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 THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 782, August 3, 2014 When does YOUR fear cause me to lose MY rights?
Send Letters to editor@ncc-1776.org
Current Letter to my Congresspersons I wanted to take a moment to summarize my feelings on illegal immigration and the present (I believe contrived and managed) "crisis" on the southern border: 1. While I am sympathetic to the desires of people to have a better life, my sympathy lies more with the people who play by the rules, and with the citizens of this country who are being asked to pay the bills. And I have no sympathy for either the political or corporate interests who hope to benefit from an increase in the, respectively, voter and labor pool. Neither increase is to the benefit of either the United States as a country, or of it's citizens and legal residents as individuals. Much the less so because both groups are ignoring both the expanding roles of the drug cartels in capitalizing on the "immigration crisis," and the evident efforts by terrorist affiliates to use the crisis to cover their entry into the US. 2. Therefore, the first imperative is to absolutely seal the border. The second is to provide humanitarian assistance to those who have crossed the border before returning them—safely but firmly—to their homelands. Including the unaccompanied children. While eliminating any threat posed by cartels and terrorists penetrating the border. 3. Concurrently, the return of the Marine trapped in Mexican prison—with his belongings—is equally imperative. 4. Only then can we talk about the millions of immigrants already here. I have no desire for people who have not followed the law to receive any government assistance paid for by the American citizen (particularly in the form of federal debt which our children will have to repay). I would object neither to requiring them to return to their homelands, or to obtaining some sort of regularization within the United States, but they should not receive any of the rights of full citizenship, including the right to vote, as a reward for being here illegally. 5. I believe any action by any American official, up to the President, contrary to those principles, to be illegal, if not unconstitutional, and I expect the Congress to do everything in its not inconsiderable power to protect those principles. Respectfully, Jim Woosley
Dear Editor, Thanks for publishing my essay on civilisation. It seems to have inspired some responses, which I plan on enjoying. Neale Osborne wrote a reply suggesting that I wasn't a fan of fascist mass murder fiction by arch-racist bigots like Tom Kratman. You published that letter here: http://ncc-1776.org/tle2014/tle781-20140727-01.html#letter01 It is true, I'm not a fan. I read Mein Kampf and some of the scribblings of Mussolini, including "Trentino as Seen by a Socialist," which, amusingly enough, was originally published in Italian in La Voce which reminds me of "Vox Populi" a good bit. These readings were part of my "know your enemy" education long ago, and were such distasteful experiences that I gave it a rest. Kratman is nothing. Kratman extols the virtues of mass murder because he is an ignorant, racist, warmongering, hateful, evil piece of garbage. He isn't willing to discuss his ideas, as he repeatedly told me, because I'm not worthy of his time, being from a different ethnic background. I've no interest in reading the scribblings of someone like Kratman who calls adults like myself "boy" out of an ignorant race hatred. I'm quite satisfied not to read what he writes ever again. When he organises his brown shirt brigade to crucify people like me, he may be surprised that we shoot back. Neale's sympathetic views of Kratman are distasteful. Of course, Kratman fears threats that he sees to his glorious uber-mensch-protecting super state, without understanding that the nature of these threats makes his proposed solutions unworkable. Terror, crime, immigration, and invasion are all distributed, decentralised threat factors. There are a great many unsuccessful, failed methodologies for fighting distributed threats with centralised force, and zero that have ever worked. Libertarianism, like individualist anarchism, encourages a distributed response to terror, crime, and invasion (while acknowledging that failure to have government papers while crossing a border is no crime at all) through individual responsibility and individual gun ownership. People who live in places where they are free to keep and bear arms are able to resist terror, crime, and invasion very effectively, as Yamamoto famously said by being "a rifle behind every blade of grass." Kratman doesn't like that vision, though, because he's an authoritarian. He knows that if he tries to round up people who keep and bear arms, he'll be shot dead, as fascist authoritarian mass murderers like him should be. He will find excuses to round up not only the "Progressives" he hates so much, but also the guns. And when his sort have disarmed everyone, the mass murders will continue. I find it shameful that people who read the Libertarian Enterprise would ever buy books written by psychotic misanthropes like Kratman. I don't care to support Kratman's authoritarianism, and Neale shouldn't, either. Keith Laumer, Eric Flint, Jerry Pournelle, and David Drake have done a much better job of writing about military approaches to social problems. L. Neil Smith has written extensively on how a libertarian society responds to crime and terror. Kratman is a very poor excuse for a science fiction author, lacking both decency and imagination. I also understand Kratman's fears. He's a coward. He attacks people with racial epithets and refuses to discuss his own ideas because he's afraid of criticism. He isn't actually a man, he's a timid child who wears a military outfit because he likes playing dress-up games. It is sad to find Neale would rather live in Balboa than in his own country, not because Balboa is real, nor because it would be desirable to live in a fascist authoritarian dictatorship operated by mass murdering cowards like Kratman, but because the invigorating defence of liberty fills Neale with fear for his children's future. How delightful to get to fight for a better future, to get to work out ways to avoid, evade, and escape tyranny, to get to think about what to do, and to get to take responsibility for hard choices. What a human being chooses to do in difficult times is what determines the nature and extent of his or her character. I much prefer living in a country where there are opportunities to live among other libertarians than I do to living in some homicidal psychopath's fantasy world of authoritarianism. Kratman's ideas are neither good nor sufficiently logical to be understandable. Neale is wrong. Kratman is evil, and people who sympathise with evil are in error. I don't have to look into Kratman's crystal ball to see exactly where his ideas would take us. All I need do is look at Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia, Mao's China, Mussolini's Italy, Pol Pot's Cambodia, Suharto's Indonesia, Lucas Garcia's Guatemala, South Africa under apartheid, or the extermination of Native Americans under Jackson and other presidents. I know what it is like to live in an authoritarian dictatorship where the military slaughters people that are believed to be "unfit" to live, having lived in places just like that in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America over the last five decades. Kratman isn't creating anything. He's advocating mass murder because he's a coward, because he's a shill for the military-industrial complex, and because he's a psychotic misanthrope, not because he is capable of thinking. I've read more than enough of what Kratman wants to say, by authors much more capable than Kratman of forming a sentence. I'm dismayed that Neale seems ready to go quietly to a death camp rather than fight vigorously for a future free of authoritarian autocrats. Sincerely, Tyrone Johnson
Dear Editor, I was a bit surprised to see a piece reprinted from Sean Gabb's materials indicating that writing Byzantine historical fiction was otherwise unknown in the West. But on much closer review, I find that the science fiction novels of David Drake (and friends) set in the Byzantine empire don't "count" as they are not, strictly speaking, historical fiction. Curious, indeed, to find science fiction ignored in an essay in L. Neil's TLE. Sincerely, Tyrone Johnson
[ We believe there is more to life than Science Fiction (heresy I know!), and Mr. Gabb's article wasn't written for LNSTLE, but something I found interesting, is all—Editor ]
{In Response to] A message from Senator Charles E. Schumer Senator Schumer— I have to say I appreciate the return e-mail, though I believe (and will vote this way) that anyone who supports the ACA and/or the HCERA is determined to further the decent into socialism that has marked the decline of the American way of life since the New Deal. You have never, and will never, receive my vote for so may reasons I hesitate to go into them here, but perhaps it might help you to change, so I will try. You support "Gun Control" (more properly referred to as Victim Disarmament) which is a position in direct opposition to the Constitution AND the express intentions of the founders, as can be easily determined by simply reading the Federalist Papers (something it is clear our current crop of senators and representatives have never done). You support this anti-Constitutionalist president of ours in his assault on 1/6th of the American economy, stealing from me and mine to buy off ignorant voters with a manufactured "right" that does not exist. You believe that the American taxpayer is there solely to fork out our hard earned money so that you can use it to buy off low information voters and keep your job. It is my fervent desire to see you, Senator Gillebrand, Andrew Cuomo, and others of your ilk out of Washington and Albany, and on the street where you belong. Though, with all the ill-gotten gains you people have acquired over the years, I expect that street will be far more comfortable than I would prefer. Please note—the Republicans are not much (if any) better than your precious Democrats. Yours in Libertarian Liberty, Neale Forrest Paul Osborn
For all those who have been waiting more or less patiently for a new batch of Time's Up flags... well, this isn't the news you've been waiting for. But, maybe it will ease the pain a little. I now have "Time's Up" patches available! You can stitch them on all sorts of stuff to annoy your government-extremist family members and co-workers (or is that "cow-orkers"?). Image: www.ncc-1776.org/tle-pics/McManigal_Times-Up-patch.jpg 500x340 These patches measure 3" X 2", and are "sew on" patches. They are $5 each, with $1 shipping and handling. I will give substantial breaks on shipping and handling for multiples. For more details on how to get your own Time's Up patches visit my online shop or just email me. Thank you for your support! Kent McManigal
News on the Border According to El Paso, Texas broadcast news report the flood of children and women with children from Central America entering the US illegally has been reduced to a trickle for two reasons. The first is that the first bunch who have been deported back home are telling their friends and family about the abuse they suffer from government officials and other criminals on their way to the US only to ultimately getting deported. This abuse includes robbery, rape, extortion, and shakedowns. Secondly, it seems that the UA is putting pressure on the Mexican government to arrest and deport these people back home when they are caught entering and passing through Mexico illegally. Secondly, a young El Paso man has been sentenced to fifty years for killing an off duty El Paso cop. It seems the young man in question was part of a group of kids who keyed the officer's car. The killer got the cop on the ground and smashed his skull against the sidewalk. Trying to argue that the kid acted in the heat of the moment and not malice, the defense attorney said the killing took less than five seconds. Apply this to whatever cases you choose. A.X. Perez
Apologies and Clarifications Apparently at least one person, and a person whose opinion I value took umbrage at the phrase "actually, Civilization, all good Catholics genuflect and make the sign of the Cross" in an article I contributed to TLE and which was published on 27th July, 2014. Apparently, they interpreted this comment as an insult to the Catholic Faith, Catholics, and our customs and expressions of faith. On the contrary, this was not to make slight of the Catholic (or indeed any other Faith), but to emphasize that Civilization with a capital C is such a big deal that religious believers should A) Thank whatever God they believe in for it's existence, B) Pray for the continued existence of Civilization, and C) "Pray" with actions to help preserve and protect Capital C Civilization. Part of carrying out point C is, of course, apologizing for and clarifying statements such as the one my correspondent misinterpreted. That said, how would "sneering" at other people's (actually my own) faith be consistent with "civilization requires a certain amount of effort to keep alive, and that certain values and virtues must be shared by the members of a civilized society, among these being a value on civilization, personal excellence, physical and moral courage, intellectual independence, zeal for protecting one's liberties, and a decent regard for the freedoms of others, including a willingness to help others in the defense of their rights."? (relevant portions of quotation italicized). Especially in an era such as the one we are in in which religious intolerance and hatred are becoming so prevalent as seems to be going on in the US. A.X. Perez
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