An Important Message from L. Neil Smith
By L. Neil Smith
[email protected]
Special to The Libertarian Enterprise
Greetings:
I'm sending this to as many folks as possible with the request
that they pass it on, especially to lists and other such places.
It's come to my attention that a person named Martin Lindstet has
been posting messages urging an alliance between libertarians and
various racists or neofascists, and advocating violent acts against
innocent people. What's worse -- at least from my viewpoint -- is
that he claims to be acting on principles I've espoused over 20 years
in my novels, essays, and speeches.
It's not the first time something like this has happened. People
will read anything they wish into what they read; if they have an ax
to grind it can get fairly demented. A few years ago I was accused by
a stooge of one of the Libertarian Party's most unprincipled hacks of
being a right-wing crazy because I live in the same state as Focus on
the Family! I've also been called a "thug" in the national LP paper
because of my lifelong advocacy of self-defense.
Not long ago, a sleazy little Canadian magazine tried to smear me
by associating my name with racists and neofascists on the internet
because I wrote a piece arguing that the Oklahoma City bombing was a
direct consequence of Clinton Administration policies, and warning
that it would probably be used as an excuse to suppress dissent.
Those interested in seeing my reaction to this accusation may read
it at http://www.lneilsmith.org//frying-c.html. Perhaps I made a
mistake in choosing not to sue these "journalists". At the very least
it might have prevented the situation I have to take time and energy
away from my work to deal with now.
For the record: as far back as memory reaches (50 years or so),
racism has been the definition of stupidity in my family, a way of
announcing to the world that you're a brain-dead protoplasmic lump. A
person's race is never the first thing I notice; I'm more concerned
with where he or she stands on Bill of Rights enforcement.
Similarly, for something like 36 years, I've been an adherent of
the Non-Aggression Principle, which states that no one has a right,
under any circumstances, to initiate force against another individual.
So vocal have I been about it that some self-styled libertarians
(those who called me a right-wing crazy and a thug) hate me because I
hamper their effort to "bend" libertarian philosophy "just a little"
to make it more palatable to nonlibertarian contributors. Their hatred
doesn't bother me; when I think about it at all, I consider it a badge
of honor.
As far as being fellow "exiles" from the LP (another of Lindstet's
claims) I've never seen it that way. I'm the most widely-published
and prolific libertarian writer in the world. I am libertarianism
to millions of readers. My books are read by many times the number
who ever voted for any LP presidential candidate, and I'm content that
it's my "version" of libertarianism that'll survive to influence the
course of future events. It's today's ruling minority of bad apples
within the LP who (along with the racists and neofascists) will be
"exiled" -- by history.
I bring all this up because it should be clear that the Non-
Aggression Principle -- which is all libertarianism consists of,
nothing more, nothing less -- makes any alliance between libertarians
and neofascists impossible. Fascism in all its many and varied forms
consists of little besides the glorification of initiated force.
Fascism is the antithesis and natural enemy of libertarianism.
Put another way, I oppose the Clintons because -- particularly in
matters like Ruby Ridge and Waco, but also for the utter contempt they
show the Bill of Rights -- they act just like Nazis. I don't see how
allying myself with more Nazis would help things.
To anyone who doubts what I've said here, I urge you to examine my
web site or read any of my novels. I'd suggest you begin with my
first, The Probability Broach, or with my latest, Bretta Martyn.
This Lindstet has also implicated two other fine libertarian
writers whom I'll leave to speak for themselves. To Lindstet and
those behind him, I say this: I am not your ally but your enemy. I
am not your mentor but your nemesis. The purpose of my work (when
I'm not striving to prevent the bloody upheaval that the Clintons and
their ilk seem hell-bent on fomenting) is to send things like you
scuttling back under the rocks and baseboards where they belong.
Maybe I made a mistake not suing that nasty little magazine. If
so, I won't make the same mistake again. I'll bury you in lawyers;
you'll spend the rest of your life in court; win or lose, you'll have
to give up everything you possess or ever hoped to possess, unless you
immediately cease associating my hard-earned name and reputation with
your evil and stupid opinions.
Better yet, why not denounce me? I'd consider it another badge of
honor.
Novelist and political essayist L. Neil Smith has been characterized
by one disgruntled reader as having written the "single most repugnant
... piece of tripe ... ever seen in an American newspaper." In his
spare time, he's also the Prometheus Award-winning author of 19 novels
(and counting), as well as founder and publisher of The Libertarian
Enterprise http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/index.html. Order his books
from Amazon.com at his home web site "L. Neil Smith's Webley Page" at
http://www.lneilsmith.org//index.html, from Laissez Faire Books
at http://www.laissezfaire.com or call toll-free at 1-800-326-0996.