Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

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Eric Flint RIP

The science fiction and fantasy author Eric Flint passed away 17 July, 2022. He is most famous for his Assiti Shards/ Ring of Fire/Grantville series¹, though he had just finished his Rivers of War series². He collaborated with other authors, both in and out of his Assiti Shard series/shared universe.

In spite of being an unabashed socialist most of the authors he collaborated with were conservatives and or libertarian. All have expressed admiration for him and respect for his opinions and how he expressed them, even if they did not agree. It should be noted that his Ring of Fire stories are set in the 1630's when capitalism was replacing feudalism (actually manorialism) as the economic system and thus many of his stories and those of people "playing in his sandbox" support capitalism.

In spite of his leftist leanings Mr. Flint was a supporter of liberty, a good man according to those who knew him, and a damn good writer and editor.

Rest in peace.

Albert Perez
[email protected]

1. Flint's Ring of Fire series led to the creation of Ring of Fire Press, printing mostly spin offs by his collaborators and what can best be described as fan fic writers who made good. The mostly is quite important as work that is not part of the Assiti Shards series is being published by them. I'm sure Flint was amused that his work led to the creation of a somewhat successful capitalist venture.

2. The first two titles in this series were originally published by del Rey. The first was reprinted by Baen in July of 2022, the second in November. The third is slated to come out in 2023.

Why Environmentalists Cause Climate Change

I’m glad I’m not the only person on Earth who can see this every time they run a story about climate change , the war in Ukraine or the water shortages in California and the southwest.

“Policymakers, journalists, conservationists and other educated elites in the fifties and sixties knew that nuclear was unlimited energy, and that unlimited energy meant unlimited food and water. We could use desalination to convert ocean water into freshwater. We could create fertilizer without fossil fuels. And we could create transportation fuels without fossil fuels by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to make an artificial hydrocarbon or by using water to make pure hydrogen gas”.

Why Environmentalists Cause Climate Change

Jeff Fullerton
[email protected]

Issue 1166

Dear Editor,

I thoroughly enjoyed Issue 1166. Cornelius' romp across the continent on the [slightly] upgraded Pony Express ("A Cross-Country Bus Trip in the US: 2022") was as entertaining as it must have been, at times, terrifying. We need more purposeful levity in our lives just now.

Fran Van Cleave's "Kids, Drugs, and School Shootings" is a long overdue expose of just how hideously dysfunctional our medical system (which, by the way, collects and publishes statistics interestingly devoid of its culpability for the crises it decries) has become. I suspect, and invite investigation into, just how large a role the current medical insurance industry plays in the travesties that plague our children and our social structure.

Your own article ("A Radical Proposal on Privacy") on the "real" destruction of privacy currently being waged against those of us who have no shield of government approved propagandists/apologists touches on issues that need to be tackled not only within the culture at large, but within libertarian philosophical niches as well.

Neil's "The Smoking Goons" reminds us just how little push it takes if authority wishes to identify you as an enemy.

Congratulations on an excellent issue.

To those of you who wish to see this publication continue, please consider writing to us for publication on a topic that inflames your passions, piques your interest, or boils your blood. It's not necessary to have the answers. It is always crucial to pose the questions.

Cathy L.Z. Smith
co-Publisher
L. Neil Smith's
The Libertarian Enterprise
[email protected]

Thank you! High praise, indeed.

One reason I went with that article of Neil's is that, having been successful with the tobacco companies, some of the same culprits are trying the same techniques on the oil majors, so far without much success. Never give them an inch! — Editor