From: MP
Sent: Thursday, August 25, 2016 5:42 PM
To: Walter Block
Subject: Re: Questions Regarding Libertarianism
Hi Walter, I am a junior in high school and I am very interested in politics. I recently started to identify myself with anarcho-capitalism and I have five questions that have really been nagging at me.
1. I read what you said on vaccines and I agree with you, if you transmit a deadly disease to someone then that would make you a murderer.
<< Typhoid Mary was not a murderer. She was an innocent transmitter of a disease. Very different than Jack the Ripper and his ilk. See on this: Block, Walter E. 2013. “Forced Vaccinations.” February 4; https://archive.lewrockwell.com/block/block217.html; https://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/02/walter-e-block/forced-vaccinations/
2. However, I have seen a lot of libertarians argue for the complete legalization of hard drugs like meth and bath salts and I wanted your opinion on the subject. If a man on bath salts attacks someone and kills them, then they would be charged with murder. However if someone takes bath salts and doesn't violate anyone's property of person then they would be left alone. However someone on bath salts has no control over their actions similar to how someone carrying a deadly disease like typhoid has no control over if they spread it or not. You advocate for mandatory vaccines and I was wondering what your opinion would be on the scenario I just described since I have seen so many libertarians advocate for legalization of all drugs.
<< I advocate the legalization of all drugs (bath salts? I didn’t know they were dangerous). Why? As a libertarian, I want to prohibit by law only those acts that are per se violations of the non-aggression principle (NAP), such as murder, rape, theft, kidnapping, etc. Putting a pill in your body, or injecting yourself with a drug, is not a per se violation of the NAP. So, it should be legal. But what about a drug that drives people into a murderous rage they are unable to stop? I call this the “Godzilla pill.” Should it be illegal? No. But as soon as you start being a threat, growling, growing fangs, whatever, etc. the (hopefully private) police should shoot you down like a mad dog, unless of course you are in my murder park. Then, they should only shoot you when you disrespect the time out. See Block, Walter E. 2002. “Radical Privatization and other Libertarian Conundrums,” The International Journal of Politics and Ethics, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 165-175; http://www.walterblock.com/wp content/uploads/publications/radical_privatization.pdf.
3. If a company producing nuclear power needs to dump their toxic waste, what would keep them from dumping it in an unowned forest? It would cause significant harm to the environment without directly violating any one person's person or property. I have a feeling that the libertarian response would be that by harming the environment you would indirectly cause harm to others, but in that case who, and how, would someone arbitrate that?
<< Toxic waste (other garbage) has to be dumped somewhere. A nuclear power firm could dump it in a forest. If so, it would then own that forest through homesteading. If the toxicity seeped out and violated the rights of anyone else, that company would be liable for the damages. An injunction could be issued by a (private) court beforehand, if a neighbor feared such a physical invasion. Here in my opinion is the best essay ever written on this sort of thing: Rothbard, Murray N. 1982. "Law, Property Rights, and Air Pollution," Cato Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring; reprinted in Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation, Walter E. Block , ed., Vancouver: The Fraser Institute, 1990, pp. 233-279; http://mises.org/story/2120; http://www.mises.org/rothbard/lawproperty.pdf;
https://mises.org/library/law-property-rights-and-air-pollution-0. Also, see any libertarian analysis of Love Canal.
4. For the strict libertarian, a private court would “arbitrate” not only that, but everything. Here are some readings on that: Anderson and Hill, 1979; Benson, 1989, 1990; Block, 2007; de Wolf, 2004; DiLorenzo, 2010; Guillory & Tinsley, 2009; Hasnas, 1995; Higgs, 2009; Hoppe, 2008; King, 2010; Kinsella, 2009; Long, 2004; McKonkey, 2013; Molyneux, undated; Murphy, 2005; Olson, 1979; Rothbard, 1973, 1977, 1998; Scott, 2009; Stringham, 2007; Tannehill, 1984; Tinsley, 1998-1999; Woolridge, 1970.
Anderson, Terry and Hill, P.J. 1979. "An American Experiment in Anarcho-Capitalism: The Not So Wild, Wild West," Journal of Libertarian Studies, 3: 9-29; http://mises.org/journals/jls/3_1/3_1_2.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1989. Enforcement of Private Property Rights in Primitive Societies: Law Without Government," The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, Winter, pp. 1-26; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_1.pdf
Benson, Bruce L. 1990. “Customary Law with Private Means of Resolving Disputes and Dispensing Justice: A Description of a Modern System of Law and Order without State Coercion. The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 2,” pp. 25-42; http://mises.org/journals/jls/9_2/9_2_2.pdf
Block, Walter. 2007. “Anarchism and Minarchism; No Rapprochement Possible: Reply to Tibor Machan,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1, Spring, pp. 91-99; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/21_1/21_1_5.pdf
Block, Walter E. and Michael Fleischer. 2010. “How Would An Anarchist Society Handle Child Abuse?” October 13; https://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block167.html
de Wolf, Aschwin, ed. 2004. Ordered Anarchy: Festschrift Essays in Honor of Anthony de Jasay. Arlington, VA: Singularity Press.
DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 2010. “The Culture of Violence in the American West: Myth versus Reality.” The Independent Review, v. 15, n. 2, Fall 2010, pp. 227–239; http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_15_02_4_dilorenzo.pdf
Guillory, Gil & Patrick Tinsley. 2009. “The Role of Subscription-Based Patrol and Restitution in the Future of Liberty,” Libertarian Papers 1, 12; http://libertarianpapers.org/2009/12-the-role-of-subscription-based-patrol-and-restitution-in-the-future-of-liberty/
Hasnas, John. 1995. “The myth of the rule of law.” Wisconsin Law Review 199;
http://faculty.msb.edu/hasnasj/GTWebSite/MythWeb.htm
Heinrich, David J. 2010. “Justice for All Without the State.” The Libertarian Standard. May 6;
http://www.libertarianstandard.com/articles/david-j-heinrich/justice-for-all-without-the-state/
Higgs, Robert. 2009. “Why We Couldn't Abolish Slavery Then and Can't Abolish Government Now.” August 20; https://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs128.html
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2008. “Reflections on the Origin and the Stability of the State.” June 23; https://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe18.html
King, Seth. 2010. “Daily Anarchist Interviews Walter E. Block,” September 9;
https://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block165.html
Kinsella, Stephan. 2009. “The Irrelevance of the Impossibility of Anarcho-Libertarianism.” August 20; http://www.stephankinsella.com/2009/08/20/the-irrelevance-of-the-impossibility-of-anarcho-libertarianism/
Long, Roderick. 2004. “Libertarian Anarchism: Responses to Ten Objections” https://www.lewrockwell.com/long/long11.html
Molyneux, Stefan. 2008. “The Stateless Society: An Examination of Alternatives.”
http://www.mail-archive.com/libertarianenterprise@yahoogroups.com/msg02056.html
Murphy, Robert P. 2005. “But Wouldn't Warlords Take Over?” July 7; http://mises.org/story/1855; http://mises.org/library/wouldnt-warlords-take-over
Olson, Charles B. 1979. “Law in Anarchy.” Libertarian Forum. Vol. XII, No. 6, November-December, p. 4; http://64.233.167.104/u/Mises?q=cache:gFT18_ZusWoJ:www.mises.org/journals/lf/1979/1979_11-12.pdf+two+teeth+for+a+tooth&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Rothbard, Murray N. 1973. For a New Liberty, Macmillan, New York; http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp
Rothbard, Murray N. 1977. “Do you hate the state?” The Libertarian Forum, Vol. 10, No. 7, July; https://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard75.html
Rothbard, Murray N. 1998 [1982]. The Ethics of Liberty, New York: New York University Press. http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp
Scott, James C. 2009. The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia, Yale University Press, New Haven & London.
Stringham, Edward, ed. 2007. Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, Somerset, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Tannehill, Morris and Linda Tannehill. [1970] 1984. The Market for Liberty, New York: Laissez Faire Books; https://www.lewrockwell.com/orig11/tannehill1.html
Tinsley, Patrick. 1998-1999. "With Liberty and Justice for All: A Case for Private Police," Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, Winter, pp. 95-100; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/14_1/14_1_5.pdf
Woolridge, William C. 1970. Uncle Sam the Monopoly Man, New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House
5. While discussing the nature of being a libertarian with my dad, he said that he was a libertarian on all issues except for that of national defense. He said that he felt a libertarian society would have declared war on Japan after Pearl Harbor, but refrained for declaring war on Nazi Germany. How would a stateless society have handled this, and moreover how do libertarian societies handle defense of their allies.
<< There are some readings, below, on the libertarian view of national defense. Well, the most radical perspective, the anarcho capitalist one. As far as Japan and WWII are concerned, it is my view that the US, under Roosevelt, was the unwarranted initiator of the violence. FDR was just looking for an excuse to draw Japan into a war, after making it all but impossible for Japan to import needed raw materials.
Block, 2003; Cowen, 1988; De Jasay, 1989; Hoppe, 1989; Hummel, 1990; Pasour, 1981; Rothbard, 1985, 1997; Schmidtz, 1991; Sechrest, 2003, 2004A, 2004B, 2007
Block, Walter. 2003. “National Defense and the Theory of Externalities, Public Goods and Clubs.” The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production, Hoppe, Hans-Hermann, ed., Auburn: Mises Institute, pp. 301-334; http://www.mises.org/etexts/defensemyth.pdf
Cowen, Tyler, ed. 1988. The Theory of Market Failure: A Critical Examination, Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Press; http://www.amazon.com/Theory-Market-Failure-Critical-Examination/dp/0913969133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200191409&sr=1-1
De Jasay, Anthony. 1989. Social Contract, Free Ride: A Study of the Public Goods Problem. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press; http://www.amazon.com/Social-Contract-Free-Ride-Paperbacks/dp/0198239122/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200191531&sr=1-1
Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1989. "Fallacies of the Public Goods Theory and the Production of Security," The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. IX, No. 1, Winter, pp. 27-46; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/9_1/9_1_2.pdf
Hummel, Jeffrey. 1990. "National Goods vs. Public Goods: Defense, Disarmament and Free Riders," The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. IV, pp. 88-122; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae4_1_4.pdf
Pasour, Jr., E.C., 1981, "The Free Rider as a Basis for Government Intervention," The Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. V, No. 4, Fall, pp. 453-464; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/5_4/5_4_6.pdf
Rothbard, Murray N. 1997. The Logic of Action: Applications and Criticism from the Austrian School, Vol. II, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar
Schmidtz, David. 1991. The Limits of Government: An Essay on the Public Goods Argument, Boulder Co: Westview Press
Sechrest, Larry. 2003. “Privateering and National Defense: Naval Warfare for Private Profit”, pages 239-74, The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production, edited by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama, 2003.
Sechrest, Larry. 2004A. “Public Goods and Private Solutions in Maritime History.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. Vol. 7, No. 2. Summer, 3-27.
http://www.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae7_2_1.pdf; https://dev.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae7_2_1.pdf
Sechrest, Larry. 2004B. “Private Provision of Public Goods: Theoretical Issues and Some Examples from Maritime History,” ICFAI Journal of Public Finance, August, Vol. II, No. 3, 45- 73; http://www.mises.org/journals/scholar/Sechrest7.pdf
Sechrest, Larry. 2007. “Privately Funded and Built U.S. Warships in the Quasi-War of 1797-1801”, The Independent Review, Summer, Vol. 12, No. 1: 101-113.
On FDR and Pearl Harbor, read this: Stinnett, Robert B. Day of Deceit : The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor
Thank for reading!
Sincerely,
MP
You're pretty precocious for a high school junior. Please consider applying to Loyola University New Orleans when you graduate, and come study with me and my free enterprise colleagues.
3:33 pm on August 27, 2016 Email Walter E. Block
