Greetings from Seattle! My entry in the aforementioned Cato Unbound symposium is now up. It’s titled “In Praise of Bleeding Heart Absolutism.”
Cordial and Sanguine, Part 21: War Among the Bleeding Hearts
Greetings from Las Vegas! Our two panels went well, and I’ve been having a great time hanging out with my Molinari/C4SS/ALL comrades. This is the first Vegas conference where I’ve actually stayed at the conference hotel (I got a special deal, half the conference rate) rather than my usual venue, three miles up the strip at the Mohamed Atta EconoLodge; that’s certainly an improvement.
The latest Cato Unbound symposium, on the topic “Where Next? The Past, Present, and Future of Classical Liberalism,” features a lead essay by Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi titled “A Bleeding-Heart History of Libertarianism.” Replies by David Friedman, Alexander McCobin, and your humble correspondent will follow later in the week.
Here’s the executive summary of Matt’s and John’s thesis and my reply:
- They say that earlier classical liberals were friendlier to social justice, more concerned with consequences, and less attached to absolutist property rights than contemporary libertarians, and that we need to go back to the gude auld way.
- I say that this difference is overstated, and that in any case we can embrace social justice, concern for consequences, and absolutist property rights simultaneously, so yay.
Massive Avengeage!
Tragically, thanks to deep budget cuts at Marvel Studios, there’s had to be some rethinking of Captain America’s costume.
Molinari/C4SS/ALL Wild West Tour Dates
Next week I’m off to Las Vegas for the APEE (Harrah’s, 1-3 April), and then to Seattle for the Pacific APA (Westin, 4-7 April). Our sessions are as follows:
APEE, Monday, 2 April:
FMAC Session 1: 1:35-2:50 p.m. [M3.9, Parlor F]:
“Topics in Free-Market Anti-Capitalism”chair: Sheldon Richman (The Freeman)
presenters:
Gary Chartier (La Sierra U.), “Fairness and Possession”
Darian Worden (Center for a Stateless Society), “State-Capitalist Plutocracy or Free-Market Progress: Which Way Will We Go?”
Roderick T. Long (Auburn U.), “Enforceability of Interest Under a Title-Transfer Theory of Contract”commentator: Keith Taylor (U. Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
FMAC session 2: 4:15-5:30 p.m. [M5.11, Laughlin room]:
“Explorations in Libertarian Class Theory”chair: Roderick T. Long (Auburn U.)
presenters:
Sheldon Richman (The Freeman), “Seeing Like a Ruling Class”
Steven Horwitz (St. Lawrence U.), “Punishing the Poor: The Redistributive Effects of Inflation”
Gary Chartier (La Sierra U.), “Jasay and Libertarian Class Theory”commentator: David Friedman (Santa Clara U.)
Pacific APA, Saturday, 7 April:
Molinari Society, 7:00-10:00 p.m. (or so) [G9G, location TBA]:
“Explorations in Philosophical Anarchy”presenters:
David M. Hart (Liberty Fund), “Bastiat’s Distinction Between Legal and Illegal Plunder”
Kurt Gerry (Independent Scholar), “On Political Obligation and the Nature of Law”commentators:
Daniel Silvermint (U. Arizona)
Charles Johnson (Molinari Institute)
Roderick T. Long (Auburn U.)
Hemlochaccino?
This Wednesday, March 28th, from 5:00 to 7:00, in the Gnu’s Room (the bookshop/coffeeshop at the corner of Gay & Samford, next to Amsterdam Café), the Philosophy Club will be staging a reenactment of Socrates’ last days and death, followed by philosophical discussion. (I’m one of the discussion leaders.) If you’re in the Auburn area, drop by. (Or jet in from Dubai if you prefer.)
The Doctor’s List
Here’s the first trailer for series 7 (or 33, or arguably 34) of Doctor Who. As filming for the series is still in the early stages, most of the scenes come from just one episode, the Old West one recently filmed in Spain, though the dark indoor scenes with the Egyptian princess and the robot-looking things are presumably from a different episode, and I would guess that the scenes in the snow with the familiar face (well, part of a face; well, I say face …) are from yet a third episode: