I will not here discuss the great controversy about small and large farms. [Note: and then he goes on to discuss it. – RTL] I know it has been maintained that a large farm produces more proportionally, than several small farms of the same extent;
because the large proprietor has the command of capital and processes which are not within the reach of the small proprietors; but I am not sure whether it might not be answered, that the petty occupants, in the absence of monied capital, expend on the parcels of which they are the proprietors an amount of activity and personal energy which could not be obtained from a hired labourer; that all labouring thus for themselves, and under the influence of a fruitful selfishness, may, by the force of zeal and industry, succeed in obtaining from the lands as much, if not more, than a single proprietor, compelled to hire the labour of others, could procure … The experience of modern times has shown what a difference in value there is between the work of the free labourer and the slave; but we do not yet know how much the labour of the cultivating proprietor is better than that of the hired labourer.
— Gustave de Beaumont, Ireland: Social, Political, and Religious, vol. 2 (1842)
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Pep Rallies: Agincourt versus Winterfell
From Henry V (and don’t miss Bilbo, Batman, and Prince Vultan in the audience):
From Game of Thrones:
The Summer Night Is Like a Perfection of Thought
March 31st is the deadline to apply to the Institute for Humane Studies’ two intellectual-history “Champions of Liberty” summer seminars for 2013 – Freedom Renewed: Libertarian Visionaries (June 8-14, Chapman University, covering Mill through the present) and Revolutionaries, Reformers, and Radicals: Liberty Emerges (July 27-August 2, Bryn Mawr, covering the School of Salamanca through the 19th-century anarchists; that’s the one I’m speaking at).
I’ve been at quite a few IHS gigs, on both the giving and receiving ends as it were, and they’re a lot of fun. They’re also free of charge to students, including food, lodging, and course materials (though not travel).
I’m also teaching at Mises U. (July 21-27) back to back with my IHS seminar. The application deadline for that is April 8th. (Same funding deal as IHS.) Collect them all!
Another Molinari/C4SS/ALL Wild West Tour
Upcoming Molinari/C4SS/ALL events in San Francisco (next week) and Hawaii (next month):
Pacific APA, Westin St. Francis, San Francisco, Wednesday, 27 March:
Molinari Society, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (or so) [G2E, room TBA]
Author Meets Critics: Gary Chartier’s Anarchy and Legal Order: Law and Politics for a Stateless Society
critics:
Eric Roark (Millikin University)
Roderick T. Long (Auburn University)
Kevin Vallier (Bowling Green State University) [Kevin is likely to be absent, owing to impending paternity]author:
Gary Chartier (La Sierra University)
APEE, Sheraton Maui Resort, Lahaina, Maui HI, Tuesday, 16 April:
Topics in Free-Market Anti-Capitalism, 11:15 a.m.-12:25 p.m. [T5, room TBA]
Charles Johnson (Molinari Institute), “The Bold and the Beautiful: Commercial Concepts and the Company They Keep”
Ross Kenyon (University of Arizona), “The Class Divide in Libertarian Politics”
Roderick T. Long (Auburn University), “Left-Libertarianism, Class Conflict, and Historical Theories of Distributive Justice”
G. Patrick Lynch (Liberty Fund), “Liberty and Responsibility in the Writings of Isaiah Berlin and Vincent Ostrom”
I’ll also be on a Bastiat panel on Monday the 16th.
Down and Out On Your Streets
When I saw Michelle Shocked perform in Auburn a little over a year ago, she described herself as “to the left of Emma Goldman.”
Well, today Emma is a shrinking figure in Michelle’s rear view mirror.
Damn, I used to like her.
Coffee, Tea, or Gender?
More caffeinated philosophy tomorrow night (Wednesday, March 20th, 5:00-7:00 p.m.) at the Gnu’s Room. This time I’m on a panel on “gender, sex, and love.” I’ll probably talk about the social construction of gender roles. I don’t know who else is on the panel. Come on by if you’re in the area!