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This page Free Life Volume 4-7 Previous page Free life Volume 1 - 4 >>> NEW: Subject Index of Free Life Free Life Vol.4 No. 1 Would you share a nuclear umbrella with this man? Secret Ballots Editorial Murder; Child & Animal Abuse J. C. Lester The Reagan Phenomenon Murray N. Rothbard Is the State a tool of Capitalists? Jane Thornton A German over Britain Dominic Freely Further reading:     Free Life Vol.4 No. 2 Pinkon Thomas - after seven years on heroin NOW WBC Heavyweight Champion Scargill's Insurrection or MacGregor's Butchery? Editorial In search of feasable Socialism David Ramsay Steele The Pure Joy of Heroin J C Lester The Russian Bogey Stephen Berry Is the State Based on Mere Dogma? David McDonagh Further reading: A wonderful book that makes it quite clear that despite the moves Lenin made in What Is To Be Done (1903) when he effectively dumped the materialist conception of history, in Imperialism (1914) when he put nations ahead of class analysis and in State and Revolution (1917) where he embraced socialism as something way less than full communism, the Bolsheviks were nevertheless utterly influenced by Marxism. Vol 4. No. 2. "Scargill's Insurrection or MacGregor's Butchery?" In 1974 Heath, never an adroit political operator, went to the country with a bogus issue of "Who governs?". The country was not fooled and decided that it was not Heath who should govern, Although the miners broke no laws by striking in 1974 and Heath was foolish enough to pick a fight with them at a time of rocketing oil prices, the myth arose that the miners "overthrew" the Tory government. The miners were in fact only responsible for the fall of the Heath government in the sense that I would be responsible for Heath's suicide if I opened the flat window, invited Heath to jump out and he duly obliged. Free Life Vol.4 No. 3 Ulster: Troops Out Market In Computer Fraud + Seven Sins of the US LP Editorial & John Karr Hylozoism Rules China - OK? Brian Van Der Linde Reply to Vand der Linde David Ramsay Steele News from Somewhere Miles Kelly The Ulster Nation: Troops out Market In  J C Lester & David McDonagh Book Reviews Viennese Heritage by Stephen Berry and a Past Master of Economics by David McDonagh Further reading: Puts the case that the Ulster Protestants are a nation distinct from the Catholic South. Free Life Vol.4 No. 4 Multiply and be Fruitful - The more people there are the easier it is to feed them. Just One Cheer for Democracy Editorial Tape Levy? John Carr The Utility of Liberty "Not a Libertarian" News from Somewhere Miles Kelly Multiply and be Fruitful Ray Percival Libertarianism Without Morals David Ramsay Steele Further reading:     Free Life Vol.5 No. 1 Ayn Rand - All Passion Spent? The Housing Crisis Editorial Not "Everyone's Problem" J. C. Lester File Away Bandung Stephen Berry Is Utopia Inevitable? Martin Tyrrell Interview with George Rosie on Terrorisml Free Life Some reflections on "Liberty Reclaimed" Patrick M O'Neil The Queen Of Spleen David Ramsay Steele Further reading: “A brilliant, scholarly, and comprehensive critique of the Ayn Rand cult – everything you ever wanted to know about Rand and her fanatical devotees.” Albert Ellis.  Vol 5 No.1 File Away Bandung The Romans gave their crowds bread and circuses: Sukarno fed them with words. Tired of party government, he devised and implemented Demokrasi Terpimpim which meant 'guided democracy' (guided by Sukarno of course). Sometimes he lapsed into sentences. "President Sukarno has called on Citizen Sukarno to form a government", was a typical conceit. Eventually Sukarno ran out of words, organised a putsch from power (this, a bizarre and essentially Sukarnoesque twist) and had to watch his supporters being massacred in a counter-putsch from the army.   Vol 5 No 2, On her Majesty's Private Secret Service The image of the British secret service agent which the British government would like to propagate is well exemplified by Ian Fleming's James Bond. Bond is portrayed as an accomplished womaniser, able to discourse knowledgeably on the finest wines whilst nonchalantly dealing hammer blows to the machinations of World Communism. Gradually, this picture is being replaced with one more in accord with reality. The typical British agent is in fact, a rampant homosexual, does not talk too much about drink, preferring instead to consume vast quantities of it and, when he finally gets around to doing some work, deals hammer blows on behalf of the Soviet State. Free Life Vol.5 No. 2 Leaders on Leashes - How important are Elections? Socialism is Dead - Statism is Sick Editorial Trade Wars Editorial News from Somewhere Stuart Blade The Market for Justice J. C. Lester On her Majesty's Private Secret Service Stephen Berry Sanctions Shore up Apartheid Martin Tyrell Article 7 was part II of "The Queen of Spleen" (see Vol 5-1)  Further reading: A study of the economic origins and consequences of racial segregation in South Africa. Vol 5 No 3, Glib Glossary Profession: A lucrative state-backed racket whereby the public is denied competition among some group of suppliers and oftenforced to pay their wages. Drug abuser: Someone who makes bigoted gibes about drugs other than the ones they enjoy.   "Madman": Someone a dogmatist does not understand, does not want to understand, and does not want anyone else to understand.  Free Life Vol.5 No. 3 Is Socialism The Solution for South Africa? Carry on Up the Gulf - Editorial Glib GLossary J. C. Lester Smash The Lems Professor Anthony Flew Ulster - a different view David Ramsay Steele Ulster - Cut the apron Strings J. C. Lester Viewpoint  Letters Rousseau R. J. Layson Will the Solution Solve the Problem Miles Kelly Further reading: Read this book to find out why so many socialists and other liberal-minded men in the countries of Western Europe, and indeed elsewhere, lent their support to communist activities all over the world. Vol 5 No 4, They keep the Rat Flag Flying Having looked at the sources, let us now do some theory: Can extinction of a species cause us major trouble? If a species has only a few members its influence must be rather limited. If a relevant one should start diminishing we would notice that at once and there would he no danger. Besides, the talk of complete interdependence of species is an extreme exaggeration. Except for oxygen-carbon-dioxide balance wind-pollinated plants do not need animals at all, so they could survive regardless of which other species exist, as long as at least one of them is an animal. Insect-pollinated plants need at least one insect species in addition and the totally unendangered bee will do for all plants we use. Very few animals absolutely need one particular plant. True enough the koala bear could not live without eucalyptus trees, but that tree is not exactly uncommon and our more conventional cows are so valuable precisely because they can live on the most simple stuff and a pig can eat anything at all. In general most herbivorous animals could utilise a wide selection of plants and if they have access to perhaps 10 types of plant species, they will not suffer.  Free Life Vol.5 No. 4 Sun Power No Thanks - A Spectre is Haunting Europe - The Spectre of Environmentalism No Parking- Editorial Lester on Ulster David Ramsay Steele The Constitution as Counter-Revolution Jeffrey Rogers Hummel No Alternative Anne Marie Jansen Towns & Cities - One Man's Plans for Planning Nick Elliot They keep the Rat Flag Flying Peter Jansen   Vol 6 No 1, Diary of a Political Nobody  Donoughue is at some pains to stress how talented were the people in and around the Labour government. "In terms of ability and experience the Cabinet appointed by Mr Wilson in February 1974 was perhaps the most impressive in Britain this century." (p.48) It is possible to question this assertion. It was Jim Callaghan who said in 1966 that he would resign as Chancellor if the pound were to be devalued. He did not realise that it was not a matter for shame if the pound should fluctuate against other currencies. It was Roy Jenkins in the 1960s who restricted shotguns after the shooting of three policemen. Nothing much wrong with that you might say. Nothing, except that the policemen were shot with pistols. Free Life Vol.6 No. 1 US Government Property Swearing Allegiance "Welfare Rights" versus Real Welfare Editorial Down with the Middle-Class Loo Peter Jansen Diary of a Political Nobody Stephen Berry Reply to Le Cocq J. C. Lester Those Who Share With Thieves Anne M. Jansen Further reading: “The welfare state has caused tens of thousands to live deprived and even depraved lives, and has undermined decency and kindness which first inspired it.” How has business been represented in English Literature? In this volume, five authors have produced original surveys of how business has been portrayed by novelists, staring in the 18th century and continuing to the end of the 20th. Vol 6 No 2, The Market is Here to Stay A factory operating at a loss may not look very different from a factory covering its costs. The factory operating at a loss may be technically excellent, everyone may work skilfully and hard, and useful goods may be coming out of the factory gates and going to grateful customers. But resources that could have been used elsewhere are coming in through the factory gates and are either being used up or, at least, temporarily withheld from other uses. Is it too much to expect Buick and Crump to be able to see that some kind of relation must be maintained between the resources going into the factory and the products coming out? And that the resources going in are mainly the outputs of other factories? And that this is a problem intrinsically independent of the existence of money? Free Life Vol.6 No. 2 Free Speech - Is Rushdie for it? The Market for free speech Editorial News from somewhere Stuart Blade Astrofraud Bjorn Wiklund Death by Compassion Anne M. Jansen More Crime and Discipline Jon LeCocq Review: The Market is Here to Stay David Ramsay Steele  Further reading:     Vol 6 No 3, Free Trade in Body Parts Many people are suffering and some people are dying due to lack of human body-parts for transplants. Free trade is a completely voluntary solution that would bring an abundance of body-parts making suffering and death due to the lack of them virtually unknown. It would also release for other purposes the money spent on such expensive items as renal-dialysis machines. This must all seem a good thing to anyone who is not a complete misanthrope.   Free Life Vol.6 No. 3 Not Wanted - No Reward Capitalist Revolution Editorial The Right to say "Sod off"  J. C. Lester Politics as Cold War David McDonagh Myth of the Freemarket Conservative Matthew O'Keeffe Hiccups in the Progress of the Liberal idea David McDonagh A Non-Libertarian Individualists's Critique John Lyth An Individual Libertarian's Reply David Ramsay Steele  Misreadings of Marx David Ramsay Steele  Free Trade in Body Parts J. C. Lester Further reading: “…a magnificent assertion of the reality of human freedom…” The Economist   Vol 6 No 4, The Logic Chopper Replies (The Final Word) I wasn't commenting on Buick's innermost psyche or on his political record, but on what he says in this particular book. But if I may be allowed to conjecture his motives, I suppose his bias in favour of state capitalism arises from three sources: 1. He underrates the socially beneficial role of market adjustments, and therefore tends to mininize the harmful consequences of suppressing them; 2. His political outlook makes him want to minimize the differences between different forms of 'capitalism', since if these differences are in fact enormous, it becomes indefensible to refuse (as Buick does) to support the move from one form to another; 3. His adherence to the doctrine of historical materialism makes it awkward for him to acknowledge that a vast revolutionary cataclysm like Bolshevism can be a disaster and retrogression, resulting from fallacious ideas.   Free Life Vol.6 No. 4 The Nowhere Man The Real End of History Editorial Photo Finish Editorial Can Politics Improve Wages? David McDonagh The Inadequacy of Wolff's Authority-Autonomy Antinomy Patrick M. O'Neil Reply - Another Argument for Anarchy David McDonagh The Market for Hitler Stephen Berry  Why the Market is not Inevitable Adam Buick  The Logic Chopper Replies (the final word)  David Ramsay Steele Further reading: A full and amusing account of the attempt to sell ‘Hitler’s diaries’. Vol 7 No 1, The Right to Discriminate It is a fact that some people hate others just on grounds of race or sex. The reasons for this phenomenon may not be simple or uniform, but some have held their hatred so dear that it has led them to suicide. Otto Weininger wrote that 'no men who think really deeply about women retain a high opinion of them; men either despise women or they have never thought seriously about them.' At 24 he resigned from life on that note, as it was surely his right to do. In Misogynies (1990) Joan Smith assumes that hating women is, somehow, immoral in itself. Well, that's a possible view, but it is no more liberal than Weininger's or its opposite, that women are marvellous. This is the opinion that most men hold, contrary to what Joan Smith attempts to show in her book. The liberal moral is for the most extensive tolerance for both extremes, as long as that is compatible with not harming others. Free Life Vol.7 No.1 Major Versus Minors How to dethrone King Cole Editorial  The Right to Discriminate David McDonagh The failure of Fusionism Patrick M. O'Neil David through the Looking Glass Nicholas Dykes Retroactivity and Justice in Law Patrick M. O'Neil Further reading: “The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution” Ayn Rand - “ Reason and Morality are the only weapons that determine the course of history. The collectivists dropped them because they had no right to carry them. Pick them up: You have” Ayn Rand “The Virtue of Selfishness” Ayn Rand - Rand sets forth the moral principles of objectivism.  © Libertarian Alliance  2010

Articles will not reflect a 'party line'. We hope that diverse interpretations of the Libertarian philosophy will fill these pages, and that there will be a lively debate between contributors. . The Alternative Bookshop Which specialises in, but does not limit itself to, books on Liberty and Freedom ... Book reviews, links, bestsellers, rareties, second-hand, best price on books, find rare books.      Laissez Faire Books  The World's Largest Selection of Books on Liberty Vol 4. No. 1. "The Reagan Phenomenon" But Reagan is even more curious a phenomenon. For he has the astounding capacity, not just to continue the old rhetoric, but to levitate above the action, to act as if he is not sitting in the Oval Office at all, but is somehow still out there giving his little semi-libertarian, semi-warmongering homilies, using his 3x5 cards with all the fake little anecdotes that he has collected from dumbright sources over the decades. And somehow he is able to convince the public that he is not really in the White House, doing monstrous things as Head Honcho of the most powerful State apparatus in the world; but that he is still outside the State, a private citizen inveighing and leading a crusade against Big Government   Vol 4 No.3 News from Somewhere -Eat the Sheep Now - Save the Whales for Later What's the best way of protecting an endangered species? - put them on a menu. This is the solution devised by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust for the seaweed-eating North Ronaldsway (in the Orkneys) sheep (Times 21.9.85). The sheep were in some danger of extinction until a number of them were baked into pies for members of the Scottish Gourmet Organisation. They went like hot cakes. Now this rare breed is in demand, and the sheep have a good chance of remaining an integral breed: Survival of the Meatiest. Vol 4 No.4 Libertarianism without Morals Rollins repeatedly makes assertions of this sort: "A bullet-proof vest may protect a person against being shot, but a natural right has never stopped a single slug." But this is false. 'Re-enforcement of social rules has indeed stopped millions of slugs, and enforced social rules emanate partly from ideas of justice held by people, ideas which have included natural rights. Maybe Rollins would reply that rights have no effect unless people act on them, but see how empty his claim then becomes. It's analogous to: 'No law of mechanics ever built a single machine.' This counters only those deep thinkers who believe that natural rights operate even if no one knows about them. Amazingly, Konkin seems to argue for this fatuous position.