Fearing and Loathing

-Ma-y1-992---V-ol-.5,-No-.5----$4-.00

5 fJ'uc~r III11II 1111 ('5tgreater equality than is compati6{e with Li6erty is unefesira6{e. II -'Ben o 74470 80199 3 ~ Repeat of a Sellout! Canadian Silver Dollars $3.45 each! Several months ago, our special offering of Canada Silver dollars at the break­ through price of just $3.45 was a complete sellout. Thanks to a fortunate purchase, we again offer a limited quantity of these low-priced, big silver beauties!

Canadian silver dollars of the 1960-1966 period offer a taining 0.6 oz. of silver," writes investment advisor Adrian unique combination of beauty, investment po­ Day. "The pre-1967 dollars are big, heavy, real sil­ tential and low price. ver - honest-to-goodness money - whose Before 1967, Canada issued honest­ value is not subject to investor fads and to-goodness silver dollars - big, fancies." bright, beautiful, heavy, high-purity It's easy to see the logic in what Mr silver dollars. These coins contain Day writes. At present the most com­ 360 grains of 800 fine silver. They mon U.S. silver dollars are selling for are not to be confused with the low about $12.50 each in rolls of 20 pUrity, 500 fme silver dollars is­ coins. Yet at less than $4.00 per coin, sued since 1971. Canadian silver dollars offer greater rarity at a lower price. A Problem for Investors The chart below compares current Right now, silver is available at prices of the most common U.S. silver bargain levels. For small investors, dollars with the Canadian silver dollar. the best way to invest in silver is in As you can see, the Canadian silver the fonn of silver coins. And for good dollar sells for about 75°A> less than the U.S. reason: silver coins are widely recognized, silver dollar - despite the fact that the Canadi- inexpensive, easy to store, and easy to sell. an silver dollar has a far lower mintage. You can buy For many years, U.S. silver dollars have been the fa­ a roll of twenty Canadian silver dollars for about the same vorite choice of many investors. And today, even the price as six ofthe commonest Morgan silver dollars! most common date dollars command a price far above For the past two months, Coin Service has been their melt value. Currently the most common dollars assiduously acqUiring Canadian silver dollars. Our buyers sell for more than four times their melt value! have bought carefully and qUietly, with close attention to With that huge numismatic premium, where can quality. the small investor tum for his silver coin investment? Thanks to our careful bUying, we have been able to ac­ Low Cost Solution cumulate a reasonably large quantity at remarkably low prices. LeS' price is less than $4 per coin - even in lots as "Look north. Old Canadian silver dollars, each con- small as a roll of 20 coins. And ifyou buy in quantity, our price is even lower! ,.------,'. Please send me the mint-state Canada Silver Dollars, pre- Act Quickly! I YeS 1967, that I have indicated below. I understand that every I com.is backed by LeS' guarantee of grading and authenticity, and I may re- 'I The silver market has been very active recently. Our of­ I tum the coins for a full refund within 15 days, with no questions asked. fer is limited to our current inventory, and we have no way of knowing what it will cost us to replace the coins we offer 20 - 99 coins @ $ 3.95 = __ I I here. Orders will be filled on a first-come, first-seIVed ba­ 100 - 249 coins @ 3.80= sis. Because we offer Canadian silver dollars at such a re­ I 250-499 coins @ 3.65 = I markably low price, there is a good chance our entire in­ 500 - 999 coins @ 3.55 = ventory will sell out! I __ 1,000 or more coins @ 3.45 = I To Reserve Your Purchase call Toll-Free at 1-800­ 321-1542. (In Michigan call 1-800-933-4720.) Or return Postage & handling ~ I I the coupon at left. - Total enclosed I :Name. _ I I Address, _ u.s. vs Canadian Silver Dollars I Coin Date Mintage Price ZIP _ I City State U.S. Silver Dollar, Morgan type 1921 44,690,000 $12.75 Phone. _ I U.S. Silver Dollar, type 1922 51,537,000 $12.50 I Liberty Coin Service 11" Toll Free 800-321-1542 I Canada Silver Dollar 1966 10,786,596 $ 3.45 Prices are for the commonest date ofeach series, in bulk lots of1,000 coins. ..•L _------300 Frandor Ave, Lansing, MI48912 ..I ·d L·b t 5,N:~ber5M 1992 InSl e 1 er y Volume

4 Letters Our readers take Liberty into their own hands. 7 Reflections Liberty's editors cast their eyes on yuppies with theIr snouts in the trough, rap Inusic, cunnilingus, the New World Order, the inevitability of rape, raw fish, big lips, and other cultural matters. 17 Politics Liberty's editorsfollow the yellow brick campaign trail, searching for a candidate whose brains are not somewhere over the rainbow. Features 21 Bill Clinton: Super Statesman Chester Alan Arthur proves that Bill Clinton is the Right Man for the Toughest Job in the World. 25 Cruel and Unusual Decision? In a recent, controversial Supreme Court decision, did Clarence Thomas defend the beating of prisoners, or what? James Taggart weighs the evidence. 27 Divorce, Czechoslovak Style Ron Lipp and Vojtech Cepl visit the Czecks and the Slovaks, and wonder whether this marriage can be saved. 30 Eastern Eyes J. Peter Saint-Andre explores Czechoslovakia, searching for an answer to the question: what does socialism do to a country? Well, everything is bad but the beer. 32 Little Czech Man Frank Fox discovers the true New Socialist Man. 34 NYSE at 200 Gary Alexander helps celebrate the 200th birthday of the world's most successful price-fixing conspiracy. 37 The Cost of Kids "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you." Frightening words for anyone; truly scary for a child. Karl Hess tells why. 39 Workers in a Free Labor Market Mark Tier tells what it's like to live in a society without minimum wages or unions. 43 The Human Race Emerges Vernon L. Smith tells why our species has prevailed, and why others have wound up in the dustbin of prehistory. 49 There's No Such Thing as the Environment But there is a human environment, and it ought to include wilderness, civilization and liberty, according to William Dennis. 52 Why I Won't Live in Disco Bay R.K. Lamb wonders whether is all it's cracked up to be. . 53 The Optimal Number of Criminals J. Orlin Grabbe knows. But first, let me sing you a little song. Reviews 55 H.L. Mencken: Libertarian or Conservative? R. W. Bradford knows, but you'll have to read his review to find out. 58 Who is ? David Horowitz thinks he's a crypto-Stalinist. Daniel Klein thinks he's the future of . You be the judge. 63 The Sex Lives of Animals Kyle Rothweiler discusses headless orgasms and bemoans the fact that Ayn Rand didn't leave any genetic traces. 64 The Triumph of the Indistinguishable Richard Kostelanetz ruminates on the irrelevance of modern literature. 65 The Line on Night/ine Eric Banfield explains how the spontaneity of Ted Koppel's "Town Meetings" is faked. 66 Booknotes onJohn Chamberlain, , and Definitism. 68 Final Thoughts on F. A. Hayek, one of this century's intellectual giants. 67 Classified Ads 69 Notes on Contributors 70 Terra Incognita of always avoiding the interesting or diffi- cult questions. There are also many pub- . lished writings sympathetic to the Rand- ( L et t er S ] ~======~ ist point of view, but here the great majority are afflicted with the same pecu- liarity as Peikoff. They nearly all stop "How is a fetus ... programmed? By The Perplexed Critics where the interesting and awkward ques­ whom? Or what?" By its genes. Stephen Cox ("AlbertJay Nock: tions begin. Their central dogma and im­ "Is every fetus conscious of its theo­ Prophet of Libertarianism," March 1992) plicit motto: "Nothing is the least bit puz­ ries?" I didn't suggest that any fetus was wonders what a good libertarian like Al­ zling!" bert Jay Nock could have seen in the conscious of anything (though, in view of David Ramsay Steele works of Henry George. Tolstoy's recent the fact that fetuses can be trained to rec­ Chicago, Ill. biographer wondered the same about ognize speech-patterns they will subse­ Tolstoy. The wonderment of these mod­ quently encounter after birth, I wouldn't Equilibrate This ern writers would turn into amazement want to rule it out, either). Contrary to Michael Rothschild's ifthey could confront the long list of "What meaning can a theory have to protest, Ross Overbeek was much too soft highly respected lovers of liberty who, ... an embryo with no language or con­ in his review ("Economics vs Bionomics?" like Nock and Tolstoy, heard the clarion cepts?" A cat can form the theory that if it March 1992) of Rothschild's book and ar­ call of Henry George. hears a can being opened it is about to be ticle ("Beyond Austrian Economics," Jan­ Actually, the old single-taxer has fed. The same cat can then revise or dis­ uary 1992). Rothschild's biological analo­ such a seductive appeal to libertarians card that theory. So language is not es­ gy of economics may be appropriate in that we can only applaud the strategy of sential to theory formation or revision. describing some processes, but much of contemptuous dismissal that modern We don't know enough to be sure that a Rothschild's discussion of "equilibrium" writers employ. People need to be fetus doesn't have concepts. A non­ reads like the work of an overeager first­ warned that Henry George was a crack­ conscious computer can form and evalu­ year graduate student who has discov­ pot, so they will know better than to ate theories. Aside from all this, I'm not ered his first Ludwig Lachmann ha­ read his works and risk being overpow­ committed tothe view that the theories rangue. ered by his , as were Nock, Tol­ with which a fetus is programmed have Some economists overuse and misap­ stoy, Winston Churchill, Admiral Spru­ any "meaning" to that fetus, any more ply the theoretical construct called equi­ ance, Helen Keller, and so many than a theory embodied in a book or dis­ librium, but this is no reason to condemn otherwise right-thinking people. kette has any meaning to that book or every use of it. In its proper place, such as Robert Tideman diskette. comparing a world with rent control to one without (everything else being equal), San Francisco, Cal. "What happened to adults who the elementary texts' static equilibrium wouldn't recognize a theoryifone bit Wrangling for Fetuses model is extremely useful in forcing stu­ them?" Many adults wouldn't recognize R.W. Bradford says that he finds the dents to think through aU the implications an adverb, a natural number, or a litotes, abortion debate "long and boring" of rent regulation. but most adults employ these devices dai­ ("Less is More, More or Less," March Rothschild's vociferous defense of his ly. Similarly, all adults have developed 1992). Tiring and frustrating I can under­ writings ("Contra Overbeek," March their intellectual capacities by formulat­ stand, but not boring - for much more 1992) suggests he is someone who hasn't ing, criticizing, and revising theories. than abortion rides on the outcome. The read enough economics to quite know "Will my revised theories be passed become-a-person concept presupposes where his minor criticisms fit in. on to any eggs I fertilize?" In the opinion two classes of human beings, an upper Paul Geddes of August Weismann and me: Only if class of persons and an underc1ass of Burnaby, B.C. you catch these fertilized eggs later, and non-persons. That libertarians, of all peo­ ple, can hold this premise worries me give them a good talking to. A Fine Point very much. Yet I find it fascinating to In my review I pointed out that Peik­ In the March 1992 issue of Liberty Mi­ watch abortion choicers wrangle among off always "stops where the interesting chael Rothschild says: "And Bionomics ex­ themselves while they search for solid questions start." Mr Braatz complains, on plains why the appropriate use of a limit­ ground on which to rest their case. the evidence of my review, that I'm no ed government for specific community better. But surely this is unfair. A full­ Doris Gordon purposes ... is not inconsistent with bio­ sized book on philosophy might be ex­ Wheaton, Md. nomic thinking." pected to pursue details that a brief re­ Well, that's fine. Fetus Theories view doesn't. But it is inconsistent with free-market In his letter (March 1992) about my Furthermore, the Critical Rationalist thinking. review ("Peikoff's Objectivism: An Au­ standpoint that I broadly agree with is Chris Pickering topsy," January 1992) of Leonard Peik­ elaborated in a great many books and ar­ Lakewood, Colo. off's book, David Braatz addresses a se­ ticles (Karl Popper's Objective Knowledge, A Lone Reviewer and His Lonely ries of questions to me. One or two of Jagdish Hattiangadi's How is Language Source these appear to be good-natured leg­ Possible?, Radnitzky and Bartley's Evolu­ I am disappointed that my friend Shel­ pulls, but in the remaining cases, where tionary Epistemology, Rationality, and the don Richman has chosen to write a semi- Mr Braatz seems to be genuinely per­ Sociology of Knowledge, to mention just a plexed, I will try to help him. few). These works can hardly be accused continued on page 6 4 Liberty E Solutions gThe Knowledge Network Solutions is a powerful, information-packed, Libertarian HyperCard database for Macintosh computers. Welcome to Solutions... '~TheKnowledge Network public Solutions includes policy study summaries, news­ CUc1c 0 flUbject. ormow cursorewer button. letters, reports, opinion-editorials and book excerpts policy published by over twenty market oriented think tanks. analysis, In recent years much of the most important American right from think Tanks scholarship, particularly on public policy issues, has your own come out of think tanks. Solutions applies the power ~llm.yO\ls" computer! thkbultlll'l,c11olct19 of HyperCard 2.0 to put hundreds of market oriented 1I"i11 brJl\l you studies and articles at your fingertips. In addition, .blCllclolhlsOlird. Solutions contains dozens of historical and economic overviews of major public policy issues. Solutions Click buttons to see subtopics, below. articles are fully text searchable as well as indexed by topic and author. DOMESTIC ECONOMY ENVIRONMENT Some Solutions cards are shown at right and below. The full cost for Solutions is only $59, and it ClicJe tI topic tiM tI list of comes on two BOOK disks. Quarterly updates will add additional policy studies and other research materials.

Also available from The Knowledge Network: Econ Update, a monthly free-market newsletter especially designed for high school and college students--over 350 high schools now subscribe. Write for a sample Econ Update issue, or for more information on Solutions. Each button brings up articles or further subcategories. Solutions contains articles IPOllCYANALYSIS I March 27,1990 Ito. 131 and policy JTPA: Another Fedenil Troining Froud study summaries The Job Troinlng Portnershlp Act--Introduced In from 1982 by then-senetor Den Queyle to replece the discredited Comprehensille Employment Ilnd Trelnlng Act-- Is "sQuenderlng bl11lons of dollers, dozens of subverting youths' understendlng of the work ethic, end providing controctors with 0 license to public stee1."

policy IIDE)(J:[ HONEY think tanks. "Abstract" card describes one policy study.

Order form The Knowledge Network JrPA: Another FedBnll Tnlintng Fnlud ~ Ceto essoclete policy enolyst J6mes Bovord ergues thot ~ since 1982, when the leglslotion thot then-genotor DIm Quoyle 1430723rd Ave. S.W. hod introduced to reploce the discredited Comprehensille Employment ond Trolnlng Act wos enocted, JTPA hos become [!J Solutions $59 Seattle, WA 98166 "onother federe1 Jab trllining progrllm ... splrollng out of control." Following ere some highlights of the stUdy: Econ Update (9 issues Sept.-May) $12 II "Although JTPA Wes creeted to help the dtsedvllnteged lleQulre trelnlng end find Jobs, it hes become e bletent corporete weltere progrllm through which businesses ere Econ Update, Back issues, 1989-90 $ 7.50 levlshly paId to follow theIr self-Interest." II "The ll'Ibor Depertment's inspector generel found thet 60 Back issues, 1990-91 $ 7.50 percent of the businesses surveyed would hlllle hIred the JTPA clients thet they hod trelned ellen withoutlJTPA trllinlngJ SUbsidIes." Name: ------II Progrem odmlnistretors ell over the notlon "heve been Address: ------By clicking "summary" button on abstract card, City, State, Zip: _ user can read full summary of policy study, or, on SOlne, the full text of study or article. Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

Letters, continued from page 4 of innocence and attempted to discover sleaziness, and numerous other scandals, ifthe circumstantial evidence was strong to which JFK can only contribute a moti­ serious article on the Kennedy assassina­ enough to establish Oswald's guilt be­ vation to "send a message" at the polls. tion ("JFK, Conspiracies, and Me," yond a reasonable doubt. "Take that, you slimy crooks, I've just March 1992) based on an "enduring Now, as with any market process, voted Libertarian!" That may be the senti­ hunch" and the reading of one entire some of these investigations have been ment of many voters come November. book on the subject. of higher quality than others, and one But to capitalize on such sentiments, Li­ Come on, She!. You and I would be certainly has to be cautious. Nonethe­ bertarians need to condition themselves the first to criticize anyone who intend­ less, to assert (as you do) that conspirol­ to see the political opportunity in the ed to write an article on international ogists have produced no "hard evi­ events of the year, including Oliver trade or antitrust policy based on an en­ dence" in thirty years is clearly Stone's recent film, and position them­ during hunch and one lonely source. , irresponsible. Where is the hard evi­ selves on the ballot in record numbers to Our federal government may well be dence, you ask? Not surprisingly, Shel, it receive the coming harvest of votes. inefficient in productive activities but is scattered through those hundreds of Jim McClarin surely its recent bloody demonstration books and articles that you have chosen Nashua, N.H. in Iraq leaves little doubt that it has no not to read and that the establishment Off the Track real trouble killing people - or censor­ press has chosen to ignore or distort. I was pleased to see Buchanan chal­ ing information. And, yes, conspiracies I agree that Oliver Stone's tale of con­ do tend to come apart over time (price­ lenging Bush. Buchanan has principles, spiracy is good cinema but probably bad fixing conspiracies, for instance), but and Bush doesn't. But let's not lose sight history. I don't agree, however, that any that does not mean that the public ever of the fact that they are not libertarian "perfectly reasonable explanations for discovers the true nature of the activity. principles. As C.A. Arthur points out the single bullet theory" have surfaced Anyway, all that is beside the point. The ("Inside ," March 1992), or that the circumstantial evidence estab­ point is: is there evidence beyond a rea­ there is hardly anything recognizably li­ lishes Oswald as the shooter beyond a sonable doubt that Oswald shot Kenne­ bertarian in Buchanan's platform. reasonable doubt. dy or that there was no conspiracy? Buchanan's appealto libertarians for , You note that eyewitness testimony Dominick T. Armentano support wasthat his train wentcloser to is the weakest form of evidence and I West Hartford, Conn. ourstation,butthe scarytruth is that even agree. But the circumstantial evidence Falsifiability Falsified Bush'strainiscloser thanBuchanan's. For tying Oswald to the shooting is far Sheldon Richman suggests, "Next example, Bush is for free tradeand thevol­ weaker than you assume. Since 1963 a time you talk to a conspiracy advocate, untarymilitary, while Buchanan is for pro­ cottage industry of private investigators ask him what piece of evidence would tectionism and conscription. has developed and has devoted its con­ change his mind. Ifyou get an answer, Of course, Bush is no libertarian ei­ siderable energies to investigating the let me know." I am not a "conspiracyad­ ther. Since the Democrats also fail to be so~called "evidence" collected by the FBI vocate," but I'll respond anyway. The even remotely libertarian, that leaves the and the Dallas Police Department. Each honest answer is that no single piece of Libertarian Party. piece of circumstantial evidence has evidence would change my mind about A.J. Skoble been examined in great detail: the rifle; anything, and I'll bet you'd have to an­ Terre Haute, Ind. the bullet fragments; the "magic" bullet; swer the same way were I to reverse Another Choice Candidate the bullet shells; the wounds in Kennedy your question and hand it back to you. The Libertarian candidate for presi­ and Connally; the paraffin test; the palm So this challenge may sound snappy, but dent is . The libertarian print; the photos of Oswald with the al­ it means nothing. candidate for President is . leged murder weapon. Edson C. Hendricks When Paul Tsongas first made his This "market process" in investigat­ San Diego, Cal. views known, I thought to myself, "A ing evidence has many things going for Okay, You Are a Crass Political major-party, pro-business candidate who it-One, it has been conducted by private is liberal on social and defense issues? citizens with private funds; two, it has Opportunist Pinch me, I must be dreaming." been competitive and rivalrous; three, Like the blind men descri1:?ing an ele­ Liberty devoted more than 11 pages in phant by its feel, Sheldon Richman and I unlike the Warren Commission, these in­ its March issue to Pat Buchanan. Why not vestigations started with the assumption found entirely different aspects of the devote at least as much space to Paul film JFK on which to dwell. Tsongas? r What struck me was that few view­ David Hoscheidt ers could fail to leave the movie theater Letters Policy Belleville, Ill. We invite readers to comment on ar­ without a renewed distrust of their fed­ ticles that have appeared in Liberty. We eral government. A Note With a Touch of Finality reserve the right to edit for length and Call me a crass political opportunist. I have cancelled my subscription due clarity. All letters are assumed to be in­ The voting public has already been to your persistent bashing of libertarians tended for publication unless other­ treated, within its admittedly short atten­ and of Ayn Rand's books. With friends wise stated. Succinct, typewritten let­ tion span, to the S&L bailout, a sneaky like you, I need no enemy. ters are preferred. Please include your pay raise, check-kiting revelations, brok­ R.M. Borland phone number so that we can verify en presidential promises, Bill Clinton's Colora, Md. your identity. ~ ~ Congressional confessional - The Miami are no different from those made by business seeking gov­ Herald has reported the reaction of Lawrence J. (Larry) Smith ernment help. Only arrogance prevents.them from realizing (D-Fla.), one of many Congressmen who have belatedly con­ that they, too, feed at the government trough. -JSS fessed to writing bad checks on the House of Representatives bank. Have you stopped raping your wife? - It's been easy enough to see that radical feminists have it in "My wife had a checkbook," Smith said. "She didn't for the boy-girl thing, find it disgusting, and aim to spoil it as know what was in the account. If she wrote a check, she as­ much as possible. Catherine MacKinnon, professor of law at sumed there would be money to cover. So did I." the University of Michigan and chief feminist crusader for This, as I take it, is the definitive statement of a politi­ anti-pornography legislation, has now suggested a rationale cian's relationship to the economy. -sc for making it illegal. In an interview with the , It's rough at the top - It's strange, all the fuss MacKinnon supported the new Canadian rape shield law, the CEOs of the Big Three are making about "fair trade" with but went on to say: "In the context of unequal power [be­ Japan. It's not just a desire to protect their companies from tween the sexes], one needs to think about the meaning of foreign competition; there's an almost personal quality to it. consent, whether it is a meaningful concept at all. I'm saying These fellows seem to be genuinely hopping mad. we need to think about it. I think it's very questionable." I suspect they're simply afraid of getting fired. We've Got it? Every act of sex between a woman and a man, heard a lot in the last few months about Japanese executives MacKinnon is broadly hinting, is an act of rape, because a who do a better job for only a fraction of Iacocca & CO.'s woman cannot give valid consent. So feminism closes the cir­ bloated salaries. With free competition, what's to keep cle: women are once again looked on as children, and sexual American shareholders from hiring. one of them in our in­ intercourse is always at best statutory rape. competent executives' place? -JW Does that mean that women are to be deprived of sex al­ together? Well, no. After all, MacKinnon's strictures apply Neighbors at the trough - The Wall Street only to vile acts with beastly men. Obviously, it's different Journal reports that a coalition of environmental groups is when a woman loves a woman. ... -RR urging state and federal governments to spend about $50 million to buy up tracts or easements on Northeastern forest­ We arm the world - The United States is the land. Hard times in the timber industry are causing as much world's only superpower, and it ought to remain that way. That's as 400,000 acres of prime forest to go on the block. These the conclusion of a "secret" Department of Defense study groups think that the government should buy the land to leaked to the press in early March. So I guess the world can keep it from being developed. look forward to "Pax Americana," or as George Bush ex­ plained the situation, "What we say, goes." In doing so, they are ignoring a third alternative: Why don't they buy the lands or easements themselves? $50 mil­ Perhaps it is time to change the name of the Department lion is not an excessive amount for these people - together, of Defense. There is precedent for a change. The Department of Defense was originally called the Department of War. Its the top ten environmental organizations budget more than name was changed in 1947 to reflect the "fact" that the U.S. $500 million each year, and the median Sierra Club member was intent only on defending itself, harboring no hostile in­ has double the income of the median American. But no, the tentions toward other nations. leaders think the taxpayers ought to fork over the funds for But with no real enemies left in the world, its new mis­ these "natural jewels." And if many of those taxpayers are sion of maintaining the U.S. as the world's only superpower, struggling to make ends meet in the middle of a recession ­ or "what we say, goes," isn't really defensive. It seems to me well, that's too bad. Apparently, all citizens should feel good the "truth in packaging" law ought to apply here. Perhaps about paying more taxes to give affluent backpackers and we should call it the "Department of Offense," or ''The hikers more land to play in, virtually without charge. Department of World Oppression." -RWB Yes, wilderness is a good thing, but the federal govern­ ment alone has already set aside 88 million acres as wilder­ Ghettoizing gays - We are used to waking up to ness; 118 million more acres are managed as wilderness find that terms or words we had used for years had, over­ while they are under study for permanent wilderness desig­ night, become impermissible. nation. These numbers don't even include the 43 million There are no more girls, only women. There are no more acres of national parks. Spanish-Americans, only Latinos. There are no more The environmentalists' pleas for government subsidies American Indians, only Native Americans. Liberty 7 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

But that is mere fashion,· superficial and meaningless ex­ It has reached the point where you have to inquire to the cept for the amazing way in which, through a relatively small federal government to find out whether a law applies in oth­ media circulation, the fashions shift and become temporarily er countries. A recent Wall Street Journal dispatch on the use standardized. of growth hormone as an anti-aging drug reported, "The There is one manifestation of this, however, that is not su­ treatment is beyond the reach of the U.S. FOQd and Drug perficial, and not meaningless. That is the standard·condem­ Administration, which doesn't regulate foreign medical nation of white males which has, slowly but surely, been practice; an FDA spokesman says." It's nice to know that narrowed to the condemnation of white male heterosexuals. people in other countries can't be arrested for Violating U.S. The white male part is objectionable enough, the sort of laws or regulations pertaining to medical treatment, at least race-baiting that would be absolutely unacceptable in other for now. But what if the FDA changes its mind? contexts. (Even if some white males have deformed or horri­ Meanwhile, how should a prudent American traveling fied history, the majority, of course, have been as much vic­ abroad figure out which U.S. laws extend overseas? When tims of the regal males as people of any color and of any gender. Lumping all white males into one despicable category is no more helpful than lumping all of any racial or gender During our first experiment with prohibition, group into a stereotypical niche.) citizens of Canada and Mexico regularly dealt in The addition of "heterosexual" to the "white male" auto­ liquor that they knew was going into the U.S. Yet da-fe is counter to every truly liberal hope. The obvious re­ verse-obverse of such incantation is to make a tribe of indis­ the U.s. didn't invade Canada or Mexico. Were tinguishable people out of every element of humanity. Prohibition agents derelict in their duty? Homosexuals, therefore, are made a tribe, not a collection of individuals. Is this what the hope for liberty of sexual pref­ erence has come to? One baleful effect is that when some, per­ he goes to Germany and learns there are no speed limits on haps many, heterosexuals think of homosexuals they may be its autobahns and most cars are traveling at speeds of about encouraged to think of them as just clones of the most obnox­ 90 miles per hour, should he limit his speed to 65 until he ious ones. There are countless other examples of this checks with the U.S. embassy? When he goes to Martinique, thoughtless stereotyping (religious fundamentalists, some where nude beaches are the rule, should he keep his swim­ conservatives ). suit on until his embassy advises him whether U.S. decency The impulse to defend the liberty of people regardless of laws are enforced there? ethnicityor sexual preference is made needlessly uncomforta­ Perhaps the various federal departments should issue a ble by stereotyping. And it will get worse. Those homosexuals pamphlet explaining to Americans (and to foreigners) which who want to condemn all heterosexuals are digging their own U.S. laws will be enforced in partibus infidelium, so that fu- graves. It becomes part of the horrific ghettoization of people ture invasions might be avoided. -RWB and the tribalization of debate - a curse on reason, a call to The spirit of American enterprise - The the most bigoted arms. -KH heads of America's Big Three automakers bellyached for Note to travelers - Two years ago, the U.S. gov­ days in Tokyo about how few of their cars the Japanese buy. ernment established the precedent for invading another coun­ Protectionism! Xenophobia!, they cried. try in order to arrest its head of state for a violation of U.S. Would you believe left-handedness? The Japanese drive law that is alleged to have happened entirely outside the U.S. on the left, which means they need the steering wheel on the I refer, of course, to the invasion of Panama for the purpose of right side of the car. The American companies don't make arresting its president, Manuel Noriega, for violation of U.S. that kind of car for the Japanese market. They say they can't risk such an investment before knowing whether the cars drug prohibition laws. Alas, the"cocaine" the Army found in will sell. Good to see the spirit of American enterprise is his residence turned out to be tortilla flour, and the only wit­ alive and well. Maybe the U.S. government should demand nesses the Department of Justice can dredge up are convicted that the Japanese change their driving habits on grounds criminals who are offered their freedom in exchange for testi­ that left-side driving is a trade barrier. fying against Noriega, and their testimony doesn't really con­ By the way, how many Japanese cars would sell here if nect him to drug trafficking, leaving the Justice Department the steering wheels were on the right? -SLR arguing that Noriega was a corrupt politician. Whether the Justice Department's "case" will convince a jury to put What's bugging you? - The Department of Noriega behind bars for good remains to be seen. Irrespective Justice is trying to force 's long distance companies of the outcome, an interesting issue is raised: ought U.S. juris­ to purchase expensive equipment to make it a simple matter diction extend to other countries? for it to eavesdrop on private telephone conversations. During the nation's first experiment with prohibition (of When the phone companies. complained that they don't alcohol, not drugs), citizens of Canada and Mexico regularly want to spend the money, the Department of Justice suggest­ dealt in liquor that they knew was going into the U.S. Yet the ed that they should pass on the cost to their customers. u.s. didn't invade Mexico or Canada. Were they guilty of der­ This is one really terrific idea. If people were allowed to eliction of duty? Or have some fundamental notions of law have private telephone conversations, it would be virtually changed? impossible for the Department of Justice to enforce the laws 8 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

of the land. Making us pay for equipment to allow the the Protection of the Constitution has brought criminal prose­ Department of Justice to listen in on our phone calls is emi­ cutions resulting in fines and prison sentences. The campaign nently fair: it doesn't place any burden on taxpayers, it has the public's strong support. Opinion polls conducted by doesn't make the phone companies pay, and it makes law the Interior Ministry find that the great majority of Germans enforcement more efficient. believe that theirs should be "a well-fortified democracy," Why stop at this? By the same logic, why doesn't the one that "actively defends itself" against its enemies. Department of Justice force us to bug our homes, so they can Accordingly, 72% of Germans favor banning "dangerous listen in any time they want? Why not make us put televi­ books," and 63% believe extremists should be denied free­ sion cameras in all our rooms, so they can watch us as well? dom of speech. And this could be done at no cost to the taxpayer. All that The Post did not report how many Germans feel that, in would be needed is a change in the building codes. The only order to defend democracy, writers of dangerous books people who have anything to fear are those who are break­ should be sent to concentration camps. -RR ing the law. -RWB That's a rap - Rap music is making the covers of What's my crime? - Regardless of what you news and opinion journals across the land again. As usual, it might think of Michael Milken, the most revealing truth does so as a baleful cultural force rather than as music. Its lat­ about his conviction is the common ignorance of his exact est outrages against the polity include songs by Ice Cube on crime. I've asked colleagues, financial professionals, and his Death Certificate LP that advocate burning down Korean even lawyers, in New York and elsewhere, and invariably grocery stores and shooting specific living Jews, and a video they draw a blank. I challenge readers of these pages to tell by Public Enemy that portrays the murder of Arizona public us (without peeking at a source, of course). If no one knows officials in retaliation for not celebrating Martin Luther King what he is guilty of, aside from earning an amount of money Jr's birthday as a national holiday. thought by some to be obscene (and inventing, or reviving, I'll follow the pernicious trend in non-specialized cover­ an unusual financial instrument), what lessons are taught age of pop music and mostly ignore the music qua music; I the kiddies by his incarceration? -RK haven't even heard the Ice Cube record, and the Public H" Enemy song is not among their best. Wh en t 0 say no - I tend not to follow the legal But what does it say about our culture that such hate­ trials and sexual tribulations of famous people, but recently they have been shoved in my face, right there on the televi­ mongering sells, and sells big? Nothing we shouldn't already know, actually. sions news. Mike Tyson's rape trial is a case in point. When the trial Since Billboard magazine, the charter of record for pop started, I neither knew nor cared whether or not he was music, switched to a system that records actual sales electron..: guilty. But when I learned that Tyson's alleged victim ac­ ically by bar code instead of merely cobbling together reports cused him of "forcing"· cunnilingus on her, my curiosity was from vendors whose accuracy could not be checked, it has aroused. Rapists, I have always assumed, are primarily inter­ been revealed that musical styles marginalized by radio pro- ested in their own pleasures and passions. Providing oral stimulation to their victims does not seem to figure into their game plan. But even if the cunnilingus was not forced, the penile/ vaginal intercourse that followed may still have amounted to rape. Consider: after oral stimulation to orgasm, the vic- tim simply said, "No, that's enough." -KRB One small step - Early in the presidential primary campaign Paul Tsongas stated, "You can't redistribute wealth you haven't created first." It just goes to show how far some Democrats have come in their economic thinking; at least Tsongas admits that wealth has to be made before it is seized. But he should work on his pronouns: The govern­ ment redistributes the wealth; the people create it. -JSR Forward, into the past - According to , the German office for the Protection of the Constitution is deeply worried about the estimated 4,000 neo-Nazis in the Federal Republic (out of a population of 80,000,000). These aren't the "skinheads": the chief activity of these characters seems to be publishing books and giving speeches denying the accepted history of the genocide of the p. Jews in the Second World War. Such activity violates the German law against "insulting 111£ MUI.1'lCUt1'UML\~1"S wo~T and defaming the memory of the dead," and the Office for H\&wrM"~E. ,•• Liberty 9 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 grammers - rap, country, and metal- were actually what much as sense, and popularity feeds on popularity as much Americans liked the most. This led to a much-excoriated as on intrinsic appeal. Whatever is happening is what people think piece by David Samuels in the November II, 1991 New tend to buy. And despite attitudinal, or musical, faults, the Republic, based on the discovery that rap's audience includes likes of N.W.A. and Guns'n'Roses provide a burst of a large number of whites. and snotty enthusiasm that, to put it plainly, the young can I don't think this is a big surprise to anyone living in the get into. real world, attending high school or college with white peo­ Columnist Joe Queenan wrote a very funny column in the ple, or even occasionally watching MTV. But it inspired Washington Post attaching the rhetoric of rock critics' writ­ much brow-wrinkling at The New Republic, and the worried ings about hateful musicians to stories about the rise of the conclusions Samuels reached caused many of the hipper me­ Nazi movement in Germany. The juxtaposition was amusing, dia outlets to guffaw and discount his analysis. but inappropriate. Pop musicians are most certainly not the That may be all it deserves. After all, the phenomenon he "discovered" was obvious. Gee, white people digging a mu­ sic indigenous to and initially loved by black audiences? Ever No matter the wrongheadedness of their atti­ hear of jazz or rock'n'roll, David? His assumptions that it is only menacing, violent images of young black men that ap­ tudes, rap musicians do not present the threat to peal to suburban whites were erroneous; rappers as benign the commonwealth that a budding Hitler does. - or as pale - as Hammer and Vanilla Ice sell as well with What these pop singers sell is attitude, not ideolo- whites as Niggas With Attitudes or the Geto Boys. And of gy. In most people's lives, pop music is a distrac­ course, he showed a typical pundit's inability to approach pop music as music instead of as a cultural phenomenon. tion, a hobby. Samuels expressed some seemingly deserved alarm that singers of such, umm, rampaging negativity are what appeals to American record-buyers nowadays. And of course, as the unacknowledged legislators of the age. Ice Cube, no matter raciallysensitive don't fail to point out, Ice Cube has his white the wrongheadedness of his attitudes, does not present the analog in America's favorite rock'n'roll singer, the confused, threat to the commonwealth that a budding Hitler does. As manic-depressive midwestern boy W. Ax! Rose, who likes to rappers Niggas With Attitudes' very name suggests, what complainabout immigrants, faggots, bitches, and niggers. these pop singers sell is attitude, not ideology. In most peo­ So is it something worth being frightened about, that ple's lives, pop music is a distraction, a hobby, maybe even hateful, scowling, misogynous, joyless dudes like Cube, something of an obsession. And while exposure to too much Chuck D., and Ax! are young America's spokesmen of bad thought will certainly dull, and even pervert, one's ethi­ choice? cal sensibilities, these attitudes purveyed by Cube and Axl Cheapjack sociological analysis of pop music loves to fall are derived from the culture already; they most likely pos­ back on that hoary old Plato quotation about the walls of the sess little power to change anyone for the worse. Pop stars city falling when the modes of music change - you can look do not make waves in ourculture; they are merely the pond it up. I t~ink a more appropriate quotation is "All young peo­ that reflects the oncoming stone. -BD ple are fascists." Young people are attracted to ferocity of vi­ Dis "honor" -. There is such a thing as too much re­ sion, to intolerance of the different, and to opposition to their spect. This struck home to me, recently, when President elders. And for those raised by the '60s generation, hate­ George Bush referred to Richard Milhous (''Tricky Dick") mongering creeps are just what they need to whet their crav­ Nixon as "President Nixon." This is patently absurd: Bush is ing for driving mom and dad nuts. commander-in-chief of this country, and merits the title, but However cogent this analysis might seem, it is very prob­ Nixon is not, and deserves no special honorific. (For those ably irrelevant. Pop music appeals for reasons of sound as weak on history: the slime-ball was run out of office a long time ago.) We should generalize from this. In a republic such as ours, people may adorn themselves with prenomens such as ''Mister," ''Missis,'' or "Miz," and whatever title of office -----...... __...-- they now hold; former office holders should make do with what we, the common folk; use every day of our lives. The current practice makes of political office an avenue for royal aggrandizement,. and smacks of vulgar aristocratic preten­ sion; it is elitist, anti-democratic, and as worthy of chucking out as was the king of England. The Founding Fathers understood this principle, and wrote a condemnation of "title-holding" into theConstitu­ tiona But the old customs were reasserted, over the years, first by retired military officers using their old titles to garner public support for political office, and finally by politicians "Hey - Who hit my boyfriend?" seeking to keep their names in the history books (and to get 10 Liberty J4~ 96/& 7~ 9(Jr# 7iHte! .EUROPEAN ANTI-AGING THERAPIES You don't have to wait for the FDA to "approve" ofnew anti-aging therapies any longer. For your personal use, you can obtain therapies that will: • Enhance mental functionfour times better than Hydergine! • Increase mental energy, concentration, and alertness! • Improve problem-solving abilities! • Maximize the ability to memorize material! • Improve sex drive and athletic performance! • Treat chronic diseases like depression and obesity that American doctors say are "untreatable" with FDA approved drugs! The Life Extension Foundation has compiled the sources, the doctors and the information to enable Americans to obtain life extension therapies from around the world. These drugs have been safely used in France, Germany and other countries for years, but until now, have been denied to Americans. Europeans are using these drugs to improve their mental condition to unprecedented levels. Now Americans can gain access to advanced life extension therapies such as Piracetam, Centrophenoxine, human growth hormone, and a new memory-enhancing product that is four times more effective than Hydergine. As a member of The Life Extension Foundation, you will learn about the scientific basis for using these life-enhancing therapies, their side effects, and how you can get them! For just $50.00, you will receive Life Extension Report and Life Extension Update each month plus: 1. The Directory OfLife Extension Doctors. A nationwide directory of doctors who are knowledgeable about these advanced therapies and may be willing to prescribe them for you. 2. The Physician's Guide To Life Extension Drugs. The first book ever published to provide American doctors with information about safe and effective "unapproved drugs". This book is referenced to enable the lay person to understand and find therapies for specific purposes. 3. The Directory OfInnovative Medical Clinics. If you were told you had an incurable disease would you believe your doctor? A disease your doctor says is "untreatable" may already have a cure that the FDA has not yet "approved" of. There are scientists with impeccable credentials who are effectively treating so-called "terminal" victims of cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, etc. You can now access these advanced research centers with The Directory OfInnovative Medical Clinics. 4. Discounts of25% to 50% on your vitamin purchases. Members buy name brand nutrient supplements and advanced life extension formulas at super discount prices. 5. Discounts of20% on all your prescription drug purchases including popular life extension drugs such as Hydergine and Eldepryl. THE MAIL-ORDER PHARMACY saves members hundreds of dollars a year on their prescription drug purchases. The Life Extension Foundation is the only organization in the world that tells you how to obtain the most advanced life extension therapies in the world.. .long before they are "approved" by the FDA. You will be the first to find out about products that will enhance your life.

To join, use the coupon or call: 1-800-841-5433 Enclosed is my $50.00 membership. Please enroll me in your life extension program which includes two newsletters each month and the three directories of life extension doctors, drugs, and clinics and the super discounts on my vitamin and prescription drug purchases. Name _ L Mail to: Address _ Life Extension Foundation City State Zip _ P.O. Box 229120 Hollywood, FL 33022 Credit Card # Exp Date _ Volume 5, Number5 May 1992 on the boards of corporations). With all due respect to even ful world! But for people, wicked people! Nevertheless, one those few retired politicians who are, in my court of private has to find a way of dealing with them, too." opinion, truly honorable, even those ladies and gentlemen The idea is simply that man by his very nature pollutes should abandon such titles as "Honorable" when they leave the physical world. The fact that even Goebbels, one of the elected office. (Any mail I get with a return address from wickedest of men, writes so easily in this way of "wicked "The Honorable ," my favorite ex-Congressman, people" merely illustrates how widely the theology had immediately goes into the round file.) spread, even 50 years ago. And as for Nixon, "Mister" seems too good. - TWV It's been with us, in fact, since the Romantic movement of the 19th century went to seed (or became "tainted," if you Green in tooth and claw - lately, there has prefer the environmentalist metaphor to the environmental been a good deal written here in Liberty about the problems one). Romantics who reacted against orthodox religion want­ of - or environmentalisms, since there's ed to maintain a sense of the sacred while rejecting the more than one of them. Christian idea of the Man-God. While Christians had been in­ There's the scientific environmentalism that concerns it­ different if not hostile to "nature" as a source of values, some self with preventing abuses to nature that may also be physi­ Romantic writers began to regard it as the embodiment of a cally harmful to man. There's the political environmentalism moral absolute. The role of the devil, in a world without a that expresses people's desire to assert their power over oth­ home for him, devolved to Man. And the bi­ ers by excluding them from the use of natural resources. zarre theology of naked "nature" sank deeply into the popu­ And there's the type of environmentalism that authors in lar consciousness, where it continues to influence thinking in Liberty have labelled "aesthetic": the desire merely to protect all sorts of unanalyzed ways. the beauty of whatever you or I happen to regard as beauti­ That's the diagnosis. What is the cure? Good public­ ful, no matter what the physical or political results may be. policy analysis. Well-aimed satire at modern advocates of Dr I think that I personally have managed to escape some of Goebbels' antihuman naturalism. And equally well-aimed these tendencies. I'm not much impressed by the fits that sci­ reference to the kind of Romanticism that did not go to seed, entists are always throwing about Alaskan oil spills or acid to the romantic belief in the human potential that led William rain on the plains of Maine. (Yes, I know that scientists have Blake to proclaim that "where man is not, nature is barren." also located real threats to the environment and that the best -SC scientists are finding ways of dealing with them. I'm talking about emotions here, not reason.) I suspect that a lot of what Loose lips - In Washington, DC, Joe Gillespie, the passes for science is a sublimated politics - and political en­ news and program director of WTOP-AM, has been fired be­ vironmentalism is a terrible thing indeed. cause of an "insensitive remark" he made while being inter­ But I do have a weakness for aesthetic environmentalism viewed by a reporter from the Washington Post. - don't you? We wince at the thought of a bunch of houses In discussing local TV news anchors, the reporter asked being built on our favorite empty plateau; it's aesthetically about one named Pat Lawson Muse, an anchor of color. offensive, and we wish, at least for a moment, that someone Gillespie asked who she was. When told she was a news per­ would just pass a law to stop it. H we value liberty - and son of Channel 4, Gillespie replied, "Oh, the one with the fairness, too - we may then reflect on the immorality of co­ lips? ... Her lips, that's how I remember her." ercion and the fact that we ourselves may live on what was Off with his head! in 1910 someone else's favorite empty plateau. I know that I How sensitive must we be? live in such a place, and when I recall that fact, I stop wish­ "Dolly Parton? Oh, the one with a pair of Siamese cats?" ing for the ecocops to turn on their sirens and bring every­ "Jimmy Durante? Oh, the one with a big car?" thing to a halt. "Don King? Oh, you mean the one who isn't bald?" But there's yet another kind of environmentalism, fre­ Okay, so I'm insensitive. -KH quently underlying and strengthening the first three; I'll call it theological environmentalism. It's an expression - almost Here come the bums - When the New York always a debased expression - of an absolutist religious Times starts complaining about left-liberal bias in the media, idea about man's relationship to nature. I'm not thinking just that's news. That's exactly what happened in Walter about goofy cults that worship the earth goddess, or posters Goodman's column of February 19th. Goodman, for those of a new Ten Commandments displaying rules like, "Thou not as addicted to the Newspaper of Record as I am, covers shalt not value thine own species higher than another." I'm "intellectual" topics - Norman Mailer's latest public tan­ thinking about an idea so common as to form a cliche in al­ trum, the mutual recriminations of Norman Podhoretz and most everyone's mouth. Irving Howe as to who is really harming the cause of Israel, What brought this forcibly to my mind was (of all things) the latest wrinkle in the Rosenberg case - all the issues of a recent perusal of the diaries of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's burning concern to the Manhattan literati. Minister for Popular Enlightenment: This time, however, Goodman took on the TV news estab­ 14 November 1939. "Yesterday: Beautiful autumn days lishment. He noted that a typical news story on the homeless now. Sun, mist, and falling leaves. How glorious the world "will feature a hard-working, straight-living young couple or is, and how little Man in general has done to deserve this an attractive teenager and her child who have run into a spell glorious world." of bad luck." But a recent report on the homeless in New 23 May 1941. "A fine, mild May evening. What a beauti- York shows a very different picture. "More than two-thirds 12 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 of the single men and almost a third of the adults in New but that a Libertarian presidential candidate would say it. Yark City's shelters are on drugs or alcohol. ... Fifty percent Libertarianism is a political doctrine, and admits many foun­ of homeless people have served time in jail." Thus "the dations. Just as a Libertarian Hindu would not (I hope) pub­ homeless" - whose plight the media incessantly parade as licly declare the basis of libertarianism to be contained in the the "dark side" of the "orgy of greed" we allegedly wallowed concept , or a Libertarian Christian link freedom to in in the 1980s - begin to resemble what used to be called, some arcane interpretation of soteriology, so too should a well, bums. Libertarian atheist keep his humanistic optimism to himself. Goodman chides TV news producers for sending out to Precisely what libertarianism is is controversial enough; mud­ "advocacy groups to supply them with modei victims for dying it up with non-libertarian positions in public should be viewing purposes." Instead, he concludes, they should "tell anathema. what is, and let others take it from there." Well said. Now Of course, Marrou's homespun philosophy is also maybe the editors of the news pages of the Times will take his impolitic. advice to heart as well. -RR There are three basic positions on the nature of human goodness: people are basically good (but corrupted by "bad The new hawks - Who are the hawks these days? institutions"), basically evil (but capable, perhaps, of redemp­ The Democrats in Congress, that's who. Led by Richard tion and control), or a mixture of both good and bad. Most Gephart, the new hawks want to launch preemptive econom­ people who have given this matter any thought hold to some ic strikes against the new evil empire, Japan. version of the last position. It is, after all, only common When the Republicans were the hawks, they at least had sense. A very small number holds to a variant of the second an appropriate enemy. The Soviet Union was aggressive. It positiona But both of these groups look upon believers of the did subvert American interests. It slaughtered millions of its first position as unrealistic utopians, nuts to be indulged and o'wn people and millions more in its enslaved extra-territorial perhaps watched with wary eye. There is no good reason for gulags. The RepUblicans argued that Communism could not a Libertarian politician to propound a non-libertarian point sustain a modern economy, but they apparently didn't really of philosophy that most people look upon as silly and possi­ believe it. They lacked faith in their own prediction. bly dangerous. It is not only bad philosophy, it is bad market­ The Democrats now lack faith in their country, their cor­ ing. -TWV porations, their technology, and the future generally. They see a sort of shadowy replication of the Soviet evil empire. It can't happen here? - Until perestroika, private The crafty Nips are subverting American consumers by enterprise was an economic crime in the Soviet Union. Now sneaking in high-quality automotive and electronic products. in Russia, private enterprise is supposed to be encouraged, They're probably practicing industrial espionage - a but there is no governmental system for the enforcement of Gephardt investigation of that outrage might not be far property rights. According to Barbara Mills, a lawyer who at­ ahead. They are gulaging their workers into obedient robots tended an international forum on law and cooperation held doomed to live in some of the most high-priced urban areas in Moscow, Russians at the conference rightly feared that, as on Earth. They have even stolen the ideas of a domestically a result, organized crime would flourish in what was the shunned management theorist. Soviet Union. And they eat raw fish. They considered that the disruption of the economy, When will the perfidy, the outrages, the productivity ever shortages of essential goods, lack of legal regulation and a end? -KH thriving black market will encourage the growth of orga­ nized criminal enterprises. They foresaw this affecting the fi­ Unoriginal sin - I do not expect profundity from nancial and banking systems as well as the market place. politicians. For good and ill, we do not live in a time of phi­ Unless regulation and an effective criminal law is in place losopher-kings. But this year, with both and Pat soon, their forebodings are amply justified. Buchanan on the campaign trail, I had thought that I might at Most Russians and now most people in what used to be least witness a clash of the Weltanschauungen. Much to my called the free world appear to agree that the outlawing of surprise, the first philosophically objectionable statement I heard uttered by a presidential candidate this year came not from either of these gentlemen, but from the Libertarian. "Libertarianism holds that people are basically good, and if left to themselves, will do what is right," said Andre :tv1arrou. Although I consider myself a libertarian, I believe this notion to be hogwash. I have another view of human na­ ture, and see the responsibility required by equal freedom as a means of restraining people, people who, as often as not, will stick it to their fellows if they can.·I am for limited gov­ ernment in large part because people are too dangerous to be trusted with extensive government. ~BaJOO But the most striking thing about Marrou's statement is not that a libertarian might believe it (in my experience, liber­ tarians are as capable as anyone of holding nut-ball notions) "Think, Dummkopf! - Where did you last see your brain?" Liberty 13 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

private enterprise was not a good idea. Or do they? porate, one- on Earth." Right. Welcome to the Most would also agree that regulation and effective crimi­ New World Order. nallaw are good ideas. Here, in the not-so-free world, many So here we are - decadent soft-core-commercial anar­ activities that are dearly forms of private enterprise have chists operating out of multinational Japan's favorite two-bit been just as clear!y considered crimes - the retailing of co­ Banana Republic, this mercenary entertainment state with a caine, for example; or, during Prohibition, the retailing of al­ big Hollywood Rambo ego, all glitter on the edges and pro­ coholic beverages; or, today, the retailing of alcoholic foundly stupid in the middle. How can we resist the New beverages except under strictly regulated, heavily taxed World Order, irresistible as it is? circumstances. There's always been the idealistic hope, ever since The As a rule, governments that have been strong enough to League of Nations, that in this time of increased interpenetra­ enforce property rights and choose to do so, also choose to tion and communication, nations great and small could come regulate economic activities in ways that sometimes amount together to blah blah blah ad nauseam. Forget it! The New to the criminalization of private enterprise. So, the' freeness World Order is the thousand-year Reich of the international of your enterprising is relative and varies with the winds of well-behaved center, with a small sexually pent-up macho legislative and democratic fancy; businessman today, crimi­ American adolescent core of police protectors and overseas nal tomorrow. mercenaries. Maybe my examples sound like particularly good candi~ To resist the New World Order, spread chaos and confu­ dates for decriminalization or deregulation. How about this: sion, first amongst yourselves. Don't come together. Come You and a few business associates have savings that you apart. Don't identify with the nation-state, the tribe, your would rather not put in a bank at current interest rates, so race, gender, bulletin board, or dance club. That's how you you take a close look at a very risky, fresh, young distribu­ get suckered. Be mercilessly politically incorrect. Be commer­ tion company in need of cash for expansion. You lend ten cially successful by being pleasingly offensive. Subvert million dollars to the company at a rate far above what you through media, not because you think you can "change the would earn in a bank and, for the sake of liquidity, you have system" but because successfully tickling America's self­ the company sign one thousand promissory notes of ten loathing funny bone is an amusing sort of foreplay. And be­ thousand dollars each. Then, from time to time, when you lieve us, everybody'S gonna get fucked. need cash, you sell the notes by putting a notice in a busi­ Holocaust German-style, 1940s: piled up dead Jews, gyp­ ness journal explaining what they represent. Sounds like just sies, and communists in a concentration camp. Holocaust the sort of thing that ought to be and probably is going on in American-style, 1990s: Consumer goods spill out of the guts Russia. Well, it would be illegal in every state of the Union of bombed-out cars in a silent traffic jam in the Kuwaiti (ours) several times over. The rules applicable to this fairly desert. With dead Iraqis hidden from view inside. simple deal are complex and change frequently. Some of Johnny's come marching home. America is transformed in vlhat I described would be criminal and some would simply its pride. The American media completely capitulated to state fail to comply with extensive regulation affecting the offer censorship. That job is done. and sale of securities, lending generally, advertising for the Have no illusions. Something has changed. You blinked sale of securities, and so on. Good luck trying to get your your eyes and there was suddenly a juggernaut. Blink again various agreements enforced, and if you attempt enforce­ and it's breaking down your door. Abortion. Drugs. Freedom ment yourself, that would be worth some jail time too. of speech. You wake up tomorrow and find out that ifit ain't Perhaps organized crime is the lesser of two evils. whitebread, it ain't allowed. We can see how fast that can -Guest Reflection by Michael Christian happen. So the New World DisOrder - which is all you have left New World DisOrder - Once, commenting on - starts within yourself. It starts when somebody says "we the end of the Cold War, I warned of a "legalistic, megacor- should (or shouldn't) fight against Iraq" and you think, 'What the fuck do you mean by we? I'm not gonna fight, you're not gonna fight, and I'm not a member of any nation­ state. There is no we." The New World DisOrder starts when - you realize that safe sex is boring sex, cheap thrills are fun, and you're as atavistic as they are. The New World DisOrder starts when you can no longer listen to debates about wheth­ er the nice guys or the mean guys can make the trains run on time. -Guest Reflection by R. U. Sirius Pre-school choice - In the small town where I live, choice in education is alive and well- for children un­ der age six. Our town has traditional preschools, Montessori schools, playschools, and daycares that mix education, "so­ cialization," and babysitting. They are found in churches, in grand old residences, and one in a bright new complex with sunlit rooms that open directly onto an enclosed patio. "It seems silly to me, too, but guns are illegal in this city." The Yellow Pages lists eighteen such institutions, and this 14 Liberty liThe high-beta think tank of the '90s will be the free-market libertarians at the Cato Institute." - Lawrence Kudlovv, "Money Politics," March 25, 1990

ince its founding in 19.77, the Cato Institute has been in the forefront of the growing worldwide movement toward political and economic Sliberty. Through its studies and conferences, the Institute seeks to develop policy options consistent with the traditional American values of individual liberty, peaceful relations among nations, and capitalism. Recent Cato studies have dealt with rent control and homelessness, educational choice, protectionism, the economic benefits of immigration, privatization of the Postal Service, the cost and obsolescence of NATO, South Africa's anti-capitalist policies, farm subsidies, and federal spending restraint. The Cato Institute accepts no government funding and depends on the support of foundations, corporations, and individuals. We invite you to join the Cato Sponsors Program and help the Cato Institute offer intelligent free­ market alternatives to the status quo. Benefactors ($2,500) receive all Cato publications and invitations to all major events, including the annual Benefactor Summit. Patrons ($1,000) receive all Cato publications and invitations to major events. Sustaining Sponsors ($250) receive all Policy Analysis studies, Regulation magazine, and Cato Policy Report. Regular Sponsors ($100) receive all Policy Analysis studies and Cato Policy Report. Introductory Sponsors ($50) receive Cato Policy Report. Every new Cato Sponsor will receive a free copy of An American Vision, which the Washington Post called "a new book aimed at policy makers and calling for the most radical reduction of u.S. government activities at home and abroad yet suggested by any serious policy organization."

"The Cato Institute continues to produce a steady stream of thought­ provoking reports challenging big government and all its works." - Milton Friedman "This uninhibited upstart of a research group has managed to generate more activity across a wider political spectrum than some of its more sedate competitors with much larger budgets." - New York Times

CAT 0 S P 0 N S 0 R E N R (1 LL MEN TF () R \1 Please enroll me as a Cato Sponsor at the following level of support: Benefactor ($2,500) D Patron ($1,000) 0 Sustaining ($250) D Regular ($100) D Introductory ($50) D Please send me information on corporate/foundation support. D My check is enclosed (payable to Cato Institute). D Charge my D VISA D MasterCard Account # _ Signature _ Name _ Address _ City State Zip _ 224 Second Street S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003 (202) 546-0200 Fax (202) 546-0728 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 does not include them all. Nor does it include the wide range As a mother with a child there, I devoted a parent-teacher of at-home babysitting, licensed and unlicensed, some of it conference to voicing my disappointment with the limited by trained teachers who work at preschools earlier in the schedule and the awkward hours. My comments were re­ day. There is even an association, Child Care Connections, ceived sympathetically and I was told that other parents had that helps you find the right place for your child. expressed similar views. But I was also told that if I wanted This is a far cry from what you find when your child change, I would have to do it through the parents' organiza­ reaches kindergarten, and government-provided education tion. I knew a more effective way to deal with my problem: I begins. The choices drop dramatically, and by the third took my child elsewhere. grade, you have only three: Your child goes to the assigned Apparently some other parents did the same, because in public school, your child goes to a very conservative the fall of 1991, for the first time in years, some slots were un­ Christian school, or you teach your child at home. filled. The school, which operates under a tight budget, was The rich variety of preschools is itself an argument for pa­ unprepared for this financial setback. It took immediate ac- rental choice in education. But variety is only part of the rea­ son why choice is so important. Unless consumers can back up their opinions with their pocketbooks, there will never be I was told that if I wanted change, I would constructive change. Consider the Methodist Preschool. You won't find this have to do it through the parents' organization. I venerable institution in the Bozeman telephone book; you knew a more effective way to deal with my prob­ learn about it from other parents. It was started in the 1970s lem: I took my child elsewhere. by a group of at-home mothers who wanted a good social ex­ perience for their children and some time off now and then. The mothers hired a professional as part-time director tion - a fund drive to shore it up financially, and then steps and persuade,d the Methodist Church to rent them facilities directed toward the future. Tl,le director sent around a ques­ at low cost. (One requirement was that they put away all the tionnaire to parents, asking them what they liked and didn't materials at the end of the day so the classrooms could be like about the school. One result was a decision to increase used tor other purposes.) the number of days children could attend; I am sure there When the director hired teachers, most were women with will be others. families who wanted to workjust a few hours a week. To ac­ The school didn't have to listen when parents expressed commodate their schedules, the school started late, at 9:45 their concerns. But it did have to listen when our expression a.m. (after all, they had to spend an hour getting the class­ took the form of dollars - elsewhere. As a result, the rooms ready), and finished at 12:45 p.m. Two-year-olds at­ Methodist Preschool is undoubtedly today serving its cus~ tended once a week; older children, twice. The preschool had tomers better than it was. If it doesn't serve them well, it a warm, homey atmosphere, and it was so popular that you won't survive. had to sign up by May to obtain a place for your child the fol­ I despair for what will happen when my son has to go to lowing September. public school. If I am dissatisfied, how can I possibly bring Gradually, however, parents' interests changed in about change? Who will listen to me? I expect that the public Bozeman. With each passing year, fewer parents were work­ school teachers will be as nice as those at the Methodist at-home mothers; more wanted outside care for their chil­ Preschool, but they will have their own ideas and priorities, dren for longer hours or more days a week. Daycares prolife­ and I will have no way to influence them. Bozeman citizens rated; Pooh Corner, a daycare that had started about the support their schools with their taxes, whether they want to same time as the preschool, thrived financially, and built an or not. Without the ability to affect the school's finances by attractive modern facility. The Methodist Preschool, still op­ taking their children to other schools, parents have no lever­ erating out of an aging church building, maintained its excel­ age.Once again, I rue the day that this country began gov­ lent reputation, but was falling out of step. ernment education. -JSS

TWJ,STED IMAGE by Ace Backwards· eJ f\~1 $UJ>OENLY, THINGS HAD iURNED UGl"..•. IT L.OOf

16 Liberty Sociopathic wimp - Is there any more contempti­ limited his campaign contributions to $100, relentlessly trum­ ble figure on the political scene today than George Bush? For peted his toll-free phone number, and bought half-hour info­ months this sorry excuse for a human being defended his bud­ mercials on cable TV, squeezed in among ads for juicing get deal that clamped the largest tax increase in American his­ machines. Along the way he adopted term limitation and a flat tory on the backs of the people. Then he sent little Danny income tax as campaign planks (a couple of reasonably sensi­ Quayle to New Hampshire to say that Bush had to agree to the ble ideas with wide appeal), managed to turn just about every tax increase or else he would not have been able to concentrate television news spot into a plug for his toll-free number (on on the Persian Gulf crisis. (The trouble with that one is, he en­ one ABC interview, he gave the toll-free number three times!) tered the budget deal with the Democrats five weeks before and managed somehow to parlay these elements, along with Iraq invaded Kuwait. Maybe Quayle was saying Bush knew it his own undeniable power-lust, into a campaign that threatens was going to happen - evidence of long-suspected adminis­ to make him into a Democratic Party power. tration complicity.) Brown's appeal cuts across a wide cross-section of Finally, just before the Georgia primary, Bush said he was Americans, but it doesn't cut very deep. Early in his campaign, sorry he had agreed to the tax increase. Why? Because he had he supported , denouncing protectionists as "cry­ broken his only 1988 campaign promise? Because it was eco­ babies who can't compete." Lately, he has been bashing the nomic insanity? No, nothing so honorable. Here's the reason: proposed free trade treaty with Mexico, as part of his strategy "Listen, if I had to do that over, I wouldn't do it. Look at all the of sucking up to so-called "organized labor" (Le, cartels to lim­ flak it's taking." This act of contrition is supposed to win the it competition among working people). This managed to put support of tax-haters? The man is a sociopath. It's time like this him past Paul Tsongas in Michigan, at least, and keep his cam­ that I wish there was a hell. -SLR paign alive. Meanwhile, the race is being won by Bill Clinton, the Them Dems - What a pathetic bunch of losers the Democrat best able to appeal to low-income, uneducated lum­ Democrats offer the American public as Presidential candi­ penproletariat. His beautifully coiffed hair, the apparent genu­ dates! The Hon. Sense Kerrey and Harkin have already been re­ ine pleasure he derives from his empty demagoguery and jected by the voters. Kerrey's mistake was to believe what the left-liberal pundits said about the 1990 elections, especially the defeat of Richard Thornburgh by Harrison Wolford in the Senate race: viz, that the American people want Having spent years cashing fat checks from socialized medicine, the sooner the better. Kerry got nowhere PACs and other fat cats, Jerry Brown has sudden­ with "national health insurance," the central theme of his ly realized that big money from PACs and fat cats campaign. is destroying democracy. No one told Sen. of Iowa that the Great Depression is over, and that the tax-and-spend social pro­ grams of the 1930s don't cut it anymore. His attempt to start a from pressing the flesh, his marvelous ability to get away with bandwagon for old-fashioned, labor-union, populist socialism breaking the rules (e.g., cheating on his wife, dodging the went nowhere, just like Kerrey's crusade for socialized medi­ draft), his skill at evading issues ... these are all qualities that cine. Itjust took it a little longer to get there. stand very well with Democratic voters. Paul Tsongas lasted a little bit longer. It is a measure of the It is likely that Clinton will win the nomination, and he has bankruptcy of American politics that Paul Tsongas passes as a an excellent chance of unseating Mr Kind and Gentle in tnan of vision and courage. When he tells a group of middle­ November. Shortly thereafter, the nation will no doubt go class Americans that he opposes Bill Clinton's proposal to cut through a period of Clinton-mania, during which we will dis­ their taxes by two dollars a year, he is praised as courageous. cover that young Bill is as exciting and fascinating a person as When he advocates Mussolini's old idea of a government­ Michael Jackson or Mike Tyson. It may not be good govern­ business partnership, he is praised as progressive. The polls ment, but it is good entertainment. -CAA show that wealthy, well-educated Democrats like him. Unfortunately for him, most Democrats are poor and un­ Choices, not echoes - For voters won't support educated. After being clobbered in Michigan and Illinois, his any of the establishment party candidates but aren't satisfied campaign went belly up. with Andre Marroll, here is a brief guide to six other Having spent the past several years of his life cashing fat Presidential hopefuls, who appeared at a March 1 forum in checks from PACs and other fat cats for the California Boston sponsored by the Independent Voters Party of Democratic Party, Jerry Brown suddenly realized that big Massachusetts. money from PACs and fat cats was destroying democracy. He , Populist Party: "A patriot, not a politician," Gritz Liberty 17 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 wants a "righteous nation" based on decentralized local self­ style." He hopes for the decline of the U.S. Empire and the rise government. He would limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme of the U.S. nation, but if the citizens continue to be "greedy, Court, disband the Federal Reserve, and stop interest pay­ ethnocentric barbarians," he doesn't want to lead them. ments on the national debt, because it is "ridiculous to payin­ Michael Levinson, Republican Party: Levinson's platform is terest on our own money." He favors "free enterprise - not 'World Peace and Food Chain Harmony." In 1971, he wrote a corporations, not capitalism, but free enterprise!" He opposes 212-page Homeric epic covering the history of mankind. If free trade, because it means "we have to bend our knee to for­ elected, he will sing the epic from night until dawn onJanuary eign dependency." His foreign policy rejects globalism, the 20, 1993, to ''bring to the Earth the first peaceful night in 5,000 U.N., and a world army. The former Green Beret says/We've years." If the Czechs can elect a writer, he says, the U.S. can got one more hill to take - Capitol Hill." He warns that if the have a poet. Levinson would deflate the world economy, so people don't take Washington by ballot in 1992, they won't that in forty years "beer would cost a nickel and space travel have the chance in 1996. free." -JSR Howard Phillips, U.S. Taxpayers Party: A moralist who be­ lieves in limited government and impending economic col­ Fascism with a Democratic face ­ lapse, Phillips would end corporate subsidies, loan guarantees, Mussolini would be proud. Bill Clinton and Paul Tsongas are and such informal links between government and business as both committed to the philosophy that government should be trade representatives becoming paid lobbyists for industries or directing the economy within the context of private property. foreign governments. He will neither seek nor accept Federal They can't call this central planning or industrial policy, be­ election funds, on the grounds that no one should have to sub­ cause those terms are in disrepute. So they say "strategy," and sidize another's beliefs. He would reduce the size of the bu­ "government-business partnership." Clinton slipped recently, reaucracy and end Federal pensions. He favors term limits, however, when he said that although the Japanese have unem­ opposes the New World Order, and maintains the U.N. charter ployment, at least "they have a plan." -SLR was "written by communist spies." He has offered to step Train without soul- I'd be less leery about jump­ aside if Pat Buchanan wants to mountan independent effort. ing aboard Pat Buchanan's train, as he recommends libertari­ J. Quinn Brisben, Socialist Party: Seeking to "maximize free­ ans do at the end of his interview in the March Liberty, if I dom, equality, and economic justice," Brisben's solution to didn't have the sinking fear that he might promise to make it most things is to "attack poverty." He endorses socialized run on time. -BD medicine, nationalizing the educational system to reorient it towards "real economic life," and fighting drugs and alcohol Buchanan update - Pat Buchanan's campaign for by giving people a reason not to take them. He would abolish the presidency isn't getting anywhere; as I suggested two the CIA and most defense programs. His economic plan is to months ago in these pages, New Hampshire turned out to be "soak the rich" through a progressive income tax, and to "take its zenith. The conservative Roman Catholic voters in the control of the heights of the economy." He opposes free trade: Granite State liked him just fine; at any rate, some 37% of the "18th-century mercantilist rules work for the Japanese; they Republicans chose him over Bush. will work for us." He made a valiant effort to capture the redneck vote in the Earl Dodge, : As the name of his party im­ South, mostly by harping on the theme that Bush is soft on ho­ plies, Dodge would extend the drug war to alcohol. He also mosexuals, favors turning white folks' jobs over to nigras, and supports a grab-bag of limited-government proposals, includ­ will let them damn furriners sell their peanuts and cars in the ing a balanced budget amendment, limits on the taxing pow­ U.S. He boughtlots of television time, airing a brief excerpt from ers of Congress, and national debt reduction. He would end a film funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the all hiring quotas, and supports adoption over abortion. Arts, shOWing black homosexuals engaging in some activity re­ Jack Thompson, Peace and Justice Party: Another supporter of pugnant to decent people, thereby hitting two themes with one limited government, mainly because "government can't de­ ad. (He didn't mention that the maker of the film got his NEA vise a non-violent method to deal with other people," grantwhile Buchanan's hero, , was president.) Thompson confesses that when he began his quest to bring But it didn't work. Mostly, I suppose, the problem was that truth to the people he thought they would rise up in indigna­ rednecks didn't want to turn their back on an incumbent tion against President who opposed abortion. But I suspect Buchanan's the state, and Roman Catholicism didn't sit too well with the Bubbas either. grew despon­ He also failed to generate much enthusiasm among voters dent when in Michigan or Illinois, doing worse in those Midwestern states they didn't. He than none-of-the-above did in South Dakota, where Buchanan thinks that was kept off the ballot by Bushite conspirators. most voters His presidential campaign may not be doing terribly well, want to remain but his campaign to wrest leadership of the conservative ignorant, be­ movement is chugging along. He is now reputed to have a cause other­ mailing list of some 250,000 people, and has built a strange co­ wise they alition of big-money textile and steel manufacturers (they like would have to his opposition to imports), gay-bashers, small-town bigots, "change their and right-wing Roman Catholics, plus a smattering of conser­ "Not funny!" corporate life- vative intellectuals. 18 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

Early in his campaign, he had some support from libertari­ Two days before Super Tuesday, Buchanan attacked Robert ans, who liked his stand for an isolationist foreign policy and Mosbacher, Bush's campaign manager, for meeting with a his opposition to higher taxes. A campaign for libertarian sup­ group of homosexuals. "I would like to see"at least a statement port was put together by Lew Rockwell, with Murray from Mr. Bush that 'Mr Mosbacher doesn't represent us' ­ Rothbard as its major proponent. But his libertarian support that he was off on a lark." Libertarians believe that a person dwindled when he stressed his opposition to free trade, and ought to be able to choose to engage in any sexual activity with fell off more when he got into attacking gays. As nearly as I consenting adults, and the idea that talking to homosexuals is can tell from talking to libertarians, paleo-libertarians, and li­ wrong seems bizarre. Buchanan's anti-gay campaign stimulat­ bertarian Republicans, his libertarian support these days is ed interest in his past writing on the subject, and it didn't take limited to Messrs Rockwell and Rothbard and a few of their long for people to find his column of a year ago arguing that minions. Even several of their close associates have told me "a visceral recoil from homosexuality is the natural reaction of that they can't stand Pat. a healthy society wishing to protect itself," or his argument in I am not sure whether Buchanan's protectionism or his op­ favor of "thrashing" gay rights groups. "Homosexuality," he position to homosexual rights cost him more votes. Free trade explained, "is not a civil right." Meanwhile, the effect of free-market advocates Rockwell and Rothbard on the Buchanan campaign seems negligible. "Some of my friends in the conservative movement are thor­ Buchanan made a valiant effort to capture the oughly cerebral. They don't address the issues of the heart," redneck vote in the South, mostly by harping on Buchanan told an interviewer. "They say free trade, that's it. the theme that Bush is soft on homosexuals, favors These are our people who are losing their homes, losing their turning white folks' jobs over to nigras, and lets jobs, losing their 'way of life. Unbridled capitalism - if you will, free trade theory - can be a very, very brutal force. It's a them damn furriners sell their peanuts and cars in nice thing to sit in a think tank and say it's all for the best." On the u.s. the other hand, "conservatives of the heart," he said, "don't get their conservatism by reading some tract by a dead Austrian economist." -CAA is one of the few libertarian planks that was accepted in the Look who's talking - The latest (early March) at­ mainstream of modern economic policy some time ago, so the tack on Pat Buchanan is that he is a fascist, or a neo-fascist, or resurgence of the debate today can only seem like a major step someone who flirts with fascism. So wrote or said Charles backward. Sensing that Buchanan's protectionism was under­ Krauthammer, the Atlanta Constitution, and William Bennett. cutting his libertarian support, Murray Rothbard came to his Now, Buchanan certainly has an odious authoritarian streak in defense. liThe phoniest charge leveled against Pat is that he is a him, and I don't mean to defend the man, but name me one dread 'protectionist,'" Rothbard wrote in the Washington Republican or Democratic presidential candidate who isn't a Times. IIAs a free-market economist who believes in unrestrict­ fascist. And who is William Bennett, our former drug Fuhrer ed free trade, it is my considered opinion that George Bush and and education commissar, to call names? -SLR all of the other candidates are far more protectionist than he." Rothbard failed to mention who first leveled the "phony One nonvote for Bill Clinton - The second charge" that Buchanan is a "dread protectionist." So far as I Tuesday in November creeps up and what's a libertarian to can figure, this charge was first made by Buchanan himself do? only last year, in the forward of a book published by a protec­ The answer is: anything he or she wants. Vote if you care tionist lobbying group, in which he defended what he called a to, otherwise take in a movie, shoot some pool, or stop down "protectionist" strategy. Worse still, Buchanan annoyed liber­ at the supermarket to scan the latest National Enquirer. No one tarians by making such a big deal about it. liThe American" vote makes any difference to the outcome and, alas, not all the farmers have a right to protection," he told peanut farmers in libertarian votes put together send a discernible tremor to the Georgia, "just like American workers and American industries political seismograph. No need, though, to be doleful. do." Nor are libertarians happy to read in The Economist that Although I am writing for and you are reading a journal of po­ Buchanan is privately saying he is "tempted by the idea of litical opinion, we should not allow ourselves to become so paying for credits [to the oil and gas, aerospace, textile, and wrapped up in the electoral fantasies playing in our mind's ship-building industries] - and much more - by thrOWing eye to forget that politics is only a small component of the up a wall of tariffs around the American economy." good life, and that it is an arena in which individual efforts While Rothbard was undoubtedly right in pointing out that matter for far less than they do in business, recreation, or per­ George Bush has been far more protectionist in practice than in sonal relations. his public statements, not many libertarians bought the theory But even if your and my efforts don't matter worth a gnat's that it followed that he was more protectionist than Buchanan egg for what transpires at the polls, it is nonetheless undeniable would be, in the odd event that he found himself in the oval that we shall be affected in ways predictable and not by how office. Who is more likely to keep down trade restrictions: Americans collectively choose to vote. So it's worth briefly spec­ someone like Bush who argues in favor of free trade but is sub­ ulatingon what would constitute better and worse outcomes. ject to a variety of incentives for trade restrictions from special In none of these speculations does the Libertarian Party interest groups, or someone like Buchanan who argues against play even a peripheral role. Readers of Liberty and inveterate C­ free trade and.is subject to the same incentives as Bush? SPAN viewers are aware that some guy named Andre is osten- Liberty 19 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 sibly running for president and mayor may not be on the ballot an undifferentiated mass, which of these captures the electoral in one's home state. But to regard this as of any more signifi­ spoils is not immaterial to the prospects for liberty. We can see cance than, say, the final team standings in the Appalachian in retrospect that the Reagan victories over Carter and League displays a lapse of judgment. That's not just because Mondale were on balance strongly positive. Preference for pri­ the vote totals are bound to prove minuscule. Rather, it's be­ vate over governmental activity was a pervasive Reagan cap.se the Libertarian Party has become doubly irrelevant. theme, as was an acknowledgment of the oppressiveness of First, the party has become an increasingly embarrassing current levels of taxation. His reference to the Soviet Union as device through which to package a political platform. Barring the "Evil Empire" was contemporaneously decried as a vin­ occasional changes around the fringes, what libertarians as an tage Reaganesque gaffe, but it strikingly anticipated the cri­ organized (?) movement stand for remains constant. What tiques that erupted a few months later within the Soviet Union then is the point of investing time and resources every four itself. To be sure, the Reagan rhetoric was more consistently years to nominate someone as the alleged standard bearer of pro-freedom than was the Reagan realpolitik, but a cynical dis­ the cause? The novelty of the third party run has worn off, and missal of the significance of rhetoric is itself a species of naive­ now we are left with the ignominy of pledging our political te. It is not just what men do but also how they talk that affects their environment. Thus, from a libertarian viewpoint the Reagan years were ecologically friendly. The Libertarian Party has grown increasingly Now, however, resurgent Republicanism is thoroughly spent. George Bush evidently arrived in the White House with peripheral as a vehicle for drafting and advancing no aim in mind other than to remain there as long as he could. ideas that enhance human liberty. He is as pliantly responsive as any bar girl to each mood flick­ er from the paying customers. During the otherwise forgetta­ ble 1988 campaign he succeeded in establishing his lips as his troth with people whom even we cannot take seriously as po­ most noteworthy organ and, true to form, it is only the most tential national office holders. Ragtag nominees inevitably desultory lip service that he has given to individual liberty. tend to trivialize the principles for which they stand. In this re­ Although it is impossible to attribute any consistency to the gard the plight of the Libertarian Party is the opposite of that policies and pronouncements of this administration, it has of the major two parties. They have candidates who possess at been marked by a hankering to legislate morality (the patheti­ least a minimum of personal credibility derived from experi­ cally inept ''War on Drugs," rolling back abortion rights) and ence and professionalism, but one can hardly speak with a to internationalize the corporate state (Bush's obscure New straight face of Democratic or Republican "principles." World Order, service as a travelling shill for Lee Iacocca). Conversely, libertarianism is replete with principles and ideas, It is a well-confirmed law of political dynamics that admin­ but those who seep to the top as its political exemplars cannot istrations coming into office with a reformatory fire in their be taken seriously. And it is precisely seriousness that one for­ bellies grow increasingly fond of their own incumbency and feits by pretending that platforms are self-implementing algo­ lose their zeal. Once they run out of ideas - usually not a very rithms such that excellences of character and intellect in office­ prolonged process - they attempt to coast on their own mo­ holders are immaterial. mentum. If the Bush presidency is exceptional in this regard, it Second, the Libertarian Party has grown increasingly pe­ is in having not a jot or tittle to add to that of its predecessor. ripheral as a vehicle for drafting and advancing ideas that en­ Four more years of Bush promise nothing but increasingly un­ hance liberty. For the past decade the action has been convincing simulacra of policy initiatives accompanied by gen­ elsewhere. During the Reagan years a number of libertarians eral desuetude. donned suits and insinuated themselves in policy-making cor­ What of his potential successor? It is, admittedly, difficult ners of the administration. Their collective influence was too to dredge up much enthusiasm for what remains largely an slight to redirect the fundamentally conservative tenor of unknown quantity. Still, I judge that the best we can hope for Reaganism, but it nonetheless was orders of magnitude greater is a Democratic victory - most likely Clinton's but any than that of the Libertarian Party. Of greater long-term signifi­ Democrat's will do. Throwing out the old rascals is an exercise cance is the efflorescence of classical liberal think tanks and that's at least minimally salutary in its own light, and stem­ foundations: the Cato Institute, the Institute for Humane ming the excesses of conservative behavior-management is be­ Studies, Liberty Fund, and a half-dozen others. These increas­ coming a matter of some urgency. The Democratic propensity ingly attract bright, innovative minds who are certain to shape to cozy up to tyrannies without and economic micromanagers the next generation's theory and practice of politics. within is, to be sure, worrisome, but it seems unlikely that Heartening too is the iconoclastic vigor of libertarian journals Clinton as president could offend more in these respects than of opinion such as the one in your hands. These phenomena does Bush. matter far more for the development and promulgation of lib­ I don't plan to cast a ballot this November; perusing the eral thought than does the maundering of a marginal party. -National Enquirer appeals more. But I'd be pleased if the major­ Even if one believes that the preceding assessment is too ity of my fellow citizens who do decide to vote provide Mr pessimistic, it's abundantly clear that the winner of the Bush a well-deserved retirement. -LEL t-Jovember election will be either a Republican or a Democrat, probably George Bush or Bill Clinton. Is there anything to be The case for the Republicans - George Bush hoped for in the contest between them? had better win in November. I'd hate to think all those Iraqis Although it is tempting to speak of the "Republocrats" as died in vain. -JW 20 Liberty Bill Clinton: Super Statesman by Chester Alan Arthur

At last, the perfect specimen of Homo americanus politicus.

Bill Clinton's campaign has demonstrated that he is uniquely qualified to be president of the kind of national enterprise the United States has become. The United States government is a huge enterprise. Every American is its customer: every American purchas­ es a wide variety of goods and servic- es directly from the government; every American is protected by insurance where they can travel; what they can that, say, Stalin slickered Roosevelt at provided by the government; every read; what sort of work they can do, Yalta, or Hitler sUckered Chamberlain American uses its transportation sys­ who they can do it for, what price they at Munich. tem. For these goods and services, can be paid for their work and what How has Clinton demonstrated his every American pays directly (via form the payment must take; what superb qualifications to lead the users' fees and cash prices) and indi­ goods they can own ... the list goes on American Enterprise? He has demon­ rectly (via taxes). On average, and on. strated skillful management, states­ Americans pay more than 30% of their What sort of individual is needed manship, and the ability to formulate income to the federal government and to head this incredibly complicated, and execute long-term plans. its subsidiaries. wealthy, and powerful enterprise? Consider, for example, his brilliant It owns all the land in the United Plainly, the most important character­ handling of the the first big issue of States: some directly (the so-called istic is management ability. Because his campaign, the Gennifer Flowers af­ "public domain"), some through its the owners/customers/employees/ fair. Between 1977 and 1989, Mr subsidiaries, the states, and some indi­ tenants are an extremely disparate lot, Clinton maintained a clandestine rectly (so-called "private property," they want different things from their sexual relationship with a young tele­ whose "owners" must pay annual government. As great as the resources vision and nightclub performer, dem­ rents established by the federal gov­ of this huge enterprise are, it cannot onstrating his extra-ordinary talent as ernment's subsidiaries [so-called satisfy all needs of all its owners/cus­ a manager. "taxes"] and pervasive regulations tomers/employees/tenants. The indi­ He was able to seduce Ms Flowers, over how such land can be used). vidual who heads this enterprise must teach her a variety of new techniques Furthermore, every American is a part therefore be skilled at convincing as by which she could please him sexual­ owner: each is granted a single share many of its constituents as possible ly, and induce her to live in a conven­ of stock, i.e. the right to cast a single that their wants are being served. So a ient location where his visits would vote in elections that choose who will President must also be good at what is cause minimal suspicion. He managed manage the huge enterprise. Fur­ called "salesmanship" in private enter­ this with virtually no payment or giv­ thermore, the U.S. government estab­ prise and "statesmanship" in govern­ ing of gifts, no dinners out, no promis­ lishes rules for its tenants/customers/ ment. That is to say, a good President es of a rosy future together. He employees/owners of an extremely must be skilled at the art of mendacity. achieved this by the simple stratagem pervasive nature: it tells them what We would prefer a President who can of convincing her, and keeping her they are allowed to eat and drink; slicker other heads of state, in the way convinced, that he was in love with Liberty 21 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

her. them, teach them new ways of pleas­ Army. He wrote to Col. Holmes, ex­ And he sustained this for twelve ing him, and induce them to change plaining that he no longer planned to years. That's longer than the average their lives in a way that will maximize enter ROTC. Col. Holmes, until that marriage in this modern era. And even his own convenience. moment unaware that young Mr· after she inevitably severed their rela­ What he did literally to Ms Flowers Clinton was attending tutorials at tionship, having finally realized that he is already doing figuratively to the Oxford and not marching in ROTC there was no future with him apart American people. And they love him drills at Fayetteville, pulled the plug from occasional 3D-minute "dates" at for doing it, just as Ms Flowers loved on his deferment. her apartment, he managed to keep her him. When The Wall Street Journal report­ from revealing anything to the press His handling of his campaign's sec­ ed this story on Feb 6, Mr Clinton was for another year and a half. ond major issue was even more im­ quick to respond. Fearing that his sub­ For further evidence of his manage­ pressive. In 1969, Mr Clinton faced a terfuge to avoid the draft might cost ment skills, consider that he was able serious problem. Convinced that the him substantial voter support, especial­ was immoral, he had al­ ly among those less fortunate in their ready protested by trying to become an attempts to avoid conscription, he officer in the Army and in the Navy, sought to explain it in a way that might .Any man who has ever tried where he could make a more effective minimize damage. He had dropped his to maintain a relationship with protest than he might·as an enlisted ROTC deferment, he explained, be­ one woman is aware of the sub­ man. Unfortunately, he failed to meet cause he felt it morally wrong to keep the Army's and Navy's requirements it while his friends were dying in tlety, care, and attention to de­ for officers. Worse still, he did meet the Vietnam, and he wished to put himself tail .that is required. Yet Mr Army's requirements for infantryman at risk to the draft. He was not motivat­ Clinton was able to maintain a (Le. cannon fodder), haVing passed the ed by a desire to gain for himself what less stringent pre-induction physical. many Americans might regard as a relationship with two women His student deferment had expired privilege of avoiding Vietnam, but by a at the same time, satisfying and his draft board considered him to sim.ple concern for equity. Indeed, he them ·both. be "at the top of the list" to be was a hero: a man Willing to put his conscripted. life on the line for his country, even How could he articulate opposition when he opposed its policy. to the immoral war if he were a com­ Unfortunately for Mr Clinton, Col. to sustain the loyalty of his politically mon soldier? There must be a way ... Holmes had saved a copy of his letter. well-connected and ambitious wife, an Mr Clinton found the solution in And Col. Holmes gave a copy to ABC avowed and active feminist, a woman Col. Eugene Holmes of the U.S. Army, News. It was interesting reading. so independent that she refused to take a recruiter for the Reserve Officer After thanking Col. Holmes for his surname until she learned that her Training Corps and the University of ''being so kind and decent" and "for refusal was costing him votes. In addi­ Arkansas at Fayetteville. He promised saving me from the. draft," acknowl­ tion, he kept his affair with Ms Flowers the Colonel that after spending a edging that "I had deceived you," secret from voters in a state where the month or two studying in England, he young Mr Clinton explained how his Seventh Commandment is taken quite would return to Fayetteville, enroll in conscience now required him to refuse seriously. . law school, and join the Reserve to enter ROTC as a protest, even Any man who has ever tried to Officers Training Corps. In exchange though· this might result in his being maintain a' relationship with one for this promise, \the Colonel inter­ drafted and sent to Vietnam. But he re­ woman is aware of the subtlety, care, vened with Mr Clinton's Selective mained adamantly opposed to the War and attention to detail that is required. Service Board, whieh awarded Mr and to military conscription. Naturally, Yet Mr Clinton was able to maintain a Clinton a deferment from the military the Colonel might wonder, he wrote, relationship with two women at the draft that might send ,him to Vietnam. why he did not resist the military, as so same time, satisfying them both, head­ On August 7, 1969, his draft board many other young men opposed to the ing off any ideas the older might enter­ awarded him a 1-0 deferment, a status war had done? He could not follow tain of divorce, or that the younger reserved for young men who have this course, he explained, "for one rea- ' might consider of cutting him off. joined a reserve unit or who are stu­ son - to maintain my political viabili­ This requires considerable "people dents actively taking military training. ty within the system." skills," the sort of skills that a Mr Clinton went to England, where But the most important information President needs in order to maintain he studied at Oxford University in in the letter was its date: December 3, relations with Congress, his staff, and preparation for the rigors of law school 1969. Between the time when he had the American people. Indeed, his treat­ in Fayetteville. In that learned atmos­ gained his deferment and that date, a ment of Ms Flowers might well be con­ phere, his conviction that the· Vietnam change in the draft law was enacted sidered the sort of treatment he War was morally wrong grew to the across : young Americans promises to the American people if he point where he thought it impossible would be selected for military service is elected president. He will exploit for him to serve as an officer in the based on a lottery, according to the day 22 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

and month of their birth. Mr Clinton ble explanation of his earlier deceit that alized that he must have the support of had had the good fortune to receive not only relieved him of guilt, but also the Democratic Party regulars (to win the lottery number 311 - a number made him a hero, almost a saint, will­ the nomination) and of the American high enough that the chances of his ing to sacrifice his own life in service to people (to win the election). But this being drafted were nil. the ideal of equality. (Of course, he presented a problem: the two prerequi­ His letter to Col. Holmes had not hadn't counted on the possibility that sites are almost mutually exclusive. put himself at risk to the draft. That Col. Holmes would have saved the let­ In the past two presidential elec­ risk had been ended forever with his ter and would release it to the press, tions, those who won the Democratic good fortune in the draft lottery two proving him a liar to all the world. But nomination by pandering to the days earlier. The only practical effect of that possibility was clearly a long­ groups within the his letter had been to save him from shot, and we can hardly fault ., Democratic Party who can what he surely regarded as a fate only Mr Clinton for failing to antici­ . rt.f~ best deliver primary votes slightly less awful: law school at pate it. And his ability to dis­ ~ '::.~" and delegates: unions Fayetteville and service as an officer in tract voters from the letter by (especially those of gov­ the Army. Now he was free to go to charging that the Republican ernment employees) and Yale, where he could continue to make administration had leaked it black political leaders. contacts among the wealthy and pow­ was a master stroke.) Mondale and Dukakis erful political elite with whom he had On other issues he has had purchased this support with cozied as an undergraduate at as many positions as there promises to advance the goals Georgetown and at Oxford. are constituencies. of these groups; This episode plainly demonstrates When talking to ~~ ~ whi~h is to say, Bill Clinton's resourcefulness and abili­ businessmen, he is :.It begIn new govern- ty to make long-term plans. Other pro-business. ,,•• I , • ment programs that young men were worried about sur­ When talking to . would require hiring ad- viving, about getting along without labor, he is pro­ .. ditional bureaucrats, give their girlfriend, about their friends. But labor. When talking raises to teachers and bu­ young Bill Clinton had the foresight to to foreign bus­ reaucrats, support ra­ be concerned about his future "politi­ inessmen he is try­ cial quotas, and push for cal viability." ing to attract to a variety of left-liberal Arkansas, he programs. The only prob- boasts of its right­ __ ' lem with this strategy was to-work law; when ~....c..- that it insured their Clinton's treatment of Ms talking to Jesse "-.' defeat in the general Flowers might well be consid­ Jackson, he explains ------~._~ election for the simple that he supports its ab­ reason that most ered the sort of treatment he olition. When talking to Americans realize promises to the American peo­ Southerners, he is a that new programs mean ple if he is elected president. "good ole boy," whose higher taxes, and that language if peppered the programs don't with words like "feedin'" really work anyway. instead of "dinner" and Getting the nomina­ Furthermore, he was able to formu­ /ly'all" instead of tion still requires the late and execute an extremely convo­ "you." When speaking . support of these con­ luted plan. What other young men on to his powerful stituencies, and he their way to Oxford University for Northern friends, he sought and got it by graduate school managed to convince slips effortlessly into the same means a Colonel that they were about to enter the language of Yale Mondale and Dukakis a local college and join ROTC, induce Law School. used: promising to the officer to secure them a deferment, In sum, he is all work for their dubious and then enjoy the delights of Oxford's things to all people. agendas. But Clinton famous tutorial system withput the "He's always had a learned an important Colonel's finding out? broad, multifaceted lesson from the mis­ He also demonstrated a remarkable appeal, and different groups takes of Mondale and Dukakis: skill at what politicians call "state­ looked at different facets," explains while one may have to agree to make a craft," or what normal people call George Stephanopoulas, an assistant deal with the special interests, there is "lying." And not just the simple lies he campaign manager. This ability is ex­ no need to tell the voters about it. told Col. Holmes and his draft board. actly what we want in a president. Although committed to the special in­ In the midst of his presidential cam­ As a serious politician intent upon terests, Bill Clinton has been reluctant paign, he was able to fabricate a plausi- being elected president, Bill Clinton re- to articulate their old, worn out left- Liberty 23 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

liberal agenda. By choosing his words changes." That characterization satis­ fool some of the people all the time, carefully, he has projected his program fies most Americans, whose lives are and that's usually enough to get you as a sort of middle-of-the-Democratic too busy to allow much time for evalu­ elected." Twice within a single month road policy mix, very sketchy on ating complicated things like issues. he was caught telling barefaced lies: his details. It is especially effective for denial of his affair with Gennifer Realizing that most voters don't Democrats, who like to think they Flowers and his claim that he risked care too much about issues anyway, want "basic,. fundamental changes," the draft rather than get a deferment. and are inclined to classify him as a but realize that the agenda pushed by Yet he convinced a substantial portion ,non-liberal by simple virtue of his Mondale and Dukakis guarantee more of the electorate that he had told the 'home state, he has worked much hard­ Republican victories. By de­ truth in both cases, .and convinced er on projecting an image as a young, emphasizing issues and concentrating much of the remainder that his careful­ on image, he is profoundly attuned to ly calculated lies were not really very the wants of Americans. important and certainly were not moral His virtuosity at statecraft is further flaws. He got the support of traditional He demonstrated a remark­ illustrated by his self-portrayal as a po­ Democrat interest groups by promising able skill at what politicians litical outsider, which it seems quite to advance their agenda, but publicly clear the voters prefer over political in­ advocated only wimpy versions of the call "statecraft," or what nor­ siders. His Arkansas roots help him a traditional Democrat agenda, all the mal people call "lying." great deal here: anyone coming from a while portraying himself as the advo­ small, poor, ill-educated, and back­ cate of "basic, fundamental chanses." ward state like Arkansas is bound to He has painted Paul Tsongas as the seem like an outsider. "Iam the favor­ tool of evil ''Washington lobbyists" forward-looking, innovative thinker. In ite candidate from outside the while embracing lobbyists and their a masterstroke of statesmanship, he Beltway," he says. has repeatedly characterized his own That truth is the diametrical oppo­ reactionary left-liberal program as one site of the image. Clinton was educat­ of "basic, fundamental changes" in ed at Georgetown, Oxford, and Yale, Other young men were wor­ American government. and has assiduously built relationships ried about surviving, about This claim is, of course, plainly with powerful people all over the na­ getting along without their false. What is basic or fundamental tion. In a recent Wall Street Journal arti­ about giving the vast middle class a cle, Jill Abramson reported that girlfriend, about their friends. tiny tax cut, while increasing taxes on "Nobody collects friends like Bill .But young Bill Clinton had the the wealthy? or increasing spending on Clinton - and nobody puts them to foresight to be concerned about government schools? or "putting peo­ better use. Inside the Clinton cam­ his future "political viability." ple first"? or enacting a small cut in paign, they are known as FOBs ­ capital gains taxes? or forcing employ­ Friends of Bill's - and they make up a ers to spend 1.5% of their payroll on remarkable network." When he was training? or giving more money for criticized for his and money. He has portrayed himself as an Head Start?' or confiscating wetlands Vietnam War hypocrisy, old friends outsider, while cultivating a cirCle of from private owners? or socializing Robert Reich (prominent Harvard powerful insider friends. medicine? or cutting 3% from federal economist), Strobe Talbott (Time maga­ In sum, Bill Clinton has demonstrat­ government administrative costs? or "a zine editor), Richard Stearns ed that he is the Man for the Job. His prudent slowdown in strategic mod­ (Massachusetts judge>, and Michael handling of the Gennifer Flowers affair ernization"? or using "our economic Mandelbaum (Johns Hopkins Univ­ and his own marriage demonstrate and diplomatic leverage to increase ersity security expert), all rose to de­ magnificent people skills and manage­ material incentives to democratiza­ fend him in the nation's press. When ment ability; his handling of his draft tion"? or allowing local communities the draft and womanizing issues status demonstrates a remarkable' to "set their own standards with re­ threatened his campaign in Georgia, it resourcefulness; his handling of his gard to pornography and enforce them was Gov. Zell Miller and powerful Sen. campaign has shown remarkable sales­ within the boundaries of the First who came to his defense. manship, skillful mendacity, and even Amendment as established by the The list of his friends is astounding: in­ statesmanship. He has shown that he is Supreme Court"? vestment bankers, lobbyists, corporate a uniquely skillful political leader. These are the programs he ad­ bigwigs, Senators, Governors, political Chances are excellent that he will be vanced when he is pressed. But he is bosses, prominent academicians. He elected President. The nation will dis­ not pressed very often. From the cover­ may be the most successful "network­ cover he is as fascinating as Hammer or age of his campaign that I have seen on er" in history, with more friends Geraldo. ,And eventually, I am con­ television (the medium through which among the wealthy and powerful than vinced, he will be remembered as a most Americans get political data), it any other American politician. great statesman, along with Abraham appears mostly he just talks about how Bill Clinton has taken to heart lincoln, Otto von Bismarck, Franklin what he favors are "basic, fundamental 's maxim, "You can Delano Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. 0 24 Liberty Judgment

Clarence Thomas: Cruel andUnusual Justice? by James Taggart

He entered the Supreme Court after a storm of controversy, and he is still under a cloud of suspicion. What kind of justice does Clarence Thomas dispense?

The hounds of the establishment are dogging Clarence Thomas <:lgain. Justice Thomas recently penned a dissenting opinion (joined by Justice Scalia) that brands him, in the words of , the "youngest, cruelest justice." The present controversy arose out of Hudson v. McMillan, a case that pitted a prisoner in Louisiana's state prison system against one of the prison guards who for Hudson on the grounds that properly evokes outrage and con­ had kicked and beaten him after re­ ''When prison officials maliciously tempt. But that does not mean that it is invariably unconstitutional. straining him with handcuffs. and sadistically use force to cause At first glance, Justice Thomas' po­ Rather than filing a traditional tort harm, contemporary standards of de­ sition does indeed sound detached, claim for assault and battery under cency always are violated." overly technical, and even callous. To Louisiana law, Hudson'filed a Section In his dissent, Justice Thomas did not question the malicious or sadistic better understand his argument, how­ 1983 claim. Part of an early civil rights ever, one must have some idea why he law intended to provide former slaves nature of the beating. Instead, he relied upon the minor nature of the in­ is concerned about extending the with access to the federal courts in scope of the Cruel and Unusual order to protect their newly won free­ juries inflicted as a basis to limit what he considered the unjustified and un­ Punishments Clause. In its entirety, the doms, Section 1983 claims must be Eighth Amendment reads, "Excessive wise expansion of the Eighth based upon a violation of the bail shall not be required, nor shall ex­ Amendment. In his own words, "[A] Constitution or other federal law. cessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and use of force that causes only insignifi­ Despite the prerequisite of a constitu­ unusual punishments inflicted." For cant harm to a prisoner may be immo­ tional violation, attorneys often prefer the first 185 years since the Bill of ral, it may be tortious, it may be Section 1983 claims because, unlike an Rights was added to the Constitution, criminal, and it may even be remedia­ action under state law, losing defen­ the Supreme Court never applied the ble under other provisions of the dants must pay the plaintiffs' legal Cruel and Unusual Punishments Federal Constitution, but it is not fees on top of any damage award. Clause to anything beyond punish­ 'cruel and unusual punishment.'" Indeed, for this reason, plaintiffs' at­ ments prescribed by legislatures or Thomas concluded that: torneys face a strong incentive to sentences handed down by judges. frame their client's case in constitu­ Today's expansion of the Cruel and The year 1976 marked the first time tional terms. Unusual Punishment Clause beyond in which the Court, in an opinion writ­ all bounds of history and precedent is, In Hudson's case, his attorneys ten by Justice Marshall, applied the I suspect, yet another manifestation of argued that his beating constituted a the pervasive view that the Federal words "cruel and unusual punish­ cruel and unusual punishment in vio­ Constitution must address all ills in ment" to the treatment or conditions lation of the Eighth Amendment. A our society. Abusive behavior by pris­ of prison inmates. One strongly sus­ majority of the Court agreed, finding on guards is deplorable conduct that pects that Thomas disagrees with the Liberty 25 Volume 5 Number 5 Ma 1992

Court's 1976 decision to "cut the Eighth private company. Consequently, if the Amendment loose from its historical liability standards were the same, Horoto moorings," but his sense of judicial re­ there would be no abuse of state straint appears to rule out a direct attack power and no justification for recog­ on this precedent. Instead, as previously nizing a cruel and unusual punish­ Subscribe mentioned, he would rely upon some ment claim outside of cases involving threshold level of harm as a means to legislative and judicial acts. limit further unwarranted extensions of Unfortunately, as a practical mat­ to the Cruel and Unusual Punishments ter, agents of the state - including Clause. Unfortunately for Thomas, his Liberty indirect approach. appears somewhat unprincipled and feeds the recent per­ ception of him as an insensitive "hair­ At first glance, Justice Liberty takes individual splitter." Of course, Thomas' desire to Thomas' position does indeed freedom seriously ... and limit the scope of a constitutional pro­ the status quo with more tection available to individuals can be sound detached, overly techni­ read as a setback for champions of indi­ cal, and even callous. then one grain of salt! vidual rights. Nevertheless, on the basis Liberty tackles the tough problems. of his dissent in Hudson, this conclusion Every issue of Liberty presents es­ may prove hasty. says studying current trends in The difference between the prison guards - enjoy what David political and social thought; discus­ Constitution and the common law, both Friedman has called "special rights" sions of the strategy and tactics of of which generally protect individual amounting to some form of immunity social change; analyses of current rights, lies at the root of Thomas' think­ for actions in "the line of duty." events and challenges to popular ing. Properly conceived, the Moreover, "the line of duty" is often beliefs. Liberty also offers lively Constitution protects individuals from interpreted quite broadly. Because of book reviews, fiction and humor. abuses of state power while the com­ these "special rights," constitutional You won't want to miss a single mon law protects individuals from protection for prisoners has a certain issue! other individuals. Conduct that violates appeal as a fallback position. But if Act Today! our common law rights does not always one is sincerely concerned about viola­ violate our constitutional rights. For ex­ tions of prisoners' rights, why scrap a Liberty offers you the best in liber­ ample, if I am robbed and beaten by a system that was designed to protect tarian thinking and writing. So street gang, my common law rights individuals from precisely these kinds don't hesitate. You have nothing to have been violated, but I have no con­ lose, and the fruits of Liberty to of violations? Why not instead·reform stitutional claim. Consistent with this gain! the common law by eradicating any line of reasoning, Justice Thomas recog­ "special rights" for agents of the state? nizes that a prisoner may have numer­ Better yet, why not privatize the pris­ Use the coupon below or call: ous common law claims against the ons, thereby yielding the same effect? guards who beat him; Thomas would Needless to say, the "defenders" of 1-800-321-1542 simply deny that a prisoner has a con­ prisoners' rights who criticized Justice stitutional claim for such mistreatment. Thomas for his dissent in Hudson have ... ------, Accordingly, the Eighth Amendment's not urged such reforms. For his part, . ,Please enter my subscription protections would be limited to those Justice Thomas has not specifically Y.es• to Liberty immediately! infringements of individual rights urged these reforms either. But then, that's not really his job. 0 o One Full Year (6 issues) $19.50 which have no common law remedy: o Two Full Years (12 issues) $35.00 cruel and unusual punishments inflict­ Add $5 per year for foreign subscriptions. ed by legislative or judicial act. However, a big question lurks be­ name hind the preceding argument: does the Learn at Liberty beating of an inmate by prison guards address constitute an abuse of state power? The Liberty offers full-time internships to city, state, zip+4 answer to this question should ulti­ students of all majors interested in jour­ o I enclose my check (payable to Liberty) mately depend on how effectively a nalism, writing, political philosophy or o Charge my 0 VISA 0 Mastercard prisoner can seek redress under the public policy. Positions are available at common law against his tormentor. all times ofthe year. For further infonnation, write to: Theoretically, prison guards. should be signature Liberty subject to the same liability standards PO Box 1167 account # expires for their torts and crimes whether they Port Townsend, WA 98368. Send to: Liberty, Dept. L29, are employed by the state or by some L Box 1167, Port Townsend, WA 98368 ..1 Clarification Divorce, Czechoslovak Style by Vojtech Cepl and Ronald F. Lipp

The Velvet Revolution was not merely the end ~f an old tyranny, but the be­ ginning of a new enterprise. The problem with the new is that troubles have not ended with the passing of the old.

For forty years, the mortal confrontation between the Soviet Bloc and the NATO alliance imposed a Cold War imperative of solidarity among the members of each camp. The collapse of the old order has dissolved these bonds and unleashed a multitude of European ethnic antagonisms and irredentist movements - the resi- .111 due of unresolved conflicts dating from the First World War which al­ speak related tongues, there is in fact a ing the Velvet Revolution of ways lay just beneath the surface. The deep and ancient gulf between their November 1989. Early in 1990, wide­ enormous capacity of these animosi­ cultures and traditions. The Czechs spread protests against the country's ties for chaos and violence has been have behind them a thousand-year name in Slovakia touched off a politi­ demonstrated by the ferocious civil history, first as an independent cal crisis. The choice of "Czech and war in Yugoslavia and the sporadic Bohemian kingdom and later as the Slovak Federative Republic" reflected but persistent conflicts in places like most economically valuable portion of .recognition of the existence of two re­ Nagorno-Karabakh, Moldova, and the Austrian Hapsburgs' domain. publics with an overarching federal Bulgaria. Their traditions are Germanic and government. Repeated efforts to de­ Ethnic and national violence has bourgeois. In contrast, the Slovaks fine the powers of the three jurisdic­ been limited thus far to the fringes, es­ were for a millennium Hungarian sub­ tions have foundered on the demands pecially to regions populated by unas­ jects with a largely agricultural econo­ of Slovak nationalists for indepen­ similated minority enclaves. But the my, subject to the more debilitating dence and the insistence of more potential for upheaval extends across limitations of Magyar rule. Their only "moderate" Slovak politicians that the a broader canvas, perhaps to the en­ experience with independence was a federation must first be based on rec­ tire interface where cultures which are brief period as a puppet Nazi republic ognition of Slovak sovereignty. dominated by Western, and especially from 1939 to 1945. Before 1918, the Early in 1991, the coalition govern­ industrial and bourgeois, values con­ Czechs and Slovaks occupied different ing the Slovak Republic was seriously front those which are not. The test universes. Ever after, they have exist­ weakened when the Prime Minister, case for disorder in the heartland of ed in uneasy amalgamation, the Vladimir Meciar, defected to the na­ tionalist camp. His successor, Jan Europe may be the conflict between Czechs seeming to disdain their more the Czechs and the Slovaks. countrified cousins, the Slovaks re­ Carnogursky, envisions an indepen­ senting perceived condescension and dent Slovakia as a member of a feder­ For Better or Worse manipulation from the more numer­ ation of European states, but only Czechoslovakia was formed in ous and wealthier Czechs. after Slovakia has achieved economic 1918 from remnants of the Austro­ During four decadesofCommunist autonomy. Hungarian empire. Though the rule, these tensions were relatively The conflict has now become so Czechs and Slovaks are Slavs and contained, but they resurfaced follow- personal that Vaclav Havel, the feder- Liberty 27 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

al President, who is venerated in ation and recognition of the individu­ iticians are the ones who advocate di­ Prague, has been jeered, jostled, and al, not the tribe, as the fundamental vorce since the Czechs are far better pelted with eggs during appearances unit of society. able to tolerate its consequences. For in Bratislava, the Slovak capital. Havel The second possibility is divorce. one thing, the mountains and rivers has repeatedly called for a public refe­ For a small, poor country attempting that form the borders of the Czech re­ rendum on separation, but at the end to reestablish itself, the economic and public are the oldest and only natural of 1991 that idea seemed to have died social hazards arising from separation and undisputed frontiers in Central for lack of Parliamentary support. In into two even smaller countries are ob­ and Eastern Europe. In addition, the recent weeks, Carnogursky, during tel­ vious. And the problems of dissolu­ Czech republic has no significant mi­ evised remarks about the prospects for tion - disputes over property, public norities problem. The Slovaks living in Slovak independence, has spoken of debt, and the like - are formidable. the Czech republic are mostly located the natural alliance and friendship .of The third alternative is the status in the vicinity of Prague, are entirely Slovakia and Ukraine. In Carpathia, quo: maintenance of an unstable, frag­ assimilated, and occupy many posts in the Ukrainian district bordering mented political structure, burdened the Czech government. Finally, the Slovakia, calls have been heard for a with an unworkable constitution Czechs have progressed much farther based on the Leninist-Stalinist doctrine along the road to reform and have, in of sovereignty for all peoples, the right fact, subsidized Slovak development. to separate, and the principal of parity Nearly all hard currency income in the For a small, poor country of nationalities. This system .leads to country is generated on the Czech side. attempting to reestablish it­ endless conflicts and paralysis in the Divorce would eliminate the eco­ self, the hazards arising from name of ethnic parity. As some nomic burden of current subsidies. Slovaks would have it, each republic, Other benefits may accrue. For exam­ separation into two even although part of a federation, would ple, northern Bohemia has been foully smaller countries are obvious. have its own sovereignty extending to polluted by sulfur and other wastes And the problems of dissolu­ foreign affairs and international from power plants fueled by the proper~ treaties. brown coal, lignite. Much of this tion - disputes over And this third possibility is exactly power is devoted to the huge energy ty, public debt, and the like­ what both Czech and many Slovak requirements of Slovakian aluminum are formidable. politicians now support. President mills and factories. After a divorce, Havel claims that his mission is·'to these power plants might be shut keep the country together. Many down. Czech MPs concur, saying, "I don't The future of Slovakia looks far plebescite on unification of the have a mandate to dissolve the coun­ more troubled. The Slovaks, through regions. try." Some also say, "I am a Federal no fault of their own, were burdened The Slovakian question has now MP, and I have a duty to defend the by the Communist governments with become a dilemma of fundamental democratic Slovaks against the danger an. idiotic economic structure, domi­ proportions. The Czech and Slovak of an authoritarian fascist regime nated by inefficient factories produc­ Federation has degenerated into a po­ which will arise in Slovakia if the fed­ ing heavy machinery and weapons, litical structure somewhere between eration breaks up." These people re­ with great energy requirements but no federation and confederation. Preoccu­ main infected with a commitment to energy resources, heavily dependent pied with constitutional and budge­ "empathy" and to compromise at any on exports to East European countries, tary crises, it is in danger of paralysis. cost - even if the cost is the destruc­ especially the Soviet Union. Their mar­ This threatens to undo the main tion of the values for which the Velvet kets are collapsing, unemployment is achievements of the country since Revolution was fought. rising rapidly and massive labor prob­ 1989, the replacement of a planned On the Slovak side, many of the lems 100m on the horizon. economy with free markets and trans­ leaders make intransigentand unwork­ Reform in Slovakia is seriously at formation of a Communist society into able demands which at the same time risk. The post-Communist structure one in which individual freedom, de­ appear insincere. Slovak Prime Min­ there includes much of the old regime mocracy, and decency are securely in ister Carnogursky and the Christian and involves a mixture of strongly so­ place. If this conflict is not handled Democrats claim that they want federa­ cialist, Catholic, and anti-Semitic influ­ with understanding and skill, there is tion. But they also speak of /Iour own ences that are not supportive of free a potential for real trouble. star on the European flag, our own markets or individual property rights. For Richer or Poorer chair around the European table." There is a preoccupation with social The country now faces three What they mean is subsidy now, di­ justice, social security, social certainty, possibilities: vorce later-like the penniless medical and a "humanitarian," slow step-by­ The first is to create a real and vi­ student who will remain faithful to his step approach to reform. But time is the able nation, with a genuine federation working wife, but only until she has enemy of real reform; opportunity de­ involving a more unitary state, based put him through medical school. layed may mean opportunity forgone. on the principle of loyalty to the feder- It is paradoxical that the Slovak pol- Slovakia also suffers from a serious 28 Liberty- Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992 Free Book Offer minorities problem. Four million to change the world. This is the old Craig Springer, fonner Chair of the Liber­ Slovaks live with 600,000 Hungarians, mechanistic, Machiavellian approach half a million gypsies, and smaller to society, which was also deeply in­ tarian Party ofNorth Carolina, has donated numbers of Ukrainians . and grained in Marxist/Communist think­ to requesting readers ofLiberty up to 500 Ruthenians. Ethnic tensions are high. ing. Against this, there is another, copies of: Jason Alexander's Earlier this year, attempts to legislate fundamentally different approach: an Why Johnny Can't Run, restrictions on the use of the organic, Darwinian view which recog­ Hungarian language in Slovakia led to nizes that society is an organism, with Swim, Pull, Dig, Slither, Etc. unrest and were softened. Most of the its own inner logic that results from its Reviews ethnic Hungarians live in southern systemic structure and functional com­ Why Johnny Can't...Etc., subtitledA Fairytale position. If society is an organism, For The Young AtMind, 206 pages, 88 illustra­ then we must act with some humility. tions, trade paper, contains a story line and has Though we may struggle to under­ Markets are collapsing, un­ been characterized by reviewers as: "Aesop stand those organic processes, we meets Animal Farm, andreasonprevails";"...an employment is rising rapidly, must recognize that our ability to ma­ imaginative and stimulating satire in an age that and massive labor problems nipulate society is severely limited; we screams forit";"... sortofanillustratedHuxley"; loom on the horizon. may sometimes support some parts or " ...the funniest illustrated and most bravely, suppress mildly other parts, but our brightly written book, I have ever read"; and a control can only be partial, and we al­ book that, " ...couldbe a sourcebook and guide ways risk doing harm. to the next decade." The question of popular will re­ Slovakia, in the region bordering How to get your copy Hungary. Some political observers be­ quires understanding the basic sources of Slovakian discontent. Perhaps Requesting readers may participate in the free lieve that within a week after separa­ offer of this $9.95 title (Books In Print) by tion of Slovakia from the Czechs, the Slovak agitation only reflects the aspi­ ration to be recognized and acknowl­ completing andreturning theorderform below. Hungarian army will enter the south You are required to pay only the publisher's edged. If so, those desires are valid of Slovakia. There is, of course, politi­ shipping and handling charges of $2.50 (U.S. and can be accommodated within a cal precedent for such a step, since this and Canada, via book post) or, as appropriate, region was for a long time Hungarian strong and unified Czech and Slovak $5.00 (all other countries via Air Mail Printed territory and· was occupied by federation. Matter). Other conditions apply. Hungary during World War II. Then again, the separatist move­ Slovakia's eastern border is also ment may reflect only the desires of a Quantity Limited unstable. Ukraine includes a region, small, ambitious elite at the top of Pay only by check, orders processed by post­ Ruthenia (or Carpatho-Ukraine) which Slovak society, an elite skilled in using mark; orders in excess ofcontribution returned was annexed from Czechoslovakia by vocal, disaffected minorities. Polls uncashed. Allow4-6 weeks for delivery.Sorry, only one complementary bookper person. Gift the USSR in 1945. Many connections have shown that most Slovaks want to or further copies of Why Johnny Can't Run, remain between these regions. live in a federation with the Czechs. Swim, Pull, Dig, Slither, Etc. at $9.95 per copy Given this situation, it is not sur­ But at the same time, a majority of may beordered throughyour bookstore orfrom prising that Czech politicians are be­ Slovaks also support those political parties and groups that advocate the publisher: Sitnalta Press, P.O. Box 2730, ginning to question the value of the San Francisco, CA, 94126, USA. present system. Even if the immediate separation. crisis can be cooled by some expedi­ It may be, however, that the Who Should Order This Book ent, the system's emphasis on tribal Slovakian discontent constitutes a real, Jason Alexander, outofthe AynRandtradition, primacy and parity promises to leave authentic, revival of the 19th-century writes about the beauty and the competence of the thorn of ethnic hostility firmly em­ tradition of romantic nationalism ­ "human...being."Pleasedo notorder this book bedded in the country's social fabric. the same impulse that caused Czech unless you: are alive to the future; intuit that we In the absence of fundamental recon­ patriots to labor zealously to create are not a finished species, destined only to be ciliation, this festering sore puts at risk their own state. If that is so, and even buffeted by chance and catastrophe; and, are all of the achievements of the past two if it goes against the grain of the gener­ ITIotiv ated by Reason, and notparochial-isms. years. And it is the Czechs who have al unifying tendency of modern Toreceive your free copy send name, address, and $2.50 (domestic) shipping and handling to: the most to lose if their hard-won re­ Europe, the only solution is to respect forms come to naught. it, to tolerate it, and to proceed with a Craig Springer fast, decent divorce. P.O. Box 17343 In Sickness and in Health And this divorce must proceed de­ Raleigh, NC 27619 A prognosis for the Czech and spite the cost, no matter how irrational I Slovak conflict depends upon one's it may seem, regardless of its grave ec­ 1 Name view of the possibilities for social onomic, geopolitical, and psychologi­ 1------I Address change and the real will of the people. cal impact. Why? To avoid the ghastly 1------One popular view of social change consequences that could occur if it is 1 City State holds that events can be manipulated ~~tcl 0 1------1 Country Postal Code 1 I ~_------_~ Travel Eastern Eyes by J. Peter Saint-Andre

The soul of man, under socialism, undergoes transformation. The result is not a triumph of the human spirit.

During the fall of 1990 and the winter of 1991, I was the first Western employee of a nuclear power plant in Temelin, Czechoslovakia. My job was to teach English to the engi­ neers and technicians there, in preparation for a possible buyout by Westinghouse. I went to Czechoslovakia because I wanted to find out, first hand, what it was like to live under socialism. I knew variably reply: 'Well, 'they're fine, but that women performed all the tradi­ that, by arriving in Czechoslovakia so I like women." The girls were all very tional "women's chores" at home, too. soon after the revolution, I would still nice, mind you, but they were - well, It made for a busy day, but thankfully be able to experience the imprint of girlish. Thanks to state control of no one was really expected to do forty-five years of totalitarian social­ housing and full nationalization of the much work at work anyway, so there ism, even though the dictatorship itself construction ind'ustry, there were was no problem taking time off to had been eradicated. really only two ways for any of them shop. Besides, the socialist workday I wanted to learn more than a casu­ to gain a coveted apartment: find a ran from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., so that al tourist would, and did so with a job guaranteeing state housing (usual­ left plenty of time after work for vengeance. I lived in socialist housing, ly in a "company town" whose popu­ housework in home sweet housing the kind that makes housing lation was up to 90% female), or find project, or what they affectionately call projects look sturdy by comparison. I a mate who'd found a job guarantee­ a krdlfkdrna - literally, a rabbit ate socialist meals in the company ing state housing. The result was warren. mess hall- grub that was terrible but, some strange matches, both to spous­ There was an ever-so-slight to be honest, was no worse than the es and to companies. But that was the amount of private property allowed dorm food at most American universi­ socialist way. under Czech socialism, but the empha­ ties. I breathed socialist air filled with Feminism, in case you're wonder­ sis is on the word slight. Even the the acrid smoke of burning coal. I ing, never seems to have made its ap­ kiosks selling newspapers and cigar­ watched socialist television, read so­ pearance in socialist society - after ettes (which in New York and other cialist newspapers, and flirted with so­ all, men and women were supposed to Western cities are hallmarks of small, cialist women. have been equal under socialism. private enterprise) were state-owned Correction: to be accurate, there Unfortunately, some were more equal under socialism. Still, many houses were no women in socialist Czech­ than others. Women were, of course, did remain in private hands, especial­ oslovakia. It took me a while to come expected to add their labor to society ly in the countryside. This allowed to that paradoxical conclusion, but the ("Those who do not work, shall not people the opportunity to tend a little evidence of my senses revealed only eat," said Lenin), and it seemed to me garden and to produce a supply of girIs and mothers. Czech men would that just about every woman who fruits and vegetables not available often ask me: 'What do you think of wasn't either very old or with child from the socialist collectives. our Czech girls?" And I would in- was in the work force. The catch was These private plots also afforded 30 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

the chance to build what people every­ under this barrage, I asked myself how creed by the government - but at the where covet: their own home. In long would it take an American work­ inexplicable fact that there were differ­ Czechoslovakia, if you had a relative er to earn enough money to buy a car, ent prices for eggs at different locations with a private house, you could build a versus the same figure for a Czech around town. How in the world could new house that shared the same plot of worker. The average American must a dozen eggs cost 1.09 koruna in one land. It was difficult but not impossi­ work 32 weeks to earn enough for an store and 1.06 koruna just down the ble. The onIy problem was, you had to automobile; a Czechoslovakian worker street? People shook their heads, build it yourself. Thus, many of my of the socialist era had to slave away dumbfounded. Czech friends knew how to build a for 5 or 6 years. And even if you did But the damage caused by social­ house from the ground up. And "from own a car in Czechoslovakia, there ism runs deeper than the price of eggs. the ground up" meant just that. At the wasn't much you could do with it: dur­ Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, many time I was in Czechoslovakia, it was ing the time I lived there, gasoline cost have decried the litany of destruction virtually impossible to find bricks, the the equivalent of $50 a gallon. So much main ingredient of a Czech house. The for a Sunday drive in the country. only solution: manufacture your own. After making similar comparisons When you have to manufacture of various other commodities, I con­ There were no women in so­ your own bricks in order to build your cluded that the s~ndard of liVing in cialist Czechoslovakia, only own house, you are living in a society the United States was at least five or girls and mothers. that has no effective division of labor. six times better than that in Just one more sign of how low human Czechoslovakia. time and energy - human life - is My calculations, however, took into valued under socialism. account only the quantity of goods, not in Eastern Europe. Visitors invariably The amazing thing is that Czecho­ their quality. In my experience, there slovakia was once a wealthy country. comment on its unrelieved grayness. was onIy one Czech product clearly su­ Very few buildings in the East look as Czechoslovakia was no Russia or perior to the American equivalent: China, backward at the time of the if they have been painted or main­ beer. (One Communist leader was fa­ tained since World War II, and when Communist takeover and backward mous for having said, "Beer is our you do stumble upon a recently reno­ today. Czechoslovakia - especially bread!") I lived in a town whose the Czech portion - was industrially vated building, it seems strangely out German name is Budweis, home of the of place, a glimpse into another world. original Budweiser beer. Czech Long-held traditions of craftsman­ Budweiser is far superior to American ship were forgotten under Marxist Budweiser. But the superiority of rule, and knowledge of how to func­ Long-held traditions of Czech products pretty much ended tion in a vanished. craftsmanship were forgotten there. Examples abound, but my favor­ Many of my colleagues simply no under Marxist rule. Many of ites were the paper products; I fondly longer knew how to work. Young peo­ recall writing pads made of what felt ple always worked hard for the first my colleagues simply no longer like (but wasn't) recycled paper, and few years, my friends told me - until knew how to work. especially the toilet paper, which they realized the futility of effort. gained added value because it could be Socialism destroyed the environ­ used for fine sanding jobs around the ment, too. Northern Bohemia is per­ krdlfkdrna. haps the most ecologically blighted advanced and materially well-off, even Service, too, remained of the stan­ region on this Earth. Even in my town as late as the Stalinist putsch of 1948. dard socialist variety, which is why my in the relatively pristine region near Times have changed. Once richer than Czech friends had a tremendous fasci­ the Austrian border, you didn't just see their Austrian neighbors, today the nation for private shops, to the point the coal smoke hanging in the air ­ Czechs must bear the sight of Austrian that they knew the exact order in you smelled it, breathed it, tasted it, tourists' expensive cars on Czech­ which the new private shops in town felt it in your hair and clothes. oslovakian roads. The terrible swift opened. They did not always under­ Throughout Czechoslovakia, the air suddenness with which this reversal stand the workings of such shops, and water have become so polluted took place testifies to the sheer destruc­ however. Witness the continuing, un­ that many women have trouble bring­ tive power of socialism. Unwittingly, shakeable belief in the "just price," a ing pregnancies to term. My students the country has proven that it doesn't relic one would think went out with would disappear for three weeks at a take long' to destroy the physical and the Middle Ages. When prices for time, bedridden with nothing more se­ human capital of an advanced nation. some basic foodstuffs were liberated, rious than the common cold. Whole And it has the scars to show for it. there was especial controversy over generations here have gone through My friends hungered for material eggs. Shoppers were shocked, not at life in what amounts to a state of goods. How much does a car cost in the fact that there was a price increase malnutrition. America?, they asked me constantly. - that would have been accepted But the hunger that I found most How much for a bottle of beer? Once, under the old system, if it had been de- disturbing was not of the body, but of Liberty 31 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

the soul. The overall effect of happen to their country. How could we vilest epithet one Czech could hurl at Communist dictatorship was not have allowed this degradation?, they another was jsi stdra struktura: "you are merely physical. It was a deeply spiri­ asked themselves. How could we have ac­ old structure." It means: you sold out tual degradation. cepted such inhumanity for so long? to socialism, you were an active part of It is difficult to put that degrada­ There were exceptions, of course. the socialist power structure, you abet­ tion into words. To me, its most strik­ Those who fought openly against the ted the destruction of our lives and our ing sign was what I call "Eastern old system, dissidents such as now,; country. It was reserved for the most eyes." 1could see and feel the resigna­ President Vaclav Havel and a small diehard Communists, and in all my tion, the defeat, the despair, in the number of others who risked their lives time in Czechoslovakia I never heard it eyes of people I knew. It was all too signing Charter 77 and demanding that addressed directly at any person, ex­ rare to come upon a person with a human rights be respected in Czech­ cept in jest between good friends. It spark of life in his eyes. H the eyes are oslovakia, didn't feel this guilt. These was too horrible a thing to accuse windows onto the soul, then the soul very few remained pure, and conse­ someone of inperson. Yet once, in con­ of man under socialism is all but quently are respected and revered for versation, a Czech friend said to me, dead. their uncommon courage, the kind of ''You know, each one of us has a little I also observed a reverse phenom­ courage that should never have to be bit of the stdra struktura deep in his enon: "American eyes." Americans displayed. Yet they are at the same heart, and it will remain there for the stood out in Czechoslovakia for many time envied and hated, for the simple rest of our lives." reasons: their clothes, their gait, their fact of their purity. That is the most damning indict- manner of speaking, their energy. But When I was in Czechoslovakia, the ment of socialism. 0 the most apparent difference was in the eyes. One night, watching a diVing competition on television in which some Americans were competing, I Search found that I could tell immediately which divers were Americans just from the spark of life in their eyes. Despite the ongoing encroachment of the state, we still live in what is, more than any other, the land of the free. Little Czech Man The spiritual destruction suffered by people in the East was further evi­ dent in the two emotions that some­ by Frank Fox times seemed to color their entire existence: envy and guilt. The sheer amount of envy directed at those who The communists prophesied the coming of a New Socialist were successful amazed and disturbed Man. What they got, however, was not quite what they had in me. Again and again, I heard the re­ mind. frain: "only crooks and communists can possibly succeed" - from which it "MCC"·•I. t 1S pronounced good fortune, a furtive act of revenge followed that anyone who succeeded am-ehe-che and is short for Maly Cesky meant for nighttime anonymity. If a must have been one or the other. Celowek, or Little Czech Man. It's an restaurant made some money and mys­ When a friend of mine applied for jobs appropriate term for a person in a teriously burned to the ground, it was in England and Saudi Arabia, he be­ small, landlocked country, where probably the act of an MCC. If some­ came bitterly resented by hi's co­ Franz Kafka chose but the single letter one built a private pool and suddenly workers for his ambition and desire "K" to designate an anti-hero, and diesel oil was found sloshing and be­ for a better life, even though he hadn't Karel Capek used just three, "R.U.R.," fouling that free enterprise project, it even been hired. The simple fact that for the title of his play about an auto­ was very likely the deed of an MCC. It he wanted to be successful was consid­ mated society. It came into vogue in was like the joke frequently told about ered a sin - and not a minor one, ei­ the late 1960s, and although no one life in the Soviet Union, where a farmer ther. The experience made me realize that I have talked to in Czechoslovakia hoped to see his neighbor's cow dead, for the first time how deeply embed­ seems to know how it started, it was rather than work to improve the milk ded envy is in the radical egalitarian­ used by old and young. It referred to yield of his own. ism of socialism. smallness of mind, a constriction of the I have been to Czechoslovakia twice Yet deeper even than the envy was spirit. And it seemed to fit the kind of since the Sametove revoluce of 1989 (the the guilt. The Czech people I knew felt person who represented the rank and "Velvet Revolution," so named by the an ineffable regret over what had hap­ file of the Communist society. country's current President, Vac1av pened to their country - or, as they The acts of an MCC were mean­ HaveD, and I have wondered about expressed it, what they had allowed to spirited, made in reprisal for another's that infamous MCC in a society where 32 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

sharp humor, individual creativity, him to travel frequently to Russia ly of the "elements of spitefulness, sus­ and attachment to democratic tradi­ where the jerry-built socialist construc­ picion, mistrust and mutual recrimina­ tions were the norm. How could such a tion reminded him of home. In tion [that] are creeping into public country·become a place where malice Leningrad, now known again as St. life." He conceded that people want to to fellowman and obsequiousness to Petersburg, he ventured beyond the find "a living culprit," because, as he those in authority are now so common­ picturesque Nevsky Prospekt popular put it, "each of us feels let down, even place? How could a land known for its with the tourists, and found a city that cheated by the other." dedication to hard work become a was like a giant slum. Many shops In a number of Havel's plays the place of MCC shoddiness? were without window displays. Poor character Vanek appears, an "abnor­ I tried to pose these questions to people trudged with containers for mal troublemaker," a man who is dis­ my Czech friends when I visited milk or beer to be filled in shops that liked because "he is disturbing the were really no more than shacks. He peace" of those who prefer promotions had never seen such "establishments." to principles, a man who confronts In the larger stores, one had to pass power with powerlessness. Vanek is a How could such a country through several doors to see what was man of values, a man who will not be­ become a place where malice to inside. He wasn't sure whether this tray anyone because he will not betray fellowman and obsequiousness was an arrangement to keep out the himself. One suspects that Havel iden­ cold or whether it was meant to sym­ tifies with such a character. The dec­ to those in authority are now bolize the labyrinthine nature of Soviet ades of Soviet rule have eliminated so commonplace? How could a life. He laughed when he recalled three many Vaneks, even as they created le­ land known for its dedication women at three cash registers in an gions of opportunists, a type of indi­ to hard work become a place of otherwise empty shop. I told him of an vidual that some writers have dubbed experience I had in a pastry shop in Homo sovieticus. The Communists did MCC shoddiness? Warsaw where one saleslady put my not know very much about economics, pastry on a piece of paper, another but they did have a keen interest in weighed it, a third wrapped it, and a psychology. Few movements in history have been able to enlist in their ranks Prague last year. My mention of MCC fourth collected my money. I tried to analyze the phenomenon the very people that were targeted for brought rare smiles to their faces. Yes, elimination. The Communists found they knew many such people. The un­ of the MCC as one of the more endur­ ing and less appealing aspects of a their supporters among all the classes, derachievement of an MCC was only in villages and in cities, in garrets and Communist society. According to my exceeded by his overconfidence. His salons. The task for a future civil socie­ friends in Prague, their home-grown inefficiency (except in hounding non­ ty, the kind that President Havel urges variety of the MCC was a person hard­ conformists and informing on them) upon his own people, is one that al­ ly even conscious of his limited intel­ was legendary. There were some lows for the transformation of an MCC lectual horizons, someone plodding amusing consequences. In Prague, use­ into a Vanek, that encourages the through life with blinkers, like a horse less new bridges had been constructed growth of individuals who can com­ in a mine. An MCC was described as a while the old ones were in disrepair. bine simplicity with intelligence and village boor who had tried to survive Eventually, denounced by some MCC, kindness with strength. 0 a group of dissident writers, lawyers, all kinds of regimes, and whose motto doctors, and others obviously inexperi­ was: "we will dislike any government enced at bridge building, were put to as soon as it touches the plate of food r------, work. As it turned out, the bridges on our table." Ifhe lived in the city and they built were the only ones that were was a little better educated, an MCC The Liberty Poll structurally sound. My musician was still a narrow-minded person. But What Libertarians Think friend, whose passion was raising rare was he the real culprit? Was he the alpine flowers, said that motivation true symbol of the degradation of The first detailed study of what was the answer. An MCC was a pas­ mind thataccompanied totalitarian ter­ libertarians think about life, gov­ sionless person who failed to find ful­ ror? Was it possible that this blanket ernment, God, sex, heroes ... and fillment in his public or private life. I condemnation of an MCC, more a cari­ how they would deal with some se­ saw my friend's point when he spoke cature than a portrait of a human rious moral problems. of the flowershe was cultivating at his being, was a facile shifting of responsi­ $4.00 each, ppd.; parents' house in the suburbs of bility from the shoulders of the cul­ $3.00 each for 5 or more copies Prague (he rattled off the Latin terms tured and educated to the work-bent Send check ofmoney order to: of the alpine plants as if they were his backs of the hoi polloi? children's names) and said half­ On January 1, 1991, President Liberty Publishing jokingly that the only work done thor­ Havel addressed the question of PO Box 1167 oughly in his country was related to treachery and revenge in his New Port Townsend, WA 98368 one's hobby. Year's greetings to the people of His professional duties allowed Czechoslovakia. Havel spoke moving- L ..1 NYSE Bicentennial

The World's Most Successful Price-Fixing Conspiracy by Gary Alexander

America's most prominent symbol of unbridled capitalism - Wall Street­ is nowhere near the model of laissez faire it is usually believed to be.

Two hundred years ago this month, on May 17th, 1792, the longest-running price-fixing scheme in American history began. There will be great toasts and celebrations to Wall Street this month, but few will recall the details of how the "Club" - as the schemers called themselves then - met in a private luncheon at Corre's Hotel, on a walled street in lower Manhattan, and agreed to keep their kets would come into being. ers received even greater profits, and brokerage rates comfortably high. Sometimes, these would outperform the laws were eventually repealed. That spring day, 24 brokers and the NYSE. One, the American Stock The Club finally gained state sanc­ merchants formed the New York Stock Exchange, became quite successful, tion in 1934, with the formation of the Exchange (NYSE), in order to create a and prospers to this day. In the face of Securities and Exchange Commission monopoly of business stock trading in competition, the NYSE had no choice (SEC). The SEC failed to stop the at­ New York City. Their purpose was to but to open its doors to new members, tempted price-fixing; indeed, its regu­ create a cartel,as the NYSE's Original adopt innovations, or accept that it lations made it more difficult to Charter makes clear: would lose business to its rivals. The challenge the status quo. And the CIub could only preserve its market courts ruled that, since the SEC was We the subscribers, brokers for the position by offering the stability, se­ Purchase and Sale of Public Stock, do regulating the industry, the latter's curity, convenience, and access to in­ hereby solemnly promise and pledge price-fixing was not unlawful or to ourselves, to each other, that we formation that a unified market with harmful. will not buy or sell from this day for high standards provides. It followed From then on the stock market and any person whatsoever, any kind of this course, not out of a desire to per­ the regulators performed a complicat­ Public Stock at less than one quarter of form a public good, but in order to ed dance, and the New York Stock one percent Commission on the Specie survive and prosper. Exchange became a cartel in fact as value and that we will give preference Of course, from time to time, the well as intention. to each other in our Negotiations. NYSE tried other methods of gaining a Starting with that minimum of dominant market share. During the May Day, 1975 only .25% commission, the Club even­ Civil War, for example, when rival The Wall Street cartel was finally tually learned that it could demand a traders enriched themselves through broken up on May 1, 1975, despite uniform price of 8% or 9% or more. speculation in gold, the NYSE pushed decades of stonewalling by the SEC. But the arrangement, lacking the for legislation restricting the gold Today, there are over 100 discount coercive power of the State, was unsta­ trade. Laws were passed, but this was brokerage firms, and 2000 banks ble. "Curbstone brokers" traded the inflationary Greenback era, and which partake in the discount broker­ shares outside the NYSE's indoor mar­ demand for the metal was too great. age business on the side. As a direct ket; from time to time, rival stock mar- The trade continued illicitly, the trad- result of broker deregulation, the cost 34 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

for big trades has now reverted to 1792 figure share trades almost daily. They that their price structure was "abso­ levels - about .25%. bought stocks for pension funds, insu­ lutely essential for orderly business." So who lobbied for deregulation? rance firms, and other multi-million­ They warned that chaos would break Two of the biggest name players in the dollar accounts. They didn't like the out on exchange floors if rates became Club - Merrill Lynch and Salomon fact that they were being butchered by negotiable. Such dire warnings are the Brothers. Why would Wall Street blue­ the high brokerage fees of the Club, so eternal cry of the poked pig. More than bloods like these put an end to their they threatened to set up their own a decade later, the major stock ex­ gravy train? Usually, the most power­ brokerage firms, outside the Club, if changes are still operational, in the ful players in a game don't change the the brokerage rates weren't adjusted face of all these warnings. rules against their advantage. But the downward to reflect their economies of members of the Club were no longer scale. May Day Comes and Goes Indeed, after all the of the biggest players onthe Street. After all, institutions were paying imminent doom, May 1, 1975 was In the end, the biggest names in the the same high rates for big blocks of something of a letdown. The day after­ CIub were being trumped by an even 10,000 shares that the little investor wards, The Wall Street Journal present­ stronger group of billionaire buyers, was paying for his 100 shares, and that ed the following headline: "Revenues the "institutional investors," a relative­ didn't seem fair. At first, the institu­ on Big Stock Orders Fall Only an ly new phenomenon on the market. tional investors got no break on their By 1965 - when the Dow Jones large trades, but slowly and surely Industrial Average first hit 1000 (a their clout increased. By 1969, they got higher mark than its current level of the rule changed, giving them lower The Club finally gained the 3200, adjusted for inflation) - Wall commissions on big block trades. Street was ina relative torpor of trad­ The institutions began to feel their ability to fix prices in 1934, ing. There were only 2171 trades of oats with that first victory. Their next when the Securities and 10,000 shares or more for the entire step was to bypass the NYSE whenev­ Exchange Commission was year, representing only 3.1 % of report­ er they could, in order to trade over­ established. ed volume that year. With the rise of the-eounter, with lower commissions. institutional investing in the late six­ Trading in the secondary market saved ties, there were 17,217 such trades in them loads of money, even on their 1970, representing 15.4% of volume. discounted high-volume rates. By 1971, Meanwhile, the bottom end of Estimated 10%; Small Investors Just the handwriting was on the wall - the Yawn." All the scary premonitions share volume was also growing rapid­ institutional investors were the tail that ly (small investors always seem to evaporated in a fizzle once the feared wagged the dog. Only then did the Big event took place. Board and the Big Boys (Merrill Lynch A few new discount brokers and Salomon Brothers) agree to try to emerged from the Club on May Day it­ deregulate the exchange, and lobby the self. Muriel Siebert, at the time the During the Civil War, when SEC for reform. only female member of the Big Board, rival traders enriched them­ At first, the government tried to enraged her comrades in the Club by change the rates through evolution, charging 40% less than the fixed fee on selves through speculation in not revolution. For instance, in 1971, transactions up· to $300,000, with the gold, the NYSE pushed for leg­ the SEC allowed commissions on or­ fee on the portion above that level islation restricting the gold ders of $500,000 or more to be "nego­ being negotiable. Siebert's Wall Street trade. tiable." The next year, the SEC Journal ads in May of 1975 showed a dropped the threshold for such negoti­ picture of Ms Siebert cutting a $100 bill ation to $300,000. The SEC wanted to in half to dramatize the level of sav­ move slowly in order to preserve the ings ather firm. , "orderly nature of the market" (and come into the act after major peaks): The reaction of the Club was swift, the Club's monopoly), but the inves­ There were fewer than 20 million U.S. and stern. Bear Stearns, which had pre­ shareholders in 1965, and over tor's learning curve was rising too fast viously cleared transations for Siebert, 30,850,000 by 1970. This greater de­ for the SEC to take such baby steps to­ cut her off, refusing to deal with a deep mand for stocks by middle-class inves­ ward market freedom. discounter who had the audacity to tors revealed a growing market need So, commissions were fully deregu­ mock the Club. Siebert simply found a for lower stock commissions, but it lated in 1975. In retrospect, the SEC new company to deal with, and re­ took the clout of the institutional in­ was not the investor's friend. They mains a leading broker to this day. vestors to make it happen. waited until the big players lobbied for Once the laws were changed, bro­ a change, and only then acted. kerage price competition was led by the Breaking Up the Club Deregulation came about after seven likes of Siebert, Charles Schwab, The late 1960s witnessed the years of angry recriminations between Marquette de Bary, Jack White, Barry growth, and ultimate pre-eminence, of all involved players. Murphy,Leslie and Thomas Quick, and large-block traders who swapped five- Some NYSE member firms claimed others. Taken together, these pioneers Liberty 35 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

have saved American investors billions however, the of the finan­ discounters, and some even going of dollars in commissions over the past cial strength and market savvy of the under. But that proved healthy for the 15 years. A few decades from now, big broker firms began to erode. None industry, as the strongest survived some of these names may carry the of the big firms warned their clientele and thrived. The surviving discount same venerable ring of the old masters about the dangerously high blow-off in brokerage firms began to rake in new of 19th-century Wall Street - Merrill the market after its peak in August, customers who felt betrayed by the Lynch, Shearson, Hutton,and the rest. 1987. Investors weren't even warned to constantly super-bullish ''buy, buy, As deregulation slowly took root in get out in mid-October, as the market buy" mentality of the bigger firms. the investor's mind, an amazing thing began to careen out of control. When Why pay 8.5% for "good advice" to a began to happen. Almost immediately, the crash came on October 19, they broker who didn't even have the sense ,the big institutions - who were still in couldn't even reach their "safe, secure" to get out before Black Monday? ;the driver's seat, with the lion's share broker on the phone. Asa result of this mass exodus from of cash and stock certificates - came full-price to selected discount firms in into the big· brokerage firms and de­ the last few years, many big brokers manded huge discounts of up to 90% have even raised prices and reduced on their trades. If they didn't get a big As a result of the last few services, just to stay alive. Hidden fees discount, they said, they would shop years' mass exodus from full­ multiplied on their brokerage state­ around for the lowest bidder among price to selected discount firms, ments like hidden taxes do on the 1040. the newly-arisen discount firms. Of many big brokers have raised Almost every day's business section course the institutions got what they seems to tell of staff cuts or turmoil at a ~Nanted, but the sad irony of deregula­ prices and reduced services, major brokerage firm. Still, there is tion is that the small investor had to just to stay alive. Hidden fees plenty of room in the market for sever­ pay a higher rate to rescue firms that multiplied on their brokerage al full-price, full-service firms - and were losing money on some of their in­ the discounters keep them honest. It stitutional trades. statements like hidden taxes do could have been that way all along, if The small investor couldn't storm on the 1040. the Market had believed in the market. into a Wall Street brokerage firm, walk The Mutual Fund Solution into the CEO's office, and demand a One way the small investor has tiny 100/0 cut - much less 900/0. So the The investor fallout was catastroph­ avoided commissions has been fixed rates not only stayed high for the ic to both discount and full-price bro­ through mutual funds. By pooling all little guy, but the "full service" rates kers. In the three months between their small amounts of money into one went higher than ever, in order to August and November, the number of large trading bloc, investors were able cover institutional losses. Though the individual share owners dropped from to get the advantages of institutional old NYSE-fixed commission rates hit a 53 million to 33 million. Many of the investors. As a result, there are now maximum of around 7.5%, many big remaining investors became inactive. more mutual funds than stocks trad­ brokerage firms raised their full com­ As a result, many big brokerage firms ing on the NYSE, and more than one mission to 8.50/0 after the 1975 deregu­ laid off thousands of employees in the new fund debuts each day. Fund as­ lation. Most small investors, creatures late 1980s. One of them, Drexel sets have grown by more than 20% per of habit, paid these rates, feeling more Burnham, failed, largely due to gov­ year in each of the last ten years! comfnrtable with big name brokers. ernment harassment over their junk No scandal has accompanied this By 1985, a decade after deregula­ bond financing. basically free-market growth. But tion, less than 20% of retail stock trad­ Discount brokers also suffered, now, we see a batch of new regula­ ing, by volume, was conducted by with several smaller, lightly­ tions considered by the SEC to further discount brokers. After the 1987 crash, capitalized firms merging with bigger restrict competition between mutual funds. Of course, when regulations be­ come more complex, regulated compa­ nies don't necessarily bleat - it gives If you agree with Robert Hutchins... them carte blanche to confuse their customers! For instance, under planned SEC " knowledge without wisdom has regulations, "no-Ioad" funds will be brought us to the edge of destruction and able to charge a small (.25%) load and may at any time push us over the brink. " not disclose it to investors, and then tack the same fee on, year after year, :«,/:///<">::"»,:,:\):>PttA~~:':dkt"'k:::f6d~H:'W..ffl::HH:H/>://)'<:»::::::: as long as the investor holds the fund. Funds love that kind of regulation. :lj::ljlil:iiljljlilii:::lij::jl:l:i:i:i:I::j:i-TFt~>:\ViSD:()iVl:::::§:()II:~:I:lijil:I:::I:I:I:I:lil:l:i:jiiilili::I:I:I:: With the SEC in charge, that is pre­ :::::::j::~il:::~:':ftA~IiA~::i.J~J<~':::$~~/n¢p$~:::C~t:t5jg"Q69'U::r cisely the kind of regulation they are \H::H:U::::::::)(§1~¥.Zf1-4H9.§J,~;U!;;:;,Fl~w?:::7~~+f1:9;l~UH>«>:):::::: apt to get. 0 Essay

The Cost of Kids by Karl Hess

We live in a uconsumer society" with strange ideas on production and distri­ bution. These ideas are nowhere stranger than when concerning the production and distribution of children.

T0 some parents, children are about as important as a new suite of furniture or a car. They are decorations, possessions, little more than animated dolls: cute, cuddly, and cost­ free. Where unwanted offspring were once seen as a burden or even a disgrace, they have become status symbols. But unlike most status symbols, they can be had by the very poorest. There are few government programs to sub­ where, calling on the taxpayers to pick Reduced, lumplike, to mere social sta­ sidize cars for people, but many to sub­ up the tab for the day-care facilities tistics, the children may thus be social­ sidize children. they see as essential to the collective ized, but they are neither educated nor Somewhere along the line, it has welfare. Businesses are expected to cared for. Thoughtless parents tumble become conventional wisdom that chil­ help foot the bill for female employees' all over themselves to support this sys­ dren are a national resource. They pregnancies by providing paid leaves tem, lest their status symbol be "held aren't, of course. Nor are they social as­ of absence and a guarantee of job se­ back" and thus reflect badly on them. sets, public property, or' "society's re­ curity once the child has been weaned. That the child might be having difficul­ sponsibility." They are individuals Now fathers are beginning to raise ty learning is clear!y secondary. who, until self-sufficient, are the re­ similar claims against employers, in And at every turn, someone is sponsibility of those who produce or order to be more involved in early bound to be shouting that hoary cliche: adopt them. child-rearing. Childbearing thus be­ Children are the responsibility of society. But don't expect to- hear much comes another cost of doing business, Many parents, to their credit, protest about that responsibility today. Where not unlike a coffee break. Just another this abrogation of their obligations, but children are considered a public re­ turn in one's career path. others welcome it greedily. Having es­ source, it is the public that ends up The process continues, from birth, sentially declared their children public subsidizing children. Government as­ through day care, to school. The public property, such people should not be sistance now guarantees the right of school system, busy provider of enter­ surprised when the nation-state starts the poorest and the youngest to be tainment for the pampered young and treating their offspring exact!y that fruitful and multiply, price tag be containment for their vicious peers, way, by drafting them for whatever damned. There are notorious cases in has taken on more and more of the adventure the politicians may have at which women on welfare, ordered to costs once involved with raising chil­ hand. halt their seemingly endless produc­ dren, not only during the school hours Against all this, I maintain that chil­ tion line with contraceptive implants, but into the evening and through the dren are not "social assets." Productive have refused, claiming their "repro­ weekends. Education is only a small adults can be said to be a social asset in ductive right." That right, of course, is part of the modern school's mission; the sense that productive work is what also the right to burden an entire com­ when push comes to shove, "socializ­ makes a society possible and usually munity with the support of those ing" children is the central function of defines it. But not children. They are children. the schools. Witness "social promo­ unproductive and very costly. Their so­ This attitude is by no means con­ tion" - a revealing phrase indeed ­ cial value is that they can grow up to fined to the welfare-client poor. the practice of passing students along be productive adults. Middle-class and professional parents from grade to grade regardless of The real value of children comes, can be heard on talk shows every- whether they can read or write. not from that grand abstraction Liberty 37 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

Society, but from their family, their Today, the rate in unwanted births, who puts up cold cash for a kid be neighbors, and, when they become ca­ reflected in the statistics for abortion more vicious than someone who refus­ pable of self-reflection, their selves. A and illegitimacy, is at a remarkable es to? So long as private watchdog or­ community in which parents bear chil­ high. So are the programs that make ganizations exist, and so long as a dren without care or thought is one in careless birthing relatively cheap. child's freedom to refuse a parental re­ which children are rudely stripped of Ending these subsidies would not end lationship is protected - that is to say, their value. A community that subsidiz­ unwanted pregnancies; it would, how­ so long as he or she is allowed the liber­ es this behavior finds its young not just ever, make the prospect of such preg­ ty of running away from an oppressive cheap, but worthless. nancies a more serious matter for the parent, biological or adopted - there is Who, then, should take care of the young and potentially irresponsible. no more, and arguably less, to fear children? Who should try to keep them With time, it would effect a change in from a cJ::lild-buyer than a child-seller. alive? social behavior. Being a child is a risky proposition no A sensible starting point would be But wouldn't making parents bear matter how you look at it. With a free to say that the cost of bearing children the full cost of their actions penalize in­ market in adoption, unwanted children nocent children? There is that risk, of will have a better shot at finding a course. There is always that risk when home where someone does want them. children are unwanted or unloved. But no adoption policy can be ex­ To some parents, children And it can be argued that there are pected to provide relief so long as preg­ are about as important as a more, not less, of them at risk today be­ nancy is seen as a casual matter, and cause of the subsidization of their birth birth, merely an option for which oth­ new suite of furniture or a car. and upbringing. Removing the pro­ ers will have to pay. The first step to­ They are decorations, posses­ grams that make having unloved chil­ ward reform remains the most vital: sions, little more than animat­ dren a matter of little concern should at parents must bear the full cost of their the very least make birth options more children, and know that they will have ed dolls: cute, cuddly, and cost­ serious and, thus, more likely to be to do so - before they become parents. free. thought about in advance. As callous as these comments may Beyond that, there is a way to help seem at first glance, they must be con­ the innocent without providing subsi­ trasted with the whining, loveless cat­ dy for their upbringing. The traditional erwauling of those who, suddenly should be paid by those who .bear recourse for unwanted children always them. It is this anchor of primary re­ has been and remains adoption - mak­ sponsibility that has been torn away by ing children available for people who the concept that, at the very outset, chil­ actually want them and would be will­ A community in which par­ dren are a social obligation and should ing and able to bear the burden of ents bear children without care not present a cost to parents, even bringing them up. Opening up the or thought is one in which chil­ those who are not poor. In the case of a adoptive possibilities for more people, truly abandoned or abused child, it especially the working-class people dren are rudely stripped of could be said that the neighbors should who today are so often snubbed by the their value. A community that pitch in and help out the victim. But the heavily regulated adoption agencies, subsidizes this behavior finds most fundamental, humane, and pru­ would ease the pains of many unwant­ dent approach should make sure that ed children. A in adoptions its young not just cheap, but we don't overlook the point of primary is needed, so that adults who want chil­ worthless. responsibility, the first line of caring. dren can bid for them openly and so that careless parents, not social workers, can receive the full price of letting their having children, feel that what may have been a simple reproductive error children go to a presuma­ should be elevated to the status of an bly happier home. unyielding demand on the public treas­ Fears that children ury. For parents who truly love their bought on the open market children and who would bear priva­ would be subject to abuse tions willingly to have and to raise should not be greater than them, the spectacle of such careless and the fear that children who cost-free childbearing must be particu­ remain with their biologi­ larly depressing. cal parents will be abused. Children are people. Bringing them The current statistics on into the world should be seen for the B.loo the abuse of children by serious responsibility it is. Kids are birth parents· are horrify­ costly. If they aren't worth it - don't "A lot of agents get their covers blown, Barstow, but be­ cause they forgot and whistled 'Secret Agent Man'?" ing. Why should a person have any! 0 38 Liberty Explanation

"Where Everyone Has a Job" by Mark Tier

There are few cows more sacred than minimum wage laws, and few riper for slaughter.

Recently, on a ferry crossing Hong Kong's harbor, I struck up a conversation with a black musician from Seattle, who told me how much he preferred Hong Kong to the States. What impressed him most about Hong Kong was that "everybody has a job!" Each time he repeated this comment his eyes would almost caress the Hong Kong skyline. He spoke as if a place where everyone has a job was people turn to drugs is the hopeless­ has high and persistent levels of unem­ alien to his experience, as if he thought ness engendered by the impossibility ployment. Only in countries with no of Hong Kong as .a fantasy land, a of finding a job. And that happens minimum wage laws is there little or place that simply could not exist on whenever minimum wage·laws bar the no unemployment. Earth. Back home, he told me, un­ unskilled from ever finding a job. The reason is simple: an employer employment, especially for blacks, is A minimum wage law is simply a will only offer someone a job when the high. form of price control: it prevents any­ value of his work exceeds the amount of He was also puzzled at the wide­ one from selling his labor below a cer­ his salary. When a minimum wage is spread influence of the United States tain price. Whenever a minimum price set at, say, $4 an hour, only those peo­ here, and the evident esteem in which is established, some portion of the ple whose value to a company is great­ his country was held when his person­ good or service involved will not find er than $4 an hour will find al experiences were quite at variance to a buyer. Just as the European employment. this image. Something he definitely Community's establishment of a mini­ did not miss, he said, was his treat­ mum price for butter has resulted in a The Security of ment by the Seattle police. Back home, a huge surplus (the "mountain of but­ the Free Market most blacks were poor and, therefore, ter" .that the E.C. buys from its dairy But without minimum wage laws, treated badly by the police. Those who farmers), the establishment of a without unions, wouldn't the workers appeared to have money weren't much minimum wage inevitably creates a be "exploited"? Wouldn't they be at better off. The police assumed they surplUS of labor, called "unemploy­ the employers' mercy? Not necessarily. were drug dealers, and treated them ment." In fact, when there are no minimum badly, too. Politicians and some economists wage laws and no specially privileged I don't have anything to add to the claim that a minimum wage raises unions, employees actually have far barrage of words written about the wages for all workers at the lower end greater job security - a security pro­ drug problem, except to observe that of the pay scale. All the evidence is to vided by the market. This is demon­ whenever and wherever prohibition the contrary: every country with mini­ strated by the job market in Hong has been tried it has failed. And it's mum wage laws (or high unemploy­ Kong, where there are no minimum failing again now. This man's sense of ment benefits, which have the same wage laws, where there are no laws despair when discussing his life in effect, establishing a minimum below granting special privileges to unions, Seattle led me to reflect that one reason which it is unprofitable to work) also and, as this man put it so eloquently, Liberty 39 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

:where "everybody has a job."* pany than when she was fresh from psychological experience of being told Many years ago I employed a girl high school. She was now keeping by society that you have no value, that named Mayas a messenger and some records, typing labels, managing you are worthless. "gofer." This was her·first job: she was the petty cash, and other things she One government intervention en­ 16 years old, she had finished four was unable to do when she started. tails another. In countries with mini­ years of high school, her English was Alone, none of these specific skills are mum wage laws, governments often poor, she had no job skills of any kind, of great significance. Taken together, try to alleviate the resultant unemploy­ and she could not type, keep books, or her 12 months' "on-the-job training" ment with all manner of training anything else that might be demal1ded had given her an education that she schemes. Such schemes have serious in a business. Indeed, she only had one could receive nowhere else. drawbacks, aside from increasing the qualification: she was eager to work. She also learned other things in that tax burden on those in employment. She was hired to deliver messages, year: how to look after herself, how to Most importantly, they can never re­ open the mail, make coffee, lick stamps, manage her own time and money. She place the experience of simply having a put things in envelopes, go to the post was also able to reward herself with job, however menial that job may be. office, and do other menial tasks of this things that only money can buy. In a Part of the experience of your first few kind. I paid her the princely amount of word, she was learning independence ­ jobs is discovering what's possible, and she was becoming self-sufficient in the what kind of things you'd like to do, real world. She learned a lesson the re­ things you can only find out in the real verse of what she would have received world, never in a classroom. Legislating the U.S. mznz­ on welfare, which reinforces the depen­ In Hong Kong most employees take mum wage in Bangladesh dence experienced as a child and night classes of one kind or another; would not raise anybody's teenager. and from these courses they learn something that will increase their mar­ wages; it would raise the level Reinforcing Dependence ket value in their current employment, of unemployment to some­ By denying unskilled teenagers the or prepare them for their next. When where between 98% and 99%. opportunity to work at their market you are paying for your own educa­ value, however low, minimum wage tion, your motivation is far higher, and laws interrupt the essential develop­ you choose something relevant to what mental process of slowly gaining inde­ you need or want. Being employed en­ HK$800 per month, about US$170 at pendence from one's parents - and hances that ability. the time, or 95~ per hour. inevitably some people remain "stuck" An argument often used in support In many respects, employing May in the child/teenager state for the rest of minimum wage legislation is that was a luxury. It was a luxury not to of their lives, with devastating social wages under the selected level are "too have to make or get my own coffee; consequences. low," "below the poverty line," or in even more importantly, it was a luxury If there'd been a minimum wage set some other sense' thought to be not to have to plan ahead. If I suddenly at, say, HK$1,600 a month, there'd have dehumanizing. realized that I was short of cash, I could been no job for May in my company. But the overwhelming majority of send her down to the bank rather than May might never have received that one people who'd be employed below any go myself. Similarly, at the last moment year of on-the-job experience she need­ minimum wage level are people like I could send her out to pick something ed to learn the skills with which she May, who quickly graduated from her up or drop something off. Many of the could command that minimum wage of low pay. The turnover of workers at things she did could have been simply $1,600 per month. Instead, 12 months that wage level (in a free labor market) not done at all or done by other people out of school, May could have still been is very high. There is a very big differ­ in the company - or, with a little unemployed and, worse, despairing of ence between someone who is working thought and planning, done far more ever finding employment. for the first time - who is probably liv­ efficiently. Employing her was not es­ Perhaps she dropped out of school ing with her parents, and whose in­ sential to the survival of the business. beeause her parents could not afford to come, however low, is almost entirely keep her there any longer, as is often available for discretionary spending ­ The Best Kind of Training the case. For these people, no other and the "average" worker who has to By the time she'd been working· form of training is affordable. A mini­ support 2.2 (or is it 2.3?) children. A with me for 12 months, her salary had mum wage law would have not only wage that would certainly spell pover­ doubled to HK$1,600 a month. Why? denied her a job at her market value, ty to this "average" worker spells luxu­ Because in that 12 months she'd but denied her the opportunity to rise ry to someone in May's position.* learned many job-specific skills that above it as well. Instead of being re­ made her far more valuable to the com- warded for her eagerness to work, and * For example, the biggest tourism market in so increasing her market value by Japan is girls in their early twenties in ex­ * In fact, the current unemployment rate in learning new skills, she could have actly this position. Having no responsibili­ Hong Kong is 1.5%. That's the general esti­ been consigned like so many poor ties, they can spend all their relatively low mate of what economists call "frictional un­ incomes on themselves - and, therefore, employment" people voluntarily Americans to a life of never-ending, have the highest available spending power looking for another job. soul-destroying unemployment, the of any group for such luxuries as travel. 40 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

You might ask, why did I increase do workers know what they are worth? ment-"guaranteed" job security is May's salary so that within 12 months They read the classified ads in the knowledge of one's value in the mar­ it had doubled? I can assure you it newspapers. ketplace, and that knowledge is freely "o/as certainly not out of the goodness It used to worry me that the classi­ and continually available frorI). newspa­ of my heart, though I do figure myself fied section of the newspaper appeared per classifieds, employment agencies, as a good employer. (Not all my em­ to be the most popular reading materi­ and discussions with friends and asso­ ployees will agree with that state­ al in my office - until I realized that ciates, where the state of the job market ment.) The reason was very simple: is a continual topic of interest. having discovered her increased Of course, exploitation can occur worth, May was now in a position to under any system. But the possibility of seek another job at a higher salary if I Most employees in Hong exploitation is far lower in a free labor did not raise hers. Kong, if they feel underpaid, market, so long as the law of contract is This brings me to an amazing fea­ will sign a contract for another respected and redress for any grievance ture of the Hong Kong labor market, job and only then give notice. is available (to either party - the em­ and of any labor market where there ployer can also be exploited). A free are no restrictions on the employment So the employer must be sure labor market fosters employees' psy­ of labor: employees know their own the wages he is paying are in chological independence. The market worth - their market value - and if line with the market - other­ "forces" them, as it were, to assume re­ you don't pay them what they are sponsibility for achieving their own worth, they find someone who will. wise, he'll lose his employees. self-worth. Obviously, some people are more self-assertive than others; but the The Security of Knowing free market encourages the growth of Your Worth my staff was not planning to resign en self-assertiveness in all. Compulsory A free labor market provides work­ masse; they were merely checking their unionization, by contrast, is a reverse ers with far more job security than any market value and keeping themselves form of indentured servitude. Today, union-devised scheme. In Hong Kong, aware of the alternatives available. In a unions achieve power by government where "everybody has a job," every free labor market, each employee is re­ edicts suspending or modifying em­ worker knows he can find an alterna­ sponsible for his or her own welfare. ployer-employee contracts. The "closed tive job within a few weeks. And how The alternative to union- or govern- shop," for example, enforces union

WHY SHOULDYOU BE READINGFREEDOMDAILY?*

"The security••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••of Social Security continues to depend entirely on stealing from the younger generation." - Jacob G..Homberger, founder and president, The Future of Freedom Foundation: April 1992 Freedom Daily. "The has been the great perpetrator and perpetuator of poverty in our century." - Richard M. Ebeling, Ludwig von Mises Professor of Economics, Hillsdale College, Michigan, and academic vice president, The Future of Freedom Foundation: April 1992 Freedom Daily. "Governmental intervention is always dangerous. But nowhere is it more so than in the health-care industry." - Sheldon L. Richman, senior editor, Cato Institute: April 1992 Freedom Daily. *WE DON'T COMPROMISE. For a one-year (12 issues) subscription to our 48-page publication, Freedom Daily, send $15 (cash, check, visa, or mastercard) to FFF, P.O. Box 9752, Dept. M, , CO 80209. (303-777-3588). Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

membership as a prerequisite to em­ front" their boss and say, "Look, the ronment, wages tend to rise more slow­ ployment in a particular industry or going rate for my services according to ly or not at all during a recession; company, revoking freedom of choice, the market is about 20% more than where price inflation is low or non­ not only for the employer, but for all you are paying me. I think I deserve a existent, wages fall during a recession those who cannot get union member­ pay raise." To avoid a confrontation of as a growing number of people com­ ship as well. that kind, most employees in Hong pete for a declining number of jobs. Normally, such a union has Kong, if they feel underpaid, will sign This decline in jobs is inevitable as "achieved" higher-than-market wages a contract for another job and only then businesses lay workers off as sales for its members through its ability to give notice. So the employer must also slow; and some companies go restrict the employers' choice of work­ read the classifieds to be sure the bankrupt. ers. Even the more highly-paid em­ wages he is paying are in line with the However, such a decline in wages ployees lose out; their options are market - otherwise, he'll lose his leads some employers to create new, severely limited, since it's impossible employees. for them to command anywhere near In Hong Kong's free market for the same salary in any other employ­ labor, wages are set by the impersonal ment. And the longer they've been in forces of supply and demand. Most in It is no coincidence that this situation, the less able they are to the job market would report that countries with free labor mar­ adapt to the changes that inevitably wages are negotiated on an individual occur in the marketplace: witness the basis, between an employer and an kets have far higher rates of ec­ recent example of New York's Daily employee. However, while this ap­ onomic growth than the u.s. News, where union intransigence (plus pears to be the case, the reality is dif­ or Europe. managerial misjudgment) looks like it ferent. The actual "negotiations" are will permanently end its members' taking place between competing em­ sinecures. ployers, as a job-seeker considers a Where the law of contract prevails, number of different job offers at the lower-paying jobs that were uneco­ unions have no privileges beyond same time. The employer who fails to nomic athigher wage levels (as in the those freely and voluntarily granted by fill a vacant position has no alternative case of May). Such adjustments always its members. Similarly, employers are but to increase his offer to win over the take time, and during that time the free to refuse to deal with any union. potential employee, or another one. level of unemployment will rise. In It's interesting to note that in the For some people, other considera­ countries with a free labor market, un­ United States, where the legal powers tions are as important as wages, or employment usually peaks in the mid­ establishing unions have been eroded even more important. With no govern­ dle of the recession - at a rate that is over the past decade, as people have ment unemployment benefits or normal during American and Europe­ pensions, an employee can seek com­ an booms. panies offering such benefits. Or if se­ An economy-wide decline in wages curity is of paramount importance, an reduces all businesses' costs, allowing You might ask, why did I employee can seek that ultimate in job the economy to adjust much more rap­ increase May's salary so that security: "work" for the government. idly to a recessionary environment. In within 12 months it had dou­ A free market is a smorgasbord of pos­ countries with no minimum wage sibilities, where government, by keep­ laws, as is the situation in Hong Kong bled? I can assure you it was ing out of the way, enables consenting and most other Asian nations, reces­ certainly not out of the good­ adults to creatively and imaginatively sions start later and end earlier than in ness of my heart. achieve their potential (to the extent the U.S. and Europe. This is partly the they desire to). result of free markets for labor, but is Clearly, the simple absence of mini­ primarily due to the fact that low or no mum wage laws does not ensure jobs government intervention in the labor become freer to choose they have gen­ for all - the presence or absence of market goes with less government in­ erally chosen not to act through such laws in the middle of the Gobi tervention overall. Asian economies unions. desert would have no effect on the are thus far more flexible, and, there­ In Hong Kong, Western-style un­ size, extent, or nature of the job mar­ fore, adjust far more rapidly to chang­ ions exist only in government, and as ket. Legislating the U.S. minimum ing world circumstances than the more professional associations of lawyers, wage in Bangladesh would not raise rigid economies of the west. doctors, and so on. Private-sector un­ anybody's wages; it would raise the It is also no coincidence that coun­ ions are more like general welfare, level of unemployment to somewhere tries with free labor markets have far watchdog, or mutual aid associations, between 98% and 99%. higher rates of economic growth than having no state-granted powers of ex­ the U.S. or Europe. Slower economic clusion from the law of contract. .. . And Wages Can Fall growth is the inevitable price of gov­ Cultural attitudes in Hong Kong In any free market, prices can fall ernment intervention. Minimum wage impose an additional burden on the as well as rise, and that applies to the laws are a prime example of such de­ employer. Few people here will "con- price of labor. In an inflationary envi- structive interference. 0 42 Liberty Theory

The Economics of the Emergence of Humankind by Vernon L. Smith

Tools, investment, cost-accounting, and mass killings of non-human animals are not limited to history's great civilizations: they are a part of prehistory as welL And economics can help us understand why.

This is about who we were in prehistory, and h'ow we were shaped by economic principles. It is an exciting story, perhaps humanity's most important story; it may even be true! Life Emerged Early, Homo Very Late The Earth and our solar system are omizing response, in several ways: It panding niche may explain the decline about 4.5 billion years old. Elementary made carrying food and young off­ of other African carnivores. The earli­ life forms appeared 3.8-3.5 billion years spring easier; it reduced heat stress by est firmly documented stone tools are before present (B.P.), about as early as exposing less body surface to direct found at the Hadar site in Ethiopia, ad­ life as we know it could have emerged. sunlight; it lessened the energy re­ jacent to the Red Sea; they are dated at But multicellular animals are not found quirements of locomotion; it improved 2.4-2.5 million years B.P. This and in the fossil record until 650 million creatures' ability to see over obstruc­ other sites show that stone tools were years B.P. Those of modern form that tions, grass and shrubs; and it freed the widely used in Southern and Eastern are antecedents of humankind appear hands for using, carrying, and later Africa by two million years B.P. Early about550 million years B.P. fabricating, tools. Although bipedalism tools were diverse, but the diversity In Africa, sometime between six predates the earliest recorded stone appears to have been controlled by the and ten million years ago, bipedal tools, early humankind may have used random shape of the original blank, protohumans split off from the fore­ wood, bamboo, and other perishable not by deliberate design. The combina­ runners of·today's chimpanzees and material for simple tools, much as tion of such stone tools with animal gorillas. This is indicated by the fossil chimpanzees use sticks to reach for bone artifacts demonstrate the in­ record and by genetic comparisons be­ food. creased interest in meat by H. habilis tween living people and other pri­ If, as grasslands expanded, our an­ over earlier hominids. mates. During this period a globally cestral protohumans were adaptively At the beginning of the Pleistocene, 'cooler and drier climate shrank forests, attempting bipedalism, then mutations approximately 1.7-1.8 million years expanding grasslands and savannas. favoring bipedalism would have eco­ ago, H.:-habilis was replaced by H. erec­ Grassland ungulates increased in num­ nomic value. The cooler, drier trend in tus, generally thought to be the direct ber and diversity as the cost of harvest­ climate that is associated with the ancestor of H. sapiens and of you and ing their food declined; the resulting emergence of bipedalism accelerated me. We are still in the Pleistocene economic stress on forest dwellers from 2-2.5 million years B.P. This coin­ Epoch, enjoying a warming interglacial brought the extinction of many ape cided with a rapid evolutionary period that began about 17,000 years species - although at least one ape change in hominids and other African B.P. Within the past one million years species in Africa adapted by becoming mammals leading to a more carnivor­ interglaciations as warm as the one we more of a ground dweller. ous, larger-brained, and more tool­ are now experiencing have lasted only Bipedalism may have been an econ- dependent lineage of Homo whose ex- about 10,000 years whereas the periods Liberty 43 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

of glaciation have lasted more like human capital probably applies with lapped Cro-Magnons for over 50,000 100,000 years. (Perhaps this will com­ comparable force to the last two million years, and are probably not central fort those concerned with global warm­ years of hominid development. The stock but a side branch. Prior to Cro­ ing.) Consequently, our ancestral tool kit now includes hand axes, cleav­ Magnon times, body form and behavior development occurred under mostly ers, and other large bifacial tools used evolved together. Subsequently, behav­ glacial conditions, to which we adapted for butchery, bone-breaking, and per­ ioral evolution accelerated within a con­ well. During these cycles of glaciation a haps woodworking. It is likely that H. stant bodily form. 35,000-40,000 years world-wide redistribution of plants, an­ erectus could control the use of fire; the ago, artifact assemblages began to vary imals, and humankind occurred. oldest evidence of its use date back 1.4 tremendously across neighboring to 1.5 million years. Exodus I regions, and the pace of change acceler­ A longstanding puzzle is the geo­ ated dramatically. Cro-Magnons fash­ A contemporary view of the emer­ graphical distribution of these tools in ioned bone, ivory, and antler into gence of humans is the "out-of-Africa Southeast Asia. There the tools are less projectile p~ints, awls, punches, nee­ model" in which humankind first standardized and few hand axes ap­ dles, and art objects. Their stone crafts evolved in Africa and then spread· pear. At one time this led to the conclu­ included numerous shouldered projec­ throughout Eurasia; the initial wave sion that H. erectus was culturally tile points of the kind suitable for began about one million years B.P. In retarded. A solution to the puzzle is spears, arrows, and darts. Graves, hous­ Africa the displacement of H. habilis by now offered by the observation that the es, and fireplaces became more elabo­ H. erectus may be explained by an in­ line across Southeast Asia below which rate. Ceramic-fired clay appears about creased emphasis on tool use and by one finds alleged "cultural retardation" 28,000 years B.P. Eurasian Cro­ corresponds to the distribution of natu­ Magnons hunted in savannas and rally occurring bamboo. This area grasslands, principally for mammoth, today contains over 1000 species of bison, reindeer, antelope and horse that Within the past one million bamboo, which can be fabricated into provided meat, hide, and sinew, as well years periods as warm as the knives, spears, projectile points, and as bone, antler and ivory. After 20,000 traps. It would appear that H. erectus years B.P. the artifacts include spear one we are now experiencing was not culturally degenerate in bam­ throwers, stone inserts in antlers, har­ have lasted only about 10,000 booland, but was simply substituting a poons, leisters, eyed needles, all man­ years whereas the periods of lower-cost raw material for stone. ner ofclothing, and the bowand arrow. In Europe, between 34,000 and glaciation have lasted more like Exodus II 11,000 B.P., there is widespread evi­ 100,000 years. (Perhaps this Up to about 400-500,000 years B.P., dence that humankind had the means will comfort those concerned most human fossils are those of H. erec­ of making multiple kills. The staples tus in Java, China and Africa. were reindeer, red deer, horse, ibex, with global warming.) Exceptions are assigned to early H. sapi­ and bison. Evidence of the mass ens, which, in Europe, suggest an antici­ slaughter of horses and reindeer sug­ pation of the Neanderthals. The trend gest they were forced into cliff-enclosed was different in Africa, where H. erectus canyons, or driven off "jumps." The meat-eating. H. erectus was much better appears to have evolved in the direc­ Cro-Magnon were adept at driving or endowed with a locomotor skeleton, tion of modern H. sapiens. Neanderthals stampeding game and using pit traps. and had a larger brain and the typically - traditionally believed to be our im­ human external nose. These endow­ mediate ancestors - are thought to be Super-predation ments suggest improved exertion ca­ a Eurasian descendant of H. erectus. and World Expansion pacity and hunting and gathering skill. They appeared 130,000 years ago or Modern H. sapiens spread from The greater adaptability of H. erec­ earlier, had a brain case at least as large Africa through Europe and Asia in the tus is demonstrated by these creatures' as that of modern people, and, judging last 50,000 years, jumped to Australia colonization of previously unoccupied from the skeleton and muscle-ligament by about 35,000 years B.P., entered dry regions of Africa about 1.5 million markings on the bones, had exceptional Alaska by 14,000 B.P., spread into the years B.P. and by their dispersal to physical strength. They were adapted United States by 12,000 B.P., and in the Northern Africa and thence into colder to cold climate, and made tools of next 1000 years reached the southern regions such as Eurasia and China, and wood and stone. They cared for family tip of South America. The last stages of to Java after one million years B.P. In members who were handicapped or in­ this worldwide expansion were the African and eastward expansion capacitated, and were the first people Madagascar and New Zealand in the paths of H. erectus one finds evidence of who practiced burial. But they disap­ last 1000 years. tool use which required more invest­ peared about 30,000 years ago. A plausible hypothesis is that North ment in human capital ~ planning, Although rnodern H. sapiens or Cro­ America was discovered by advanced foresight, and preparation effort ­ Magnons were once thought to origi­ Paleolithic people who crossed the ex­ than is associated with H. habilis. Thus nate 40-50,000 years ago, recent claims posed Bering land bridge connecting the finding that most of our current place them as early as 90,000 years B.P. Asia with Alaska about 14,000 years growth results from investment in Thus, Neanderthals may have over- ago. Their descendants found an ex- 44 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

posed land corridor into Montana, then sites contain the bones of camel and predator. It also explains the abrupt, spread south and east throughout the horse, although no incontrovertible evi­ massive losses in Australia and the United States. As suggested by Paul dence exists that these animals were Americas - the only continents that Martin (Agenbroad et al. 1990), they en­ hunted in North America. The horse were colonized suddenly by advanced tered a continent that was an unprece­ became extinct in North America only stone-age humans (Martin 1984). dented "home-on-the-range" for now about eight to ten thousand years ago. But the control cases for this "exper­ extinct mammoth, mastodont, ground It was reintroduced by the Spanish in iment" are the large oceanic islands, sloth, giant beaver, horse, tapir, camel, the 16th century and has thriven in the Madagascar and New Zealand. Both llama, stag moose, pronghorn, shrub wild to the present day. were colonized roughly 1000 years B.P., ox, yak, dire wolf, two species of ex­ Between 11,000 and 9,000 years B.P. and both suffered a wave of extinctions tinct bear, two species of peccary, two the Clovis point was replaced by small­ then. If extinction was due to climatic species of extinct deer, two species of er points, which were used to kill the change, why did Madagascar's extinc- musk ox, two subspecies of bison, a Bison antiquus, and Bison Occidentalis, cheetah, a saber-toothed and a scimitar­ both larger than the surviving bison. It toothed "tiger," and more. Many of appears likely that Paleoindians killed these animals, such as the ground sloth, bison in masses, sometimes of several Hunting and gathering were slow and would have been easily hundred animals ata time. At the provided the first affluent hunted, or like the mammoth, masto­ Olsen-Chubbuck site in Colorado society. dont and horse were large gregarious where, 8500 years B.P., 200 B. herding animals. The herding behavior Occidentalis were stampeded into an ar­ of these great animals implied low royo five to seven feet deep, and dis­ search cost for hunting· parties armed patched with projectile points. Appa­ tions not coincide with those of Africa with stone projectile points and strate­ rently, at least 50 of the animals repre­ 220 miles away? Why did European gic knowledge of animal behavior. sented a wastage kill, since their re­ and Ukrainian mammoths became ex- Their great size meant high value per mains show no evidence of butchery . tinct 13,000 years B.P., while they sur­ kill. Some prey such as the extinct for consumption. Dozens of such kill­ vived another 2000 years in North plains bison may have been easy to butchery sites are found in Colorado, America? Previous great extinction stampede into arroyos. Wyoming, Montana and Nebraska. waves had affected plants and small Since there was no property in live Many are stampede jumps or traps animals as well as large animals, but animals, only in harvested·animals, with several thousand years of use. But the late Pleistocene extinctions were the bison endures in the form of the concentrated in the large gregarious smaller plains bison. It is possible that herding, or slow-moving, animals ­ Since there was no property it survived by dwarfing, an adaptive ideal prey for human hunters. Such in live animals, only in har­ response to the greater vulnerability of large genera are also slower growing the larger subspecies to predation. In animals, have longer gestation periods, vested animals, there was no any case, by historical times the enor­ require longer periods of maternal care, incentive to stay the spear in mous carrying capacity of the land and live longer than many other ani­ anticipation of tomorrow's re­ from Alberta to Texas supported far mals. Consequently they are more vul­ fewer species than before, but among nerable to hunting pressure because productive value. them were perhaps 60 million bison. reductions in their biomass require Martin has summarized the evi­ more time to recover. dence for the worldwide extinction of It may seem incomprehensible that there was no incentive to stay the spear late Pleistocene megafauna. In Africa bands of men could have wiped out in anticipation of tomorrow's reproduc­ and Asia 15-20 percent of tge genera the great mammoth and two subspe­ tive value, as there is with modern do­ disappeared from 80-60,000 B.P.; in cies of bison, since modern bison and mesticated cattle. The resulting mass Australia, 94 percent were lost from 40­ African elephants react violently when harvesting pressure on animals may 15,000 B.P.; North and South America threatened. But such observations may have caused or contributed to the meg­ experienced a 70-80 percent loss in the simply tell us that these particular sub­ afauna loss that occurred on the North last 15,000 years. This worldwide pat­ species have survived because they American continent after 11,000 years tern correlates suspiciously well with were selected for these defensive char­ B.P. Hunting parties left behind the the chronology of human colonization, acteristics. We know nothing of the be­ fine-crafted Clovis fluted point found leading to Martin's hypothesis that ex­ havioral properties of extinct species. from Florida to Nova Scotia, in the high tinction was directly or indirectly While the African and Indian ele­ plains, the Southwest, across the caused by "overkill" conducted by ex­ phants are both members of the same Midwest, and in the South. That Clovis ceptionally competent hunter cultures. genus, their fossil similarities fail to in­ hunters killed mammoth is well­ This explains the light extinctions in form us that the Indian elephant is do­ documented; it is also well known that Africa and Asia, where modern hu­ cile and easily trained for circus these animals, which had been in mankind "grew up"; this allowed grad­ display, while the African elephant is America for over one million years, be­ ual adaptation to humankind's much too unruly for this occupation. came extinct by 11,000 years B.P. Some accumulating proficiency as a super- No one has successfully domesticated Liberty 45 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

the zebra, though the horse has been world?" Why indeed, unless tastes and It sharpens the hunter's concentration domesticated since ancient times. opportunity cost combine to demand and impresses the need for dedication. it? The great migrations out of Africa, It also causes the hunter to choose a Interpretations and the invention of weapons for big game random hunting route, steering him Hypotheses hunting, Eskimo adaptation to hunting away from previously successful ones, 1) Hunting and gathering provided the sea mammals, humankind's eventual thus preventing the caribou from being technology and institutions for the first af­ turn to agriculture: these can all be in­ sensitized to regularities in hunter be­ fluent society. One of the great myths of terpreted as responses to changes in havior. This is precisely the argument modern humankind is the belief that life opportunity costs, whether driven by for using mixed strategies in certain in the Paleolithic was intolerably harsh, environmental changes, by human games of conflict. The Naskapi discov­ or as presumed by Hobbes, "solitary, learning, or by both. ered that reading shoulder blades had A telling example of the influence survival value. "People are capable of of effort prices on prehistoric human formulating any number of strange The aboriginal practice of choice is found in R. S. Lee's 1968 study ideas, not necessarily directed towards of 58 of the world's extant hunter­ any particular end, but if they do have awarding more wives to the gather societies. He shows'a strong cor­ a practical application and are success- most successful hunters would relation between a society's distance . ful, they may persist. And if they per­ have favored the genetic selec­ from the equator and the importance of sist long enough people will begin to hunting over gathering in its diet. In believe in them" (Reader 1988, p. 139). tion of these traits. the Arctic, hunting of land and sea They will also be incorporated into ed­ mammals predominated, while in tem­ ucational rituals so that the tribal learn­ perate latitudes up to 39 degrees from ing is not lost to each new generation. poor, nasty, brutish and short." It may the equator, gathering was much the 3) Prehistoric H. sapiens accumulated have been none of these. What is more more important economic activity. crucially important human capital. likely is that hunting and gathering pro­ Economic models of human devel­ Economic success in hunting and gath­ vided the first affluent society, sustain­ opment are often held suspect because ering required an endowment of ing and promoting humankind for they appear not to account for the rich­ human capital normally associated almost all oftheir 2.5 million years ofex­ ness of culture. But culture can be inter­ only with the agricultural and industri­ istence. The Hobbesian belief obscures preted as providing a system for al revolutions: learning, knowledge the striking continuity in the ability of transmitting information useful in re­ transfer, skill and design in tool fabrica­ prehistoric humans to adapt to changes sponding to opportunity costs. Hunter tion, and social organization. The abo­ in their environment by substituting cultures use elaborate ceremony to en­ riginal use of fire for game and plant new types of capital, labor and knowl­ hance recognition of the significance of management demonstrates that prehis­ edge for old, and by fabricating new the chase and its technology - to form toric humans possessed intricate products when effort prices were al­ in the young an indelible impression of knowledge of the phenology of trees, tered by the environment or by new the hunt, and to transmit human capi­ shrubs, and herbs; they used fire to en­ learning. Malnutrition, starvation and tal from one generation to the next. The hance the growth and flowering of chronic diseases have been rare or infre­ magnificent ero-Magnon art preserved food plants and to discourage the quent among the hunting and fishing on the walls deep in the narrow crawl growth of competitors. Effective game peoples of the world. Studies of the spaces of French and Spanish caves and wild plant management required African !Kungbushmen show that these have been interpreted as a means of people to know where, when, and how people worked only 12-19 hours per "piling special effect on special effect in to burn. Aboriginals knew that the week, that their hunting and gathering an effort to ensure the preservation and growing season for wild plants can be scored well on several measures of nu­ transmission of the tribal encyclope­ advanced by spring burns designed to tritional adequacy, and that their labor dia" (Pfeiffer 1982, p. 132). warm the earth, that in dry weather bought much leisure in the form of rest­ Another example of the hidden eco­ fires should be ignited at the top of ing, visiting, entertaining, and trance nomic function ofculture is the magical hills to prevent wildfires but in damp dancing. Similarly, the African Hazda practice of the Naskapi Indians of conditions should be set in depressions hunters worked no more than two Labrador, who, when the caribou were to avoid extinguishment, that the burn­ hours per day, with plenty of time left scarce and the tribe hungry, resorted to ing of underbrush aided the produc­ for gamblingand other social activities. scapulimacy, a divination in which the tion of acorns and attract moose, deer, 2) Opportunity cost conditioned the shoulder blade bone of a caribou was and other animals that feed on the ten­ cultural and economic development of the heated by fire until it cracked. As der new shoots that follow a burn. It human race. This principle was articu­ cracks appeared they were interpreted also prevented buildup of kindling and lated succinctly by the !Kung bushman by a diviner as caribou trails, one of forest fires. How sad· that this knowl­ who was asked by an anthropologist which the hunter should follow if he edge was unavailable for the manage­ why he had not turned· to agriculture was to be successful. All this is com­ ment of Yellowstone Park in the half­ as his neighbors had done. His reply: monly interpreted as showing the ca­ century preceding the holocaust of "Why should we plant when there are pacity of the Naskapi for belief in 1988. so many mongongo nuts in the magic. But is scapulimacy functional? The life of a hunter-gatherer de- 46 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

mands skill, technology, a division of and plants that could be eaten while on growth, it is likely that prehistoric hu­ labor, knowledge of plant and animal the move. Now seeds were gathered mans had a comparable if not severer behavior, climate, seasons, and winds, that were inedible without soaking, impact on their environment. Humans the habit of close observation, inven­ grinding and boiling. This upsurge in were probably responsible for the wave tiveness, problem solving, risk bearing, personal paraphernalia implies more of animal extinctions beginning with and high motivation. These demands sedentary, and less nomadic, hunting the "invasion" of Australia 40-30,000 would have been selective in human­ and gathering. Knowledge of the sea­ years B.P. and ending with the occupa­ kind's cultural and biological evolu­ sonal cycles of plants and animals, of tion of Madagascar and New Zealand. tion, helping to develop the human the use of fire in resource management, The losses were of species that had in­ capital and genetic equipment needed of techniques of storing, drying and adequate defensive capabilities. The to create modern civilization. The abo­ preserving foods, all combined to make winnowing left the more stubbornly re­ riginal practice of awarding more life more sedentary. sistant species, able to survive all but wives to the most successful hunters But with the accumulation of per­ major destructions of habitat. would have favored the genetic selec­ sonal property and real estate would A second source of ecological tion of these traits. come more complex property rights change induced by prehistoric peoples It was as hunter-gatherers that peo­ and contracting arrangements. George ple learned to learn. Young hunters Dalton has summarized the economic needed to learn goal-oriented observa­ and important political functions of the tion, to learn that ungulates often travel ceremonial exchanges of Northwest Although today we associate in an arc so that success could be in­ America and Melanesia, such as the environmental damage with creased by traversing the chord, and so potlatch, kula, moka, and abutu, which on. Knowledge of animal behavior in substance are elaborate multilateral the advent of industrial society could substitute for weapon develop­ contracting mechanisms (Dalton 1977). and human population growth, ment. From knowledge of animal anat­ The valuables exchanged bought kin­ it is likely that prehistoric hu­ omy it was but a short step to curiosity ship ties, military assistance, the right about human anatomy, and to the first of refuge if homes and property had to nulns had a comparable if not practice of medicine. be abandoned, and emergency help in severer impact on their envi­ 4) Property rights are likely of ancient the event of poor harvest, hunting or ronment. origin. Although aboriginals every­ fishing. They bought political stability where have been observed to possess in stateless societies and a property­ rights environment that facilitated spe­ cialization and ordinary exchange. was their transportation of seeds in Property rights precede the state. hunter-gatherer migrations throughout Property rights precede the Evidence for the existence of prop­ the world. The introduction of botani­ state. Evidence for the exis­ erty rights and social contracting in cal exotics into new regions has often stateless societies is incontrovertible. In been noted by archaeologists who have tence of property rights and so­ North America, private ownership of observed the association of various cial contracting in stateless fishing and hunting grounds, nut trees, plants with campsites and dwellings. societies is incontrovertible. and seed-gathering areas was common. Finally, human use of fire had pro­ Owning the right to fish a particular found ecological effects. Authors who eddy or channel of a river did not de­ have studied patterns of land-burning pend on who owned the land along the by primitive peoples have concluded sophisticated property rights and trad­ river. The right was transferable by be­ that many of the great grasslands were ing traditions, there is no direct evi­ quest or sale. Similarly, an individual produced by periodic burning. The dis­ dence about these matters in could own sealing rights to a particular appearance of grassland areas in prehistory. But similarities between the coastal rock. The Eskimos had a simple Northern Alberta is attributed to cultural materials of late-Pleistocene incentive-compatible rule of allocation Canadian restrictions on traditional and aboriginal peoples suggest that among hunters when the prey was the Indian burning. such social traditions originated at least dangerous polar bear: liThe hunter 6) Long plateaus without change are as early as the period 40-20,000 B.P. who fixed his spear first in the bear punduated by revolutionarY leaps in bio­ The archeological record shows, before gets the upper part. That is the finest logical and economic development. There the first agriculture, a vast increase in part, for it includes the forelegs with were three prehistoric revolutions in property: spears, atlatls, seed-grinding the long mane hairs that are so much the development of mankind, before stones, boiling and storage vessels, desired to border women's kamiks the agricultural revolution: bipedalism; kilns, boats, houses, villages, bows and (boots)" (Freuchen 1973). the invention and development of arrows, animal-drawn sledges, and do­ 5) Humankind was an intense user of tools, including fire; and the explosive mesticated wolves. New tools and tech­ the environment for self-interested ends. accumulation of human capital by Cro­ niques allowed new products of the Although today we associate environ­ Magnon peoples. The Cro-Magnons hunt to substitute for the loss of big mental damage with the advent of in­ produced an astonishing creative out­ game. Gathering emphasized the seeds dustrial society and human population burst - in tools, art, and hunting- Liberty 47 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

gathering techniques - beginning hunting placed new demands on plan­ docile and easily domesticated mem­ sometime after 40,000 B.P. This great ning and cooperation; memory, operat­ ber of the Equus family - was a revo­ acceleration in human capital forma­ ed on by ritual, allowed knowledge to lutionary innovation to the Plains tion and Cro-Magnon's rapid spread be preserved and accumulated. Indian, causing many tribes to revert through the major continents set the Writing, invented by 5000 years B.P., to the bison hunt as a permanent way stage for the agricultural revolution. vastly accelerated the human capacity of life. The Cheyenne and Arapahoe Our ancestors gained the knowledge of to preserve and accumulate thought. abandoned their villages, agriculture, animals and seeds required by.the agri­ But by this time humankind's vast and pottery arts to become bison cultural way of life. The megafauna knowledge of seeds, eggs, and animals hunters. that were the favored game of the had already fomented the agricultural Although Coronado and other con­ revolution, which was made all the quistadores lost or abandoned horses in more necessary by the disappearance the 16th century, it was not until· the If we are a "kinder and gen­ of so many of the great game animals. permanent colonization of New Mexico in the first half of the 17th century that tler" species than were our an­ The Agricultural Revolution peaceful Indians, forced to tend their cestors who slaughtered the In the Near East, beginning about horses, learned horsemanship from the great mammoth and bison, it 10,000 years ago, our ancestors aban­ Spanish. During this period, horses and doned the hunter-gatherer way of life knowledge of them were acquired by is because we can now afford that had served them so well for at various tribes, and by the1 650s the co­ to be. least 3 million years. Plant cultivation lonial settlements faced the formidable in this area also coincided closely with Apaches, on horseback. All the power the domestication of sheep and goats, of Spain in America failed to subdue chase were eliminated, thus tipping the followed later by that of cattle and them. Then out of the Rocky Mountain opportunity cost balance in favor of till­ pigs. Domesticated plants first consist­ headwaters of the Arkansas Riverap­ ed of. eight or nine species of local ing the soil. peared a little-known tribe of hunter­ What accounts for the sudden accel­ grains, but about 3000 years after grain gatherers who abandoned their home­ eration of human economic and cultu­ agriculture, various fruits - olive, lands and took to the Plains on horse­ ral development of 3D-I0,000 B.P.? Cro­ grape and fig - were cultivated. All back. They became great bison hunters Magnon people had already been firm­ these plants were domesticated forms and by 1725 invaded the Apache lands ly established in Africa for perhaps of the wild varieties indigenous to the of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and 60,000 years and had already begun area. Evidence for agriculture in New West Texas. Entire tribes of Apache, their spread throughout the world. The Guinea, where there were no animals who had been the scourge of the most likely cause is the emergence of suitable for hunting, is dated to 9000 Spanish, disappeared. The invading language, which would make possible years ago. In North America the earli­ Comanches exterminated the Eastern the accumulation and diffusion of est evidence of agriculture appears in tribes and drove the Western tribes into knowledge on an unprecedented scale. Mexico 9-10,000 years ago, but prod­ Arizona and New Mexico. The The experience and knowledge of the ucts were added slowly, one by one,' Comanches were· the greatest warriors elderly would be a valued source of in­ over thousands of years, as if cultiva­ ever to ride the high plains and pla­ formation. This explains why older and tion were a hobby used to supplement teaus of Texas, and were without peer incapacitated people were cared for, hunting and gathering. When on horseback, with men, women and and their value recognized by proper Europeans arrived in the 15th and 16th children skilled in the saddle. Their burial and enshrined in art. In aborigi­ centuries, there was great variability raiding parties ranged up to 1000 nal societies the medicine man or among the North American tribes in miles, and across the Rio Grande into woman was often a person handi­ their dependence on agriculture or on Mexico; their loot sometimes consisted capped from birth or crippled by inju­ hunting and gathering. In California of hundreds of horses in a single moon­ ry. Kokopelli, widely commemora~ed acorns and hunting were important light raid. They were known for their by Southwestern and Mexican rock art, means of subsistence. In the Pacific boast that the warrior tribes permitted is depicted as a hunchbacked arthritic Northwest salmon fishing supplement­ Spanish settlements to exist on the figure who plays a flute. With the ad­ ed .by gathering was paramount. On fringes of Comanche territory only to vent of spoken language, the relative the Great Plains many tribes, such as raise horses for them. The Spanish value of information 'to physical the Pawnee, Cheyenne and Arapahoe, were never again to control West strength would have changed had well-developed horticulture and Texas, nor were the Americans able fi­ dramatically. pottery arts. The peaceful Pueblos of nally to control bison country until The affluence made possible by im­ the Southwest grew cotton, corn, 1875 when the remnants of the provements in food acquisition meth­ beans, tobacco, and squash. Comanche tribes finally surrendered at ods would have provided the released The influence of opportunity costs Fort Sill, and the bison were all but ex­ time necessary to give attention to lan­ on tribal choice of culture is well illus­ terminated and replaced by the long­ guage development and to the rituals trated by the effect of the reintroduc­ horn steer. For a century and a half the and social interaction that demand tion of the horse to North America by history of the American West was a communication capacity. Big game the Spanish. The Spanish mustang - a continued on page 51 48 Liberty Clarification

There Is N 0 Such Thing as the Environment by William C. Dennis

But there is a human environment, and it ought to include wilderness and civilization.

There is no such thing as the environment. Instead, there are an infinite number of environments - one best for the liver fluke, one for goldenrod, one for the timber wolf. In ecology, these are called niches, but even this word is too much a static mental construct. The environments in whichindividual creatures actually live 111111 1IIIIIIIIIIlIIIICIIICCIIIIICIICICCIIICIIIICI CII IIICllIlCII are in a continuous state of flux; to be alive is to make a continuous adjust­ human beings. The important point it is an environment that has proven to ment to these ongoing changes. Stasis is has been made simply and eloquently be popular with the people at large. death. Thinking about environment as by the noted ecologist Paul Colinvaux: And it is a fragile environment, discov­ a thing is sloppy thinking, and hinders I suggest that the work of philoso­ ered slowly and serendipitously over us from thinking about the relevant en­ phers for centuries has given us an time. vironment for the discussion at hand. understanding of what a desirable The environment for liberty is an The only environments we humans human niche must be. It was written ecologically sound system as well. It know much about are our own environ­ down most clearly for us two hun­ makes room for the great variety of dred years ago in America by a group ments. Talk about trees having legal human tastes, desires, and beliefs. It of literate men who thought pro­ encourages diversity. It avoids the standing or non-human animals having foundly about it, even as they fought "putting everything in one basket" rights is nonsense. We do not know for the right of their people to have it. enough about the interests of trees and We may say that a satisfying human syndrome of governmental centralism. animals to know what their rights are, niche is bounded by a set of unaliena­ It takes advantage of the complex so­ and what we do know indicates how ble rights, among which are life, liber­ cial orders in which humans actually difficult coherent thought on the matter ty, and the pursuit of happiness. (Paul live. is. When we cut down an oak, we make Colinvaux, Why Big Fierce Animals are Consider how much of the familiar room for lawn grass. The self-interest of Rare, p. 232.) rhetoric of the ecologist sounds like a lion is not the same as that of a ga­ In other words, the most favorable en­ that of the classical liberal. The notion zelle. And office towers make good vironment for human beings is the en­ of the "tragedy of the commons" more homes for pigeons - and peregrine fal­ vironment of liberty: limited than resembles the public choice. anal­ cons - if not for chickadees and shrikes. government, secure property rights, ysis of government failure. Both ecolo­ It is difficult enough to deal with con­ entrepreneurial endeavor, and domes­ gists and libertarians know that small flicts among human beings; we don't tic tranquility. In the last few years, all changes may have big effects, and un­ even know how to talk to the animals. over the world, we have seen that if derstand the impossibility of changing In thinking about environmental issues, people are given a chance they will only one thing when so many compli­ we had better stick to the things we choose some variation of this environ­ cated and hidden linkages of events know something about. ment to live in. It is an environment are afoot. Both recognize that resourc­ that kings and priests and emperors es are limited - or, in economic lan­ The Environment of Liberty and dictators and generals and their guage, that things have prices. Both We actually know quite a lot about minions and dependents and intellec­ know that needs are not demands, that the best overall environment for tual apologists have long decried. But it is not possible to satisfy all needs at Liberty 49 Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

once, and that trade-offs must be made These same accusers often claim of organisms, but the mere reduction in at the margin. And both comprehend that those who hold views like mine species numbers owing to the expan­ the limited power of rationality (or are engaging in "speciesism": favoring sion of the human population is not "wisdom of nature") resulting from the one species (in this case, Homo sapiens) one of them. There is nothing apoca­ local and subjective aspects of at the expense of all others. But this is a lyptic about this development, or even knowledge. misleading charge. Given the land anything particularly unusual, other When we come to consider environ­ mass of the world and whatever combi­ than the probable accelerated rate of its mental policy questions, we should nation of available water, carbon diox­ occurrence as our numbers have in­ seek to enhance and expand the envi­ ide, and temperatures may exist, creased. Humans have not been a disas­ ronment of liberty and, in doing so, we evolutionary theory states that at any ter for this planet. should think ecologically as well. This one time the biomass of the planet, means that the scientistic, command- though in continual dynamic change, Amenities and Trade-ofts approaches the theoretical maximum. A free society is likely to be a rela­ Life forms will tend to exploit all avail­ tively rich society as well. Members of able niches until they are full. a rich, free, sophisticated modern re­ The human animal is ahigh­ This means ·that as human beings, public generally desire peaceful neigh­ together with their wild and domestic borhoods,bustling urban centers, ly adaptable species. It is in our sports stadiums and concert halls, con­ nature to be manufacturers, allies - hybrid wheat, dairy cows, red­ wing blackbirds, sheep, cats, cotton venient shopping areas, individually based transportation systems, and hand-users, creating by art weevils, Russian thistle, marigolds, places to live, expanding and camels, etc. - increase in number much more as part of their environ­ (from 5% of the world animal biomass ment. Outside the realm of rhetoric, improving our .niches in the there is little real disagreement over in 1860 to 20% today), this increase process of building. In Dar­ must be inversely proportional to the this; not many environmentalists are seriously reorganizing their lives to number of species that can share a lim­ winian terminology,we have give up these goods. But those who ited environment and supply of energy. developed a successful breeding live in such a society will probably By natural processes, humans and their wish to have a great variety of environ­ strategy. ancillary species will grow in number mental amenities as well: golf courses, and other species will have to give way lawns, public parks, and other forms of - a disappointment to some, but from local green space; wilderness areas; ag­ the standpoint of the Norway rat or the and-control, central management ricultural vistas; clean air and water; valencia orange, a development alto­ model of much contemporary public gether worthy of applause. The total bi­ policy is a highly suspect way of deal­ omass of dogs, for example, is already ing with environmental concerns. greater than all of their more self­ is The Real "Speciesists" sufficient relatives in the wild. Richer better, richer is The human animal is a highly When certain environmentalists safer, richer is more environ­ adaptable species. It is in our nature to favor certain species over those allied mentally pleasing. be manufacturers, hand-users, creating with humans, they are failing to be spe­ by art places to live, expanding and im­ cies-neutral. They are the "speciesists," proving our niches in the process of guilty of precisely the charge they building. In Darwinian terminology, make against the humanist view I projects for species preservation; and we have developed a successful breed­ advocate. other good things. ing strategy. Despite all our highways and park­ With these environmental ameni­ Some of the people who call them­ ing lots, humans and their artifacts ties, as with all goods, there are bound selves environmentalists accuse hu­ only cover a small percentage of the to be trade-offs on the margin, disa­ mans of being aggressors against Earth's surface. With the intricate con­ greements over the proper mix of nature. But since it is in our nature to struction of our cities, on net we may goods, conflicts over specific resource be artificers - to create artificial have actually enlarged the environ­ use, arguments over definition, and col­ worIds - the exercise of this character­ mental space available to the planet's lective effects even when there is no istic cannot be unnatural. This cannot biota. Some writers, a few of them seri­ common view or interest. be aggression; it is the way we are. And ous scientists, believe that the human This leads to an important realiza­ we are most successful at being build­ destiny is to spread the species of tion: there are few environmental pub­ ers when we are good stewards of planet Earth throughout the Solar lic goods. Most environmental those natural resources that we find or System and beyond. If so, our pres­ amenities affect people differentially, createo Economic efficiency and good ence here will be a boon for all the benefitting some and disadvantaging stewardship go hand-in-hand. Thus, world's creatures. others in different ways and to differ­ the institutions that support free ex­ Of course there are a number of ent degrees. The preferable mix of envi­ change· are likely to be ecologically very good human reasons for preserv­ ronmental features varies considerably sound as well. ing a wide and representative variety from person to person. Even where 50 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 Ma 1992

agreement is substantial, actual prefer­ and with each policy decision, some are vironmentally pleasing. And we know ence often leads to disagreement. harmed, others helped. Bureaucrats now the best framework for producing Wilderness is a good example. Most make decisions about public resources these riches: a liberal political order, American wilderness is found on pub­ that wilderness users have come to con­ with secure and transferable property lic land (or "political land," in Terry sider for all practical purposes to be rights, liInited government, and free­ Anderson's more apt phrase). It is pri­ their own. So hardly anyone is happy dom of action. With this formula in marily used by a fairly small group of and grievances accumulate about re­ mind, it is not difficult to imagine how relatively rich hikers and climbers and source use. Dealing with these ques­ ecological issues should be approached. a rather larger group of nominally tions in a political way only furthers the Create property rights in scarce resourc­ poor, but certainly able-bodied and expansion of governrrlent at the ex­ es. Turn wilderness areas over to non­ employable, students. It is primarily pense of liberty - ironically, in the political, non-politicized stewardship. paid for, not by these people, but by the name of promoting "the freedom of the Make polluters - not innocent taxpay­ already-overburdened taxpayer. In ad­ hills." ers - pay cleanup costs. Above all else, dition, other groups of potential users Over time, continued· conflicts of unleash human creativity and initiative, -lumberjacks, miners, cattle ranchers, this sort weaken the forbearance, good­ so that new environmental problems oil producers - have more direct grie­ will, and repUblican spirit upon which that emerge can in turn be solved. vances with the wilderness advocates a free government depends. Perhaps Once again, we are back to the envi­ than those of the general public. So the worse, the political provision of envi­ ronment for liberty. average taxpayer labors a few extra ronmental amenities allows people to The whole concept of "environment" minutes each year to pay for wilder­ avoid facing up to the ecological prin­ is a construct .of the human intellect. ness and foregone taxes on productive ciple behind the notion of trade-offs, Only human beings can study the world endeavor so that some people can have and teaches the false idea that good in which they live and conceive of dif­ a free wilderness experience. This things can be free of cost. In my mind, ferent and perhaps more desirable alter­ doesn't seem fair to me. the reliance on the public provision of native futures. Even natural resources, But the problem with the political environmental amenities, as in the case which certainly appear to be hard reali­ provision of wilderness does not stop of wilderness, wastes resources, leads ty, existed only as what geographer with the question of equity. Wilderness to contentious wrangling, satisfies few, Erich Zimmerman called "neutral stuff" advocates are deeply divided on how and weakens the institutions of liberty. - until the genius of the human intel­ to manage these lands over such ques­ lect saw possibilities for their use that tions as trails, bridges, access roads, Putting Things Into Perspective had never been perceived before. The hunting, group use, capacity limita­ A richer, freer, more scientifically mind is the first and in many ways only tions, wildlife management, rescues, advanced world should be able to cope resource - and liberty is surely the key campfires, off-trail travel, handicapped with environmental difficulties. As to its highest exploitation. access, trail huts, and more. None of Aaron Wildavsky might say: richer is In a free society, the mind need never these conflicts have "correct" answers better, richer is safer, richer is more en- be a resource in scarce supply. 0

Smith, "'The Economics of the Emergence of Humankind," continued from page 48

history of fear and terror of the cause we can now afford to do all these Citations Comanches who, before the arrival of things and have learned to treasure the Agenbroad, L.D. , J.J. Mead, and L.W. the mustang, were a threat to no one, value and power of individual responsi­ Nelson, eds. (1990). Megafauna and Man: picking berries, digging roots and hunt­ bility for natural resources. Discovery of America's Heartland, Flagstaff, ing miscellaneous game in the Eastern But growth has been episodic, not Ariz.: Northern Arizona University. Rockies. linear. We leaped from one plateau to Dalton, George (1977). IIAboriginal Economies in Stateless Societies: another less than a half-dozen times Interaction Spheres," in Exchange Systems Finis after we escaped - so improbably- the in Pre-History, J. Erickson and T. Earle, All we are today is a product of pre­ primate origins that themselves required eds. New York: Academic Press. history. If there is much that is new in three billion years of sporadic change to Freuchen, Peter (1973). Book of the Eskimos. historical time it is because we have had create. Through all these sweeping New York: Fawcett Premier Books (First many millennia to accumulate the changes, there·is discernible the blurred, published, 1961). human capital made possible once our Lee, R.B. (1968). "What Hunters Do for a unconscious outline of continuity in hu­ Living," inMan the Hunter, R.B. Lee and 1. hunter-gatherer ancestors learned to mankind's development of the capacity DeVore, eds. Chicago: Aldine Publishing learn. If we are a "kinder and gentler" to respond to effort prices, to create Co. species than were our ancestors who cheaper techniques and products to sub­ Martin, Paul (1984). "Prehistoric Overkill: slaughtered the great mammoth and stitute for dearer ones, and to accumu­ The Global Model," in Quaternary bison, if we can care enough to launch a Extinctions, P.S. Martin and R.C. Klein, late and preserve knowledge, our most eds. Tucson: University ofArizona Press. massive effort to save three great precious capital asset. 0 Pfeiffer, John E. (1982). The Creative whales trapped under the Arctic ice, if Explosion. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. we can debate reintroducing the timber A different version of this article first appeared Reader, John (1988). Man on Earth. New wolf into Yellowstone Park, it is be- in the January 1992 issue of Economic Inquiry. York: Harper and Row Publishers. Liberty 51 Challenge

Why I Won't Live in Disco Bay by R. K. Lamb

Private property, , and a culture of responsibility: these are the foundations for a free society ... according to libertarian theory. But could the "private property" part be wrong?

Years ago, I lived in a mobile-home park in Everett, Washington. It was a "pro­ prietary community," a down-home example of the theory advocated by many libertarians. A private developer had built it. He owned the land, and he set the rules. Even the streets were private. But the speed limit was·l0 m.p.h. - excru­ ciatingly slow, I thought. As a mere and ceramic leprechauns were okay, Libertarians are all in favor of pri­ resident, I had no vote in the matter. but notvine maples. Too disorderly. vate property, and a (near?) absolute He also banned children. If a couple It was a relief to get back to the right of the owner to set the rules. had a baby, they had to move out public streets. Nobody told me what Libertarians are also in favor of such within a year. to plant, or dig up. For a couple of things as , of assem­ When I decided to sell the mobile lazy years, I harvested the back lawn bly, demonstrations and picketing, etc. home, I found that there was one real­ with a Weed Eater 'once a year, when . But in a libertarian society, in what estate agent: the park manager. the grass dried out and got to be a fire place are these to be exercised? Where Legally he could not enforce his mon­ hazard. In the mobile-home park they do you see them now: on public opoly, though he would have if the would've sent a boy to do it and billed streets? or in proprietary shopping law allowed it. In practice, he insisted me at the end of the month. malls? on a 7% commission, and got it. In the city where I live now they Workplaces are also proprietary He also objected to plants. The en­ don't have mobile-home parks, but communities. Libertarians would be trance to our front door was a tunnel across the harbor is a proprietary com­ up in arms against any proposal for under a broadleaf lilac tree and a vine munity called Disco Bay, which is mandatory urine tests of, say, state maple. "These'll have to go," he said reachable only by motor launch. In university professors. But if a private­ with obvious distaste. He'd come Disco Bay, the only vehicles you're al­ ly owned lumber company ordered around with his backhoe and rip the lowed to have are golf carts. The devel­ drug tests at everyone of its sawmills, trees out himself, and bill me a hun­ opment company has a monopoly on what then? It's not a hypothetical case. dred bucks. I had nothing to say about the sale of these carts - and behaves Some companies now insist on testing it. He was being lenient: he could have just the same way theaters do when for nicotine, in an effort to cut down ordered me to dig up the trees any they set the prices on popcorn. The de­ on their health-eare costs. This is pri­ time. veloper also has a monopoly on the vate sector - if you don't like it, quit and work somewhere else. Completely The manager's mobile home had ferry service. Every time it raises the no trees - just a flat lawn and three fares the newspapers in town are full Iibertarian. You want all education to be pri­ trimmed camellias shoved up against of complaints. Residents have staged vate? Sothe private schools say: "Any the side of his tin house. Well, he was demonstrations - though at Disco Bay student who comes here has to have the manager, and he set the esthetic itself, I believe they have no legal right standards in his park. Plastic ducks to do so. It's all private property. continued on page 54 52 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 Fiction

The Optimal Number of Criminals by J. Orlin Grabbe

ohnny Latham was the sheriff of Mad Dog, Texas. "Never mind that," said Johnny. Johnny had a problem. The boys over at the mayor's of­ "What you've got is a capital resource management prob­ fice provided him with an allowance according to the lem," the minstrel-economist said. He began to scribble with Jnumber of bona fide criminals he arrested. With this al­ a pencil on the concrete steps. Johnny got m(k) dollars per lowance he paid his expenses and kept whatever was left as criminal. This amount increased with the number of crimi­ salary. The way the mayor saw it, if there weren't any crimi­ nals, k, but at a decreasing rate, because of the mayor's reac­ nals, there was no sense in wasting money on law tion to the growth of crime. From m(k) he had to subtract enforcement. costs per criminal, c(k). Costs increased as the number of Johnny was sitting on the courthouse steps sunning him­ criminals dropped, because it became increasingly hard to self. He rubbed the stubble on his chin, pushed back his hat, find and catch them. The number of criminals caught was a and reflected. If you just leave it be, the criminal element function; f(L), of the number of lawmen, L. Thus Johnny breeds like flies. Pretty soon there would be thieves, vaga­ would maximize the discounted present value of the future bonds, no-goods, and hell-raisers all over Mad Dog. Why profits per lawman: then he could just mosey down the street and pluck 'em off the corners for a fast buck, just like taking whiskey from a ~xp max J (-rt) ..1 [m (k) - c (k) ] f (L) dt. Baptist. L 0 L No. The mayor wouldn't like it. Johnny knew that a crime wave would induce the mayor to cut back on the bounty per Johnny looked at the equation in admiration. criminal. First, because the budget couldn't take it, and sec­ "Now, for the next part, think of a fishery," theminstrel­ ond because he would become increasingly reluctant to shell economist said. out good money to a no-good sheriff. "A fishery?" Then there was the matter of deputies. Hiring deputies "Sure. Just think of Mad Dog as a holding tank for poten­ was one way to keep the jails full. But more deputies meant tial criminals. lJ?ore ways to split the profits. Also, as crime dried up, crimi­ "Now in a fishery," the minstrel-economist continued, "if nals would be more costly to apprehend. the number of fish gets too large for the environment, the fish In the course of Johnny's a wandering min­ eat all the food and die out. On the other hand, if the number strel-economist, possessed of a guitar and a merry counte­ gets too small, well, your cost of catching them goes up. So nance, came up the street. we have to figure out just the right fishing rate to keep things "Hey there, feller, what brings you to Mad Dog?" Johnny as lucrative as possible." demanded. Ain't that the truth, Johnny thought to himself. He had al­ "1'm a wandering minstrel-economist," explained the ways figgered that organized crime and organized crime­ wandering minstrel-economist. fighting were two parts of the same dynamic feedback process, Whereupon Johnny explained his difficult problem. but he had never seen it spelled out quite so clearly before. "I'll solve your problem for you," the minstrel-economist Since crime breeds crime, the growth of criminals, g(k), said, "but first I'll sing you a little song." was a function of the number of criminals. They figured that Liberty 53 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

the environmental carrying-capacity for criminals in Mad criminals." Dog was N, since that was the population. As the number of "You got me there," Johnny said. criminals k approached N, the growth in crime would slow, The minstrel-economist then proceeded to integrate the since no-goods would squabble among themselves and equations to obtain the optimal number of lawmen and the thieves would find fewer things to rip off. So Johnny's state optimal number of criminals as a function of time, which, equation looked like this: Johnny explained, only flowed six days a week in Mad Dog, because everyone liked to take Sundays off. k =g (k) [ 1-.k]- f (L) "I'll be darned," Johnny said with a sense of satisfaction. N He was still looking at the figures when the wandering min­ The minstrel-economist scribbled some more, eventually strel-economist disappeared into the sunset. "This was no writing down optimal control and response equations. small feat, as it was only two o'clock in the afternoon. "Note," the minstrel-economist said, "that in equilibrium the Back in the office Johnny unlocked the cash box, took out discount rate r equals the marginal productivity of criminals, a roll of bills, and stuffed them in his pocket. He went out adjusted by a second term. The second term represents the and climbed into his Ranchero pickup. He headed down marginal change in profit from an additional criminal, ex­ Main Street towards the local cafe. pressed as a percentage of the current-value shadow price of He was ready to hire hisself some deputies. 0

Lamb, "Why I Won't Live in Disco Bay," continued from page 52

his urine tested once a week." As a has academic freedom. So what do you want more: A parent, I might like that a lot. Libertarians are quick to denounce world where you can do most!y as you The fellow from Stanford Univer­ public-sector officials, but if it's a for­ like? Or one in which today's public sity, caterwauling in the July 1991 profit corporation squeezing them, property is carved up into islands of Liberty that he'd been fired, doesn't they accept it. I know a guy who's private property, and the landlords seem to get this. He'd publicly pro­ dead-set against government ID cards have an unlimited right to set the claimed that illegal drugs (MDA) were in his wallet, but spends more than 40 rules? You'll get more rules, not fewer. swell, and he was recommending them The process won't be democratic. I to his students; he had taunted the fed­ didn't have any leverage against that eral drug czar personally; and in effect, What do you want? A world mobile-park manager. My friend in he had dared the university to fire him. Disco Bay is waiting months for his So it did. where you can do mostly as overpriced golf cart. What does this guy expect? By pro­ you like? Or one in which to­ And if you are willing to live with prietary-community rules, Stanford day's public property is carved that kind of control imposed by a busi­ can set any standard it wants. In a li­ nessman, what should be the political bertarian society it could insist on the up into islands of private prop­ limits, if any, on the rules he imposes? right to search any lecturer's backpack erty, and the landlords have an Conversely, shouldn't the city council - or his toilet bowl - as a condition unlimited right to set the be able to impose more rules on public for employment. In a private-property rules? You'll get more rules, property than it does now? Why is it ~orld, Stanford is just another private that in a mobile-home park I have no employer - and wouldn't your em­ not fewer. right to grow a vine maple, but in the ployer fire you if you went around tell­ publicly owned New York subway, ing clients to eat illegal drugs? Mine bums have a right to camp out in the would. In a private-property world, hours a week with a Boeing photo-ill corridors, harass the customers and any employee who insists on "academic pinned to his shirt. I know another piss against the walls? No private own­ freedom" against the management can who'd never tolerate the government er would allow that. damn well find another university to forbidding him to write, but has You figure it out. Meanwhile, I'm work for - or start his own. Only the agreed as a condition of employment not moving to Disco Bay - or New upiversity - the property owner - not to write articles like this one. York. 0

Errata The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult In the March 1992 · ? Be sure to leave a paper trail! MoV tng. Murray Rothbard's controversial monograph on issue we inaccurate­ the nature of the Rand Circle in its heyday. Must 1y referred to the Please notify us four weeks in advance of reading for anyone interested in Objectivism, late Mr Warren any move. Send address corrections to: cultism, or the history of the libertarian Brookes as 'Warren movement. Brooks." Liberty Circulation Department $4.00 per copy, ppd. We apologize for PO Box 1167 Liberty Publishing this error. Port Townsend, WA 98368 PO Box 1167, Port Townsend, WA 98368 The Impossible H.L. Mencken, Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, ed. An­ trade which is valuable and necessary chor Books, 1991, 707+1x pp., $15.00. to the common weal, has no assurance that it will sustain him while he stands ready to practice it, or keep him out of the poorhouse when illness or age makes him idle. At the moment, of course, there is no H. L. Mencken: time to discuss these things at length. The pressing business is to relieve ac­ tual suffering ... the immediate prob­ Libertarian or Conservative? lem is simply that of getting enough [money] away from those who have more than they need to succor those who have nothing. (211-2) in 1912 is consonant with libertarian R. W. Bradford There's also lots in The Impossible theory. Someone will have to explain H.L. Mencken that contradicts the claim away his sorrow in 1948 that the Feder­ Was H. L. Mencken a libertarian or that Mencken was a conservative. To al Communications Commission convince me of his conservativism, a conservative? doesn't prohibit ownership of tel­ someone will have to ex­ Many libertarians and conservatives evision stations by news­ claim him as a member of their respec­ plain how Mencken's papers, and this praise for defense of the the right tive tribe, and it is easy to see why. In a tax-supported radio, to freedom of speech literary career that spanned 50 years penned in 1931: and 5 million words (his estimate), it of communists, so­ The B.B.C. [British cialists, and pornog­ should not be surprising that Mencken Broadcasting Corpo­ raphers fits into the would have written passages that ration] is a Govern­ conservative pro­ would warm the hearts of both groups. ment agency, and is gram. Someone. Conservatives take pleasure in his sug­ supported by a will have to ex­ gestion that habitual criminals be exe­ small annual tax plain away his cuted, libertarians in his rousing on radio outfits. It support of equal defense of first amendment rights. Both sends nothing rights and equal can delight in his brilliant attacks on shabby, cheap or treatment of blacks the modern "liberal" state. Libertarians vulgar onto the air. There is no bad mu­ and women at a take heart from Mencken's occasional sic by bad performers; time when such no­ self-description as a "libertarian," con­ there is no pesti­ tions of equality were servatives from his self-description as a lence of orato­ sadly wanting in "reactionary or Tory." ry by American pub­ As I read The Impossible H. L. Menck­ ignoramuses; lic life. In en: A Selection of His Best Newspaper Sto­ there is no particular, ries, I added to my store of evidence sordid tout- someone that the correct answer to the question ing of tooth­ will have of whether Mencken was a libertarian pastes, automo­ bile oils, soaps, to explain ''or conservative is a simple "No." breakfast foods, away the Throughout his career, Mencken soft drinks and patent medi­ contempt in which he held took positions that were anathema to cines. In America, of course, the radio religion, and his advocacy of both conservatives and libertarians. Be­ program costs nothing. But it is worth such "radical" notions as evolution.* fore I will be convinced that Mencken precisely the same. (pp. 50-1) In philosophy, Mencken inclined to­ was a libertarian in the sense in which And this 1931 observation: the term is commonly used today, ward skepticism. Whenever he encoun­ tered a systematic philosophy or someone will have to explain to me For it is an absurdity to call a country how Mencken's campaign for a munici­ civilized in which a decent and indus­ ideology, he expended considerable en­ pally owned water system in Baltimore trious man, laboriously mastering a ergy criticizing it. Further, he was in- Liberty 55 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 dined to characterize the bases of his of his writing that is easily available American Language and A Mencken own thinking as simple prejudices that and much that is not. In the former cate­ Chrestomathy. Here is"A Neglected An­ he had held since childhood., Hence gory are his books and the collections of niversary," his totally fictitious "histo­ Stephen Cox's claim that Mencken "of­ his magazine writing that remain in ry" of the bathtub, anthologized in the fered not a coherent ideology but a gift print or are available at libraries; in the Chrestomathy and rechristened as the ti­ of individual style, insight, and cul­ latter category are his very substantial tle essay of The Bathtub Hoax. And "A ture."t Though Mencken himself contributions to The American Mercury Gang of Pecksniffs," the title essay of would probably agree with Cox's (1924-1933). another anthology of Mencken's writ­ view, I remain unconvinced. But until the publication of The Im­ ing, and "A Carnival of Buncombe," Mencken had a coherent ideology, possible H. L. Mencken, his very consider­ the title essay of yet another Mencken even though he was inclined to deny it able writing for the daily press was anthology. Here also are his portraits and it does not fit neatly into any con­ of Coolidge and of Aimee Semple temporary ideological box. Because he McPherson (both in Chrestomathy) and was an extremely critical thinker, he of Valentino (in Prejudices and Chres­ preferred not to think in terms of Although the range of gov­ tomathy). Plus several selections from broad first principles. But that does not ernment activities Mencken his writing on presidential races, previ­ mean that his thinking lacked a coher­ advocated was not much by to­ ously anthologized in The Carnival of ent basis. Buncombe. And on and on. All wonder­ His political thought was what we day's standards, it was far ful stuff, but why bother to anthologize would today call , wider than most libertarians such easily available material? modified by Darwinian and (curiously) would gladly tolerate. Nevertheless, I heaved Impossible Nietzschean influences. He advocated into my baggage when I left for Hawaii a coherent view of what government last month. While other haoles sat burn­ ought to do: it should defend people in ing on the beach enmired in the latest the use of their own property and pro­ mostly beyond my grasp. Aside from a Danielle Steele or Robert Ludlum, I vide for the common welfare regarding few pieces included in anthologies, I had would read Mencken. Surely I would what today would be called "public­ to be satisfied with brief quotations that find something that was new to me. goods" issues and in certain emergen­ have appeared in various critical essays And I did. There was lots and lots cy situations. Although the range of and biographies. The bulk of his news­ of new Mencken. Mencken on radio, on government activities he advocated paper writing was done for the Balti­ the history of the Sunday school, on the was not much by today's standards, it more Sunpapers, which have never been telephone, on the hot dog, on the auto­ was far wider than most libertarians available in libraries where I have lived. mobile. Mencken on life in New York would gladly tolerate. This political Furthermore, Marion Elizabeth Rod­ City, bald heads, San Francisco, the philosophy is not very pleasing to gers, who put together the volume, had comics, Cuba, traffic jams, Israel, the those libertarians or those conserva­ already demonstrated very considera­ American countryside, domestic life, tives who claim him as one of their ble talent in her edition of the letters be­ the 1904, 1940, and 1948 presidential own. But it is consistent with Virtually tween Mencken and his wife, Sara elections (missed in The Carnival of all of his policy recommendations and Haardt. And the book was big: more Buncombe). comments on political issues, including than 700 oversized pages. I salivated for The collection sparkles. It dazzles. It those that convince libertarians and it as a Catholic schoolboy lusts for his amuses. It provokes. It angers. Menck­ conservatives that he is one of them as first candy after Lent. en is so lucid, so full of life and joy that well as those that convince me that he When I first leafed though Impossi­ reviews of his books usually consist al­ is one of neither. ble, I was disappointed. A lot of it was most entirely of long quotations from easily available in other anthologies. the book under review. Try as I may, I The Joy of Mencken Here is "The Sahara of the Bozart," am unable to resist this temptation. The publication of an anthology Mencken's evaluation of the culture of Here we have Mencken the report­ subtitled A Selection of His Best Newspa­ the American South and certainly his er, describing a Ku Klux Klan rally: per Stories sounded like wonderful most widely anthologized essay. Here In the kleagles and other dignitaries, news to me. I have enjoyed reading is Mencken's memorable translation of of course, this new voluptuousness Mencken since I was a teenager, and the Declaration of Independence into went to great lengths. Some were clad over the years I have read virtually all American, which is also found in The in billowy gowns of sea-green satin, with turbans on their heads set with synthetic rubies. Others were * Mencken's politics are sometimes mischaracterized in even more bizarre ways. In 1934, Eliza­ swathed in yellow, red and blue. beth Dilling, in her classically paranoid The Red Network (p. 306), identified him as a radical They were, in the main, men of girth leftist. When questioned about her accusation, Mencken responded, "I was hoping this wouldn't get out, but now that Mrs Dilling's researches have exposed me, I might as well con­ and so there was plenty of room for fess. I have been receiving $100,000 a year from Moscow since 1920, and for the past several showing off their finery. One imperial years have been printing inflammatory propaganda in the papers ... Woof! Woof!" (Disturber profligate rode upon a coal black of the Peace, by William Manchester, 1961, p. 310) charger, and had a slave to lead his t "Albert Jay Nock: Prophet of Libertarianism?" Liberty, March 1992. mount by the bridle. His uniform was 56 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

a mass of glittering gems, the love­ hierarchy of peculiarly private and Sun, as a columnist, feature writer, edi­ offering, no doubt, of his lieges sweat­ potent gods. (126-7) tor." In actual fact, for twelve of these 42 ing on foot behind him. He acknowl­ In all, The Impossible H.L. Mencken in­ years (between March 1915 and Febru­ edged the huzzahs of the rabble with cludes 685 pages of Mencken's newspa­ ary 1920, and again from February 1941 graceful sweeps of the left hand. A re­ per writing, plus a foreward by Gore until sometime in 1948), Mencken wrote gal fellow, and much happier in patri­ Vidal, an introduction by Marion Eliza­ otic work, you may he sure, than he virtually nothing for the Sun, because of ever 'Was in the lime and ceInent beth Rodgers, and an index. Rodgers of­ his disagreement with the Sun over mat­ business. (60) fers a brief biography that serves as a ters of World Wars I and IT and Franklin Mencken reports from Dayton, Ten­ useful introduction to Mencken's writ­ Roosevelt. But who, faced with the op­ nessee, on the famous trial of John ing. About Vidal's Preface, one can only portunity to read Mencken, would want Scopes, who was accused of teaching surmise that the publisher figured it to take the time to read Vidal? evolution in violation of state law: might sell books, though why Vidal The rest of the book recovers some would be thought helpful to sales of of Mencken's best - and hitherto least To call a man a doubter in these parts is equal to accusing him of can­ Mencken only God knows. On the very accessible - writing. It's an excellent nibalism. Even the infidel Scopes him~ first page, Vidal makes an egregious er­ hors d'oeuvre for the uninitiated and a self is not charged with any such ror of fact: "From 1906 to 1948, [Menck­ satisfying entree for the longtime infamy. What they say of him, at en] was connected with the Baltimore enthusiast. 0 worst, is that he permitted himself to be used as a cat's paw by scoundrels r------~, eager to destroy the anti-evolution law for their own dark and hellish ends. There is, it appears, a conspira­ Early Liberty cy of scientists afoot. Their purpose is Indulge your mind with the pleasure and stimulation ofearly Liberty. Or to break down religion, propagate im­ complete your collection of the most exciting libertarian magazine. The first is­ morality, and so reduce mankind to sue is a reprint; all others are original printings. Enjoy! the level of the brutes. They are the sworn and sinister agents of Beelze­ August 1987, 4Bpp., $4.00 Rothbard • "Free Speech and the Future bub, who yearns to conquer the • "The Films of Ayn Rand," by Stephen of Medicine," by Sandy Shaw & Durk world, and has his eye especially Cox • "Life or Death in Seattle," by Pearson • "The Majority vs the Majori- upon Tennessee.... (573) Murray N. Rothbard • "The Mystery tarian: Robert Bork on Trial," by Sheldon Man of the Libertarian Movement," by Richman. Plus reviews and articles by The 50 pages of Mencken's reports Ben Best • Plus reviews and articles by R.W. Bradford, William Cate, Stephen Cox on the Scopes trial is worth the $15 cov­ Ross ,Overbeek, Butler Shaffer, Ida Wal- and others. er price of the book by itself. ters and others. May 1988, 64pp., $4.00 We also see a bit of Mencken the October 1987, 4Bpp., $6.00 prophet. It took a half century for • "Ayn Rand: Still Controversial After All • "The Sociology of Libertarians," by J. C. Mencken's prediction about federal in­ These Years," articles by David Ramsay Green & J. L. Guth • "The Apostasy of Steele & David Brown • "The ACLU: surance of bank deposits to come true: Robert Nozick," by Ethan O. Waters • Suspicious Principles, Salutary Effects," by The Federal insurance scheme has "The Rise of the State," by Murray N. William P. Moulton • "The Two Liber­ worked up to now simply and solely Rothbard • Plus reviews and articles by tarianisms," by Ethan O. Waters • Plus because there have been very few Stephen Cox, William P. Moulton, Mike reviews and articles by Gary Alexander, bank failures. The next time we have Holmes, Jonathan Saville and others. Nathaniel Branden, Erika and Henry Mark a pestilence of them it will come to December 1987, 56pp., $3.00 Holzer, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, Sheldon grief quickly enough, and if the good • "Libertarians in a State-Run World," by Richman, Franklin Sanders and others. banks escape ruin along with the bad Murray N. Rothbard • "The Most Un­ July 1988, BOpp., $4.00 ones it will be only because the tax­ forgettable Libertarian I Ever Knew," by • "Confessions ofan Intractable Individu­ payer foots the bill. (208) Karl Hess • "Easy Living in the Baha­ alist," byJerome Tuccille • "Rebel With­ We even see Mencken in a reflective mas," by MarkSkousen • Plus writing out a Clue: Le~sons from the Mecham by Walter Block, Erika Holzer, Mark mode: Experience," by Matt Kesler • "Rand­ Skousen and others. A home is not a mere transient shel­ Bashing: Enough is Enough," by Ross ter: its essence lies in its permanence, March 1988, 64pp., $4.00 Overbeek • Plus reviews and articles by in its capacity for accretion and solidi­ • "Libertarians & Conservatives: Allies or Stephen Cox, Tibor Machan, Bill Kelsey fication, in its quality of representing, Enemies?" by John Dentinger & Murray and othe!rs. See back cover for further back issues. in all its details, the personalities of Circle each issue you want, and add $1.00 shipping & handling per order the people who live in it. In the course o My check is enclosed (foreign orders add 50¢ per issue). Fill in the appropriate information below. of years it becomes a sort of museum Charge my: Name of those people; they give it its inde­ o VISA 0 Mastercard finable air, separating it from all other Address homes, as one human face is separat­ ed from all others. It is at once a ref­ Signature City uge from the world, a treasure-house, Account # State ______Zip _ a castle, and the shrine of a whole L ~ Expiration Phone # Send to: Uberty, PO Box 1167, Port Townsend, WA 98368 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, by Richard Rorty. Cambridge The strong poet is not satisfied to wear University Press, 1989,208 pp., $37.50 hc, $11.95 sc. prefabricated self-descriptions. He wants to fashion his own unique ward­ robe, sewn from materials he finds in the cultures he moves in. To wear these self-crafted outfits, however, he must make clothes that fit properly. He can hardly fancy himself an innovative ar­ Irony, Cruelty, and Liberty chitect if he has never designed a struc­ ture. So to wear a new outfit, to describe himself as something new, the strong poet must do something new; otherwise, others will call him a loon. each cohering by virtue of its own par­ Daniele. Klein Nietzsche was able to think of himself ticular vocabulary. When theorizing as "the last philosopher" because, to his about yourself, you snip shreds from mind, he had debunked the Plato-Kant Most libertarians show essentialist these vocabularies and reweave them, or foundationalist turns of mind ­ creating something familiar yet new. "~here is an absolute truth and an abso­ The way you describe yourself may lule right out there, and I'm putting my be at great variance with how others de­ chips on libertarianism." Some theo­ scribe you. Thorstein Veblen, for exam­ The pragmatist advises giv­ rists, notably Rand and Rothbard, ple, probably "thought of himself as a would have us believe that "natural ing up the idea of a "real" or revolutionary social theorist advancing rights" or "self-ownership" or "con­ "permanent" or "essential" the cause of humanity and equality. sent" are essential, eternal moral H.L Mencken described Veblen as a you. The way you have come Truths that they have discovered. "doctor obscurus," a peddler of plati­ There are profound problems with this to describe yourself is the prod- tude, nonsense, and unconscionably approach, however, and those enmired .uct of blind contingencies. bad English. Neither description, nor in it might consider thinking without any other, has a privileged, metacultu­ absolutes, essences, and foundations. ral status. Libertarians seeking to unload the Selfhood is not only contingent, but philosophical dead weight might do changing. Over the course of your life canon and laid that enterprise to rest. well to consider pragmatism. The chief you buy into, or create, different vocab­ People who don't think Nietzsche ac­ articulator of pragmatism in America ularies to describe yourself. Some peo­ complished this call Nietzsche a loon. today is Richard Rorty, whose most re­ In fashioning this unique wardrobe ple change self-descriptions like others cent volume, Contingency, Irony and Sol­ the strong poet must weave old material change automobiles. I used to describe idarity, expresses the pragmatist view into new cloth - otherwise, he has no myself as a "natural-rights libertarian"; of selfhood and political belief and re­ claim to newness. This entails a rede­ now I describe myself as a "pragmatist lates these matters to the broader goal scription of that which the strong poet libertarian." I used to describe myself as of avoiding cruelty. stands in relation to; thus, for example, an "Austrian economist"; now, I don't. Nietzsche had to redescribe his prede­ The Pragmatist View of The individual aware of the contin­ cessors in order to dress himself as the Selfhood gency of his own selfhood Rorty calls last philosopher. This process of rede­ The pragmatist advises giving up an "ironist" - an apt and charming scription is the process of producing the idea of a "real" or "permanent" or term. The ironist sees no description of theory. "essential" you. The way you have himself as having a privileged, metacul­ When a strong poet is also an ironist come to describe yourself is the prod­ tural status. The ironist is never very he faces a certain tension. As an ironist, uct of blind contingencies ~ what fam­ grave about himself, just as the pragma­ the strong poet must fashion his ward­ ily, neighborhood, tribe, or nation you tist is never very grave about his mes­ robe knowing all the while that there is were born into, what friends you hap­ sage. The ironist doesn't claim to have a nothing final about his description of pened to make, what books you hap­ glimpse of his Real Self in his diary, just things. He knows that his description pened to read, what schools you as the pragmatist doesn't claim to have will be superseded, that it will be the happened to attend, what jobs you a droplet of Truth in his workingpaper. common cloth of future describers. happened to get. These contingencies The iroriist has a self-description that is " Rorty refers to the product of ironist affect the doings of the physical you­ self-consciously contingent, is largely strong poets as "ironist theory." and, more importantly,' the way you narrative-based, and will probably be Much of Rorty's book is devoted to have come to describe those doings. superseded by a new self-description. exploring how ironist theorists have They also bring you in touch with dif­ The person intent on developing a dealt with this knowledge that they will ferent cultures, from whole nationali­ self-description that has never fit any­ ultimately be superseded. Rorty exam- ties down to two-person relationships, one else Rorty calls "the strong poet." continued on page 61 58 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

Richard Rorty, still fellow-travelin' after all these years. Now that Communism is buried, the same "progressive" voices are pro­ claiming that it is not "real socialism" but only a Soviet version that has died, that free-marketeers have not been vin­ dicated by their Cold War victory, that the radical ideals of the socialist Left are Utopian Passions not implicated by the crimes conducted in their name. Although Marxism itself is inevitably in retreat, a rainbow of parallel ideologies has emerged to take its place. The new paradigms are built on gender and race instead of class, but ues in America's universities and in David Horowitz at their core is the same old utopian other institutions of its intellectual project: to create a world of perfect culture? The monuments have fallen now; equality and human unity. At a mo­ At least a part of the answer lies in the faces are changed. In the grave­ ment when the wounds of whole conti­ the oft-noted affinity of Marxist ideas yards the martyrs have been rehabili­ nents lie open and bleeding in the East, for much of what is held to be modern tated, and everywhere the names are in the West the utopian passion is being and intellectually valuable in the cultu­ restored. In a revolutionary eyeblink, a born again. ral heritage of the West. It is for this rea­ bloody lifetime has passed into history. The extent of its progress is manifest son that, through its entire bloody in recent writings of the philosopher During the climactic hours of the history, Communism has been able to Richard Rorty, one of America's fore­ Communist fall, someone - Boris Yelt­ draw on the support (and count on the most academics, and the chief living ex- sin perhaps - observed that it was a forbearance) of many who ponent of pragmatism, the pity that Marxists had not triumphed were not themselves quintessential Ameri­ in some smaller country, because "we members of the would not have had to kill so many can philosophy. A radical faith. Here philosophic skep­ people to demonstrate that utopia does is a cold war bal­ tic and politi­ not work." ance sheet of cal liberal, What more is there to say? their service re­ Rorty's re­ Nothing, if we could be sure that cently drawn: this was truly the end of it. If we could sponse to It will always really close the book on the long, sorry current radi­ be a mark of cal enthusiasms episode of human folly and evil that moral and intel­ the socialist experiment has turned out lectual dishonor for exemplifies the to be. If we could look on this futile tale the West, that in this his­ way the totalitarian of human suffering and deprivation as toric and protracted en­ . ~ temptation stilllives a tragic detour in the march of counter with the ' rtl in the heart of the in­ progress, now safely left behind. But to adversaries of freedom .' I -' if', ' tellectual culture of and democracy so many of ~ do so would be to court yet another il­ the West. lusion: That the chronicle of misfortune our most gifted writers, Rorty's "post­ that makes up the socialist chapter in artists, scientists, and in­ modern" posture tellectuals were more en­ characteristically the human epic was indeed an aberra­ ergetically engaged differs from liber­ tion - the result of mistaken ideas in opposing our now painfully corrected, rather than own political in­ alisms past in passions rooted in the human heart. stitutions and Wielding a nihilis­ In some sense, of course, the entire the ideas essential tic axe to the root episode of this failed utopia can rea­ to their survival of the very insti­ sonably be viewed as a colossal mis­ than in questioning tutions and tradi­ take. Few doctrines have been proven either the lethal po­ tions that so wrong as the socialist doctrine of litical doctrines make Iiberal Karl Marx. None, by the very force of that were designed society possi­ to destroy them its error, has been the cause of so much ble. As a re­ or the elaborate sult, his liberal human misery and heartbreak. Yet this edifice of cultural mereIy identifies the paradox: How mendacity that was spawned by faith - whose sincerity is not in could such error inherit such power? the Communist movement for the ex­ What can account - even now, after press purpose of bringing down the doubt - comes to seem merely senti- the fall - for the continuing presence democratic societies of the West. mental and thus provokes suspicions of of Marxist paradigms and socialist val- (Kramer 1991) hypocrisy from friends and enemies Liberty 59 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

alike. One of Rorty's students, New tions have made possible. In this way, moral "solution." Left professor Cornel West, head of the Rorty can still think of himself as an It is a task already well under way. African-American Studies Department apostle of American liberalism while In a essay that ap­ at Princeton, puts the question to embracing a project that is its radical peared one month after the dissolution Rorty directly. How can Rorty "kick negation. of Communism in the Soviet Union, the philosophical props from under In the end, Rorty's posture is that of the head of the sociology department bourgeois capitalist societies and re­ the classic fellow traveller - to will the of one of America's leading universi­ quire no changes in our cultural prac­ ends of revolution but not the means. ties proposed this revised version of tices?" West asks in The American Starting from the premises of universal the socialist myth: Evasion of Philosophy. In the same book, skepticism and nihilistic doubt, he con­ The grand social narrative of Ameri­ he condemns Rorty for his ''barren'' cludes with hope for the victory of be­ can life is what we might call the Dra­ philosophizing and his "fervent will­ lievers of the radical faith: ma of Democracy: a messianic, at times apocalyptic, struggle to secure a ingness to preserve the prevailing Pragmatism in the professorial sense world where all people will be free, is just a repudiation of the quest for bourgeois way of life in North Atlantic equal, independent and without societies. .. ." certainty and foundations, which Vest want. (Alexander and Sherwood In his reply to West, Rorty demon­ has described as "the evasion of phi­ 1991). strates the continuing attraction of the losophy." This evasion is socially use­ In this way the same utopian fantasy ful only if teamed up with prophecies prophetic fantasies of the political left - fairly concrete prophecies of utopi­ that has filled the world with so much an social future. (Rorty 1991) treachery and unhappiness in our time This social utopia, Rorty had ex­ is being revived as a patriotic vision. Rorty's response to current plained a year before the communist The conflict that now divides Amer­ ica's political culture is a familiar one. radical enthusiasms exempli­ collapse, should be built on radical egal­ itarian foundations: "Suppose that According to the radical myth, new fies the way the totalitarian somewhere, someday, the newly­ style: ''The dramatic tension (in Ameri­ temptation still lives in the elected government of a large industri­ ca's social narrative) arises from the struggle to make this 'American heart of the intellectual culture alized society decreed that everybody would get the same income, regardless of the West. of occupation or disability. ... That country would become an irresistible For the Left, it is not social­ example.... Sooner or later the world ism, but only the language of for American liberals. Far from recog­ would be changed" (Rorty 1988). socialism, that is finally dead. nizing an ideologue like West as a polit­ Indeed - as all the suffering of this In the universe of post-modern ical enemy, Rorty instead apologizes for revolutionary century attests - it his own ineffectuality in promoting a would. relativists, there is no truth, no radical agenda: "Unless we pragmatic Rorty's· wish to be "socially useful" lesson that can be derived from philosophy professors find some proph­ is really a form of the religious desire this terrible experience, only ets who can serve as auxiliaries, we are that the modern temper denies, and not of much interest." Seeking to excuse that radical messianisms, like the Marx­ competing 1/stories" of the past any vigilance he might be seen to be ex­ ist faith, come forward to satisfy. This is and future. erting in defense of bourgeois society, the common aspiration that creates the Rorty explains that his concern is popular front between the revolution "largely a matter of urging that we and its apologetic liberal allies. For the Dream' available to everyone." But hang on to constitutional democracy­ abiding root of the revolutionary im­ contrast this with the conservatism of the only institutional aspect of the 'pre­ pulse lies not in the frailty of the human The Federalist #10, which found solace vailing bourgeois way of life' about intellect, but in the weakness of the hu­ in the geographical vastness of the new which I get fervent - while patriotical­ man heart. republic because of the obstacles so ly striving to keep social protest alive" For the Left, it is not socialism, but many factions would pose to a party (Rorty 1991). only the language of socialism that is fi­ bent on socialist redistribution: nally dead. In the universe of post­ For Rorty, America's constitutional A rage for paper money, for an aboli­ order is only an "aspect" of its exis­ modern relativists, there is no truth, no tion of debts, for an equal division of tence, without organic relation to other lesson that can be derived from this ter­ property, or for any other improper institutions like free markets, private rible experience, only competing "sto­ or wicked project, will be less apt to property, and the unpragmatically self­ ries" of the past and future. To be pervade the whole body of the Union evident truths of a Judeo-Christian tra­ reborn, the Left has only to rename it­ than a particular member of it, in the dition. The radical assault on America's self in terms that do not carry the mem­ same proportion as such a malady is foundations is, in this view, a benign ory of insurmountable defeat, to more' likely to taint a particular surgery, without radical consequences appropriate a "narrative" in which the county or district than an entire State. for the political liberty those founda- Leftist utopia can still propose itself as a In the post-Communist era, the dra- 60 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 matic tension of the American narra­ References: Nineteen Eighty-Four. O'Brien saw him­ tive differs in name from what it has Jeffrey C. Alexander and Stephen Jay Sher­ self as the master humiliator, the one been until now. But does 'it differ in wood, 1/American Dream at a Turning who tortured others by redescribing Point," Los Angeles Times, September 15, them and coercing them into believing substance? Can we not hear in these 1991. voices the same discordant agendas Hilton Kramer, "The Counter-Revolution his redescriptions. When O'Brien made that have led to the tragedies of the Abroad, The Cultural Revolution at Home," Winston say, "Do it to Julia," he obliter­ The New Criterion, September 1991. ated a sacred piece of Winston's self­ past: the tension between democracy Richard Rorty, ''The Professor and the Proph­ hood. Rorty sees Orwell as an ironist which is understood as limited govern­ et," Transitions #52, 1991. writer trying to socialize us against ment - the flowering of a diverse and Richard Rorty, "Unger, Castoriadis, and the Romance of a National Future" (1988), cited cruelty. inchoate humanity - and democracy in Richard Posner, Problems of Jurisprudence, Rorty portrays Nabokov as also as a total state? 0 1991, pp. 384-5. writing against cruelty, but a subtler form of cruelty. In Lolita and Pale Fire, Rorty tells us, Nabokov shows us char­ Daniel Klein, "Irony, Cruelty, and Liberty," continued from page 58 acters who are not O'Brien-style sadists but who are unconcerned with the ines this tension in Proust, Nietzsche, of that culture. Every culture has a final painful effects their behavior may have Heidegger, Derrida, and, to a lesser ex­ (not permanent) vocabulary. on others. Nabokov, like Rorty, urges tent, Hegel, Freud, Habermas, and Fou­ A pragmatist sees his political com­ us to be curious about the feelings of cault. Rorty celebrates these theorists, rades not as superior beings from the others. As Rorty points out, the ironist and ironist theorists in general. It is a, planet Krypton holding up the torch of can leave a lot of distress in her wake kind and noble act on Rorty's part. Truth and Justice, but as human beings since she is redescribing things ­ These poor guys want to live on, and engaging in discourse amongst them­ things which will usually include peo­ we're the only hope they've got. selves and seeking to expand their ple's lives. Nietzsche said that great­ number and might. The attitude is simi­ ness flows not from the willingness to The Pragmatist View of lar to that of an athlete: winning is endure pain but the willingness to in­ Political Belief good, but most of the fun lies in play­ flict it. Rorty asks that the ironist be cu­ Pragmatism applied to political phi­ ing the game. Truth and Justice are no rious about and indulgent in the self­ losophy suggests that you abandon, if more needed for what goes on in the in­ descriptions of others, taking great you haven't already, the search for tellectual-political arena than they are pains not to humiliate them. He em­ foundations for your politics. A politi­ for what goes on in Dodger Stadium. phasizes that even if we do not share a cal philosophy, the pragmatists say, vocabulary with a fellow human being, has meaning only to a community that Cruelty that person still feels pain and suffers recognizes its vocabulary. The ideolo­ But Rorty is chiefly concerned, not humiliation. gies we recognize - New York Review with the pragmatist views of selfhood Despite this possible conflict be­ of Books liberalism, Heritage Founda­ and political belief, but with "the worst tween ironist theorizing and cruelty tion conservatism, Cato Institute liber­ thing we do," cruelty. Unfortunately, avoidance, Rorty sees no necessary con­ tarianism, and so on - have meaning he never provides a concrete picture of flict between the two. Any sort of the­ to us by virtue of the cultures we be­ cruelty, but he does make a helpful dis­ orizing threatens to redescribe and, long to. But just as selfhood is contin­ tinction. "The books which help us be­ therefore, to humiliate. A curiosity gent, so are these cultures. Forget the come less cruel," he writes, IIcan be about and sensitivity towards others idea of there being a Political Truth, of roughly divided into (1) books which can be (and, Rorty feels, should be) which each political philosophy is a re­ help us see the effects of social practices part of our notion of self, part of our flection or distortion. The interest in, and institutions on others, and (2) those enterprise of self-perfection. language of, institutions of, and feel­ which help us see the effects of our pri­ Rorty offers no integrated picture of ings expressed by each political philos­ vate idiosyncrasies on others" (p. 141). ophy originate and operate in culture, Rorty deals only with the second realm "The point is not that plundering the rich is immoral, not God or His latter-day surrogates. of cruelty. but that it doesn't pay, doesn't Every political community has its Both ironism and avoidance of reduce but increases inequality... " words beyond which justifications are cruelty are precious to Rorty, so not not given. I say, for example, that video surprisingly he is concerned about the stores should be permitted to carry relationship between them. Do they UP from LlBERTARIANI!M pornographic films because to do oth­ conflict? Or are they complementary? by D. G. Lesvic erwise would circumscribe individual The ironist, Rorty explains, has his ...offers a new economic argument for freedom, and answers its foremost choice. If you ask, "Why should we val­ own redescription project to perfect critics, Rothbard, White, Hazlett, and ue individual choice?," I ignore your (and keep on perfecting). Sensitivity to Friedman, with their own words! question. The set of words beyond cruelty need not figure in at all. In fact The Political Economy Club of Los Angeles which the culture cannot give justifica­ cruelty maybe the ironist theorist's 5668 Cahuenga Blvd., #313 tion Rorty calls "the final vocabulary" goal, as it was for O'Brien in Orwell's North Hollywood, CA 91601 $4.00 ppd. Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

maintaining a pragmatistjironist atti­ tive. My dissatisfaction is with his char­ to others. In the words of William tude of self and community while acterization of his task; that is, in admon­ James, "A pragmatist ... turns away avoiding cruelty. He invents no over­ ishing us to behave without cruelty he is from abstraction and insufficiency, arching theory capable of guarantee­ urging us to be liberal. This is an auda­ from verbal solutions, from bad a priori ing both of these. He does point out, cious use oflanguage. The term "liberal" reasons, from fixed principles, closed however, that even if the two cannot has diverse meanings, but is most im­ systems, and pretended absolutes and be linked in theory, they can be linked portantly saturated with a particular po­ origins. He turns towards concreteness in a person. litical meaning. To promote its usage for and adequacy, towards facts, toward Again, Rorty's discussion of cruelty the ideas of tolerance and human decen­ action and toward power." is limited to "seeing the effect of our cy is an abuse of language. Why not just In the same spirit, libertarians use the words tolerance and human de­ should resist any temptation of seeing cency? With Rorty's terminology, gen­ libertarianism as the valid political sys­ tlemen who write for National Review tem of individual rights, of morality, or To promote the word "liber­ become liberal conservatives. of justice. To outsiders such platitudes al" for the ideas of tolerance The result is a problem of sheer onlyobscure; to insiders such platitudes breadth. Suddenly a twelve-year-old only self-congratulate. Libertarianism is and human decency is an boy who refrains from humiliating his the hope for freer markets, wider per­ abuse of language. Why not peers becomes liberal, a woman who in­ sonal choice, less government intrusion, just use the words tolerance dulges her husband's notion of self be­ and less American military presence comes liberal, and a colleague who abroad. Libertarian intellectuals should and human decency? snickers at our ideas becomes illiberal. be prepared to break down these phras­ Furthermore, if cruelty goes beyond hu­ es into concrete issues and to argue the miliation, if it means any kind of pain, a virtues of libertarian positions on some man might become illiberal for forget­ of them. Anythinglessis just cant. private idiosyncrasies on others." ting his daughter's birthday, a driver The players in the intellectual and Rorty's ideas here are penetrating and might become illiberal by making an political arenas must be able to talk is- useful. But even in this narrower realm, rash maneuver on the road, a neighbor I'd like to see his idea of cruelty, which might become a liberal by maintaining clearly extends beyond the dictionary a well-kept lawn. definition, made more concrete. In par­ Cruelty is an unworkable ticular, I'd like to see a less vague dis­ It might be reasonable to use the cussion of "cruelty avoidance." What term "liberal" to describe opposition to and desperately platitudinous do we do when our actions reduce pain the cruelty of "social practices and insti­ guide for evaluating the desira­ for some and increase pain for others? tutions" - the cruelty realm that Rorty bility of social practices and in­ Do we weigh types of cruelty? If so, is expressly not concerned with - since how? Is Rorty prepared to consider this, at least, is a political matter. But stitutions. What does cruelty pain that has nothing to do with humil­ then other problems emerge. Cruelty is tell us about the wisdom of the iation? If so, cruelty becomes quite an unworkable and desperately platitu­ dinous guide for evaluating the desira­ public school -system, of the broad. What about very indirect, uni­ 55 dentified pain, as when someone lets bility of social practices and welfare state, of the mph his dog crap in the middle of the side­ institutions. As we move from personal speed limit? walk, or when a defense contractor conduct to social institutions the varie­ milks the taxpayer with cost overruns? ties and degrees of pain alluded to earli­ Since all of these sorts of pain are er are raised to the fourth power. What mixed together in practice, it would does cruelty tell us about the wisdom of sues and institutions - and this means 'seem that we need to get quite beyond the public school system, of the welfare knowing some of the stuff of the social cruelty. Otherwise we make a shame­ state, of the 55 mph speed limit? sciences. The pundits who spin and less platitude of it. sanctify foundational theories of natu­ Beyond Rorty, Towards Liberty ral rights are not only bores, but are a The "L" Word Rorty's use of the term "liberal" is curse to the impressionable ones who My only serious dissatisfaction with an attempt to breathe political interest pick up their way of thought. Libertari­ Rorty's book is the label he uses for the into a superb work of philosophy and ans should meet and join the intellectu­ belief that cruelty is bad: "libera1." literary criticism. Wanting perhaps wid­ al institutions of our setting, carrying Rorty's cruelty discussion is entirely er attention, he succeeds only in mak­ hunches and predispositions, not philo­ about cruelty in the realm of personal ing a platitude of "cruelty." But if sophical systems. They should learn to behavior. He is urging us to believe that pragmatism has taught us anything, it resist whatever lingering tendency they it is bad to be cruel, that we should be is that we should steer away from plati­ may have to use philosophy as an ex­ kind, humane, generous, curious, sensi­ tudes. In expressing our political credo cuse for failing to meet the real de­ tive, decent. I am not suggesting that he we should strive for concreteness. This mands of politics. descends into bathos- he is quite effec- entails using a vocabulary meaningful Rorty challenges us to do just this. 0 62 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

The Dance ofLife: Courtship in the Animal Kingdom, by Mark Je­ also deals with the mystery and won­ der of intercourse itself. For examp~e, rome Walters. Morrow, 1989, 208 pp., $17.95. some graphic portrayals of praying mantises mating bear the following caption: "During copulation, which takes up to half an hour, the female may tear off the male's head and eat it. Relieved of his brain and its inhibitory Invitation to the Dance centers, the male will begin to mate with abandon, rocking his body with a fervor impossible while the brain is in­ tact." This says more about the nature species Homo sapiens - and the only of the good old orgasm than anybody Kyle Rothweiler thing awe-inspiring about the episode will care to admit. was its mammoth vulgarity. Nerds and philosophers should find the chapter on "unconventional' Maybe there's something wrong The strange thing about it, though, with me, but 1 can't get too excited courting" encouraging because it deals was its parallel with human courtship. about the wonder and mystery of the with the weirdos and creeps of certain It was an old tale and an instructive wooing and mating of birds, beasts, species and catalogs their success out­ one to those capable of learning. and bugs. They just look stupid to me, side of the mainstream of the tacky with inflated parts of themselves stick­ Whether as a cause or an effect of my mating display - for example, how ing out while they spasmodically jaundiced view of zoological courtship Mike, one of Jane .Goodall's chimps dance - a dance of life, to be sure, but rituals, I turn the same eye towards the and a weakling, used technology to im­ haven't those eagle-eyed nature-lovers similar rituals of humans - the lipstick prove his "charging display." He yet noticed the essential silliness of and codpieces and bustles and spats didn't use credit cards, as might be ex­ life? Life is not evil, wicked, or vile; just and purple hair. Every generation guf­ pected, but three empty cans, "jingling cheesy, ill-made. faws at the ridiculous methods the pre­ them in front of him as he charged." Once on gover'ment teevee 1 saw a ceding (and succeeding) generations Walters even goes so far as to quote nature show (I Edward O. Wilson, think it was the who says that same program "outcasts are the that had the bat­ cutting edge of eating frog, one of evolution./I nature's gruesome That's a noble litHe wonders that thought, but why will haunt me for is it that those at the rest of my the cutting edge of days) in which human evolution some tropical bird - Beethoven, Tho­ put on an exhibi­ reau, Nietzsche, tion worthy of the Mencken, Rand ­ Fourth of July, left no genetic trac­ complete with es? Evolution was whirlings, whir­ fine while it lasted, rings, feather fire­ but it seems to works, orgiastic have long since minuets - the been superseded works. It was not among humans by onlyjaw-droppingly a form of willed gaudy, it was de-evolution, a deafening. Mean- willed stupidity, while, the female (the exhibitionist was use to attract the opposite sex, and each and a good portion of that decadence is a male, of course - throughout the ani­ genera~on does not hesitate to imple­ based on our inability or unwillingness mal kingdom males are the undisputed ment its own, equally risible ones. That to transcend the silly and superficial masters of making asses of themselves) the use of superficial criteria might in mating procedures of our animal ori­ sat unmoved. She might even have itself be laughable does not occur to gins. It is grotesque that human evolu­ dozed off. anyone. tion hinges on the ability of females to It was hilarious and painful at the The present book deals with more look like Madonna and of males to flash same time - even for a male of the than just mating rituals, however; it wads of fiat currency. 0 Liberty 63 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

The Best of the Missouri Review: Fiction, 1978-1990. fear even when it sweeps over and over you like the second hand of a University of Missouri, 1991, 322 pp.,$32.50, $15.95. clock. That autumn when the young man came, there was a deep blue sky. Vera's car was there, no others, and Burt gave thanks for that. The Triumph ofthe He is one of the boys from this school, so he wears a green military uniform IndistinguishabIe and has a shaved head. It's late in the day, time to start think.. ing about where to hole up for the night. Richard Kostelanetz Is there anything in any of these sen­ On that Saturday afternoon before the tences that would prompt you to read ice and while the exterminator was on? Any flash of style or perception or I have a taste for literary maga­ still roaming around her house, Jane vision that would lead you to expect a phoned Diana Tumbridge to tell her zines' self-retrospectives, not only be­ special reading experience? Don't most that she was coming over, after all. cause they purportedly collect the best of us assume that triviality of style is a Say what you will about John Dos from what previously appeared in sure index of triviality of content? Passos, William Faulkner, Ernest Hem­ their pages (which I also enjoy read­ When it became clear that I didn't ingway, Mark Twain, Gertrude Stein, ing) but also because such self­ know how to do anything to make a or even Charles Bukowski and Donald selections enable me to see, far better living, in other words when it became Barthelme, but they have style, an in­ than a single issue, what a magazine is clear that the promise of my sensibili.. stantly recognizable signature, that doing (and wants to be known as do­ ty was not a lucrative promise, Daddy ing). And so I eagerly opened The Best kindly sent me off to Tulane to get my of the Missouri Review: Fiction, 1978­ M.S.W., it being agreed on all hands 1990, just as I have opened many books but my own really that social work Do any of these stories get like it, only to be disappointed this was an appropriate field for a young time - worse, to be quickly reminded woman who had insisted for many better after their initial sen­ why, of all the elements in most liter": years that she was interested only in tences? Not as far as I can tell, ary magazines, fiction has become the the nature of experience and what it meant to be human. though I am willing to as­ last to grab my attention. sume, perhaps charitably, that What's missing from this collection "Next slide," the astronaut says. For a is stylistic distinction. Indeed, in the ab­ second the auditorium is as void and this book's editors (and proof­ dark as space itself. sence of such quality, the contributors readers) read them from begin­ tend to resemble one another to an ap­ At Gardner's Labor Day Barbecue in nings to ends. palling degree. In lieu of quoting entire Cos Cob, Rangold suggested, after a stories, let me illustrate my sense of uni­ few gin and tonics, that we form a consortium formity by quoting, in sequence, the opening sentence (and in a few cases, My moment of truth, said Steadman, would grab the reader's mind from two) from most ofthe stories in The Best: was when I told them how rich my their opening sentences. Defend as you family was, and I got in the fraternity. might such anthologies for the social To begin, then, here is a scene in Read these sentences aloud to which I am the man and my friend virtue of "providing opportunity," such friends and colleagues, as I have, and Sarah Cole is the woman. dreary uniformity wasn't so prevalent you will hear more guffaws than senti­ before the age of grants and creative ''I think it's the other way around," ments of praise. Do any of these stories the boy said. '1 think if the quake hit writing programs. If you don't believe get better after their initial sentences? now the bridge would collapse and my sense of historical decline, compare the ramps would be left." Not as far as I can tell, thoughI am will­ this book with Transition Workshop ing to assume, perhaps charitably, that The darkness completed itself around (1949), Best Short Stories from the Paris this book's editors (and proofreaders) them, bringing the horizon to their Review (1959), or two mass paperbacks feet. read them from beginnings to ends. of fiction from Partisan Review: Stories in (1953) and I'm trying to sing the most popular "Oh, Haze," Sombra said. "Aren't you the Modern Manner More Sto­ song of the year, "The Hop," by Dan.. excited about tomorrow? Our new ries in the Modern Manner (1954). ny and the Juniors, as I whip the tow­ dresses and the school all decorated Need I mention that the authors of el around my arms and legs. with flowers?" these sentences are, in sequence, Russell Everybody who knew about it - and Lieberman had his eyes on his chicken Banks, Amy Hempel, Bob Shacochis, that was everyone in Breemsburg ­ salad and so at first didn't see the Ron Carlson, Barton Wilcox, Stephanie told somebody else about the Fergu.. woman. Bobo, Wally Lamb, Kent Nelson, Alice son place. I think the worst coward can ignore Denham, Connie Willis, Francois Ca- 64 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 moin, Kevin McIlvoy, Raymond Carv­ Ted Koppel's ABC interview show seems the paragon of unbiased televi­ er, Kathy Miller, Michael O'Hanion, sion opinion journalism. But appearances can be deceiving. and Robb Forman Dew? The only dis­ tinguished stories in the book are by David Ohle and Naguid Mahfouz, the latter not an American but an Egyptian who won the Nobel Prize. One hears about the flood of stories invading the ll offices of literary magazines, about the The Line on "Nightline high ratio between those offered and those accepted. However, after read­ ing a selection like this, it is fair to ask what editorial principles (or lack of Eric C. Banfield views would be discussed. No one them) animate the publishers of the wanted to consider where the money Missouri Review. They seem no more would come from. No spontaneous successful at selecting "the best" than It was "live," but unreal. comments would be allowed, no new the literary fellowship panels at the On February 6, ABC-TV's Ted Kop­ ideas permitted. National Endowment for the Arts, for pel told the 1000 people packed into The viewing audience at home perhaps the same reasons. Mandel Hall at the University of Chica­ missed the highlight of the evening. The back-of-the-book biographical go that he wanted audience members to During almost the last intermission, notes tell us that many of these stories go to the microphones and get a little Prazak ran up to the stage and yelled, were reprinted in The Pushcart Prize, controversy going on the health-care is­ 'What about the free market, Ted? Best American Short Stories, etc., creat­ sue. At 10:30 p.m. CST, Nightline's What about small businesses? All ing the impression of contagious "Emergency! Health Care in America" you've been doing is pandering to liber­ plague. No, no, no, you say to your­ started, and Ken Prazak went to a mi­ al crybabies." Mr Koppel politely asked self; this can't be true. But it is. And crophone. He was the first one there, him to go to the microphone, saying he just how important is this secondary but ended up standing and waiting for would call on him. approval? The back flap says of one of over two hours. It didn't take long to re­ Surprisingly, he did, and Prazak the book's editors, "His fiction has alize that Nightline had no intention of said something to this effect: '1'm self­ been mentioned in Best American Short letting him speak. employed, I'm one of the uninsured, Stories and in the Pushcart Prize an­ Before the show, Mr Koppel had and I don't want Universal Health thology." Note it was not included, told the audience that, although it was Care. If you want to see an example in just "mentioned." The second curious impossible to get everyone's comments, action, look at any V.A. hospital. That's characteristic of the biographical notes he would go around and call on people Universal Health Care - government­ is the persistent absence of any aca­ from the five audience microphones. provided and universally hated." (May­ demic affiliation. (lsn't it pretentious to But once the show started, it became ap­ be those scenes from the movie Born on pretend that most of these writers parent that almost every audience the Fourth of July made an impact; the might earn their livings in more inter­ speaker was not spontaneously or ran­ crowd was silent.) esting ways?) domly chosen. ABC staff determined Prazak pointed out that he didn't How is it, why is it, in this land of when certain people, mostly with pre­ want to pay for others' drug abuse, al­ cultural freedom, that aspiring fiction approved comments, would go up to coholism, and in-vitro fertilization. He writers try so hard not to be idiosyn­ the microphone. The staffer by Prazak's pointed out the mistaken premise of cratic but undistinguished? Why is it microphone repeatedly asked ,him to let both liberals and conservatives: that that the powers-that-be are so eager to those other audience participants speak we're in any kind of free market system reward mediocrity? Americans don't first. He waited patiently. now, adding that the problem is gov­ play basketball this way; we don't do For two hours ABC paraded a pa­ ernment, which has turned health and business this way. Why should the fic­ thetic bunch of sob-story cases (recall insurance into socialist systems that the tion world be such an aberration? Why the overweight diabetic), all demanding rest of the world is abandoning. should Thomas McGuane contribute that someone else pay for their prob­ The "experts" denied our system is this blurb: "An important anthology lems. Koppel occasionally ''balanced'' socialist, apparently because the gov­ from an important place.... The Mis­ those comments with banterings from ernment doesn't actually own the busi­ souri Review has found the heart of special interest groups and lame re­ nesses. They ignore, of course, that American fiction"? Is McGuane insidi­ sponses from token targets like insur­ taxation, regulation, and other interven­ ously urging expatriation? Defection? ers, doctors, lawyers, and politicians. tions amount to de facto control. After (To where?) There are no standards The game was obviously rigged. The other weak challenges from the "ex­ anymore, only colorless individuals unrepresentative audience invited by perts," Prazak referred to the new book competing for common power and ABC was heaviIy skewed in favor of published by the Heartland Institute in common rewards in lieu of uncommon "National Health Insurance" or ''Uni­ Chicago (Why We Spend Too Much on excellence. 0 versal Health Care." No libertarian Health Care) and mentioned the idea of Liberty 65 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

Individual Medical Accounts. Only This edition of Nightline demonstrat­ childhood in revolutionary Mexico, a light applause followed. ed that a debate can be held at one of book I sometimes feared no one but me Maybe "Nightline" means "standing the world's finest schools and still be set had ever read. - R.W. Bradford in line all night" - waiting for a door up to go almost all night without an in­ that will never open. Ken Prazak de­ telligent comment. "Emergency! Health The Devil and Henry Kissinger serves congratulations for busting Care in America" was an insult to the - There are, generally speaking, two down that door. Why did he finally run University of Chicago, as well as all sorts of conspirary books worth reading: up to the stage? In his words, because Americans. those that present plausible conspiracies, he "got the idea that the only way to get Koppel deserves maybe one hand­ and those that are really funny. The first attention was to act like a jerk." But clap for letting Prazak speak, but ABC group includes volumes byfairly respect­ once he started talking, Ted Koppel and gets a big thumbs-down for the farcical able historians and journalists, on such his audience learned that the libertari­ ceremony it calls a "town meeting." The topics as Pearl Harbor, Watergate, Italy's ans they ignore are intelligent, articu­ whole event showed that Nightline has P2 affair, and CIA covert actions. Into the late, and passionate. The incident might no intention of putting on a rational de­ second category go the books about make the host even more wary of taking bate with diverse opinions, preferring NASA faking the moonshots, the Bavari­ unplanned audience comments, how­ instead to pander to the emotions of the an Illuminati killing Joseph McCarthy, ever. audience and feed them pap. 0 and Freemasons controlling the Vatican. I had no doubt from the start that 700 Club host Pat Robertson's new tome, The New World Order (Word Books, Booknotes 1991, $16.99), would not belong to the first group. Robertson is, after all, the man who claims The Smurfs is Satanic Of the Renaissance - The indi­ the history of the libertarian intellectual propaganda. But I had high hopes for a vidual seeking to understand the devel­ movement. Virtually all the important li­ conspiracy rant of the second type, a opment of libertarian thinking in the bertarian thinkers are discussed: Mises, laugh-a-minute piece of unintentional middle of this century doesn't have Rand, Chodorov, Hess, Nock, bothFried­ I could enjoy between many books to consult. George Nash's mans, Rothbard, Hospers, Hayek ... more serious readings. But no; it's not The Conservative Intellectual Movement In If Nash is the historian of conserva­ even that. There is a decent' helping of America (Basic Books, 1976) and John tism and libertarianism, Chamberlain is pleasant nonsense here, and even a few Chamberlain's memoir A Life in the its chronicler. Chamberlain's memoir bursts of intelligent commentary, but for printed Word (Regnery Gateway, 1982) fills in some of the gaps in Nash's ac­ the most part, this is simply boring. are about the only good treatments. count. Chamberlain was a journalist and Robertson argues that "humanist­ Nash's book is far the more impor­ book reviewer. Always competent, sel­ occultic" thinkers, globalist planners, in­ tant. Although libertarian thinking has dom brilliant, he was in the midst of it ternational bankers, multiculturalists, not been terribly influential on the lump­ all, adding flesh and detail to the.drama­ New Agers, and high-level Masons are en conservatives, it has been enormously tis personae that Nash so ably exposits. plotting a One-World Government, and influential among intellectual conserva­ He played an important role in The Free­ that Satan is behind it all. This is not only tives. Between 1945 and 1975, the period man, both when it was a libertarian fort silly, it isn't even original. Right-wing about which Nash writes, libertarian and in its duller incarnation as the Read­ cranks have been making claims like this and classical liberal ideas were· woven er's Digest of , and in for years, and usually with a lot more into the fabric of conservatism. National Review, founded in 1955 and funky pizazz. The New World Order has That fabric began to unravel in the quickly becoming the center of conser­ none. of the inappropriate capitalizations, late 1960s, as libertarian intellectuals be­ vative thinking. claims of personal persecution, or poorly gan to distance themselves from conser­ Now there is a third book to add to reproduced letters of warning to national vatism. There were three reasons for that very small shelf. The Turnabout leaders that'make a good nut book. this: libertarian ideas had become far Years (Jameson Books, 1991, 254 pp, Not everything he says is crazy. more popular, the issues of the time (the $12.95) is an anthology of John Cham­ There does exist an eminently condem­ Vietnam War and the military draft) had berlain's writing from the version of the nable intellectual current that calls for a radicalized many libertarians, and con­ Freeman published between 1950 and decidedly statist form of globalism: "col­ servatives had recruited elements from 1953. It is a collection of 54 short book lective security" enforced by the United the religious and racist right that were reviews and literary essays, discussing Nations; single currencies for Europe, downright hostile to liberty. everyone from Ayn Rand to Whittaker the Americas, and the Pacific, with fixed Nash provides a first-rate intellectual Chambers to H.L. Mencken to Edmund exchange rates; "free" trade that history of the right for the entire period. Wilson to John Dos Passos to Edna St amounts to centrally managed trade. His account of the origins of its revival Vincent Millay to John T. Flynn to Hen­ And perhaps, one day, a single world ("The Revolt of the Libertarians") and of ry David Thoreau, almost always with government, or at least a global central the libertarian-conservative divorce insight. A special pleasure to me was his bank and powerful U.N. that together ("Things Fall Apart") are especially in­ review of A Violent Innocence, Alice­ amount to a de facto world superstate. teresting to those seeking to understand Leone Moats' delightful memoir of her· But to link this with the 66 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992

"movement" (a misnomer: "New Age" is when I was going to get to something in­ been reviewed elsewhere as Ayn Rand's more a publishing category than a move­ teresting, or even intelligible. By the worst nightmare, as something that defi­ ment) by way of (!), is to en­ time I finished the introduction and first nitely did not "take her values seriously." ter the realm of logical ga-ga. Henry chapter, I had read too much already. The first chapters deliver on this ex­ Kissinger calls for"one world"; the Ba'hai Have you ever read a bureaucratic man­ pectation. Justine Shade, a journalist, is faith calls for "one world"; therefore, ual? That's Donald Devine's writing interviewing followers of "Anna Gran­ Henry Kissinger and the Ba'hai faith are style. Yuck. -Kathleen Bradford ite," author of "The Bulwark" and "The part of a common one-worlder conspira­ Gods Disdained," and formulator of her cy. Or, more accurately: Pat Robertson The Ego and Her Own - I am own, individualistic philosophy, "Defin­ does not care for Henry Kissinger; Pat the ideal reader for send-ups and satires itism." This is fun, but facile, and the Robertson does not care for the Ba'hai of Ayn Rand and ObjectiVism; haVing novel quickly moves away from satire faith; therefore, Pat Robertson decides never succumbed to the charms of what and on to its main theme: women who that both are out to get everybody. And seems like every other libertarian's fa­ were sexually molested as children. writes a bookabout it. - Jesse Walker vorite dogmatist, I am not in the least Much to my surprise, the novel is offended when her inflated reputation surprisingly sympathetic with its puta­ Terrible Slow Bore - The cover is punctured. Indeed, I rejoice. And so it tive target. After three hundred or so of Reagan's Terrible Swift Sword (Jame­ was that I eagerly plunged into the pag­ pages relating the rather sordid stories son Books, 1992, $19.95) made it sound es of Mary Gaitskill's first novel, Two of Shade and her chief subject, Dorothy like it would be interesting. So I started Girls, Fat and Thin (Simon & Schuster Never, a fat, somewhat defensive Defini­ reading it. I quickly began to wonder Trade, 1991, 304 pp., $18.95), which had tist, Shade discovers that Dorothy has handled the legacy of sexual abuse much better than she has (though she tends to feel superior, since Dorothy still defends much of Anna Granite's peculiar philos­ Classified Advertisements ophy). The moral of the story seems to be that a cultish ideology can help a per­ Classified Advertising is available for 25~ per word, plus $1.00 per insertion. 10% discount son cope with the sufferings and indigni­ for six or more insertions. Payment must accompany order. Please specify classification. ties some young people must endure. Broken egos can be repaired by a unconstitutional acts of child protection agencies healthy dose of egoism, fragile selves Business Opportunities nationwide have become a threat to the security strengthened by selfishness. Free!! Work-at-home information package!!! 1­ of children and families. Family Alert is a month­ But Gaitskill does not moralize. She 800-274-4274, ext. A1323. ly newsletter compiled by people who have learned the cost of state intrusion in family af­ tells a story. She begins the book by quot­ Collectibles fairs. For a sample issue write to: Chatauqua ing Vladimir Nabokov, and apparently County VOCAL, PO Box 85, Cassadaga, NY emulates that Russian-American novel­ Branden's Basics of Objectivism lecture 14718. phonographs, first edition, .autographed, mint ist, not Alice Rosenbaum (Ayn Rand): $265. Dennis Sherwood, 40604 N. Kenosha Road, DirectoryofLibertarian Periodicals. Updat­ there are no Galt-like sermons. She is a Zion, IL 60099-9341. (708) 872-9230. ed latest edition, lists around 150 titles, with ad­ fine writer, though not in Nabokov's dresses, other information. All believed to be league. For most readers, however, her Literature presently publishing. $3.00 postpaid, $4.00 over­ seas. Jim Stumm, Box 29-LB, Hiler Branch, Buffa­ novel pleases in ways that Nabokov's CompuServe Users: Interested in discussing 10, NY 14223. never do: it is much more straight­ liberty? GO ISSUES, read Section 3 and Library 3 on Individualism. Lively discussions. Cross Verbal Swords in The (Libertarian) forward, written in non-quirky lan­ Connection, open-forum magazine since 1%8. Animal Rights Libertarianism. Literature $2. guage, and attentive to humdrum depths Subscribers may insert one page/issuefree, uned­ James Dawson, Box 613-L, Redwood Valley, CA rather than the gl.ittery surfaces and sub­ ited. Lots of stimulating conversation. Eight is­ 95470. tle ironies that the Russian-American sues (one year) $20. Strauss, Box 3343Z, Fairfax, Used, D.P. Books. Free market, economics, VA 22038. made his stock in trade. Gaitskill elicits philosophy, social criticism, reason, capitalism, Review: newsletter on books her reader's sympathies for her protago­ more. Cheapest prices anywhere. Richard By­ for the lover of freedom, reason, and human nists, something Nabokov occasionally num, Bookseller. 927 Applebury Drive, Fayette­ achievement. 6 issues $15; sample issue $3. Ad­ toyed with, but never without a twist. ville, AK 72701. Send large SASE for list. dress: 84 Washington St. #138, Penacook, NH Two Girls, Fat and Thin, for all its playful­ Multigovemment Governed by choice not 03303. chance. Explore "New Dimension of Freedom" ness, is in no way avant-garde. with sampling of literature. $6 to LeGrand Day, The Voluntaryist. Sample copy for two first­ The biggest problem with the novel Box 177, Reseda, CA 91337-0177. class stamps. Box 1275, Gramling, SC 29348. is its rather odd construction: Dorothy's Frcc-Market Environmentalism offers ways Mondo 2000 is "a one-of-a-kind, moving­ story is told in the first person, Justine's to protect the environment without adding to the toward-bizarre magazine you really shouldn't in the third person. I found this confus­ power of the state. To learn more about it, write miss" says Vtne Reader. Find out for yourself ing and pointless. Maybe I missed some­ Jane Shaw, Political Economy Research Center, what the Cyber Underground's flagship periodi­ thing, but I suspect that Ms Gaitskill was 502 S. 19th Avenue, Bozeman, MT, 59715. cal is like. Send $24.00 (five issues) to Mondo 2000, PO Box 10171, Berkeley, CA 94709-5171. simply trying for some effect that is not Periodicals (Foreigners, you'll have to send $50 V.S. for the yet within her powers to obtain. Subscribe to Family Alert and learn how the same service; sorry!) - Timothy Virkkala Liberty 67 Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 Final Words

An Intellectual Giant - F.A. ordinating the actions of huge numbers Hayek was the most important social Friedrich A. Hayek of individuals. Conditions as specific thinker of the 20th century. The May 8, 1899 - March 23, 1992 times and places, known only to dis­ Constitution of Liberty and associated persed individuals, can be given due bought the book and sat down to read it writings in which Hayek developed the consideration only through a free mar­ and comment in the margins. principles of liberty in a spontaneous ket system, where changing prices di­ I came to it with a chip on my shoul­ order are now the point of departure for rect individual plans toward mutual der, prepared to dislike it. But the book theorizing about order and liberty in compatibility. Hayek expounded these was written so clearly and so elegantly modern complex societies. It is no acci­ ideas in his classic 1945 article, "The dent that the brightest minds of the re­ that I read it at once from cover to cov­ Use of Knowledge in Society." cently freed Soviet bloc states are today er. I was quite overwhelmed. Why have I Hayek also revolutionized our un­ Hayek's most avid students. The Fatal never heard this before? I thought. And derstanding of the nature of competi­ Conceit - an essay he completed in his why did those students at Columbia have tion. For neoclassical economics, the 90th year - is not only a profound such nasty things to say about it? competitiveness of the market depends on the reactionary and triba­ Later when I came to know Ayn on its structure: basically, the number listie nature of the socialist enterprise Rand, I learned from the fountainhead and size of firms. Knowledge of de­ but also establishes a framework for about the politics of envy. But by that mand and cost conditions is taken as thinking about social evolution that is time I was an ardent devotee. On three given, either directly or via fixed proba­ unrivalled. successive weeks Mises, Hayek, and bility distributions, to everyone in the There is more wisdom about mod­ Hazlitt gave talks in New York. Hayek market. Hayek maintained that this ap­ ern complex societies in a single chapter was not quite pure enough for Rand, proach obscures the essence of how of one of Hayek's major works - The but I loved every minute of it. markets operate. His key insight is ex­ Constitution of Liberty, The Road to I read some of his later works and I pressed by the title of a 1968 lecture, Serfdom, or Law, Legislation, and Liberty still use The Constitution of Liberty as one "Competition as a Discovery Proce­ - than in the complete Marxist oeuvre. of the texts in my political philosophy dure." He explained that competition It is a tragic irony of our present condi­ course. But it is The Road to Serfdom that consists in the attempts of market par­ tion that a wrong-headed ideologue like turned my head around, and from ticipants to find out (and act upon) Marx, whose false conceptions have led which I still quote passages, which I what demand and cost conditions really to millions of unnecessary deaths, uni­ kick myself for not having been able to are. No simple task, in a constantly maginable poverty, and countless wast­ quote at the time they were written: changing world. ed lives, should still be a basic "Once you admit that the individual is Although only the Austrian school intellectual text for American academ­ merely a means to serve the ends of the has accepted Hayek's economic contri­ ics, while Hayek, who understood far higher entity called society, most of butions fully, mainstream economics better than anyone else the connection those features of totalitarian regimes continues to absorb and build on them. between intellectual· planners and the which horrify us follow of necessity." Eventually, the result will be a much tragedies of our times, should be all but -John Hospers deeper understanding of how markets invisible on college campuses. operate and why bureaucratic planning Those who value liberty will take The Revolutionary Economist­ systems cannot replace them success­ Notwithstanding his great contributions the occasion of his passing to dedicate fully. - Robert Higgs to political philosophy, F.A. Hayek was themselves to reversing this indefensi­ ble state of affairs. -David Horowitz first and foremost an economist. As an The World Beyond Economics ­ economist, his most significant and en­ I understand that the Second World The Road to Freedom - I was a during contribution was to show how War was important. I was involved graduate student at Columbia Univer­ the success of an economy depends cru­ briefly in it and at the time I thought it sity when I heard another student men­ cially on its ability to make productive would have an imperishable effect on tion a book by an author of whom I had use of the knowledge possessed by all my life. But there was a contemporane­ never heard named fIayek. "The Road to its individual members. ous event that has outweighed it and Serfdom," he said. "Should I read it?" I Neoclassical economics long rested, which has had an imperishable effect on asked. "No," he said, "don't read it. The and to an unfortunate degree still rests, my life: the publication of F.A. Hayek's guy's a fascist." on ridiculous assumptions about what The Road to Serfdom. Since I was not into political philoso­ people know. Often, the assumption is It was the respected conservative phy at that time and was busy writing a that everybody knows everything. journalist, John Chamberlain, who dissertation on aesthetics, I postponed Hayek stressed that nobody knows very brought the book to my attention. I any follow-up on Hayek. I did hear much and each person knows different wish that all conservatives would be as how "reactionary" the book was, and things. This "division of knowledge" is, aware of the value of classical liberalism wondered how anyone could say such for Hayek, the basic reason why central as that conservative always has been. things as were reported. But it was not planning must fail, and only the free Think of the difference it could make in until several years later that I actually market can succeed in productively co- the thinking of such quasi-cons as 68 Liberty Volume 5, Number 5 May 1992 Notes on Contributors ) George Bush! Oh, well. Hayek's thoughts will persist as inspiration and Gary Alexander is a writer and editor living in Richard Kostelanetz is a critic, whose recent work instruction for people far longer than Reston, Virginia. includes The Old Fictions and the NevJ, On Inno­ the lipreading and lip-flapping of all the Chester Alan Arthur is Liberty's political vative Music(ian)s, and On Innovative Art(ist)s. quasi-cons put together. correspondent. RK. Lamb carries a government I.D. card and is Ace Backwords is the mind behind Twisted Image, forbidden, by contract, to write for Liberty. While not for a moment taking a an "alternative" comic strip ofsome repute. Ronald F. Lipp is a business attorney in back seat to anyone in admiration of "Baloo" is a cartoonist named Rex F. May. Sacramento who has written and spoken on Ludwig von Mises, I find myself refer­ Eric C. Banfield is a freelance writer, speaker, and developments in Eastern Europe. ring to Hayek in my mind more than policy analyst in Chicago. Loren E. Lomasky is Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University and the author even Mises because I am convinced that Kathleen Bradford is copy editor at Liberty. R W. Bradford is editor and publisher of Liberty. of Persons, Rights, and the Moral Community. there is a aspect of human action and of Vojtech Cepl is Vice Dean of the Law School at Shay Marlowe is an artist in Woodland Hills, classical liberalism that must be consid­ Charles University (Prague) and an advisor to California. ered along with the economic: the social the Czechoslovakian government on housing Paul Pope, whose cartoon appears on page 9, is an aspect that Hayek illuminated as clearly policy. artist living in Columbus, Ohio. Michael Christian is an American attorney in Ralph Raico is Professor of History at the State as anyone so far. We need never slog Paris. University of New York in Buffalo. along the road to serfdom if we just Stephen Cox is Associate Professor of Literature at Sheldon L. Richman is Senior Editor with the Cato keep remembering what this glorious the University of California, San Diego. Institute. man has taught us. -Karl Hess William Dennis is Senior Program Officer at the James S. Robbins is a writer and foreign policy an­ Liberty Fund. alyst living in Massachusetts. Brian Doherty is a journalist surviving in the Kyle Rothweiler is a freelance writer, cartoonist, How He Will Be Remembered ­ anarchist, atheist, and Fortean. Has anyone happened to comment on District of Columbia. Frank Fox is a historian from Pennsylvania. Jane S. Shaw is a senior associate of the Political the elegance of Hayek's writing? It's not J. Orlin Grabbe is a writer of fiction who lives in Economy Resource Center in Bozeman, just an elegance of style (though he had Manhattan. Montana. that, too); it's an elegance of thought. Karl Hess is a retired welder and semi-retired RU. Sirius is the editor-in-chief ofMondo 2000. And it's not the kind of elegance that wordsmith, liVing in Kearneysville, W. Va. Vernon L. Smith is Research Director at the Robert Higgs is the author of Crisis and Leviathan University ofArizona College of Business and comes merely from reducing the com­ and other books and articles. Public Administration. plex to the simple; it's the kind of ele­ David Horowitz is the author of The Free World J. Peter Saint-Andre is a guitarist, songwriter, and gance that comes from seeing through Collosus and the co-author of Destructive assistant editor of Aristos. all the lumbering simplicities that can Generation, among other writings. James Taggart doesn't own a railroad, or have a John Hospers is the author of numerous essays sister named Dagny. He is an attorney practic­ block one's vision of a complex but ful­ and books in philosohy, including An ing in Seattle. ly comprehensible world. Introduction to Philosophical Analysis and Mark Tier is a financial writer who lives in Hong Consider Hayek's treatment of the Understanding the Arts. Kong. problem of evil, as evil manifests itself Daniel Klein is Assistant Professor of Economics Timothy W. Virkkala is assistant editor of Liberty. at the University of California at Irvine. Jesse Walker is editorial assistant at Liberty. in the modern political world. He pub­ lished The Road to Serfdom in 1944, when many falsely elegant solutions to the trate their own ends. As the gap widens about the existence of "better" and problem were selling briskly in the mar­ between promise and fulfillment, honest "worse" ideas and conduct, just as there ketplace of ideas. Evil arose (so promi­ people in the political leadership tend to can be no question about the existence nent intellectuals speculated) from the disassociate themselves from their ex­ of a "top" and a ''bottom'' of society. inherent authoritarianism of certain na­ periment, leaving it to those who are Hayek indulges in no ornate and spuri­ tions, or from the inborn tendency of unscrupulous enough to maintain their ous skepticisms; he is fully at home the masses to be dominated by exploit­ position by force or fraud. As the state with the language of commonsense mo­ ers, or from the inherently ruthless com­ extends its power, increasingly callous rality; he shows that common sense is petition of nation against nation and practices are required of increasingly still capable of applications that are class against class, or from the inevita­ callous people. The worst get on top, both hopeful and intellectually chal­ bly tragic fate of Man the Overreacher, and try to stay there. lenging. ever struggling against himself. Political evil is therefore intricate but What future ages will remember Hayek defined the problem, in his not mysterious, formidable but not in­ best about the intellectual life of the apparently easy, commonsensical way, vincible - because, although it is the twentieth century may not be its aston­ as a problem of "why the worst get on product of terrifying economic, political, ishing affronts to common sense and top." He applied to it an elegantly com­ national, and psychological "forces," it decency. That sort of thing is never plex analysis of evolutionary processes is not rooted ineradicably in any nation, what any age Willingly consents to in society. He saw that the modern so­ class, or inherited psychology. It is root­ study in its predecessors. What will rec­ cialist state, motivated by various more ed instead in certain naive ideas about ommend itself to memory will be this or less radical ideals of material and the way in which progress happens, and century's intervals of elegance and spiritual progress, makes promises to these can be replaced by better ideas. straightforward goodness, and Hayek its citizens that it cannot even try to ful­ And to Hayek, in that great book The will be remembered with them. fill without employing means that frus- Road to Serfdom, there can be no question -Stephen Cox Liberty 69 r

Greenfield, California Los Angeles Environmentally conscious legislation, as reported in The Wall The pitfalls of the unregulated market, as reported by Reuters: Street Journal: Seventeen inmates at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho Jail were Under city policy, builders ofnew housing developments now must injured in a riot that broke out when two inmates' negotiations of the agree to provide "two new adult-sized bicycles free of charge." City sale of a bag ofpotato chips broke down. Manager Arturo de la Cerda explains the law will help reduce air pollu­ Vancouver, British Columbia tion and traffic congestion. Cultural observation from America's kindler, gentler northern Syracuse, New York neighbor, as reported by the North Shore News: Advance in the war agains the sexual abuse of children, as "What appeals to me about art in toilets is the element of surprise," reported by Associated Press: said new North Shore cultural development officer Brenda Beck. After Denise Perrigo called a volunteer help line and asked whether Berkeley, California it was normal to be sexually aroused while breast feeding, social work­ ers arrested her for child abuse and put her infant daughter Cherilyn in The perils of politically correct paint, as reported by the an institution. Associated Press: "It smelled like really bad compost and body odor all mixed up to­ Ottawa gether. It's like about 20 guys were in a room who hadn't taken sho~­ New government employment opportunities, reported by the ers for weeks." That was City Councilperson Nancy Skinner's explana­ Milwaukee Journal: tion of why she had hired a contractor to tear out and replace the walls When Britain's Princess Diana toured a new unit at the Ottawa of her home after she had had them painted with all-natural, milk-based Heart Institute, there were no patients, so the hospital called in fonner paint. "Our product is very simple/' explained paint distributor Eugene patients to fill the beds. Dunlap. "We don't put preservatives in it, so it has a very limited shelf Romania life." Innovative problem-solving in the former Communist bloc, as Houston reported by Reuters: Prejudice lives in the Old Confederacy, as reported by United Three Romanians sat their dead uncle on a train seat for a 300-mile Press International: journey to the family graveyard because carrying the body in a hearse State District Judge Carl Walker, Jr. reject~d a bid from 4'6" Jeffrey would have cost 30 times more than a train ticket. The relatives doused Leibengood, 25, to arrange a pool of short juror prospects. Leibengood the clothed body with cheap alcohol to conceal the smell and told the is scheduled to stand trial in the shooting death of his grandfather, 5'5" conductor of the unheated, unlit train that the uncle was drunk. Robert ("Shorty") Shofner. Leibengood's court-appointed lawyer initially wanted 50 juror pros­ Coeur d' Alene, Idaho pects, all five feet tall or less, to keep his client from being tried by Progress in the war against vice, reported in : "giants." But Carrigan later changed his request and asked only for a Rose Christian has been the target of several undercover operations "representative number." . during the past year. Local zoning officials suspect the arthritic 70­ year-old of being an Avon Lady. New York A new concept in cultural exchanges, reported in the Milwaukee Cortez, Colorado Journal: Entrepreneurship in action, as described by the Associated Marcello Alenear, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, came to Manhattan Press: this week to persuade New Yorkers that his city, despite its reputation Gary Balfour hates to see prairie dogs killed, so he developed a vac­ for high crime rates, is a safe place to visit. While there, his daughter­ uum system powerful enough to suck the small mammals from their in-law, Patricia Alencar, was mugged in Bloomingdale's. burrows, and is trying to market them as pets. The idea came to him in Collinsville, Ill. a dream. Advance in the art oflaw enforcement, as reported in the Detroit Tezpur, India News: The progress of anarchism in the animal kingdom, as reported in Sgt. David Jung apprehended 43 speeders in two hours by posing as the San Francisco Examiner: a farmer astride a tractor in a field near a highway here. illinois State Po­ Several monkeys drove officials out of the Public Works Depart­ lice routinely send police undercover as fanners to apprehend speeders. ment and spent 25 minutes destroying government documents. Police New York were summoned but made no attempt to intetvene. Monkeys are regard­ A new tactic in the War on Drugs, initiated by State Representa­ ed as sacred by many Indians. tive Guy 1. Velella, as reported by the 34th District Report: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Velella has introduced legislation to ban the sale of pencils that look The criminal mind in action, as reported by the Bethlehem like hypodermic syringes. Parents should join the fight against "these Express-Times: pencils," said Velella. "Since we have just finished another holiday sea­ A man accused of participating in a robbery was so upset by a wit­ son - one that is filled with plenty of gift-giving, even among children ness' identification that he blurted out, "How can he say it was me? I - please check with your children to ensure they did not receive any of had a mask on." the 'pencils' from friends." (Readers are invited to forward newsclippings or other items for publication in Terra Incognita.) 70 Liberty Stimulate Your Mind! There is a world of good reading in Liberty! Whether you want to catch up on what you missed, provide intellectual relief to your friends (or enemies!), or complete your collection, now is a good time to buy. Enjoy! Back Issues of Liberty

September 1988 November 1989 • "Scrooge McDuck and His Creator," by Phil Salin • IThe Lost War on Drugs," by Joseph Miranda • "Liberty and Ecology," by John Hospers • "Goodbye, Galactic Empire," by J. R. Dunn • 'Pfhe Ultimate Justification of the Private Property Ethic," by Hans­ • lillie With (and Without) Ayn Rand," by Tibor R. Machan Hermann Hoppe • "Capitalism Comes to Poland?" by Krzysztof Ostaszewski Plus reviews and articles by Douglas Casey, David Friedman, Karl • IIFear and Loathing in New York City," by Murray N. Rothbard Hess, Douglas Rasmussen, Murray Rothbard, 1. Neil Smith and • 'The New Racial Orthodoxy," by William P. Moulton others; and a short story by Erika Holzer. (80 pages) • "Libertarians in Philadelphia," by Chester Alan Arthur Plus articles and reviews by Loren Lomasky, Michael Christian, Rich­ November 1988 ard Kostelanetz, RW. Bradford and others; and an interview with • 'Pfaking Over the Roads," by John Semmens . (72 pages) • ''The Search for We The Living," by RW. Bradford • "Private Property: Hope for the Environment," by Jane S. Shaw January 1990 Plus articles and reviews by Walter Block, Stephen Cox, John • l'The Greenhouse Effect: Myth or Danger?" by Patrick J. Michaels Dentinger, James Robbins and others. (80 pages) • l'The Case for ," by Llewelyn Rockwell • IIHow Roosevelt Soaked the Poor," by Richard Kostelanetz January 1989 • "In Defense of Jim Baker and Zsa Zsa," by Ethan O. Waters • "AIDS and the FDA," by Sandy Shaw • l'The Death of Socialism: What It Means," by R.W. Bradford, Mur­ • "Property, Population and the Environment" by John Hospers ray Rothbard, Stephen Cox, and William P. Moulton • "Ronald Reagan's 'Revolution'," by William Niskanen Plus writing by Andrew Roller, David Gordon and others; and an in­ Plus articles and reviews by Karen Shabetai, Jane Shaw, Jeffrey Tuck­ terview with Barbara Branden. (80 pages) er, Leland Yeager, William Wingo and others; and a short story by Jeffrey Olson. (72 pages) March 1990 • IPfhe Case Against ," by Stephen Cox March 1989 • I'H.L. Mencken: Anti-Semite?" by RW. Bradford • "Ronald Reagan: An Autopsy," by Murray N. Rothbard • "Hong Kong Today," by RK. Lamb • "What if Everything We Know About Safety Is Wrong?" by John • "Libertarian Intellectuals on Welfare," by George H. Smitl Semmens and Dianne Kresich Plus articles and reviews bySheldon Richman, Richard Kos elanetz, • "What Do You Do When Your Mother Asks You to Kill Her?" by John Hospers, Loren Lomasky, James Robbins, Leland Ye~ger, Michael Endres . Timothy Virkkala and others. (80 pages) Plus articles and reviews by Stephen Cox, Jeffrey Friedman, David Ramsay Steele, Sheldon Richman and others. (72 pages) May 1990 • I'Conservativism in Its LaUer Days," by William P. Moultcn May 1989 • 'IA Population Crisis?" by JaneS. Shaw • "Man, Nature, and State: Free Market Slogans are not Enough," by • 'Pfhe Death of Thinking in the Schools," by Karl Hess Karl Hess, Jr • "Bork's Law," by Leland Yeager • "A Conspiracy of Silence: Uncovering the Media's Election-Night • I'A Tribute to Edward Abbey," by Bill Kauffman 'Coverage' Policy," by Margaret M. Fries • "Killing as Therapy," by Thomas Szasz • "The End of the Secular Century," by Murray N. Rothbard • IIWe Will Bury the Environment," by R.W. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by Stephen Cox, David Gordon, Justin Rai­ Plus articles and reviews by Richard Kostelanetz, Robert Hil~gs, Bart mondo, and other. (72 pages) Kosko, Loren Lomasky and others. (72 pages) July 1989 July 1990 • "Viking Iceland: That Worked," by David Friedman • "Conversations with Ayn Rand (part 1)," by John Hospers • 'Pfhe Myth of the Rights of Mental Patients," by Thomas S. Szasz • ''The Orwellian University," by Charles Thorne • "Fetal Rights: The Implications of a Supposed Ought," by Tibor Ma­ • IIWhy Public Enemy is Number One," by Brian Doherty chan • "Strange Subcultures of the Right," by John Baden Plus articles and reviews by R.W. Bradford, John Hospers, Jane S. • "Smokers' Rights," by R.W. Bradford Shaw, Jeffrey Tucker, Leland Yeager and others. (80 pages) • 111£ You Believe in Dentistry, Would You Mind Having Yo ~ Teeth Knocked Out?" by William P. Moulton September1989 Plus articles and reviews by John Baden, David Friedman, BUI Kauff­ • "Holocausts and the Historians," by Ralph Raico man, James Robbins, Mark Skousen and others. (72 pages • liMy Expulsion from the Rand Cult," by Murray Rothbard • I'Abortion Without Absurdity," by R.W. Bradford September 1990 • "Saving Yellowstone From Its Friends," by Larry Dodge • "Conversations with Ayn Rand (part 2)," by John Hospers • I'Libertarians and the Avant-Garde," by Richard Kostelanetz • l'ls Environmental Press Coverage Biased?" by Jane S. Shaw Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Loren Lomasky, Gary • l'The Pro-Life Case for the Abortion Pill," by Dr Ron Paul North, Jeffrey Tucker and others; and a poemby Brett Rutherford. (72 pages) continued on back cover . .. Stimulate Your Mind! Liberty's Back Issues continued from previous page • "Fighting the Draft in World War II," by Jim Bristol • "Old Whine in New Bottles," byJan Narveson • "2 live Crew's Bum Rap," by Brian Doherty • ''The Strange Death of the McDLT," by R.W. Bradford • "Elitism in Defense of theState is No Vice," by R.W. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by Jane Shaw, Richard Weave~, Linda Locke, Plus articles and reviews by Michael Krauss, Greg Johnson, Ethan O. Krzysztof Ostaszewski and others. (72 pages) Waters, James Robbins, Richard Kostelanetz and others; and a fic­ ci6n by Harvey Segal. (72 pages) May 1991 • "Christiana: Something Anarchical in Denmark," by Ben Best November 1990 • "Rescind Gorby's Peace Prize," by James Robbins • "Smokes, But No Peacepipe," byScott Reid • "Journalists and the Drug War," by David Boaz • ''You, Too, Can Be a Junior G-Man," by David Hudson • "California's Man-Made Drought," by Richard Stroup • "Sex, Drugs, and the Goldberg Variations," by Richard Kostelanetz • ''The Gulf War 'Victory': What Does it Mean?" by R.W. Bradford, • ''Why is Anyone Virtuous?" by David Friedman Robert Higgs, James Robbins, Sheldon Richman, Stephen Cox, Matt Plus articles and reviews by Robert Higgs, Leslie Fleming, Alexander Kibbe, and Loren Lomasky Tabarrok, Sheldon Richman and others; and an interview with Ed Plus writing by John Baden, Scott Reid, Leland Yeager and others; and Crane. (80 pages) a short story by Lawrence Thompson. (72 pages) January 1991 July 1991 • "Meltdown: The End of the Soviet Empire," by David Boaz, James • "Say 'No' to Intolerance," by Milton Friedman Robbins, Ralph Raico and Jane S. Shaw • "I Am a Casualty of the War on Drugs," byStuart Reges • "Skatepunks, UFOs, and Guerilla Capitalism," by Lawrence Person • "Depolluting the USSR," by James Robbins • "Gordon Gekko, Mike Milken, and Me," by Douglas Casey Plus articles and reviews by David Friedman, Loren Lomasky, Shel­ • "The Hope in the Schools," by Karl Hess don Richman, Karl Hess, Richard Kostelanetz, William P. Moulton Also: articles and reviews by Michael Christian, Ralph Raico, Loren and others; and Mark Skousen's interview with Robert Heilbroner. Lomasky and others; plus special election coverage. (80 pages) (72 pages) March 1991 September 1991 • "The Myth of War Prosperity," by Robert Higgs • "AIDS and Marijuana," by Robert O'Boyle • ''The Life of Rose Wilder Lane," by William Holtz • "Stalking the Giant Testes of Ethiopia," by Robert Miller • "The Unintended Consequences ofJesse Helms," by Richard Kostel­ • "The Unraveling of Canada," by Scott Reid anetz • "GNP: A Bogus Notion," by R.W. Bradford Plus articles and reviews by Bart Kosko, Mark Skousen, Frank Fox, John Hospers, James Taggart, Karl Hess, William P. Moulton and w­ .. , -----_------others. (72 pages) I send me the back issues of Liberty I Please I have marked. November 1991 (foreign orders, add 50~ per issue) • "The Road to Nowhere," by David Horowitz I I • ''Women vs. the Nation-State," by Carol Moore Sept. '88, $7.00 __ July '90, $5.50 __ • ''Thelmaand Louise: Feminist Heroes," by Miles Fowler • "libertarians Meet in Chicago," by Chester Alan Arthur I Nov. '88, $4.00 __ Sept. '90, $5.50 __ I • "The Boycott of American Psycho," by Panos Alexakos and Daniel I Jan. '89, $4.50 __ Nov. '90, $5.50 __ I Conway Mar. '89, $5.50 __ Jan. '91, $5.50 __ • "Correcting the 'Politically Correct,'" by Karen Shabetai I May '89, $4.00 __ Mar. '91, $5.50 __ I Plus writing by Robert Higgs, Leland Yeager and others; and a short July '89, $6.00 __ May '91, $5.50 __ storyby J. E. Goodman. (80 pages) I Sept. '89, $5.50 __ July '91, $5.00 __ I January 1992 Nov. '89, $4.50 __ Sept. '91, $4.00 __ • ''The National Park Disgrace," by R.W. Bradford I Jan. '90, $4.00 __ Nov. '91, $5.50 __ I • "Sex, Race, and the Single Gentleman," by Richard Kostelanetz Mar. '90, $3.50 __ Jan. '92, $5.00 __ • "Beyond Austrian Economics: Bionomics," by Michael Rothschild I I • "America's Bipartisan Apartheid," by Brian Doherty May '90, $4.00 __ Mar. '92, $4.00 __ • "Peikoff's Objectivism, R.I.P.," by David Ramsay Steele I Shipping: $1.00 I • "Why Term Limits Lost," by Chester Alan Arthur o My check is enclosed Total: Plus writing by Leland Yeager, David Friedman, Henry B. Veatch, I Jane Shaw, Bill Kauffman, Karl Hess Jr. and others. (80 pages) I Charge my 0 VISA 0 Mastercard Expires: _ March 1992 I Account # -'--__ I • "Hong Kong After Tiananmen," by Kin-ming Liu I Signature I • "Albert Jay Nock: Prophet of Libertarianism?" byStephen Cox • "P.C. or B.S.?" by Meredith McGhan Name I • "Acid Rain and the Corrosion of Science," by Edward C. Krug I • ''Who Really Wrote The Little House on the Prairie" by William Holtz Address • "JFK, Conspiracies, and Me," bySheldon Richman I I Plus writing by Ross Overbeek, Karl Hess, Jane Shaw, Lawrence City White, Randal O'Toole and others; and an interview with Pat Bu­ I I chanan. (72 pages) State Zip _ I I -+ Information concerning the first volume (6 issues) of Liberty can be found Liberty, Dept. B29, PO Box 1167, Port Townsend, WA 98368 on page 55. L. ------_._----- ..I