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A Word From the Publisher
Included in this issue of
L. Neil Smith’s The
Libertarian Enterprise is an article by my valued friend
Michael Badnarik, former Presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party,
back when that was something respectable. I hadn’t realized until now that
Scouting was important in Michael’s life the same way that it was in mine.
That nay be why I liked him so well, right away. One reason that I was
such a Robert A. Heinlein fan was that Scouting was important to the Old
Man, too.
Unfortunately, Scouting has fallen on hard times. It began as early as
the Sixties, when the Boy Scouts of America organization fell victim to
every stupid, trendy fad that was thrown at it, ever striving to become
more hip, more urban, more “inclusive”, more politically correct. There
seemed to be less and less room for the representatives and defenders of
Western Civilization who had created it in the first place. I toyed,
myself with the idea of starting a new group, centered around Western
values and the exploration of “the final frontier”—I even outlined a
“Space Scout” handbook or manual—but sadly failed to stir up enough
interest.
Now the BSA has been implicated in an apparent series of
child-molestations—terrible, if true—and has been compelled to establish a
billion-dollar fund to compensate the alleged victims, bankrupting the
organization, and ending its beneficial influence over the lives of
millions of boys, just exactly as our left-wing enemies would wish. Legal
scavengers have descended to tear big, bloody chunks out of the quivering
carcass. The ambulance-chasers are advertising on TV.
I will not deny the possibility that some criminal low-lives somewhere
have violated the trust placed in them by abusing the children in their
charge. The practice has become shockingly widespread in our culture. All
I can say is that I was a Scout of one kind or another from the time I was
eight, and a Bear in the Cub Scouts (I missed Wolf), to the time I was
sixteen in the Explorers and discovered girls—and a new kind of exploring.
The happiest day of the month was always when Boy’s Life Magazine
arrived in the mail. Perhaps the proudest moment in my life was achieving
the rank of Eagle, back when it was really difficult.
But at no time, in all those years—an eternity to a kid—did anyone ever
try to molest me, blow in my ear, or even waggle a suggestive eyebrow at
me. I probably would have hit them with the hatchet I still possess, right
here in my office. It may help that my mom was a den-mother, and my dad
was always active in my troop, but I never even smelled a whiff of
impropriety.
I don’t suppose that anything can be done at this point. An
irreplaceable part of American culture has been savagely destroyed and we
can only argue about who is responsible. I wistfully regard my Boy Scout
days, I miss my fellow Scouts, and I sadly mourn for the BSA.
L. Neil Smith, Publisher and Senior Columnist
L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise
ARTICLES
The Editor’s Notes
adventures in going to the doctor
• READ ARTICLE
Letters to the Editor
from Jeff Fullerton, A.X. Perez, and Bill St. Clair
• READ ARTICLE
Thoughts In Isolation
by L. Neil Smith
It’s a failing on my part, I realize, but it’s hard for
me not to like or dislike actors and actresses on the basis of the
characters that they portray. That’s why I was delighted, for example, to
discover that Tom Selleck, who has played many likeable roles, such as
Thomas Sullivan Magnum, Jesse Stone, Matthew Quigley, and Frank Reagan, is
a solid supporter of President Donald Trump.
• READ ARTICLE
Assume a Spherical Cow of Uniform Density in a Frictionless Vacuum
by Sarah A. Hoyt
I‘m not a physicist, nor do I play one on TV. And I did
not sleep at Holiday Inn last night. But my kids took way more physics
than needed for either of their degrees, and despite being 3 years apart
in schooling took those classes together in college.
• READ ARTICLE
Education and the Coronavirus:
Trying to Look on the Bright Side
by Sean Gabb
Whether the Coronavirus is the Spanish Flu come again I
cannot say, and will not try. We shall have some grounds for knowing by
Easter, and may have confirmation next year, when the annual mortality
figures are published. Something I can say, however, is that the response
to the Virus will have large and continuing effects. Many things will
return to normal after the lockdown. Much else will not. As ever with
those things that change, there will be a new set of winners and losers.
And, where education is concerned, I can hope that I shall stand in the
queue of the winners—not, I suppose, anywhere near the front, but
somewhere in it, modestly and gratefully picking up such additional
crumbs as may fall to me in the market where I earn much of my regular
income.
• READ ARTICLE
Exceeding Expectations
by Michael Badnarik
I was a Boy Scout for twelve years. Later, I served as a
Scoutmaster for four different troops, accumulating ten more years in the
Scouting program. The BSA used to train boys how to grow up to be
honorable, trustworthy men. This is something I think is severely lacking
in today’s society. Nonetheless, when I lived in California, I worked in a
computer group doing research and development for Pacific Gas & Electric.
My supervisor was a great guy, with a deliberately gruff exterior. He
walked up and threw a piece of paper on my desk. Then he snarled, “Sign
this!”, which I did immediately. Then he said, “Great. Now you’re my
Assistant Scoutmaster.” We both pretended that he had coerced me into the position.
• READ ARTICLE
Found Guilty
by Jim Davidson
Sarah Pinero watched the grand jury come back into
the room. They had been deliberating separately for only twenty minutes.
The assembled crowd which now completely filled the room had been joined
by eighty-seven media drones. These represented news organisations from
all over North America, and included several pool feeds for more distant
places. Outside in courtyards around the building, large screens conveyed
the views from the two closed circuit television cameras mounted above the
doors at the far end of the room from Sarah’s dais.
• READ ARTICLE
Florida Room Update
by Jeff Fullerton
Late night and all is well. For now. It’s the calm
before the storm as I lay down for the night after a busy evening in the
Florida Room and in and around the house in general getting ready for what
might be the start of the wave that is about to crash down upon the
community hospital where I’ve worked as a Technical Partner—formerly
Emergency Technician / “Glorified Orderly” since 1994.
• READ ARTICLE
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You can get it right now Amazon.com:
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Paperback
Nominated for the Prometheus Award of the Libertarian Futurist Society
|
Another book just recently issued in Kindle format:
Roswell, Texas
by L. Neil Smith and Rex F. May, Illustrated by Scott Bieser, Colored by Jen Zach
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Trigger Warning: This issue of this magazine (like all the
others) may contain:
Humor, Snark, Truth, Thoughts That Might Be Different Than
Yours, Ideas You Never Thought Of, Things You Never Heard
Of, and so on.
There are NO “Safe Spaces!”
YOU have been WARNED! 
To submit articles, letters-of-comment, cartoons, pictures, etc., email: [email protected]
L. Neil Smith personally recommends Climate Depot
as the best general source of infomation on the subject.
|
The Down With Power audiobook read by Brian Wilson
Get it here!
Americans Have Obeyed Their Last Gun Law
A cyberpamphlet by L. Neil Smith
|
Holsters and Sheaths from Survival Sheath Systems
Used and recommended by L. Neil Smith
Take a look at:
survivalsheath.com
|
Agenda 21: The United Nations Programme of Action
Planning for Your future, serf!
Read all about it!:
Download .pdf
View publication
The Last Sonuvabitch of Klepton Archive
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