I am sending this e-mail to you because I think you may be interested
in
assisting George H. Smith complete his major work on freedom.
I have been aware for some time that George is currently in the midst
of
his most ambitious book. It is intended to be a major work on
freedom. I
expect it will be a big seller. However, George called me today and
informed me he is having financial difficulties because the book is
taking
longer than expected. I proposed to him that he allow me to solicit
contributions in the amount of $500.00 from selected people. In
exchange
for the contribution, George will mention your name in the book's
acknowledgements section as well as send you an autographed copy
expressing
his personal thanks. I have pledged the first $500. This is a time
sensitive issue. If you are so inclined, please mail to me a check
made
payable to George H. Smith for $500.00 along with your mailing
address. I
will collect the money and send a formal letter to George with the
payments. Based on my past dealings with George, I have good
confidence
George will
perform his side of the bargain. Please let me know if you intend to
contribute so I will wait to receive your check. Feel free to forward
to
those who may be interested. Below is the e-mail I received from
George.
Thanks!
Marc J. Victor, P.C.
1630 South Stapley Drive, Suite 231
Mesa, AZ 85204
480-755-7110
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Marc,Thanksverymuch for your offer to help raise funding for "TheDisciplinesofLiberty." I will provide a brief description of DOL, butfirst I wanttogive a realistic estimate of the financing needed tocomplete thebook. Ineed a minimum of $2500 per month to survive and toprovide thefinancialassistance to Laura needed for medical expenses. Ihonestlythink I canfinish the manuscript in six weeks, which means wearetalking in theneighborhood of $4000. As I said on the phone, Imighteven be able tofinish it in one month, so I would be willing todivein if I could count on$2500, but I frankly would be morecomfortablewith six weeks (or even twomonths, if that were at allpossible.). Isay this because even after amanuscript is substantiallycompleted,additional time is needed to smoothover rough edges,double-checkfootnotes , etc. -- and this can p!
rove quitetimeconsuming. If you can raiseindividual contributions in the amountof$500 or more, I would (a)thank the contributor by name intheacknowledgements, and (b) providean autographed copy of the bookthat wouldinclude a expression ofappreciation and thanks. Now, aboutthe book itself:DOL focuses onfive intellectual disciplines --political philosophy,history,sociology, psychology, and economics --and explores theirhistoricalcontributions to our understanding ofindividual freedom. Thescope ofthis book is therefore immense, and, asyou can well appreciate, ithasmade this a very difficult project tocomplete. I undertook theprojectbecause of my strong belief thatfreedom can be adequatelyunderstood anddefended only from aninterdisciplinary perspective. Iwas also convincedthat, having spentover three decades on aninterdisciplinary study oflibertarian thought,I am one of the fewlibertarian intellectuals aroundwith the knowledgeand ability to write this kind of grand overview. Ov!
erthe pastsixmonths, while working on DOL full-time (and before my fun
dingranout),I restructured the manuscript considerably, cutting some ofwhatIwritten before, largely because it was too technical or involvedtoomanydigressions. I also decided to write some entirely new chaptersonpoliticalphilosophy, expanding what had been one chapter into three.Idid thisbecause I realized that political philosophy (naturalrights,socialcontract theory, the distinction between coercionandpersuasion, etc.) isan essential foundation for the other topicsIdiscuss in the book. As ofnow, around three-quarters of themanuscriptis in what I would call finaldraft form. The uncompletedparts arethose on political philosophy and thetwo chapters oneconomics. Pleaselet me know if you need more information.Meanwhile,thanks again foryour help. I can scarcely express how much Iappreciateit. To say thatmy career is riding on this book is noexaggeration.Moreover, DOL will be one of the mostimportant contributionstolibertarian theory in many years. There is asense in which I have!
spentmy entire professional life preparing towrite DOL. (In a way, itwill be tolibertarianism what "Atheism: TheCase Against God" was tofreethought.)Nonetheless, this has proven tobe the most difficultproject I have everembarked on, by far. Best,George