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WALTER BLOCK Defending the Undefendable II: Freedom in All Realms WALTER BLOCK Defending the Undefendable II: Freedom in All Realms Cartoon Illustrator: Charles Rodrigues First edition, hardback, published in UK and USA 2013, by Terra Libertas Publishing House, Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1BF, United Kingdom Reprinted in 2018 by the Mises Institute with permission of Terra Publishing House. Mises Institute 518 West Magnolia Ave. Auburn, Alabama, U.S.A. mises.org ISBN: 978-1-61016-692-8 (paperback edition) CONTENTS Dedication ....................................................................................vii Foreword by Ron Paul ................................................................ ix Introduction ................................................................................ xiii I. TRADE .........................................................................................1 1. The Multinational Enterpriser ............................................3 2. The Smuggler ......................................................................13 3. British Petroleum ................................................................31 4. Nuclear Energy ...................................................................37 5. The Corporate Raider ........................................................41 II. LABOR ......................................................................................45 6. The Hatchet Man ................................................................47 7. The Home Worker .............................................................53 8. Picket-Line Crosser ............................................................57 9. The Daycare Provider ........................................................71 10. The Automator .................................................................77 III. MEDICAL ...............................................................................85 11.The Smoker .........................................................................87 12. The Human-Organ Merchant .........................................95 13. Breast-Milk Substitute Purveyor .................................103 v IV. SEX .........................................................................................109 14. Topless in Public ............................................................111 15. Polygamous Marriage ...................................................115 16. Burning Bed ....................................................................119 V. DISCRIMINATORS ..............................................................123 17. The Sexist .........................................................................125 18. Peeping Tom ...................................................................133 19. The Ageist ........................................................................145 20. The Homophobe .............................................................149 21. Stereotyper ......................................................................157 VI. BUSINESS .............................................................................167 22. The War Toy Manufacturer ..........................................169 23. The Colorizer ..................................................................177 24. The Baby Seller ...............................................................181 25. Heritage Building Destroyer ........................................185 VII. THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT ..................................193 26. The Bad Samaritan .........................................................195 27. The Duelist ......................................................................205 28. The Executioner ..............................................................211 29. The Dwarf Thrower ...........................................................219 30. Intellectual Property Denier .............................................223 Index ............................................................................................231 vi DEDICATION his book is dedicated to those who have been most infl uential in my recent thinking about issues of politi- Tcal economy: William Barnett, Lipa Dubrawsky, Michael Edelstein, Stephan Kinsella, and Hans Hoppe. I am indebted to Jeff Riggenbach for a splendid editorial job on this book; to Lew Rockwell for founding and running the Mises Institute, a source of inspiration for me over the years; to my colleagues at Loyola University New Orleans, particularly Bill Barnett, but also Dan D’Amico, John Levendis, Leo Krasnozhon, Nick Capaldi, and Stuart Wood, who have made the last several years of my academic life such a pleasure. I also dedicate this book to my literary agent, Mei Yao. She pushes me, leads me, inspires me, but always with a very delicate hand. This book would not have been published by Terra Libertas Publishing House without her help; nor without the important efforts of my publisher, Iulian Tănase. The following Loyola University New Orleans students were helpful in research, putting together this manuscript, doing the odds and sods necessary for the completion of such a project. They are: Andrew Naquin and especially Michael O’Brien, to whom I owe for much work over and above the call of duty. I also thank the Fraser Institute of Canada for permission to rely upon work I did while employed there, 1979–1991. I dedicate this book, also, to my children, Matthew and Hannah. May they and their generation do their utmost to promote liberty. vii FOREWORD t is a pleasure to introduce Defending the Undefendable II: Freedom in All Realms, the latest book by my friend, IDr. Walter Block. This book is a sequel to Dr. Block’s semi- nal 1976 work Defending the Undefendable. The original book caused quite a stir and I suspect that Dr. Block’s follow-up will prove even more controversial— and infl uential. This book should fi nd a larger audience than the original, since many more Americans (especially young Americans) are now interested in the ideas of liberty. Further- more, Dr. Block was a young and relatively unknown scholar in 1976, whereas today he is widely recognized as one of the liberty movement’s most important intellectuals. As for controversy, how could a book which purports to defend corporate raiders, human-organ merchants, and polygamists not be controversial? I have no doubt that even many libertarians will at least initially react with shock and outrage at some portions of the book. Some may also wonder how a pro-life, Christian, culturally conservative libertarian like me can endorse this book. I endorse Dr. Block’s book for the same reason culturally conservative libertarians such as F. A. Hayek and Murray Rothbard endorsed the fi rst in this series: despite the mislead- ing title, Dr. Block‘s purpose is not to defend “indefensible” activities, but the worthy basis of libertarianism: the non- aggression axiom. ix DEFENDING THE UNDEFENDABLE II: FREEDOM IN ALL REALMS The non-aggression axiom is the simple idea that it is immoral to initiate force against another person or their property. This axiom follows logically from a belief in private property rights, including the individual’s property interest in his or her own body. After all, if people have a right to control their own bodies and property, it cannot be moral to forcefully prevent them from engaging in activities which do not violate the rights of others—even if such activities are widely considered immoral. Most people support applying the non-aggression axiom to private conduct. What distinguishes libertarians from modern conservatives and liberals is that we apply the non-aggression axiom to the government! To libertarians, any use of force to change people’s behavior for any reason is a profoundly immoral act. Furthermore, state action to forbid or regulate individual behavior always has unintended consequences that often harm the very people the state claims will benefi t from the intervention! For example, minimum wage laws, by outlawing work below a state-set wage, shove those at the bottom of the in- come and experience ladder out of the job market. The drug war simply creates incentives for drug dealers to sell increas- ingly stronger and more dangerous drugs while discouraging drug addicts from seeking help. I saw an example of this in my years as an OB-GYN: patients who used illegal drugs were oftentimes reluctant to share with me their history of drug use for fear that it would result in their imprisonment. Obviously this made it more diffi cult for me to protect the health of the woman and her unborn child. Adherence to the non-aggression axiom in no way implies approval of behaviors like drug use. Many, if not most, libertarians have strong moral objections to the behaviors like drug use and pornography. However libertarians recognize the only moral and effective way to combat these behaviors is through the peaceful means of education and moral persuasion. Private x FOREWORD institutions such as strong families, communities, and churches are much more effective at instilling moral values than laws or government programs. Of course, libertarians also oppose any government attempt to force people to subsidize, associate with, or otherwise support lifestyle choices they fi nd morally objectionable or self-destructive. A society where individuals bear the responsibility for their own actions would see much less drug abuse and other harmful behaviors than one in which the government

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