Introduction
Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize 2008 - £1,000 to be Won!
Libertarian Alliance Conference,
London, October 2008
Libertarian Alliance Blog
Libertarian Alliance:
Latest Publication
Summer in Slovakia
Product Endorsement
Well, the summer is now over - or such summer as we managed to have in England. After coming back from a month in Slovakia, I did hope to spend August writing another novel. Instead, Mrs Gabb dumped the Baby Bear on me while she did some urgent work of her own. I managed to write my share of a book about truancy that is coming out through the University of Buckingham Press. Otherwise, my only break from feeding and changing and jollying along was to play the same nursery rhymes in different keys. For what little it may be worth, I think Baa Baa Blacksheep sounds best in D.
At least I managed to avoid watching more than a few seconds of the Olympic Games in Peking. From the wireless and newspaper reports, they were the worst ever.
But summer is over, and it's back to work for us all. So let us proceed to business.
Chris R. Tame Memorial Prize 2008 - £1,000 to be Won!
You can find the details here: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/conferences/prize08.htm
I thought hard about the title. After all, the significance of this prize goes far beyond the mere choosing of a winner. Last year, I asked it the UK needed a libertarian party. Most people inspired by the question just wrote an essay and hoped for the best. Several people went out and established the Libertarian Party of the United Kingdom. Therefore, I had to come up this year with a question that would be just as productive.
I was at first inclined to choose something about defence or foreign policy. However, let's face it, we've all been arguing about these things for at least five years. Thanks to the idiot children who run foreign policy in Washington and London, we are racing for certain into Cold War II and possibly into a shooting war with Iran. But is there anything to be said here that wasn't said about Iraq and Afghanistan? I think not.
And so I've decided to ask about the legitimacy of the corporation. This is not some dry debate over forms of business organisation. It is as important to the meaning of libertarianism as the Christological disputes were to the Early Church. Answer my question in the affirmative, and libertarianism becomes not grossly different from what we were promised the Reagan and Thatcher Revolutions would deliver. Answer in the negative, and libertarianism becomes radically critical of the existing order. It stands in the tradition that runs from the Mutualists, through the Old Whigs and Commonwealthmen, all the way back to John Ball in 1381:
When Adam delved and Eve span,
Who then was the gentleman?
Now, I do have my own strong opinions here. But in the past 20 years, I must have marked thousands of examination scripts and student essays. I have never once allowed my prejudices to cloud my judgement. I am looking here for an original and interesting contribution to this debate. I will award the £1,000 prize to whoever provides me with that - regardless of whether I agree with it. And, as a check on my impartiality, the Libertarian Alliance has decided this year to publish all submissions, so that the whole world can decide if I have been just.
Libertarian Alliance Conference
Our 25th-26th October conference will, as usual, be at the National Liberal Club just by Trafalgar Square. This will be a fine event, with speakers from all over the world, including:
Aubrey de Gray
David Friedman
Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Fire regulations at the Liberal Club allow us an upper limit of 120 attendees. So book now to ensure your place: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/conferences/conf08brochure.htm
If you are European or American, you will be pleased to know that the pound is going down like a punctured balloon. Indeed, if things continue as they do much longer, you will soon be able to come to London and do your Christmas shopping, and save the cost of your flight, your hotel booking and the conference fee.
I might even be inclined to suggest that Americans have not been able to afford such a good time in London since the days of nylon stockings and the jitterbug.
Book now: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/conferences/conf08brochure.htm
Libertarian Alliance Blog Dispute
Last week, I posted an old essay on the Libertarian Alliance blog, arguing that Gary Glitter deserves due process of law. The response was a flood of hysterical denunciation - a few examples posted on the blog rather than sent to me.
I keep asking this question: Why is everyone who complains about a witch hunt called a witch?
You may care to follow this debate, or even contribute to it: http://libertarianalliance.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/sean-gabb-on-gary-glitter/
In general, our Blogmaster, David Davis, is looking for American and European correspondents. If you want to be considered for these important roles, please contact David: ddaviseducation@aol.com
Libertarian Alliance: Latest Publication
We have now published this essay:
Philip Bounds,
Should Universities Employ Bigots? The Case of Nicholas Kollerstrom
Educational Notes, No. 39 (html)
(pdf)
As said, I spent most of July in Slovakia. While there, I gave an interview to a young journalist called Lukáš Krivošík. It will be published in Týždeň, the main Slovak weekly. I have no idea when it will appear. But Mr Krivošík has already written most flatteringly about me here.
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And that is what it does. It took five minutes to set up. I can now sit deep in my basement and get a reasonably good signal. I recommend.
--
Sean Gabb
Director, The Libertarian Alliance
sean@libertarian.co.uk
Tel: 07956 472 199
http://www.libertarian.co.uk
http://www.seangabb.co.uk
http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk
http://libertarianalliance.wordpress.com
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Cultural Revolution, Culture War: How
Conservatives Lost England, and How to Get It Back
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