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L. Neil Smith's THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 329, July 24, 2005 "You've GOTTA be kidding"
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Re: "A New Libertarian Paradigm For Making Montana Free; A Libertarian Proposal: Real liberty for you and your grandchildren" by by Ben F. Irvin and Greg Garber http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2005/tle328-20050717-05.html Regarding Mr. Irvin and Mr. Garber's proposal to "breed our way to freedom," my short answer is this: B-A-R-F. My slightly longer answer is this: You've GOTTA be kidding. Just when I was beginning to think that there were at least a few men out there who realize that what's between a woman's ears is at least as important as what's between her legs, along comes a proposal to persuade us all to revert to being mere support systems for uteri. Now, while I personally was only lukewarm about the idea of reproducing, I will admit that most of my fellow women probably do want to have children; but while I have known several women who were really enthusiastic about breeding, None of them wanted to spend their whole lives doing it, None of them wanted to do it to the exclusion of everything else in life, and (other than very religious women) none of them were inclined to have nine, ten, twelve, or more children just for the sake of an ideology, or for the sake of some thankless future generation. Besides, as everyone knows, there is no guarantee that children will share their parents' ideology, no matter how wonderful or correct that ideology is--not even libertarianism in any of its manifestations. And please—for various reasons, I for one do not want to emulate the Mormons' example. Further, even if you could convince every last semi-libertarian-minded woman on earth to have a dozen children, where in the hell would you find the libertarian men to support such a tribe? Most libertarian men I've ever met—even those who actually wanted children—had trouble supporting themselves, much less a wife and a huge brood of children. Finally, it's nobody else's business how many children I choose to have—or whether I choose to have none at all—as long as I support and nurture them without picking your pocket via either private criminal activity (i.e., freelance muggers) or via state-sanctioned criminal activity (i.e., government handout programs). I seem to recall, having read Ayn Rand's magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, several times over the years, that the Galt's Gulchers took the following oath: I swear by my life
And guess what? Although I well remember being awestruck by the sheer power of Miss Rand's writing when I first read her works, I never once got the impression that the above oath, or the self-ownership it makes explicit, applied only to men. Sheesh!!!! Pamela Maltzman
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE You have a right to read it! Fort Collins, Col. — 21 July 2005. Censorship. Just saying the word brings a foul taste to the mouth and a sickness to the stomach. Yet, it was an act of censorship that prompted two experienced niche marketers to empty their savings accounts and create what may be the only freedom-loving bookstore left on the planet! Several months ago, during a dinner conversation with one of the science fiction genre's most beloved writers, Linda Heuer and Jesse Herron were shocked to hear of a modern act of censorship. This despicable act was not in some foreign land, but right here on American soil. It was not performed by some faceless megacorporation, but by what many once considered the most freedom-loving book providers in the industry. The original feelings of disbelief, anger and shock soon turned into a powerful drive to create an online bookstore with a strict "No Censorship" policy. Their goal? To provide a semi-virtual business providing books and media on what many would call "controversial topics." All of the marketing, accounting, order-taking and order fulfillment are to be done out of their home-offices. This allows them to respond quickly and maintain an extremely high level of contact with the customer. Their internet site is quick-loading and easy to navigate. Visitors are introduced to new and hard-to-find topics through author, genre and keyword searches. Both Heuer and Herron have a direct, personal hand in dealing with their customers. Their advice to anyone who is thinking of starting an online business? Don't listen to the "naysayers" and don't forget the basics of selling techniques. Make yourself identifiable and approachable to your customers and they will come to you rather than to a faceless megacorporation. Make your site as interactive as possible without ignoring the most important aspect of your site—it needs to be profitable in order to survive. Finally, listen to your customers and stick to your ethics. At Bill of Rights Press, there is no Censorship. And yes, they carry the book banned by what was once considered the most freedom-oriented bookseller on the planet. Their site can be visited at www.billofrightspress.com. Contact: Jesse Herron
ph: 970-227-6844 9am - 9pm MST P.S. L. Neil Smith's The Probability Broach: The Graphic Novel is on sale as part of our Virtual Grand Opening. It is currently $15.95 — over a dollar less than Amazon.com! I'm thinking of doing a regular article review for movies for TLE, but I know that I'm not the greatest writer around, so I was wondering if you could post this message on the Letter to the Editor page, inviting people to e-mail me feedback on my review of Fantastic Four. Michael Brightbill
[You heard him, people.—Editor] Dear Friends, It is still not too late to make plans to attend the Eris Society conference. The Eris Society explains itself at http://www.erissociety.org/ to some extent, though if you find that page confusing, so much the better. Eris was the Greek goddess of confusion. Eris was founded 25 years ago by Doug Casey and some of his friends. It is a venue for bringing together speakers and financiers. The speakers talk, the financiers listen, and sometimes good things result. This year's speakers include L. Neil Smith, Jim Davidson, Ken Royce, and Sandy Sandfort. Attendance at Eris is by invitation only. However, if you'd like to score an invitation, please let me know, and I'll do my best to get you included. Thanks. Regards, Jim Davidson
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