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Phantoms of Lost Liberty, Part 3

By on April 2, 2008 8

The Libertarian Nation Foundation website at libertariannation.org has been having the following problem:

Libertarian Nation Foundation 1. For some people, it worked if you didn’t put www in front of the address but not if you did.
2. For others, it didn’t work at all, with or without www.
3. For still others, it worked fine, again with or without www.

I guess (3) wasn’t really a problem, except insofar as it prevented those who, like me, were in group (3) from realising that there was a problem.

In any case, mighty webmaster Wayne Dawson thinks he’s fixed it. But he was in group (1) while I was in group (3), so it’s hard for us to tell whether problem (2) was fixed. Therefore: if you were previously in group (2), would you do me the favour of checking out the link, both with and without the www, and letting me know whether it works? Muchas gracias!

Labour Contracts

By on March 29, 2008 3

[cross-posted at Liberty & Power]

I don’t know anything about Robert Steinfeld’s book Coercion, Contract, and Free Labor in the Nineteenth Century except the following description, but it sounds interesting:

This book presents a fundamental reassessment of the nature of wage labor in the nineteenth century, focusing on the use of sanctions to enforce wage labor agreements. Professor Steinfeld argues that wage workers were not employees at will but were often bound to their employment by enforceable labor agreements, which employers used whenever available to manage their labor costs and supply. Modern free wage labor only came into being late in the nineteenth century, as a result of reform legislation that restricted the contract remedies employers could legally use.

Anybody know any more about it?

Free At Last! Free At Last!

By on March 28, 2008 3

So my former governor is out of prison, for now.

Don Siegelman Was Don Siegelman targeted by Karl Rove? It looks like it.

But does that mean Siegelman was completely innocent? I’m inclined to doubt it. After all, this is the same guy who, when criticised for reappointing Auburn University’s most controversial trustee, replied: “But I had to reappoint him; he was my biggest donor” – a confession that doesn’t inspire much confidence in his integrity (or intelligence).

(A couple of Siegelman’s other bons mots: “If God had meant you to have pierced ears, you would have been born a girl,” and “No, I have no comment on whether the old law banning interracial marriage should be repealed; I ran on an education platform.” I admit I get a kick out of seeing all these clueless Yankee liberals rallying to the defense of their fellow Democrat.)

Still, regardless of his guilt or innocence, he certainly doesn’t belong in prison; no one should be there unless they pose a serious threat to others, and I doubt Siegelman could even successfully mug somebody.

P.S. – The headline on Dan Abrams’ show reads: “Former Governor Siegelman Freed From Prison After Dan’s Call For Justice.” C’mon, Dan, that’s getting a little O’Reillyish.

Ruwarchy 2.0

By on March 28, 2008 6

I’ve created a monster!

A monster of a name, anyway: Ruwarchy! It’s inspired Less Antman to give his unofficial Ruwart site that name.

Mary Ruwart While obviously prompted by Mary Ruwart’s announcement of her presidential bid, Ruwarchy.com isn’t specifically a Ruwart campaign site; it’s more of an all-things-Ruwart site, and indeed seems deliberately designed to be welcoming to libertarians who reject electoral politics. The site proclaims itself a forum for “those who want to advance the pure libertarian ideas Dr. Ruwart champions in whatever way they choose,” and there’s even a section of the website devoted to “non-party activism.” Moreover, Antman has argued elsewhere that even anti-electoral libertarians have reason to welcome her campaign, on the grounds that “it should improve sales of her books,” and “since neither book actively promotes voting or politics, this will aid the entire movement, including those who reject political campaigning as a persuasion technique.”

But there’s plenty of stuff for partyarchs too, including a section devoted to overturning the 2006 gutting of the LP platform.

In the meantime, the official Ruwart campaign site is being run by the hardline anti-electoral Brad Spangler. Go figure.

I suspect anti-electorals will have especially mixed feelings about Ruwart’s candidacy. On the one hand, she’s promoting a much more radical form of libertarianism than Ron Paul is; on the other, for that very reason she’s more likely than Paul to lure potential anti-electorals into electoral politics.

Ruwart’s campaign will also be an interesting test of how much radicalism is left in the LP. If someone like Barr or Gravel beats Ruwart to the nomination that would probably be a sign that it’s lost its soul irretrievably.

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