tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14610284064886846992024-03-05T13:17:31.552-08:00Moorfield Storey BlogMoorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.comBlogger158125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-8293279782607801022015-04-17T21:05:00.001-07:002015-04-17T21:21:37.784-07:00Why Toleration Conquered the West<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81Ey9S1vdj7n4rfZjYZ5rH2ZSaujFu2tQ0w7MA7T9_UuwVPaU76yQ_47DpwiK57MWxwfaZSSTNfTbpO9fKKndi7MUkgemAF_TGaTNbv9yPLDFIZd3P6mp_b-GgjZZMrY1sOxXVgcaDoQ/s1600/Anabaptist+Persecution+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81Ey9S1vdj7n4rfZjYZ5rH2ZSaujFu2tQ0w7MA7T9_UuwVPaU76yQ_47DpwiK57MWxwfaZSSTNfTbpO9fKKndi7MUkgemAF_TGaTNbv9yPLDFIZd3P6mp_b-GgjZZMrY1sOxXVgcaDoQ/s1600/Anabaptist+Persecution+Copy.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Have you ever considered why separation of church and
state evolved, why we are more religiously tolerant today than in the past?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">At one time, church and state intertwined and
tolerance was a minority opinion. Even prior to establishment of a
Constitutional Republic in the United States, there was quite a bit of
church-state entanglement. The results were often bloody and always nasty. Even
when only Protestant Christians had their rights respected, they frequently and
repeatedly turned on one another even to the point of killing people for being
the wrong kind of Protestant Christian. There was never a Judeo-Christian
heritage, because the colonies routinely excluded Jews and Catholics from
having legal rights and some colonies refused to allow either to settle there.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Bloody persecution of Christians, by Christians, in the colonies, was mild in
comparison to the centuries of bloodshed in Europe over which form of
Christianity should be imposed on everyone. Martin Luther <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=iZNiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA266&lpg=PA266&dq=%E2%80%9CIn+a+country+there+must+be+one+preaching+only+allowed.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=dVMHAI-kaN&sig=VDmE2mzMmVCS6m4BnCtVEQ0K7YY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dcsxVaT1BoSrogSDg4CgDg&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CIn%20a%20country%20there%20must%20be%20one%20preaching%20only%20allowed.%E2%80%9D&f=false" target="_blank">explained</a>: “In a country
there must be one preaching only allowed.” Other forms of preaching were
considered rebellion and Luther <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=-E5x3HMBWegC&pg=PA120&dq=%E2%80%9CLet+everyone+who+can,+smite,+slay,+and+stab,+secretly+and+openly,+remembering+that+nothing+can+be+more+poisonous,+hurtful+or+devilish+than+a+rebel.%E2%80%9D&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nMsxVYyDIsPUoASMyYCoBg&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CLet%20everyone%20who%20can%2C%20smite%2C%20slay%2C%20and%20stab%2C%20secretly%20and%20openly%2C%20remembering%20that%20nothing%20can%20be%20more%20poisonous%2C%20hurtful%20or%20devilish%20than%20a%20rebel.%E2%80%9D&f=false" target="_blank">spoke of how to deal with such matters</a>: “Let
everyone who can, smite, slay, and stab, secretly and openly, remembering that
nothing can be more poisonous, hurtful or devilish than a rebel.” While the
bloody history of Catholicism is well known, mainly due to publishing efforts
of Protestants, the genocidal impulse in Protestantism has not been so duly
noted.</span>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Luther is a good example of Protestant intolerance. In
1525 he said Catholic mass should be forcibly suppressed as blasphemy. In 1530,
he said Anabaptists should be put to death. In 1536, he said Jews should be
forced out of the country. His view was that the State should enforce Christian
teaching, more particularly Luther’s teachings, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=rTkJAQAAIAAJ&q=%E2%80%9CThe+public+authority+is+bound+to+repress+blasphemy,+false+doctrine+and+heresy,+and+to+inflict+corporal+punishment+on+those+that+support+such+things.%E2%80%9D&dq=%E2%80%9CThe+public+authority+is+bound+to+repress+blasphemy,+false+doctrine+and+heresy,+and+to+inflict+corporal+punishment+on+those+that+support+such+things.%E2%80%9D&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1MsxVb_SCYmcoQSvzoCgCA&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAQ" target="_blank">by force</a>. “The public authority
is bound to repress blasphemy, false doctrine and heresy, and to inflict
corporal punishment on those that support such things.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Many people today have no idea that Europe was plunged
into a series of wars, over a period of about 150 years, all between competing
sects of Christians intent on wiping out other forms of Christianity. The last
such major war was the T<a href="http://www.history.com/topics/thirty-years-war" target="_blank">hirty Years’ War</a>, from 1618-1648. Direct and indirect
casualties in the war amounted to between 15% and 30% of all Germans. In Czech
areas, population declined by about one-third as a result of the war and as a
result of diseases spread because of the conflict. It is thought that Swedish
armies destroyed as many as one-third of all towns in Germany. Estimates are
that this period of Christian conflict resulted in the deaths of 7 million
people. R.J. Rummel <a href="http://necrometrics.com/pre1700a.htm" target="_blank">estimates</a> the death toll higher, at 11.5 million. An
objective look at the history of Christian conflicts caused Prof. Perez Zagorin
to <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s7638.html" target="_blank">conclude</a>: “Of all the great world religions past and present, Christianity
has been by far the most intolerant.” Even Aquinas, held up as an advocate of
reason, said that if the state executed forgers it could “with much more
justice” take heretics and “immediately upon conviction, be not only
excommunicate but also put to death.” Zagorin <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=iVHyAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=%E2%80%9CNone+of+the+Protestant+churches%E2%80%94neither+the+Lutheran+Evangelical,+The+Zwinglian,+the+Calvinist+Reformed+nor+the+Anglican%E2%80%94were+tolerant+or+acknowledged+any+freedom+to+dissent.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=O2dvWaeSzs&sig=qfYK3osICnE_6-icHuQXH8-ybI0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=f8wxVcG3Nc2uogSZ4IG4Dg&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CNone%20of%20the%20Protestant%20churches%E2%80%94neither%20the%20Lutheran%20Evangelical%2C%20The%20Zwinglian%2C%20the%20Calvinist%20Reformed%20nor%20the%20Anglican%E2%80%94were%20tolerant%20or%20acknowledged%20any%20freedom%20to%20dissent.%E2%80%9D&f=false" target="_blank">says</a>: “None of the Protestant
churches—neither the Lutheran Evangelical, The Zwinglian, the Calvinist
Reformed nor the Anglican—were tolerant or acknowledged any freedom to
dissent.” <i>[How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West</i>,
Princeton University Press, 2003.]</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMfJ5i_GIb2lVPlEkWASLrmU2Wh6Wrcx-FJjjDOJhihZ1JANy6P2HMz6ATUw5qSWNe58iRtXJ9uGx9ohOipwbxAyAsomSdzXLUcD93RaHOn_keBZP3DX6wHvo24MOemWyvyYKx8ABq_2A/s1600/mary.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMfJ5i_GIb2lVPlEkWASLrmU2Wh6Wrcx-FJjjDOJhihZ1JANy6P2HMz6ATUw5qSWNe58iRtXJ9uGx9ohOipwbxAyAsomSdzXLUcD93RaHOn_keBZP3DX6wHvo24MOemWyvyYKx8ABq_2A/s1600/mary.jpeg" height="231" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Just during the short reign of England’s Catholic
<a href="http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/marytudor.html" target="_blank">Queen Mary I</a> (1554-1558) some 300 Protestants were burned at the stake for
heresy. And in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion" target="_blank">1572 Catholics in France </a>went on the rampage over a period of
several weeks, rounding up and massacring Protestants. Death tolls are uncertain,
but believed to range from 5,000 to 30,000. Of course, in the name of Jesus,
neither women nor children were spared the sword.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">So, what were some reasons that traditional
intolerance and violence amongst Christians ended? There are several. One is
that bloodshed had become intolerable and Christians grew weary of constantly
slaughtering one another. While that played a role in the matter, it was not
the prime reason.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Other explanations exist as well and each played a
role. One is that the Enlightenment took place and there was a burst of
rationality on the continent. This rationality not only lead to a rise in
scientific progress, but it also meant that more and more Europeans had become
skeptical of Christianity. Orthodox Christianity was being undermined from the
inside, leading to a diminution of its influence. Within Catholicism, the
Scholastic revolution of Aquinas had already revived an interest in reason.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Protestantism, however, was a very different thing.
Much of the impetus of the Reformation was to attack these worrisome influences
of human reasoning. Luther and Calvin both opposed the use of reason to draw
conclusions about truth. Contrary to imaginations of Protestant apologists, the
Reformation was the enemy of reason, not an ally. Prof. Frederick Beisner, in
his important history, <i>The Sovereignty of Reason</i> [Princeton University
Press, 1996], <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fE8ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=The+early+theology+of+the+Reformation+cannot+be+regarded+as+the+forerunner,+still+less+as+the+foundation,+of+modern+rationalism.&source=bl&ots=MYxj7pv4EI&sig=Twx7MUbPIhG4YhEjQt5GmFdy4ME&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Dc0xVbWjDonxoASa14GQAw&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20early%20theology%20of%20the%20Reformation%20cannot%20be%20regarded%20as%20the%20forerunner%2C%20still%20less%20as%20the%20foundation%2C%20of%20modern%20rationalism.&f=false" target="_blank">writes</a>:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">…The early theology of the Reformation cannot be
regarded as the forerunner, still less as the foundation, of modern
rationalism. Rather, it is its antithesis, indeed its nemesis, an attempt to
revive the spirit and outlook of medieval Augustinianism. Luther’s and Calvin’s
aim was to restore this Augustinian tradition—its teachings concerning faith,
grace, sin, and predestination—by purging it of all its pagan and scholastic
[Thomistic] accretions.</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Ua5kQLn5zsieUTiyF0e_SLJbT23Ky0dvmOQGY-tOUkTYHVk2Fu8Q7s3ST_mQI9rB_RszUbBOqfroT3XM-Cp208AscQVnMAtx2Ao6jjBtThtLHuNZ_vu6Bx8rHe8na_UbVPGeAqK3llE/s1600/150px-Lawes.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Ua5kQLn5zsieUTiyF0e_SLJbT23Ky0dvmOQGY-tOUkTYHVk2Fu8Q7s3ST_mQI9rB_RszUbBOqfroT3XM-Cp208AscQVnMAtx2Ao6jjBtThtLHuNZ_vu6Bx8rHe8na_UbVPGeAqK3llE/s1600/150px-Lawes.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Beisner’s important book shows how the Reformation
religions of the Protestants were themselves later reformed. Thomas Hooker, in
his work<i> Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie </i>[1593]<i>,</i> revived
an interest in reason among Protestants. His defense of reason <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=fE8ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA46&dq=%E2%80%9Crevival+of+the+scholastic,+natural+law+tradition,+and+in+particular+that+of+Aquinas+and+Suarez,+which+had+been+cast+overboard+by+Luther+and+Calvin.%E2%80%9D&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Oc0xVa_7LYisogTipIGwCw&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9Crevival%20of%20the%20scholastic%2C%20natural%20law%20tradition%2C%20and%20in%20particular%20that%20of%20Aquinas%20and%20Suarez%2C%20which%20had%20been%20cast%20overboard%20by%20Luther%20and%20Calvin.%E2%80%9D&f=false" target="_blank">was the</a> “revival
of the scholastic, natural law tradition, and in particular that of Aquinas and
Suarez, which had been cast overboard by Luther and Calvin.” Hooker influenced
one of the great liberals of the Enlightenment, John Locke.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Later the circle of scholars and theologians who had
gathered together, under the sponsorship of Lord Falkland, known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Tew_Circle" target="_blank">Tew Circle</a>, emphasized reason as well. While orthodox Protestants, they held reason
as the only means of understanding religion. In fact, reason was allowed to
judge religion and draw conclusions. These men became an influence on the more
radical skeptics in the free thought movement later. They argued that faith
could only come through reason, not from grace. They opposed the predestination
theory of Calvin and Luther, believing salvation was obtained by good works,
not by grace, and they believed in toleration of others.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">They were followed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Platonists" target="_blank">Cambridge Platonists</a>, a
group of scholars at Cambridge, who “went several strides beyond Hook and Great
Tew in the direction of a greater rationalism. To begin with, they were the
first thinkers in the English Protestant tradition to develop a systematic
natural theology.” Beisner writes that they “affirmed the principle of the
sovereignty of reason. They saw reason as the final rule of faith, a standard
higher than Scripture, inspiration, or tradition.” In other words, while the original
Reformation was actually a step-backwards for modernity, the Reformation was
later reformed by a series of thinkers who reintroduced the hated Aristotelian
forms of thinking.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The forefathers of modern libertarianism, the
classical liberals, first campaigned for freedom of conscience. They wanted to
limit the power of the state because the state was the instrument by which
intolerant church policies were imposed on the public. The church, preferring
to not have blood on its hands directly, left the killing to the state. So the
state imposed theological order at the point of the gun—or more accurately at
the time, at the point of the sword. Transgressors would be identified and
executed, often at the stake. But what the state was doing was entirely at the
behest of the church. The church is pretty much a toothless dog when it doesn’t
have access to state power: It can bark, but it can’t bite.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">As liberalism reduced state power, it directly reduced
the ability of the church to impose theological conformity. What we saw, with
the unleashing of human reason, was growth in skepticism, a desire for natural,
scientific explanations for reality, limitation of the state, and the rise of a
depoliticized, or capitalist, market system. As Sir Samuel Brittan <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HF_VAAAAIAAJ&q=The+breakdown+of+theological+authority,+the+rise+of+scientific+spirit+and+the+growth+of+capitalism+were+inter-related+phenomena.%22&dq=The+breakdown+of+theological+authority,+the+rise+of+scientific+spirit+and+the+growth+of+capitalism+were+inter-related+phenomena.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1NUxVcCsM87ioATjxIDYBA&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ" target="_blank">put it</a>:
"The breakdown of theological authority, the rise of scientific spirit and
the growth of capitalism were inter-related phenomena."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">More and more, individuals began to think for
themselves regarding religion. And the result was a splintering of the church.
Instead of one “holy mother church” sitting astride Europe, numerous sects
began to evolve. At first this splintering meant a bloodbath, as each sect
tried to jockey for monopoly privileges and access to the swords of the state.
This is precisely why the series of religious wars were fought, as an attempt
to destroy diversity of thought and impose conformity.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQ_TEnBOaZ3xcMpVfI7Fj79DTGLqcj45RW-YZ1B576dveC85rgsjAl0hyb-oRpi9-wtqfZQjjmLQokLVp1XDRCbTtWEZApFB8rR6Yf8o6lvtZDRe_Pmq7ezR4VBGxAdaeQShVb28_tCgK/s1600/voltaire.gif"><span style="color: #285199; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">This splintering reduced the power of the church as a
whole by spreading it among various sects. No one sect was guaranteed enough
power to successful grab control of the state. If it tried, it would face
opposition from the other sects, not because they favored freedom of thought, but
because they feared repression for themselves. Voltaire [<i>Lettres
philosophiques</i>, 1734] <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/34/2/6.html" target="_blank">noted</a>: “If one religion only were allowed in England,
the Government would very possibly become arbitrary; if there were but two, the
people would cut one another’s throats; but as there are such a multitude, they
all live happy and in peace.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">We found that in the history of the United States.
Prior to the formation of the constitutional union, each state was independent
and free. And the states tended to be dominated by one sect or another. Using
that dominance, the church would then use state power to oppress other,
minority sects. Jews, Catholics, Quakers and Baptists were favored targets of
the state sanctioned church.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Yet when the Constitution was written the First
Amendment explicitly rejected a church-state alliance. This was not because the
majority of founders had seen the light about the evils of a church dominating
a state, but rather because none could be sure that their church would be the
one that would dominate. No one sect dominated the nation as a whole. While
Anglicans dominated Virginia they had no power in Massachusetts. The
Congregationalists, who controlled Massachusetts, had no influence in
Pennsylvania.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Thomas Jefferson and James Madison worked to end state
sanctioned religion in Virginia, but only succeeded when other faiths had
immigrated to the state in sufficient numbers to undermine Anglican dominance.
Freedom of religion came about, not because the various sects had adopted
liberal values, but because each of them was unsure they could control the
state when it came time to name the sanctioned church.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Capitalism is not just the result of more freedom; it
is also the cause of new freedoms. Capitalism undermines the ability of the
state to impose conformity. Technology encourages diversity of thought, which
challenges any theological claim to monopolize what is true, or good for man.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVMLkHEHmw2YGuLAPKmpge-1qIZfIjmHccQ-haO6xNw_QRn5rCKBLzDZYOTzIN8f-0xWhgrmOoWKi60K2Al7csrkfpMezmps35tZ5p4oQRQQflmuzqA5S7lSR85W1SWA2mzT7i8Iefs0/s1600/press.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVMLkHEHmw2YGuLAPKmpge-1qIZfIjmHccQ-haO6xNw_QRn5rCKBLzDZYOTzIN8f-0xWhgrmOoWKi60K2Al7csrkfpMezmps35tZ5p4oQRQQflmuzqA5S7lSR85W1SWA2mzT7i8Iefs0/s1600/press.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">There is a marvelous section in Victor Hugo’s <i>Notre
Dame de Paris </i>[1831], where he depicts a printing press. Through the window
we see the cathedral. Inside a man is standing. He points first at the press,
and then to the cathedral, <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/312/0502.html" target="_blank">saying</a>: “this will destroy that. The Book will
destroy the Edifice.” Hugo wrote further:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">To our mind, this thought has two aspects. In the
first place it was a view pertaining to the priest—it was the terror of the
ecclesiastic before a new force—printing. It was the servant of the dim
sanctuary scared and dazzled by the light that streamed from Gutenberg’s press.</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Free speech encourages diversity of opinion and
directly leads to the splintering of sects and creeds. Capitalism encourages
this process. Prof. Nicholas Wolfson noticed this:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">It is no accident that capitalism and free speech are
so frequently present together. The free flow of information, ideas and
technology is essential in the modern age. We live in an age of information.
The computer, the microchip, the fax, television, and cinema have created a
universe in which the barriers to information and new ideas fail everywhere.
Efforts to restrain free speech limit not only intellectual freedom, but result
in a stultified and failed economic system. It is no accident that communism
collapsed as this age came to fruition. Communist systems were unable to
compete in the new technology and the new economies based upon the computer.
The explosive mix of free speech, fax machines, and computers has created a
universal knowledge and appreciation of the achievement of democracy and
capitalism. (</span></i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The Theory of Truly Free Speech, Nicholas Wolfson, 60 <i>University of Cincinnati Law Review</i> 1, 1991.)</span><i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Capitalism also rewarded tolerance. This is important.
Merchants found that the most beneficial trade they could make was often with
someone of a different faith or creed. Refusal to trade with them meant lost
opportunities and foregone profits. Again, Voltaire <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/34/2/6.html" target="_blank">noticed this as wel</a><span style="color: blue;">l</span>:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Take a view of the Royal Exchange in London, a place
more venerable than many courts of justice, where the representatives of all
nations meet for the benefit of mankind. There the Jew, the Mahometan [Muslim],
and the Christian transact together, as though they all professed the same
religion, and give the name of infidel to none but bankrupts. There the
Presbyterian confides in the Anabaptist, and the Churchman depends on the
Quaker's word.</span></i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> <i>At the
breaking up of this pacific and free assembly, some withdraw to the synagogue,
and others to take a glass. This man goes and is baptized in a great tub, in
the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: that man has his son's foreskin
cut off, whilst a set of Hebrew words (quite unintelligible to him) are mumbled
over his child. Others retire to their churches, and there wait for the
inspiration of heaven with their hats on, and all are satisfied.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDZtSfyI48fxcQpRP_gw8KtVoWNVtz66IR7D6y16h8M4qX-579ZltUHLJ73T-zPa-eXPIVvZxPVI0M6ptN9SXF6iyyybiaYf7_BeFfxHyYzWRd-oYFYoyUmXb0EjpAC2ss_Go4NSsLdk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-17+at+9.02.34+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDZtSfyI48fxcQpRP_gw8KtVoWNVtz66IR7D6y16h8M4qX-579ZltUHLJ73T-zPa-eXPIVvZxPVI0M6ptN9SXF6iyyybiaYf7_BeFfxHyYzWRd-oYFYoyUmXb0EjpAC2ss_Go4NSsLdk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-04-17+at+9.02.34+PM.jpg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Commerce rewards tolerance by increasing the number of
trading possibilities. Trade undermines prejudice in all areas: be it
religious, ethnic, racial or sexual. Bigotry flourishes when the bigot can pass
the cost of such practices on to the entire society, but when he must bear the
direct costs of his prejudice he is more reluctant to do so. Some may still
prefer to engage in traditional, prejudicial practices, but they are at a
competitive disadvantage to competitors who fail to do so. Brittan said, “Capitalist
civilization is above all rationalist.” The entrepreneur, as a profit maximizer
is forced to ignore the “traditional, mystical or ceremonial justification of
existing practices.” This rejection of the traditional, means depoliticized
markets are inherently anti-conservative. The gay marriage debate is a good
example. Private businesses have largely adopted measures to recognize gay
relationships among their employees. It is the political sphere that is behind
the times. The state rarely forces change. Most of the time it is an impediment
to social changes and only plays catch-up once the cultural revolution is over.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Businessmen, who rely on voluntary exchange, have long
been leaders of movements that undermine traditional prejudices. People who
trade want more trading options, not less, and prejudicial policies limit the
number of options. Henry Kamen, in<i> The Rise of Toleration</i> [McGraw Hill,
1967], <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=lwRLAAAAIAAJ&q=%22The+expansion+of+commercial+capitalism,+particularly+in+Europe%E2%80%99s+two+principal+maritime+powers,+Holland+and+England,+was+a+powerful+factor+in+the+destruction+of+religious+restrictions.%22&dq=%22The+expansion+of+commercial+capitalism,+particularly+in+Europe%E2%80%99s+two+principal+maritime+powers,+Holland+and+England,+was+a+powerful+factor+in+the+destruction+of+religious+restrictions.%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2dIxVYzXJozaoASdnYHIAw&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA" target="_blank">wrote</a>:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">The expansion of commercial capitalism, particularly
in Europe’s two principal maritime powers, Holland and England, was a powerful
factor in the destruction of religious restrictions. Trade was usually a stronger
argument than religion. Catholic Venice in the sixteenth century was reluctant
to close its ports to the ships of the Lutheran Hanseatic traders. The English
wool interest spent the first half of the seventeenth century in energetic
opposition to the anti-Spanish policy of the government. By the Restoration in
1660 it was widely held that trade knows no religious barriers; the important
corollary that followed from this was that the abolition of religious barriers
would promote trade.</span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">In his <i>Political
Arithmetic</i>, written in 1670 but only published twenty years later, Sir
William Petty said “for the advancement of trade… indulgence must be granted in
matters of opinion.” Even opponents of trade recognized this true, and said it
was one reason to oppose trade. Samuel Parker’s <i>A Discourse on
Ecclesiastical Politie</i> [1669], said “tis notorious that there is not any
sort of people so inclinable to seditious practices as the trading part of a
nation.” The chaplain to the Earl of Berkeley warned, “that the great outcry
for liberty of trade is near of kin to that of liberty of conscience.”</span></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-50069970226371828942014-11-28T23:40:00.000-08:002014-11-29T19:02:45.136-08:00Evangelicalism and Slavery: Historic Allies Not Enemies<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">The Christian Right film <i>Amazing
Grace</i> was being promoted to libertarians, no doubt with funds from some
Christian source. The promotion says the film is about about William Wilberforce
and his effort to get England to abolish slavery, as well as his relationships
with evangelist George Whitfield and John Newton. The film is named after the
words of the hymn <i>Amazing Grace</i>, which Newton wrote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Now, for some inconvenient facts.
Wilberforce was not the first to call for abolition of slavery. Deists like
Jefferson and the Quakers, who are not orthodox Christians by any means, were
there first. Nor was England the first country to abolish slavery.
Revolutionary France, considered godless by the orthodox Christians, had
abolished slavery in 1794, but Napoleon, an orthodox Christian and opponent of
deism, restored it when he took power. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">The city state of Venice outlawed
slavery in 960, Iceland abolished it in 1117, Spain did so in 1542, Poland in
1588, etc. Wilberforce gets attention for two reasons. First, English-speaking
people tend to only pay attention to the history of English-speaking countries.
Second, Wilberforce is promoted by fundamentalists because he was an
evangelical Christian. Evangelicals are working hard to take credit for
abolitionism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Notice all these other countries where
slavery was abolished first, which evangelicals do NOT mention. None of them
were Protestant, and none had a prominent evangelical involved. So, they can't
take credit. Thus, as far as modern evangelicals are concerned, abolitionism
started with Wilberforce. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">In fact, in America evangelicals were
the most prominent group in favor of slavery. A <a href="https://archive.org/details/americanslavery00citigoog" target="_blank">transcript of a speech</a> that
Frederick Douglass gave, <i>American Slavery: Report of a Public Meeting
held at Finsbury Chapel, Moorefields to receive Frederick Douglass, the American
Slave, on Friday, May 22, 1846</i> illustrates this:<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj67wn6artJJif1Al8rnGYisEYGe2xFU_7-w65IiifblIpkEqEOVMFiy0BDNbyqvkatkGEWTHpuzKO4NMdPrX0uVohNltaj31eRBptAmnDXgIux97kH0XLF6IApd6kTR7WiYKZDmSJKmY/s1600/douglass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj67wn6artJJif1Al8rnGYisEYGe2xFU_7-w65IiifblIpkEqEOVMFiy0BDNbyqvkatkGEWTHpuzKO4NMdPrX0uVohNltaj31eRBptAmnDXgIux97kH0XLF6IApd6kTR7WiYKZDmSJKmY/s1600/douglass.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frederick Douglass</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">“I have to inform you that the religion
of the southern states, at this time, is the great supporter, the great
sanctioner of the bloody atrocities to which I have referred. While America is
printing tracts and Bibles; sending missionaries abroad to convert the heathen;
expending her money in various ways for the promotion of the Gospel in foreign
lands, the slave not only lies forgotten—uncared for, but is trampled under
foot by the very churches of the land. What have we in America? Why we have
slavery made part of the religion of the land. Yes, the pulpit there stands up
as the great defender of this cursed institution, as it is called.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">In 1842 James Gillespie Birney <a href="http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/christn/chesjgbat.html" target="_blank">published</a>, <i>The American Churches, The Bulwarks of American Slavery</i>. He noted, "The extent to which most of the Churches in America are involved in the guilt of supporting the slave system is known to but a few in this country." [He means England when he says "this country," as that is where his book was published. He notes that the Methodist Episcopalian Church went as far as passing a resolution damning abolitionism: "By the delegates of the Annual Conferences in General Conference assembled,—that they are decidedly oppose to modern abolitionism, and wholly disclaim any right, wish, or intention, to interfere in the civil and political relation between master and slave, as it exists in the slave-holding States of this Union."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">In 1861 Rev. Thomas Smyth of the Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston made a <a href="http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/aah/sierichs_13_3.htm" target="_blank">passionate attack</a> on the "atheistic Declaration" [of
Independence] for espousing "the 'higher law' doctrine of the
radical antislavery men. If the mischievous abolitionists had only followed the
Bible instead of the godless Declaration, they would have been bound to
acknowledge that human bondage was divinely ordained. The mission of
southerners was therefore clear; they must defend the word of God against
abolitionist infidels.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Douglass said that abolitionism was hindered by the churches, not helped:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">"This I conceive to be the darkest feature of slavery and the most difficult to attack, because it is identified with religion, and exposes those who denounce it to the charge of infidelity. Yes, those with who I have been laboring, namely the old organization Anti-Slavery Society of America, have been again and again stigmatized as infidels, and for what reason? Why, solely in consequence of the faithfulness of their attacks upon the slave-holding religion of the southern states, and the northern religion that sympathizes with it."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">People pleaded with Douglass to mention churches that were opposed to slavery but he replied that "the church-going bell and the auctioneer's bell chime in with each other, the pulpit and the auctioneer's block stand in the same neighborhood; while the blood-stained goes to support the pulpit covers the infernal business wit the garb of Christianity. We have men sold to build churches, women sold to support missionaries, and babies sold to buy Bibles and communion services for the churches." Douglass cited Birney's book and spoke of churches that sold slaves "for the purpose of sending the Gospel to the heathen."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Charles Bradlaugh, in 1889, <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30206/30206-h/30206-h.htm" target="_blank">wrote</a> that the famed abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who was not a Christian, went to deliver an anti-slavery lecture in Boston but found only building available to himself, "the infidel hall owned by Abner Kneeland, the 'infidel' editor of the Boston Investigatory who had been sent to gaol for blasphemy. Every Christian sect had in turn refused Mr. Lloyd Garrison the use of the buildings they severally controlled. Lloyd Garrison told me himself how honored deacons of a Christian Church joined in an actual attempt to hang him."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">The film <i>Amazing Grace</i> implies that
Newton converted to evangelical Christianity and, as a result, became an abolitionist.
This actually is NOT true. While both are true—eventually—the one was not
caused by the other. Newton, in fact, was a slaver. His job was to sail slaves
to the Americas where they were sold. Newton continued to do this well after
his so-called conversion. Newton became an evangelical in 1748. He continued
selling slaves until he retired from the sea in 1754 because he wanted to
become an Anglican priest. Newton was quite happy to use violence against
slaves and used torture to wring confessions from those he thought guilty of
planning their own freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">A third of a century after his retirement
as captain of slave ships Newton came out in support of abolitionism. So, if
his conversion to evangelicalism made him an abolitionist, it took almost four
decades to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Newton wrote that after his conversion
he just never gave a thought to the morality of slavery. He said he never
thought of it and that not a single friend, evangelical or not, thought it
wrong to enslave people. He considered his job as slaver "the line of life
which Divine Providence had allotted to me."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">George Whitefield is another evangelical
who is considered a major influence on Wilberforce—which he was. Whitefield was
NEVER an abolitionist, though he was an evangelical revivalist. Whitefield
founded an orphanage in Georgia where slavery was actually illegal—Georgia was
a colony not founded by a religious group and was anti-slavery. People don't
know that. But in 1749, Whitefield helped lead a campaign to make slavery legal
in Georgia. He used slaves to help run his orphanage. On his death the slaves
were left to the Countess of Huntingdon, who was a major financier of
evangelicalism in England. She never freed those slaves either, in fact, she
doubled their numbers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2VftwP0-EAk8EHZasJGnVQEZgUDIu6jhArzgmzqzNSw2PvbLteYVp1WoC-iQItrvnT43du8CvQZwFLAtxRBHR7R9RQp0qiZtOnFQBmhJ7XTeV4JCr_58uxHdFXtBeVaCrfT2hMRKkrY/s1600/Whitefield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2VftwP0-EAk8EHZasJGnVQEZgUDIu6jhArzgmzqzNSw2PvbLteYVp1WoC-iQItrvnT43du8CvQZwFLAtxRBHR7R9RQp0qiZtOnFQBmhJ7XTeV4JCr_58uxHdFXtBeVaCrfT2hMRKkrY/s1600/Whitefield.jpg" height="320" width="294" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Whitefield remained a slave-owner and slavery
supporter his entire life. Yet, he was the man who helped convert Wilberforce
to evangelicalism. So, it is clear that it wasn't evangelicalism that caused
Wilberforce to be an abolitionist. If anything, he managed it in spite of his
religion. Whitefield <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2014/06/17/this-is-not-good-news-this-is-not-salvation/" target="_blank">wrote</a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">"As for the lawfulness of keeping
Slaves I have no doubt, since I hear of some that were bought with Abraham’s
money & some that were born in his house – And I cannot help thinking that
some of those servants mentioned by the Apostles in their Epistles, were or had
been slaves. It is plain that the Gibeonites were doomed to perpetual Slavery,
& though liberty is a sweet thing to such as are born free, yet to those
who never knew the sweets of it, slavery, perhaps, may not be so irksome.
However this be, it is plain to a demonstration, that hot countries cannot be
cultivated without Negroes." </span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><i>The Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography</i> discusses<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/96/96075.html" target="_blank"> the role of evangelical Christians</a> in ending slavery and it
notes: “During the first half-century of religious revivalism, from the 1730s
to the 1780s, evangelicals showed little interest in the Atlantic slave trade
or the enslavement of Africans. The mid-century progenitors of Anglican
evangelicalism.... left no record of opposition to slavery in their deeds or
words.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">More importantly it notes that “several
important evangelicals... had a vested interest in human bondage.” Rev. Martin
Madan was a slave owner who used involuntary human labor on his plantations in
the Caribbean. The profits from this venture were used to build a chapel for
evangelicals in London. Like Newton, his fellow evangelical slavery, he also
wrote hymns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><i>The Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography</i> says that the few “evangelicals who took an interest in the enslaved
focused exclusively on the African’s spiritual welfare.” Slaves, in accordance
with the New Testament, were told to accept their bondage and improve their
spiritual condition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">The one religious group that actually
does deserve credit for abolitionism is the Quakers—but American evangelicals
don't like Quakers and the Puritans were happy to execute a few Quakers to make
that point. <a href="http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/anvil/24-2_097.pdf" target="_blank">One evangelical journal</a>, unlikely to be read by the rank-and-file,
admits: "The first generation of Evangelicals, then, signally failed to
question the morality of the African slave trade. There was no Evangelical
equivalent to the prophetic Quaker voices of Benjamin Lay, John Woolman and
Anthony Benezet. The early Evangelicals preached about turning from ‘the
world’, but when it came to the slave trade, they were social
conformists."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">Evangelicals did begin to change, but it
wasn't as a result of their religion. As the journal I quote above notes, there
was an interest by some evangelicals in the late 1700s "prompted by a
variety of factors, including the growing influence of Quaker and Enlightenment
critiques of slavery, and the upheaval of the American Revolution. In other
words, non-orthodox religions and the classical liberal values of the
Enlightenment and the American Revolution changed minds, NOT
evangelicalism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">I should note that the American
Revolution caused a lot of people to rethink liberty for others. As the journal
notes: "In New England and the Middle Colonies, Evangelical preachers were
often fervent promoters of American protests against British ‘tyranny’. But, as
they preached, some became painfully aware of the glaring gap between the noble
rhetoric of American liberty, and the terrible reality of American
slavery." If you read the history of abolitionism you will find the
Revolution changed ideas about the idea of all men being endowed with rights.
By the early 1800s it was widely being preached this meant blacks as well, and
by the mid 1800s the same principles were being applied to women. Sure, it took
another 100+ years before it was applied to gay people. Evangelicals, for the
most part, opposed abolitionism but eventually came around. They opposed the
equality of rights for women, and have mostly come around—though not as much as
the general public. And, they are the major opponents to rights for gay people
today.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">But, before we end this excursion through history we have to return to Wilberforce. Stephen Tomkins, a biographer of Wilberforce says, "His hands were not as clean as we assume." Wilberforce pushed to abolish the slave trade but originally left slavery alone. Slave trading ships were boarded by the British navy which did not free the slaves but instead turned them over to Sierra Leone, a colony run by the Sierra Leone Company, which Wilberforce and friends operated. <i>The Guardian</i> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/aug/02/wilberforce-condoned-slavery-files-claim" target="_blank">reports</a>: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #10131a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But,
what to do with the rescued slaves? "They could have set them free. But
what they did was hand them over to the authorities in Freetown," said
Tomkins. Sierra Leone became a crown colony in 1808, but was still managed by
Wilberforce and his friends. "So with their knowledge, and their
acquiescence, the navy would hand the slaves over. Some the colony kept
themselves, others they sold to landowners and put them to slave
labour." </span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Men
and children were "indentured" for $20. Women were given away. They
did not call them slaves, they were "apprentices"—not purchased, but
"redeemed." </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">
</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">They receive no wages, just food. And those that escaped were recaptured, in
irons. the only distinction between them as "slaves" and as
"apprentices," was that they must be freed after 14 years. </span></blockquote>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thomas Perronet Thompson, governor of the colony, complained to Wilberforce that this policy meant they had "become slave traders themselves." Thompson's opposition to the practice was not appreciated and Wilberforce and the others voted to remove him from his position. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The film <i>Amazing Grace</i> is not a very
honest portrayal of the history of evangelicalism and slavery. It implies
things that are not true—that evangelicals were the leaders of abolitionism. In
truth, British evangelicals were very pro-slavery until well after the Quakers
had made abolitionism an issue. They were latecomers to the abolitionist cause
and most evangelicals were either on the sidelines or supporters of slavery.
Men like Wilberforce, as late as he was to cause of abolitionism, were the
exception, not the rule. In was only around 1780 that some British evangelicals
joined Quakers to fight slavery—the Quakers had been at it for almost a century
by then. And Wilberforce only joined the cause in 1791. He didn't become an
abolitionist until about a decade after he became an evangelical—which compared
to Newton was actually rather speedy. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Note to readers: We apologize that the size of text varies erratically in places. Blogspot started doing this awhile back and it what looks fine in the draft comes out oddly on the page. We have been unable to resolve the problem Once we are able to get our own site we will be dropping Blogspot entirely because of these consistent problems. Anyone willing to help in designing a new site should contact us through comments below. Leave a comment, which won't be published, and we'll get in touch with you. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #10131a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-42511693619139260162014-11-14T18:35:00.002-08:002014-11-14T18:40:24.379-08:00Math Without Numbers: Why Socialism Fails<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Every economy is faced with the same
fundamental questions? How those questions are answered makes all the
difference in the world.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPZQKCT46xQYk2urVjGDipTb15yO24wJcSz9B8kAqmMkqrD2BNoBLiZrCYS4oMRZzSbtU2shyFZZ4WmmLuyQcJSMWVdDjbFKLXh8Yzp9tLBmNFcspjWh4Y1vxMGA8Vx9_6xFulGNmjFI/s1600/queue+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPZQKCT46xQYk2urVjGDipTb15yO24wJcSz9B8kAqmMkqrD2BNoBLiZrCYS4oMRZzSbtU2shyFZZ4WmmLuyQcJSMWVdDjbFKLXh8Yzp9tLBmNFcspjWh4Y1vxMGA8Vx9_6xFulGNmjFI/s1600/queue+.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">There are certain inescapable facts, which
are imposed on us by reality. Human nature requires we interact with the world
around us if we are to survive. We need to harvest food and to produce shelter.
We need medical care to avoid disease and death. The fundamental realities of
life require economic production; without it we perish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Economics is the study of how humans act
upon resources to produce goods and services, which are wanted and/or
needed. But once an economy is in place certain questions inevitably arise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Most of us instinctively know these
fundamental questions. What should be produced? For whom should it be
produced? How should it be produced?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">If someone wishes to build a swimming pool
he has already answered the first and second question for himself, but that
final question is the tough one. It is not simply a question of engineering.
This question implies some very fundamental dilemmas.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">One could build a swimming pool using
several laborers with shovels digging a hole. One could also bring in a backhoe
to dig the same hole. And, of course, there are questions of size and
depth to consider. Which technique should be used to actually construct the
pool? Would it be better to have a plastic pool that sits above ground? Now it
seems that it would take an expert to answer these questions. Yet everyday
people answer these questions on a daily basis. How do they do it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The means for answering these questions is
the price mechanism. When offered the alternative of using men with
shovels or a backhoe the consumer compares costs. If the backhoe is less
expensive he will go with that option. But if the men with shovels are cheaper
than chances are he’ll use this alternative. At each step of the process he compares
costs. Throughout the economy people make fundamental choices based on prices. The
possibilities of consumption or production are endless. We take our own
subjective values and then we compare prices and from that we make economic
decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">We live in a world of scarcity. An economist
defines scarcity as any good that, if priced at zero, would be in short supply. If
we could have as much of anything we wanted for free would there be any left? Chances
are we would run out very quickly. Since people want it and there is not
enough to give people all they want this good or service has value. That
simply means it is something that we seek to keep or to gain. It has value
because people want it. The cheaper it is the more of it they want. We use money
as a means of expressing that value.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">One important function of prices is to
allocate resources. If the movies were free we would have a hard time
finding seats. Even “free” seats would still need to be allocated.
There still would be a cost in that scarce resources are being used, but it
would not be a cost in terms of money. Instead it would take time standing in
line. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Just as some people have more money than
others, some people have more time than others. Movie theaters allocate
seats by selling them. Since the seat is not free the demand is reduced to
a manageable level. Prices are used to allocate seats. This principle
applies to everything from apples to dentists, from toothpaste to diamonds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Consider some of the items we want or need.
The list is endless. People want chocolate, TVs, computers, mince, automobiles,
eggs, books, haircuts, etc. Each item we want has a price but these prices
can fluctuate madly. An egg is not as expensive as a car and TVs cost more than
chocolate bars. Why do the prices vary and change?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rMNss9HWhILrdRU2G4wWhKOPPWtKJHNRIOqHcRcqfroo80OkPCPAlqMOcpDm0g6FLlEuqUcZELIclmgc_QlABPlVqIyR9S-6o3JD0KEkrN4sjx4d6wISx62hfxhDmlIWeoXnAavmq-o/s1600/unequal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1rMNss9HWhILrdRU2G4wWhKOPPWtKJHNRIOqHcRcqfroo80OkPCPAlqMOcpDm0g6FLlEuqUcZELIclmgc_QlABPlVqIyR9S-6o3JD0KEkrN4sjx4d6wISx62hfxhDmlIWeoXnAavmq-o/s1600/unequal.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Karl Marx and various socialists argued that
value a good is determined by the value of the labor necessary to produce it. This
theory was quite common in early economic thinking and at first glance it seems
to have some merit. One the earliest economists was Adam Smith, often
considered the father of free market economics, and he thought that labor created
value. Smith said that labor “is the real measure of the exchangeable value of
all commodities.” Another early economist, David Ricardo, said, “the quantity
of labor must augment the value of that commodity on which it is exercised.” Marx
simply built his theories on the ideas of early free market economists. He
said: “A use value, or useful article, therefore, has value only because human
labor in the abstract has been embodied or materialized in it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">This concept of the labor theory of value is
fundamental to Marxism. Without it the entire system falls apart. Marx argued
that value is created by labor. He then asked how is it that a capitalist makes
a profit? The capitalist hires workers, perhaps to produce chairs. He pays for the
resources necessary and then he pays the laborer to produce the chair. He takes
the finished product and sells it and hopefully makes a profit. But how is
it possible to make a profit if the value of the chair is equal to the value of
the labor needed to produce it, along with the value of the labor of the
resources used in the production? Marx had only one answer: the capitalist can
only make a profit by neglecting to pay the laborer the full value of his labor. From
this he argued that capitalists exploit workers and steal from them the full
value of their labor. This, he felt, meant a perpetual state of class
warfare between workers and capitalists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Marx’s logic was impeccable and if the labor
theory of value is correct then Marx was correct. But is value determined by labor? If
you think about it for a few seconds you start to see problems in this theory. And
if we go back to our chair example we can see why. How much is a chair worth? The
usual answer is: that depends on what chair you are talking about. If we take a
George II mahogany Windsor armchair with shaped bowed front and balustrade
splats on cabriole legs, produced around 1750, the current value is around $12,000.
In 1750 I doubt the price would have been anywhere near this amount. The labor
needed to produce the chair hasn’t changed but the value of the chair has skyrocketed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">A few years ago I found a 1936 copy of Ayn
Rand’s novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We the Living</i>, which I
bought for $9.00. Even that price was well above the original. A few months
later I sold it for $750. Once again the value increased without any
additional labor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">In some situations the reverse is true as
well. I could take some canvass and some paint and spend days working on my own
masterpiece and yet find that no one will pay anything for it. In fact the
chances are pretty good that I’d have a hard time giving it away. The canvass
and paint had a higher value before I mixed my labor with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Entrepreneurs sometimes make mistakes. They
hire workers and buy resources to produce a product. Then they find that when
the product is offered on the market that no one is interested in buying it at
the price necessary to make a profit. Eventually they start lowering the price
and if they still find no demand for the product they have no alternative but
to sell it below cost. There are situations where the price of a product could
be below the money paid to labor to produce the product. Of course such
situations play no role in Marxist theory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The economist Ludwig Mises explained the
problem of value which plagued the classical economists and which lead Marx to
his theory. Mises wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">“...The classical economists failed in their
endeavors to provide a satisfactory theory of value. They were at a loss to
find a solution for the apparent paradox of value. They were puzzled by the
alleged paradox that “gold” is more highly valued than “iron” although the
latter is more “useful” than the former. Thus they could not construct a
general theory of value and could not trace back the phenomena of market exchange
and or production to their ultimate source, the bahavior of the consumers.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Marx and other classical economists ignored
consumers when they tried to theorize on prices and value. Marx talks
about workers and capitalists but says little about consumers. He didn’t see
them as particularly important in the scheme of economics. All this was to change
when a group of economists around 1870 started exploring a different theory of
value. They observed how people acted in the economic world and concluded that
value is subjective, not objective. Something has value because someone wants
it. And since human wants vary from one person to another
then values fluctuate. Subjective values determine the demand
for a good or service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">On the other side there is the availability
of the good or service or what is called the supply. Together they form the
important economic principle of supply and demand. A large supply with no
demand will mean a very low price. A low supply with high demand will mean a
high price. The paradox of value, which Mises talked about, had finally been
solved. And the cost of labor was irrelevant. But with the subjectivist theory
of value the fundamental principles of Marxist theory collapsed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The Marxist, however, continued to try and
make their theory work in spite of this fundamental flaw. Interestingly
no nation adopted Marxist economic theories until after they had already been
thoroughly repudiated. And in the span of one lifetime Marxism was
implemented and collapsed. In 1920 Mises argue that Marxism couldn’t work
because it couldn’t make economic calculations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Marx devised an economic theory where prices
and profits were eradicated. This, he believed would lead to plenty for
all and end exploitation of labor. But now the Marxists were faced with the
paradox of value. Because they were trying to implement an economic policy
based on an antiquated concept of value they couldn’t make the economic calculations
necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vE9iaS3widdZTtAPWnBLZlNKWAA6kZsyIdu9NfvivfCjaatdVqu80_PszaIeLiOy3KrRqcUC6EWzRekKuGjyXTVwAFIxeJa4mR5jHsIXF0jKbVwm4rTO9p1qtc3Zlz8QXOGaLCRH4qg/s1600/Pierson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vE9iaS3widdZTtAPWnBLZlNKWAA6kZsyIdu9NfvivfCjaatdVqu80_PszaIeLiOy3KrRqcUC6EWzRekKuGjyXTVwAFIxeJa4mR5jHsIXF0jKbVwm4rTO9p1qtc3Zlz8QXOGaLCRH4qg/s1600/Pierson.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">N.G. Pierson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The Dutch economist N.G. Pierson wrote an
essay in 1902 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">entitled Het </i></span><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">waardeproblem
in een socialistische Maaschappij”</span></i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;"> or <i>The
Problem of Value in the Socialist Community</i>. Pierson said that under
socialism:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">“One problem above all would remain and, appearing
in the most diverse forms, would call for practical solutions. I mean the
problem of value. The problem of value? These words will astonish many of my
readers; this will be the last thing they expected. The problem of value in a socialist
society? Surely, if socialism is realized there will be no value phenomena and
therefore no value problem. Then everything will be a mere question of
technique.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Pierson said that the problem was not a
technical one “but rather a decision as to the most profitable way of employing
material things, and the rightness of such a decision must depend upon the rightness
of the evaluation which preceded it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Even under Marxism items have value. The
government might distribute meat equally to consumers but vegetarians would not
necessarily be pleased with what they received. They would be quite happy to
exchange their meat for something else, which they valued higher. Pierson
argued that as long as the Marxist state could provide everything people wanted
in unlimited amounts then there would be no problem of vale. But, the moment
there was scarcity, which there was from the very beginning, then individual
consumer values would once again arise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">“Thus the commercial principle, which such a
society sought in vain to abolish, comes once more into the foreground. Profits
which the State should have been able to claim for itself fall to individual
persons. The phenomenon of value can no more be suppressed than the force of
gravity. .... to annihilate value is beyond the power of man. Value is not
the effect but the cause of exchange. Things do not have value because they are
exchanged; they are exchanged because they have value—more value for some
people than for others.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The Marxists dreamed of replacing economic
value with state planning. In fact Marx called for the abolition of money and
prices. The entire price system was to be demolished and replaced with the
political allocation of goods and services. But Marxists were quite vague
on how all of this would work out. Elizabeth Tamedly in her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Socialism and International Economic Order</i> notes
that: “The socialist founding fathers openly refused to express themselves in
detail on the working of a socialist economic order.” W. Euken said: “When
Lenin, in 1917, wrote State and Revolution, he had no conception of the problem
of economic calculation and of the difficulties involved in centrally directing
the economic process of a modern national economy. His goal was ‘to organize
the entire economy according to the model of the post office”... this is not surprising:
for one who believes, with Marx, in the predetermination of historical
development, economic calculations in a centrally administered economy pose no
problem to be mastered beforehand by thought.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Euken is correct. Marx did believe that
communism was inevitable. Since it was inevitable then there really was no need
to discuss how it would actually work in practice. Problems of economic
calculation wouldn’t come up in a Marxist society because Marx, by faith,
simply believed they wouldn’t come up. Frank Vorheis, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Comprehending Karl </i></span><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Marx</span></i><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">, said that Marx
predicted “a working-class revolution that will overthrow capitalism. A new way
of producing, a new way of thinking, a new way of relating, a new history are
coming, but Marx never told us what they would be.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">We have now uncovered two of the major
problems of Marxist thinking. Firstly, Marx had no concept of a realistic
theory of value. He built his theories on the errors of Smith and Ricardo.
Secondly, he believed in the inevitability of communism. Because of this he saw
no need to grapple with such fundamental problems as how would economic
calculation take place within a socialist system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XX-QcJoAqjWmW_5V3_6JWHKcgEFhXn25fOigIbTg7rG7iTZ_rY2BXVpB3ocrRrrVe2A8enoDlQPxwLzOJtf-jrsiy6pP3rC2xSP5_adMQa2p7pvnAaH81PDY5TM3Qm7ZGy9WOy4-Rk4/s1600/Lenin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XX-QcJoAqjWmW_5V3_6JWHKcgEFhXn25fOigIbTg7rG7iTZ_rY2BXVpB3ocrRrrVe2A8enoDlQPxwLzOJtf-jrsiy6pP3rC2xSP5_adMQa2p7pvnAaH81PDY5TM3Qm7ZGy9WOy4-Rk4/s1600/Lenin.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Without the price system the Marxist regimes
were groping in the dark. The best they could do was to look at what prices
were in capitalist societies and try to mimic what was being done there. Socialism
survived as long as it did because it was able to copy capitalist allocation of
resources. And they were notorious for stealing technology from the allegedly decadent West. Socialism was
inefficient because it was never quite sure what was the most profitable
way in which to use various resources. Even copying capitalism couldn’t work
because resource values are not the same in all places at the same time. Since the
combination of resources and labor are virtually endless the economic
calculation problem continued to get worse and worse. Socialist economies were
famous for producing items that no one wanted while failing to produce what
consumers demanded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Yuri Maltsev, who was senior researcher at
the Institute of Economics in the Soviet Union, explained the problem:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">“Socialism attempted to replace billions of
individual decisions made by sovereign consumers in the market with “rational
economic planning” by a few vested with the power to determine the who, what,
how and when of production and consumption. It led to widespread shortages,
starvation, and mass frustration of the population. When the Soviet government
set 22 million prices, 460,000 wage rates, and over 90 million work quotas for
110 million government employees, chaos and shortages were the inevitable
result. The socialist state destroyed work ethic, deprived people of
entrepreneurial opportunity and initiative, and led to widespread welfare
mentality.</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The real character of the so-called
centrally planned economy is well illustrated by a quip I heard several years
ago by Soviet economist Nikolai Fedorenko. He said that a fully balanced,
checked, and detailed economic plan for the next year would be ready, with the
help of computers, in 30,000 years. There are millions of product variants;
there are hundreds of thousands of enterprises; it is necessary to make billions
of decisions on inputs and outputs; the plans must relate to labor force,
material supplies, wages, costs, prices, “planned profits,” investments,
transportation, storage, and distribution. These decisions originate from
different parts of the planning hierarchy. They are, as a rule, inconsistent
and contradictory to each other because they reflect the conflicting interests
of different strata of bureaucracy. Because the next year’s plan must be ready
by next year, and not in 29,999 years, it is inevitably neither balanced nor
rational.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">Polish economist Jacek Kochanowicz says that
under socialism “there is no private ownership of the means of production. They
are not exchanged, and as a consequence, it is impossible to establish prices
that reflect actual conditions.” The abolition of the market required another
method to determine efficient use of resources. In the end the Soviets
were forced, by necessity, to use coercion and raw power to impose their schemes.
The abolition of the rational method of determining value required substitution
by the irrational. Mises argued that what the Marxists were doing was
abolishing economics altogether. “Without economic calculation there can be no
economy. Hence in a socialist state wherein the pursuit of economic calculation
is impossible, there can be — in our sense of the term — no economy whatsoever.
...Socialism is the abolition of rational economy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">But, how is it that order emerges from the
apparent anarchy of the free market? Every economy is always in a constant
state of flux. Economies are ever changing. What is true at one time is no longer
true seconds later. Consumer demands fluctuate. People move from one area to
another and with them their demands also move. Consumer preferences are ever fickle
yet it is the consumer who runs the economy. Without his purchases production
would not take place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The reason that economic calculation can take
place in a free market economy and not under socialism is because of the price
system. All the variables, which are necessary for rational planning, are
condensed in a free market into the price. A consumer does not need to know
that an unusual freeze in Panama destroyed a large amount of the banana crop. All
she needs to know is that the price of bananas increased. The higher price
indicates a lower supply and the consumer never needs access to the reasons why
the price increased. If bananas are more expensive, but apples are cheaper, she
may switch to apples. The consumer acts as if she knows why the price has
increased. She makes her choices based on the price. But her choices are consistent
with all the facts even those which she does not know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The price mechanism takes all the variables
and puts them into one unit of measurement, which everyone understands—prices. If prices are high we buy less. If prices are low we buy more. But
if prices are abolished then we must rely on some other method of allocation.
Thus when the Marxist abolished private markets they were required to resort to
central planning. But with central planning they needed to understand millions
of variables. Unable to do this they guessed. And more often than not they
guessed wrong. The result was the collapse of socialism, which was so
dramatically illustrated with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">In a free market planning is not done
centrally but is diffused throughout society. Instead of one group planning
everything millions of individuals plan the segment of the economy, which they
know best. Because knowledge is diffused throughout society central planning is
impossible. Diffused knowledge requires diffused decision-making. This is
done in free markets where each decision-maker uses the price system to make
his decisions. This means each small producer makes economic calculations based
on costs. From this he determines the most efficient way to do what he does. In
the free market the end results evolve from the bottom whereas in socialism
they are imposed from the top.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt;">The importance of economic calculation cannot
be overstated. When economic calculations are abolished the result is chaos. Marxism
failed because it thought it could order an economy without such fundamental
economic features as private property, free exchange of goods and services,
and the price system. With the abolition of these features the ability to make
rational economic decisions vanished as well. Making economic calculations
without prices is like trying to do math without numbers. Marxism was plagued
from the very beginning because it relied on ancient, but erroneous, theories.
Because of Marx’s irrational faith in the inevitability of communism socialist
theoreticians never really tried to understand the problems of value and
economic calculation. The inevitable result was dictatorial regimes followed by
collapse and chaos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-18706558090451721542014-09-20T01:07:00.001-07:002014-09-20T01:12:43.143-07:00The Regulatory State: An Engine of Minority Repression<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Swarms of armed police
invaded nine barbershops in Orange County, Florida, with as many as 14 armed
agents involved. The shops had one thing in common—they catered to black or
Hispanic patrons. Of course, it could be a coincidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The police entered
without warrants. This was allowed because they accompanied agents of the
Department of Business and Professional Regulation, who are allowed to enter
any barbershop at will. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is one example of
how regulatory powers can be used to target minorities on behalf of the police,
in ways that would not be legal otherwise. Thirty-seven people were arrested; the
majority accused of “barbering without a license.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Florida police claimed
the raids were a general campaign singling out criminal “hot spots.” None of
those arrested appear to be guilty of a real crime—one with a victim.
Thirty-four of the 37 arrested were ONLY charged with the “crime” of barbering
without state permission. The remaining three were charged with victimless
crimes; such as owning a gun without permission, or possession of illegal substances—small
amounts of marijuana in these cases.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdWZ-WEFRZEZZIib8FvG_Cd1HUzr6Cm4OMX5O_vnuS3qQ_8qnbNuoSKETiaDlGHZ_XiLlaOKQTYP-Lkg103yePSGcxmfYSREKdJvw0szSmxQNL2OJVxKL9BCE-Gn_ScT-UdIsLGf4TKI/s1600/barbershop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrdWZ-WEFRZEZZIib8FvG_Cd1HUzr6Cm4OMX5O_vnuS3qQ_8qnbNuoSKETiaDlGHZ_XiLlaOKQTYP-Lkg103yePSGcxmfYSREKdJvw0szSmxQNL2OJVxKL9BCE-Gn_ScT-UdIsLGf4TKI/s1600/barbershop.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Capt. Dave Ogden, who
commands the area where these raids were conducted, justified arresting people
for barbering because: “It was a misdemeanor crime being conducted in our
presence. We decided to make arrests.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Barbershops play a special
role in the black community. Books have even been written about how they were
seen ad community centers and places where individuals would gather to discuss
the community and matters of politics. On black publication, writing about a
similar raid, said police raids like this “attacked one of the Black
communities most sacred institutions: the barbershop.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Considering the social
role of black barbershops one might wonder why such a massive show of force was
necessary for petty offenses, offenses so petty that many people didn’t realize
they are illegal. <a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-11-07/health/os-illegal-barbering-arrests-20101107_1_criminal-barbering-licensing-inspections-dave-ogden/2" target="_blank">The <i>Orlando Sentinel </i>wrote:</a></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1f1d1d;">If you didn't know cutting hair
without a license was a crime, you're not alone. An arrest for barbering
without a license is not just unusual—in the state of Florida, it's nearly
unheard of.</span><span style="color: #1f1d1d;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1f1d1d;">Florida Department of Law
Enforcement records turned up only 38 jail bookings on the misdemeanor charge
across the entire state in the past 10 years—and all but three of those
arrests occurred during Orange County operations during the past few months.</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1f1d1d;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #1f1d1d;">Most of the barbers charged with
licensing violations as a result of the sheriff's operation<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span>pleaded no contest and were ordered
to pay fines of about $500—which is about equal to the ones inspectors issue
when a barber or stylist has an expired license.</span><span style="color: #1f1d1d;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1f1d1d;">A licensing inspector determined
that Strictly Skillz was in compliance and everyone working had a valid license
displayed in plain view—but not before barbers said they spent an hour
sitting in handcuffs.</span><span style="color: #1f1d1d;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1f1d1d;">Abrams, who works at Barber Kings
in Pine Hills, said he knew his license wasn't current when inspectors entered,
and he expected a slap on the wrist and a fine.</span><span style="color: #1f1d1d;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1f1d1d;">When he and the eight others arrested at Barber Kings
that day got to jail, "everybody laughed at us," Abrams said.
"Even the judge was like, 'Are you serious?'"</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In some cases the arrest
came, not because the individual is unable to barber adequately, but because a valid
license had expired. The issuing of annual licenses does NOT protect the public,
it is a revenue-gathering exercise unrelated to “consumer protection.” If the ability
to barber were the issue, a once-off license would be sufficient. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Police claimed they
targeted these shops due to a history of “a lack of cooperation with state
inspectors” and “a history of criminal activity.” But the Sentinel says that
records do NOT support this claim. One has to wonder if racial assumptions or
prejudices did not play a role in these raids, especially given the lack of
substantive criminal charges. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">California Cops Ignore the Fourth Amendment As Well</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In Moreno Valley, CA, police teamed up with the
California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology and “conducted a series of
racially-targeted, warrantless raids on barbershops owned and patronized by
African Americans under the false pretext that the searches were solely part of
a health and code inspection.” The good people at <a href="https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/moreno-valley-police-sued-unlawful-raids-african-american-barbershops" target="_blank">the ACLU stepped in</a> and sued
on behalf of the victims of this racial profiling under the pretext of
“regulation” enforcement.<!--EndFragment-->
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union
of Southern California and Seyfarth Shaw LLP details how armed police officers,
accompanied by city and state inspectors, burst into barbershops without
warning last year. The officers then carried out extensive searches unrelated
to any potential health or code violations in a clear example of racial
profiling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"The Moreno Valley police unmistakably targeted
these businesses because their owners and clientele are African American. There
was no evidence of criminal activity at these locations and no reason that these
once-thriving businesses were singled out other than racial profiling,"
said ACLU/SC Staff Attorney Peter Bibring. "These raids were a blatant
violation of these business owners' civil rights and reminiscent of a dark era
in our own shameful past that should never be repeated again."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On April 2, 2008, five Moreno Valley police officers,
carrying guns and wearing body armor, swarmed the Hair Shack, where Kevon
Gordon has been in business for more than 20 years, with two city code officers
and three inspectors from the California State Board of Barbering and
Cosmetology. In an atmosphere more akin to a narcotics raid than a civil code
and business inspection, officers blocked the entrances, questioned employees
and rummaged through the storefront business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Officers treated my employees and customers like
criminals simply because of the color of our skin. It was sickening,"
Gordon said. "I have lost good customers and had my reputation called into
question in a community where I've been working for 20 years. I wouldn't wish
this on anyone."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTZ3uWbuW8xn_ErVnmMUmEz0-SmCJS7wVE1vjmvpWLCSSKwAr6onCrBt2vuQjoKDA6XKXUbFHNq7cnG2R2Ixk74tO8q7aY8KCEFOVE7Xujyx-P3OyWBsQ80Os_qUxvHjAqk1IGy4mh2lA/s1600/aclu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTZ3uWbuW8xn_ErVnmMUmEz0-SmCJS7wVE1vjmvpWLCSSKwAr6onCrBt2vuQjoKDA6XKXUbFHNq7cnG2R2Ixk74tO8q7aY8KCEFOVE7Xujyx-P3OyWBsQ80Os_qUxvHjAqk1IGy4mh2lA/s1600/aclu.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That day officers also targeted four other African
American barbershops, including Fades Unlimited. At Fades Unlimited, officers
went further in running criminal warrant checks on barbers and customers. When
one barber objected to this treatment, an officer handcuffed him and detained
him in a police car for 10 minutes before finally freeing him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Gordon told media that until the day of the raid his
only contact with police had been to cut their hair. Just as he was finishing a
haircut for a customer “all of a sudden nine people ran in. There were police
in body armor. I said, ‘What’s going on?’ and they demanded to see my ID and
ran a warrant check on me. They asked my clients if they were felons. It went
on for 45 minutes and then they just left.” The barber’s attorney argued,
“police were using the business inspection as a pretext to look around for
evidence of criminal wrongdoing with no reason to do so.” He said he hoped a
lawsuit would “make sure the police don’t use business or health inspections as
a way to get around requirements for obtaining search warrants.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">The Moreno Valley raids failed to turn up
substantive criminal activities, which is not to say barbers were not charged
with offenses. But the offenses included such crimes as “failure to show an
independent contractor’s business license, failure to label supply cabinets and
towel drawer offenses.”</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Apparently police realize that search warrants for
fishing expeditions are impossible to obtain, so they “cooperate” with agents of
regulatory bodies and accompany those agents, who are exempted from needing
search warrants. Under the “umbrella” of the regulatory body the <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr/20/local/me-barbers20" target="_blank">police engagein actions that are normally illegal</a>. Ray Butler, a black barber in Moreno
Valley who was not targeted that day, was furious, “Cosmetology inspectors
fronting for police is virtually unheard of in any state.” Of course, it was
only a short time later that police in Florida used the same ruse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Regulations and Racism</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Licensing laws are often
used as an excuse to exclude competition. Entrenched special interest groups
push for regulations to keep out upstarts. Often the laws are just out-dated
regulations that refuse to take into account changing cultural patterns. For
instance, many states continue to require hair braiders to have a state
license. This requires them to spend hundreds of hours attending courses that
cover everything except the trade they actually practice, and it requires them
to pay out thousands of dollars in order to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Institute for
Justice reported that numerous states require braiders of hair to have
cosmetology licenses that are not applicable to their actual profession.
Obtaining the license requires hours of expensive cosmetology courses. In Iowa
a license can be obtained after taking 2100 hours of training. In Idaho it is
2000; Illinois, 1500; New Jersey, 1200; Utah, 2000 and so on. In Alaska a
braider not only needs 1,650 hours of coursework, but another 2,000 hours as an
“apprentice.” The Institute says these courses can cost between $5000 and
$15,000 and that “the training is often completely unrelated to African hair braiding.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">These laws were once
only applied to highly specialized fields but have since been applied to
“professions for which the justification of entry barriers is virtually
nonexistent, hampering even would-be interior decorators, casket retailers and
florists. A closer examination reveals that legislatures are often motivated
not by the public good but rather by private interests that seek to protect
themselves from competition.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Institute also looked at the racist
implications of taxi licensing laws in places like New York City. Residents of
black areas of the city find it difficult to hail a taxi at all; the licensed
taxis simply refuse to serve the poorer areas of the city. Instead a network of
illegal, unmarked “gypsy” or “jitney” cabs serves the areas. Marcus Cole, a law
professor at Stanford University, <a href="http://www.ij.org/component/content/article/42-liberty/1645-medallion-monopoly-drives-taxicab-racism" target="_blank">explains how government regulations deny taxi services</a> to black areas:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Like many other large cities, New York City
confers upon a select number of companies an artificial monopoly in the right
to pick up passengers on the street. This right flows from the ownership of a
taxicab medallion, which is required in order for a taxi to carry passengers
other than those that are assigned by a radio dispatcher. Currently, the City
of New York allows just over 11,000 of these precious medallions to be held by
cab companies. Ownership of the medallion, which is visibly attached to the
hood of the vehicle by way of a large rivet, also entitles the taxicab to be
painted yellow, thereby communicating to all the world that this cab is one of
the select few to have curbside pick-up rights.<o:p> </o:p></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This artificial monopoly exists, purportedly, to allow New York City to
regulate taxicabs. There is, however, no logical nexus between the need to
regulate taxicabs and the imposition of an artificial quota on the number of
cabs. Even the oft-cited concern about street congestion cannot justify this
arbitrary barrier to entry. Taxicabs can be regulated like any other business,
without the creation of arbitrary limits on their numbers. New York regulates
restaurants, too, but does not fix the number which may exist in the city at
any one time. The market does this. If there is insufficient demand to support
additional restaurants, additional restaurants will not be opened. This is true
for any supply, including the supply of taxicabs.</span></blockquote>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By limiting competition,
taxi regulations reduce the cost of discrimination. Prof. Cole wrote: “Cab drivers who harbor
racist attitudes are suddenly protected from the competitive forces that would,
under normal circumstances, punish them monetarily for acting upon those
attitudes. The medallion monopoly provides the hood by which these racist
attitudes are shielded from the light of the marketplace.”<!--EndFragment-->
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Because of the artificial scarcity of the taxi medallions these items
now trade “for hundreds of thousands of dollars.” This does two things. First,
it means that the favored few who own these licenses will lobby hard to keep
regulations in place as a means of restricting competition, which not only
increase their profits but increases the value of their medallions. Secondly,
the high prices for medallions act as an effective means of keeping competitors
out, especially competitors who come from the poorer sections of the city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Regulations and the Assault on Gay People</span></b></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The high cost of regulatory compliance is an effective means of
implementing Jim Crow legislation, even if that was not the initial intent of
the regulations. High entry costs effectively keep racial minorities out of the
regulated professions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Blacks are not the only minority to feel the sting of police cooperation
with “regulatory” agencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Forth Worth police teamed up with agents for the Texas Alcoholic Beverages
Commission to “inspect” a newly opened gay club, the Rainbow Lounge, for compliance with liquor
regulations. But eyewitnesses reported that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/us/05texas.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">the police came into the bar in full force</a> and immediately began manhandling patrons. One customer was pushed
so hard against a wall he suffered brain injury as a result.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cKPVCbe-Z7Q?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">One ironic touch was they had conducted this raid on the 40<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots. It was there that New York City police
conducted another “routine” raid on the Stonewall, a bar catering to gay
clients. That time the clients resisted and the modern gay rights movement was
born.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After initially defending his officers the Fort Worth police chief was
soon learning that police accounts of events weren’t accurate. The TABC was
embarrassed by the excessive force used by police and put their liquor control
agents, who acted as the front men for the raid, on desk duty while an
investigation was carried out. One patron says of the police: “They were hyped
up. They came in charged and ready for a fight.” The defensive police made
false allegations that patrons openly groped uniformed police officers—a charge
that seems highly unlikely. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Under media scrutiny police stories kept changing. After Chad Gibson was
hospitalized the police claimed he had originally been injured by an accidental
fall. Witnesses told a very different story. Gibson was standing watching the
raid, while holding a bottle of water. An agent came to him and placed a hand
on his shoulder indicating he was under arrest. Gibson asked why. The response
was to slam Gibson into the wall. A TABC agent and two police officers then
jumped him as he lay on the floor. A witness recounted that a police officer
grabbed Gibson and slammed his head into the floor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">An investigation by
the TABC found that “TABC employees violated various agency policies.” Among
the violations TABC agents were working with the police “without approval.” In
addition agents are required to file reports any time they use force against
individuals during a raid. None of the agents did so—but at that time their
story was that the injured patron “fell” accidentally. The three TABC agents
who assisted police were terminated. <!--EndFragment--></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Unlicensed Dancing Leads to Gay Attack</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In Atlanta police used “licensing” laws as an excuses to raid another
gay club. The club had dancers on stage dancing in their underwear and police
claimed this required an “entertainment” license. Also required for such a raid
would be a warrant, something the police failed to obtain. Yet, without a
warrant police not only searched the entire club, but hand searched every
patron—even those who refused to give permission to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To enforce the licensing requirement for dancers the police attacked the
club with 21 officers who entered the club while others remained outside. The
police also intended to arrest <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
large number individuals as they brought three paddy wagons with multiple squad
cars to haul away their catch. The officers who conducted the raid were part of
a SWAT team which focuses on the so-called “war on drugs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Police
justifications for the raid changed on an almost daily basis. Police first claimed
it was drug bust, yet no drugs were located in the bar or on any of the
patrons. Police Chief Richard Pennington then said that the raid was justified
because dancers “must have a license, and if the dancers accept money for
dancing that also requires a permit. The business does not have a license for
either and that was the premise of the arrest.” Lewd activities were claimed by
the police as well but no such charges were ever filed. The only crime that was
stamped out that night was related to dancing “without a permit.”<!--EndFragment-->
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://acrbgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Complaint_AtlantaEagleBar.pdf" target="_blank">A review</a> of the raid by the Atlanta Citizen’s Review Board determined
that the police were acting in violation of the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When police were asked about rights they allegedly
responded: “you are a fag and you have no rights.” Another police officer was
heard saying that “raiding a fag bar was fun and they should do this every
week.” The Review Board found multiple witnesses who heard these or similar
remarks. The police denied any such remarks were made, but the Board, after
considering the evidence, “voted to sustain the allegation of abusive
language.” Elsewhere patrons reported that one office joked, “this is more fun
than raiding niggers with crack.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Numerous patrons
filed complaints that they too suffered abusive language and were “falsely
imprisoned” by the officers. Patrons were forced to lie down on the floor and
were detained between one half hour and an hour. The Board said that none of
the 24 officers indicated, “that any of the patrons who made complaints
committed an offense.” The Board
also said the evidence supported the claims by the patron’s that they were
verbally abused and voted “to sustain the allegation of unlawful imprisonment
against all the officers who were present.” The Board said the police officers
had “no articulable suspicion or probable cause to believe that the patrons
committed or were about to commit a crime.”<!--EndFragment-->
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Civil suits against the police for the raid have, however, run into
problems. The <i>Atlanta Journal-Constitution</i> <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/news/lawsuit-police-erased-evidence-in-atlanta-eagle-ra/nQmF2/" target="_blank">reports</a>, “that evidence was purposely
destroyed” by police. “Electronic backups of emails were recorded over. Text
messages and photos taken on cell phones are simply gone. According to court
documents, the cell phone data was erased just days after U.S. District Judge
Timothy Batten ordered the data turned over to the Atlanta Eagle’s lawyers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And, all of this started under the pretext of enforcing a regulation
requiring dancers to have a license. The <i>Journal-Constitution</i> reported: “Eight
people were charged with city ordinance violations involving licensing; three
of them were acquitted and the charges against the other five were dropped
earlier this year.” Based on the evidence it appears the police used
“licensing” regulations as the excuse for the raid, seemingly motivated by
animus toward gay people. Searching patrons was a fishing expedition hoping to
find drugs to justify the raid after the fact. The police ran into problems however.
In spite of searching 62 patrons and the premises they couldn’t find illegal
drugs anywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The reality is that police forces in this country still harbor
individuals who use their positions to express their own bigotry. These
individuals find it quite easy to use the web of licensing laws and regulatory
rules to harass individuals they dislike. They are able to use the power of the
State to indulge their own prejudices. This appears to be the case in the
Atlanta and Forth Worth gay raids as well as the cases with the Florida and
California barbershops. It is also clear that police are using licensing regulations
in order to do an end-run around the Fourth Amendment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition, various special interests use the regulatory process to
skew the system to redistribute wealth in their own direction while harming
identifiable minority groups in the process. This is the case in many of the
licensing laws which restrict access to professions thus limiting competition
and raising profits for those entrenched in these restricted
occupations—something that happens with both taxi and hair braiding licensing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Politicians are
attracted to these laws because they are a means of raising revenue for the
state. In addition, they are heavily lobbied by the various public and private
groups that benefit from the regulations, sometimes in the name of “protecting
the consumer” from some imagined problem. But, once in place the regulations
and licensing requirements are easily turned to other darker agendas and often
it is vulnerable minority groups who suffer most. </span><!--EndFragment--></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-61563692569917698022014-09-04T00:14:00.001-07:002014-09-04T00:14:26.135-07:00Walter Williams says he doesn't understand.... and then proves it.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Q9fO-K3xdIiKKv95ECPyeTYihRnkWCfc4uc_8rAvORXVDnVxKlC5_PLRYMmw9uiWXSNktwPV7zOcpAxi66vzKniJ_qyj0hxSL_zAVJ_QnrUKl4rlwbbGvXwHqFEIbmaM0UWtW_lTww/s1600/walterewilliams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-Q9fO-K3xdIiKKv95ECPyeTYihRnkWCfc4uc_8rAvORXVDnVxKlC5_PLRYMmw9uiWXSNktwPV7zOcpAxi66vzKniJ_qyj0hxSL_zAVJ_QnrUKl4rlwbbGvXwHqFEIbmaM0UWtW_lTww/s1600/walterewilliams.jpg" /></a></div>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Walter
Williams shows his conservative side—being good on economics does not make one
a libertarian—in statements he made about the gay community. <a href="https://www.creators.com/conservative/walter-williams/things-i-dont-understand.html" target="_blank">Williams claims</a>
gay men should pay higher premiums for life insurance because "life
expectancy at age 20 for homosexual and bisexual men is eight to 20 years less
than for all men."</span><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
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claims the reason they don't is because gays have intimidated the insurance
companies with accusations of discrimination, but Williams would be okay with anti-gay
discrimination because "it is acceptable for insurance companies to
discriminate against smokers and the obese but not homosexuals."</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
<a href="http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/3/657.abstract?ijkey=75d67a7c0876a0775589d201aa783a35af6494cb&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha" target="_blank">only basis</a> for Williams's accusation is an outdated study done with old data from the
height of the AIDS crisis and limited data to one large Canadian city—hardly a
representative sample. Even the authors of the study admit current evidence does
not warrant such a. It should be noted that Williams entirely neglects to
mention the AIDS issue in that study—surely he knows how dramatically wrong
projections about AIDS turned out to be, so why leave out that important
detail?</span></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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authors <a href="http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/30/6/1499.full" target="_blank">now write</a> that "Death is a product of the way a person lives and
what physical and environmental hazards he or she faces every day. It cannot be
attributed solely to their sexual orientation or any other ethnic or social
factor." Williams dismisses this as them having to “soft-pedal,"
because "homosexuals have far greater political power and sympathy than
smokers and the obese." Apparently the idea of changing your conclusion
because the premises were wrong never enters his mind.</span><!--EndFragment--> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">There are
many reasons life expectancy varies from group to group. Life expectancy data
is among the most abused in the world. It contains many factors and dishonest
statisticians use it to prove pet theories. For instance, the Left compares
life expectancy in the US to various European nations, concluding the
differences, slightly in favor of Europe, are <a href="http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/ranking-the-us-health-care-system" target="_blank">due to socialized health care</a>.
They ignore higher obesity rates in the US, greater teen pregnancy rates,
differing definitions used for "live births and numerous other factors.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">As the
experts, whom Williams only cites when they agree with him and dismisses when
they don't, say, life expectancy can't be attributed to one factor alone. Of
course, projections used in that study assumed things about HIV and AIDS since
proven wrong. Projected infection rates have NOT happened, and death rates
dropped dramatically. Reality changed. The authors admitted reality changed.
Walter Williams, however, prefers the older faulty data—it confirms his
prejudices.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even John
Maynard Keynes understood the issue, as he famously said, "When the facts
change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" Williams doesn't change
his mind, he just ignores the facts. The only reason the Journal doesn't agree
with Williams, in his mind, is because evil gays are stopping it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic16sBuG6AeKW9bj-6FPbRuCam8o_YAZYDcGj7-5znUE4GUiLI98xt_tQ-V20G5XzMBjCTaa7GJftrsCkt6-c7iC7kaqO5kPegwm4kbd9dcuEX8cC2p1Hx-WfOb5cPuen5s7c3Eqpf4do/s1600/westboro-baptist-church-god-hates-fags-enablers-evil-sinners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic16sBuG6AeKW9bj-6FPbRuCam8o_YAZYDcGj7-5znUE4GUiLI98xt_tQ-V20G5XzMBjCTaa7GJftrsCkt6-c7iC7kaqO5kPegwm4kbd9dcuEX8cC2p1Hx-WfOb5cPuen5s7c3Eqpf4do/s1600/westboro-baptist-church-god-hates-fags-enablers-evil-sinners.jpg" height="273" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/news/lgb-individuals-living-anti-gay-communities-die-early" target="_blank">Other factors</a> also could impact life expectancy—factors such as people like Williams.
Anti-gay prejudice reduces life expectancy for gay people. There is the obvious
problem of harassment and rejection and the effect it has on gay teens in
relation to suicide. But, anti-gay areas are also less likely to hire gay
people, reducing employment options and lowering income—one result of lower
income is higher death rates due to less health care. Marriage extends life
spans for gays and straights, but is still denied gay people in most states.
Anti-gay attitudes increase stress levels for gay people, causing more health
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differences between the life expectancy of straight and gay men is smaller than
the differences between white and black men. Perhaps Mr. Williams should
consider giving up his "black male" lifestyle?</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
authors of the original study expressed dismay at misuse of it. They said,
"homophobic groups [misusing their study] appear more interested in
restricting the human rights of gay and bisexuals rather than promoting their
health and well being." I don't like to say someone is homophobic—it lets
him off too easy. This is not a phobia, no more than the Klan suffers blackaphobia
or Himmler had Judeophobia. It is something worse—prejudice. Being black
doesn't make one immune, nor does being a moderately decent economics professor.</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<!--StartFragment--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">What is particularly telling about Williams and his bigotry is he wrote a <a href="http://gdreadradio.wordpress.com/2004/01/05/walter-williams-wondering/" target="_blank">similar piece</a> a decade ago. His columns are now recycled lies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Believe it or not he then used an even
more unreliable source, one thoroughly discredited since then. <br />
<br />
That time William’s said one thing he didn’t understand was why insurance
companies weren’t discriminating against those nasty gay folk. I suggest that
an understatement; there are lots of things he doesn’t understand—in the future
he should stick to writing about what he does understand instead. <br />
<br />
In 2003, he wrote: “Another thing I wonder about are those life insurance
company advertisements where they offer reduced rates for nonsmokers. ….” He
complained:</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">H</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #3c4348; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">ow come life insurance
companies don’t advertise lower life insurance premiums for heterosexuals?
After all, life insurance companies do ask applicants about other forms of
behavior that have an impact on life expectancy, such as: Are you a pilot? Do
you abuse alcohol and drugs? And do you have DUI arrests? Why not also: Are you
a homosexual? I think I know the answer. Life insurance companies would be
charged with lifestyle discrimination. But isn’t it also lifestyle
discrimination to charge higher premiums to smokers, airplane pilots, drug and
alcohol abusers, and drunk drivers? None of these lifestyles has the
devastating impact on life expectancy that homosexuality does. The only answer
I can come up with is that some forms of discrimination are politically
acceptable, while others aren’t.</span></span></blockquote>
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<!--StartFragment--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Williams says that is the “only answer I can come up with”—and I believe
him. It doesn’t mean it is the ONLY answer there is, just that Williams is unwilling
to consider others. His own limitations, or lack of desire to continue
thinking, prevent more obvious answers. One is that insurance companies have not
found the assertions of Williams and anti-gay activists to be true. Perhaps
they realized that if they raised rates on gay people in general they would
lose sales and revenue to competitors. They are quite interested in the actual
facts about life span since their business depends on it. Perhaps Mr. Williams
should learn to trust insurance markets to calculate risks. <br />
<br />
Williams preferred to use the extremist material of full-time anti-gay bigot
Paul Cameron. In 2003, he didn’t indulge his prejudices with the more
respectable, though outdated study. He went straight into the lion’s den and
used the <a href="http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_sheet.html" target="_blank">thoroughly discredited</a> Paul Cameron.</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<!--StartFragment--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">His first article relied on Cameron, who <a href="http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_obit.html" target="_blank">looked at obituaries</a> in gay
publications in urban areas during the height of the AIDS crisis. Cameron added
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sampling of the entire community of gay men.</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I worked at a gay newspaper in the 80s
and continues to read gay papers after moving on to other things. Obituaries in
the gay press were mainly about young gay men dying of HIV related illnesses.
They were atypically young, urban and living in an unusual time. Gay
individuals from rural areas who died at 78 were not representive—not because
they didn’t exist, but because the gay press was a distinctly urban industry
focusing on young gay men. <br />
<br />
Only 11% of individuals in the Cameron “study” died from something other than
HIV, yet this was not causing anything near 89% of deaths in the gay community.
Understandably it was the disease people worried about and was thus
over-reported. What it wasn’t, was a representative sampling. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/5wCY6XIbtLU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
Obituaries, however, were never meant to be a representative sampling. Only
fools or individuals with an agenda would pretend they were. Cameron had an
agenda—what is Walter’s excuse?</span><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
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<!--StartFragment--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cameron has a visceral hate for gay men. He founded the Family Research
Institute for the purpose of expressing unrelenting hatred against them.
Cameron lost his credentials as a psychologist for the crime of distorting
research for biased purposes. <a href="http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/rainbow/html/facts_cameron_sheet.html" target="_blank">He was thrown out</a> by both the Nebraska
Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association. The
American Sociological Association said he “has consistently misrepresented
sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism” as part of a
campaign “for the abrogation of the civil rights of lesbians and gay men,
substantiating his call on the basis of his distorted interpretation of this
research.” The Canadian Psychological Association stated “</span><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and
misrepresented research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism.”</span><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><!--EndFragment-->
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<!--StartFragment--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cameron’s level of hate is shown by his infamous statement that the
“goal” of all gays is to make “every little boy in America grab his ankles!”
Yet, this was the man Williams found worthy of quoting to prove gays are dying
younger than normal. (See the interview with Cameron.)</span><!--EndFragment--></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDiira0tEy7ZkKxCAHG1etug9CdpBxxKsHsnQZd-DUJfZDbHL0tJoJxFGhEDM9PgnIlC7wQQVdF91RQ_6ZPsS4cwh7JmcFi6ngEbqNM0o6Tt1eag5S1kQXGaT9u5YTIgCIAVvWGzTceoA/s1600/GaysInNaziGermany.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDiira0tEy7ZkKxCAHG1etug9CdpBxxKsHsnQZd-DUJfZDbHL0tJoJxFGhEDM9PgnIlC7wQQVdF91RQ_6ZPsS4cwh7JmcFi6ngEbqNM0o6Tt1eag5S1kQXGaT9u5YTIgCIAVvWGzTceoA/s1600/GaysInNaziGermany.png" height="320" width="251" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Cameron cited Nazis as experts on
homosexuality and wrote an entire article in Family Research Report citing
Rudolf </span><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Höss</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">, genocidal Kommandant of Auschwitz,
as an expert source. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Höss </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">considered homosexuals to be active recruiters.
Indeed, his experience in the camp suggests they would engage in homosexual
behaviour. …Clearly homosexuals could and did ‘convert’ at least some of those
with whom they were housed and at a sufficient level for Hoss to consider it an
‘epidemic.’ Hoss believed that homosexuals were so brazen that they could not
be treated ‘like everyone else,’ even in prison! While most kinds of punishment
did not keep some of these addicts from persisting in their homosexual
ventures, if dealt with severely enough—and in isolation—even those addicted to
homosexuality could be managed.<br />
</span></blockquote>
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<!--StartFragment--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">That Cameron thought the Butcher of Auschwitz a reliable source says a
lot about Cameron. That Williams thought Cameron a reliable source, says a lot
about Williams. <br />
<br />
Dodgy sources like Cameron, or misrepresenting the evidence of serious
researchers isn’t enough for Williams. His vendetta against gays goes deeper.<br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro'; font-size: 19px;">In another column Williams trotted out the argument that if you let gay people
marry then why not let women <a href="http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/articles/04/married.html" target="_blank">marry a horse!</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro'; font-size: 19px;">That is not the argumentation of a
serious academic.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro'; font-size: 19px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro'; font-size: 19px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro'; font-size: 19px;">
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">Suppose a woman and a horse appeared before San
Francisco County Clerk Nancy Alfaro applying for a marriage license, or it
might be a man and a sheep. What argument might the County Clerk have for not
issuing them a marriage license?</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro'; font-size: 19px;"><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">After
all, the woman or man might say, "Our definition of marriage includes
animals, plus my horse or my sheep will be eligible for my employee health care
benefits and my inheritance at my death." It would appear that a denial of
a marriage license would be sufficient grounds for a discrimination lawsuit.
After all, animals have rights as well as humans.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Personally, I’d like to see the horse and sheep
sign the marriage license. But, really Walter? Is this best you can come up
with? This is barely above playground accusations of “So’s your mother.” </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro';"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfmvsXVig3HLzrrTkxKFg39OD1M_2gFJ5sauPqzpKSbpUBiBYyJwXnh1mthvwaEuQCI1ihJ4VfnYIprJp9qEKAs6dTlbbawBXKU6YrX5AoBInrxQAA_5kWSSf8FYlc4JKqmxXlq9kNk0/s1600/marryhorse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfmvsXVig3HLzrrTkxKFg39OD1M_2gFJ5sauPqzpKSbpUBiBYyJwXnh1mthvwaEuQCI1ihJ4VfnYIprJp9qEKAs6dTlbbawBXKU6YrX5AoBInrxQAA_5kWSSf8FYlc4JKqmxXlq9kNk0/s1600/marryhorse.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro';"><br />
<br /><a href="https://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/our-deviant-society.html" target="_blank"> Williams asserts</a> gays don’t have to marry because “other rights same-sex couples
claim they’re denied can be achieved through contracts.” Is Mr. Williams
ignorant, or just prejudiced? Can spousal privilege in court be granted by
contract? NO! Can the right to sponsor a foreign-born spouse be granted by
contract? Will a private contract prevent gay couples from being taxed at
higher rates? <br />
<br />
A serious investigation shows there are many areas where a private contract can’t
achieve the rights gay people “claim” are not granted. Williams can’t even
acknowledge gay people don’t have the same rights—he has to assert they are
just claiming they don’t. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<a href="https://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/our-deviant-society.html" target="_blank">another column</a> he complained about modern culture and it’s “decay”—this is the
sign of aging, where one projects one’s own decline on society as a whole.
Immediately after lamenting the existence of “homosexual marriages” he wrote “another
measure of social deviancy is….” He then launched at attack on the homeless claiming
they are just bums.</span><!--EndFragment-->
</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Adobe Garamond Pro';"><span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">In 2009, <a href="http://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/live-free-or-die.html" target="_blank">he again turned</a> to the smoking
issue and nasty gays. He favorably quotes another conservative, Mark Steyn: </span><span style="color: #272727; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Smokers and the
obese may look at their gay neighbor having unprotected sex with multiple
partners, and wonder why his 'lifestyle choices' get a pass while theirs don't.
But that's the point: Tyranny is always whimsical."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #10121b; font-family: "Adobe Garamond Pro"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I would have to ask how these neighbors
KNOW whether sex in the privacy of one’s bedroom is “unprotected” or not. It is
not my habit to peek into other people’s bedrooms when they are having sex. Apparently
Mr. Steyn seems to know what his gay neighbors do, perhaps Mr. Williams does as
well. I strongly suggest anyone living near these men make sure their drapes
are fully closed. <br />
<br />
I've always known Williams was a conservative—not a libertarian. I just didn't
think his conservatism was this ugly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--></span>Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-36133786900991699102014-07-30T21:31:00.003-07:002014-07-30T21:39:15.199-07:00Swing, Camelbacks and Daylight Robbery<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoI2vIzbJ3sTbkMBC1geVUxXhaZtIzPNzSRWHUqx38sxtrJUhu4R0PYojoBUPyu0ClpEZVNzBz8lhkWpOPJqbX6Ox0OcV56g-xAAsheHi1PPsP3sM1mD_fn2ikhnxEy0Y53F3v1VJzI5E/s1600/lrMusic_0301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoI2vIzbJ3sTbkMBC1geVUxXhaZtIzPNzSRWHUqx38sxtrJUhu4R0PYojoBUPyu0ClpEZVNzBz8lhkWpOPJqbX6Ox0OcV56g-xAAsheHi1PPsP3sM1mD_fn2ikhnxEy0Y53F3v1VJzI5E/s1600/lrMusic_0301.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"> Jazz musician Eric Felten has a piece in the <i>Wall
Street Journal</i> on how taxes but an end to the era of Swing music. In 1944 the
federal government created a “cabaret tax” that added a 30% tax to the tab of
anyone in an establishment with either dancing or singing. Felten says it “</span></span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">is no coincidence that in the back half of the 1940s a
new and undanceable jazz performed primarily by small instrumental
groups—bebop—emerged as the music of the moment.”<br />
He asks: “How differently might the aesthetic impulse behind bebop have been
expressed if it had been allowed to develop organically instead of in an
atmosphere where dancing was discouraged by the taxman? Jazz might have
remained a highly sophisticated popular music instead of becoming an artsy
niche.”<br />
Consider how taxes have change architecture. <br />
New Orleans has two oddities in the housing market, the Camelback house and the
Shotgun house.</span><span style="color: #262626;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9q48oM00CnBkKatDKohaK69aKsIh26N2sVbbtwvk0zfZCtYQoWc_YiefQCg1PnSlaVbLdNqNI_1liTWRANeOU0icCePi9l8seRokYCNiFyg3UqFp9gM9v0I0OMxqd4ol-WG3tfNcM1g/s1600/shotgun2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9q48oM00CnBkKatDKohaK69aKsIh26N2sVbbtwvk0zfZCtYQoWc_YiefQCg1PnSlaVbLdNqNI_1liTWRANeOU0icCePi9l8seRokYCNiFyg3UqFp9gM9v0I0OMxqd4ol-WG3tfNcM1g/s1600/shotgun2.png" height="150" width="200" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"> The Shotgun house is said to have earned that label
because one could fire a shotgun through the front door and have the pellets
exit the house through the back door. It was narrow but long, one room wide at
most. You would enter into the living room and find a door from that room into
the bedroom behind it and there was another door into the kitchen behind it.
The rooms would be in a long row with no hallway at all.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Similar was the Camelback house. This was basically a
Shotgun house with a second floor but not as you might expect. At the rear of
the house would be stairs going to the second floor. But the second floor never
extended to the front of the house. People said this truncated second floor
looked like the hump of a camel, hence the name.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGRiPYq5zxyeFLOwMvUDFl-rs6fg8VRXfPI8HsZTHuHagXSUQmgg5QQL1xra14zo_U-uySt-CeiBg3YlsogQ9kSilgbCvsoJpzzzHViGGi2bp18z2B4VYCaF3CqfGVklSlhL5zlGVMC4/s1600/Camelback1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGRiPYq5zxyeFLOwMvUDFl-rs6fg8VRXfPI8HsZTHuHagXSUQmgg5QQL1xra14zo_U-uySt-CeiBg3YlsogQ9kSilgbCvsoJpzzzHViGGi2bp18z2B4VYCaF3CqfGVklSlhL5zlGVMC4/s1600/Camelback1a.jpg" height="172" width="200" /></a></span></span></div>
</div>
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</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Both of these oddities are the creation of local
government policy.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some have argued that the Shotgun house exists because
land in New Orleans, where they are mostly found, is scarce. But the extended
length of these homes would not justify that argument. After all a house that
is half as wide but twice as long still covers the same amount of land. Lots
could have been wider but less deep and still have used the same amount of
land.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The alternative theory, and a popular one, is that the
houses were narrowly built because land width was a factor in taxation. The
wider the house the more highly taxed it was. It was noted that such narrow
houses were frequently built in poor areas. Exactly what we would expect. Taxes
drive up the cost of housing and the people least likely to afford housing are
the poor, so they would need creative means to avoid the taxes.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Camelback house was routinely taxed as a
single-story house because the second floor was only partial, which is why they
were designed that way.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This would not be the first time architecture was
distorted by taxation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBv9jAnTkSM8RITT5rwdaMKvsg4Qfa-WkIe6wY1es8DpouLLYjA3HbsLV93rSv2hSksj95HLU7Uc9Ro-UjkyMxKdyemnICsc0D9YGXKAFzETt6kcRbyr5wQiJ342mjkwvK2oLBp_M6h4/s1600/kloveniersburgwalgr_tcm141-14310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBv9jAnTkSM8RITT5rwdaMKvsg4Qfa-WkIe6wY1es8DpouLLYjA3HbsLV93rSv2hSksj95HLU7Uc9Ro-UjkyMxKdyemnICsc0D9YGXKAFzETt6kcRbyr5wQiJ342mjkwvK2oLBp_M6h4/s1600/kloveniersburgwalgr_tcm141-14310.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"> Amsterdam is famous for it’s very narrow, tall, long
buildings with narrow, steep stairways. This was done because property taxes
depended on the frontage of the residence.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrHxCNELn7nIh4-xmpmPQVPRfIfATYwa6gQ9Xx912M-jCGYmDU-YN0flzvOrgY4oQSlh11bo36vgi5RXY5XA0XohnZAyjVfCxtsmcmC9VzqbVR1ztcgyEfifjh1WPZ7ZYKjvWAYb5IdhB/s1600-h/kloveniersburgwalgr_tcm141-14310.jpg"><span style="color: #234f9c; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anyone who has gone up or down those stairs will tell
you that it impossible to bring in furniture. So, many Amsterdam houses were
built with hooks at the top front with windows that were almost as wide as the
house. Furniture would be lifted by a hoist to the window and then pulled
inside</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The length or height of the house didn’t matter, only
the width so, of course, homes were very narrow. The narrowest in Amsterdam is
found at 7 Singel where the front of the house is barely wider than a front
door. The entire frontage is just one meter wide.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In England taxes made housing worse for people for a
very long time. Politicians wanted to tax income but they weren’t sure how to
do it back in the late 1600s. People felt that government knowledge of one’s
income was an intrusive violation of their privacy. So the politicians decided
to tax windows instead.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><a href="http://static.flickr.com/24/95357330_7c6e70fce2.jpg"><span style="color: #234f9c; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The assumption was that wealthy people had bigger
houses with more windows. And, since glass at the time was not cheap they also
assumed this indicated wealth. This tax was introduced by King William III on
New Year’s Eve in 1696 until 1851. One result was that even as glass dropped in
price English housing often remained dark, dingy, and lacked fresh air. In some
of the older buildings you can see where windows that once existed were bricked
up in order to lower the taxes.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAtLxPsQtKknoAae9-pVRwhZByiptQQ3ku4qzj9Xb5RZ5dcedraPVqe_EKCrx4qlyYvE_22dVlCjO32MaM-jd7MAqR2KW7iLVJ2eEOxreGWuQRmdrqD1-80M-702TCwd36TFexJKODhw/s1600/stantonhouse40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjAtLxPsQtKknoAae9-pVRwhZByiptQQ3ku4qzj9Xb5RZ5dcedraPVqe_EKCrx4qlyYvE_22dVlCjO32MaM-jd7MAqR2KW7iLVJ2eEOxreGWuQRmdrqD1-80M-702TCwd36TFexJKODhw/s1600/stantonhouse40.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"> The phrase
“daylight robbery” did not originally mean a robbery conducted in the light of
day, it meant the robbery of daylight from homes through the window tax. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"> The repeal of the widow tax in 1851 was largely influenced by the great
classical liberals of the day, Richard Cobden and John Bright, the leaders of
the Anti Corn Law League and proponents of free markets. A letter from Cobden
to Robertson Gladstone lays out Cobden’s idea for the budget. Francis Hirst, in
1903, wrote “Within a little more than a generation the whole of Cobden’s
‘National Budget’ was adopted.” Cobden told Gladstone: “</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">There is the window tax, which, although
it does not, like the Excise duties, operate as a direct impediment to
productive industry, is open to the fearful objection, that it 'obstructs the
light of heaven;' and, in these brief words, we may read its inevitable doom.
London, Bath, and other large cities are pressing the abolition of this tax
annually upon the House, through Lord Duncan, and you must not think of
excluding it from your 'National Budget.'”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"> Taxes distort any market and music and architecture are just two examples. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">Apologies: We apologize about the odd spacing. Blogspot has turned to total crap in recent years and text is constantly screwed up. Spacing between paragraphs is no longer consistent. A text all in the same font will appear in different fonts in different paragraphs for no apparent reason. We greatly regret starting our blog here, but when we started it worked well. Now that Google has taken over it is crap and we hope to replace it with a new page at some point. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span></span>Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-15531426058581509322014-05-18T21:15:00.000-07:002014-05-18T21:29:00.090-07:00Out of the Cuban Closet<style>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> This review of <i>Gays Under the Cuban Revolution</i>, by Jim Peron, originally appeared in the October, 1982 issue of <i>Inquiry</i> magazine. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> The Cuban Freedom Flotilla of 1980 stunned the American
people. Day after day, thousands upon thousands of Cubans abandoned their
families, friends, and material possessions to start life anew in the United
States. While history is replete with instances of masses fleeing war, economic
misery, and political repression, such flights have always been conducted by the
general population, or by religious, racial, or political minorities. The Cuban
Freedom Flotilla, however, involved a little secret that very soon came out.
Socialist Cuba had—and has—the distinction of being the world’s only
nation to experience a mass emigration based on sexual preference. Huddled in
the crowded boats fleeing Castro’s Cuba were an estimated 10,000 homosexuals.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> This most irregular flotilla evoked a great response
in the American gay community. Homosexual organizations and churches banded
together to sponsor gay refugees. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were
privately spent to buy clothes, find homes, and secure jobs for these desperate
men and women.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62RGkTKV4Ea1JPAMA17Ny4Kjnw9x_4vyXON7TN5ksQxUXYKSC1w0QTRSXeB3s6cYgDBY5YQOtzXEjy5MUjNJAo7y6C4x-471SxEWnYmshyphenhyphen4FcyHkTcIP-z9J-AA-oFwfMmTdlCXtxSMc/s1600/gide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj62RGkTKV4Ea1JPAMA17Ny4Kjnw9x_4vyXON7TN5ksQxUXYKSC1w0QTRSXeB3s6cYgDBY5YQOtzXEjy5MUjNJAo7y6C4x-471SxEWnYmshyphenhyphen4FcyHkTcIP-z9J-AA-oFwfMmTdlCXtxSMc/s1600/gide.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Andre Gide</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Amidst this flurry of charitable activity, the deep
questions presented by the exodus remained unanswered. On the whole, the “gay
intelligentsia” in the United States, and especially in Europe and Canada, is
and has been, left of center, often socialist and even Marxist. Suddenly these
intellectuals were facing the living proof of the oppression of their own under
the rule of socialism. By and large, the gay left was silent. Horror stories
told by refugees were ignored. Political implications were evaded.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Several decades ago, French writer Andre Gide, himself
a homosexual, confronted similar questions. In the early 1930s he had proclaimed his profound sympathy for the Soviet Union,
the bright hope of the world’s oppressed. With great anticipation, he voyaged
to Russia, “a convinced and enthusiastic follower, in order to admire a new
world.” At first, he traveled with the government tour guides and saw the model
communes, mixed with the Soviet elite and sat at their lavish tables. But, Gide
confessed, “I only began to see clearly when,
abandoning the government transport, I traveled alone through the country in order to be able to get into
direct contact with the people.” There he found shocking poverty and
oppression, in contrast to the luxury enjoyed by the communist new class.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Above all, Gide was appalled by the sacrifice of human
individuality to Marxist conformity. Years later, in his contribution to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The God That Failed, </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">this pioneer of homosexual
liberation wrote:</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I<b> </b>doubt whether in any country in the world, not even in
Hitler’s Germany, have the mind and spirit been less free, more bent, more
terrorized over, and indeed vassalized—than in the Soviet Union... Humanity is complex and not all of a piece—that must be accepted—and every attempt at simplification
and regimentation, every effort from the outside to reduce everything and
everyone to the same common denominator, will always be reprehensible,
pernicious, and dangerous. </span></span></div>
</blockquote>
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</span></span><br />
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</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Not since Gide has any author exposed the consequences
of socialist conformism for the homosexual minority as has Allen Young. Young previously
co-authored or edited (with Karla Jay) <i>Out of the Closets, After </i><i>You’re </i><i>Out, Lavender Culture, </i>and <i>The Gay Report. </i>Like Gide, he was an ardent advocate
of Marxism, and as Gide was devoted to the Soviet revolution, so was Young to
the Cuban revolution. He also experienced results of socialism first hand; in the tradition of <i>The God That Failed, </i>he published his findings in <i>Gays Under the Cuban Revolution.</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Young describes
himself as a
“red-diaper baby”—both parents were active members of the Communist Party.
He grew up accepting their political beliefs as most children reared in the church
accept Christianity. Like many children of religious parents, Young’s zeal
eventually surpassed that of his parents.</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> During his college years at Columbia, which coincided
with Castro’s coming to power, Young began to take an interest in Cuba. Later
he studied at the Institute of Hispanic-American and Luso-Brazilian Studies at
Stanford, where he worked for the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Hispanic American Report. </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The writers for this journal
assigned to cover Cuba “were all partisans of the Castro regime;" Young
concedes that “one-sided reporting on Cuba by Cuba’s friends was seen as a
legitimate response to the establishment’s one-sided approach; we had no qualms
about our involvement in such bias—indeed we accepted our mission.” Young
continued his studies, went to Brazil, worked for the Peace Corps in Colombia,
and contributed articles to journals like </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>New Left Review. </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In 1967 he returned to the United States to work at
the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Washington
Post, </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">only to leave
it eventually for publications further to the left. All this time he had been a
confirmed believer in the Cuban experiment without having witnessed it himself,
but in 1969 the Cuban government gave Young and another activist an
all-expenses-paid trip to the country. Finally he would see for himself the new
society on whose behalf he had been propagandizing for a decade.</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Young was supposed to write glowing articles on the
people’s revolution, but he found this difficult. As he traveled with his host
and guide, doubts started to hatch in his mind. “Watching his behavior, and
that of other officials, I began to develop a notion of privilege
under Cuban communism. They had access to cars, air travel, imported wines, and
fancy restaurants, for example.” Meanwhile, Young noted the deprivation of the people,
the strict control of the press, and the militarization of society. He also
learned how socialism oppressed his gay friends. Before Castro’s revolution, persecution
of homosexuals existed, of course, but it was sporadic; gay bars, for
instance, thrived in Havana. The revolution closed the bars, because of their
“decadence.” Sexual preference became a highly political issue in society that
was totally politicized.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-joz9CCDteyc2CfSeRWNqbeIJyGSBrqeR9DgOgeaQsd-pCd8bbXWPWXayL84FyfXPTU_IVVi3w6eGnSVETxHKJZ5MWRwROs01xMD99O_kOXXBjRzKWengb9aD9T9v8gam2BF0zT8ON54/s1600/allen+young+now.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-joz9CCDteyc2CfSeRWNqbeIJyGSBrqeR9DgOgeaQsd-pCd8bbXWPWXayL84FyfXPTU_IVVi3w6eGnSVETxHKJZ5MWRwROs01xMD99O_kOXXBjRzKWengb9aD9T9v8gam2BF0zT8ON54/s1600/allen+young+now.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allen Young</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Young’s own homosexual con-sciousness had been raised,
following the Stonewall Rebellion when the patrons of a Greenwich Village gay
bar, instead of meekly acquiescing as the police staged one of their habitual raids,
fought back. And his second visit to Cuba, in 1971, intensified his disenchantment.
On his return to the United States, he went public with his criticisms, and
broke with many of his former allies: “I felt I could not be faithful to myself and
continue in the dual role of Cubaphile and gay liberationist.” Since then he
has continued to follow the vicissitudes of Cuba’s persecution of homosexuals
and the left’s response to it.</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The attack on homosexuality began within a few Years of Castro’s taking power. Long before the
crusades of Anita Bryant or Jerry Falwell, Castro stated that “those positions
in which one might have a direct influence upon children and
young people should not be in the hands of homosexuals, above all the educational
centers.” A homosexual was a “deviate” who could never rise to the level of
conduct required of “a true Revolutionary.”</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Gays suffered greatly at the hands of the two new
socialist bureaucracies. Thousands of them were placed, without benefit of trial,
in camps run by the Military Units for Aid to Production. Basically these were
forced labor camps, where gay people were mistreated and often assaulted and
where it was not unusual for them to be executed or driven to suicide. After a while,
international protests compelled the closing of these camps, but the persecution
has continued in other forms.</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) are neighborhood block committees throughout Cuba consisting of tens of
thousands of volunteer police spies. They are “dominated by busybodies, snoops,
and moralistic prudes,” who consider it one of their prime duties to harass homosexuals and, frequently, to
funnel them into the prison system. (In all the articles in American leftist periodicals praising
these institutions of “popular justice,” Young reports, he has never found hint
of “the suffering of gay people and dissidents” caused by the CDRs. Homosexuals are the chief target of the
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>ley de peligrosidad </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(“law of dangerousness”), which provides for from
four to six years for “antisocial behavior.” At the University of Havana, it is
the policy to expel gay students “after a public humiliation.” The merciless
crusade extends even to Cuban writers of international repute, who might be thought to furnish the regime with a certain cultural
respectability: “Cuba’s greatest
playwright [Virgilio Pierna] and greatest novelist José Lezama Lima] were persecuted, humiliated,
and forced to live the last years of their lives in ignominy—all because of
their homosexuality.”</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> As for the response of American leftists to this
institutionalized vendetta, Young accuses them—those who have even acknowledged
the issue</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">“grasping at anything to avoid forthright, angry
condemnation . . . and, more generally, to avoid coming to grips with the
left’s historic role in reinforcing and creating antigay prejudice.” When gay
liberation arose in the late 1960, the left opportunistically seized on it,
“primarily to illustrate dissatisfaction with the status quo of American society.” The aversion of leftists to dealing
with the facts of Castro’s antihomosexual campaign, and their continued presentation
of Cuba as “a promise of what the future has to offer,” even in the teeth of those
facts, demonstrate the shallowness, if not the hypocrisy, of their “pro-gay” stand.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Why so many gay liberationists
themselves should attempt to hide the facts concerning Cuba and other communist
societies is more of a mystery. The eminent scholar Simon Karlinsky concluded,
in a communication to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Christopher Street, </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">that the most brutal oppressors
of homosexuals in this century—even worse than the Nazis have been “the
totalitarians of the left—the Marxist-Leninists, to be precise." left-the Marxist-Leninists, to be precise.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> And yet he confessed that in stating this conclusion, he felt he was “breaking
an aspect of the unwritten, but rigidly enforced gay liberationist etiquette,
one that says that gay oppression today exists only in pluralistic societies
such as the United States and West Germany.” This “etiquette,” Karlinsky
observed, has resulted in a “self-imposed brainwashing” in the gay movement.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> His knowledge of what has been going on in Cuba has
caused Young, with great courage, to rethink his whole political position.
While he remains in some sense a socialist, he
has been led, in his words, “inevitably to a questioning of Marxist doctrine
itself, especially the idea that central planning by a state apparatus could
erase inequities.” Indeed, a new appreciation
of the value of capitalist society, especially to those concerned with freedom of personal lifestyles appears to be surfacing among gays. It can scarcely have escaped the
notice even of the most doctrinaire leftists that the Gay Pride parades that
are now held annually in London and Stockholm, Barcelona,
Amsterdam, Toronto, Sydney, and elsewhere, commemorate an event that took place
in June 1969 in New York City -- the Stonewall Rebellion. This is a symbol of
the central place that the pluralistic, capitalist society of the United States
has today in the international gay liberation movement. As another socialist, Dennis Altman, states in his recent </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The Homosexualization </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>America, The<b> </b></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Americanization </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>of </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>the Homosexual</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (St. Martin’s Press), the advances experienced by gay women
and men over the past decade were “only possible under modern consumer
capitalism, which for all its injustices has created the conditions for greater
freedom and diversity than are present in any other society yet known.” As the
saying goes, “Only in America...”</span></div>
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</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> As</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">for the gay flotilla of 1980, it may yet become a symbol to set
alongside Stonewall. The only ones who came out looking good were the American
gays and their own self-help organizations, who sacrificed and worked to welcome the refugees. They gave the back of their hands to the antigay laws of
the U.S. government, which exclude homosexual foreigners from this country, and
they rescued thousands of the victims of Cuban socialism. The massive relief
effort they conducted epitomizes the spirit of voluntarism and liberty.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-4631579811583765232014-05-17T02:13:00.002-07:002014-05-17T02:13:50.839-07:00Adam Smith Benevolent Fund Recent Loans<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxS12akEvE7gU3N9kg5mvGgZ7-56OdN0So8guoIgIjKbaGaWlVaQd-ACNgM5SyLEf0lZrwjDfz4uT_ano0XLHx6_Rnn0gAsFDeHeaulzyz_aQF6PQ8ZMXXWB311mNYgM0pdPM3AVJmBI/s1600/Noris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxS12akEvE7gU3N9kg5mvGgZ7-56OdN0So8guoIgIjKbaGaWlVaQd-ACNgM5SyLEf0lZrwjDfz4uT_ano0XLHx6_Rnn0gAsFDeHeaulzyz_aQF6PQ8ZMXXWB311mNYgM0pdPM3AVJmBI/s1600/Noris.jpg" height="200" width="181" /></a>The Moorfield Storey Institute also manages the Adam Smith Benevolent Fund through which we make microloans to developing regions to encourage entrepreneurship and economic development. We believe that development does more to solve the problems of the world than charity ever could. A portion of all sales through our book site Fr33minds.com goes into this fund and is loaned out. All loans are revolving so that the fund grows with time. We believe benevolence and economic freedom go hand in hand. Here are are the latest loans we have made. If you wish to donate to the Fund through the Institute, <a href="http://www.fr33minds.com/product_info.php?cPath=68&products_id=439" target="_blank">you can do so here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The first loan is to Norris of Barranquilla, Colombia. Norris is 51 and lives with her husband and two children, 15 and 17. Her grocery store sells an array of home products, food, canned items and meals. She started her business 20 years ago in an area where there were few stores. She will use the loan to expand inventory.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLT30ySWgXN0ri8I6HrnnCDaKsHMqXPvrVIw5NGvVWK3o1m04L7ullgJuMG-rMovm5Tt8I6cJWzPOYUfFdBRQwAfyLI5oRqHEkApYFTK_yMUJyUsUEi3DZ0ovrgjiaoMuOT6OtMJixSA/s1600/Leonardo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLT30ySWgXN0ri8I6HrnnCDaKsHMqXPvrVIw5NGvVWK3o1m04L7ullgJuMG-rMovm5Tt8I6cJWzPOYUfFdBRQwAfyLI5oRqHEkApYFTK_yMUJyUsUEi3DZ0ovrgjiaoMuOT6OtMJixSA/s1600/Leonardo.jpg" height="168" width="320" /></a></div>
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Leonardo is 21 and married with one son. He lives in El Sauce, Nicaragua and runs a small a small cafe outside his home. He sells juices, soft drinks, pastries such as cachos, tortas de piña, picos, dedos, etc.), sopa de leche (a traditional soup) and baked goods. He spends about 10 hours a day at his business offering his product to regular customers and on order. His hope is to expand working capital by investing in more pastries and items to sell to his customers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kiva.org/img/w800/1594349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kiva.org/img/w800/1594349.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
Juana is 54, married with five children, one of whom still lives with her. She operates a general store in Bogu, Philippines, where she sells sugar, coffee, canned goods and noodles. She has been in business for 10 year and wants to expand her selection. Due to the impact of Super Typhoon Haiyan on the country we have decided to make additional loans in the Philippines, though the typhoon damage may make it harder for recipients to repay the loans. <br />
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<a href="http://www.kiva.org/img/w632/1586960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kiva.org/img/w632/1586960.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
Mrs. Maingerel, 31 years old, lives with her husband, daughter and son in a traditional Mongolian ger (portable felt dwelling) on a plot of land in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She has been selling phone accessories by renting a stall at a trade center since 2012. <br /><br />Her husband, together with three other people, decorate house interiors. Their daughter and son go to kindergarten. She is requesting a loan to buy phone accessories at wholesale prices, so that she can continue to run her business without worrying about inventory shortage.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kiva.org/img/w800/1594392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.kiva.org/img/w800/1594392.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
Nenita is a 42 years old and lives in P-1 Upper Langcangan. <br /><br />In order to help the family, she sells plastic wares. She also operates a sari-sari store. She wants to obtain financial assistance to purchase additional inventories of plastic wares. Due to the impact of Super Typhoon Haiyan on the country we have decided
to make additional loans in the Philippines, though the typhoon damage
may make it harder for recipients to repay the loans.<br />
<br />
The Storey Institute is a registered 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization that promotes social tolerance, depoliticized markets, trade and a peaceful foreign policy. It sells books through Fr33minds.com to help cover expenses, and produces books through its publishing arm, Cobden Press. All donations are tax deductible. Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-60331279119687418002014-04-27T21:55:00.000-07:002014-04-27T21:55:26.631-07:00The Oxygen of Liberty
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Tonight we are gathered here for something that, in a rational
world, wouldn’t be very important—politics. Why do I say it is really not all
that important? </span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">If I were to ask you to sit down and write down the five most
important things in your life, I can assure you that politics would not be one
of them. What really is important?</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Perhaps it’s a walk on the beach with the person you love most in
this world; or a son’s graduation, the birth of a grandchild, the joy of
wonderful music, the discovery of new places, the quest for knowledge, finding
a flower that you have never seen before, the satisfaction of productive work,
or the thrill of scientific discovery.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The lists we would make would vary from person to person. But I
think I’m on safe ground when I say that none of us would list a political
campaign.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Most people instinctively dislike politics—and probably with good
reason. What we see when look at it is back room deals, low ethics, big
promises but poor delivery, lies, lies, lies and then to cover them up, usually
more lies. The quality of people attracted to such ventures is not very high.
There seems to be a direct inverse relationship between electability and
decency.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">When we think about those things in our lives that are important
we realize that there is one crucial ingredient that makes all of them
possible. It doesn’t matter what you value because the inescapable nature of
man is such that liberty is absolutely necessary.</span></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">And that is why we are here. We are not gathered for a campaign.
We are not seeking office as much as we are seeking liberty. We do not want to
achieve power as much as we wish to limit it. We are not interested in
handouts, subsidies, guarantees, deals, promises, programs, bills, favors, or
any of the other factors that permeate politics the world over. We are after a
world where politics is reduced to the inconsequential so that we can spend
time pursuing higher values.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY1guMgoce-65bz4IwENA762JmZn_CpZ3BzWsOkE1ii8b3aV1zJrRTlN9Q3rg1FRtjIKkFWnB_U0rNvpEF6uF742_oWrBcxWmDJoCLunY3Ot-2g_I5m1GPjLHvgtaLbeA_ISLEM4MEMOw/s1600/walter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY1guMgoce-65bz4IwENA762JmZn_CpZ3BzWsOkE1ii8b3aV1zJrRTlN9Q3rg1FRtjIKkFWnB_U0rNvpEF6uF742_oWrBcxWmDJoCLunY3Ot-2g_I5m1GPjLHvgtaLbeA_ISLEM4MEMOw/s1600/walter.jpg" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The odd thing about liberty is that those who enjoy a measure of
it—as all of us here do today—fail to understand its importance. Liberty is
like air. You only realize its importance when you don’t have it. Over the
years I have met, or known of people, who really do understand the value of
human liberty and why such liberty is absolutely necessary.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I think back to a young man I met some years ago. His name is
Walter. He came to America from the old Soviet Union with his family. Walter’s
father was not a man that one could be proud of. Once in America it was his
plan to dump his family and return to his mistress in Russia.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">When Walter’s father went to the Soviet consulate to make
arrangement for his return, the bureaucrats were quite joyful. They thought
they could use this to show Soviet citizens how awful life was under American
capitalism. They saw this as a propaganda opportunity and they wanted the
entire family to return. All they could think of was the television coverage
they could give as the whole family walked off the plane in Moscow.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">This caused a problem for Walter’s father. He did not want his family,
but he did want his mistress. So he figured he could return with the family and
then leave them afterwards. He did not count on problems that immediately
arose.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Daughter Natalie was 16 and she said she would never go back to
Russia. This was just a rebellious teenage, that’s how the authorities looked
at it. It became even more complicated when Walter, then 11-years-old, ran away
from home. He vowed he would never live again under communism. Natalie was
quickly ignored as everyone’s attention turned to Walter.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Russian and American bureaucrats were both quite anxious to force
young Walter back to Soviet Russia. As hard as they tried he refused. He sought
out other Russian expatriates who helped him. He eventually hired an attorney. Never
before had US immigration had to deal with such a recalcitrant child. To make
matters worse this boy applied for political asylum. And as the saying goes:
the fit really hit the shan.<br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Can you imagine what this meant? An 11-year-old was standing up to
the full power of US immigration and to the Soviet Union. No matter what they
promised, no matter how much they pleaded, Walter always said the same thing: “I
won’t go back. Ever!”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Of course the story caught the attention of the American people.
Left-wing organizations, which had always said that children had the right to
make decisions without their parents—such as regarding contraceptives and
abortion—suddenly discovered family values. They argued Walter must be sent to
Russia to preserve the integrity of the family unit. <br />
<br />
On the Right groups that had always denied children the right to make decisions
were pleading for children’s rights. All in all it exposed the inconsistencies
of the Right and the Left. But one thing was clear. Walter didn’t give a damn
about any of it. He just wanted to live free. It was that simple. And it was
that profound.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Walter and his attorneys dragged the case out year after year. For
once the slowness and ineptness of government worked to someone’s benefit.
Finally the day arrived when Walter quietly turned 18-years-old. The entire
case became moot and his application for asylum was accepted.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Walter was not an intellectual. But he understood something that
many university professors still do not understand—a regime of liberty and
rights is the only moral political system. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">In 1990, Walter’s battle came to mind again as world events were
spiralling at a speed beyond comprehension. All across Eastern Europe people
were learning a lesson: No government—not even the most tyrannical—can rule the
people without their consent. When the people finally refuse to consent the
government will lose the battle.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">In Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany the same thing was
happening: the streets were filled with hundreds and hundreds of thousands of
people all saying: “No more.” The economies of these countries, built on the
impossibilities of socialism, were crumbling. The bureaucrats, at all levels,
had realized how badly things had degenerated. They knew that they could not
hold back the human tide that had risen against them.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Like a dam strained to its limits, cracks appeared and people,
like the power of pent up water, spewed through those cracks. In Czechoslovakia
the government withdrew their guards from around Western embassies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guards were not there to protect
the embassies, but to prevent people from climbing the walls and seeking
asylum. The guards existed to protect the illusion that socialism creates human
happiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Word quickly spread that the embassies were no longer guarded.
Within minutes tens of thousands of people rushed the iron gates and fences.
The trickle turned into a torrent. Many must have simply grabbed the
opportunity without any foreknowledge. They simply climbed over seeking
freedom, leaving behind everything. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">As the word spread the situation spun out of control. Embassy
courtyards were jammed with thousands of people and more kept coming. It was
finally decided that the Czech police would return to duty. As the police
started moving people panicked. It was mayhem as people rushed the fences.
Those who had made it to safety were reaching over and pulling people up and
over the iron fences. The old would be lifted up by friends, relatives, even
strangers and then pulled over from the other side.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I could hardly bear to watch what was happening. A crowd running
as fast as they could were trying to get to the walls before the police did. I noticed
one young woman. She couldn’t run as fast as the others. She cradled a small
infant in her arms. Her coat was flowing behind her. She kept looking over her
shoulder, her face frozen in fear. She saw the police. They were only yards
back and they were getting closer.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KxvQpLPxdJzlq3tJXCjsfTGuByfZ-PdIrSQhpjaTebZ0stfp45BEYC3qmdaCoc3fb9iglb8Z0Y2ccPPyn-2DwULYG0fYw4L26oVHwYunhkpzT-rjsV102qRs4a2iNQk0Cg4TjKZp7q0/s1600/fence_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KxvQpLPxdJzlq3tJXCjsfTGuByfZ-PdIrSQhpjaTebZ0stfp45BEYC3qmdaCoc3fb9iglb8Z0Y2ccPPyn-2DwULYG0fYw4L26oVHwYunhkpzT-rjsV102qRs4a2iNQk0Cg4TjKZp7q0/s1600/fence_300.jpg" height="320" width="257" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">As she got nearer and nearer to freedom the people on the other
side of the fence were screaming to her. They pleaded with her to run faster.
They encouraged her and they reached through the fence toward her. As she got
to the iron bars she did the unthinkable for a mother—at least unthinkable,
until you think about it. She handed her baby over the fence to strangers. She
had no assurance that she would join her child. The police were just seconds
away. They could grab her and drag her off. When she handed her child over she
did not know if she would ever cradle the infant again. She did know that her
baby would be free. That was enough.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I am happy to say that she did make it over the fence with seconds
to spare. She was reunited with her baby. But she was willing to take this
chance so her child could live as a free individual.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The illusion of socialism was crumbling, the reality of its
totalitarian nature was now apparent to the entire world—except for a few
intellectuals mostly hiding out in Western universities.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">And then the impossible happened, and it happened because of a
typical bureaucratic bungle and because of the insatiable need of humans to be
free. The Wall in Berlin came down.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I don’t think I have ever wept so much in my life as I did sitting
in front of my television as those events unfolded. At first there was no
intention of bringing down the wall. The bureaucrats were actually trying to
save their system and their jobs. It was believed that if they allowed East
Germans to travel to West Germany the desire for freedom would diminish. They
would be able to keep their socialist system.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">A committee had decided that the announcement would mean that East
Germans could apply for an exit visa to visit West Germany. The announcement
would be made that night and the visas could be applied for beginning the next
morning. People would eventually be able to walk through the gate, but the wall
would keep standing along with the political system it represented.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">A report with this announcement was given to the government
official who briefed the media on events. But no one had time to brief him on
what it said. And typical of bureaucrats, the statement was several pages long.
The announcement that citizens would be free to travel to the West was near the
beginning of the document but the visa requirements were hidden farther down.
Handed to him at the last minute the official tried to read the document as he
was standing at the podium to answer questions.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">He glanced at the paper and announced that East Germans would be
free to travel west. The press immediately started shouting questions at him,
making it more difficult to read the document properly. “When will this take
effect?” asked one journalist. The official looked terribly confused. He wasn’t
sure. But, it appeared to him, and he responded so, that this was with
immediate effect.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">No journalist worth his salt was waiting for the particulars. They
rushed to make the announcement while this poor bureaucrat kept looking over
the document trying to figure out what he was supposed to have said. As the
word hit the airwaves people from all over East Berlin started celebrating.
Word spread and within seconds people were rushing to the wall. The guards were
getting worried. Within seconds they were surrounded by hundreds of singing,
dancing people. In minutes there were thousands; then tens of thousands.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">At this point the guards were in an impossible situation. Even if
they opened fire on the crowd they would be overwhelmed in seconds. And it’s
not easy to shoot down women, children, and the elderly—especially when they
are smiling and singing. The guards kept making frantic calls to their
superiors, who kept making frantic calls to their superiors, who couldn’t
figure out what had happened. Finally they conceded and said: “Open the gates.”</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaE8yeCZ-n9DypAi8SpLmTPWfRX93iIXgaHyomo-uKy94v9MJqS7k6VdyVcl-uC7TNvtGFdJ68Zx5nI2gpuAsUgsgz598_lu7Fq187T6gY1pg5-OYpF3b93ji3TN7nGCThTnMHdNHTdmc/s1600/wall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaE8yeCZ-n9DypAi8SpLmTPWfRX93iIXgaHyomo-uKy94v9MJqS7k6VdyVcl-uC7TNvtGFdJ68Zx5nI2gpuAsUgsgz598_lu7Fq187T6gY1pg5-OYpF3b93ji3TN7nGCThTnMHdNHTdmc/s1600/wall.jpg" height="219" width="320" /></a>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">By now an even bigger crowd was waiting on the other side to
welcome the joyous visitors from the East. For the first time in decades,
Germans from East and West laughed and cried and danced together. We will
probably never know who started it, but someone took a hammer to that damned
wall and started chipping away. And then another joined in and then another and
another. Using everything they could find, a spontaneous uprising tackled that
hated symbol of socialist oppression. Sliver by sliver the wall was brought
down. Throughout Berlin people by the tens of thousands ripped that wall apart.
At one point a hole was finally knocked through the thick concrete. We could
see that people were chipping away at it from the Eastern side as well. The
hole grew in size and eventually an arm reached through. From the sleeve you
could see that it was an East German border guard who had started dismantling
the wall from his side. He just wanted to shake hands with his anonymous
compatriots on the West.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I was given a small piece of the wall a few months later. I knew
exactly what I would do with it. A friend was coming to visit and would be
spending a few days with me in San Francisco. I had asked him to speak to a
group very much like this one. At that dinner meeting I gave that piece of the
Berlin Wall to Walter Polovchek.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The entire history of humankind is the history of man’s struggle
for freedom. I don’t care what nation or what century, the fundamental battle
was always the same. Heretics were burned at the stake because they wanted the
freedom to think for themselves. Writers the world over have been imprisoned
for speaking what they believe. People have risked lives and all their wealth
to seek freedom. Their names have constantly changed. Their faces have been
white and black and every other hue of humanity. They have been young, often
very young; and they have been old. Male or female, they have always realized
that without freedom they were less than human. They understood, unlike the
bureaucrats, that man is not a zoo animal, or a pet. He does not purr simply
because you feed him. He is not clay to be moulded into some predetermined
image. Man needs freedom. It is part of human nature.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Many people, especially those who are free, are unaware of how
desperately people yearn for liberty. I think of Elian Gonzales. The mother of
this boy gave her life to rescue him from the clutches of Castro’s regime. And
because she did give her life the Clinton administration, in one of the most
despicable acts of an administration characterized by despicable acts, sent
armed federal agents to grab this terrified boy and forcibly send him back to
Cuba.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I think of an incident that happened shortly after World War II—an
incident that many have forgotten, but one that was one of the most shameful
acts in the history of the Western world. From the time the delusional Marxists
took control of poor Russia streams of people fled to the West. Stalin
considered these people traitors. This man, whose genocidal record exceeds that
of Hitler, demanded of Churchill and Roosevelt that these traitors be returned
to him and the West conceded. The name given this plan was Operation Keelhaul.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">As I high school student I read a book entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The East Came West </i>which told the story
of Operation Keelhaul. And there was one incident, one of many unfortunately,
that I will never forget.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS57Io9LQVQ3FQWdxmfEX_umfpg-WfKQ9aGlV470WC_-gHXBeOUgYoUUwyPxczyhNVVnEVbxlRGQSeyK-INrnsPTUQjN8_NYU6FEyNKDSTAYui4iahIefnEuveT1htIVoW56p5W15wqTA/s1600/keelhaul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS57Io9LQVQ3FQWdxmfEX_umfpg-WfKQ9aGlV470WC_-gHXBeOUgYoUUwyPxczyhNVVnEVbxlRGQSeyK-INrnsPTUQjN8_NYU6FEyNKDSTAYui4iahIefnEuveT1htIVoW56p5W15wqTA/s1600/keelhaul.jpg" height="168" width="320" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">In Northern Italy there was a contingent of several hundred
Cossacks. These were not just soldiers, but entire villages of people including
whole families. The British and the Americans were trying to figure out how to
grab these people and force them back into Stalin’s bloody hands. They realized
that any show of force would bring about resistance and the Cossack men were
armed. So they did what bureaucrats know how to do best—they lied. They told
the Cossack leaders that the entire community would be resettled in England.
The men must come with them to another camp to work out the details.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">With this false promise of freedom, the men happily went with the
Allied forces. But once the men were out of the village the troops and their
vehicles started down the road to arrest the woman and the children. The troops
were quickly spotted and the remaining Cossacks started screaming. They
realized that the West had betrayed them. Young cadets, just boys, gathered
together and tried to stand between the troops and the women and younger
children. Behind them a wail from the women rose to such pitches that the
entire valley was alerted to the betrayal. From across this valley church bells
started peeling out in protest.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The cadets tried desperately to fight off the soldiers but they
were easily beaten into submission. Armed soldiers took their rifle butts to
the heads of children so the West could satiate the vindictive appetite of a
monster.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The sound of the bells mingled with the weeping of the women, the
screams of the children, and the painful groans of the youths. Each person
there knew where they were going; each knew what fate awaited them, and many
choose to die free then to die as slaves.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">As the trucks were pulling out with their human cargo some of the
women threw their infants under the wheels. Death was a better alternative.
Those women who could do so followed. A raging river, filled with the winter
run-off, had acted as a barrier behind the poor Cossacks when they were
attacked. Some tried to cross a small bridge to escape but found it occupied by
Allied soldiers as well. Faced with the choices given to them by Churchill and
Roosevelt many of the woman, children in their arms, simply leapt into the
waters to drown.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Those captured and incarcerated in the convoy trucks used every
method they could to end their own lives. And though the men were separated
from their families they were doing the same thing. Throughout the deportation
process bodies had to be off loaded as hundreds preferred to die at their own
hands than to ever return to the socialist paradise again. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">All this is the inevitable result of the desire to place liberty
subservient to anything else. The socialist ideal did not start out as a
totalitarian regime but it was, and is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the inevitable consequence of that ideology. The prime goal of socialism
is human equality—not equality before the law as in the West—but equality of
results. It is deemed unfair and unjust that some should be more prosperous
than others, that some should be healthier or wealthier.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The problem is that people act in ways that vary the results. And
in this case I don’t mean that others interfere with the good intentions of the
government. What I am talking about is how individuals, who are the object of
government charity, when allowed the freedom to do so, interfere and hinder the
programs set up on their behalf.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Advocates of “social justice”, or the equality of results, have a
problem in that free people, even those they wish to help, often make choices that
do not reflect the values of the bureaucrats who are engineering the programs.
The only real solution to this problem is to strip the beneficiaries of their
right to make choices. And that is why socialism has historically led to
authoritarianism.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The great philosopher/economist F.A. Hayek, in his book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Constitution of Liberty</i>, wrote: “It
is just not true that human beings are born equal;... if we treat them equally,
the result must be inequality in their actual positions;. . . [thus] the only
way to place them in equal position would be to treat them differently.
Equality before the law and material equality are, therefore, not only
different but in conflict with each other.” Equality, the very principle of
socialism that so many people hold out as its highest virtue, leads inevitably
to dictatorship. </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Usually this authoritarianism takes two forms. First, the
recipients of government charity must be denied the freedom to act in ways that
undermine the program. If you don’t want housing recipients selling their houses
then you must strip them of the rights to sell property and of freedom of
movement, you must have a policing mechanism to make sure that this is
enforced. The people “on the bottom” will have to be stripped of the right to
make free choices. If you want demographic representation in the professions
then you must strip students of the right to decide their own course of
studies.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Secondly, you have to target those who are “on the top”. While it
is very difficult to raise the bottom up, it is relatively easy to tear the top
down. Mao did it in China and Pol Pot did it in Cambodia, This is why Hitler
targeted the Jews and why Mugabe targeted white commercial farmers and black
professionals in Zimbabwe.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The inevitable fact is that for equality of results to flourish,
human freedom must be stamped out. It doesn’t matter how “altruistic” are the
motives of the social engineers. The achievement of their goal requires the use
of authoritarian means. What is really tragic is that in the end not even the
goals are accomplished. The result of this process is a crude equality at the
lowest levels and for this human freedom was sacrificed.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">What I have tried to do tonight is make clear the importance of
human liberty in every aspect of our lives. I want you to see the bigger
picture. I want you to understand what is required for humankind to flourish. I
want you to think back to those values you hold that are so important to you
and to see why your liberty is necessary to achieve them.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Now, many of you may not consider yourselves libertarians. That’s
okay with me. I have no desire to get you to join any political party. If
anything I dream of the day when we ignore politics and get on with the crucial
business of living.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">But, I do want you to think back and remember. I want you to
remember that 11-year-old boy who refused to go back to tyranny. I want you to
remember that woman who handed her child over the fence never knowing if she
would see her child again. I want you to think of those young Cossack cadets who
bravely tried to defend their mothers and sisters from Allied soldiers doing
the will of Stalin.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">We could stay here all night discussing example after example. In
fact we could probably stay here all of tomorrow and the rest of the week as
well. History is filled with the blood of martyrs seeking nothing more than the
right to be free.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I just want you to remember these people and what they were forced
to endure each time you are asked to make a political decision. I want you to
remember them when you listen to politicians making rosy speeches. And I want
you to ask yourself some fundamental questions—questions that politicians in
power NEVER want you to consider.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Does the candidate support policies that move the country toward
freedom or toward more control? Does the policy support liberty or reduce
liberty? Do these programs increase your freedoms or reduce them?</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Politics is like an elevator. There are only two directions you
can go. You can move toward greater human freedom or you can move toward a society
that limits freedom. Realize that if you choose to move away from freedom that
you will set into motion a series of events that may get out of control. You
may not live to see the day, but unless someone reverses the process, the day
will come, perhaps for your children, when they will have to do what all these
people, whose stories I have shared with you tonight, had to do.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Freedom can take a lot of abuse and still survive. But once
shackled it withers and dies, and the results are too horrible to contemplate.
No, politics isn’t very important, but freedom is. Freedom is the foundation that
allows you to live as a human being. That is what you must always remember.</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Corbel; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></b></div>
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Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-14796205211122904932014-04-18T19:30:00.000-07:002014-04-18T19:32:55.036-07:00A Return to Liberalism<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDouQiUD5dhpzHDHcntieMquv6itBEmxywYLJJrSTiVZrTg03jYc7ODqhzOChkm1v-OssPw80J0E_uw7_US7z7BKQPFD-6f3GYSN49qxxw5K2SQrfc9KOcJbCwvnICeh7alxhCTNdZC3M/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-04-18+at+7.16.53+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDouQiUD5dhpzHDHcntieMquv6itBEmxywYLJJrSTiVZrTg03jYc7ODqhzOChkm1v-OssPw80J0E_uw7_US7z7BKQPFD-6f3GYSN49qxxw5K2SQrfc9KOcJbCwvnICeh7alxhCTNdZC3M/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-04-18+at+7.16.53+PM.png" height="240" width="320" /></a>Liberalism, as originally and properly understood, is the historic advocate of individual freedom. It has promoted the rule of law and private property, with the free exchange of goods and ideas. Its opposition to censorsh<br />
<br />
The entire liberal philosophy revolves around the primacy of the rights of the individual. As two philosophers put it: “Rights are the language through which liberalism is spoken” (Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl, <i>Liberalism Defended</i>).<br />
<br />
Thomas Jefferson put this liberal ideal into one succinct paragraph in his magnificent Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the Governed . . . .”<br />
<br />
Liberalism turned the prevailing doctrines of human rights and politics upside down. For centuries it was assumed that man lived for the sake of the state; that what rights he possessed were gifts, given to him by his king or government. Li berals argued that the opposite was true. People possess rights first, and governments receive their sanction from the people. The government is not the giver of rights to the people but the people are the source for the legitimacy of the government.<br />
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<br />
The French statesman and journalist Frederic Bastiat explained liberal principles in his classic work <i>The Law</i>. Bastiat starts first with the fact that all people are given the gift of life. But he says that life “cannot maintain itself alone.” Humans have “marvelous faculties” to produce that which is required for life, and man sits amidst “a variety of natural resources.” “By the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them into products and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may run its appointed course.”<br />
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To survive man must apply his rational mind to natural resources. Life requires freedom, and if man is to survive he must keep the product of his labor or, in other words, he m ust have the right to property. Liberals have argued that it is for this reason that legitimate governments are created. Jefferson said the purpose of government is to secure rights already held by the individual. Bastiat explained it this way:<br />
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In a liberal society the primary function of government is to protect the pre-existing rights of the individual. The government grants no rights, but merely acts to prevent others from infringing on such rights. Liberalism does not attempt to tell man how to live, or what moral principles to hold. It deals si mply with his material well-being in this world. It provides a framework in which each individual can find personal happiness or fulfillment according to his or her own values. In his book <i>Liberalism</i>, Ludwig von Mises wrote:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4erbviMjNrmCIuqLOZVUV8GKihoiQnOJQ8gJvjJYQz_BfmNJI5MzlWF6ysQurYGVI3c6c2jT9Z4aFJRhLJ1o1OD5paNWyf_u9d_1k611xERJFZCjO38W9QMEaRW_VPF8KoUzbVhot84A/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-04-18+at+7.14.56+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4erbviMjNrmCIuqLOZVUV8GKihoiQnOJQ8gJvjJYQz_BfmNJI5MzlWF6ysQurYGVI3c6c2jT9Z4aFJRhLJ1o1OD5paNWyf_u9d_1k611xERJFZCjO38W9QMEaRW_VPF8KoUzbVhot84A/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-04-18+at+7.14.56+PM.png" height="245" width="320" /></a> It is not from a disdain for spiritual goods that liberalism concerns itself exclusively with man’s material well-being, but from a conviction that what is highest and deepest in man cannot be touched by any outward regulation. It seeks to produce only outer well-being because it knows that inner, spiritual riches cannot come to man from without, but only from within his own heart. It does not aim at creating anything but the outward preconditions for the inner life.</blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgigEycVGuO8o_V6_48sLLAjZK1k_FsAYnYiZdtBkGk4CWC2hSwAGi0xEbEVlR_ASZhx5JcmrXv-SajAyQvO0jsnn31Xxt1-4O89qchr4TuY6s0PEHIYrTiWpdNjFGNtP1CTnrQRS9uA/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-04-18+at+7.06.45+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<br />
<b>Human Interaction</b><br />
<br />
Liberalism establishes a basic principle for how people must interact. This principle is that all interaction must be by mutual consent. Each individual is thus free to pursue his own happiness in a regime of freedom, regulated only by the equal liberty and rights Œof others. The proper method of interaction economically is one where individuals trade value for value. Thus in a truly liberal society, the economy is one of free markets and property rights. Individuals seeking their own well-being produce goods and services for exchange with other individuals who are also seeking their own good. No trade takes place in a free economy unless all trading partners believe they will benefit. To improve his own life each individual must also improve the lives of others, even if this is not his intent.<br />
<br />
In a society where government is limited to the protection of rights, individuals may pursue varying sets of values. Thus liberalism is the only system that allows for pluralism, or the pursuit of contradictory sets of values. The function of the state is not to impose one set of values on everyone, but to allow the free exchange of goods, services, and ideas. It protects, equally, every group within the society, but it does not place the values of any one group higher than others. Liberalism respects man’s most important right: the right to think for himself. It does not seek to control his mind, but leaves him free to use his rational faculties to the best of his ability.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgigEycVGuO8o_V6_48sLLAjZK1k_FsAYnYiZdtBkGk4CWC2hSwAGi0xEbEVlR_ASZhx5JcmrXv-SajAyQvO0jsnn31Xxt1-4O89qchr4TuY6s0PEHIYrTiWpdNjFGNtP1CTnrQRS9uA/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-04-18+at+7.06.45+PM.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgigEycVGuO8o_V6_48sLLAjZK1k_FsAYnYiZdtBkGk4CWC2hSwAGi0xEbEVlR_ASZhx5JcmrXv-SajAyQvO0jsnn31Xxt1-4O89qchr4TuY6s0PEHIYrTiWpdNjFGNtP1CTnrQRS9uA/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-04-18+at+7.06.45+PM.png" height="259" width="320" /></a>Applied liberalism means free minds and free markets. But for man to be free, government must be limited. Most liberals have, therefore, advocated constitutional restraints that limit the powers of government. If the purpose of government is to protect the rights of people, then the purpose of a constitution is to limit the powers of government.<br />
<br />
Liberalism arose because governments have been the most effective means for the destruction of human rights and human liberties. An all-powerful government—even one motivated by the best of intentions—is a potent threat to human freedom. And liberals believe that without freedom man cannot flourish and prosper. Thus liberals have historically spoken of absolute human rights and limited governments. And this, they believe, is what a constitution is meant to guarantee.<br />
<br />
Liberalism does not espouse one overriding utopian ideal for everyone. It recognizes the diversity of human life, and it understands that the pursuit of utopia is far more likely to end up on the road to hell. Thus it proposes a society based on equal rights and equal liberties. Each person is free to seek his or her own happiness, provided only that each respects the equal rights of the others. Only in this free society is there the chance for substantial prosperity, and only when man is free from hunger and disease is he capable of pursuing his higher values—whatever they may be.<br />
<br />
<b>No Equal Results</b><br />
<br />
But liberalism recognizes that a society of equal righ ts will not lead to one of equal results. And a society that promotes equal results will not be one that has equal rights. Liberalism, properly understood, defends equal liberty. And when all are equally free, the results will be vastly different.<br />
<br />
Wealth will be created—not distributed. Those who can reach for heights will do so, and the rest of us will benefit from their actions, though that was not their motivation. The state will be of limited importance, acting only to protect rights. Those who reach the top in the business world will have done so because they are good at what they do and not because they have political pull. The result, though not the intention, will be an uplifting of the poorest in society. Jobs will be created as a necessary component of the profit-seeking of the entrepreneurs.<br />
<br />
When this happens there w ill be economic inequality. But so what? Why should everyone be equally poor? The poor will have their living standards vastly improved, and the wealthy will be even wealthier. If prosperity is our goal then why worry about an inequality of results?<br />
<br />
And this is the crucial difference between liberalism and socialism (or what goes by the name “liberalism” in America today). Liberalism, based on an ethics of achievement, advocates equal freedom, which leads to unequal results. Socialism, based on the ethics of envy, demands equal results, which requires limiting freedom. Thus with liberalism we have freedom, prosperity, and unequal wealth. With socialism we have equality, poverty, and no freedom. As much as we might want there to be a third alternative, it doesn’t exist.<br />
<br />
<i>Request: We have a series of slides on the nature of liberalism that we would like to convert to a video format. Anyone who has the ability and would like to undertake this task as a donation to the Institute's work should contact us by leaving a comment on how to reach you. Those comments will not be visible to the public. There are approximate 60 slides. </i>Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-28259134713651571312014-01-05T21:30:00.000-08:002014-01-05T21:30:16.685-08:00Collective rights: winning the battle, losing the war.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Hv2-4N2v8oFahP5XcBMzH84GwBvzfd-FCI7kwSN0KriOXSYcDxzR7HPh2ofSn7ilHzVJ50j0z3LmdWMIKlX5eQ0hUl6sKDB1cfrIMpk1xNFaug-CnuBt_RW86vHoXbXYFA7vNDYQVNk/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-01-05+at+9.23.22+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Hv2-4N2v8oFahP5XcBMzH84GwBvzfd-FCI7kwSN0KriOXSYcDxzR7HPh2ofSn7ilHzVJ50j0z3LmdWMIKlX5eQ0hUl6sKDB1cfrIMpk1xNFaug-CnuBt_RW86vHoXbXYFA7vNDYQVNk/s1600/Screen+shot+2014-01-05+at+9.23.22+PM.png" height="320" width="259" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Because many libertarians came to their philosophy
from the Right they often bring with them a style of discussion that betrays
their roots. While their position may be correct philosophically<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the way in which they express
themselves conveys meanings they may not intend, alienating the people they are
hoping to address.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Libertarians believe in individual rights. I have no
problem with that. Rights reside entirely with the individual. There is no such
thing as collective rights, just the rights of the individual. So it would seem
logical for a libertarian to shun terms like “woman’s rights” or “gay rights”
or “minority rights,” etc.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">We should be clear that people use the term “rights”
in two different ways, and without clarifying which one is using can lead to
unnecessary confusion. When a libertarian says that someone has “rights” they
are referring to the ideal situation, not to the actual situation. It is to the
libertarian vision of individual rights that they are referring.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">This causes an immediate problem as others may be
using the term to describe the actual legal state of rights, not the ideal
state of rights. Yes, gay people have precisely the same rights as straight
people in the ideal sense of the term. In the actual sense of the term they do
not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Two individuals, each identical in every important
sense of the word, who attempt to marry may be treated entirely differently if
one is gay and the other is not. There is an inequality of legal rights, even
if in the ideal sense of the word the two should have precisely the same
rights. Legally the rights of gay people in America are not co-equal to the
legal rights enjoyed by their heterosexual siblings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Often when the term “gay rights” is used it is a term
meant to address the inequality of rights that exist, not the ideal sense of
rights. It is an attempt to move the actual rights enjoyed by gay people to an
equal plain with the rights enjoyed by straight people. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">The term “gay rights” is often used by someone who has
no intention of creating a system of unequal rights. It is not a “special”
right that is being sought, but the same rights that have been denied gay
people by law. Similarly the term “women’s rights” is not generally meant to be
a situation where women have different, or superior rights, but the same rights
as men. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">This does not mean that some people use the terms to
disguise a campaign for unequal rights, but most people do not mean that at
all. More often than not their opponents are actually the advocates of unequal
rights, who wish to reserve special privileges to a class, race, gender, or
sexual orientation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Consider the likes of Maggie Gallagher and Jennifer
Roback Morse. They fight for a system of marriage rights that excludes one
class of people—gay couples. They want legal privileges reserved to another
specific class of people alone. Yet opponents of equality of rights argue that
it is the gay couples that are seeking “special” rights, when in truth they are
attempting to eradicate special rights in favor of equality of rights.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">There is also another aspect of “rights” which
libertarians simply tend to forget, or never realized. While it is true that a
person does not have rights because he is a member of a specific group, it is
true that individuals frequently have their rights violated because he is a
member of a specific group.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">A gay woman may have the same rights as any other
adult in the ideal world, but she may be denied some of those rights because
she is gay in the real world. Taxation may violate rights on a relatively equal
basis. A general sales tax hurts everyone regardless of what group he may be a
member of while<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“marriage
amendments” disqualify individuals on the basis of a collective trait, not an
individual one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Racists attack blacks, or Jews, or foreigners, not on
the basis of their individuality, but on the basis of some collective trait.
Ayn Rand described racism as the “lowest, most crudely primitive form of
collectivism. It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political
significance to a man’s genetic lineage—the notion that a man’s intellectual
and characterological traits are produced and transmitted by his internal body
chemistry.” Rand is correct this is what racism does.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Prejudicial viewpoints basically argue that an
individual is not judged by his individual characteristics, but because he is a
member of some larger collective. Instead of judging on the basis of the
content of his character, the stigmatized individual is judged on the basis of
his membership in some collective. Thus a woman may be deemed of lesser value
because she is a woman, a black man may be treated like a criminal because he
is black, and a gay man may be attacked physically or verbally simply because
he is gay.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">The bigot ignores all the aspects of the individual
and instead focus on some shared collective trait. “All Muslims are... All
homosexuals do... The problem with Jews is...” They don’t need to evaluate the
individual because they assume the collective trait dominates. A Jew may be
attacked, not because he or she has done anything wrong, but just because they
are Jew.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">When individuals are attacked because of their group
membership they will quite naturally and reasonably focus on how members of
their group are being singled out for attacks. While the terms “gay rights” or
“minority rights” or “woman’s rights” are not philosophically precise they are
a reasonable response to the attacks these people suffer because they are
members of groups. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">But, consider how libertarians respond to this
understandable reaction by members of oppressed classes. The libertarian will
often tend to ignore the fact that such people are being attacked for their
membership in some larger collective. Instead of recognizing what is being
conveyed they will attack the use of the collective rights terminology. So they
will launch a high-sounding dismissal of the concept of “gay rights” while
ignoring the way gay people are denied their rights due to the shared trait of
their sexual orientation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">They are technically correct, but they have defeated
their own purpose. They are ignoring the real troubling issue at stake to
concentrate on a rather insignificant detail. By launching into a discourse on
how rights are not collective traits they are not informing their listener
about the nature of individual rights. They may mean to do that, but they are
not doing that. They are actually sending the message that they don’t care that
the rights of certain people are being denied because of some collective trait.
That makes them sound like conservatives who are often the most vocal
collectivists when it comes to denying equality of rights before the law.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">The libertarian sentiment should naturally side with
those who suffer oppression because of collective traits of no significance.
Libertarians, who are supposed to be individualists, ought to be on the side of
individuals who are being singled out because of collective, insignificant
traits.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">Libertarians ought to weigh the two sins being
committed. On the one hand the victim uses a term that is imprecise and seems
to convey that rights reside in collectives if taken literally. On the other
hand what they are addressing is how they are being harmed by a hate that
singles them out collectively, not individually. Of these two, the violation of
individual rights is surely far more severe than a loose use of a term.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">The first reaction of the libertarian should be to
acknowledge that an individual is having their rights violated due to a
collectivist concept regarding who they are. First address the issues of the
oppression and collectivist hate. Before you begin lecturing someone about
loose terms address the real, significant violation of rights that these
victims are attempting to convey. Don’t major on minors.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #262626; font-size: 16pt;">When I hear
the terms “woman’s rights” or “gay rights” I see what people are attempting to
convey, not a philosophical debate. Turning it into a philosophical debate
ignores the pain and oppression that these people have experienced at the hands
of bigots. That is what I would expect from conservatives, not from
libertarians. Focus first on the main issue, defend the rights of the
individual which are being violated, make an ally and a friend, and they worry
about terminology. Put the intent of the phrase ahead of the literal
interpretation and give the philosophy lecture after you establish your
credibility.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
</span>Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-9534122029708023642013-12-06T18:41:00.002-08:002013-12-09T02:56:38.587-08:00A Libertarian Look at Nelson Mandela<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieEoik7JCynBLixoH0UFhP1Hukj81TSEZ3ccqZeZA6tp-hZk3lIu93BOfrRGF8Uso7-IEG3-e-AdiGHMeuSyrqsF8V-luFIXBtX8NmCZqZYWa_gNYYaZoJyyaCg4fEEbwtrNkmcmMdInU/s1600/Madiba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieEoik7JCynBLixoH0UFhP1Hukj81TSEZ3ccqZeZA6tp-hZk3lIu93BOfrRGF8Uso7-IEG3-e-AdiGHMeuSyrqsF8V-luFIXBtX8NmCZqZYWa_gNYYaZoJyyaCg4fEEbwtrNkmcmMdInU/s320/Madiba.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Nelson Mandela was everything people have said about him—and yet nothing like the man they claimed he was. He was saint and sinner, a miracle for the nation, and just a man, flaws and all.<br />
<br />
I was in line at McDonalds in Cresta, a northern suburb of Johannesburg, when suddenly the order clerk glazed over and stopped paying any attention to my order or me. I kept trying to finish the order with no response. My partner whispered in my ear: “Mandela just walked in.”<br />
<br />
I turned to my left and, sure enough, there was Madiba, shuffling toward the back where his grandchild was celebrating a birthday. We got our food and sat down, watching Mandela and the children in the back of the restaurant. People stopped eating to stare. The mostly white crowd had cell phones out telling everyone they knew that they were in the presence of Mandela.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
On another occasion he walked in during a Diana Ross concert. Thousands of Ross fans jumped to their feet and started applauding and pointing. Ross herself didn’t seem to realize what was going on until she looked over her shoulder and saw him on the second level of the auditorium. She beckoned him to the stage and the audience was ecstatic. They loved him.<br />
<br />
In both cases these were primarily white audiences. Whatever you may have heard, most white South Africans had come to love Mandela rather quickly. His personality was the kind that won over his staunchest critics and made him such a powerful influence in South Africa.<br />
<br />
<b>Apartheid South Africa</b><br />
<br />
The South Africa in which Mandela grew to manhood was a violent, racist dictatorship. One man, one vote was a myth—even for white voters. Election districts were <a href="http://africanhistory.about.com/library/bl/blSAApartheidFAQ.htm" target="_blank">drawn to ensure that rural Afrikaners determined the government</a>, the purpose being to transfer wealth and power from both the black majority, and English minority businessmen.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXWptCet1ODjISm362u_2QH28jnAiP89idAGan8dQK4JmXh7q-gPn6sMmx141Sfl8AANk8RgEMr1mIPHnFPjy1Yv48Nc_Ze3t2meNM6RZCy6r39gJBUf77BFCE4ur8MPo01uYFzDARUI/s1600/ApartheidSignEnglishAfrikaans.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXWptCet1ODjISm362u_2QH28jnAiP89idAGan8dQK4JmXh7q-gPn6sMmx141Sfl8AANk8RgEMr1mIPHnFPjy1Yv48Nc_Ze3t2meNM6RZCy6r39gJBUf77BFCE4ur8MPo01uYFzDARUI/s320/ApartheidSignEnglishAfrikaans.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
The vision of South Africa promoted by conservatives in the West was propaganda. Conservatives pretended the apartheid regime was some sort of Western island of freedom in a sea of “black dictatorships.”<br />
<br />
This is a lie, a legacy of Cold War propaganda, where “anti-communist” was falsely equated with being pro-freedom, and where the West turned a blind eye to tyrannical governments, no matter how vile they might be, provided they were “on our side.” Among the worst was South Africa.<br />
<br />
While South Africa was no North Korea, it wasn’t free either. Even “free enterprise” didn’t exist there. The apartheid era economy was one tightly controlled by the state to prevent markets from working—because markets didn’t produce racist results desired by the architects of apartheid.<br />
<br />
It was a country where the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/09/world/apartheid-assassin-confesses-killings-in-other-lands.html" target="_blank">government assassinated critics</a>.<br />
<br />
I ran a libertarian-oriented newspaper for the LGBT community—two reasons to be disliked by the government. Police sat outside my home, watching it. They admitted to being police when I challenged them and told them I had called the police to report burglars (them) in the neighborhood.<br />
<br />
One day, I had police show up to investigate the mysterious slashing of all my car tires. When I refused to let them into my house, one went to the police car and radioed in an “anonymous” tip that I had drugs. That was the pretense for searching my home without a warrant. Of course, there were no drugs, but they didn’t expect any.<br />
<br />
I was a member of the Freedom of Expression Institute—and served one year on their Board—when the police went after a conference we organized on censorship. The apartheid regime loved censorship—of all kinds.<br />
<br />
Police showed up to “protect us” from extremists in the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging. But who would protect us from the police? They “evacuated” the auditorium, claiming a bomb threat and marched us through lines of police officers with cameras recording our identities. Outside a black staff member from the organization asked a police officer why he was doing this. The officer attacked him and said he was under arrest. Five of us pulled the man away from the officer and stood in-between, arguing with him and telling him he had no such right. The officer was a terrified farm boy, barely out of his teens, who had been conscripted into the force.<br />
<br />
Inside, the same boy tried a second time to assert authority. A woman threw a drink at him in response and he started punching her in the face. I and another man, jumped the officer and held his arms while he cursed and threatened to kill us. Thankfully, a wiser senior officer pulled him away. They were only there to gather intelligence. This sort of violence was best used without witnesses.<br />
<br />
I was on the streets of Hillbrow, when some young white thug started harassing a black man. The police arrived and arrested the victim. I went to Hillbrow station to defend the man and to attest that the white man had attacked him, not the other way around. While I was there police questioned another suspect they had arrested and started beating him to force him to give them the answers they wanted. I started yelling and the police made it clear that I was to leave the police station immediately or I would face similar treatment.<br />
<br />
This is just what I saw in apartheid’s sunset years, and I never came close to seeing the worst of it, when the system was its height.<br />
<br />
This was no free country. To abolish that violent, hateful regime Mandela made alliances that compromised his position. He made political decisions I would not have made, but there is no doubt that the country he left behind is freer than the one he lived in for most of his life. Yes, some South Africans are worse off, but most are better off, all things considered. Arbitrary arrests, such as under apartheid, are a thing of the past. Government murdering of critics is over — though they may try other measures to silence opposition.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4XoFFsxcKwhHdFJanhXYy1Kj4pM3W6FAfncVd2OQ0U7W8jTCH7bNWChvXlFYCIKmNu43gsmsS-n7-tyEM2VVnw9AOh_GiCUh_x4FWRTZbUd1VFgrGonmw2vc35tGl-lJS7dK9tSgh-g/s1600/stompie.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4XoFFsxcKwhHdFJanhXYy1Kj4pM3W6FAfncVd2OQ0U7W8jTCH7bNWChvXlFYCIKmNu43gsmsS-n7-tyEM2VVnw9AOh_GiCUh_x4FWRTZbUd1VFgrGonmw2vc35tGl-lJS7dK9tSgh-g/s1600/stompie.jpg" /></a>I am mostly positive on Mandela, but negative on the African National Congress. The man was better than his party. Mandela was a good man who married badly. He did too little in regards to his former wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela‘s <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media/1997/9709/s970905c.htm" target="_blank">murderous rampage</a>, including her child killing. He was also someone who thought that the “greater good” of the “cause” meant he had to allow Winnie’s crimes to go unpunished. I disagree with that judgment call and regret that Winnie got away with murder—literally.<br />
<br />
Mandela accepted alliances with questionable allies, but was his crime worse than the West seeking an alliance with the apartheid regime? He worked with Communists—not just communists, but capital C Communists. His goal was to end apartheid. For the black community everything came down to opposing apartheid or supporting apartheid—nothing else mattered. That was the natural legacy of authoritarianism. South African blacks saw few other options because the regime left them none.<br />
<br />
Even classical liberals of the day had to work with Communists. One libertarian (liberal) friend, Jill Wentzel, was active in Black Sash, and worked with people known to be communists. Jill showed up at the ruling party’s national congress <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=LhUjXXNTz50C&pg=PA147&lpg=PA147&dq=War+of+Words+Jill+Wentzel&source=bl&ots=6OvCctuaVV&sig=n8SMmTxl2hNHkgWLNlf9kygvITQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YImiUoDDO8XcoATKloD4BQ&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Jill%20wentzel%20wreath&f=false" target="_blank">to protest the killing of Steve Biko</a> and walked down the aisle of the convention to lay a wreath in Biko’s honor at the feet of the astonished leaders of the apartheid regime.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTg8mmXiKg65HXeKxzv0G-A1DMQRAKALDctO1gGLC6a6VHjmJxVrWdNoWl6-C_lmftBdKIrDVz8q9Y097BDkHyuUyNxXIRy3ZFIQs8Tm21g61_Ki3lM_P3cMPNrNCys02hGhWTB9Rxtw/s1600/jill.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOTg8mmXiKg65HXeKxzv0G-A1DMQRAKALDctO1gGLC6a6VHjmJxVrWdNoWl6-C_lmftBdKIrDVz8q9Y097BDkHyuUyNxXIRy3ZFIQs8Tm21g61_Ki3lM_P3cMPNrNCys02hGhWTB9Rxtw/s320/jill.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jill Wentzel at Black Sash meeting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Helen Suzman, a staunch opponent of communism, was also an opponent of apartheid—for years the lone voice of opposition in parliament. Yet, given political realities of the day, she allied herself with communists as well. Suzman didn’t join the armed struggle, but Nelson Mandela didn’t have the options she had, due to race.<br />
<br />
In office, Mandela didn’t seek revenge against advocates of apartheid. Men, I thought should have faced a court of law, were left alone in order to preserve the peace. Crimes committed by both sides were ignored, and, whether they liked it or not, the Communist Party didn’t see the “commanding heights” of the economy nationalized.<br />
<br />
Mandela sought to unify a nation wrecked by tribalism. This wasn’t just black vs. white tribalism, but tribalism within races. The Zulu didn’t like the Xhosa, and Afrikaner nationalism was directed as much against English and Jewish capitalists, as it was against blacks.<br />
<br />
Two incidents bring this home. One was a simple rugby game—not just any rugby game, but the World Cup. Even I sat in front of the television to watch. South African sport was also tribal. Cricket was the sport of the English, soccer was what the black population followed, and rugby was the obsession of the Afrikaners — those whites who were the architects and beneficiaries of apartheid, or so they believed.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
Mandela supported the Springboks in their quest to win the world cup. He went to the game and appeared on the field, when they won, wearing the distinctive green Springbok shirt. That gesture sent a message to all South Africans. It was a day when black and white, English and Afrikaner were, for the first time, united in one celebration. It was just a game, but on that day, they created a nation. (See the reaction of the interracial crowd at a victory parade for the Springboks above.) <br />
<br />
The second incident was the day Communist leader Chris Hani was murdered by a far Right extremist. As the news came out that Hani was executed, I was mentally preparing for the worst. In the simplified world of extremist politics — which had dominated South Africa for decades— everyone was either an enemy or a friend, and black South Africans saw Hani as a prominent friend and an opponent of their enemies.<br />
<br />
Mandela went on television and soothed the pain of the nation. <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/show.php?id=4304" target="_blank">He said:</a> “Tonight I am reaching out to every single South African, black and white, from the very depths of my being. A white man, full of prejudice and hate, came to our country and committed a deed so foul that our whole nation now teeters on the brink of disaster. A white woman, of Afrikaner origin, risked her life so that we may know, and bring to justice, this assassin. The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani has sent shock waves throughout the country and the world. … Now is the time for all South Africans to stand together against those who, from any quarter, wish to destroy what Chris Hani gave his life for – the freedom of all of us.”<br />
<br />
The feared riots never took place. When Hani’s funeral was aired on the SABC, there were white and black mourners together. The “brink of disaster” had been averted, because of the sheer force of the personality of one man.<br />
<br />
I do not believe Nelson Mandela’s legacy is all sweetness and light, but his contribution to the world, especially South Africa, was mostly positive.<br />
<br />
How many people overall are there of whom that can honestly be said?<br />
<br />
James Peron is the president of the Moorfield Storey Institute and lived for South Africa during this time period. <br />
<br />Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-41237002477985833602013-09-13T01:15:00.004-07:002013-09-13T14:35:32.279-07:00Dumpster Diving and Libertarianism<style>
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<span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Left-of-center website, <a href="http://www.demos.org/blog/9/11/13/hans-hermann-hoppe-libertarian-extraordinaire" target="_blank">Demos</a>, has a somewhat dishonest attack on
libertarianism by a Mr. Matt Bruenig. Bruenig is happy to announce that a
libertarian from the Cato Institute has agreed to discuss the nature of
libertarianism with him. He then pulls one of the more dishonest stunts that
one can pull in a debate or discussion—he set up an extreme, minority position
as if it is the mainstream and then demanded his opponent justify it. <br />
<br />
This is similar to conflating left progressives with the Communist Party USA.
It was a shameful stunt when pulled by McCarthyites, Birchers and others on
the extreme Right and it is just as shameful when pulled by left progressives, such
as Mr. Bruenig.<br />
<br />
Bruenig demands that his Cato discussant defend the antics of Han-Hermann
Hoppe, who is absurdly described as “a very prominent libertarian academic.” In
truth, Mr. Hoppe is hardly “prominent,” though he and his small band of
followers would rush to agree with Bruenig—which makes Bruenig the one keeping
odd company.<br />
<br />
Bruenig notes Hoppe’s affiliation with the paleolibertarian Ludwig von Mises
Institute—formed by a former staffer from the Conservative Book Club, well
after Mises died. Now, if you were to take the budgets of the various
libertarian-oriented think tanks and combine them together, you would probably
find that this organization represents less than 1% of libertarian funding of
ideas in any one year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">If you were to look at the archives of Reason
magazine, the premier magazine of a libertarian nature for decades, I don’t
think you will find one magazine article that even references Hoppe. I have
long followed the academic conferences that are sponsored by libertarians
groups such as the Atlas Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies and
Liberty Fund, and I don’t remember one such event sponsoring Hoppe as a speaker
or one where his ideas were taken seriously. </span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
In fact, one reason Hoppe founded his Property & Freedom Society, mentioned
by Bruenig, was because the libertarian-leaning international group of academics,
the Mont Pelerin Society, wasn’t keen on him. Hoppe’s “alternative” is a
hodge-podge of fringe Right-wing conservatives, racists and so-called
paleolibertarians—precisely the kind of people that Mont Pelerin would
generally shun. That Hoppe founded this organization is not evidence he is a
mainstream libertarian figure—it proves the very opposite.<br />
<br />
I should point out that even many of the people associated with the Mises
Institute have little affinity with Hoppe’s views, especially the ones singled
out by Bruenig, and some have been publicly critical. <a href="http://www.reasonpapers.com/pdf/29/rp_29_10.pdf" target="_blank">For instance</a>, Walter
Block wrote a critical analysis of Hoppe in the <i>Reason Papers</i>, though many
libertarians would think his criticisms didn’t go far enough. Block has not been
alone—especially in regard to Hoppe’s perceived racism and anti-gay bigotry,
perceptions I think are wholly justified.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYIvbnpGOGfx5KuWSc1ENrzr-FreMFEvegxShwv-gT4aSRT8JbFc1JIpm_cym01X5uMc9qxhn0wq7AsIl-tIMdtX-x2GxrnyIpMz1t7vvkIp-A2H4_1OkItFPo6XpgEur0I5mgqelFzI/s1600/dumpster-diving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYIvbnpGOGfx5KuWSc1ENrzr-FreMFEvegxShwv-gT4aSRT8JbFc1JIpm_cym01X5uMc9qxhn0wq7AsIl-tIMdtX-x2GxrnyIpMz1t7vvkIp-A2H4_1OkItFPo6XpgEur0I5mgqelFzI/s320/dumpster-diving.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hoppe’s influence on modern libertarianism is extremely
minor. Mr. Bruenig ignored the Mount Olympus of libertarianism and went
searching in the gutter instead. The reality is that the vast majority of
libertarians, if asked about Hoppe, would respond: “Who?” <br />
<br />
Bruenig, however, pretends that no libertarian has spoken out against Hoppe and
his views. “</span><span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Is anyone in the libertarian community willing to
denounce Hans-Hermann Hoppe as not one of them, and call him the lunatic he
clearly is? Or is he still going to get an invite to the next convention?”<br />
<br />
This is on par with: “Have you stopped beating your wife?” Both questions are
dishonest because they are meant to imply something as true, which is not. </span><span style="font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
<br />
Bruenig discovers that, “Hoppe </span><span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">is a huge fan of discrimination of basically all
sorts: racist, sexist, classist, and all the others. In fact, if there is any
overarching theme in Hoppe's work, it is that the problem with our status quo
society is that, because it is democratic, the majoritarian tendency reigns,
and that majoritarian tendency is to protect people from discrimination.”<br />
<br />
This is like someone taking a 747 to Boston and pretending they have
“discovered” North America. Many libertarians have noted Hoppe’s prejudicial,
extremist views long before progressives like Bruenig had any idea who he was.
Libertarians were concerned that Hoppe was cloaking his bigotry in libertarian
terms. Bruenig reveals NOTHING about Hoppe that libertarians didn’t expose
first, and condemn. <br />
<br />
If Bruenig did any research for his article he should have known this. That
leaves the uncomfortable assumption that he either did very little research or he
ignored the context of the libertarian movement in order to make it appear that
libertarians are in lockstep—or goose-step if you prefer—with Mr. Hoppe.</span>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hoppe has tried to justify his petty bigotries by
the claim, in twists of bizarre logic, that a property-based, free society
would discriminate—coincidentally against all the very groups that Hoppe
himself dislikes: non-white immigrants, blacks and gays. <br />
<br />
Bruenig accidentally gives away the flaw in his own argument that Hoppe is the </span><span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">"Libertarian Extraordinaire</span><span style="color: #0a0322; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; letter-spacing: 1.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 24.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">.”</span><span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> He notes that Hoppe thinks some “libertarians are
hopelessly confused” because “they believe that in this world of free markets
and private property, gays will be super-free to love who they want to love,
live how they want to live.” Actually, in my experience, that pretty much
encapsulates the view of most libertarians. <br />
<br />
Bruenig claims:</span>
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hoppe realizes that in a world of a true lock down
on private property, with no regulation on how such property might be used,
there would be unbelievable amounts of social coercion to prevent people from
living the lives they'd like. If you don't get on board with the dominant
culture, you literally will find yourself with nowhere to live, work, eat, and
will summarily die. Also, notice how old school he is even in 2001 comparing
LGBTQ people to pedophiles. Bold move, Hoppe, bold move.</span>
</blockquote>
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<span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bruenig says Hoppe “realizes” this because this is
precisely the sort of bizarre claim that Bruenig himself wants to be true,
albeit for very different reasons. Hoppe imagines this to be the case because
there are people he hates and he wants to argue this hatred would be sanctioned
in a property-based, depoliticized market. Hoppe does this to give approval for
his own prejudices against these people. Mr. Bruenig does it because he wants
to give sanction to his prejudices against markets and libertarians.</span>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">But, is this the case? Hoppe’s argumentation is
wrong and Bruenig applauding his logic doesn’t make it correct. In fact we have
countless examples of how markets and property have done the very opposite of
what Hoppe and Bruenig seem to wish were the case.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzimnQX2kidiU7eVlMIrQzjOAJiTInzJBqjjOdod44pYv6ODr8v0LFpGoNYm1lUXlNcRo_jS9WOE3mNFTTknG75wTFn2m3DeObkoZspUdM5lSsoYGo0IAINgMutLENqt1vSOeVSi7gIbk/s1600/stonewall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzimnQX2kidiU7eVlMIrQzjOAJiTInzJBqjjOdod44pYv6ODr8v0LFpGoNYm1lUXlNcRo_jS9WOE3mNFTTknG75wTFn2m3DeObkoZspUdM5lSsoYGo0IAINgMutLENqt1vSOeVSi7gIbk/s320/stonewall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Police harassing Stonewall customers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Gay establishments existed long before anti-discrimination laws. In fact, they
existed in the face of anti-gay laws of the worse kind. The fact that
individuals owned private property allowed them to set up gay establishments.
Yes, those clubs were harassed and often shut down—by the government. Police
harassment of gay clubs was, and to some extent still is, a problem. Private
property and market-incentives created gay establishment and government closed
them.<br />
<br />
Apartheid, and its little brother, Jim Crow, were not examples of markets.
Blacks didn’t ride in the front of the bus because the states passed laws
making it illegal to do so. In South Africa, the laws forbade the hiring of
blacks for certain professions—without the law people were hiring blacks for
those very professions. The government prosecuted employers for the crime of
hiring black workers.<br />
<br />
And, as the Civil Rights struggle showed, when white business owners did try to
treat customers equally they were often violently attacked by hate groups like
the Klan, who were usually in cahoots with the local police department. It
wasn’t the protection of private property that was the problem here, but the
systematic violation of those rights by bigots who had government power behind
them. <br />
<br />
Immigrants are another favored target of Mr. Hoppe—particularly those from
non-European cultures, by which Hoppe seems to mean non-Whites. <br />
<br />
During recent waves of “illegal” immigration we had property owners and markets
acting very differently from policy-makers and government. Politicians passed
laws making it a crime to rent property to someone without verifying they were
a citizen first. Why? This was “necessary” because without the force of
government, private-property owners were quite happy to rent apartments
and homes to them. <br />
<br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkfE_K7XByU1gzBezvUT5xDYxGOJ3i9Jv7YP-1xp3oYOBiVzNjRnp46Rl4nIaYM09yknjaT4T0YnSoU7287Dp_Uzmh5k9sfGPhmfhZNg-bM-J8Clfs4G2hjx0EZelWDh_oPlgZjMqGvA/s1600/e-verify-logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkfE_K7XByU1gzBezvUT5xDYxGOJ3i9Jv7YP-1xp3oYOBiVzNjRnp46Rl4nIaYM09yknjaT4T0YnSoU7287Dp_Uzmh5k9sfGPhmfhZNg-bM-J8Clfs4G2hjx0EZelWDh_oPlgZjMqGvA/s320/e-verify-logo.gif" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="color: #464648; font-family: "Lucida Sans"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-size: 17.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Politicians passed laws making it a criminal offense to hire these people unless
they provided government papers certifying they had a “right” to work in the
United States. If employers wished to discriminate they could have easily done
so. Even the anti-discrimination laws would not have required them to hire
“illegal immigrants” in most cases. But, employers were hiring these people and
the political process had to step in forcibly to prevent it. Even with these
extraordinary state interventions employers are still hiring “illegals” to this
very day.<br />
<br />
In other words, private property and depoliticized markets have been
sanctuaries for victims of discrimination and bigots knew it. If this were not
true there would be no need for these laws.<br />
<br />
Bruenig ends his piece by claiming “I didn’t pull this man out of some
backwater obscurity.” I would argue the lady doth protest too much. That is
precisely what he did. <br />
<br />
Beyond his blanket condemnations of libertarianism there is nothing in
Bruenig’s article that is critical of Hoppe that wasn’t said first by
libertarians—and said better. <br />
<br />
Resources: Various libertarian sites have been critical of Hoppe. For instance,
the <a href="http://rightwatch.tblog.com/" target="_blank">Rightwatch blog</a> had multiple exposes of Hoppe during the years it was in
operation, 2005-2008. Libertarian activist and intellectual, Tom Palmer, <a href="http://tomgpalmer.com/" target="_blank">published</a>
dozens of critiques of Hoppe on his personal blog. For that he was rewarded
with an anti-Palmer website from Hoppe acolytes, along with numerous anti-gay
slurs from Hoppe and his small band of followers. In 2005 the World Freedom
Conference hosted libertarian policy analyst Oliver Marc Hartwich who gave a
presentation on “<a href="http://www.fr33minds.com/product_info.php?products_id=605" target="_blank">The Errors of Hans-Hermann Hoppe.”</a> What is noteworthy, but
ignored by Mr. Bruenig, is that outside the limited circles of the Mises
Institute, there is a shortage of academic libertarian organizations and/or
publications that bother to take Mr. Hoppe seriously at all. <br />
<br />
For a discussion of why depoliticized markets actually undermine conservative
values—the opposite of what Hoppe and Bruenig believe—see <a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2010/11/conservatism-versus-liberal-capitalism.html" target="_blank">“Conservatism versus
Liberal Capitalism.</a></span><a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2010/11/conservatism-versus-liberal-capitalism.html" target="_blank"></a>"Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-89978131354177183052013-09-05T23:57:00.000-07:002013-09-05T23:57:32.417-07:00Ten Commandments for Libertarians<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BqgFjnXSGvQLEvInVAimsw6f-uwwnj-00FlOLX6r0YDC4Y7lNwdZVJfGgdG0Q8UcC37iL0fpAM7Di4Q0iAI_wG4iiGjBtFF_0P8GgV08Ab3pV4UPKZa-n3NmYOdL2sjEsSBR8IUmu3g/s1600/tencom2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BqgFjnXSGvQLEvInVAimsw6f-uwwnj-00FlOLX6r0YDC4Y7lNwdZVJfGgdG0Q8UcC37iL0fpAM7Di4Q0iAI_wG4iiGjBtFF_0P8GgV08Ab3pV4UPKZa-n3NmYOdL2sjEsSBR8IUmu3g/s320/tencom2.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
It was once said: “I have met the enemy and he is us.”<br /><br />Truer words were never said.<br /><br />I think the libertarian vision is a noble one. It respects people. It sees each individual as an end in themselves and not the means to the ends of others.<br /><br />With any such set of ideas there is the message and there is the messenger. Rationally it behooves us to keep the two separate. In reality though people often judge the message by the messenger.<br /><br />And the libertarian movement worldwide has some really decent, hardworking, caring individuals at it’s helm. It also has some kooks, nuts, weirdos, cultists and certifiable lunatics out there as well. In other words it’s pretty much like the rest of the world.<br /><br />Libertarianism is a set of ideas for sure. It is also a collection of people. Ideas don’t exist outside of people. Ideas require on people for their existence. Ideas only reside in the mind. They may correspond with things we see in reality but they themselves are a mental construct. To separate the message from the messenger becomes very difficult.<br /><br />This movement we have chosen is filled with unique individuals. All of whom pretty much assert that they want to see libertarian ideas spread around the world and adopted. They mostly claim to be inspired by high ideals. Yet often they commit some deadly sins when it comes to promoting the fundamentals of liberty.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />Over the last quarter of a century I’ve witnessed people commit some deadly sins. I’ve committed a few whoppers myself. I hope I’ve learned my lesson well, but if past experience is any guide I probably haven’t. I learned some lessons no doubt but probably make additional mistakes along the way. So it’s a regular learning process. But that is life.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #1</b><br />
<br />Never assume perfection.<br /><br />I doubt that there is a libertarian on the planet who doesn’t admit making mistakes in the past. But a hell of lot of them assume they aren’t making any now. Just ask them.<br /><br />No one I know consciously holds views they believe to wrong or false. But then the wrong views they held in the past weren’t considered wrong at the time. Obviously if you think something is wrong you change your mind. So learning is always a process of looking back on past mistakes. It doesn’t see the current mistakes. It can’t. Once one identifies a mistake in the present one changes their mind and it becomes a past mistake.<br /><br />So the point here is that we all have a track record that indicates we shouldn’t be so sure of ourselves right now.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #2</b><br /><br />Never assume that others are wrong.<br /><br />Now if past experience shows that the views you once held so strongly turned out to be erroneous that also means that the people who disagreed with you back then turned out to be right. Now that is an idea that a lot of libertarians don’t like to consider.<br /><br />If you could be wrong on something then maybe the other person could be right about it.<br /><br />Sure there are issues where I think some views simply cannot be right. If someone tells me that existence doesn’t exist I laugh. After all why should I bother listening to someone who doesn’t exist? Such debates may be intellectual amusing but they are hardly valuable. This is not where libertarian messengers screw up the message. It’s usually on smaller, less fundamental issues.<br /><b><br />Commandment #3</b><br /><br />Never assume the immorality of others.<br /><br />Notice that the second commandment followed from the first. If you’ve made mistakes in the past you could be making them again. If you are making them again then the person who holds views contrary to your own may just be right. But if they are right then they may not be a sinner for disagreeing with you.<br /><br />One common assumption that many libertarians make, especially those from an Objectivist background, is to assume that anyone who disagrees with them is not just wrong but immoral too. They particularly love the part where Rand said to judge and be prepared to judge. They go through life as prosecutor, judge and chief executioner.<br /><br />Personally I think they are just looking for a secular form of fundamentalism which they can adopt for themselves.<br /><br />Now it is possible for another person to be immoral for promoting an idea. Somebody who promotes genocide openly and flagrantly is immoral. But it’s a long leap from believing in altruism to being a genocidal monster. I understand the logic that says that a belief that people must live for the sake of others can well lead to a belief that others must be made to die for others.<br /><br />But, for me to assume the altruist is immoral I have to assume that he understands that connection as well. In fact he usually disputes that most vociferously. It is most likely the point on which we are disagreeing.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #4</b><br /><br />Never assume others care.<br /><br />One of the basic tenets of libertarianism is often expressed as “live and let live”. Lots of libertarians understand the first part of that but not the second part. That “let live” part seems to go right past them.<br /><br />People have a right not to be interested in you, your ideas or whatever interests you. Libertarians are far too willing to preach to reluctant congregations especially those who are trapped. God forbid someone get stuck in an elevator with a libertarian. They’d have an ear full before that elevator starts moving. And the chances are good that they’ll conclude that all libertarians are pushy and obnoxious.<br /><br />It’s fine to make a comment. If a conversation starts pursue it. If someone is interested then by all means be willing to discuss the issues. That’s how minds are changed. But pay attention. I’ve seen libertarians so enamored with their own words that they ignore the fact that the person they are overwhelming is looking at their watch impatiently, yawning consistently and has a glazed over look on their face.<br /><br />People have a right to live their life. Emphasis please on THEIR life. That means a right to be interested in what they find interesting, not what you find interesting. That means a right to disagree, a right to avoid debate with you, a right to refuse to listen to you.<br /><br />I’ve often said, like many other libertarians, that we want a society where politics is so inconsequential that people spend their time getting on with the really important things in life, things that are important to themselves. Well, let’s admit something. Often we say that but often we don’t mean it. Lots of libertarians are in fact political junkies. And they love politics. So they push and prod and push some more. They want others to find interesting what they find interesting. They want others to pursue the ideas that they pursue. In other words then want everyone else to emulate themselves and not to live their own life.<br /><br />Now the fact is that people are going to live their lives anyway. Your irrational pursuit of forcing people to adopt your interests will leave you frustrated much of the time.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #5</b><br /><br />Never assume that a fluke is a pattern.<br /><br />Above I said that trying to get people to be just like you is going to leave you frustrated. It does. You will fail more often than not. In fact you will fail almost all the time. But the irrational person looks at the flukes and perceives patterns. So you abused somebody on Tuesday and a couple of months later they decide they are libertarian. That doesn’t mean abuse if a good recruiting tool.<br /><br />What could be happening is the following. Out of 100 random people a certain percentage may be naturally inclined to think like libertarians. Another percentage might be persuadable. It doesn't matter what the percentages are just that such things happen. For the sake of the illustration assume that 20 people are basically libertarian and another 30 are persuadable. You don’t know who is who before the fact and you can’t.<br /><br />So now you hurl abuse and epithets at all 100 people. The 30 who are open to the idea are repulsed by your behavior. They walk away uninterested. Even a goodly number of the 20 who are inclined to agree with you are repulsed. But maybe one of two of them sign up. You see the one or two that signed up and not the 48 you turned off. You crow about your success when what you did was lose libertarianism support.<br /><br />Maybe another approach, where you treated others with some respect, would have brought in 20. Your insistence on using the abusive approach cost the movement 18 people.<br /><br />Frederick Bastiat wrote a famous essay about that which is seen and that which is not seen. People look at the jobs a government plan creates and not the jobs it destroys. Libertarians understand that this causes people to false assume that government interventionism causes job creation. They laugh at that idea and then commit the same fallacy in recruitment.<br /><br />They look at the two recruits they find and ignore the 18 they repulsed. They only concentrate on that which is seen, the two new people, and don’t pay any attention to the people they repulsed.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #6</b><br /><br />Never assume that activism is valuable!<br /><br />Surely this one has some people perplexed. Maybe another way of stating it is that not all activism is equal. Not all labor is valuable. Marx made a fundamental mistake in economics. He thought all value in the market was created by labor. He was wrong. Most of his other errors came out of this error.<br /><br />Now go back to the illustration I used in #5: the activist who turns off 18 people for every two he recruits. Every time he meets 20 people inclined toward libertarianism he chases 18 away for each two he attracts. He sees that as a net gain and pats himself on the back. I see it as a net loss of 18 and wish he’d go away.<br /><br />The more active this person gets the more damage they do. Libertarians understand that labor itself has no value. Labor is valuable only because it creates something that people want. Create something that no one wants and you have no value. One can even labor quite strenuously and destroy value in the process.<br /><br />The fact is that there are some libertarians who set the movement backwards. And the more they work they farther we go back. They are not an asset; they are a liability. The last thing we need is for them to double their effort.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #7</b><br /><br />Never assume a new recruit is a good thing.<br /><br />Remember our counterproductive libertarian who chases away 18 people for every two he attracts. Have you ever asked yourself what kind of people are attracted to a movement that abuses, ridicules and mistreats them.<br /><br />The Libertarian who attempts to abuse others into “consistency” sometimes succeeds as already noted. But often the people he attracts are other versions of himself. His new recruits appear to be carbon copies of the original activist who recruited them. They abuse others as well. Only now the problem is tripled. The three of them together do three times the damage. Instead of one obnoxious individual speaking to 20 libertarian-leaning individuals you have him and two clones speaking to 60 people and chasing away 54 of them.<br /><br />Abusive people attract abusive people. Now, if everyone was abusive we’d be sitting pretty. Most aren’t. Most people are turned off by such actions. So the damage these people do is real, regular and often permanent.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #8</b><br /><br />Never forget the people who aren’t interested.<br /><br />Again this one should confuse people. If I said you shouldn’t preach to people who aren’t interested in being your private congregation then how does that apply when I say we shouldn’t forget the uninterested?<br /><br />What I mean is that in the process of finding those 20 libertarian-leaning individuals we end up talking to 80 people who are not interested. But those 80 people are important in that they help forge the cultural attitudes of a nation. What they think about libertarians affects the outcomes.<br /><br />If their experience is that libertarians are decent people who respect others they will have a fairly high view of libertarianism. They may not be interested in it. They won’t debate it. But they do help establish how libertarianism is viewed by the society as a whole. Similarly if they think libertarians are rude, arrogant, vicious and obnoxious then they will help establish that as the dominant viewpoint regarding libertarians.<br /><br />Cruelty to others is cruelty period! It is not passion. It is vicious and those who practice it are seen as vicious, cruel people. When a libertarian, in the name of freedom, is vicious and cruel they set liberty back a couple of steps. They do far more harm to liberty than the most active Marxist.<br /><b><br />Commandment #9</b><br /><br />Never forget it is about minds not points.<br /><br />Libertarians often try to score points. They want to have “a go” at those who disagree with them. They want to score points. They are seeking some psychological satisfaction in conquest and not actually trying to promote liberty. They are looking to soothe their own emotional problems more than they are interested in seeing a free society become a reality.<br /><br />The purpose of 99% of all discussions with people about libertarianism is to change their minds. It is not to make the libertarian feel superior intellectually or morally. If you need to score points then get a therapist but get out of the movement, please.<br /><br />The “morally superior” are usually fighting some a fear of their own inferiority. Sometimes it’s intellectual but usually not. My experience is that it is usually social inferiority they are fighting. They are lousy with people. They often feel lonely and unhappy. They convince themselves that others are “immoral” and thus not worthy of them. That illusion allows them to ignore their own role in the social alienation. They replace the social acceptance they crave with a sense of being morally superior. They turn the rejection that scared them into a badge of honor. They are rejected because<br />they are one of the chosen few.<br /><br />These lead to a real problem. These types are the ones who are then obnoxious on principle. Their self-identity as morally superior requires that the vast majority of people they encounter reject them. Widespread acceptance of their ideas strips them of that exclusivity when it comes to morality. They need rejection.<br /><br />So they make sure they act in ways that repulse most people. They turn their personality flaws into virtues. Why are they loud, abrasive and obnoxious? Because it means people walk out on them. it means they remain the tiny minority of virtuous in a sea of sinners.<br /><br />The fact is that they don’t want to promote liberty. They want to feel superior. And the way of feeling superior for them is to convince themselves that everyone else is really inferior. The world they live in is peopled with maggots and such. That is so because only by convincing themselves that<br />they are surrounded by maggots do they feel superior.<br /><br /><b>Commandment #10</b><br /><br />Never forget why libertarianism exists.<br /><br />My finally commandment—it is traditional to stop at 10—is to urge people to never forget why we promote liberty. Libertarianism does not extol some system that it wants to impose on others. We don’t want to tell people what to do. Our goal is a free society.<br /><br />What this means is that we are building something. We are in the process of creation. When you see the libertarian obsessed with “smashing” or destroying; someone who feels at war with the world around him, who hates society, people, and the culture in which he lives, then you are usually dealing with someone who only wants to smash and destroy. Liberty is a positive goal. Destroyers can’t build a free society. They can only tear down things and people.<br /><br />Here is what I learned about the libertarian who is obsessed with smashing the state, destroying immoral ideas, and the like. They have very little affect in reality. The world moves on without them, as we should move on without them I might add. They feel impotent and powerless because destruction is inherently impotent. It is uncreative. They may say they want to smash the state, but they don’t. They may say they want to overturn the culture, but they don’t.<br /><br />So how do they satisfy themselves? In the end they turn on that which can be destroyed and that which can be smashed. They have no influence on the world but they live in the little pond they call libertarianism. And they can turn on their fellow fish. If you can’t smash the state you sure as hell can smash another libertarian. If you are driven by the desire to destroy you will eventually and inevitably turn on people who should be your allies. They, not authoritarians, become your target.<br /><br />We are not out to destroy or rip down. We want a free society. We want to see a peaceful world where people are respected. We are building more than we are destroying. We realize that a libertarian society can come about when we respect others, not when we treat them like dirt.<br /><br />The destructive will argue that in a garden before you plant flowers you must pull weeds. But people are not plants. A weed is always a weed. But people change. Minds change. We are building a free society one mind at a time. And those we don’t convince we should at least leave alone and happy.<br />If we respect them they’ll respect us. Human decency is at the core of our philosophy. It ought to be at the core of how we present it as well.Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-53277688301719380712013-08-17T19:09:00.002-07:002013-08-17T19:09:27.656-07:00Latest Loans from Adam Smith Benevolent Fund<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Angel</b></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioO_aEso5pSvCccb9PtDjLxSlwFUapD_51jS8NBCCDrbZmNe1ivGVcAl0d5IabIszzuhVUJ4Kjluc-Gcj2oaP4AEdQ_8OQ8kw4o1ZyzTiPXLLuKuuWsLjW5DM69Xo4EKW5Dv456DebnBI/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-08-17+at+6.52.18+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioO_aEso5pSvCccb9PtDjLxSlwFUapD_51jS8NBCCDrbZmNe1ivGVcAl0d5IabIszzuhVUJ4Kjluc-Gcj2oaP4AEdQ_8OQ8kw4o1ZyzTiPXLLuKuuWsLjW5DM69Xo4EKW5Dv456DebnBI/s320/Screen+shot+2013-08-17+at+6.52.18+PM.png" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ester</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Moorfield Storey Institute regularly makes small loans to entrepreneurs in developing nations. We believe that the best way to solve social ills in the world is with economic development. The greater the income the more health care, education, food, etc., that individuals are able to provide themselves. <br /><br />These entrepreneurs often create jobs that benefit the entire community. Profit-seeking on their part encourages the kind of values necessary for a free society to flourish. A portion of income from book sales made at our site <a href="http://fr33minds.com/">Fr33minds.com</a> goes to benevolent purposes that encourage individuals to better their lives through self-initiative.<br /><br />We have added</span> two loans to our list today:<br /><br />Ester is 64 and a single woman. She has run a general store in Tanjay, Philippines for the last 9 years. She is using her loan to expand the business by purchasing additional goods that she can sell. <br /><br />Angel sells electrical supplies in San Ignacio, Paraguay. He wishes to expand his business with more supplies so customers can always find what they need in his business. He is also hoping to expand into home improvement goods. <br /><br />By purchasing books from Fr33minds you not only help the Storey Institute in promoting the values of a free society, but a portion is used to encourage the growth of market-based solutions in the developing world. Economic prosperity not only betters the lives of individuals but it leads to a more peaceful, interconnected world, something in the self-interest of everyone. <a href="http://www.fr33minds.com/index.php?cPath=68" target="_blank">Donations may be made to the Storey Institute here.</a><br /><br />Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-71475377021453925532013-08-02T19:17:00.001-07:002015-01-30T00:13:14.986-08:00The Role of Fiction in Promoting a Free Society<style>@font-face {
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"><i>Note: Some video links we had have disappeared leaving blank spaces. Continue below the blank spaces to finish reading. We shall try to repair this shortly.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">A woman sat down with some paper, pen in hand,
and started to write. Line by line she wrote out in longhand the plot she had
devised. The characters she would invent would become known to a large
percentage of the public. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">She had a message, something she wanted to say.
And, when she was finished, she had written a novel that helped spawn a
political movement that changed the face of America. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Many viciously attacked her. The literary elite
would pan the novel, claiming it was too melodramatic, yet in the century it
was written its influence was only second to the Bible. The novel created a
firestorm, with many praising it highly, while others seemed obsessed with
attacking it. In the first years it sold some 300,000 copies. Some years later, during
a time of national crisis, it suddenly became a best seller once again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The woman was Harriet Beecher Stowe, and the
novel was <i>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i>. Stowe was appalled at the existence of slavery,
and wrote in a white heat, trying to show the world the evil of this thing
called slavery. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Many antislavery books had previously been
written. Serious books discussing the detrimental effects of slavery were not
uncommon. Theological treatises, for and against, were published and barely
read. But, within one year of publication, Stowe’s little book had sold 300,000
copies. Although, only published in book form in 1852, no other book, except
the Bible, sold more copies during the entire 19th century. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Let us contrast, for a moment, the reception of
this work with the pamphlets of a hero of the libertarian movement: Lysander
Spooner. Spooner, like Stowe, was an ardent abolitionist and his work, <i>The
Unconstitutionality of Slavery</i>, was important. But Spooner’s work was mainly
debated by the already-converted. In comparison, Spooner’s work mostly
influenced those already won over to the abolitionist cause. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftJYZggD64UIVCOzL7C-bGSeVCVZ8Fe2607SGXN5xwlTI4f4xKMWhmcrH0bMMXI_6fUdmiHTehq3dyQ-z_bwnbJSFhtBomdRNGiVkcdi_A30P8DjhBnvj7GeDnSFKwl-BHkZGr1xjmNo/s1600/randy-Other_Spooner_Hi_Res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjftJYZggD64UIVCOzL7C-bGSeVCVZ8Fe2607SGXN5xwlTI4f4xKMWhmcrH0bMMXI_6fUdmiHTehq3dyQ-z_bwnbJSFhtBomdRNGiVkcdi_A30P8DjhBnvj7GeDnSFKwl-BHkZGr1xjmNo/s200/randy-Other_Spooner_Hi_Res.jpg" height="200" width="146" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lysander Spooner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Stowe’s novel did something no serious
discussion of slavery, such as Spooner’s, managed to do—capture the attention
of the public and create widespread disgust at the institution of slavery. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The role of fiction in promoting ideas is
vastly underestimated by the friends of freedom. That is rather odd since so
many of us became passionate about liberty because of novels they themselves
read.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Storytelling makes issues real to people. Be it
a novel or a film, or television show, a tale is told using specific characters
as the vehicle for communication. Instead, of reading some discourse on an
issue, you see the issue dramatized before you eyes. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The typical reader cannot but help identify
with the main characters of a story. And, through their experiences, the reader
too experiences what they do. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The American public, when they read Stowe’s
book, could not escape the feeling that they too had been enslaved. The plight
of slaves became their own. In this novel, the slave Eliza learns that her
owner has sold her son. She cannot stand the idea that her child will be taken
from her and she flees with the boy, hoping to reach freedom in Canada. Now,
what parent, mother especially, reading this story would not identify with
Eliza. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Slavery was no longer something that happened
to “other” people. They saw slavery through the eyes of Eliza; and it inspired
many of them to become fervent abolitionists. Slavers so feared the book that
they banned it from sale in the South; and with good reason.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">It is often forgotten that many people adopt
their political and moral views of the world from the mythology that they
consume, be it books, film or television. By interacting with the stories, and the
characters, they come to investigate issues and ideas that they often would not
consider otherwise.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Many individuals are not even aware that they
adopt their beliefs about life through the popular culture. But, often when
they try to explain why they believe something, they will refer to the
character from a book or film. Many popular beliefs have entered the culture
through the medium of story telling.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Yet, most advocates of freedom ignore this
important transmission belt for ideas. They produce monographs and tomes on
serious and profound topics. And, all this is good and well. But they seem to
have trouble getting these ideas across to the general public. The vehicles they
choose to express their ideas are not the vehicles of the popular culture, but of
the intellectual elite.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">If you ignore the cultural tools that reach the
general public then you shouldn’t be surprised when you fail to reach them.
Yet, so many lovers of liberty will tell you how they were inspired to their
lifelong pursuit of individual freedom through the reading of novels like <i>Atlas
Shrugged</i> or <i>The Moon is a Harsh Mistress</i>. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Story telling has been part of human history
from the very beginning. All the great religions of the world were spread by
the method of telling stories. Every day the average member of the public is
exposed to dozens of stories and rarely exposed to anything of an academic
nature. So what do the advocates of liberty produce? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Clearly the role of storytelling, in all its
formats, needs to be reconsidered and revived. Stories can have profound and
lasting impacts on people. And, what story is more precious and more important
than the story of liberty? So, why are we ignoring it?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Other novels, came to play important roles in
American politics, after the Civil War as well, for instance, consider the rise
of the Progressive movement with its socialist ideology. The public was reading
Marx or Engels, but they were reading novels. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">One of the most popular books of the early
Progressive era was Ignatius Donnelly’s novel <i>Caesar’s Column</i>, which was a sort
of Progressive <i>Atlas Shrugged</i>. Donnelly sets his story in 1988 where a vicious
dictatorship controls America. He argues, of course, that because the
Progressives were ignored in the 1890s that this evil system was imposed
because of the “greed” of the social elite. The system finally collapses and
decays even further into a modern version of the French Revolution. New York
City is finally destroyed, but as Hofstadter describes, “a saving remnant of
decent folk escapes in a dirigible to the African mountains, where under the
guidance of an elite of intellectuals they form a Christian socialist state in
which the Populist program for land, transportation, and finance becomes a
reality and interest is illegal.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Crusading Progressive journalist William Allen
White wrote a book in 1910 called <i>The Old Order Changeth</i> that Richard
Hofstadter says is “a statement of what was probably the dominant popular
philosophy of politics.” In the book White argues that: “Altruism is gaining strength
for some future struggle with the atomic force of egoism in society.” He said:
“Democracy is at base, altruism expressed in terms of self-government.”
According to White individuals no longer would pursue their own self-interest
but live for the sake of the community good.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDut4gNUVrLj5aM_0vCOqu8I0W4kdXyv7toJW6CunBP9dfTQv80f423fj1uimdw3QzrfnQPvZR6Bz6Gs_UUGHyaUsTjdL3aOx8_EpEcMWBWWglKsEBnzFW_zlSd6I5VHj0c0VjBB_20i4/s1600/looking-backward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDut4gNUVrLj5aM_0vCOqu8I0W4kdXyv7toJW6CunBP9dfTQv80f423fj1uimdw3QzrfnQPvZR6Bz6Gs_UUGHyaUsTjdL3aOx8_EpEcMWBWWglKsEBnzFW_zlSd6I5VHj0c0VjBB_20i4/s320/looking-backward.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">As influential as these books were the one book
that most changed American politics was Edward Bellamy’s <i>Looking
Backwards</i>. Bellamy wrote of a futuristic America where socialism reigns.
In its first year of publication, 1888, the book sold 100,000 copies and
eventually topped a million copies in print and was translated into 20
languages. As a work of American fiction it was only surpassed in the
Nineteenth Century by <i>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i> and <i>Ben Hur</i>. John Dewey, the
great advocate of government schooling, called Bellamy his “Great American
Prophet” and said: “What <i>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i> was to the anti-slavery movement
Bellamy’s book may well be to the shaping of popular opinion for a new social
order....” In fact Dewey took many of his socialist ideals for education and
indoctrination from Bellamy. Historian John Baer said that Dewey “was ready to
advocate Edward Bellamy’s type of education and to reform American society
through ‘progressive education.’” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">In the novel Julian West falls asleep in 1887
only to awaken in the year 2000. He finds an America where the means of
production are owned by the state and everyone earns equal incomes. The
government assigns jobs to conscripts who must work for the state from the age
of 21 until retirement at 45.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Edward, along with his cousin Francis Bellamy,
were the two major spokesmen for what they called nationalism, by which they
meant the nationalizing of all industry under state control. The Bellamy
cousins helped form an organization to promote these ideas in 1889 called the
Society for Christian Socialists. According to historian John Baer:</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<i><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The principles [of the society] stated that
economic rights and powers were gifts of God, not for the receiver’s use only,
but for the benefit of all. All social, political and industrial relations
should be based on the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, in the
spirit of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Capitalism was not based on Christian
love but on selfish individualism.</span></i></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">These novels did not merely explain the social
problems of the day. They did not rely on statistics, charts or make an
empirical case for their solutions. They told stories and they won people over
to their ideas through that means. They presented a moral lesson to the public through
the use of mythology, or stories designed to teach us how to act. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The success of socialism cannot be explained by
the obtuse writings of Marx, Lenin or Stalin. Socialism succeeded because it
told stories about people. It projected real problems and posited solutions but
it did so to a large degree through novels, films, songs, or television.
Socialism tapped into the use of myths. And myths are stories that cultures use
to transmit values from generation to generation and from person to person.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Lenin said that of all the arts “the motion
picture is for us the most important.” Why would that be? Because films
tell stories. They make principles real. This is why Wordsworth Donisthrope,
the British radical libertarian, in the 1880s was one of the first to study the
technology of moving pictures. Donisthorpe and his cousin, also a libertarian,
William Carr Crofts invented a moving picture camera in 1889 and filmed the
traffic in Trafalgar Square in London in 1890, a small clip of that film
survives. (See above.) Donisthorpe said that new inventions of Edison, which recorded voice
could be combined with his technology to produce moving pictures that talked.
As an aside I should mention that Croft’s sister, also Donisthorpes cousin, of
course, married the son of Charles Darwin. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Donisthorpe wanted to use film to promote libertarian
ideas to the public especially to workers who were less inclined to read books.
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Marx said that the working classes would never
be won to Revolutionary communism until intellectuals and artists are won over.
In the <i>Daily Worker</i> the film producer Muzenberg said of film: “One of the most
pressing tasks confront Communist Parties on the field of agitation and
propaganda is the conquest of this supremely important propaganda weapon, until
now the monopoly of the ruling class: we must wrest it from them and turn it
against them.” </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Of course, while many took Muzenberg’s advice,
and hoped to use film to promote collectivist ideals, Ayn Rand had other ideas.
She said: “It’s time we realize—as the Reds do—that spreading our ideas in the
form of fiction is a great weapon, because it arouses the public to an emotion,
as well as intellectual response to our cause.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Before she adopted the nom d’plume of Ayn Rand,
Alyssa Rosenbaum enrolled in the State Institute for Cinematography, in 1924 to
study screenwriting. She regularly attended films in St. Petersburg and her
first published essay was entitled: <i>Hollywood: American City of Movies.</i> It told
the story of Cecil B. DeMille, a man she would meet only a few years later and
who would giver her a start in writing. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRnHxYE6JQr75IhXN9aP1N4FCuYtqPG10lk-xFozkiBXWWlVw21TioXv1ev0QKsnZuFPIf8_i4bjlxkIdD_-BxZfHqlEcBn8Qa0-a-2vGlId4LklI8uv-pi8j7FVEy8sBhd52RblNmQQ/s1600/rand-286x370.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoRnHxYE6JQr75IhXN9aP1N4FCuYtqPG10lk-xFozkiBXWWlVw21TioXv1ev0QKsnZuFPIf8_i4bjlxkIdD_-BxZfHqlEcBn8Qa0-a-2vGlId4LklI8uv-pi8j7FVEy8sBhd52RblNmQQ/s320/rand-286x370.jpeg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Rand acknowledged that she, and her
philosophy, challenged two thousand years of Western tradition. The questions
to be answered are: From whence did the Western tradition come and how is it
that Rand has had such an impact?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">As Rand noted, the dominant philosophy
of Western society has been that of altruism. Man lives and exists for the sake
of others. Individual initiative and individual profit, have been allowed at
times, but always on the promise that they serve others. Capitalism, when
reluctantly justified, was at best excused because it produced good things for
others. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Now very few people, in any culture,
adopt their values through conscious thought. The dominant ideas in a society
are usually absorbed though a process of intellectual osmosis. What then was
the unifying source of Western values that led to the crisis the world faced
when Rand threw down her gauntlet?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"> Western values were inherently
Christian values. The stories of Christianity, far more than individual
theological debates, were the foundation of the altruistic<span style="font-size: x-small;">(1)</span> values Rand
challenged. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">At the center of the Christian
mythology is the crucifixion: the idea of sacrificing the best for the
unworthy. Most Christians, and hence most Westerners, had heard the stories of
the rich man burning in hell while his servant was in paradise. Common in all
Western languages are New Testament slogans such as: “It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of God” or “the love of money is the root of all evil.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The story of the beggar Lazarus and
the rich man is a well-known parable of Jesus. Both die and the beggar is taken
to Abraham’s bosom while the rich man “in hell ...lifted up his eyes” to see
the pleasures of the beggar. Many know the story of Mary being told she is to
give birth to the Son of God. She praises God and then denounces the rich in
the process. Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount said: “Blessed be ye poor, for yours
is the kingdom of God... But woe unto you that are rich!” James, the brother of
Christ, warned: “Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgement
seats?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Such stories were told for two
thousand years. Long before a literate public could read the Bible for
themselves they were aware of these stories and embraced them. As theologian
Michael Novak admitted the “gospel accounts amply supply... a rhetoric to be
employed against riches and the rich.” Author Barbara Ward, in <i>Faith and
Freedom</i>, wrote: “Communism owes its immense vitality more to its biblical
vision of the mighty put down and the poor raised up than to its theories of
value or its interpretation of history.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Conservative sociologist Peter Berger
said in his book, <i>The Capitalist Revolution</i>, that capitalism is almost
completely devoid of myths while socialism “has been singularly blessed with
myth-generating potency”. It isn’t just that socialist invent new myths but
that their ideology can be tied in with myths already in dominance in our
cultures. Berger said that the roots of socialism,” are undoubtedly in the
communitarian tradition of Western Christianity. It is an ideal of justice,
equality, and redemptive community that goes back to the earliest times of the
Christian Church...” Berger says that Marx wove “this emotionally and
religiously charged vision” with scientific jargon and explanations. Marx could
appeal to Christian mythology and to scientific rationalism simultaneously.
Without the Christian myths behind it Marxism would have been another dry
economic theory. In fact, Berger notes that hardly “more than a handful could
have been converted to the revolutionary faith by the pretty much unreadable
prose of those ponderous tomes”. Yet Marx was able to tap into the minds of millions.
His appeal to envious resentment and his ability to use common Christian myths
allowed him to win millions of fervent converts. Marxism has always been
fundamentally a religious movement, not a political one.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Berger has also noted that other concepts
of Christian mythology have been used to underpin Marxism:</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">As Nicholas <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1461028406488684699" name="OLE_LINK1">Berdyaev</a>
and other critics of Marxism have argued (and some advocates of Marxism as
well, notably Ernst Bloch), there is a more specifically biblical theme that
has played an important role in the popular appeal of Marxism—the theme of
eschatology. That is, Marxism can be understood as a peculiar secularized
version of the classical biblical view of history as consisting of a fall from
grace, a set of redemptive events embodied in a human community, and as a
leading up to a great climax that will bring ordinary history to an end.
Marxism has substituted private property and its “alienations” for original
sin, the revolutionary process for the <i>kairoi</i> of God’s redemptive activity, the
proletariat (and later, with Lenin, the party as the “vanguard of the
proletariat”) for the church, and the attainment of true communism for the
advent of the Kingdom of God. Critics of Marxism (such as Berdyaev) have, of
course, taken these parallels as grounds for dismissing it as a sort of
Christian aberration. It is important to stress, however, that some Marxist
have taken the same parallels as grounds for claiming that this revolutionary
creed rightfully embodies the deepest human aspirations of Western history.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The pro-capitalist Catholic
conservative, Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, in his book Leftism, wrote that the
“the ethical content of Christianity fosters and promotes the temptation toward
socialism... Along the path of the socialist utopia lies a day of judgement
when the humble will be exalted and the rich and might brutally dispossessed.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Berger notes that myths legitimize
ideologies and systems. He wrote:</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">To make the two statements offered
thus far....to wit, that socialism has strong mythic power and that capitalism
has little if any—is not to ignore other myths operative in the contemporary
world. Throughout most of human history, of course, religion was the source of
all myths. The ideas that legitimated social order and that inspired human
beings to sacrifice their own interests if not their lives to a social purpose
were rooted in religious experience. Indeed, speaking sociologically, one can
say that such legitimization has been the principle social function of religion
from archaic times to the present. </span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Berger is correct when he says that
cultures use their myths. The myths of the past often point the way to the
future. Socialism has the mythology of two millenniums of Christianity behind
it. Capitalism doesn’t.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Liberal capitalism was undermined
constantly by the Gospels and the Church. The fundamental institution of
private property, and private production, cannot be found in the teachings of
Christ. As Ludwig von Mises wrote: “No art of interpretation can find a single
passage in the New Testament that could be read as upholding private property.”
Mises said that the words of Jesus “are full of resentment against the rich and
that the only reason he did not declare war on them was that vengeance belongs
to God.” The teachings of Christ, said Mises, contained much which would
“support those who incite the world to hatred of the rich, revenge, murder and
arson.”</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BQDnYBV1OQ_IkyNSZ4FujJRIs0cBpWhlzSO9rWjLHv392prvW17GgjdNNot7vd7Kxuzioc5QJRF3-GNZuQYA9Z9Or1usVccF3SYbbzOsFNivbMXTjxBT28YzC3JEvT7UkielLgnSMmA/s1600/1610_Cecco_del_Caravaggio_Christ_expulses_money_changers_anagoria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BQDnYBV1OQ_IkyNSZ4FujJRIs0cBpWhlzSO9rWjLHv392prvW17GgjdNNot7vd7Kxuzioc5QJRF3-GNZuQYA9Z9Or1usVccF3SYbbzOsFNivbMXTjxBT28YzC3JEvT7UkielLgnSMmA/s320/1610_Cecco_del_Caravaggio_Christ_expulses_money_changers_anagoria.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caravaggio's Christ and the Money Changers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">In his discourse on the various forms
of socialism, he wrote: “Up to the time of modern Socialism no movement against
private property which has arisen in the Christian world has failed to seek
authority in Jesus, the Apostles, and the Christian Fathers, not to mention
those who, like Tolstoy, made the Gospel resentment against the rich the very
heart and soul of their teaching.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">The Church was impotent to ward off
communistic attacks on property, said Mises, because of the New Testament. And
it is equally absurd, he said, to attribute the rise of socialism to the
Enlightenment. He wrote:</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"> It would be foolish to maintain that Enlightenment, by
undermining the religious feelings of the masses, had cleared the way for
Socialism. On the contrary, it is the resistance which the Church has offered
to the spread of liberal ideas which has prepared the soil for the destructive
resentment of modern socialist thought. Not only has the Church done nothing to
extinguish the fire, it has even blown upon the embers. … True, the official
Church tried at first to resist these movements, but it had to submit in the
end, just because it was defenceless against the words of the Scriptures.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Rand countered this problem in two
ways. She used the power of myth-building to convey contrary values. Her use of
fiction, as the means to convey her thoughts, allowed her to reify ideas. She
built up a countervailing mythology that challenged the dominant ethics of the
culture. Using traditional storytelling, in the form of a novel, meant that she
reached a wider audience in a way that people understood. She did not attempt
to explain ideas and their ramafications, as much as show them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Secondly, Rand openly challenged religious beliefs that
were the foundation for these values. Rand said the problem with conservatism
was it mixed religion with capitalism thus implying “there are no rational
grounds on which one can defend capitalism.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Conservatism also embraced the very
ethics which justified socialism. The conservative argument was inherently a
self-defeating one. Christian altruism meant that “men had to regard capitalism
as immoral; capitalism certainly does not and cannot work on the principle of
selfless service and sacrifice. This was the reason why the majority of
nineteenth-century intellectuals regarded capitalism as a vulgar, uninspiring,
materialistic necessity on this earth, and continued to long for their
unearthly moral ideal.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Rand’s mythic Promethean characters
dramatized the results of altruistic morality. More than anything else this is
the root of so much of the condemnation of her work. Her new myths inspired
thousands of people to become passionate about the concepts of individual
freedom and capitalism. For the first time in 2,000 years there was widespread
enthusiasm for a morality that embraced rational self-interest. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Rand realized that the economic errors
of socialism had been “exposed and refuted time and time again” but: “This did
not and does not stop anyone; it is not an issue of economics, but of
morality.” It is here that Rand made her greatest contribution. She
directly challenged Christian altruism and then, by using the mythic tales of
her novels to convey that challenge, she made real her values much in the way
the parables of Christ made real the values of altruism. This dynamic
combination of myth and truth inspired tens of thousands of people to embrace freedom
and is directly responsible for much of the freedom movement of today. That
is a great achievement. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">In conclusion, I want to take some of
what we have learned here and apply it to one of the hot political issues of
the day. From my analysis I think we can see why the debate has shifted so
dramatically in such a short space of time. </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5qgIPqo3SfzuVAubcuJjzzKYmNEPlrmEQvYnv0ryNtt1JdWjT0ISAd9ztPlDv8YNRpORbP2djNt9ryfFwu-2HWIva4Dv6bk__9ElEUfKXrMc_RurdkoLpchLQd5lFYzj5y9Hzu3qGcY/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-08-02+at+7.15.05+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5qgIPqo3SfzuVAubcuJjzzKYmNEPlrmEQvYnv0ryNtt1JdWjT0ISAd9ztPlDv8YNRpORbP2djNt9ryfFwu-2HWIva4Dv6bk__9ElEUfKXrMc_RurdkoLpchLQd5lFYzj5y9Hzu3qGcY/s320/Screen+shot+2013-08-02+at+7.15.05+PM.png" height="320" width="274" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Barrowman and his husband Scott Gill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">To illustrate my thesis let us look at
the debate about marriage equality. One year ago the Pew Research Center
reported that 37% of Americans favored gay marriage and 54% opposed it. One
year later those in favor had jumped by 5 points and those opposed had dropped
by 6 points. If civil unions are included fully two-thirds of Americas favor
some sort of legally recognized relationship for gay couples. If we go back to
2003 the same survey showed that for ever one person who favored legal
recognition of some kind, two opposed it. In five years the numbers have
reversed. One indication of the dramatic shift is that today the main
opposition to allowing gays to marriage comes from evangelicals. Yet even 20%
of them now support marriage equality. The first Pew survey to ask this
question was in 1996, at which time only 27% of the public favored gay marriage
while 65% opposed it. Since then support has risen by 15 points, and opposition
has fallen by 17 points.<span style="font-size: x-small;">(2)</span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Pollsters have long said that shifts
in social attitudes come at the pace of glaciers, or perhaps worse, at the pace
of change within the Vatican. Social viewpoints change slowly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Why such shifts? Compare the political
discourse of the two sides. Those who oppose marriage equality attempt to
appeal to tradition, to religion, or to vague, imagined threats that might
befall us if two men or women can get married. They argue theoretical
possibilities as the main foundation for their case.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"> On the other side there are millions
of gay people who respond by telling their stories. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Consider <a href="http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/06270701jgb.pdf" target="_blank">Patrick Atkins who met his partner, Brett Conrad</a>, in 1978 when both were students at Wabash College. Over
the years Patrick built a very successful business. It was on a business trip
to Atlanta where he suffered a stroke that left him unable to fend for himself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">His mother, who was fanatically
religious, rushed down there and ordered the hospital to keep Brett away from
her son. She felt that their relationship, then of 25 years, was sinful and
against <u>her</u> faith. She put her son in a nursing home, not wishing to
care for him personally, something Brett was willing to do. When the nursing
home allowed Brett to visit, during times that Jeanne Atkins wasn’t around, the
woman had her son transferred to her home and hired a nurse to care for him. She
refused to allow Brett in the house and hung up on him when he tried to call.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Meanwhile, she had taken the business
that her son had built up, confiscated his bank accounts and grabbed his home
as well, ordering Brett to move out. A judge, who looked at the custody dispute
recognized that that Brett and Patrick had been together longer than Brett had
ever lived with his parents. But under marriage law Brett had no legal
relationship to Patrick. The judge very reluctantly allowed Jeanne to keep
custody of her now disabled son, and his wealth, saying that there was nothing
he could do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/health/19well.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Janice Langbehn and Lisa Pond</a> had been
together for 18 years. They had four children in their family. The two women
and their three oldest children flew to Florida to join a cruise for gay families.
But shortly after boarding, before the ship sailed, Lisa suffered a stroke and
was rushed to hospital. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">For eight hours she laid alone in her room
dying. The woman she had loved for 18 years was forbidden to visit because she
wasn’t family under Florida law. Even the children were told they were not
family. The couple had legal documents granting one another such rights but the
hospital refused to recognize them because of Florida’s anti-equality laws in
regards to marriage. Pond’s sister was allowed to visit, she was family. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">It was only when a priest came to
perform last rites that he sneaked Langbehn into the room so she could hold the
hand of her partner as she died. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7RCIeg0aVV8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Charlene Strong and Kate Fleming (above) were
partners for 9 years. Kate owned a major audio book company and did much of the
narration herself. One day Kate was working in the basement recording studio
set up for audio books. That day the house was hit by a flash flood, trapping
Kate. Charlene tried to rescue her but couldn’t. The fire department attempted as
well and failed. They finally drilled through the ceiling to get to Kate. Kate
was rushed to hospital but Charlene was denied access because she was not
“related” to Kate. The hospital said she must first have a distant relative’s
permission before she would be allowed to be with her spouse. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">One reason for the dramatic shift in
public opinion has been the increase in story-telling. Gay couples have stepped
forward to speak out about their lives and the difficulties imposed by second-class
citizenship. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">As they have, the popular culture has
reflected that as well. Today it is no longer shocking that gay people exist,
that gay relationships exist. People have watched films and television shows
which tell stories. And from those stories they drew conclusions about life. We
have seen a dramatic shift in public opinions because so many people have
finally heard the stories of gay couple and responded to those stories. Many of
these stories, such as these three, are true stories. Others are fictional
depictions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">I dare say that more young Americans
get their attitudes about gay people from <i>Glee</i> than from the Bible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">But fiction, or non-fiction, stories
are the way our species has learned values since shortly after we first climbed
out of the trees. We have always used stories to transmit values from one
generation to another, from one person to another. The power of story telling
to produce change should not be underestimated. The shift in the marriage
debate is largely due to it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">This illustrates precisely why
libertarians need to spend more time telling compelling stories. We have
economists aplenty. There is no longer a shortage of libertarian philosophers
or academics. But the tools by which ideas are transmitted to the public, the
story-telling industry of films, novels, cartoons, and television lack our
input. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Libertarians who want to change the
world should now turn their skills, not to economics, but to scriptwriting, not
to philosophy, but to novels. We need to follow the example of Rand and tell
stories. Fiction is the major means by which the bulk of Americans learn their
values. Yet this is one area libertarians too often neglect.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"> 1. Rand's use of the term altruism confuses some people, who assume meaning she did not intend and explicitly rejected. She wrote: </span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19pt;">
<span style="color: #351919; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">What is the moral code of altruism? The basic
principle of altruism is that man has no right to exist for his own sake, that
service to others is the only justification of his existence, and that
self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue and value.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 19pt;">
<span style="color: #351919; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Do not confuse altruism with kindness, good will or
respect for the rights of others. These are not primaries, but consequences,
which, in fact, altruism makes impossible. The irreducible primary of altruism,
the basic absolute, is <span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;">self-sacrifice—which</span> means; self-immolation, self-abnegation,
self-denial, self-destruction—which means: the <span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;">self</span> as a standard of evil, the <span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;">selfless</span>
as a standard of the good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #351919; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">Do not hide behind such superficialities as
whether you should or should not give a dime to a beggar. That is not the
issue. The issue is whether you <span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;">do</span> or
do <span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;">not</span> have the right to exist <span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;">without</span> giving him that dime. The issue is
whether you must keep buying your life, dime by dime, from any beggar who might
choose to approach you. The issue is whether the need of others is the first
mortgage on your life and the moral purpose of your existence. The issue is
whether man is to be regarded as a sacrificial animal. Any man of self-esteem
will answer: “No.” Altruism says: “<span style="letter-spacing: 1pt;">Yes</span>.”</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond;"></span></div>
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;">She opposed the idea that one's life is justified by living for others. She noted, "There is nothing wrong in helping other people." Rand was frequently charitable herself, contrary to stereotypes created by her opponents. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14pt;"> 2. Recent polls indicate the trends in favor of marriage equality continue. A July 2013 Gallup Poll showed support for gay marriage at 54% nationally. A May 2014 Gallup Poll had support at 55%. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-14845659840295387562013-06-24T21:09:00.000-07:002013-06-24T21:10:41.195-07:00At Their Own Liberty: Individual Initiative and Destruction<style>@font-face {
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceIxsdcTLJBrwOFIi0mRehVUDVe47CvwHBq13R9ZQWd5qLUlhyphenhyphenGzJzYXmD0A8iZuyP3Pqzy-ylH1CW61YcoXlJXwAPKW5jalclgiaZNLBwAae75jXwKbQvGVEhRsj-Q_nivDKzGN8Ex0/s1600/series.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjceIxsdcTLJBrwOFIi0mRehVUDVe47CvwHBq13R9ZQWd5qLUlhyphenhyphenGzJzYXmD0A8iZuyP3Pqzy-ylH1CW61YcoXlJXwAPKW5jalclgiaZNLBwAae75jXwKbQvGVEhRsj-Q_nivDKzGN8Ex0/s320/series.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Visitors
from around the world flock to San Francisco and often find the city too cold. Residents
laugh at that. The tourists come at the height of summer. Yet San Francisco
seems warmest in the autumn. That
October day was no different; perfect weather for game three of the World
Series. The Series was entirely a Bay area event that year with San Francisco’s
Giants playing their rivals, the Oakland Athletics. The A’s had won the first
two games, but game three was being played in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park
and the Giants were hoping for a home-team advantage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">I was
sitting at my desk in my bookstore when the computer screen flickered briefly.
I tried to hit the two keys on the keyboard that would save my document, but
the keyboard wouldn’t hold still long enough. The screen went dark and the
lights inside the bookstore went out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">A
roar drowned out the sound of the rush-hour traffic. At four minutes past five
the afternoon traffic was always heavy, but this wasn’t traffic; it was the
city itself—the entire city—groaning as it was lurched from side to side. Waves
moved under my feet, I was surfing on land. The waves clearly came from the
south hitting the front of the shop and flowing through it. Books on the shelves
lurched first toward me, sprang back and then jerked in the opposite direction.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">How
many more minutes would go by before it would stop? What seemed so endless at
the time was just 15 seconds in duration.<a name='more'></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">The
earthquake struck at 5:04 pm on October 17, 1989. It was a time I will never
forget, in a place I will never forget. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">“How
big was it?” I asked myself. It was a game San Franciscans played. The ground
would shake and we’d try to guess the quake’s magnitude. This time I knew it
was bigger than normal. Without electricity I couldn’t turn on the radio and
the television was useless. I grabbed the phone. It was still working. I tried
to dial some local numbers but every line seemed busy. I called a friend in San
Diego. That call went through since the long distance lines were still unclogged.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">At my
urging he turned on his television. I rattled off to him what had happened.
Just then there was a breaking report on his local television channel. They
said that a major earthquake believed to be of a magnitude of 7.2 hit San
Francisco, which was far stronger than it felt. But, what I felt was muted by
the fact that the bookstore was in a grand old building that survived the 1906
quake because the foundation sat on solid granite. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfnWdhyphenhyphen8ri4NnDpNkLZgEwITu3rGn9BvRU41fE2JGCcAsRjEvHsxYp8OTYseSyb8myAj2jYIJpR36oxrriJWw7C1gaGt1FWqU8VMjxVOggEEM2g6CscFB6oSLTnw6Zjvj1WVCYK2N5Ns/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfnWdhyphenhyphen8ri4NnDpNkLZgEwITu3rGn9BvRU41fE2JGCcAsRjEvHsxYp8OTYseSyb8myAj2jYIJpR36oxrriJWw7C1gaGt1FWqU8VMjxVOggEEM2g6CscFB6oSLTnw6Zjvj1WVCYK2N5Ns/s320/bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">“The
bridge is down,” my friend gasped to me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">“Which
one?” I demanded. I thought first of the Golden Gate Bridge, that famed icon of
the city. The image of its mighty spans falling into the churning waters of the
Golden Gate was too much to contemplate. “The Bay Bridge,” he answered. “The
top deck of the bridge collapsed in one section falling onto the lower
section.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">It
got worse. The Cypress Expressway in Oakland was another double-decker. The top
deck of a massive section had collapsed onto the lower level, crushing the rush
hour traffic beneath it. My friend then told me that the city’s Marina District
was in ruins and fires were claiming homes there. It was one slap in the face
after another.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">I
took a piece of paper and wrote “7.2” on it—authorities later they revised the
figure down to 7.1—and taped the paper on the front window. I looked down
Market Street toward downtown, a stream of people was walking toward me. The
city had decided that electricity was more environmentally correct. The buses,
trolleys and subways were all electric, but now there was none—the entire mass
transit system had come to standstill. Empty buses blocked traffic throughout
the city. They couldn’t be moved easily without power. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Thousands
were trapped below the ground in subway tunnels dark as midnight on a moonless
night. Transit workers would slowly free them and led them with flashlights
through the dangerous tunnels to the closest station where they would climb the
stairs into the light.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">The
city was quiet. People walked silently. One after another, seeing I was still
in the shop, came in. “Can I borrow your phone,” they’d ask, their faces
troubled. “I’ll pay,” they offered. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">“It’s
not necessary,” I’d say as I handed them the phone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Some
got through, others didn’t. Those who did said the same things. “Are you all
right?” they’d ask the voice on the other end. “I’m fine,” they said. “I’m on
my way home. I have to walk,” they’d explain. I’d hand the phone to the next
person, and then the next, and then the next.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3wKO1zt7TSROfZrRy-Vov4VcwKjqShCCKHUZGWTheMRi6PMn4Yh9Q73bSOl055kvYAUWe89hYwOxyET5dMLbPWRmq6NmmoSEBlw2EfUuZFN_3a3R9iOILjRGB-E5DiYzX_M-58kaRRtM/s1600/fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3wKO1zt7TSROfZrRy-Vov4VcwKjqShCCKHUZGWTheMRi6PMn4Yh9Q73bSOl055kvYAUWe89hYwOxyET5dMLbPWRmq6NmmoSEBlw2EfUuZFN_3a3R9iOILjRGB-E5DiYzX_M-58kaRRtM/s320/fire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Eventually
I locked the door and headed home myself. As I did, one of the few gasoline
buses still in service pulled up. It was packed with people but a few squeezed
off at the stop. The bottom step entering the bus only had one person on it.
There was room for one more—barely. I stepped up and held on. As the bus pulled
off toward the Castro District I looked over my shoulder toward the Marina. A dark
plume of smoke rose toward the sky, like a giant, unmoving tornado. There was
no breeze to disperse it. I knew what it meant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">In
the Castro the spirit of San Francisco lived. People packed out the restaurants
and bars trying to celebrate life. The police, ever anxious to hassle the
Castro, showed up and closed them down. As I entered our building a woman, who
worked in the office below our flat, was coming out. “Thank God, you’re here,”
she said. “He’s really shaken up and needs you.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Frank
was sitting in our doorway on the second floor, his back to the stairs that led
up to our third floor flat. The wave didn’t hit our flat straight on but instead
shook the building from side to side. Everything on the walls came crashing
down, the framed <i>Fountainhead</i> movie
posters that had filled the large stairway leading up to the center of the flat
were scattered on the stairs. Upstairs everything crashed down and broken glass
was everywhere. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">It
was getting dark but there was no electricity. We lit candles and talked as we
cleaned up the glass and took inventory of the antique glassware that lay in
ruins. I pulled out a couple of battery-operated televisions. We kept one in
the kitchen and one in my office but had no batteries. The candles were almost
depleted as well.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Frank
decided to walk to the Walgreens, which was open 24 hours a day and sold a bit
of everything. He was only gone a short while and then was back with batteries
and candles and a story to tell me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">“They
were free,” he exclaimed. I didn’t first comprehend what he was saying. He
explained that a line was outside the store. One by one, as a person got to the
front of the line, the staff would ask them what they needed. They’d take
flashlights and go in search of it because the shop was too big and dark for customers
to safely shop on their own. The shop was given away items like candles and
batteries, a gesture that astounded me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">But,
over the next few days, I learned this was not the exception, but the rule.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Traffic
lights throughout the city were dead. Winos, bums, derelicts and panhandlers,
took it upon themselves to direct traffic. Sergeant Diane Langdon, who was
stationed at the nearby Presidio military base, recounted: “At the traffic
lights nobody was hogging, people weren’t panicking, people were actually doing
four way stops, and yielding to each other.” Another Presidio officer said:
“Traffic lights were out all over the city but there were civilians on the road
that took it upon themselves to go out and help direct traffic. I was amazed at
the fact that people really pulled together and took charge.” Langdon’s husband
agreed: “Everyone was courteous, we didn’t believe how courteous the drivers were,
you needed to experience it. Civilians were out directing traffic at their own
liberty. There were a few negative things but everyone was real co-operative.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">North
Beach, a trendy area near the downtown, is filled with restaurants. Those with
gas stoves could cook, but refrigeration was out. An association of restaurant
owners got together and decided to close their businesses. Their food couldn’t
last without refrigeration, so they took gas-operated equipment to public
parks, cooked everything they had, and gave it away to anyone who was hungry.
That night some parks were filled with people fed by the best chefs in a city
renowned for its restaurants, for free.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">This
spontaneous outpouring of generosity started the moment the quake hit. I had
seen some of it on the bus ride down Market Street and didn’t even think about
it at the time. Numerous shuttle buses run between the city and the airport.
They are private services and forbidden by law to do anything but shuttle
passengers between the airport and their home or hotel in the city. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Instead,
these shuttle buses were operated for hours up and down the main streets of the
city. They’d stop at a bus stop, pick up a load of people, and carry them down
the bus line, dropping them off as needed and then return for another load. The
shuttle drivers didn’t think of going home nor did they charge for their
service. Hundreds of people got home that day because the drivers had decided
to ignore the law.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fkaty3XIw1szAZbn8atfavQT9f9vs2Rdk6LznWwttIbPwtq9VhbI5I3NTUv8sCwuptDq7pIuN-YQJMw64pv1rUdBaq_KRpDU40snTaGSXmTAf1Xg3lSyWQ_NLlPmZeSNgZ3dZZnIrJU/s1600/marina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5fkaty3XIw1szAZbn8atfavQT9f9vs2Rdk6LznWwttIbPwtq9VhbI5I3NTUv8sCwuptDq7pIuN-YQJMw64pv1rUdBaq_KRpDU40snTaGSXmTAf1Xg3lSyWQ_NLlPmZeSNgZ3dZZnIrJU/s320/marina.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">The
dark plume that rose from the Marina was another story. This area of the city
was as a major government project built on landfill. But landfills and
earthquakes are deadly combinations; when the earth shakes, landfill liquefies
and buildings collapse. The city sold the land off for housing. That day, as it did during the
1906 quake, the fire hydrant system in the Marina failed. On both occasions
civilians formed bucket brigades handing one bucket filled with water after
another down a long line.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Throughout
the Marina, buildings collapsed—many trapping occupants inside them. Reports
from the city Fire Department, in an unusual admission, acknowledged the role
of private citizens. When the crew of Truck #16 arrived in the Marina, they
sent three fire fighters and an unspecified number of “citizen volunteers” into
3701 Divisadero Street “to begin search and rescue operations.” The report by
the fire department stated: “There were many citizen volunteers and they, in
fact, were the first on the scene and had heard voices calling for help.
Captain Jabs, with citizen volunteers, attempted to reach victims through the
exterior sidewall of the building, but the attempt was proving difficult when
Fire Fighter Bailon inside the structure called out, “I found them!” Captain
Jabs, with four or five citizen volunteers, entered the building.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">At
Beach Street and Divisadero, fire crews attempted to fight numerous blazes but
everywhere were hindered by a lack of water pressure. Engine #41 was forced to
move by the heat of the fire and “citizen volunteers” manned their supply line.
Engine #16 “with the aid of citizen volunteers” dragged supply lines to Engine
#41. The report also noted: “Fire fighters and citizen volunteers fought the
fire and attempted to keep it from spreading.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">At
2090 Beach a woman was trapped beneath the rubble of the burning building. Fire
fighters were driven by heat from the building. The flames were brought under
control by a 1 1/2 inch hose from Engine #41. Hose connectors were leaking and
“a bucket brigade composed of citizen volunteers” used the leaking water to
fill buckets to manually fight the fires themselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">In
other areas of the city the fire fighters found, upon arrival at a fire, that
the people of the neighborhood themselves had dragged out garden hoses and
were dousing the flames. At Fifth and Bluxome a four-story building collapsed.
The falling debris killed five people below and trapped many others inside. The
City Museum reported: “Responding Fire Department companies, with the help of
police officers and <b>many</b> brave
citizen volunteers, used pry bars and power cutting tools, as well as bare
hands to free victims trapped in crushed automobile, in the hope that survivors
might be found.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRezOJnsVbt0rICScsen15aGHygfQeJcmAsWH-8P47XpBjiZv5iSdZhNVBWTD51fsUBidxIfw6m9c3PGX9TO58XjHjocS-BlbyLVja4wkxxBzn3ClKpYPW7Xd4XruXZwd7G0TgFoiSfo/s1600/cypress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRezOJnsVbt0rICScsen15aGHygfQeJcmAsWH-8P47XpBjiZv5iSdZhNVBWTD51fsUBidxIfw6m9c3PGX9TO58XjHjocS-BlbyLVja4wkxxBzn3ClKpYPW7Xd4XruXZwd7G0TgFoiSfo/s320/cypress.jpg" width="227" /></a><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Nowhere
was the contrast between private volunteers and official responses more visible
than in Oakland, where the Cypress Expressway had collapsed. It seems that the
government-built two-tier highway was not engineered to stand the pressure of a
major earthquake. In addition parts of the highway were built, again, on
landfill that liquefied. A report from the San Francisco City Museum describes
what was visible to the television crews that reported on the disaster:</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Times;"><b>"</b></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Times;">Citizens who lived in a nearby housing project ran to the
wrecked freeway moments after the earthquake. Dozens of extraordinarily brave
citizens climbed shattered support columns and—holding onto curled steel
reinforcement rods that had been bent and exposed by the fearsome collapse—made
their way along the top deck. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black;">
<i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Times;">Dust and smoke rose straight up into
the warm afternoon air. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Times;">These brave people covered their faces
with handkerchiefs and rags for protection from cement dust and the acrid smoke
of many burning automobiles, and went from car to car to search for survivors.
Strong earthquake aftershocks rocked the teetering, insecure freeway. One of these
citizen rescuers yelled, "I need something to pry the door open! He's
alive...alive...he heard me!" as the first Oakland fire fighters arrived."</span></span></i><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;"></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">The
first fire fighters to arrive, like their compatriots in San Francisco, had no
choice but to rely upon civilians to help them. Private individuals carried out
all the rescues that took place within the first few minutes. The city didn’t
even know of the collapse until six minutes after it happened. And then, for
several hours, civilians outnumbered the city fire fighters. Firefighter
Charles Gerow led an all-civilian team that raised ladders to rescue survivors,
who crawled out from between the two layers of roadway.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Fire
fighter Lt. Mark Hoffman and Fire Fighter Ken Costa formed a team with two
off-duty Marines and another civilian. “This combined Fire Department-volunteer
crew crawled along the sandwiched lower deck peering between the decks for more
trapped victims...” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">At
the Cypress disaster civilians rigged makeshift ladders to reach the upper
levels and rescue trapped people. Victims were led to safety by the residents
of a nearby housing project. When “officials” arrived to take charge, the first
thing they did was ban all private help. The civilians then snuck around to the
other side of the highway and surreptitiously conducted more rescue operations
in the face of orders to the contrary. Even privately-owned sniffer dogs were
grounded by the bureaucrats.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Once
the rescue operation was fully in the hands of the “professionals” it ground to
a complete halt as bureaucrats made a decision on whether it was “safe” to
rescue people. They eventually sanctioned cautious rescue efforts but after a
couple of days announced that they were satisfied that no more live victims
could be rescued and halted all efforts. They were wrong. Several days later a
man was found, still clinging to life, inside his crushed car. The dehydration
he suffered was severe and, in spite of the best efforts by the local hospital,
he died. Chances are he would have lived had the rescue efforts not been halted
prematurely. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Even
outside the Bay area people did what they could. In Los Angeles Mark Smith had
entered a radio contest at KIIS-FM. He was surprised to learn he won a new car.
His response was to tell the station to give the car to the Red Cross for
earthquake relief. Disk jockey Rick Dees and the station announced they’d match
Smith’s gift and, for good measure, give him another car anyway.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">The
car was the tip of the iceberg. GAP stores gave $100,000 to help people. IBM
tossed in $200,000. CitiBank gave $150,000 to help the Red Cross with its work
in the city. Ford wrote out a cheque for $500,000, so did General Motors.
Chrysler gave $100,000. Great Western Bank gave $100,000. Employees at
McDonnell Douglas contributed $100,000, while Nissan gave $300,000, a sum
matched by Proctor and Gamble. One city-based law firm donated $150,000. Sony
wrote out a cheque for $1 million. A Congressman from Wisconsin was not nearly
as beneficent. He complained that the median home price in San Francisco was
$350,000 and the residents didn’t need help because they were affluent and
wasteful.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">When
Republican Vice President Dan Quayle visited the city to inspect the damage
Mayor Art Agnos, a Democrat, accused him of grandstanding. While private citizens
were helping one another the politicians were trying to out-whine each other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">The
earthquake of 1989 is not one I’ll forget easily. I witnessed the fires, the
collapsed buildings, and the disastrous effects of prior government decisions.
I also witnessed the outpouring of humanity from everyday people. I saw it in
drug store employees who stayed in a darkened shop to help pass out free
candles and batteries to their neighbours. I saw it in the effort of derelicts
and winos who pulled themselves together to direct traffic on the downtown
streets. I saw it in the efforts of the residents of a housing project who
climbed up to, and then into, the crushed layers of the Cypress Expressway to
pull out trapped individuals. It could be seen in civilians who climbed through
the rubble of collapsed buildings and in the determination of those who fought
fires with buckets of water carried by hand. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times;">Not
since 1906 had San Francisco experienced such a disaster. And not since 1906
had it witnessed the absolute power of individual initiative in the face of
destruction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-77101608340385976052013-06-20T23:32:00.000-07:002013-06-20T23:32:34.687-07:00The Logical Contradictions of Left and Right. <style>@font-face {
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Some
people still fall for the idea that conservatives are for "limited
government." I've been arguing for years that they are not. My view is
that they are socialists of the soul to remake man morally. In this sense they
are like our socialist comrades who want to use the state to achieve the goals
they lay out. They only differ on the ends, not on the means.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://static.flickr.com/23/27290493_c7e6067472.jpg"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></span></a></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">We
classical liberals talk about the means. We argue that the means must be considered
and that it wrong to use force against peaceful individuals who are not
violating the rights of others. We might disagree over times when such use
might be necessary but our assumption, at the beginning of the debate, is that
such a thing is wrong on the face of it, and if done must be justified by reams
of evidence.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">The
conservative and the progressive doesn't have this problem. They don't worry
about the means, only about the ends.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Many
people have assumed that conservatives actually do support small, limited
government. They make that mistake because some people identified as
conservatives actually had a liberal streak and supported such ideas. Goldwater
and Reagan were two prominent examples. Both men understood the basic liberal
principles and were liberals to varying degrees’ though I think they were
convinced too easily on when to make the exceptions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">The
Libertarian wants small government across the board—at least the real
libertarians do (I exclude the racists, the nationalists, and such from this
category). The Socialists, both of the Conservative stripe and the Progressive
one, sometimes want limited government and sometimes don't. They appear
inconsistent. They are inconsistent if you look at the means only. If you look
at the ends they usually aren't inconsistent. Where the libertarian differs is
that he is not only consistent when it comes to ends, but to means as well.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5RIqWIp0OljINDKIY6fZM8fIUZzEgk-ywDhiIqkCe8OrUOOtL6dC169vzwE_I17FJHKu9ixH2WWfDvE6dJlKklwn2cLLO2hxGdfgO9067Nyjz_rxu_fsn6tMyZnJ2pGpGAyu96UyTT4/s1600/medved.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5RIqWIp0OljINDKIY6fZM8fIUZzEgk-ywDhiIqkCe8OrUOOtL6dC169vzwE_I17FJHKu9ixH2WWfDvE6dJlKklwn2cLLO2hxGdfgO9067Nyjz_rxu_fsn6tMyZnJ2pGpGAyu96UyTT4/s320/medved.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Michael
Medved, who used to write mediocre film reviews, and <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=the_core_of_conservatism_distinctions_and_consequences&ns=MichaelMedved&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;dt=03/14/2007&page=full&comments=true"><b><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">now writes bad
conservative columns,</span></b></a> realizes that conservatives look
inconsistent. At the rabies-infested Townhall.com site he writes:</span></span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">And how do we resolve some of the apparent
conservative contradictions? -We want smaller government and fewer public
employees at the same time we want to hire more soldiers, cops and border
patrol agents. -We favor choice in education, but oppose choice in abortion
policy. -We emphatically support the institution of marriage, but don't want
government backing for gays and lesbians who seek to get married.</span></i></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><a name='more'></a>Medved acknowledges: "it's impossible to say that
conservatives want 'small government' above all, when <b>most of us want
expanded governmental efforts </b>to crack down on terrorists, crooks and
illegal immigrants. Yes, we generally favor "less regulation" but we
also want more restrictions on abortion, pornography and desecration of the
flag."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">The reason for these apparent contradictions is that
conservatives "make clear distinctions between right and wrong."
Hayek said conservatives were often excessively moral, or moralistic depending
on your point of view. Yes, they make distinctions between right and wrong.
What they are incapable of doing is making other distinctions.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">They don't distinguish between means and ends. They
basically argue that ends justify the means. Big government is acceptable if it
promotes the "right" or morality. They don't mind using force against
peaceful individuals because ends are what they consider, not means.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">They don't distinguish between public and private.
What actions are private, or outside the sphere of public control? They don't
have an answer for that.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jqIAs8wr7jx-fHxUOkFdHqnlkFstuikBuDdy7zGEU71IGgMioCtM09T17pTbyVe3LreaIkC9ThDHQ-bnVn3X4FYSdIA8n-XRsWcXJOWAzAxjM7jPgKd4VzzGxD0o-KZF0STRmuYKt5vw/s1600-h/Picture+70.png"><b><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></span></b></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Any
action that infringes the rights of others is a public concern. Any action that
harms the individual, or is claimed to harm them, but which infringes not on
the liberty, life or property of others is private. For the conservative there
is no difference—everything is public domain. What a man reads is public domain
because he might be reading the "wrong" things. What two peaceful
individuals do with their genitals in private is of concern to the conservative
because he is worried about immoral actions and doesn't distinguish between the
private and public realms.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wZIXfivoJ9deGvQiyth_EjO_HwMKgjusqELNDWWliMKqT01-zSB8i0c8AV1KBDHW45SI2rYY3zngVnmk1YJge5HlogcrHpbXzDz6can-q92FjRrzY3ay95CGQoo5sYr610TMzrSxmKs/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-06-20+at+11.24.22+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wZIXfivoJ9deGvQiyth_EjO_HwMKgjusqELNDWWliMKqT01-zSB8i0c8AV1KBDHW45SI2rYY3zngVnmk1YJge5HlogcrHpbXzDz6can-q92FjRrzY3ay95CGQoo5sYr610TMzrSxmKs/s320/Screen+shot+2013-06-20+at+11.24.22+PM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">To the
conservative everything is public. The socialist makes your material existence
the public property of all. The conservative makes your spiritual, or moral
existence, the public property of all. Each wants the state to act in ways to
encourage the right actions. The progressives want to force you to be
"fair" and the conservatives want to force you to be
"virtuous." As Medved says: "A decent society supports and
rewards good choices and discourages bad ones."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Medved
says the state should act to "to avoid facilitating irresponsible behavior—in
both snuffing out potential life and encouraging reckless sexuality."
Consider this. If the conservative is willing to make your bedroom activities a
matter of public policy what isn't open to state control? If the hand of
conservative government can reach into this most intimate area of human
existence there is little outside the realm of government.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Medved
recognizes that socialism rewards bad economic actions and punishes good
actions. And he says it shouldn't do that because that distorts the feed-back
loops in the economic sphere. But he advocates a government that punishes bad
private, moral choices while rewarding good moral choices. He never thinks of
the means per se, only the ends. And he never considers that the feed-back
loops in morality may be distorted by this as well.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Most
importantly he leaves out of his discussion how we determine what is morally
right and wrong. Yet the state is to actively encourage the former and
discourage the latter. If government is to encourage the "right" and
the "right" is undefined then government power is left undefined.
Undefined state power is unlimited power.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Virtually
every important decision we make is either morally right or wrong in some way.
Some decisions are morally neutral but they are insignificant to human
happiness. All the major issues are issues of right and wrong. If the state is
to actively involve itself in promoting the one and discouraging the other then
exactly what areas of human existence is left in the private realm? None!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Just
as the socialist wants all economic choices determined by public policy, the
conservative wants all moral decisions determined by state policy.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Medved
says conservatives "emphasize that choices carry consequences." But
even here they are inconsistent.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Yes,
choices have consequences, and that is precisely why the private choices of
individuals are of no concern to the state. Just as bad economic decisions
impact those who make them, bad moral decisions do the same. The conservative
doesn't want to protect us from economic errors, but is hell bent on preventing
us from making moral errors.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">You
would be hard pressed to find a difference between the conservative and the
socialist here. The socialist says that economic decisions impact on the
greater society and therefore the state should regulate them. The conservative
says the moral decisions we make impact on the great society and thus the state
should regulate them, i.e., reward the good and discourage the bad.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">In
reality a bad economic decision may be have far more impact on others than a
bad moral decision. Yet the conservative wants the one under state domain and
not the other. A CEO who screws up can put tens of thousands of people out of
work, which can destroy marriages, lead to suicides, drinking, drug abuse, or crime.
A man sleeping with another man hardly impacts anyone except the two of them.
The conservative is worried about the later but not the former.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Medved
is 100% correct when he says that choices result in consequences. In the
economic realm we understand that means that those who make the choices must
live with the consequences, as well as enjoy the benefits. The same is true in
the private realm. It is the individual who makes the choice who must live with
the consequences: good or bad.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">We
know that when you separate choices and consequences you get a distorted form
of human action. When government strips people of the freedom to make economic
choices bad things happen. When government strips people of the freedom to make
private, moral choices bad things happen. The principles apply to both realms.
But this is something Medved doesn't see.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">He is
so hell bent on imposing his vision of morality on others that he doesn't see
how he is contradicting himself. Whenever the state severs the connections
between actions and consequences it distorts human action. This is true
economically and morally. State involvement is justified only when such actions
leave the private realm and violate the rights of others.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Economic
activity, that uses stolen property, violates the rights of others and is open
to state intervention. Private, consenting sexuality is not , but it
is no longer private when forced on an unwilling partner—then it is rape, and
open to state intervention. In either the economic or moral realm, actions that
violate the rights of others may be prevented. Otherwise individual choice is
private and ought to be outside the realm of the state.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">We
must recognize that many of the "moral" controls that the Medveds of
the world want are economic controls. Take his desire to ban pornography. He is
advocating the control of the production, distribution, exchange and ownership
of certain kinds of property. He is controlling both market activities and
property.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Here
again the socialist and the conservative are similar. Both pretend that one can
regulate the field they consider of importance while leaving the unimportant
realm free for individual choice. The socialist thinks he can regulate material
production and leave man's soul free. The conservative is "spiritual"
not "materialistic," so he demands control of man's private moral
sphere while pretending he can leave man's material existence free.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">In
reality man is both body and soul. Regulating the one sphere leads inevitably
to the regulation of the other sphere. The socialist says he wants freedom of
the press, yet to print one must beg for paper from the state and the use of a
state publishing house. Man is not a disembodied spirit, but needs property and
exchange to achieve his goals. A free mind is not possible without free
markets. If you want to regulate man's moral choices you must regulate his
economic ones. It is the economic realm that makes his moral choices possible.
You end up controlling exchange and property rights because these are the means
by which moral choices are made. Control of the one realm always leads to
control of the other. Both must be free or neither will be.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">The
hallmark of the conservative is the fearful clinging to the past, the holding
on to ancient values or moral traditions. See Hayek's <a href="http://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/hayek-why-i-am-not-conservative.pdf" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Why I am Not a Conservative</span></i></b></a> for more on this. Yet the great market advocate
Ludwig von Mises also described that tendency as the hallmark of the socialist,
bureaucratic state. He wrote that in a bureaucratic society the first step of
any endeavor "is to obtain the consent of old men accustomed to doing
things in prescribed ways, and no longer open to new ideas. No progress and no
reforms can be expected in a state of affairs where the first step is to obtain
the consent of old men. The pioneers of new methods are considered rebels and
are treated as such. For a bureaucratic mind, law abidance, i.e., clinging to
the customary and antiquated is the first of all virtues."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">The
bureaucratic mentality—and in reality he is speaking about state control in
general, not the more narrow definition of bureaucratic that we often use—is
inherently conservative. Interestingly the British socialist Evan Luard is
forced to agree: "collective power is also conservative because within the
democratic system, political parties and leaders are obliged to converge to a
point near the average views of the majority... Because the majority are rarely
in favor of important or imaginative changes, this inhibits any radical
challenge to the status quo."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">The
conservative claims he wants free markets. But free markets challenge
conservative values. The great "moral evils" that the conservative
hates are often the direct result of profit seeking entrepreneurs meetings the
needs and wants of consumers. Pornography exists because it makes a profit.
Drugs are profitable -- even more so under prohibition.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Even
the hated gay rights movement is a phenomenon of modern capitalism— it did not
exist in socialist countries even though socialist states tended to oppress
gays as well. Gay Marxist Dennis Altman conceded: "not only does modern
capitalism create the socioeconomic conditions for the emergence of a
homosexual identity, it creates the psychological ones as well. In short, the
new homosexual could only emerge in the conditions created by modern
capitalism."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Once
the forces of competitive capitalism are unleashed entrepreneurs produce goods
and services which conservatives oppose. The market economy creates competition
in ideas, information and images. Yet the conservative forces don't want these
new ideas competing with their own. But if the conservative succeeds in
controlling the economy to the degree necessary to achieve this goal he will
simultaneously destroy economic prosperity. This happens because to control the
"undesired" effects of modern capitalism is to control capitalism. If
central control of the economy is imposed the creative nature of capitalism is
destroyed. Whether the conservative elites, be they Afrikaner Calvinists in
South Africa or the Chinese Communist Party, like it or not, economic
liberalization will ultimately lead to social liberalization. One need only
read Sir Samuel Brittan's essay <i>Capitalism and the Permissive Society</i> to
see how this true.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.unc.edu/%7Ebardsley/japanlit/flapper.gif"><b><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></span></b></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Conservative
jurist Richard Posner understood the connection between free markets and moral
values. He wrote in his book <i>Sex and Reason</i> about the changing status of
women due to economic advancement. As women were able to compete in the
marketplace and earn their living independent of men you saw "the movement
toward sexual permissiveness". Posner argues this new permissiveness was
"a consequence rather than a cause of their changing social and economic
status" and that "traditional sexual morality is founded on women's
dependence upon men. As that dependence lessens, the traditional morality
weakens. The function of that morality is to protect the male's interest in
warranted confidence that his children really are his biological issue. Women
will cooperate in securing that interest only if they are compensated for doing
so, as they were when they need the protection of men in order to have children
and when careers not involving children were closed to them. Women need and
receive less male protection as their childbearing role diminishes and their
market opportunities grow."</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Man's
"spiritual," moral and economic existence is entirely intertwined. It
cannot be separated. The socialists of the Left and the Right both assume it
can be, that one side of human existence is susceptible to state control while
the other can be left free. That is the greatest delusion of the socialists,
conservative or progressive.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Finally,
I have to wonder about something. Medved says all choices lead to consequences.
I agree. There are natural consequences to actions. If actions have
consequences then why does the state need to impose further consequences upon
the actors? (Again, I refer to the private realm not the public realm.)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">We
punish crime, properly defined, because it violates the rights of others. But
why punish drug taking? The choice itself, says Medved, has consequences. Are
not consequences the cost of choices? And what happens when you tamper with
costs through state controls? You distort the signals they send. People don't
know the true cost of their choice because you have inflated it with government
regulation.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcMS7ww7qOm0iaifdcUXQKK6OaiexEP2oaTcSDoI2zcDQpCWwgBc2ax13WnaNvYP0i2378Rvv_-D7cH2ygH9cxGE8wZU8Lg_poGEHglJP9R_uEz_M5rcU5mvtKCyQrTRooWNp3LeQgMM/s1600/nun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcMS7ww7qOm0iaifdcUXQKK6OaiexEP2oaTcSDoI2zcDQpCWwgBc2ax13WnaNvYP0i2378Rvv_-D7cH2ygH9cxGE8wZU8Lg_poGEHglJP9R_uEz_M5rcU5mvtKCyQrTRooWNp3LeQgMM/s400/nun.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">Why
then does the conservative wish to do this? Simple: in his heart he doesn't
believe that the natural consequences of "immoral" decisions are high
enough. He wants to tax them by making the consequences larger.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">If
taking drugs screws up your life the conservative not only wants this but also
wishes you to be in prison, your family left without you, you raped by
HIV-infected criminals, and your life totally ruined. He wants to inflate the
cost because the consequences he talks about aren't bad enough to satisfy his
desire to punish people. H.L. Mencken once said the Puritan "is someone who
is terribly afraid that someone else, somewhere else, is having a good
time." The conservative is a similar species but is someone terrified that
there is someone, somewhere who isn't suffering enough for his bad choices.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">As
much as they deny it, the conservative sees himself as God. At the very least
he sees God as a bigger version of himself. He wants there to be detrimental
consequences to actions he says are sinful. Unfortunately the world, as God
allegedly created it, doesn't inflict as much punishment for moral sins as the
conservative deems necessary. So he wants the lash of the state brought in to
scar the back of sinners. Natural consequences are not vindictive enough to
satisfy the conservative.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">At the
core that is the issue. The conservative is driven by an overwhelming desire to
punish others and make them miserable. They require artificial, government-created
consequences to magnify any natural harm being done. Why? They say it is to
stop people from making bad choices. But, what makes a choice a bad choice, if
not the consequences?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.silentfilm.org/press/pressroomimages/jpgs/The%20Scarlet%20Letter.jpg"><b><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;"></span></b></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 14pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">If the
natural consequences don't prevent people from taking these "immoral"
actions then why inflate the situation with artificial consequences? If
illegitimacy has it's own consequences why the state imposed scarlet letter? It
is not the prevention of bad consequences that drives this policy. It can't be,
otherwise they wouldn't be adding artificial consequences to the natural ones.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;">So if
not consequences what? I go back to what I just said—the driving force behind
the modern conservative is the desire to punish sinners. They don't think
natural consequences are sufficiently damaging and wish to inflict more damage.
That puts to the lie the argument that they are attempting to prevent damage.
You don't prevent damage by compounding it.</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana;"></span></span></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-84605081757200408462013-05-21T01:35:00.002-07:002013-06-12T01:06:15.521-07:00Marriage Equality Does Expand Liberty<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The Foundation for Economic Education <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">presented</span> a <a href="https://www.fee.org/the_freeman/arena/gay-marriage" target="_blank">debate</a> on
marriage equality. Richard Lorenc, from FEE, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">argued</span> that marriage equality expands liberty. His opponent,
Richard Esposito spends a lot of time spewing out "facts" that <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">are</span> half-truths and often out of
context. FEE asks people to vote for the best one at the cost of $1 each, which
says nothing about quality of arguments, only intensity of feelings about gay
marriage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Gay people <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">and
their supporters</span> are passionate about <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">this</span> and so are anti-gay <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">people</span>.
Most fall into neither camp and don't feel strongly. Those at the extreme
"anti" side of the spectrum tend to be religious and obsessed with
this. They outnumber gay <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">people</span>
by about 4 to 1. In that sense, the FEE debate asking for <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">$1.00 per vote</span> is more likely to favor
the anti-gay marriage side of the debate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Let me first <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">comment</span>
on Mr. Lorenc's case. His arguments are sound in theory, though short on <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">fact, choosing to focus on the principles
alone</span>. Esposito, however, makes a lot of factual claims, but <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">is</span> weak on theory and his factual
claims are often <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">taken</span> out of
context, or <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">are</span> at best half
truths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Lorenc notices the argument for same-sex marriage has
"distinct Hayekian undertones." He is correct about this and<a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2012/04/very-civil-union-fa-hayek-and-marriage.html" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2012/04/very-civil-union-fa-hayek-and-marriage.html" target="_blank">we present</a><a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2012/04/very-civil-union-fa-hayek-and-marriage.html" target="_blank"> </a>a more-in depth Hayekian analysis at the link.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Lorenc says "</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">legalizing gay marriage simply expands the number of potential marriage
licenses, removing the arbitrary limit that <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">an</span> opposite-sex definition creates." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">It does expand the number of
people who may marry</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> but does much more than that as well. Currently</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> the state can deny marriage
contracts—<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">at least those of</span>
legal consequence—from gay couples. When we pass marriage equality</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> we remove that power from the
state. Marriage, when one looks at what it does, also reduces the amount of
control the state has over a couple. The amount of revenue it can extract from
them is significantly reduced. In fact, anti-gay conservatives <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">actually raised this issue before</span> the
Iowa Supreme Court, complaining that allowing gays to marry would reduce <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">tax collections</span>, and thus reduce their
subsidies to straight couples. The Court mentioned this argument in their ruling in <i>Varnum v. Brien:</i> "due to our laws granting tax benefits to married couples the State of Iowa would reap less tax revenue if individual taxpaying gay and lesbian people were allowed to obtain a civil marriage." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/assets/pdf/D213209243.PDF" target="_blank">(p. 60.) </a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Under immigration laws</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> the federal government has the
power—which is not the same as the <i>right</i>—to exclude people from moving
here. That power is reduced significantly when a couple marries <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">because</span> ability to deny immigration
rights to the spouse of a citizen is significantly less than <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">what is</span> applied in general. Allowing
gay couples to marry reduces this power. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Allowing</span> same-sex marriage does more than <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">expand</span> the number of people who marry, it also expands the number
of people who can legally claim freedoms <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">from</span> the state." <a href="http://www.desmoinesregister.com/assets/pdf/D213209243.PDF" target="_blank"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">In contrast, Mr. Esposito claims marriage disburses
"benefits and privileges that should not be disbursed at all." Among
those "benefits and privileges" is the assumption of inheritance from
a spouse if said spouse dies intestate, the case in just over half the deaths
in this country. Absent a will</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> who should inherit?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Should an American be able to sponsor a foreign-born
spouse for citizenship? Mr. Esposito says that is either a "benefit or
privilege" that shouldn't be handed out to anyone. Should spouses be
forced to testify against one another? Apparently so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">He says, "Marriage licenses have been a favorite <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">tool</span> of much state-imposed misery...It
hits close to home for me too, since I'm a white guy and my [second] wife is
Asian." Even in the absence of licenses, his relationship with his wife
would have been illegal <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">at one time in
our history</span>. Many US states had alternative forms of marrying, where no
license was required —<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">a fact I suspect
Mr. Esposito did not know</span>. Even if they chose to simply move in together
and declare themselves married</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> it would have been illegal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Interracial relationships were criminalized regardless
of <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">marital status</span>. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Anti-miscegenation</span> laws in the US went
back to the beginning</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">existing</span>
in states where wedding banns, instead of licenses, were allowed to establish a
legal marriage. Marriage licenses had nothing to do with these laws. While he
speaks of people <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">being unable</span> to
marry a person of another race, the <i>entire relationship</i> was illegal, not
just <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the marriage part</span>. It was a
crime to cohabit with a person of another race, married or not. Getting <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">rid of</span> marriage<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> licenses</span>, or <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">even</span>
the legal state of marriage, wouldn't have solved the problem he says hits so
close to home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">This is shown in the history of gay relationships. Gay
couples could NOT get married in any <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">state</span>
before Massachusetts in 2004. But all gay relationships were a crime in every
state prior to 1961</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">and in a majority of states</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> when Massachusetts <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">legalized</span> same-sex marriage. In other
words, married or not, gay couples faced criminal sanctions under sodomy laws. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">These laws existed</span> even before
marriage licenses existed. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Esposito</span>
seems to think licenses allowed this to happen, but ignores that it happened <i>regardless
of licenses</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">He also claims <i>Loving v. Virginia</i>, which overturned
laws against interracial marriage, was a "solution" [scare quotes are
his own] that only extended "permission to miscegenate, while retaining
the rest of the discrimination and the licensing scheme to enforce them."
Again this is a half-truth. Yes, it retained the rest of discrimination, for
instance, it did not abolish sodomy laws that made all relationships between
same-sex couples illegal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A tax
cut doesn't abolish taxation, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">yet</span>
still expands liberty, and Mr. Esposito's argument is that increasing freedom
for gay couples to marry does NOT expand liberty. Of course, a huge percentage
of people who actually <i>are</i> gay, would beg to differ with the
twice-married Mr. Esposito.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">He also falsely assumes marriage is not a <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">legitimate</span> legal contract because the
parties don't get to set all the <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">terms</span>.
That argument <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">would invalidate</span>
virtually every labor contract in the US</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> since government sets some terms
of those contracts as well. In fact, the average married couple can set more
terms of their marriage contract than the average employer/employee can theirs.
There is almost nothing in the marriage contract that can't be modified by a
pre-nuptial agreement, otherwise the contract covers things, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">such as</span> inheritance, division of
property if divorce occurs, and other similar matters. Employers can't set
their own definitions of <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">overtime</span>,
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">set</span> a minimum wage below that
established by law, can't determine working conditions for employees, can't
choose employees on the basis of race, gender, etc. Marriage not only is a
contract, but more of one, in terms of freedom to set conditions, than any
other contract <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">into which</span> you
are likely to enter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Marriage
licenses predate miscegenation laws. Licenses were a means of speeding up
marriages, a form of deregulation, whether Mr. Espositio knows this or not—I
suspect <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">not</span>. The wedding bann
method of marriage slowed down the ability to marry and allowed more outside
interference <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">as to</span> whether a
marriage would be <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">permitted</span> or
not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">If Mr. Esposito's argument is true</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> then there are NO <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">legitimate</span> contracts in the US at all,
as virtually every contract of any import also has terms established by
legislation, without consent of the parties in advance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like it or not, that is the case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Mr. Esposito <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">takes
ample notice</span> of how marriage accesses "privileges and
benefits." Apparently</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> this is why gay couples want to
marry. Mr. Esposito <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">was</span> married
twice</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> Is that why</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">or</span> are gay people just different than good Christian folk? In
fact, calling the bundle that comes with marriage <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">mere</span> "privileges and benefits" shows <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">lack </span>of understanding regarding the
marriage contract.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Esposito seems to intentionally define marriage as
only granting "privileges and benefits" and <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">completely</span> avoids discussing rights. He just pretends there are no
rights involved at all. Even from a libertarian view of rights, as opposed to a
Progressive view, many rights <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">are</span>
denied to couples who can't marry legally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Consider the issue of taxation. From Mr. Esposito's
radical anarchist <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">perspective</span>
there is a right to not be taxed. Any heterosexual couple can avoid certain
taxes by being married. Gay couples cannot. Consider the issue of health
insurance provided by an employer that can cover one's spouse. In Mr.
Esposito's case</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> if his
employer offers health insurance for Mrs. Esposito</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> that benefit is tax free. Is Mr.
Esposito receiving a "benefit" or a "privilege?" The ONLY
options he offered in his argument were "benefits or privileges that
should not be disbursed at all." In other words, if he understood what was
involved with marriage he has to be saying that NOT taxing this health
insurance is either a government benefit or a privilege that NO ONE is entitled
to have. This puts him in the position, if he wishes to be consistent, of
having to say that <i>every</i> health benefit given by employers to employee spouses
OUGHT to be taxed. When a libertarian ends up in this sort of position I
suggest they follow Ayn Rand’s advice and check their premises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The case on DOMA before the Supreme Court</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> deals with a same-sex spouse who paid higher inheritance taxes than a straight married<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> person would, when her partner died</span>. Edith Windsor was legally married to her partner of 40 years, Thea Spyer in 2007. In 2009, Spyer died and Windsor was not recognized as the spouse because of DOMA. As a result <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/nyregion/woman-says-same-sex-marriage-bias-cost-her-over-500000.html" target="_blank">she was required to pay $363,000 in federal taxes, and $200,000 in state taxes</a>, that a heterosexual widow would not have been required to pay. NOT paying taxes is a right.
Libertarians would argue that <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">being
forced to pay</span> taxes violates <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">rights</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> so</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> any move <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">reducing</span> taxes expands freedom. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Allowing</span> Same-sex marriage reduces the number of people <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">forced</span> to pay inheritance taxes</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> and by definition, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">expands</span> freedom. Mr. Esposito <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">pretends</span> it does not. Perhaps, he is
just a "<a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2011/04/disaster-of-me-libertarianism.html" target="_blank">me libertarian</a>" who only worries about expanding freedom for
people <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">such as</span> himself. There is
no doubt that allowing gay couples to marry expands their freedom and little
evidence—none in my view—that it infringes the rights of anyone else.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Mr. Esposito falsely claims the only purpose of
marriage <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">licenses</span> is "to
grant a host of special illiberal privileges to the licensees." I prefer
to think he says this out of a lack of information, and not purely on
ideological grounds. I assume as well that some magical reason exists why his
marriage license is an exception that doesn't come with "special illiberal
privileges." Certainly he didn't need a license to be married in his own
eyes and he was free to draw up complex and expensive legal documents to deal
with issues <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">such as</span> inheritance. Of course, none of this would give his spouse rights to his pension, or to US citizenship if foreign born, as well as a host of other rights denied gay couples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Mr. Esposito wrongly claims a marriage license
prohibits "sexual relations with a party not named on the license."
Sorry, this is generally not the case. As marriage has continually been
deregulated</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> that aspect
of law has changed as well. Adultery may be grounds for divorce</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> but is rarely a criminal <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">offense</span> these days. The majority of states no longer have adultery laws on the books. Oddly</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> it is people <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">opposing</span> same-sex marriage</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> Mr. Esposito's allies on this issue</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> who are trying to keep adultery
on the law books. At most</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> such issues turn up in divorce
proceedings. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Incidentally</span>, this
aspect of marriage is ONLY an issue if the other partner complains and <i>makes</i>
it<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> one</span>. If they consent to it,
this is not a problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I seriously
doubt Mr. Esposito can point to very many cases in this century where someone
was prosecuted for adultery committed with their partner's consent, or without
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">It should also be noted that once again Mr. Esposito
is confused. Adultery would still be criminal in states where licenses were
repealed. Adultery did NOT suddenly become a crime when marriage licenses came
on the scene. It was a crime before marriage licenses in some cultures—such as
the Christian West—but not in others. Social conservatives, Mr. Esposito's
allies in the marriage debate, love to point out that adultery was a crime
under Old Testament law, yet there was no such thing as a marriage license then.
In fact, the penalty for adultery was death. I can assure readers that if only supporters of
same-sex marriage were polled</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> adultery would NOT be a crime
anywhere. However, if only those who oppose same-sex marriage were polled, I
suggest it would remain a crime in most places. A marriage license <i>per se</i> has
NOTHING to do with laws on adultery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Esposito says marriage licenses in the US were
"invented in Massachusetts" in 1639. Well, the Puritans didn't invent
marriage licenses </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> they brought the idea with them. Marriage licenses
are older than that, and the concept of civil marriage is even older <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">yet </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> actually older than Christianity.
The idea that marriage is a religious institution is much newer. He claims,
"</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Not coincidentally, licensed
marriage in Massachusetts began as one white man and one white woman.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">" That is false. When the act
of 1639 <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">was passed</span> <a href="http://civilliberty.about.com/od/raceequalopportunity/tp/Interracial-Marriage-Laws-History-Timeline.htm" target="_blank">there was no ban on interracial marriage</a>. That only came into place 66 years later, in 1705</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> and was repealed in 1843.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Esposito also claims, "</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">England and Wales did not get into the license game
until Hardwcke's Marriage Act of 1753..." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The citation Esposito gives does not actually <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">make that</span> claim. <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/overview/lawofmarriage-/" target="_blank">It says</a> the Hardwicke
Marriage Act "</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">declared that
all marriage ceremonies must be conducted by a minister in a parish church or
chapel of the Church of England to be legally binding." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">In this link there is no mention of marriage
licenses, which</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> already existed as one means to marry. <a href="http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/events/event92.html" target="_blank">Shakespeare obtained his license</a> from a
consistory court in Worcester in 1582, which is 171 years before Mr. Esposito
says England "<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">got</span> into the
license game." I suggest one possible reason for these historical errors
is Mr. Esposito had an ideological conclusion already in place and went
searching for evidence to confirm what he already believed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">That is common to <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">everyone</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> including</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> my fellow libertarians, and I
have sadly committed the same error in the past—on this very subject in fact.
It was only after about a year of research that I felt competent to talk about
the facts, though there is much more to learn yet. This is a vast topic. What I
did discover when <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">reading</span>
histories of marriage and marriage law was precisely the reason I abandoned my
previous view, which was <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">then similar</span>
to Mr. Esposito's view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Mr. Esposito is right when he says: "</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Marriages are not plain old agreements like any other;
they are much more intimate. It is not like a real-estate deal, it is something
more special." </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">As noted above</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 27.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"> this is correct, except that married couples have <i>more
freedom</i> to amend their <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">contracts</span>
than do real estate agents and clients. Virtually any aspect of the marriage
contract can be modified with a prenuptial agreement. What <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">one</span> does with property, however, is
regulated by multiple levels of government and no contract gives <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">one the right to use</span> property in an illegal manner.
It is <i>because</i> marriage contracts are much more intimate that the push of the last few centuries has been toward greater and greater freedom in terms
of that contract—including terms of the gender of those involved in it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Mr. Esposito
also confuses his lack of knowledge with lack of facts. He asks: "Where is
the libertarian argument for liberty in the general discussion about same-sex
marriage? It is absent." His ignorance of such arguments is on par with
his lack of knowledge about history and laws regarding marriage—something <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">needing</span> a bit more than <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">a simple</span> Google search. Numerous
libertarians have made this argument, including on this site and at the
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/LibertariansConcerned" target="_blank">Libertarians Concerned Facebook blog</a>. In addition, <a href="http://reason.org/files/an_argument_for_equal_marriage.pdf" target="_blank"><i>Reason</i></a> has published
material, as has <a href="http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/marriage-against-state-toward-new-view-civil-marriage" target="_blank">Cato,</a> and <a href="http://www.atlassociety.org/questions-conservatives-about-gay-marriage-and-sock-drawers" target="_blank">Objectivists</a> at the Atlas Society. Libertarian legal scholars, such as <a href="http://ricochet.com/main-feed/The-Strange-Alliances-Around-the-Gay-Marriage-Cases" target="_blank">Richard Epstein</a>, <a href="http://www.volokh.com/2012/02/07/same-sex-marriage-bans-and-sex-discrimination/" target="_blank">Ilya Somin</a>, <a href="http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Amicus-Brief-of-Federalism-Scholars-on-Merits-for-Windsor.pdf" target="_blank">Randy Barnett</a> and others have been involved in the gay
marriage debate for <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">some time</span>,
and the majority disagree with Mr. Esposito. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He</span> doesn't seem to realize they exist, or that any arguments
contrary to his own exist within libertarian circles. It is quite telling that
Mr. Esposito is unaware of these arguments. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A little
learning is a dangerous thing.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 21.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">”</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-49064709018804775002013-03-19T18:53:00.001-07:002013-03-19T18:53:48.680-07:00First Account for Me: Libertarianism and Facts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau6R7O97GpYgC0ACUPWbMo6eh9swUtp73L1M3gmTz3KalsbKzYlQTOtdFqZ6nx9KRjPYaIN-SUifXCB_QSIxNU0BD50iP0Hq65V_yCEpDSfbNKNaPRb7sydrfHb1wvHNr_kH4LgCPdnw/s1600/equus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjau6R7O97GpYgC0ACUPWbMo6eh9swUtp73L1M3gmTz3KalsbKzYlQTOtdFqZ6nx9KRjPYaIN-SUifXCB_QSIxNU0BD50iP0Hq65V_yCEpDSfbNKNaPRb7sydrfHb1wvHNr_kH4LgCPdnw/s320/equus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
There is a monologue toward the end of Peter Schaffer’s play <i>Equus</i> which I find fascinating. Dr. Martin Dysart is a psychologist dealing with a case he finds particularly disturbing. It forces him to rethink the entire foundation of his life’s work. He says of the case: <br /><br />
<blockquote>
“It asks questions I've avoided all my professional life. A child is born into a world of phenomena, all equal in their power to enslave. It sniffs, it sucks, it strokes its eyes over the whole, uncountable range. Suddenly, one strikes. Then another. Then another. Why? Moments snap together,like magnets forging a chain of shackles. Why? I can trace them. I can, with time, pull them apart again. But why, at the start, they were ever magnetized at all...just those particular moments of experience and no others—I do not know. And nor does anybody else! If I don't know—if I can never know -what am I doing here? I don't mean clinically or socially doing, but fundamentally. These whys, these questions, are fundamental. Yet they have no place in a consulting room. So then, do I? Do any of us? This is the feeling, more and more within me—No Place. Displacement. ‘Account for me’...says staring Equus. ‘First, account for me!’"</blockquote>
<br />I use this as an introduction to a particular kind of libertarian. Libertarians like to think in terms of principles—which is important. Some assume, however, that once a principle is adopted it is immune to facts and they need not consider them. I had one libertarian argue that “principles” exist so we don’t have to think about facts. I’m sorry, but they seem to have confused fundamentalist Christianity with libertarianism. <br /><br />First, it is damn difficult to get principles right if facts are wrong. Principles are derived from facts. Add wrong facts together and the principle is not just in error, but could be damn lethal. There are many principles that are deadly and being a libertarian doesn’t make your principles automatically beneficial.<br /><br />Second, all principles are tested by facts. If new facts seem to contradict your principles, you have to consider whether the principle needs adjusting. Facts test theories. If the theories don’t hold up against the facts, the rational conclusion is that the theories are wrong. Fundamentalists just dismiss inconvenient facts.<br /><br />The “fact” ought to be inside your head screaming, “Account for me! First account for me!” <br /><br />It is fine to use principles to make decisions when existing facts are consistent with them. Adding new facts changes nothing unless they contradict the principle. A principle, once accepted, is not set in cement, it is always open to question if new evidence contradicts it. <br /><br />Fundamentalist libertarians go wrong when they think their principles are set in cement and ignore facts to their beliefs. They have ceased to be rational libertarians and have become faith-based libertarians.Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-24196183018257465352013-02-02T15:19:00.000-08:002013-02-02T15:19:07.900-08:00The Day Ayn Rand Died
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsoTZC3wWh5NqnVMT17N21qxk4DXY767jOZJU9N0wTaGWcyyON5WCkdRucjK5bRDPveUSJFthJYPhbOpT_XSAaNe70vtLoCRBMU8XmwjxNOlCHpsGMR0TCHbm36-pBTPeLoLjS2ZDMko/s1600/rand1968.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbsoTZC3wWh5NqnVMT17N21qxk4DXY767jOZJU9N0wTaGWcyyON5WCkdRucjK5bRDPveUSJFthJYPhbOpT_XSAaNe70vtLoCRBMU8XmwjxNOlCHpsGMR0TCHbm36-pBTPeLoLjS2ZDMko/s320/rand1968.png" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fr33minds.com/product_info.php?products_id=539" target="_blank">This original Rand photo is for sale.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Ayn Rand was dead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>My heart sank. I was living in the small town of Willimantic,
Connecticut, not far from New York City. The newspaper said that the funeral
would be at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>I knew that I had to be there. I needed to say good bye and
to say thank you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">In high school I was ashamed of my
intellect and abilities. Throughout junior high I was pretty much a straight A
student. I was the youngest member of the National Honour Society at the
school, all the others were finishing their studies while I had barely just
begun. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">At my 8th grade graduation I listened to
a millionaire motivational speaker tell us about possibility thinking. I always
knew that more was possible but it was the “more” that frightened me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>Each year the school gave an award to a student who
exemplified intellect and maturity. The thought of winning terrified me. As we
approached the moment that the award winner would be announced my heart raced.
There was a horrid terror gripping my emotions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span></span>The last thing I wanted was to win. The last thing I wanted
was to be ridiculed for achieving something. The ethos of the other students
was one that despised intelligence and accomplishment except that which was
achieved by brute force.<span> <a name='more'></a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">When my name was announced I was stunned.
This was unbearable. I was a zombie as I walked toward the stage to accept the
award. What rationally should have been my greatest achievement of the year
brought me nothing but shame and terror. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">A few years later this started to change.
I remember the warm summer afternoon that I left behind as I walked into the
living room. I sat down on the couch and turned on the television set. There
was an old black and white film that I had never heard of. It was almost over.
I heard these words: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“Thousands of years ago, the first man
discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught
his brother to light.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">That caught my attention. There was more:
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“And only by living for himself was he
able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature
of achievement.”<span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">And: “It had to be said. The world is
perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing.”<span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> I sat stunned—watching the end of this
film. My mind quickened as I realized that the words I heard just moments ago
reflected my deepest held values. They were a truth that I had instinctively
known, but which I refused to acknowledge. They were a pardon given to a
prisoner who could now walk again in freedom. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> There was so much that I still needed to
understand, but I had taken the first steps. I searched for the TV guide. I
needed to know the name of this film. I had to have more information. The
effect of those few words was so profound that I had to find out more about the
author, the film, anything that might tell me more. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> I remembered that I owned a book by this
author. As I went to my room I wondered what type of man could write these
words? Why didn’t anyone else tell me these things? I looked through my library
and was disappointed. I didn’t own <i>The Fountainhead</i>. Instead I had a book
called <i>Atlas Shrugged</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> I sat down on my bed and opened the very
large book with the tiny, little print and started reading: “Who is John Galt?”
If I came out for dinner that evening I don’t remember. I read, and read, and
read. I hardly moved as I devoured the novel. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> By the time I put the book down I could
see the slivers of sunlight starting to come in through my curtains. I fell
asleep, but only for a couple of hours. When I awoke I grabbed the book again
and started reading where I left off. I don’t remember leaving the room at all
until I finally finished the book early the next morning. I had read it
straight through taking only a short time off for some sleep. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> I hunted the bookstores for other works
by Rand but they were in scarce supply. I finally found <i>Capitalism: The Unknown
Ideal</i>, which I read within a day of purchasing it. But the more I read, the
more difficult it was for me to understand the world in which I was living.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I had learned the gospel of self-hatred.
I had been taught a world of sacrificing where one always put one’s self last. But
I found another world in Rand’s novels. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">A world of reason, not faith; of
individual achievement and not self-sacrifice. It was a world where man’s mind
was the final arbitrator, not some dusty book from an ancient and primitive
era. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I picked up <i>Anthem</i> and read the book in
20 minutes. It was a hymn to my soul. Its lyrical beauty and simplicity of plot
made it my favorite of her works. When Prometheus rediscovers the concept of
the individual, I too experienced his joy and celebrated his enlightenment. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">In this, the most lyrical of her books,
Prometheus rediscovers the lost concept of the word “I”. Born in a world of
gray, oppressive sameness Rand’s hero strives to rediscover the concept of the
individual—a concept lost long before his birth. In a world of “we” and “our”
and “us” he strives to express an idea. In the close of chapter 10 he implores:
“May knowledge come to us! What is the secret our heart has understood and yet
will not reveal to us, although it seems to beat as if it were endeavoring to
tell it?” Those words were my words. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Until that afternoon when I stumbled
across an old film, I felt them inside of me. They were churning, bubbling,
struggling for expression. They demanded to be spoken, but I didn’t know what
to say. I couldn’t find the words to express them. Like Prometheus I was
thinking: “What is the secret our heart has understood and yet will not reveal
to us?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">In <i>Anthem</i>, Prometheus before he named
himself, flees to escape the world of “We”. He does not know where he is going,
but he doesn’t care — he only knows that he must go. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Beyond the Uncharted Forest he finds a
house of glass, long abandoned by its owner. And inside he finds a library. I
like to think that it was there that he finally discovered the value of
individuality; that in a library he found the song that his soul had been
singing — a song without words. But in those books he found his lyrics.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">That was how it was with me. In Ayn’s
books I found my lyrics. In her words I discovered what my heart had been
endeavoring to tell me. Prometheus expressed for me the words I needed: </span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I am. I think. I will</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span></span>My hands... My spirit... My sky... My forest... This earth
of mine...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span></span>What must I say besides? These are the words. This is the
answer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I stand here on the summit of the
mountain. I lift my head and I spread my arms. This, my body and spirit, this
is the end of the quest. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I wished to know the meaning of things. I
am the meaning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span></span>I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for
being, and no word of sanction upon my being.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span></span>I am the warrant and the sanction.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">My happiness is not the means to any end.
It is the end. It is its own goal. It is its own purpose.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">...the word ‘We’ must never be spoken,
save by one’s choice and as a second thought. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">This word must never be placed first
within man’s soul, else it becomes a monster, the root of all the evils on
earth, the root of man’s torture by men, and of an unspeakable lie.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“The word ‘We’ is as lime poured over
men, which sets and hardens to stone, and crushes all beneath it, and that
which is white and that which is black are lost equally in the grey of it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">It is the word by which the depraved
steal the virtue of the good, by which the weak steal the might of the strong,
by which the fools steal the wisdom of the sages.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> What is my joy if all hands, even the
unclean, can reach into it? What is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to
me? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> What is my freedom, if all creatures,
even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">What is my life, if I am but to bow, to
agree, and to obey?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Indeed what was my life if all I did was
bow and agree and obey? What was my life when fools dictated to me as I cringed
in fear of achievement, when I hid ability beneath a cloak of conformity and
mediocrity.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">And there, once again Prometheus spoke
for me. His words were my words.</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">But I am done with this creed of
corruption.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>I am done with the monster of “We”, the word of serfdom, of
plunder, of misery, falsehood and shame.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> The internal changes became apparent. I
was no longer afraid of using my mind. I didn’t care about the envious hatred
of others anymore. I remember how in high school we would take tests that were
supposed to last for two or three hours. I would usually finish them in 15 to
20 minutes.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2NBplmmApVuoV9dJKGbTSuz6owCOKq3nj9UgoannIX_zqqCCoSDPgWQlkBJrPJW2_wPp7025XlVKERPqb9DatXR1d4U7KDee_awXdoH6rh2Jslzn5ukB1f4Qk_c0ob9jGT4Qd7hvVcY/s1600/Rand:kendall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb2NBplmmApVuoV9dJKGbTSuz6owCOKq3nj9UgoannIX_zqqCCoSDPgWQlkBJrPJW2_wPp7025XlVKERPqb9DatXR1d4U7KDee_awXdoH6rh2Jslzn5ukB1f4Qk_c0ob9jGT4Qd7hvVcY/s320/Rand:kendall.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A full size giclée of the above painting is available.<br /><a href="mailto:askus@fr33minds.com" target="_blank">Please email us if you are interested in it.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>But I would sit there going over them again and again simply
because I didn’t want anyone to know how easy it was for me. I didn’t want them
to realize I was finished. I wanted to appear to struggle with the answers the
way everyone else was doing. But now it was different.<span> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">The day all this really came home to me
is clear in my mind. I was taking classes at the local extension of Purdue
University. That morning I was to take a final in one of the courses. Two hours
had been set aside and all the students from the various classes were gathered
in one large hall to take the test at the same time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">There must have been two hundred of so
students sitting there. We all had the test upside-down on our desks. The
signal to begin was given. I read through the questions quickly marking answers
for most of them immediately. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">The ticking clock on the wall, and
pencils scratching on paper, were the only sounds in that room. I put my pencil
down. The ticking attracted my attention and I looked up— only 15 minutes had
passed. I still had almost the entire period to finish the test. But I was
done. In the past I would have gone over the test repeatedly. I would have
pretended to still have unanswered questions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">But that was the past. That was before my
spirit had absorbed Galt, Roark, Kira and Prometheus. That was before Rand.
Without giving it another thought I stood up and carried my test papers to the
front of the room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">The professor had his head buried in a
book. He barely looked up. I stood before him for a second or so. Finally he
glanced up: “What’s your question?” I could feel the eyes of every student in
the room. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I said: “I don’t have a question, I’m
finished.” I put the test on his desk and turned around. My declaration of
independence was heard by everyone in the room. I went out into the sun and
enjoyed the day I had earned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I moved across country and started taking
courses at the University of Connecticut. One day I picked up the local
newspaper and saw an advertisement for the Ford Hall Forum lecture series in
Boston. There was a picture of Rand and the date of her lecture was listed. I
ripped the page from the paper and kept it, intending to drive to Boston that
day and hear her speak for the first time in person. I naively assumed I could
just waltz right into the auditorium and find a seat. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> But shortly thereafter the papers
announced that Rand had died in her apartment in New York City. I could feel
the mourning begin. I sensed that I had lost someone important, someone who had
rescued me when I desperately needed rescuing. I had lost a mentor, a mother,
even a friend, yet I had lost someone I had never meet and never knew—but I did
know her, at least the most important aspects that made Ayn who she was. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I had meet her in the pages of <i>Atlas
Shrugged</i>, I found her spirit in the song that was <i>Anthem</i>, I learned something
of her life in the grayness of <i>We the Living</i>. She was my friend and I loved
her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">That afternoon I packed a small bag of
clothes and got in my car. For two hours I drove toward New York City. I needed
to tell Ayn Rand good-bye. I had called a friend in Manhattan and arranged to
stay with him. He had saved the clippings from the <i>New York Times</i> regarding
Rand’s death for me. I arrived that evening and we spoke a bit about Rand and
her ideas. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">The next day I walked through the one
cathedral which Ayn would appreciate — the towering skyscrapers of Manhattan.
As the afternoon ended I headed for the funeral home that was a block from
where I was staying.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I was one of the first to arrive that
day. I think I was second or third in line. There was one man in front of me
and we started talking. That was the common theme that evening—everyone
talked to one another. He asked me about Rand and how I had found her works. He
shared his story with me. He had flown in from Los Angeles. He couldn’t find a
direct flight so he had been steadily working his way East the entire day. He
must have taken a combination of four or five flights before he finally arrived
in New York. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">The line behind us grew longer as we
waited. Small groups of people would chat with each other keeping their voices
respectfully low. These people while respectful were celebrating. Each one had
a story of how their lives had changed because of the words they read in Rand’s
novels.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">The doors finally opened and the crowd
poured into the small viewing room. As I made my way into the room I was one of
the first there. The room was awash with the colours of dozens and dozens of
floral arrangements.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>Every spot was filled with tributes to Rand and her
influence. The casket was in front, and to the left, away from the double doors
leading into the room. Immediately to the left there was a couch. Leonard
Peikoff sat there with a wall of his friends insulating him from the rest of
us. He was weeping.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>I could see the casket and for the first time I saw Ayn in
person. I went and stood by the casket, which was framed by the many bouquets.
I didn’t pray but I whispered: “Thank you.”<span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">There were no chairs for the many
mourners. Except for the couch there was virtually no furniture. There was a
small wooden table with a record player on it. Beside it sat a dozen or so very
old records. For the entire two hours the room was filled with light-hearted
music. It was Ayn’s “tiddlywink” music. If I close my eyes I can hear it. It
takes very little to see Ayn joyously marching around her apartment waving her
hands in beat with the tunes. You can almost feel the happiness that would
overtake her. You can understand the pleasure these notes gave her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">The room filled quickly with people.
There was little room to move about. No one wanted to leave. Small groups of
people formed and talked. People wandered from one group to another. I walked
from bouquet to bouquet and read the notes that were attached. Some bouquets
were small and some were large. Yes, there was a floral dollar sign but it was
neither as large nor as obtrusive as some have led others to believe. In fact,
it was almost hidden by the sea of flowers surrounding it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">One card touched me unlike the others. It
was from a group of college students who wrote: “Our sorrow in your passing is
only surpassed by our joy in your living.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">This is what I needed. This room filled
with flowers and joyous music. This room packed with people sharing with one
another the impact that this Russian woman had on their lives. Except for the
tiny band near Peikoff the people in this room, while saddened were not
mourning Rand’s death—they were celebrating her life. This is what seemed
proper.<span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Whatever time we have on this earth is
ours and if we live life to the fullest, if we conquer the obstacles before us,
we can triumph. Ayn Rand triumphed. She lived her life—and what a life it was. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Whatever faults she might have had paled
in comparison to her accomplishments. Whatever obstacles she faced were
minuscule in relation to her victories. It’s been many years since that spring
evening in New York City. But I remember it like yesterday. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I especially remember how that room
filled with mourners was alive with music, and flowers, and with the voice of
reason, spoken by many different people from many different places. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Each lived a unique life. Each came from
a different background and had a different story. But for each there was one
common denominator. For each there was Ayn Rand—and the words, those incredible
words, that she wrote. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">She brought us into her universe through
those words. And that evening we had the chance to come and say good-bye and
thank you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">In <i>The Fountainhead</i> there is a scene
where Howard Roark is standing outside a resort he built. A boy on a bicycle
comes by and is awestruck by the resort. At first he doesn’t see Roark but when
he does he goes to him:</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“That isn’t real, is it?” the boy asked,
pointing down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“Why, yes, it is, now,” the man answered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“It’s not a movie set or a trick of some
kind?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“No. It’s a summer resort. It’s just been
completed. It will be opened in a few weeks.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“Who built it?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“I did.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>“What’s your name?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> “Howard Roark.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">“Thank you,” said the boy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">He knew that the steady eyes looking at
him understood everything these two words had to cover. Howard Roark inclined
his head, in acknowledgment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">Wheeling his bicycle by his side, the boy
took the narrow path down the slope of the hill to the valley and the houses
below, Roark looked after him. He had never seen that boy before and he would never
see him again. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">He did not know that he had given someone
the courage to face a lifetime.”</span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;"> For the last two decades, on more than
one occasion, I have remembered what Ayn Rand did for me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">And still, often in moments of solitary
reflection, I repeat those words. I whisper them to someone who is no longer
with us because I must. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">I simply whisper: “Thank you.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: 14pt;">She never knew that she had given me the
courage to face a lifetime.<br /><br />This tribute is available in <a href="http://www.fr33minds.com/product_info.php?products_id=159" target="_blank">DVD format</a> as a lecture, and is a chapter <a href="http://www.fr33minds.com/product_info.php?cPath=67&products_id=492" target="_blank">in the book</a>, <i>Within Reason: Essays on Objectivism, Ayn Rand and Christianity</i>.</span></div>
Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-9112417905263783842013-01-01T15:06:00.001-08:002013-01-01T15:06:28.448-08:00Playing God & Why Somebody Has To Do It<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxbOjQU8L-LyoUUwLCQLh6h89qnqGZ6pYogmn8fXgFZtRg2SzCwUF2s-oOn9MRDHRhNIZW_rfuagbnHNub2VVNNn8VPBC1mL_vq_rt0DDYA2ySBAxsgG3DV5EmkD7xYSohyphenhyphen5wR0C10Fg/s1600/god.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCxbOjQU8L-LyoUUwLCQLh6h89qnqGZ6pYogmn8fXgFZtRg2SzCwUF2s-oOn9MRDHRhNIZW_rfuagbnHNub2VVNNn8VPBC1mL_vq_rt0DDYA2ySBAxsgG3DV5EmkD7xYSohyphenhyphen5wR0C10Fg/s320/god.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1BXpv-upVJjE_Uvbw1rAAbXBLTsNNqVX2fy4wdzrHf_psJxInv6DlDAYFyJyCuCfI_mMsQsqQO2HAQdBApypN96ZD_potogzkx8h41aDuuivBhj0d8SxscTI7R9ESRZmSgemrPYSf978/s1600/02_ger_wolfe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Prince Charles warned of the “disastrous consequences” of biotechnology. The precise dangers were never revealed. But according to Reuters he said, “tampering with nature is an affront to God.”<br /><br />Conservative historian Paul Johnson called biotechnology a “new, infant monster.” Gertrude Himmelfarb has written that such research is <i>contra naturn</i> (against nature) and laments that this alone is not longer sufficient to put the fear of God into scientists.<br /><br />But throughout human history each new scientific discovery was subjected to the same assault. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"><br />In 1752 a funny looking man flew a kite on the banks of Schuylkill. From that little experiment Benjamin Franklin discovered the principles of electricity as exhibited in lightning. Once he understood the facts of nature he was able to manipulate it. Lightning had a tendency to strike trees, high buildings, church steeples, etc. Franklin put his discovery to good use by inventing the lightning rod. His invention was not well received. The clergy of the day found such an invention demonic. It was man playing God.<br /><br />In 1755 an unusual earthquake hit New England and the good reverends announced that the quake was the result of lightning rods. Rev. Thomas Prince of Boston’s Old South Church said the quake was due to the erection of “iron points invented by the sagacious Mr. Franklin.” He concluded “in Boston are more erected than anywhere else in New England, and Boston seems to be more dreadfully shaken. Oh! there is no getting out of the mighty hand of God.”<br /><br />John Adams wrote of a conversation he had with a Boston physician: “He began to prate upon the presumption of philosophy in erecting iron rods to draw the lightning from the clouds. He railed and foamed against the points and the presumption that erected them. He talked of presuming upon God, as Peter attempted to walk upon the water, and of attempting to control the artillery of heaven.”<br /><br />Throughout Europe and the United States churches refused to attach lightning rods to their steeples. For decades after the invention of the device steeples continued to be struck in disproportionate numbers. The tower of St. Marks in Venice was repeatedly struck even though Franklin’s invention was brought to Italy by the physicist Beccaria. Church authorities saw the invention as contrary to nature. In 1761, 1762 and 1766 the tower was struck. After this last incident the church quietly attached a lightning rod. <br /><br />Inoculation and vaccination faced the same uphill battle. In 1772 Rev. Edward Massey preached and published his sermon “The Dangerous and Sinful Practice of Inoculation.” When Dr. Zabdiel Boylston of Boston experimented with inoculation the clergy raised such a stink that the city forbade him from further use of the treatment. Andrew White, in his “A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom”, wrote that Boylston’s opponents insisted that “for a man to infect his family in the morning with smallpox and to pray to God in the evening against the disease is blasphemy”; and the smallpox is ‘a judgement of God on the sins of the people,”; that inoculation is ‘an encroachment on the prerogatives of Jehovah whose right it is to wound and smite.’”<br /><br />From the very beginning science was seen as an “encroachment on the prerogatives of Jehovah.” Church Fathers Tertullian and Augustine both condemned anatomy as butchery. Many such theologians feared what the practice would mean for the resurrection of the dead. This belief carried over to surgery as well. And for centuries such medical care was unavailable. Medicine was so suspect that there arose the proverb: “Where there are three physicians there are two atheists.” <br /><br />Today we live in world that is a far, far better place because of these experiments. Today we eat corn that was, in fact, a result of early man’s experiments in biotechnology: Native Americans cross bred two prairie grasses to create an entirely new species. They created something “unnatural” in that experiment. By the time the Pilgrims landed they had no idea that corn they ate on Thanksgiving was contrary to God’s original plan; to them it was natural.<br /><br />Even our modern potato was unknown to primitive man. Centuries of selective breeding have removed undesired genes and replaced them with desired ones. Primitive biotechniques were used in the fermentation of alcohol and the manufacture of cheese. The efficiency of the techniques may have been improved but the basic principles predate our discovery of DNA, genes and cloning.<br /><br />Much of the opposition to man’s “manipulation” of nature rests on the assumption that Enlightenment mankind is not part of nature. Paul Ehrlich said the American people are "a cancer on the planet." Environmentalist David Graber, in a review of <i>The End of Nature</i> for the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> said: "I know social scientists who remind me that people are part of nature, but it isn't true. Somewhere along the line—at about a billion years ago, maybe half that—we quit the contract and became a cancer. ...Until such a time as Homosapiens should decide to rejoin nature, some of us can only hope for the right virus to come along." Eco-philosopher Patrick Corbett said that it is not perverse to prefer the lives of mice over "the lives of men and women" because "animals are in many respects superior to ourselves". Earth First leader David Forman said: "We advocate bio-diversity for bio-diversity's sake. That says man is no more important than any other species... It may well take our extinction to set things straight." The Earth First publication said, "as radical environmentalists, we can see AIDS not as a problem but a necessary solution." To Graber humans are not part of nature but a plague on nature. He made it clear that human’s come last. “We are not interested in the utility of a particular species, or free-flowing river, or ecosystem to mankind. They have intrinsic value, more value—to me—than another human body, or a billion of them.”<br /><br />Professor George Reisman questions the idea that nature has intrinsic value. To say something has value demands that we ask: Of value to whom? Value implies an evaluator. In this sense there can be no value without a conscious evaluator passing judgment. To argue that value exists separate from an evaluator is not just illogical but dangerous to humanity. Man’s nature is that he is a rational creature who must manipulate nature to survive. In its raw state nature is disease, hunger and death. It is the “dog eat dog” world that many advocates of the natural deplore in other fields. But, if nature has intrinsic value, then man’s use of nature to survive destroys that value thus “man’s alleged destructiveness and evil is directly in proportion to his loyalty to his essential nature. Man is a rational being. It is his application of his reason in the form of science, technology, and an industrial civilisation that enables him to act on nature.... thus, it is his possession and use of reason—manifested in his technology and industry—for which he is hated.”<br /><br />The vision of the advocates of the “natural” is directly contrary to that of the Enlightenment. The Western view of nature has not been one of worship, but of struggle. Nature is not inherently valuable. What value there is, and this is value to man, has to be fought for. It doesn’t flow naturally but results from struggle and effort. Left to its own devices nature is brutal. It leads to human lives that are, as Thomas Hobbes might describe it, short and brutish.<br /><br />The nature worshippers instead dream of a mythical past, an Eden captured by the fantasies of Rousseau, who claimed that there was once an ideal state of nature where man is “wandering up and down the forest, without industry, without speech, and without home, an equal stranger to war and to all ties, neither standing in need of his fellow-creatures nor having any desire to hurt him and perhaps not even distinguishing them one from another.”<br /><br />This other vision exists in much of the critiques of human science. <i>The Jo’burg Memo</i>, published by the Böll Foundation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa extolled the virtues of what they called “traditional strategies of generating and communicating knowledge” as compared to science which is almost totally dismissed for being a “generalizable system of knowledge.” They ask: “Should this new generalizable system of knowledge which is in conformity with the global market replace all other systems of knowledge? Respect for cultures as well as prudent scepticism about the long-term effectiveness of science suggest a negative answer.”<br /><br />But to answer in the negative they have to accept Rousseau’s myth of the Edenic “Noble Savage”. And they do. <i>Saving Planet Earth</i> claimed that “tribal people live in harmony with their environment taking care not to exhaust the land or use up the natural resources upon which they depend...” The <i>Gaia Atlas of First Peoples</i> says “all [indigenous cultures] consider the Earth like a parent and revere it accordingly...” <i>The Kid’s Environment Book</i> told it’s young readers that “Ancient people knew that they depended on the natural world for survival and had a close relationship with the forces of sky and earth...” Anita Roddick, on of the authors of the <i>Jo’burg Memo</i>, had her cosmetic chain store, The Body Shop, use shopping bags that claimed: “The wisdom of the world’s indigenous peoples is the accumulation of centuries of living not just on the land, but with it.”<br /><br />Unfortunately such statements are more mythology than history. Native North Americans burned down entire forests to make hunting easier. Buffalo were slaughtered by the tens of thousands with most left to rot. This was accomplished by stampeding entire herds over a cliff. The Vora “buffalo jump” site in Wyoming has the remains of some 20,000 animals. The arrival of Aborigines in Australia quickly led to the demise of several “giant” macropodids (kangaroos and related species). In New Zealand the Maoris, according to science writer Matt Ridley, “sat down and ate their way through all twelve species of giant moa birds.” The Aztecs depleted their soil in Mexico.<br /><br />It was only with the evolution of concepts of private property rights and science that man changed how he dealt with the world. He learned how to manipulate nature through science so as to create lasting benefits. And, with the advent of property rights he had the incentive to avoid overexploiting the resources he himself owned. The “tragedy of the commons” (Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” <i>Science</i>, December 12, 1968) is mitigated when individuals are allowed to own, and reap the benefits, of natural resources. It is in those areas of “communal” property that man still has environmental problems: air, fisheries, etc. Yet, property rights are often dismissed by the advocates of the natural who prefer the more primitive concept of “communal” ownership to go along with their preferred system of “community” knowledge. <br /><br />Surely the famine that was imposed imposed in Zimbabwe should call this into question? The private ownership of farms was replaced by the Mugabe regime with communal farming. Yet many of these new communal farms are incapable of producing enough food to feed the farmers, let alone anyone else. Private property was replaced by communal property; “generalized” scientific knowledge was replaced with “community” knowledge and the results are deadly.<br /><br />World population growth, something that these groups fear, only became an issue because human’s evolved away from this view of the natural. Only through the adoption of reason and science did human’s thrive and live long enough for populations to increase. For most of human history birth rates were very high, because deaths rates were equally high. Life spans were short. That changed when man’s view of the world changed. Samuel Preston, a former president of the Population Association of America, said: “The increase in life expectancy during the 20th century I think has to be credited as our greatest single-achievement. At the turn of the century, India, China, most of the third world had a life expectancy of 25. ...It’s now over 60 for developing countries as a whole. At the turn of the century, the U.S. had a life expectancy of 49. It’s now 76. That’s what’s driving the population explosion, and it really is a credit to the success of the human race in lowering death rates.”<br /><br />The 1999 report <i>The State of the Population 1999</i> admits that population increases are the result of declining death rates more than they are the result of increased birth rates—which in fact have been falling. The report says: “This unprecedented growth was the net result of faster declines in mortality than in fertility, both from initially higher levels.” And: “The most important story behind the rise from 3 to 6 billion people since 1960 is the unprecedented drop in mortality.” The report notes that since 1950 the death rate has been cut in half “from about 20 to fewer than 10 deaths per year per thousand people....” This is not just the result of living longer but also because of a radical drop in infant mortality rates. In 1999 the UN said: “The world’s population is healthier from infancy through old age than it ever has been. Global infant mortality has fallen by two thirds since 1950, from 155 per thousand live births to 57 per thousand; this rate is projected to be reduced by a further two thirds by 2050.” Today’s rate is even lower: 55 per thousand. In fact the death rates have dropped so extensively that even though there were 1.5 billion more people alive in 1975 than in 1950 the annual number of raw deaths declined by 10 per cent. And even now with a world population more than double what it was in 1950 the raw death total is virtually identical: about 52 million people per year.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1BXpv-upVJjE_Uvbw1rAAbXBLTsNNqVX2fy4wdzrHf_psJxInv6DlDAYFyJyCuCfI_mMsQsqQO2HAQdBApypN96ZD_potogzkx8h41aDuuivBhj0d8SxscTI7R9ESRZmSgemrPYSf978/s1600/02_ger_wolfe.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1BXpv-upVJjE_Uvbw1rAAbXBLTsNNqVX2fy4wdzrHf_psJxInv6DlDAYFyJyCuCfI_mMsQsqQO2HAQdBApypN96ZD_potogzkx8h41aDuuivBhj0d8SxscTI7R9ESRZmSgemrPYSf978/s320/02_ger_wolfe.jpg" width="320" /></a>Humans are no longer dying as quickly or as young as before. The world now has around 770 million people over the age of 60. By 2050 the UN estimates this figure to grow to 2 billion. More incredible is the projected increase for those who live past 80 years. Currently there are 69 million such people world wide; by 2050 this will increase to 400 million. Living to 100 years of age was once an anomaly, so rare that in England it warranted a personal letter of congratulations from the Queen. Today just under 450,000 people world would qualify for such a greeting. By 2050 it is estimated there will be 3.3 million people over the age of 100! Projections show that the United States will have 600,000 centenarians by 2050 exceeded only by Japan which will have over 1 million of them. Those over 80 years of age in the US will total in excess of 29 million.<br /><br />Say what you will about science, tampering with nature, or “playing God”, the results can’t be denied. Human’s live longer, healthier, better lives because of it.<br /><br />From the moment the first man stood upright he was playing God. It’s natural for him to tamper with nature. He no longer relied on just body hair for warmth, but created clothes. He artificially lit and heated his dwellings by conquering the nature of fire. He grew his own food and manipulated its genetic structure by cross breeding. Instead of using his “God-given” feet for transit he harnessed wild horses and domesticated them, eventually creating the wheel. Without wings he learned to fly and, of all the species that we know of in the universe, he is the only one to walk on the moon.<br /><br />When man left footprints among the stars he was playing God. When he performs heart surgery he is playing God. Each premature baby placed in an incubator and kept alive through “artificial” means lives because some researcher, some doctor, played God. When third world peasants flee to higher ground, because a meteorologist has warned them of an impending hurricane and the resulting flood, thousands of lives are spared because someone played God.<br /><br />When man does not play God the world is a mean and brutal place. It is a world where old age is the mid 20s. It is a world where most infants die before reaching maturity. It is a world where the diabetic suffers pain finding release only in an early death. It is a world where disease and famine are rampant. It is a world where there is no warmth in the winter and no light after sunset. It is a world where each flash of lightning so terrifies men, women and children that they cringe in fear in the recesses of some darkened cave. It may be natural. But it is cruel and monstrous.</span>Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-16259902103940958052012-12-29T00:42:00.000-08:002012-12-29T00:42:02.658-08:00Final Micro-Loan of the Year<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjKeBe1Tdg76liy8a41iFkCJf_xieUhyphenhypheniskmmNxrpcdI7EL041fLxacuQYBHYUZ708d1QxJM0PbKjV_YgpQTyOuIIcV6qdbc3j9_k9bWbUa9NboiHRG1CW97K260w6Uxg_EBNqEx7wkcw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-29+at+12.18.48+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjKeBe1Tdg76liy8a41iFkCJf_xieUhyphenhypheniskmmNxrpcdI7EL041fLxacuQYBHYUZ708d1QxJM0PbKjV_YgpQTyOuIIcV6qdbc3j9_k9bWbUa9NboiHRG1CW97K260w6Uxg_EBNqEx7wkcw/s320/Screen+shot+2012-12-29+at+12.18.48+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
The Moorfield Storey Institute regularly gives micro-loans to individuals developing their businesses in the developing world. We have made loans in Ecuador, Benin, Tajikistan, Zambia, Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, and El Salvador. The Institute is entirely funded by donations from its staff, friends and from proceeds from sales at our book service,<span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span><a href="http://fr33minds.com/" style="background-color: yellow; color: red;">Fr33minds.com</a><span style="background-color: yellow; color: red;">. </span><br />
<br />
Our most recent loan is to Eris Rodolfo in El Salvador. Eris runs a bookstore and general store from the same premises. He lives with his in-laws, his wife, and two children, 7 and 15. He has one employee and has been in business for three years. He wishes to purchase notebooks and books for the new school term as well a products such as cooking oil, and grains. He is trying to expand his inventory so as to improve his economic position. <br />
<br />
The Storey Institute is a 501(c)3 organization. Your donations are critical. Most of the Institute's income comes from the staff, who donate their time and resources. In addition to running the Adam Smith Benevolent Fund, the outlet for our charitable giving, we operate Cobden Press, which publishes books of interest to classical liberals and libertarians. We distribute books at discounted prices through Fr33minds.com and also contribute a regular column to Huffington Post. At this time, due to the lingering recession sales have been slow at Fr33minds. <br />
<br />
The Institute is having a very rough time financially. Your donations are tax deductible and are especially needed at this time. To <a href="http://www.fr33minds.com/index.php?cPath=68" style="background-color: yellow;" target="_blank">make a donation just go here</a><span style="background-color: yellow;">. </span>Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-73871170814747577102012-12-26T22:54:00.002-08:002012-12-26T22:54:50.357-08:00Homicides and Guns: What US Data Shows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtuhmNFCyTUm9xDWxTk9pzsHQf9ArMonpGfDKEY1b803_TfMOh0Ywpt_MQbhu-uI0WfoZucf-dwePm2if5QKX0hG5inS74XiGIs7s7j5gZTZ4QuqVmNjx76XCTKt7cIuQaFIZHD7sav4/s1600/Glock-30.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGtuhmNFCyTUm9xDWxTk9pzsHQf9ArMonpGfDKEY1b803_TfMOh0Ywpt_MQbhu-uI0WfoZucf-dwePm2if5QKX0hG5inS74XiGIs7s7j5gZTZ4QuqVmNjx76XCTKt7cIuQaFIZHD7sav4/s1600/Glock-30.gif" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I <a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2012/12/homicides-and-gun-onwership-what.html">previously argued</a> that international data
generally shows increased gun ownership does not cause increased numbers of
homicides. Sweden and Switzerland have relatively high gun ownership rates with
very low homicide rates. South Africa has very low gun ownership but high
homicide numbers. I concluded: “</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">While it would be stupid to say that gun ownership is the only factor
influencing homicide rates, it would be even more stupid to claim that the
numbers show that gun ownership increases homicides. The evidence does NOT
support that when we look at international data.”</span>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia;">What about the 50 states? Homicide rates were easy to
find, thanks to the <a href="http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0308.pdf">Census Bureau</a>. However, determining gun rates is a bit
difficult. I use two different sets of figures for this. One set purports to
show the percentage of residents who own guns and is from <a href="http://usliberals.about.com/od/Election2012Factors/a/Gun-Owners-As-Percentage-Of-Each-States-Population.htm">USLiberals.about.com</a>;
the other was <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/15/states-with-the-most-legal-guns-in-2012.html">compiled</a> by <i>The Daily Beast</i>, using the number of background
checks, per 100,000 people, performed by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal
Background Check System, used before a gun is legally sold to someone by any
firearms dealer. <br />
<br />
Does high gun ownership translate into high homicides rates? The ten states
with the highest ownership rates were Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, South Dakota,
West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Idaho, Alabama and North Dakota. All of
them have ownership rates between 50% and 60%. The average homicide rate for
these 10 states is 4.07, which is below the national average of 5.1, according
to the Census Bureau.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia;">The ten states with the lowest percentage of gun ownership
were Florida, Maryland, California, Illinois, New York, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Hawaii. The average homicide rate in
theses states is 4.52, which is lower than the national average, but higher
than the top 10 gun-owning states.
<br />
<br />
<i>The Daily Beast</i> says the background check rate, per 100,000 people, is the best
data we have on gun ownership, but admits that for Kentucky the numbers are all
out of whack, due to monthly background checks there. If we use this data—excluding
Kentucky—the top ten gun-friendly states are Montana, North Dakota, West
Virginia, Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and
Alabama. For these top 10 gun-friendly states, the homicide rate averages 3.6
per 100,000, again well below the national average of 5.1. <br />
<br />
With this data, the 10 least gun-friendly states would be New Jersey, Hawaii,
New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Florida
and Michigan. These 10 states had an average homicide rate of 4.47. This is
again lower than the national average—though not as significantly as before—but
once again, well above the 10 states that are most gun friendly. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
If we look at the ten states with the lowest homicide rates (NH, VT, IA, UT,
ID, MN, HI, ND, WY, ME), averaging 1.57, we find they average 7298 background
checks per 100,000 people. The ten most deadly states, in terms of murders,
averaging 7.96, (LA, NM, IL, MD, TN, AL, MS, SC, MO, OK) have homicide rates
significantly higher and they have an average of 6,990 background checks per
100,000.<br />
<br />
If we look at the ten least murderous states, we see their gun-ownership rate
is 41.34% of their populations. But, the most deadly states have ownership
rates of 39.82%<br />
<br />
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia;">Hawaii ranks dead last in terms of gun ownership (6.7%)
yet six other states have lower homicide rates and average gun ownership rates
more than six times higher (average 42.63%). Louisiana is 1<sup>st</sup> in
homicide rates (12.3) and 13<sup>th</sup> in gun-ownership rates. The twelve
states with more guns per capita have a significantly lower homicide rate, 3.96.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
In second place, in terms of homicide rates, is New Mexico (10), yet it ranks
32<sup>nd</sup> in gun ownership. Illinois is in third place, in regards to
homicides (8.4), but in 44<sup>th</sup> place in regards to gun ownership. <br />
<br />
</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">In conclusion, allow me to
rephrase what I said before: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">While it would be stupid to say that gun ownership
is the only factor influencing homicide rates, it would be even more stupid to
claim that the numbers show that gun ownership increases homicides. The
evidence does NOT support that when we look at national data.”</span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">I previously argued that international data
generally shows increased gun ownership does not cause increased numbers of
homicides. Sweden and Switzerland have relatively high gun ownership rates with
very low homicide rates. South Africa has very low gun ownership but high
homicide numbers. I concluded: “</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;">While it would be stupid to say that gun ownership is the only factor
influencing homicide rates, it would be even more stupid to claim that the
numbers show that gun ownership increases homicides. The evidence does NOT
support that when we look at international data.”</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt;"> </span>
<br />
<br />Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1461028406488684699.post-78194044853511172412012-12-17T21:51:00.000-08:002013-01-05T23:16:05.100-08:00Homicides and Gun Ownership: What International Numbers Tell Us<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCB5KAyXJgXi_3PNGG7mjr2m-Z2yFgMgvNWERCtRrlJkU264k6GxFLGxzAsr_B0s77L8xxKK3ur2lm024rRITxUTAeefKepQD7nnN7Z0oNdD-3xqz9HRSJCD_Lr-Mj5avIY36NTnA6NFw/s1600/topgunGranny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCB5KAyXJgXi_3PNGG7mjr2m-Z2yFgMgvNWERCtRrlJkU264k6GxFLGxzAsr_B0s77L8xxKK3ur2lm024rRITxUTAeefKepQD7nnN7Z0oNdD-3xqz9HRSJCD_Lr-Mj5avIY36NTnA6NFw/s1600/topgunGranny.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">England’s
left-of-center <i>Guardian</i> newspaper has <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jul/22/gun-homicides-ownership-world-list" target="_blank">charted</a> gun ownership in over 170
countries. They use data from the Small Arms Survey, which looks at private
ownership of guns in various nations. The Guardian then compares firearm
ownership to homicide rates—though they only look at homicides with firearms,
not the total homicide rate. <br />
</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">Their
data shows the United States has 88.8 guns for every 100 people, with a firearm
homicide rate by firearm of 2.97 per 100,000 people. The unspoken theory is
that reduced ownership of firearms results in fewer murders by firearms—whether
it results in more murders by other means is not addressed. (Note: all gun
ownership numbers are per 100 people, while homicide rates are per 100,000.) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">How
does gun ownership correlate with murder by firearms internationally? Argentina is at 3.02, with only 10.2 firearms per 100. The Bahamas has gun
ownership of only 5.3, but has 15.37 firearm homicides. Bangladesh has gun
ownership below 0.5, yet their death rate by firearms is still 1.1. In Barbados,
gun ownership is only 7.8, but the homicide rate is 2.99. In Belize there is only
1 firearm for every ten people, yet the firearm homicide rate is 21.82. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">Canada
has a relatively high fire ownership rate (30.8), yet a low death-by-firearm
rate (0.51). Chile has 10.7 weapons per 100 people, yet a firearm homicide rate
of 2.16 per 100,000. Colombia has only 5.9 guns per 100 people, yet the firearm
homicide rate is 27.09. Costa Rica has a firearm homicide rate of 4.59, well
above the US, but a gun ownership rate of 9.9 per 100, well below the US.
Croatia and Cyprus have relatively high gun ownership rates (21.7 and 36.4
respectively), but relatively low firearm homicide rates: 0.39 and 0.46. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">Ecuador
has an ownership rate of just 1.3, but the firearm homicide rate is more than
four times higher than the United States;—12.73. In El Salvador the ownership
rate is just 5.8, but the firearm homicide rate is 39.9. Finland and France
both have relatively high gun ownership rates by international standards, and
very low firearm homicide rates: 0.45 and 0.06. Ditto for Germany with 30.3
firearms per 100, but a firearm homicide rate of 0.19.The same is true for
Greece with 22.5, but 0.26 firearm homicides.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">New
Zealand has a firearm ownership rate of 22.6 per 100, but the homicide rate is
only 0.16. In contrast, Nicaragua has only 7.7 guns per 100, yet the firearm
homicide rate is 5.92. In Norway, 31.3 weapons per 100
people </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">are in private hands</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">, yet the homicide rate by firearms is just 0.05. Panama has a firearm
ownership rate well below the US, 21.7%, but a homicide rate well above the US;
16.18. In Serbia, 37.8 people per 100 have a firearm, but the homicide rate is
0.46. South Africa has only 12.7 guns per 100 people but 17.03 is the firearm
homicide rate. Sweden and Switzerland have relatively high gun ownership rates—31.6
and 45.7—and have relatively low firearm homicide rates—0.41 and 0.77. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">The
<i>Guardian’s</i> report is skewed, because it only looks at homicides by firearms,
instead of total homicides from all causes. We see that some nations have very
low rates of gun ownership, yet high rates of murder by firearm. Other
countries have relatively high rates of gun ownership, yet very low rates of
firearm related homicides. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">So, how do<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate" target="_blank"> international homicides rates</a>, from all causes, compare with the presence of guns? I took the
numbers the <i>Guardian</i> published, regarding the presence of guns in a society and
compared them to homicide rates per country. When I combined the two listsm
I had data for 169 nations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">The 10 nations with the
highest number of privately-owned guns averaged 44.14 firearms per 100
population. Their homicide rate per 100,000 population averaged 2.41. The 10
nations with lowest firearm ownership rates had only 0.44 firearms per 100
population but their homicide rate was 8.96. While the top 10 gun-owning countries
have ownership rates 10 times higher than the 10 least armed nations, their
homicide rate is 4 times lower. Out of the 169 nations surveyed here, the United States is first in gun ownership, but 86 of these nations have homicides rates higher than the United States.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">I then looked at the 25
nations with the highest ownership of guns, versus the 25 with the lowest. The
top 25 nations had 33.47 weapons per 100 people with a homicide rate of 1.7 per
100,000 people. The 25 least-armed nations had 0.64 guns per 100 people with a
homicide rate of 10.45—more than five times as deadly as the 25 nations with
the most guns.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">Next, I looked at the
50 nations with the highest number of guns in comparison with the 50 with the
lowest. The top 50 averaged 24.79 weapons, with a homicide rate
of 5.88. In comparison, the 50 least-armed nations averaged 1.01 firearms per
100 with a homicide rate of 12.17—still more than double their more heavily armed
counterparts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">I then looked at
nations with 40 or more guns per 100 people. There are 4 such countries (US,
Switzerland, Finland, and Yemen). They average 58.64 firearms per 100 people,
with an average homicide rate of 2.85.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">Next I took all nations
in 30-39% range of gun ownership. There are 12 such nations with an average
ownership rate of 32.59 per 100, and an average homicide rate of just 1.48 per
100,000. A further 11 nations have gun ownership rates between 20-29%; their
average homicide rate is 3.39. There are 34 nations with between 10 and 19 guns
per 100 people; averaging 14.2 guns per 100 with a homicide rate of 9.9. 108
nations have gun ownership rates below 10 per 100 people, averaging 3.53
firearms per 100, they also average 12.92 homicides per 100,000. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">The trend seems to be
that nations with lower homicide rates have a higher proliferation of guns—the
reverse of what is often claimed in the media. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">We can also come at
this by viewing homicide rates first. The 10 nations with the highest
homicide rates in the world, averaging 50.67 per 100,000, have 6.84 guns per
100 people. The ten nations with the lowest homicide rates—just 0.5 per
100,000—have gun rates of 20.39 per 100 people. While the “armed” nations
have more than triple the number of privately-held firearms, their homicides
rates are just 1/100<sup>th</sup> those found in the 10 least-armed nations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">The 25 most deadly
nations—with an average of 39.88 homicides per 100,000—have a gun proliferation
rate 4.89 per 100. The 25 least deadly nations —0.77 per 100,000—have guns
rates of 17.43 per 100.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11pt;">While it would be
stupid to say that gun ownership is the only factor influencing homicide rates,
it would be even more stupid to claim that the numbers show that gun ownership
increases homicides. The evidence does NOT support that when we look at international
data. <br /><br />For the data on the US states see <a href="http://storeyinstitute.blogspot.com/2012/12/homicides-and-guns-what-us-data-shows.html" target="_blank">our follow-up article here</a>.</span></div>
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Moorfield Storey Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11847389834688255658noreply@blogger.com13