Frontiersman, April 1999

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Frontiersman, April 1999

Campaign Finance Reform: A Libertarian Perspective
Don Cormier
Campaign finance reform has been simmering since before the '98 elections, and will probably boil up in public awareness, now that the Clinton impeachment fiasco has passed.
It's generally believed that current methods of financing campaigns are eroding democracy in America, because candidates depend heavily on funding from wealthy individuals and organizations. It's assumed that politicians will be obligated to implement the policies desired by their wealthy benefactors.
Such fears may or may not be exaggerated. Whatever is the truth, any attempt at reforming the situation must respect certain freedoms, if that attempt is to be regarded as libertarian. These freedoms are: The Freedom of Speech, The Freedom of Association, and The Freedom from Involuntary Servitude.
Let me explain how these freedoms relate to political campaigning. "Freedom of Speech" means that limits cannot be imposed on the peaceful advocacy of policies and candidates or on the peaceful use of private property and resources to promote policies and candidates. "Freedom of Association" means that any person should be able to freely associate with any other real person or non governmental group, for the purpose of participating in democracy. "Freedom from Involuntary Servitude" means that no person should be forced to contribute to political campaigns, or to any particular candidate. Tax dollars, which are obtained by a process of legalized coercion, should not be used to finance political campaigns.
Our current campaign finance laws infringe on these freedoms at the federal, state, and local levels. If these laws were truly effective in preventing undue influence on politicians by special interests, then there might be some justification for them, but the current clamor for reform indicates that they are not effective.
The Libertarian Party advocates three changes to our system of campaign financing. The first is to remove all restrictions on contributions. Contribution restrictions help incumbents and the very wealthy, but hurt low-budget, independent candidates. The second is to make public the sources of all large contributions in a timely manner — before elections are held. The third is to reduce the government's tendency to function as an income redistribution machine, and so to reduce the incentive to control that machine.
As an amateur libertarian philosopher, I would like to add the following proposals: First, I propose that all for-profit corporations involved in communications be required to give free and equal coverage to all ballot-qualified candidates. Contrary to the general perception, corporations are not truly private entities, but are organizations authorized by governments, designed to grant special privileges to the stockholders and employees. These are privileges which are not available to entrepreneurs working in other forms of business organizations. It is not a restriction of entrepreneurial freedom to impose requirements on coercive, privileged, governmental organizations.
Second, I propose that the fictitious persons known as corporations be effectively prohibited from supporting any particular candidate, for the same reasons listed above. I say "effectively" prohibited because there are already laws on the books prohibiting corporations from many types of political action but these laws are routinely circumvented through various legalistic tricks.
There you have, very briefly, a libertarian perspective on campaign finance reform — a perspective which respects the freedom of all citizens, and of all candidates. (References will be supplied on request.)

I suggest that all for-profit corporations involved in communications might give free and equal coverage to declared candidates, not just to ballot-qualified candidates. I believe that a candidate should be able to declare his candidacy without seeking the approval of an establishment institution. Otherwise, ballot qualification becomes just another tool for incumbents.

— editor

Frontiersman@ida.net

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

April 1999

Page 1

This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.¹
Sam Aurelius Milam III

When I was a child, my father gave me a warning. He said that an increase in the average world temperature of less than 5°F would cause the polar ice caps to melt, raising the level of the oceans by 300 feet. As a child, I didn't question his numbers, but accepted them as accurate. Now, they seem to be at least approximately consistent with warnings issued by researchers who, after 35 years of wasted time, have finally raised the same concerns.

A large part of the world's population lives in low-lying areas. The problems of relocating those people during just a few decades are of a magnitude previously contemplated only in works of science fiction. However, that may turn out to be irrelevant. It occurs to me that there is a far darker possibility than merely losing a few acres of low-lying land. I haven't heard this particular concern mentioned by the Johnny-come-lately researchers. Maybe I just missed the announcement. Maybe they haven't thought of it. Maybe it isn't significant. Maybe they're just keeping their own counsel. Admittedly, what I'm about to suggest is largely speculation. I don't have any data to either support or disprove my concerns. However, I believe that they bear mentioning.

The deposition into the world's oceans of the large quantity of fresh water contained in the polar ice caps might significantly reduce the salinity of the oceans. Many creatures presently living in the oceans might not be able to survive in water of such reduced salinity. It's possible that many oceanic species would become extinct as a result of the change. Most remaining oceanic species might become extinct because of the resulting disruptions in food chains. All of this could happen within just a few decades. This might be of concern to more people than just whale watchers.

Most of the oxygen produced on the planet is produced by the oceanic phytoplankton. I don't know whether or not the change that I suggest would affect the phytoplankton, but if they become extinct, then the oxygen content of the atmosphere might drop significantly. It's possible that many terrestrial species would become extinct as a result of the change. Most remaining terrestrial species might become extinct because of the resulting disruptions in food chains. Unless we can learn to breathe carbon dioxide, the level of water in the oceans might not be very important anymore.

The longer we wait to solve an environmental problem, the fewer choices we will have. If we wait long enough, we will probably not have to make any choices at all. However, the resulting environment may be one in which we are not included.

— August 1, 1974, Milam's Notes

from The Hollow Men, by Thomas Stearns Eliot

Letters to the Editor
Dear Sam

.... As to your opinion of the Clinton situation ... there is one issue that has been OBVIOUSLY (loudly) SILENT in all this, "Conduct Unbecoming an Officer." How many have been drummed out of the "Corps" for less?? Interns are a much lower "rank" than the President (AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF), and whether or not Monica said, "Hey Bill, I want to suck your cock & have you stick a cigar up my _____ ," he as (C-I-C) President should have had the "training" to know he's under 2 sets of standards. Yet not one reporter ever mentioned or questioned "Conduct Unbecoming" — not one military man or woman spoke up?!? Yet, many stories were posed regarding prisoners who have been convicted of perjury & OJ to file Writs, etc. & where was Gloria Steinem???

Most sadly is the fact that the media is so totally controlled that truth & ideas countering the myriad of "agendas" out there now — ie: that sex is filthy or that "our" public schools are nothing more than brainwashing centers to dumb-down & prevent thinking or using logic. With all the exposed information out there, we would think the citizens would have awaken to the fact that we are enslaved and have allowed this all without a shot being fired!....

— Eric; Tehachapi, California

Clinton isn't an officer in the military. He doesn't have military training. He's a civilian trained as a politician. So far as I'm aware, he isn't subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice or to any requirement to avoid "Behavior Unbecoming an Officer". We shouldn't try to change that. It might jeopardize the civilian rule of the military. We want the president to be a politician, not a military officer.

— editor

April 1999
Page 2

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

Frontiersman@ida.net

Dear Sam -

Philosophers have been predicting the end of Western civilization for a while. I think the Monica farce was the last nail in the coffin. I often discuss the difference between pagan values & Biblical values when it comes to freedom & honesty (facing reality) in the area of homo & bisexuality. When it comes to the man-woman thing, even the Greeks were conservative & patriarchal, & even hypocritical. They cloistered "good" women, but "whores" were allowed to discuss cultural subjects with the philosophers in public. There are so many things I love about classical culture, but it ain't comin back, & after all, it had its faults anyway. True, they had slaves, but they were honest about it, & they weren't racist, so this is actually one of the areas where they were better than hypocritical, racist, wage-slaving Christianity.

Muslims picked up intolerance & the cloistering of woman from the Jews & Christians. No more fornications before the Baals & Astartes. Bummer. In a mad world without Baals & Astartes to fornicate before, the jihad is the only way to try to free a billion Muslims from Judeo-Christian imperialism. So I support the Taliban, but hope that, like the Iranis, they will gradually liberalize, & get past their Medieval cloistering of women.

But you, the libertarian defender of freedom, advocate cloistering of women. Can't say I understand it. Maybe one has to get outside of all of the once great, now decadent civilizations: India, the Orient, the West, the Muslim World — in each case the exquisite cultural glory that once was is gone, but the patriarchal puritanism lives on, like a zombie of its former self. It seems we must regress to tribalism, with its naturalness which romantics from Tacitus to Rousseau so praised — naturalness in dealing with nature, & in dealing with sex. Used to be one could say: Civilization — something lost & something gained. In this degenerate age, it's all a loss. Take the clean parts of technology — the heritage of all mankind, & synthesize it with tribal naturalness — dump the rest, from Old Testament sex taboos to dada garbage, Pollock slop, Hollywood crap. Then maybe people will be able to see that boys & girls together is no crime, because if it leads to fornications, or only oral sex, before the Baals & Astartes, well, that's no crime either.

Women, minorities, & gays need to form a United Front politically, to develop their freedom, because obviously neither the "libertarians" nor "liberals" are going to lead them to it. The fact that "feminists" in the past have promoted puritanism hardly justifies "freedom-loving libertarians" advocating cloistering.

Sincerely,

— Elliot; N. Merrick, New York

•     I suppose it depends on what you mean by "cloistering of women". I oppose a sexually integrated electorate and sexually integrated workplaces because of the consequences. I never thought of that as cloistering women.
•     "Boys & girls together" isn't a crime unless there's a law against it. Whether or not it's a sin should be irrelevant to the law. Just because something is bad doesn't necessarily mean that it should also be illegal.
•     Women, minorities, and homosexuals need to start thinking about real rights for themselves as people and stop using the government as a source of special privileges for themselves as women, minorities, and homosexuals.
•     If the Greeks cloistered "good" women and let their philosophers talk to "whores", well, maybe they thought the "whores" were more interesting and less likely to repress them. I'm not sure that the distinction is even relevant.

— editor

Hi Sam,

I've been reading your appeals for contributions in recent "Frontiersman" issues, and trying to think of an appropriate way to respond to you. My experience clashes with the idea of sending money to someone just because they need it. In my experience this has not been good either for me or the requester, and the appeals tend to lower my estimation of the requester. I have also experienced fears of the inability to cover short term financial obligations while pursuing what seemed at the time lofty long term objectives ....

I understand your fears about your employability. Though I share many of your frustrations with the government, I've always felt that your approach to bucking the system was somewhat like cutting your nose to spite your face. I try to hinder government encroachments where I can, but I'm not willing to throw away my life in the process.

Anyway I'm pulling for you. If you were in this area, I would be able to offer you quite a few odd jobs for cash, but it's hard at a distance. Maybe Y2K really will crash the government like some people say. We can hope.

— Steve; Fremont, California

Frontiersman@ida.net

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

April 1999

Page 3

Frontiersman
479 E. 700 N.
Firth, Idaho 83236

Another Anniversary
—
Remember Waco.

Buck Hunter Shoots Off His Mouth
Dear Buck

Would you vote for Hillary if she decides to run?

— Curious

Dear Curious

Only if she decides to run for the border.

Acknowledgments
• My thanks to The Affiliate, of Vankleek Hill, Ontario for regularly printing reviews of the Frontiersman.
• My thanks to Sir Donald the Elusive for paying the production costs of this newsletter and for his additional contributions.

— editor

Funnies For You
Source unknown. Sent by Warren, of Pocatello, Idaho
The grand opening of the federal government's new $20 million Indian Health Service hospital in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, was delayed for three months when officials realized they had forgotten to plan for and install a telephone system. (They assumed the Indians would use smoke signals.)
Police in Prince George's County, Maryland, began visiting predominantly black high schools to teach students the proper way to behave when being arrested. (I wonder, did they also instruct them as to the proper response when subjected to police brutality?)

Frontiersman

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Back Issues — Back issues or extra copies of this newsletter are available upon request.

Reprint Policy — Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this newsletter in its entirety or to reproduce material from it, provided that the reproduction is accurate and that proper credit is given. Please note that I do not have the authority to give permission to reprint material that I have reprinted from other publications. For that permission, you must go to the original source. I would appreciate receiving a courtesy copy of any document or publication in which you reprint my material.

Submissions — I solicit letters, articles, and cartoons for the newsletter, but I don't pay for them. Short items are more likely to be printed. I suggest that letters and articles be shorter than 500 words, but that's flexible depending on space available and the content of the piece. I gve credit for all items printed unless the author specifies otherwise.

Payment — This newsletter isn't for sale. If you care to make a voluntary contribution, you may do so. The continued existence of the newsletter will depend, in part, on such contributions. I accept cash and U.S. postage stamps. I don't accept checks, money orders, anything that will smell bad by the time it arrives, or anything that requires me to provide ID or a signature to receive it. In case anybody is curious, I also accept gold, silver, platinum, etc. I'm sure you get the idea.

— Sam Aurelius Milam III, editor

April 1999
Page 4

Frontiersman, 479 E. 700 N., Firth, Idaho 83236
Also see The Pharos Connection at http://www.ida.net/users/pharos/

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