As a child I assumed that government was useful, complex, and understood by experts; like the insides of a radio. I learned how wrong I was by studying market economics and gradually realized that excessive faith in government is a major barrier to human progress. I became an activist in the late sixties and have been speaking and writing about libertarianism ever since.
Our desperate political situation and positive feedback from movement leaders finally gave me the courage to edit years of mixed writings into this book. Instead of new facts or detailed analysis here are new ways to understand and communicate basic libertarianism. Some pieces written for libertarians may be confusing to the new reader but many are written as outreach to groups such as greens or humanists. Read them in any order.
My criticism of government is not aimed at the people in it. Bad ideas about government do more harm than bad people in government. Changing the rulers without changing their ideas is useless.
The Libertarian Party is mentioned often but there are dozens of other good libertarian organizations. The struggle against political oppression has many fronts and is lead by many different groups. See the lists of organizations in the appendixes.
Believing your time is valuable, I tend to compress my writing down to the bare ideas. If they seem stark and sharp that is the price of brevity. There are many longer, gentler, well written libertarian books out there for your ongoing enjoyment and education. See the suggested readings list in the appendix.
No one can speak for all libertarians so I apologize in advance to any who feel they have been misrepresented. I try to describe, not create, but the boundary between the two is soft.
Feel free to photocopy, fax, transmit, and upload these articles to advance the cause. Permission is granted to publish individual articles if credit is given and you send me a copy of the publication. Please also send comments and copies of reviews.
Read with your own eyes, think with your own mind, and share what you like.
For a copy of the book (with disk) postage paid send $10 to:
P. O. Box 642
Safety Harbor FL 34695-0642
United States
P.S. There is a senator from Nevada named Harry Reid who is not connected with me or this book in any way.