---

Land Owners Are Not Servants

Don’t call Bob Fowler and members of the Ontario Property and Environmental Rights Alliance ‘stewards’ of the land. A steward is, according to Webster’s dictionary, “an officer or employee of a household charged with general administration of its affairs” or “servant”. 

Ontario and other governments began assigning the honorific to farmers in their environmental legislation but because the government doesn’t pay farmers for being stewards, the landowners are really slaves to government policies.

 Fowler, founder of O.P.E.R.A., used this semantic distinction to introduce his address to the Party’s June 8 dinner meeting on Ottawa’s “Species At Risk Act” (SARA) which was introduced in the House of Commons on April 11, and the dangers it poses to our property rights.

 He traced the development of environmental legislation from the 1970s to the present showing how “unease over the global environment is being used by governments to further state control.” Progressive Conservative governments in Ontario and Ottawa prepared the ground for SARA, which tips the sales of justice against landowners.

 Fowler noted that confiscatory land rules are a ‘no lose’ propositions for governments because the costs fall on farmers who have no property rights in our Charter of Rights and far fewer votes than the majority of citizens living in cities. Fowler urged the 20 attendees and the party to campaign for property rights because the land use powers of governments can be as readily applied to suburban lawns as farm fields.

 A copy of John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government was presented to Fowler. Locke, the 17^th Century political philosopher and a principle architect of libertarianism wrote: “Men unite into societies, that they may have the united strength of the whole society to secure and defend their properties.”

Back to Top

Record Turnout for ISIL Conference

Over 200 libertarians from Canada, the U.S. and around the world attended the 20^th Annual conference of the International Society for Individual Liberty, held this year at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London Ontario from July 23 to 28.

"Making the 21st Century the Century of Liberty" was a busy 4-day conference featuring 23 speakers and two panels in four days. University of Western Ontario grad student Jeff McInnis kicked off the conference with his “Dream, Dare, Do,” presentation which included a slide presentation on his adventure sailing the Northwest Passage in an 18 foot Hobie catamaran.

University of Waterloo professor Jan Narveson spoke on "Foundations of Liberty: the Basic Moral Contract." 

Other Canadian speakers included Karen Selick (How Human Rights Laws Violate Individual Rights); Robert Metz (20 Years of Media Madness) with an impressive collection of video clips featuring the Freedom Party; Gayle Remish, our candidate in London (Taking Back Control and Responsibility for Your Child's Education); Terence Corcoran of the National Post (Junk Science and the Media); syndicated columnist George Jonas (International Courts: Al Capone Judging Jack the Ripper); and marihuana entrepreneur Mark Emery (Using Capitalistic Civil Disobedience to End the Worldwide Prohibition of Cannabis).

Conference attendee, Jim MacIntosh, offers the following highlights of the event

One of Terry Corcoran's examples was a report in the National Post that non-smokers had more sex than smokers.  It reported that smokers only had sex, on average, six times per week (!) while non-smokers averaged twelve (yes, 12) times per week!!  What the story did not report was that the subjects were all involved in a fertility clinic and were trying desperately to have a baby.

Mark Emery was probably the most animated and enthusiastic speaker.  And well he should be; he is making a few million dollars each year from his "Capitalistic Civil Disobedience," most of which he uses to promote libertarian projects.  He has been arrested ten times, convicted on 23 charges related to selling and promoting marihuana, and had his assets seized four times. His latest project is www.pottv.net.  His next project is to run candidates in every riding (at $1,000 deposit each) for the "Marihuana Party."

Carla Howell, the Libertarian candidate for U.S Senate in  Massachusetts gave a stirring campaign speech.  Her opposition is 38 year veteran Ted Kennedy, "… the Prime Architect of today's Big Government." She hammered home the message that Big Government Programs don't work, make things worse, and divert money and energy from positive and productive uses.  Her motto is "small government is beautiful" and pledged to vote "… small government.  Every issue.  Every time. No exceptions.  No excuses."

One of the things that impressed me most were the novel (to me) ideas presented by several of the speakers. Stefan Blankertz from the University of Bonn in Germany (Tribal Anarchy: an Old Model for a New Stateless Society) explained how many societies maintained harmony without any government.  Their successful anarchy was based on kinship, or family; everyone is related to everyone else in the tribe.  Few people will commit aggression against a relative, but when it happens, other relatives will quickly come to the defence of the victim. When two members of the tribe had a dispute, they chose a wise relative to judge their case.  These "judges" had no power to enforce their settlements aside from their reputation for fairness and the support of the tribe.  They understood the need for equal rights which led them to support property rights; those that did not would not be asked to settle many disputes.

Somalia may be an example of a tribal society.  Michael Van Notten and Jim Davidson (Building Roads in Somalia) have been working with several of the tribes in this "country" since the end of the civil war.  Their company is planning with one tribe on the coast to build a seaport, and with several other tribes to build roads from the port to major cities and to neighbouring Ethiopia. They won't be able to collect tolls on the roads through the desert, but expect to make money in the mountains, where it is much harder to bypass the toll booths.

Austrian economist Guido Hülsmann spoke on Secession and Stateless Military Defense.  He suggested that Guerilla warfare could be more successful if it was based on property rights of both friend and foe.

This unity of principle would be a good substitute for unity of command and allow many disconnected groups to achieve success. Presentations were scheduled to complete at 4:45 PM each day, but frequently went later because of the interest and Q&A sessions after each speaker.  From 5:00 to 6:00 PM each speaker had a "lounge" and was available for further discussions in smaller groups.  And of course there were many other discussions over excellent meals in the Delaware Hall cafeteria.

The 20th Annual World Conference of ISIL is in Dax, France, July 1-5, 2001.  It will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Frederick Bastiat's birth.  A tour of southern France July 5-8, 2001 is also available. See www.bastiat.net/en/ for details.

Congratulations to Mary Lou Gutscher for organizing a hugely successful conference and to Shirley Yamada (former member of the Ontario Libertarian Party now resident in Costa Rica) who helped make the conference run smoothly.

Mary Lou Gutscher writes: The conference was an attendance record breaker and attendees rated this the best conference overall and especially the speakers and the organizers of events. The conference showcased a dozen Canadian speakers as well as libertarian legends John Hospers, Barbara Branden and Tibor Machan.

Close to 40 volunteers helped organize the conference. The survey of attendees rated the customer service team, 4.5 out of possible 5.0 for their making everyone's experience a pleasure. A barbecue is being held in September to thank the organizers and supporters.

Events included a talent show and a balladeer. There was an outstanding banquet and dance in beautiful Great Hall at Somerville House. A silent auction raised almost $10,000, including $1000 for a 10-minute shoulder and neck massage from yours truly!

There was a post-conference tour to Niagara Falls including dinner at the Skylon tower, a ride on the Maid of the Mist, a theatre performance at Niagara on the Lake, Barbara Branden’s commentary on the making of "The Passion of Ayn Rand" movie, plus dinner at the CN Tower.

For more events and projects in the works, contact Mary Lou Gutscher at mlgutscher@free-market.net or phone 416-250-5543.

Back to Top

---

Leader’s Report Sam Apelbaum  

Our party is in better shape now than it has been in years. But, though our enthusiasm, participation and party finances are improved, our further progress continues to be slow.

 Our primary difficulty lies in public expectations of political parties. It is difficult to generate interest and commitment if electoral success is the primary measure of our party. It is whimsy to believe any libertarian political party has any hope of winning an election, or, for that matter, even a solitary riding, in today’s Ontario.  Unfortunately, far too many of our sympathizers, sharing the public despair for our electoral prospects, no longer contribute much time, money and effort to further the libertarian cause through our party. We need to change how our party is viewed if we are to move ahead.

We need to get the attention of our sympathizers and the general public by making it apparent that our party has more reason for being than a narrow concern with winning elections in Ontario.  To this end your party executive and I are currently working on creating a defining and inspiring statement for our party

I advocate a statement that will consist of our party vision, our purpose and our core values.  I would like it to be succinct and readily understood.  It should be clearly apparent we are seeking the advancement of humanity, whether or not we get instant agreement that individual liberty is a prerequisite for that advancement.

Such a statement will allow us to quickly disarm those who automatically categorize libertarians as uncaring self-centred individuals.  It will also afford us the opportunity of introducing what we stand for to the uninitiated without having to launch into a lengthy explanation of libertarianism.  The creation of this statement may appear a trite exercise to some, but a powerful statement will allow us to operate from elevated moral ground. The power of the words we speak is not to be underestimated.

By the time you receive the next issue of this Bulletin I expect we will have completed this endeavour. In the meantime, if you have any ideas you wish to share about this, let me know.

Back to Top

---

Chairman’s Report George Dance  

Altruism. Rereading Ayn Rand (see my last column) has got me thinking again about some of the ideas that she discussed.    One of the most controversial was reflected in the title of her book on ethics, *The Virtue of Selfishness* (Signet 1964): her championing of selfishness and her attacks on altruism.  It is sometimes charged that she redefined those words her own way; that may be the case, but is not the point.  Rand saw herself as engaged in a battle not of semantics but of ideas, and she battled the idea she called "altruism," not the word itself.

Dictionaries define "altruism" as "selfless devotion to the welfare of others."  Rand opposed that not so much as behavior, but as a moral principle:  The less selfish an act, the more virtuous; serving others is moral, while serving oneself cannot be.   Or, as she put it logically though extremely, "service to others is the only justification of [a person's] existence, and ... self-sacrifice is his highest moral duty, virtue, and value." (34)

Humans may be born selfish, but altruism's roots go almost as deep. Controlling natural selfishness has always been seen as needed in socializing or "taming" humans.   Children are taught from early on to obey and to share.   (Often children who do not are beaten; and while we consider it wrong to assault another human, all but a few would say that such discipline is necessary and even good).

In history, too, altruism goes far back.  Primitive man lived in tribes engaged in continuous struggle, first with wild animals and then with other human tribes.  Tribes' survival and propagation depended on how well individual interests were repressed and  replaced with loyalty to the tribal interest.  Konrad Lorenz, in *On Aggression* (Methuen 1966), explains well how the altruistic virtues (loyalty, solidarity, fraternity, even friendship and love) evolved due to the facts of intertribal warfare. 

We have made great material advances since then.  But, it has often been said, our moral progress was much slower.   Religion took over the principle of altruism intact, inventing gods as the "others" (along with their priests) to be served.  Christianity urged man away from self-love, labeled concern with the body and its appetites as sinful, denounced wealth accumulation, and preached  obedience.

In modern philosophy and politics, altruism was checked by new principles of autonomy and rights.   But it remained fundamental to ethics.  The influential philosopher Immanuel Kant, for example, taught that moral action had to contain no motives of self-interest whatever. No act was moral if one hoped to get the slightest benefit from it, even if only the satisfaction of acting morally!