Newspaper Page Text
Page 4
Flagpole Magazine
March 18, 1992
From behind the curtain...
Something Extremely Loopy and Dangerous
Wowie. In the February 26 issue of Flagpole I made
some comments about the Libertarian party. It was con
cerning the soon to be held primary and what I felt about the
party at that time. The UGA Libertarians (a student group)
were kind enough to respond and supply me with a com
puter printout of the Libertarian Party’s 1992 platform. Here
is the letter:
Dear Dennis,
Our first response to your comments about the Libertarian
philosophy (i.e., that the party wants to legalize drugs at the
expense of civil liberties) prompted us to wonder what sort of
obscure chemicals were traveling YOUR synaptic [sic] axes;
however, on further deliberation, we decided to take full
advantage of the situation: as an editor of an alternative
publication, you know as well anyone that bad press is better
than no press at all. so thanks for the jab. In response to the
statements you made, we offer the following:
1) Your statement regarding “the establishment of a cast
[sic] system divided along race and poverty.mes?"
is false If you will observe the various countries
around the world, you will find the idea of “caste’
being most prevalent in places where free enter
prise is not present In the former Soviet Union the
caste were “nomenclature", "regular party mem
ber' and “worker"; with each strata becoming
harder to penetrate as the years went by. India,
the country which originated the term “caste", can
hardly be considered a country where free enter
prise abounds.
In the U.S., small businesses are the biggest
employers of unskilled inter-city residents. But, li-
censi> ig fees, business and housing ordinances, and wage
and pnce controls discourage small businesses from form
ing, and thus hinder the self-improvement of the poor while
benefiting the wealthy. For examples, we need look no further
than our own downtown area, where an ordinance has been
enacted against street vendors at the request of the estab
lished businesses in the area who do not want the added
competition. In New York City, if you try to run a taxi service you
will find yourself up against a permit fee of $25,000 (that's for
one taxi, folks!). Try to tell me the ghetto-dwellers lobbied for
that one.
Many of the US. 's current problems can be traced to the
fact that government is not as good as private enterprise in
doing certain things. For example, compare the post office
with Federal Express and UPS. Compare the average
public school with the average private school (both in terms
of educational effectiveness and cost). In the area of
regulating product safety, look at the “UL" label on your
electrical appliances and remember the Underwriters Labs
is a private organization.
2) The Libertarian Party 's desire to end the Drug War
(alias “Prohibition: The Sequel"), does not imply an en
dorsement of drug use. any more than the repeal of Prohi
bition implied an endorsement of drinking alcohol.
The simple facts are
1) Prohibition does not work.
2) Just as alcohol prohibition in the 1920's led to the rise
of criminal gangsters, drug prohibition now has produced our
own crop of criminal gangs Demand has obviously created
the supply. And if delivering the substance is a criminal
activity, the person delivering it will act in a criminal manner.
3) You also made the point that our candidate is running
unopposed We wish to explain the situation. You see. even
though our party is the third largest in the nation, we have
to begin petitioning the states almost a year in advance in
order to get on the election ballots. The election process : as
it stands, does a very good job in repressing opposition
(competition). It is worth noting that in Dixonville Notch,
where the LP was given equal coverage, Andre Marrou beat
George Bush and everyone else. Marrou got 11 votes, Bush
got 9 and the also rans got 3 or less each.
4) And regarding your “Brave New World, perhaps you
would prefer a “New World Oraer"? No one can guarantee
Utopia, that mythical place where everyone always gets
everything they want, no one gets sick, and nothing ever
goes wrong. Utopia is not one of the options. The free
market does not promise Utopia; it just allows those v/ho try
a better chance at success.
A government which is powerful enough to give you all
you want is also powerful enough to take it away.
For more information, contact the UGA Libertarians, the
undersigned or call the LP at 1-800-682-1336.
Victor Virreira
Lachele Foley
A response is in order. I have read the platform and the
letter. I now feel that I was far too gentle in my criticisms of
the LP. These folks are loopy as hell. They have an almost
magical belief that left to its own devices an unregulated
free market system will create a world where everyone will
truly be free and where all conflicts will be resolved by the
internal beauty of the marketplace. Anybody who reads the
platform and seriously believes that it might work is an easy
mark for every scam imaginable. It is a cleverly written
document. It contains something for every narrow single
interest group in the country. As long as they keep the folks
watching the right hand they won’t see the punch the
Libertarians have in store for them with the left.
The amazing thing about the letter was that they took so
long to say absolutely nothing. None of my original charges
about the Libertarian party were refuted. They were only
deflected. Acceptance of even half of the Party’s platform will
create a permanent caste system in the U.S. of A. Perhaps a
dictionary definition of the word “caste" is in order:
caste (kast) n. 1. any of the hereditary Hindu
social classes of a former segregated system in
India. 2. any exclusive group. 3. class distinc
tion based on birth, wealth, etc.
It is the second and third definitions of the word “caste,"
that have meaning in this case. In the LP platform they call
for an end to all government involvement in education and
in medical affairs. There is already a “caste" system in the
country regarding health care and education. The Lib^rtar
lans propose taking away Medicare and Medicaid, ihey
would also end public funding, loans and grants for pri
mary, secondary, college and university education sys
tems. The platform contends that the free market will (as if
by magic) do a better job of providing these services. It will,
for those who can afford them. Those who can’t will be left
to fend for themselves. Poorer communities will have poorer
schools. The party also calls for hospitals and doctors to
have the right to refuse those patients who can’t pay for their
services in "emergency or other situations." In these two
areas alone the Libertarian party will create a caste system
base on poverty and race, but they don’t stop there.
The platform calls for the repeal of all regulatory laws
that protect consumers from the excesses of capitalism.
They would dismantle or repeal the Consumer Protection
Agency, The Environmental Protection Agency, The Fed
eral Aviation Board, The National Safety Board, The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, The Immigration Service, The Food
and Drug Administration, any anti-racketeering laws, anti-
monopoly laws, any welfare or relief projects, The depart
ment of Energy, The Department of Agriculture, OSHA, the
U.S. Post Office, etc. In short they would abolish any and
all laws or agencies that might restrict free market capital
ism on any level. People will fall through the cracks in such
a system. The divisions that already exist in this society
between rich and poor, city and suburb, black and white will
become institutionalized through the simple dy
namics of the free market syste.. In short: the
creation of a PERMANENT CASTE SYSTEM!
The Libertarian Party is designed for tne white
upper-middle class and the rich. The letter had
obvious patronizing contempt for the thira world
and “ghetto-dwellers." It is also interesting that
the platform does not directly mention the issue of
the Civil Ri ghts Act or Affirmative Action. It is easy
to judge from the rest of the document that the
Libertarian view would be similar to the view of
David Duke or any other “good" Republican. The
platform calls for the repeal of any protective labor
or selective service laws. The Libertarians also “oppose any
government attemps to regulate private discrimination, in
cluding discrimination in employment, housing, and privately
owned so-called public accomodations. The right to trade
includes the right not to trade—for any reason whatsoever. ’
Read behind the lines. They talk a lot about liberty, freedom
and responsibility, but behind their words is the same old
scam, the same old fear and the same old hate.
There are more points in the letter and in the platform that
i could refute. I’ll take the Post Office and its services over
UPS, Fed Ex and the others. The expressed view of the
vendor situation in downtown Athens was simplistic at best.
Also, they completely missed the reference to “A Brave New
World," I wasn’t talking about Utopia, kids. The world that a
Libertanan philosophy would create would be about as far
away from it as you could get. It would create a new kind of
economic fascism. The government needs to protect citizens
from the excesses of capitalism. The free market will not do
that. Protecting citizens does not generate a profit. The more
I read their platform, the more disgusted I get.
In the beginning of their letter they stated they ‘ wanted
to take full advantage of the situation" to explain their party.
Fine. They had their chance. However, I don’t intend to
waste any more ink on them. I wouldn't use this publication
to spread their propaganda any more than I would print the
ideas of those bastards who ran that Red & Black ad
denying the organized murder of millions of people by the
Nazis during World War Two. There are plenty of outlets for
the lunatic fringe to expose their theories and they will be
able to get along fine without Flagpole. One of the beauties
of free speech is that a publisher and a publication has the
right to refuse to print that kind of bullshit. Is this a great
country or what?
Dennis F. Greenia
Publisher, Flagpole Magazine
Anybody who
reads the platform
and seriously
believes that it
might work is an
easy mark for every
scam imaginable-
USED BICYCLE SALE!
Motobecane 22* $80
Raleigh 25’ $125
Schwinn 23* $139
Serviced and Ready to Ride
CLASSIC SCREEN PRINT, INC.
T-Shirts • Decals • Signs • Ad Specialties • and More
Quit coasting youR tnoNey
on Toe Prints of Thieves...
See The Profcssionals first.
365 w Washington St next door to the 40 watt 545.9215
gfa^pawn, Inc.
Champ's Pawn, loc & Champ’s Jtwlery l
296 W. Broad Street • Athens
543-8454 • 543-8321
(Next To Phoenix Natural Eoods)
MORE THAN A PAWN SHOE
We buy or loan on
all item* of value-
Cold, Diamonds, Cons,
T.V.% VCR s, Etc.
Confidential Loans
No Loan Too Small or Lars
For Excellent Values