A BIG WELCOME TO
******* F R E E E X C H A N G E ! *******
A San Francisco Supper Club
Dedicated to Rationality, Objectivity, Free Minds,
and Free Markets.ON SATURDAY EVENING,
SEPTEMBER 18, 2004 THERE WILL BEA DEBATE with DR. IVAN ELAND and TIM STARR on:
"WHAT IS THE PROPER FOREIGN POLICY
FOR A FREE SOCIETY?"DESCRIPTION:
For most of us the tragedy of September 11, 2001 was appalling and
heartbreaking. But the response to this terrible event by the US
government,
particularly the war on Iraq, has evoked heated and
emotionally-charged arguments among
libertarians and Objectivists regarding the appropriateness or
morality of this
response.
Libertarian non-interventionist doves seem to follow the Rothbardian
model,
and come in many varieties. On the other hand, libertarian hawks do
not
necessarily support much of US foreign policy, past or present. They
too are of
varying stripes.
Randy Barnett, famed Objectivist/libertarian legal scholar put it
this way:
"Given the stance of most of the Liberty &Power contributors on the
'war on
terror' in general, and the Iraqi war in particular, the time may be
ripe for a
full fledged debate on the relationship between libertarianism and
foreign
policy. It appears that there is an assumption on the part of many
libertarian
intellectuals that libertarian principles entail a very specific
version of
"non-interventionism" in foreign policy.
"I believe that this is a categorical mistake, and that
non-interventionism (which I favor), and its exact contours, does
not follow deductively from
libertarian first principles. In other words, two people holding
exactly the
same commitments to libertarian principles can favor radically
different foreign
policies. I realize that this is a cryptic observation, but I do
fear that
the recent anti war vociferousness of some libertarian
intellectuals, of whom I
have the highest regard and respect, may unfairly tag all
libertarians with a
very particular set of foreign policy positions about which even
radical
libertarians actually differ.
"I confess that my instincts here are driven by the fact that I
disagree
sharply with the anti war stance of these libertarians, and they
with me, but
I do not believe my libertarian principles, or my commitment to
them, have
changed in the slightest. Because I think neither has theirs,
~something other
than libertarian first principles are at stake.~ (EMPHASIS ADDED)
About all this
I am open to reasoned argument. I have not given this matter any
sustained or
systematic thought, but the time may be nigh to do so."
This debate may well be enlightening for even the most
well-informed
libertarians. It is my fervent hope that everyone, debaters and
audience alike,
will come away with a deeper respect for the view that opposes their
own. Don't
miss this !!
NOTE: The debate being advertised by press release to local papers
and the
LP News. RESERVATIONS BY E-MAIL OR PHONE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED,
(although the
floor will be available). ;>)
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:
IVAN ELAND, representing the anti-interventionist side, is Senior
Fellow and
Director of the Center on Peace &Liberty at The Independent
Institute and
Assistant Editor of "The Independent Review." Dr. Eland is a
graduate of Iowa
State University where he received an MBA in applied economics. He
received a
Ph.D. in national security policy from George Washington University.
He has been
Director of Defense Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, Principal
Defense
Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office, Evaluator-in-Charge
(national
security and intelligence) for the US General Accounting Office, and
Investigator for
the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He has testified on the
military and
financial aspects of NATO expansion before the Senate Foreign
Relations
Committee, and on CIA oversight before the House Government Reform
Committee, and the
Department of Homeland Security before the Senate Judiciary
Committee.
Dr. Eland is the author of "Putting Defense Back into US Defense
Policy:
Rethinking US Security in the Post-Cold War World" and "The Efficacy
of Economic
Sanctions as a Foreign Policy Tool." He is a contributor to numerous
volumes,
and the author of forty-five in-depth studies on national security
issues. His
articles have appeared in "Arms Control Today," "Bulletin of the
Atomic
Scientists," "Emory Law Journal," "The Independent Review," "Issues
in Science and
Technology" (National Academy of Sciences), "Mediterranean
Quarterly," "Middle
East and International Review," "Middle East Policy," "Nexus," and
"Northwestern Journal of International Affairs."Dr. Eland's popular writings have appeared in such publications as
the "Los
Angeles Times," "USA Today," "Houston Chronicle," "Philadelphia
Inquirer,"
"Dallas Morning News," "Insight," "San Diego Union-Tribune,"
"Washington Post,"
"Miami Herald," "St. Louis Post-Dispatch," "Newsday," "Sacramento
Bee," "Orange
County Register," "Chicago Sun-Times," "Washington Times" and
"Defense News."
He has appeared on ABC's "World News Tonight," NPR's "Talk of the
Nation,"
PBS, Fox News Channel, CNBC, CNN, CNN "Crossfire," CNN-fn, CNN
International,
C-SPAN, MSNBC, CBC, Radio Free Europe, Voice of America, BBC, and
other local,
national, and international TV and radio programs.
TIM STARR, representing the pro-self-defense through preemption
side,
attended UC Santa Barbara. Afterwards, as a Libertarian Party
staffer, he campaigned
for Marrou for President in 1992, and was a member and volunteer for
the
Libertarian Party of California for several years afterwards.
Mr. Starr is a military historian and scholar, having read over a
thousand
books on international history, especially military history, as well
as on
foreign policy and other topics. He will bring little-known facts to
bear on this
subject.
Tim Starr has lectured and debated at Free Exchange several times in
recent
years, and most recently gave a talk this summer at the Eris Society
Conference
in Aspen, Colorado, on "Why War Is Not Necessarily the Health of the
State."
He also participated the same day in a debate on "War on Terror? or
War on
Freedom?" .
Mr. Starr also is a contributor to the "Freedom Network News," the
newsletter/ magazine of the International Society for Individual
Liberty. Tim has
attended the last 11 ISIL world conferences.
Since 9-11, Mr. Starr has created a yahoo list for pro-war
libertarians
called "FightForLiberty," and is working on a website of the same
name. Its URL
will be FightForLiberty.org.
Tim Starr's profession is the computer industry as a consultant and
in
startup companies. Currently Mr. Starr works at Topica in San
Francisco, where he is
the Privacy and Standards Associate.
* * *
ANNOUNCEMENT:For those of you who don't already know, Mike Mayakis, a past Free
Exchange
speaker and debater, died on August 17th after an 8-year battle with
CLL
(Chronic Leukemia). His significant other, Betty Honeycutt, says,
"Please feel free
to pass this along to anyone that knew Mike and help me spread the
word. I am
holding a memorial on the 25th of September in Atherton, California.
If
anyone wants to write me, my e-mail address is betmeee@...."
Our home address is 4632 18th Street, #1, S.F., CA 94114.
Phone: 415-552-1876.If you want to attend the memorial, please send me an e-mail so I
can start
making a list. Mike always had a positive outlook on and zest for
life and we
will miss him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUOTE OF THE MONTH:One of my favorite quotes comes from H. L. Mencken. He said that
"For every
complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong".
# # #ADMISSION/DONATION (TAX DEDUCTIBLE): only $10 for bar drinks, food,
room and