfortunately, Rushton's commit­ in some future Liberty by Leonard dence for the validity of the idea, else it ment to free speech doesn't seem to Jeffries, I cannot speak for Liberty'S edi­ would not be necessary to suppress it. extend very far. By his own account, he tors, but I suspect that if Jeffries's peer­ Certainly the would-be censors must used the threat of a libel suit to silence reviewed scientific research led to crimi­ themselves suspect that the idea is true, his critics at the Toronto Star. Evidently, nal charges, threats of violence, etc, for otherwise they would Simply mar­ it's all right for Rushton to compare his Liberty would be hospitable to his shal the evidence against it. foes to the Inquisition, but not for his views. Another interesting question is why foes to compare him to the Nazis. I sup­ Government Works, Sometimes so many white people are outraged by pose it's just a matter of whose hyper­ Harry Browne flatly states "there is the suggestion that they may have a bole is being gored. nothing government does well" slightly higher average intelligence than Later, Rushton became unhappy e'Bennettudes," March). If doing well blacks. Strange, isn't it, that the insult is when, in order to get to class, he had "to means doing better than the competi­ their suggested average superiority to run a gauntlet of demonstrators shout­ tion (which is a more rational measure blacks, not their suggested average infe­ ing protests and threats." So, he contin­ than some arbitrary standard), I can riority to orientals? One can see that, if ues, he had the university "warn the offer two areas of government they prize values such as equality and demonstrators that further action would excellence.
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