kfl%mx.lcs.mit.edu@mc.lcs.mit.edu (08/27/86)
From: ~joe testa~ <TESTA-J%OSU-20@ohio-state.ARPA>
Just out of curiosity, how long has this digest been dominated by
discussions about libertarianism?
Well, the current round goes back about six weeks. It started on
the MetaPhilosophers list on which various philosophers were being
discussed and I tossed Objectivism into the ring. The discussion
turned inevitably from Rand's philosophy to her politics, so I started
CCing to this digest, which was pretty moribund at the time.
I recently looked at the oldest archives I could find online, which
are five years old. At that time JoSH@RUTGERS (J. Storrs Hall) sent
many messages propounding libertarianism. None of those messages
would seem out of place if they appeared today. I was on the list at
that time, but didn't send very many messages. JoSH handled the
unbelievers quite well, and he was twice as eloquent as I am.
This list was originally a spinoff from the then very active and now
nearly inactive HUMAN-NETS list in 1980. The original subject was how
to make voting more representative of the will of the people.
I'm not complaining at all; it just seems fascinating that a
medium with such a potentially large subject range tends to be
restricted to one topic.
It's not just one topic. The libertarian position about virtually
everything has been discussed. As have the various non-libertarian
positions. Libertarianism is the most important thing that is
happening in politics. The Republicans and Democrats are
intellectually bankrupt. The Socialist program is hateful to all free
people. And all the other third parties are one issue parties.
This list is not "restricted" to one topic. Anyone can send any
sort of message they want.
(Perhaps it should be renamed the "libertarian-arguments-digest",
or better yet the "Keith-Lynch-and-a-few-friends-take-on-the-
world-digest"? :-)
This isn't the only list which would qualify for the latter
designation. I am quite active on several other lists. :-)
I think my "friends" are more numerous than you might think. Almost
all of the messages seem to at least implicitly advocate moving the
country in the libertarian direction. Some just don't want to move it
as far as others. Nobody, for instance, has defended Social Security
as it now exists. Nobody has put in a good word for the milk
millionaire boondoggle. Nobody has suggested that higher taxes would
be a neat idea. Nobody has had a favorable word for the Meese
pornography commission.
...Keith
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