An Important Message from L. Neil Smith

By L. Neil Smith
[email protected]

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise

Greetings:

         I'm sending this to as many folks as possible with the request that they pass it on, especially to lists and other such places.
         It's come to my attention that a person named Martin Lindstet has been posting messages urging an alliance between libertarians and various racists or neofascists, and advocating violent acts against innocent people. What's worse -- at least from my viewpoint -- is that he claims to be acting on principles I've espoused over 20 years in my novels, essays, and speeches.
         It's not the first time something like this has happened. People will read anything they wish into what they read; if they have an ax to grind it can get fairly demented. A few years ago I was accused by a stooge of one of the Libertarian Party's most unprincipled hacks of being a right-wing crazy because I live in the same state as Focus on the Family! I've also been called a "thug" in the national LP paper because of my lifelong advocacy of self-defense.
         Not long ago, a sleazy little Canadian magazine tried to smear me by associating my name with racists and neofascists on the internet because I wrote a piece arguing that the Oklahoma City bombing was a direct consequence of Clinton Administration policies, and warning that it would probably be used as an excuse to suppress dissent.
         Those interested in seeing my reaction to this accusation may read it at http://www.lneilsmith.org//frying-c.html. Perhaps I made a mistake in choosing not to sue these "journalists". At the very least it might have prevented the situation I have to take time and energy away from my work to deal with now.
         For the record: as far back as memory reaches (50 years or so), racism has been the definition of stupidity in my family, a way of announcing to the world that you're a brain-dead protoplasmic lump. A person's race is never the first thing I notice; I'm more concerned with where he or she stands on Bill of Rights enforcement.
         Similarly, for something like 36 years, I've been an adherent of the Non-Aggression Principle, which states that no one has a right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another individual. So vocal have I been about it that some self-styled libertarians (those who called me a right-wing crazy and a thug) hate me because I hamper their effort to "bend" libertarian philosophy "just a little" to make it more palatable to nonlibertarian contributors. Their hatred doesn't bother me; when I think about it at all, I consider it a badge of honor.
         As far as being fellow "exiles" from the LP (another of Lindstet's claims) I've never seen it that way. I'm the most widely-published and prolific libertarian writer in the world. I am libertarianism to millions of readers. My books are read by many times the number who ever voted for any LP presidential candidate, and I'm content that it's my "version" of libertarianism that'll survive to influence the course of future events. It's today's ruling minority of bad apples within the LP who (along with the racists and neofascists) will be "exiled" -- by history.
         I bring all this up because it should be clear that the Non- Aggression Principle -- which is all libertarianism consists of, nothing more, nothing less -- makes any alliance between libertarians and neofascists impossible. Fascism in all its many and varied forms consists of little besides the glorification of initiated force. Fascism is the antithesis and natural enemy of libertarianism.
         Put another way, I oppose the Clintons because -- particularly in matters like Ruby Ridge and Waco, but also for the utter contempt they show the Bill of Rights -- they act just like Nazis. I don't see how allying myself with more Nazis would help things.
         To anyone who doubts what I've said here, I urge you to examine my web site or read any of my novels. I'd suggest you begin with my first, The Probability Broach, or with my latest, Bretta Martyn.
         This Lindstet has also implicated two other fine libertarian writers whom I'll leave to speak for themselves. To Lindstet and those behind him, I say this: I am not your ally but your enemy. I am not your mentor but your nemesis. The purpose of my work (when I'm not striving to prevent the bloody upheaval that the Clintons and their ilk seem hell-bent on fomenting) is to send things like you scuttling back under the rocks and baseboards where they belong.
         Maybe I made a mistake not suing that nasty little magazine. If so, I won't make the same mistake again. I'll bury you in lawyers; you'll spend the rest of your life in court; win or lose, you'll have to give up everything you possess or ever hoped to possess, unless you immediately cease associating my hard-earned name and reputation with your evil and stupid opinions.
         Better yet, why not denounce me? I'd consider it another badge of honor.

Novelist and political essayist L. Neil Smith has been characterized by one disgruntled reader as having written the "single most repugnant ... piece of tripe ... ever seen in an American newspaper." In his spare time, he's also the Prometheus Award-winning author of 19 novels (and counting), as well as founder and publisher of The Libertarian Enterprise http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/index.html. Order his books from Amazon.com at his home web site "L. Neil Smith's Webley Page" at http://www.lneilsmith.org//index.html, from Laissez Faire Books at http://www.laissezfaire.com or call toll-free at 1-800-326-0996.

Ever notice how those who claim to believe in animal rights generally don't believe in human rights?
-- Raymond Louis Drake-Tealy

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