Well, I want to do my part to reverse this apparent damage I caused. You are indeed a cogent writer here, and even if I take your flattering but probably off-base premise at face value — the idea that I’m a better writer, let’s say for the sake of argument better in every respect — this does not justify your conclusion. Do you not know of the law of comparative advantage? I might be better in every way, but for every minute I spend writing about mass murder in Pakistan, that is one minute I can’t write about the prison system or America’s oppressive tax structure.

In other words, economic law belies your conclusion. There is a role for you, an important one, even if you are inferior to others (a premise I am only willing to accept to show you are still wrong).

I was just at the Mises Institute in Auburn for their Austrian Scholars Conference. As my buddy Andrew Ward says, these guys are in a whole different class when it comes to economics and libertarian theory. Mark Thornton, says Andrew, is basically like a Jedi of libertarianism. These men can waive their hands and prove statism is wrong from every angle, on every issue. We need the professor who focuses on price controls, the maven who deconstructs the prison system, the second-handler who demolishes sales taxes. We are not so big a movement that someone as literate and philosophically grounded as you can go AWOL without it making any difference.

Lew Rockwell writes in one of my favorite of all his articles, “The Angel Clarence says in It’s a Wonderful Life that ‘Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?’

“It’s something for anyone who advocates liberty to think about before he bails out.”

I know you haven’t bailed out. But I plead you to write more, if you’d be willing. We need every intellectual we can enlist in the battle with evil.

Scott is my go-to man on the incomparably important issue of the warfare state, the empirics of government murder. But although he knows more about war than most of these great men and women I got to speak with last week, and even though war is the most important issue, I doubt he would say they have no role. I would bet all my earthly possessions he would consider it absurd to dismiss the role of people who write on issues that aren’t as important as his. Scott doesn’t write about price controls — he exposes the evil of the warfare state. But would we be better off if people not as good as Scott on the most important issue just closed shop? Of course not.

I can be prolific, and I wish I were much more so, but I cannot write everything. And there are doubtless many libertarian writers who make me look like the amateur that I am in relative terms. I don’t care. I submitted stuff to Lew years ago not because I thought I was better than Bob Higgs and Butler Shaffer and Robert Murphy and Tom Woods, but because they have their hands tied doing what they do and I have a role to play as well. And consider Rothbard. No one has yet to touch him when it comes to radical and scholarly output to make a comprehensive case for the cause of liberty. I would trade ten lesser writers for one Rothbard. But that is never the choice. You think Rothbard would have wanted for all the other anti-state writers of his time to stay silent? Even he couldn’t fill every gap. There is always more work to do as long as leviathan is with us. And I hate telling people what to do, but if you really stopped writing because of me — although I take this as a personal compliment, the type that keeps me working — I want to politely ask you to recheck your logic. I’m just a dude who can understand cause and effect, string words together fairly coherently, and hate the state with every fiber in my being. It sounds to me like you’re a comrade in the noble cause. If you wish not to write because you have something better to do, that’s your choice and certainly one I could not legitimately question. But if you’re not writing because others are writing stuff you consider better, I sincerely ask you to reconsider.

Being myself an anarcho-capitalist I was nevertheless blown away. http://vimeo.com/channels/pfs09#5102018

So power up your solitaires and minesweepers

I am still sort of vague on it, but I know the U.S. beat the crap out of Spain and ganked the Phillipines and Cuba starting in 1897.

The Phillipines were a handy place for Subic Bay, a coaling station for American Star Destroyers and Gun boats joining in on the violence in China.

But that builds on the westward expansion – expanding OVER the Plains Indians.

That follows the War of Northern Aggression – Where the Yankee elite made sure everyone knew who was the boss -

and one can point to the Mexican American War of the 1840s and American Attempt to conquer Canada in 1812 as precursors.

before even that there were other wars over who owned north America, with France, Spain and Native nations as the targets for and sources of violence.

But really – I look at the McKinley Administration and the decision to step across the oceans and take The Phillipines and Cuba – that’s when the American Empire was born… Uhhh, okay, maybe Hawaii in 1893.

Teddy Roosevelt who wanted to be a Playa on the world stage, built the “Great White Fleet” – he was another total looney.

Woodrow Wilson just got “lucky” – and had a chance to horn America into the Big Game of Empire.

B – Responding to the ignorant and deranged on facebook is a good source for ideas for pieces.

Scott is doing great work and it comes through especially from the people he interviews, you can clearly hear that these people sincerely appreciate Scott. And so do the audience, at least me in Estonia.

Anti-war radio is the indispensable third leg of modern anarcho-capitalist’s information base: pro-market (mises.org), anti-state (lrc) and anti-war (SH). Keep up the fight and stay the course!

P.S. Ignore and hide the assholes and loonies on facebook.

P.P.S. Read “Mises the last knight of liberalism”. That guy went through lot of tough times – war, several close calls with nazis, starting life over at 60. What an inspiration! http://mises.org/books/lastknight.pdf

if you want a phone with a usable keyboard, free software and some degree of personal security, get a Nokia N900. you can view websites and youtube and listen to radio streams normally. android and palm pre are also not totally bad but also restrict your freedom.

scott, check out Tom DiLorenzo’s latest lecture and article on Violence in the American West. He shows that the market encouraged trade between settlers and indians. The real genocide was due to the republican party and its standing army which socialized the costs of violence and raids.

later

I am impressed how Scott manages to keep so many of these factions straight. And yet we heard a very interesting new POV from Mr. Jarrar on the awakening.

I eagerly await Cockburn’s response.

What was the name of that comedian, thwe one you play who says “What does the Iraqi Army Uniform look like? That’s alright, I’ll wait. That because we ain’t killin’ their army, (&^*%^&, We’re killin’ THEM!”

I just wanted to send that clip to a friend.

I think this is likely a new sig line for the very female marines the NYTimes article is talking about.

And I bet you can condense it to a swell bumper sticker.

Unfortunately, the irony of it all will be lost on most.

Establishment education is backfiring!

Does anyone take him seriously anymore?

Is it because she’s the last of her kind? Are there any left like her at her level off access?

Nice plea for realignment, but you couldnt help but sneak in a call for secession and the 10th amendment, could you? Well that is poison to the mind of a progressive. Understand that theirs is an authoritarian philosophy (only they believe that democratic majoritarianism somehow can lead to anti-authoritarianism). Making common cause with them against the empire requires strictly shutting up about EVERYTHING else.

Re: Coffee Parties

The party of taxation, tyranny and murder describes it well. That is indeed the majority creed of the wormlike voters of any party.

Re: Drones

Skynet. Real soldiers and sherrifs are too likely to turn and defend the people, someday.

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2010/3/2_Harry_M._Markopolos.html

And speak in complete sentences too.

The world is definitely a more pissed off (but rational) place because of Scott. And that is very very good, considering where things are going…

Dang, it don’t get any better than that, now does it?

Maybe some day the 2 of them could pool their talents and do an investigative piece together.