N.B.: This is a back issue of the Liberty ViewsLetter. For current issue (published weekly on Saturdays), contact Chuck McGlawn at . See Liberty Views column below for article on Spectrums and Measuring.
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Your Liberty ViewsLetter 04-25-2009
Vol 05 No 17 Your Liberty ViewsLetter 04-25-2009
Fourth Year, Issue 225
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Chuck McGlawn
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AnnounceViews
The Libertarian Party of Orange County announces its
Annual Convention and Election of Officers
Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 pm
Karl Strauss Brewing Company
901A South Coast Drive
Costa Mesa at Metro Pointe
This reporter is sad to report that the Libertarian Party OC is at its lowest point. The Party has been in free fall when measured by Membership, Influence and Activity since at least 2002. The 2005-2006 Administration was led by a non-leader. Joe Cobb, a brilliant guy, but could not translate that brilliance into party activity or growth. The 2006-2007 with Bruce Cohen at the helm seems to have accelerated the free fall in the membership. The Lackluster leadership of Bill Todd 2007- 2008. The 2008-to the present has been no more than a “Keeper of the Flame” administration. I am afraid to think of what is in the future for the Libertarian Party OC without the infusion of some real leadership, and reactivation of some of the stagnant membership.
The Liberty ViewsLetter is calling on all former members, and current Libertarian registrants to attend the 2009 Convention. You must be a registered Libertarian with dues paid on or before Convention Day of May 12 in order to vote at the Convention. You are still invited even if you cannot vote. The Liberty Movement in OC need all the Friends of Liberty they can get at this Convention.
You can get a voter registration form at any Post Office, If you would like to Join the Party Central Committee (Minimum Dues $25.00) e-mail with your name and address and I will send you a membership application. I plan to attend this convention and I hope to meet many Liberty ViewsLetter Readers at that time.
LibertyViews
Must Read This Week About Spectrums and About Measuring
by Chuck McGlawn 04/22/2009
I would invite, encourage, entice, influence, pressure, persuade, cajole, coax, plead, request can I demand? Or would a threat of bodily harm move you to read the FULL ARTICLE (Just below.) GET THE FACTS CONTAINED IMPRINTED ON YOUR MIND. Then join me in trying to correct the Liberty Movement in their misuse of the terms. FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE ON YOUR E-MAILLIST.
Single Plane Spectrums
A thermometer keeps you aware of the ambient temperature so you know to turn on the heat or the cooler. The altimeter measures how many feet an airplane is above sea level. A pilot checks it to make sure he is not flying too low to clear the mountain ahead. The pressure gauge measures the pounds per square inch (PSI) in a boiler. If the needle is edging toward the red zone it can indicate trouble. A speedometer measures the speed your vehicle is traveling. It helps you make decisions about safety. All of these are examples of single plane measuring devices. Each one serves a purpose, it provides the user with necessary information. These single plane measuring devices are useful because they provide objective information. That is, information that is not affected by feelings or prejudice, but measurements that are based on unbiased facts.
Conversely, when a very attractive woman enters a room and you whisper to your friend, “There is a 10 if I have ever seen one”, and your friend replies, “No more than an 8.” No one can say who is correct. A third observer might say, “Less than a 7”. There is no wrong answer because that which is being measured is beauty, and beauty is a subjective value, and Subjective Values cannot be charted on a single plane spectrum The differences in their respective subjective evaluations can be explained with a little insight into their preferences. The first observer may prefer short blondes. The second observer may lean toward short redheads. The last may have a penchant for tall brunets.
Here is a collection of Subjective evaluations: “He is bold.” “She is shy.” “She is gregarious.” “He is a loner.” “He is a rube.” “She is a sophisticate.” I list these obviously subjective evaluations to bring you to the most subjective that being: “She is liberal.” “He is conservative.” The very last thing that you can measure on a single plane spectrum is ones political leanings. Liberal and conservative cannot be measured on a single plane spectrum, because it is not a measurement based on unbiased facts. Please note the very clear distinction. He is tall, She is short is subjective information. He is 6’5” and she is 4’8”, that is objective and is measured on a single plane device a yard stick.
Therefore, please know, that when the left right Political Spectrum was devised it was devised to measure something objective, something that was quantifiable. Take a proposed law that for the first time sets a national speed limit of 55 mph. Now Liberals and Conservatives may argue ad infinitum about the law's efficacy, but there is no denying that it does increase the power of the national government, and therefore if passed it would move the nation toward the left.
Stop and think about it, all governmental powers were at one time individual rights. If you had the right to do it then the government did not have the power to prevent you from doing it. When government has the power to prevent you from doing it you no longer have the right to do it. Here are just three examples of it:
§ Until Feb. 3, 1913, individuals had the right to spend, save or give 100%, of the money they earned, and the government did not have the power to take any of the money individuals earned. On that date, the 16th amendment to the US Constitution was declared ratified. Thereafter the government had the power to take some portion of an individual’s income, and the individual no longer had the right to spend, save or give 100% of his/her income.
§ Until Jan. 16, 1920, individuals and companies had the right to manufacture, sell and transport intoxicating liquors. And the government did not have the power to stop individuals and companies from manufacturing, selling and transporting intoxicating liquors. The ratification of the 18th amendment converted the individuals and companies right to manufacture, sell and transport intoxicating liquors into a governmental power to prohibit individuals and companies from manufacturing, selling and transporting intoxicating liquors.
§ Until Jan.1, 1971 cigarette companies had the right to advertise cigarettes on television and radio. And government didn’t have the power to prevent cigarette companies from advertising on TV and radio. After Jan.1971, by simple legislative action cigarette companies’ right to advertise on TV and radio was converted into a governmental power to dictate cigarette companies advertising privileges. (Please note, the first two examples required a Constitutional Amendment to convert the rights of the individuals or companies into powers of the government. However, by 1971 the American people had been so conditioned to the concept that it was government’s job to solve problems the amendment to the Constitution process was no longer necessary.
Every new power of government and the corresponding loss of an individual right is a move to the left. Because at some time along that continuum all rights will be gone and government will be all powerful. One name for that is “Totalitarian”. That is what the left/right political spectrum tracks, it is the power of government, or the degree to which government makes the decisions for individuals and businesses, or the degree to which individuals and businesses are free to make their own decisions.
It looked like this: (view full screen)
100% government -----------------------------------L-I-B-E-R-T-A-R-I-A-N 0% government.
Left (Totalitarian Communist Fascist Nazi) (Anarchy) Right
Conversely, if the Liberty Movement successfully ended the Federal Reserve System. If we ended the IRS, all minimum wage laws, all taxes not used to protect life liberty property. As we successfully accomplished these things we would be moving the nation toward the right end of the spectrum. Because at some time along that continuum, we would arrive at Anarchy.
The Confusion Precedes the Left/Right Spectrum
Before we even had the left/right spectrum the seeds of confusion were already being sown. Left/liberal began to take on its modern meaning around 1920. But it got its start in the late 1880s. At that time in history there was no confusion, Communism and Marxism had clearly staked their claim to the Left. The Populist party platform of 1896, calling itself the “party of the people”, called for a graduated (progressive) income tax, postal [or national]savings banks be established by the Government, nationalization of the railroads and the telegraph in the interest of the people. These planks were straight out of the Communist Manifesto. See (the Populist Party Platform 1886) at: http://www.iath.virginia.edu/seminar/unit8/popplat.htm
The “left” in the US, not wanting to be connected in any way to Marx or communism, which by this time were locked in a struggle with some very powerful enemies, did not call themselves “leftist”. The names they used to identify their leftist movement in the US was “populist” or “progressive”. More specifically, the “populist” or “progressive”, clearly leftist, were calling for government intervention to solve the problems caused by the migration of the displaced farm labor to the big cities in the north, brought on by the increased efficiency of agricultural production, and a reduction in the demand for farm labor.
As the ____________ (please insert “free market” or “small government” or “rightism”) solved these problems through a combination of 1. The increase in the demand for factory labor, brought on by the growing demand for US manufactured goods pouring into the world markets. 2. That, in concert with the reduced prices of agricultural goods brought on by the increased efficiency of farming that had reduced the demand for farm labor in the first place.
In other words when the populist’s and progressives’ called for ____________ (please insert “a controlled economy”, or “government intervention” or “leftism”) to solve the problems were completely discredited. By 1920, the labels “Populist” and “Progressive” had become pejoratives in the political lexicon. Therefore, the “Populist” and “Progressive” needed a new name to identify themselves so they could continue their leftist work of collectivization of the American people. The name they took was “liberal”. Gradually the terms liberal and left-wing became almost synonyms.
From the early1920s to the mid 1960s the terms left wing and liberal remained almost synonymous. These terms were used almost interchangeably to describe people who were generally calling for more government. This was part of the left/liberal and right/conservative confusion.
Continuing our attempt to either clarify or establishing the meaning of left and right, I will start with Murray Rothbard. He correctly observed, “The modern American Right began, in the 1930's and 1940's, as a reaction against the New Deal and the Roosevelt Revolution, and specifically as an opposition to the critical increase of statism and state intervention…” It is fairly clear that in Rothbard’s perception that “Right Wing meant opposition to big government. In time, it took on the name “Old Right”. Among it’s most vocal adherents were John T. Flynn, H.L. Mencken, Albert Jay Nock, Rose Wilder Lane, and Garet Garret, Frank Chodorov and yes Murray Rothbard himself. Rothbard wrote. “I joined the Old Right in 1946.”
The most telling statement Rothbard expressed in the same article was.
All of our political positions, from the free market in economics to opposing war and militarism, stemmed from our root belief in individual liberty and our opposition to the state. Simplistically, we adopted the standard view (Emphasis added) of the political spectrum: "left," meant socialism, or total power of the state; the further "right" one went the less government one favored. Hence, we called ourselves "extreme rightists."
We have not been able to draw a direct line from the right side seating arrangement of the French National Assembly to the Old Right. There is, however, a philosophical connection as we observed in Liberal/Left Conservative/Right Confusion 2005
The pre-1970s conservative/right wing, inherited from the First Estate (the clergy seated on the right) their religious bent. The pre-1970s conservative/right wing, inherited from the Second Estate (the landed nobility seated on the right) their respect for private property. The pre-1970s conservative/right wing, inherited from both the clergy and the nobility a penchant for law and order.
This early marriage of the conservative and right wing was clearly in place from the early 1930s until the early 1950s. During this period, the words conservative and right wing were used almost synonymously.
Who are some notables, on the right, that provide additional validation that the right wing favors less government, or more accurately that government is the worst source for solutions to social and economic problems. Take John T. Flynn. In “As We Go Marching” published in 1944, Flynn wrote, referring to Italy of 1884, “From the beginning of united Italy the country had been ruled by the Right, (Emphasis added) some of them able statesmen and patriots inspired by the principles of liberty…” Conversely, Depretis… allied himself with the Left…(Emphasis added) He promised to increase public works… [and] greater social security…” Depretis, with fellow liberals [note the connection with left and liberal] in key positions of his cabinet…He increased indirect taxation, dodged the solution of the problems he had promised to attack by naming commissions (emphasis added). When he entered office, the budget was balanced. However, the inevitable depression arrived and Depretis…the promiser of the better life, turned to the oldest and most reactionary device…government borrowing.” P. 12
“Speaking of Mous, a leader of the Left, (Emphasis added) he made an alliance with the socialists…” “the economy-minded conservatives began to object to wasting the public money on schools and roads and subsidies to farmers." P. 33 [note the connection with conservative and right wing. Remember Flynn is writing in 1943 of things taking place in the 19th century]