Via Jim Babka's blog, I learn that Harry Browne, former Libertarian presidential candidate, is very sick and is hospitalized. I don't know any details at this point, but I certainly wish Harry a speedy and thorough recovery. Get well soon, Harry. We need your voice on behalf of liberty.
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Oh man, that's bad news. I really like Harry Browne. I certainly hope he gets well soon.
Speaking of (big L) Libertarianism, there was an interesting discussion over on Pharyngula. Mostly people criticizing l/Libertarians, with a few defenses. It lead me to wonder what 'libertarian' means to people who apply the term to themself. I was wondering if you (Ed) had ever defined (on your blog) what you mean when you describe yourself as one.
JY wrote:
Not all at once, no, but I've written a lot here and there that could be compiled. Libertarian is a broad term, often too broad. As a general rule, libertarians generally break down into two groups - minarchists and anarchists. The anarchists don't consider the minarchists to be "real" libertarians, but given the fact that anarchy is simply impossible I don't take them all that seriously. Then there are people who call themselves libertarians, like our new friend Theodore or various confederate sympathizers like the Lew Rockwell crowd, who are in my view about as far away from libertarian as one can get. So you likely won't find all that much agreement among those who call themselves libertarians.
As for what I mean by it, I mean classical liberalism of the sort advocated in the Declaration of Independence and by men like John Stuart Mill. I'm not a big L libertarian but a small one, though I generally vote libertarian. I'm not as convinced as many of my fellow libertarians of the market's ability to control certain types of externalities like pollution, but I do think there are market-based solutions to those problems that can at least take us a good distance toward preventing the worst abuses.
I am sorry I only sporadically update my blog. I have great admiration for you Ed -- you stay informed, blog one to three times per day, and still find time to play poker. I haven't been able to master it.
Harry Browne is doing much better. He was in the hospital and rehab for nearly six weeks. He's home now. And I hosted his show for what I hope is the last time this past Saturday. Harry Browne himself was my guest (yes, on his own show).
His condition is unfortunate. I voted for him several times. It's good to hear that he's doing better.