David: How long will you hold your breath waiting for a “volunteerist” segment on the virtues of the marketplace as a superior alternative to governmental planning? Kidnapping the word “liberal” was only the first of the statists’ wrongdoings. At many colleges and universities around the country — including our law school — there is an emphasis on “public interest” activities. Auctions are held; and students and faculty are urged to “volunteer” their time on behalf of various alleged “public interest” causes that are almost always statist in nature. At one faculty meeting a number of years ago, one of my colleagues — the only other libertarian then on the faculty — commented that people could work on behalf of some organization that challenged government programs. Another colleague — of statist persuasion — immediately chirped “but that’s not the ‘public interest,’ that’s free market stuff!” “Thank you,” I responded, “you just made my point!”
Whenever I am asked to contribute some item to the annual “public interest” auction at our school, I reply that the government takes enough of my property via taxation and regulation; I do not choose to make additional contributions to state collectivism.
