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Another personal note. I recently wrote to the National Headquarters of the Libertarian Party concerning their recent fundraising campaign. As you may or may not know, the Harry Browne wing of the party, heavily larded with Money Men, is making a concerted effort to raise sufficient funds by the year 2000 to "compete" with the Pooblioobs and Demidupes. The reasoning is straightforwardly economic. Analysis of P's and D's expenditures in previous elections leads to a number representing the average "cost" of a single vote. This means, it is asserted, that if the LP can raise enough cash and spend it wisely on advertising and propaganda, then they can achieve comparable ROI (return on investment). Maybe. Maybe not. I tend to feel that the Harry Browne faction advances the impression that the only reason people seek freedom is to increase the value of their stock portfolios. But, nevertheless, these guys are doing SOMETHING. Instead of endless bragging about how steadfast the LP is in upholding its sacred principles, they are out there working hard...Harry himself has started a regular radio show to explain libertarian principles and to rally the folks. They are endeavoring to bring to some kind of fruitful harvest the oft-repeated "fact" that most Americans are libertarian at heart. They are working within the framework with which they are most comfortable and I fervently hope that they will achieve their intended goals, despite my misgivings.

However, since the LP loudly proclaims itself to be the Party of Liberty, I assumed that they would be receptive to some radical notions about using the Power of the Force...the Internet...to overcome the Powers of the Dark Side (you know who). After all, the Internet promises to be one of the most liberating forces in human history, dwarfing the effects of all previous media revolutions. As a first step, I suggested that the party take advantage of one of the most interesting, if controversial, tools available on the net...unsolicited email...or spam, as it is known colloquially. I further suggested, as an Internet pioneer and cognoscenti, that I could materially assist in assuring that any mass mailing would be done in a way as to minimize bad karma and maximize positive gains. The get-rich-quick and porn purveyors have certainly pissed off a lot of people with their early deluge of unwanted crap-email. And, of course, this brought the CEBBTO's out from under their rocks, screaming for LEGISLATION to CONTROL this corrupting influence on our women and children! There was a short (in real-world time scale) spurt of email wars, characterized by self important techno-terrorists dragging out their limited knowledge of the ways of the world coupled, with a good knowledge of the technical details of how the Net works. There were the Black Hole bean-brains (see: Punishing the victims!) who chose to set up a clandestine system of blocking email originating from suspected offenders of their totally anti-spam ideology. Then there were the email-bombers and other disruptive forces that immediately arose to counter the "virtuous" Black Holers. For a while, these two opposing camps combined to clog up and disrupt email considerably. Soon, though, reason crept back in and things returned to what passes for normal on the Net.

In particular, various thoughtful opinion makers in the world of computer publications began to caution their readers who were tired of spam to be VERY careful what they wished for. In their desire to put a stop to ungrammatical and obnoxious email, they might also cause the demise some very important freedoms. These are opportunities that the ability to cheaply send mass mailings bring to the Little Guy.

Note that spam is not "free," as is often asserted, nor its cost completely borne by the recipients. Current email lists cost money...especially if they exclude to those who wish to NEVER receive unsolicited email. So does the time and bandwidth necessary to prepare and send all that email. It is just MUCH cheaper than snail mail. They further pointed out that the Net gives new found freedom that those who would advertise innovative new products, Web sites or...and this is MOST important...spread political messages. I for one, have never restricted email spam to my address in any way, as is true for the VAST MAJORITY of other Net inhabitants. I have noted that the get-rich-quick schemes, chain letters and porn solicitations have noticeably diminished, while the number of letters that I actually want to take time to check out...usually only a few seconds...have increased apace. In general, spammers have gotten much less intrusive and selective about what they send.

So, I fully expected at least SOME interest from the Freedom Lovers at the LP. Surely they were atop this issue and understood the potential for good involved. NOT A CHANCE! Instead, some functionary (Joseph W. Dehn III at jwd3@dehnbase.org...tell him what YOU think about it! ) acknowledged my inquiry with a sniffy reply that the LP did not indulge in such behavior and pointed me to a county resolution on the Web to "explain" why not. This resolution, which contains a series of "WHEREAS's," contains not a single reference to the possible "pros" of spam, but instead concentrates on how the LP must protect its "reputation," by never doing such nasty things. Click on "county resolution" above to see for yourself.

Puh-leez! Protect its "reputation?" What "reputation" might that be they wish to protect? Would that be their reputation as the political party that bills itself as the "Party of Principle," as though they were a religious order or held a monopoly on virtue. Or, perhaps it is the joke that loudly boasts of being the "third largest party in the US" when it passes out its literature at state fairs.

Ri-i-i-ght!

A flea floating down the river with a hard-on shouting "Open the goddamn bridge!"

Well, so much for getting the party ready for the twenty-first century. I should have known better, given my previous experience with the LP. My first letter, to the Minnesota branch, was published in their newsletter with all the naughty words censored. Ever since, my experience tells me that the LP only stands for freedom if it is "acceptable" freedom and that it regards people like me as "grunts" whom they wish would go away and stop calling themselves libertarian. So it goes...

Meanwhile, as I write this, the stock market is gyrating wildly, triggered (but not caused) by news that Russia's economy is heading for the toilet along with what remains of public confidence there in the future of capitalism. I'm sure that those of you who lived through the Cold War are not longing for a return to those days. Yet, that is certainly one of the dangers. Only, this time, still armed with most of the weapons of mass destruction created during that awful period, Russia has much less to lose by entering into profound conflict with the United States, while we have much MORE to lose. Even if you assume that Soviet style communism is dead...that the Russian people will never voluntarily return to those evil times...after all, they were the main victims from the excesses of central control...even if you assume all that, there is increasing pressure to somehow use this accumulated arsenal, if in no other way than by selling it off to others who still have lots of hard currency.

Does what is happening in Russia cast doubt on the essential nature of capitalism, on free markets? Not really. Both Europe and the United States, with our long practice at dealing with the ups and downs of free enterprise, have maintained relatively stable economies in the face of the uproar in Asia and Russia. But it does give further support to the notion that economic systems can neither be imposed from the top, as was done in previously communist nations, nor from abroad, as we have attempted to do with the remnants of the economies in those countries. Enthusiastically promoting our brand of capitalism to the peoples of Asia, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union after the complete collapse of central planning, we have forgotten that it took us centuries to get from where we were to where we are now. We have lost sight of all the troubles WE had with cartels and crony capitalism during the early days of the industrial revolution. Most of all, we have forgotten why those peoples embraced Marxist-Leninist "solutions" in the first place. As poverty, misery and corruption sweeps across that part of the world, it would do us well to refresh our memories.

Meanwhile, I strongly urge you to keep a keen eye peeled on what China is doing. Unlike Russian, that hurried to divide up the economic spoils among "friends" of the party after the fall of communism, China has insisted on making the transition gradually. So far, at least, they have managed the transition to free-market capitalism with a minimum of disruption and maximum of dignity, as befits a culture with a proud five thousand year history. Whether they can continue to do so is problematic. Still, they HAVE avoided some of the major problems experienced by other communist countries in their transformations. Watch them closely.

Meanwhile, most of central Africa is being consumed by the flames of war, Iran has tens of thousands of troops poised on the border of Afghanistan ready to invade if the Taliban does not satisfactorily account for some missing diplomats and the weather, that great natural humbler of human hubris, is acting up in ways we haven't seen for centuries. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes...all bring to mind that ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times."

Then there are the Clinton Follies. I confess to profound disgust at the way the media are treating this nonsense. Flying directly into the face of polling data showing that we, the people, want this bullshit to cease and desist, to vanish, the house is "seriously" considering impeachment (supported, by the way, by the Libertarian Party, with its usual impeccable timing) of the Lyin' King. They do not seem to understand that we do not now and never have trusted politicians to tell us anything even closely approximating the truth and that, no matter what Ken "The Pervert" Starr and the merry band of politicians populating the Senate and House of Representatives do about Billy Bob's sexual antics, we STILL won't trust THEM either...not the politicians, not the media! Close it down! Roll it up! Censure the Prez and get back to business! There is serious stuff happening in the world. We can handle your lies a lot better than we can handle your pretensions of high ethical standards. We know that you do not really care about anything except getting re-elected, increasing your net worth, achieving show business fame and fortune. So get off it! GROW UP! We have. Now it's your turn.

One final note. Terrorism, both individual and state sponsored, is still a very depressing issue. I will treat it in a special column at a future date.

Talk to you later...

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