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Spring 1994 A Publication of the FreeNation Foundation Vol. I, No. 3 Foundation Business: Forum on Systems of Law to FNF Director A Report From the Office be held April 30 Lectures on Liberty • Asof late Marchwe have not yet received TheFree Nation Foundationwill hold its Since the founding of the Free Nation any wordfrom the IRS regarding the status secondForum on Saturday, April30, 1994, Foundationlast year,Director Roderick Long of our applicationfor 50 I (c )(3) tax status. at the Days Inn near the Raleigh-Durham has been giving a variety of lectures and Airport, NC (Interstate 40, exit 284; loca talks on libertarian topics across the coun • In late Februarywe mailed 240 copiesof tion shown below). The Forum will run try. LastJuly 16, he lecturedon "TheEthics issue no. 2 of Formulatior,s. The mailing from 10 am. Wltil5 pm. Thesubject will be of Flourishing: Aristotle vs. Rand" at the list combines several sources including: Systems of Law. Institute for Objectivist Studies Summer libertariancontacts here in NorthCarolina; Seminar in Philosophyat Roger Williams names gleaned from publications of na College, Bristol, Rhode Island. Dr. Long tional libertarian organizations and think offered some criticisms of the defense of tanks; and members and friends. individual rightsoffered by libertarianphi losopher-novelistAyn Rand, and suggested • Since publication of issueno. 2, we have that a more successful defense might in- beenjoined by fivenew members. Onthe way to our first million members,we have (continuedon page11) reachedthe milestone at 0.002%. • We also received two membership re Inside newals. This hasreminded us that we need I-40 at Exit 284 to start a system of telling members when � their memberships expire. Until we do, , Govern ment Grows: members may beassured that no member e nda: Onth Ai:e True or False? shipsexpire till August 1994,since the by Richard Hammer ........... 2 firstmemberships started in August I 993. Basic Questions About Law Your membershipswill run a fullcalendar presentedby Law can Be Private year foreach $30 which you apply toward RichardHammer by Richard Hammer ............ 3 membership. But be assured that we wel come additional contributions. Developmentof Law The Decline and Fall of as Society Develops Private Law in Iceland • In February we prepared and mailed our presentedby by Roderick Long ............... 4 firstannual report. Thisdocument, modeled Bobby Emory roughly on anual reports of business cor Notes on the History porations,gives a summary organization,of Implementing Private Law of Legal Systems programs, andfinances of the Foundation. in a World of States by Bobby Emory........ ......... 7 Oneof thefinancial statement s, Sourcesand presented by Uses of Funds, shows that the Foundation Roderick Long Restitutive Justice and spent$1233 fromJune 7, 1993, the date of the Costs of Restraint incorporation,to December 31, I 993, the by Richard Hammer end of the first fiscal year. The largest To register for the Forum,return the en and Roderick Long ............. 9 expenditureswere printing, $445, and hotel closedcard Registrantswill receivea pack charges for the October forum, $177. The age of materials, lunch, and proceedings The Nature of Law largest sources of funds were $703 from printed afterthe Forum. Registration fee: by RoderickLong .............. 1 O Richard Hammer, and$390 from member- fornonmembers, $25 until April 22, $35 ships. thereafter; formembers ofthe FreeNation A University Built by Foundation, $20 until April 22, $28 there the Invisible Hand • Also in February we printed and mailed after. Those planning to stay at the hotel by RoderickLong .............. 12 the proceedingsof our October I 993 forum should call 919-469-8688 for reserva '\. on constitutions. Ii tions. Ii The Free Nation Foundation, [outdated street address], HillsboroughNC 27278 Government Grows: True or False? by Richard Hammer We in the Free Nation Foundation would like to build toward a free society. To Editor: RoderickT. Long advance this effort,it seemswise for us to study history,to seeif historyhas parallels, a publication of the something to teachus. I am not a historian. Free Nation J,'oundation [old-address] But I will tell someof what I havelearned, Hillsborough NC 27278 and speculateabout what that meansfor us. I hope that readers who know more· will Statement of Purpose contribute to our education by writing in their corrections andadditions. The purpose of the Free Nation Foundation is to advance the day when coercive institutions of government can be replaced by voluntary institutions of A Thesis: Government Grows civil mutual consent, by developing clear and believable descriptions of those I would like to confirm or refute this voluntary institutions, and by building a community of people who share confi thesis: dence in these descriptions. Existing governments grow, almost Board of Directors always. Thisgrowth eventually cripples Richard 0. Hammer, President the economy. If governmentsare not Bobby Yates Emory, Secretary firstdes troyed by foreign invasion,then RoderickT. Long they weaken economically (and mor ally) till theycollapse areor overthrown Formulations ispublished quarterly, on the first of March,Jun e, September, fromwithin. and December. While historymay show someinstances Subscriptions to Formulations may be purchased for $1 o forfour issues(one of the dismantling of powers within year). Membership in the Free NationFoundation may be purchased for $30 per existing states, these instances are in year. Members receive: a subscription to Formulations, 20% discount on con ference registration fees, invitation to attend regular meetings of the Board of frequent and insubstantial when com Directors, copies of the Bylaws and Annual Report. Additional contributions are pared to the overwhelming trend of welcome. growth. This applies not only to mod em democracies, but also to earlier An application has been filed with the IRS for 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt status. monarchies, and,I suggest,to all states in history. Information for Authors The thesishas a corollarywhich suggests We seek columns, articles, and art, within the range of our work plan. We where we might expectto findliberty: also welcome letters to the editor which contributeto our debate and process of seH-education. Liberty has existed in the times and Our work plan isto work within the community of people who already think places where government has not yet of themselves as libertarian, to develop clear and believable descriptions of the grown. Aftera government collapses critical institutions (such as those that provide security, both domestic and or is overthrown,there will bepockets national) with which we libertarians would propose to replace the coercive institutions of government of liberty till government grows over As a first priority we seek formulations on the nature of these institutions. them again. These formulationscould well be historicalaccounts of institutions that served In earlier societies, or accountsof present institutionsnow serving in othersocieties. Little has Been Written to Help Answer As a second priority we seek material of general interest to libertarians, the Question subject to thiscaveat We are not complaining, we are building. We do not seek Unfortunately,few historians have stud criticism of existing political institutions or persons unless the author uses that ied historyas I would like to seeit, through criticism to enlighten formulation of an improved institution. a lens which highlights issues of economic All submissions are subject to editing. liberty and productivity. I will share here Submissions will be consideredfor publication if received by the 15th of the month preceding month of publication. Thus, the deadlines for writers are: the fewtidbits I have picked up. February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15. In OurEnemy the Slate, AlbertJay Nock presentsa similar thesis: that governments, Address correspondence to: Free Nation Foundation, [outdated street once they grow to a certainsize, then con- address], Hillsborough NC 27278. (continued on page3) page2 J,'ormulations Vol. I, No. 3, Spring 1994 Law Can Be Private ponent hinds all other members of the by Richard Hammer group who did not participate in the case under consideration. The [adjudicator[ After the FNF Board of Directors decidec himself turns to his previous decisions for the subject for our second forum, systems o consistency. In a way, they also bind him. law, it became evident that I needed to lean Lawyers speak in such a case about the something if I hoped to contribute. Accord binding force of precedent.'" ingl y, the President of FNF assigned me tht (The Enterprise oflaw, p. 17.) A task of reading The Enterprise of law, bJ Bruce L. Benson. I never would have un 1 Bruce L. Benson's The Enterprise of Law: dertaken this assignment without somt Justice Without the State, published in 1990 by prodding. But, having completed it, I car the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy. say that I feel grateful. Would you like t< may be purchased from Freedom's Forum Book store in San Francisco, 415-864-0952. As of feel grateful too? Okay, here is your as 1 press time, Freedom's Forum is offering a hard signment. Read this book. cover copy for a sale price of $14.95 plus ship- - Before reading 11,e Enterprise oflaw ; ping, though the price will prohahly go up soon. question lingered in my mind: could lav indeed he private? The book pretty mud, Richard 0. Hammer.founder ofthe Free