Every movement has its share of fringe people. There is a bell-shaped curve of brilliant people, normal people, and outright kooks.
The interesting thing that I find in my life is that I get outraged emails only from the kooks. I don't get emails that are highly critical from people who have written a book or who have a regular column on a site that pays its columnists. I may get an argument about this or that minor point, but, on the whole, authors who spend their lives writing, and who therefore spend their lives dealing with fruitcakes, prefer not to send emails to other authors, exposing their weaknesses. Either they ignore these weaknesses or else they go into print to lambaste the deviant.
Anybody who sends emails to professional authors, demanding that they repent or recant for this or that supposed deviation from this or that supposed position, are people with too much time on their hands. They are virtually assuring the recipients of the letter that the sender is a fruitcake.
With this in mind, let me quote a recent email from a certifiable fruitcake. This one is a libertarian fruitcake. He is also an anti-Zionist.
There are plenty of crackpot anti-Zionists who are deeply anti-Semitic. They are usually on the Right, although Social Credit Lefties sometimes are anti-Semitic, because of the banking issue. They warn against the IJBC: the International Jewish Banking Conspiracy. This anti-Semitism goes back to the American Populist movement.
This one is just anti-Zionist.
I recently recommended a product that I have thoroughly enjoyed, Sodastream. It is an inexpensive device that lets you carbonate water. I find that I drink a lot more water when it is carbonated, and it is really cheap to carbonate it by using Sodastream.
In other words, here is a company that sells a product that offers a valuable service, and it sells the product at a very low price.
Second, it is made in the State of Israel. I knew about its policy of hiring a lot of Arabs. It offers wages way above market rates for Arabs who normally would not be able to get good jobs. In an attack on the company by an unnamed Palestinian employee, the man admits that 90% of the 850 workers are Palestinians, and that they are paid three to four times the wage paid by the Palestinian Authority. Yet he insists: "We Palestinian workers in this factory always feel like we are enslaved." My suggestion: they should battle this enslavement by quitting. This will allow Arabs who want to be enslaved to replace them. It would take maybe a day.
Third, I love creative ads. This is one the best ads I have ever seen. It was rejected by the Super Bowl ad committee, because it targets rival brands. Does it ever!
With this as background, here is the email I received.
I've been getting your weekly email prmotion for years. I was just about to finally subscribe - until your endorsement of Soda Stream hit my inbox. Now, I know you're an erudite and informed individual. Otherwise, I would have unsubscibed to your weekly email links years ago. Therefore, I'm puzzuled by this. Surely, you would be familiar with - particularly as a Libertarian - the manifest reasonss not to contribute financial support to companies like soda Stream which operate in concert with the illegal Colonialist Military Ocupation of The West Bank. Further, in light of the incalculable financial expense to US Taxpayers and their involuntary sacrifieces to enable the ongoing human rights crimes perpetrated by Israel against the indigenous population for over 50 years, I can only surmise that your own purportedly libertarian principles aren't very credible... to put it mildly. If I'm wrong, you should publish an amended statement disavowing your bizarre support of this company and, indeed, all such operations that benefit from oppression and flagrant human rights abuses that flout international law. ..that is, if you really have the courage of your convictions.
This man is a free-riding libertarian. He has received my "Tip of the Week" emails for years. And he was almost ready to subscribe to www.GaryNorth.com. Almost. I mean, he almost had his credit card out. Really. But then. . . .
He refers to the "manifest reasonss not to contribute financial support to companies like soda Stream which operate in concert with the illegal Colonialist Military Ocupation of The West Bank." Actually, I am unaware of such libertarian reasons, manifest or otherwise. I understand that individuals make voluntary transactions with each other. But, as for boycotting companies that are under the jurisdiction of the (capitalized) Colonial Military Occupation of the West Bank, I had not heard of such a principle. I have heard of the non-aggression principle, but I have not heard of the secondary boycott principle. How about a third-level boycott? Fourth? Fifth? That is what he is threatening me with, all in the name of libertarianism. Let me explain this.
1. Tyranny by Colonialist Military Occupation (CMO).
2. A free market company operates under the CMO.
3. This free market company hires victims of the CMO.
4. A free weekly newsletter recommends (once) the product of this company.
5. A personal boycott of the website that sends out free newsletter.
I have difficulty following the non-aggression principle to stage 5.
But I digress. "Further, in light of the incalculable financial expense to US Taxpayers and their involuntary sacrifieces to enable the ongoing human rights crimes perpetrated by Israel against the indigenous population for over 50 years, I can only surmise that your own purportedly libertarian principles aren't very credible... to put it mildly."
So, let me get this straight. I recommend a voluntary transaction for mutual benefits among (1) Palestinians who work for a company that serves as their sales agent in the West, (2) owners of this company, and (3) customers who like low-cost carbonated drinks. This is a violation of libertarian principles, we are told.
If this is correct, then libertarianism mandates a system of multi-stage, hierarchical boycotts against the victims of long-term violations of the non-aggression principle by the state. Or, to put it bluntly, "let the victims starve."
Next, "If I'm wrong, you should publish an amended statement disavowing your bizarre support of this company and, indeed, all such operations that benefit from oppression and flagrant human rights abuses that flout international law." Excuse me? International law? Libertarian international law? How is libertarian international law different from libertarian neighborhood law? Or is he talking about the United Nations Organization? Or maybe the World Court?
OK, I'm beating up a libertarian with somewhat limited intellectual abilities -- not to mention limited spelling abilities. But this an aspect of the problem. The people in the middle of the bell-shaped curve don't send outraged emails to strangers who have been writing professionally for 40 or 50 years. It is only those on the far left-hand side of the curve who do.
If you don't like something that someone writes, post a detailed criticism on your blog. If you don't have a blog, get one. WordPress.com is free.
In each movement, there are kooks. Be aware of them. Hope that they do not start a blog.
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