Comments on: Cato Institute Publishes Leftist Screed!, Pars Secunda

By: Allen Dalton

Allen Dalton — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:04:02 +0000

I’m simply dumbstruck by the responses your article has generated at the Reason blog. For those of us who grew up on Rothbard and revisionist business history, you certainly haven’t said anything outrageous. No wonder libertarianism is held in such low regard if our “friends” are of the type attacking you there. We are deeper in the wilderness than I ever expected. Maybe its time for all of us to simply throw in the towel and become Proudhonians – we can still talk about the virtues of contracts and voluntary association without all the baggage of the vulgar.

By: Michael Wiebe

Michael Wiebe — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:32:47 +0000

You're big time now Roderick - your article is featured on Crossfit!

By: Administrator

Administrator — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:41:54 +0000

The link is now fixed. Steve Horwitz’s article should be going up shortly.

By: Bob Kaercher

Bob Kaercher — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:20:33 +0000

Clarification: By “pirater”, I mean the person who’s marketing and selling your work without your permission and not giving you a cut of the profits.

By: Bob Kaercher

Bob Kaercher — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:18:21 +0000

That’s at least sorta kinda like the copy-left agreement under the Creative Commons license, right? Only Creative Commons doesn’t have any voluntary court, but an author/artist who finds his work being pirated could at least spread the word that so-and-so violated the voluntary agreement implicit in acquiring the work in the first place. This would allow the general public to act as a sort of court and render a decision and action (i.e., a boycott) in regards to the pirater.

By: Administrator

Administrator — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:42:05 +0000

Micha, I say a bit more about it here.

By: Administrator

Administrator — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:39:48 +0000

The footnote is back, but the link to Tom Bell’s article is messed up. I await developments.

By: Micha Ghertner

Micha Ghertner — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:26:51 +0000

Roderick, could you please expand a bit on what you mean with this:

There is little reason to suppose that payment for the labor of intellectual innovators could not be guaranteed in the same way, via an organized system of voluntary boycotts rather than by governmental force.

How could an organized system of voluntary boycotts guarantee payment for the labor of intellectual innovators? What is the mechanism here?

By: Administrator

Administrator — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:53:18 +0000

My response on IP is now up (though a footnote on the law merchant and on Amsterdam merchants seems to have gone missing -- hopefully that will be fixed soon).

By: Soviet Onion

Soviet Onion — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:48:40 +0000

And you even managed to slip in a name drop and link for the Alliance of the Libertarian Left. You rock, Roderick!