re: NYT smears Rand Paul, LvMI, Rockwell, Rothbard, Spooner, Block as racists.

The point is that free association, one of the bedrocks of the entire libertarian edifice, is a bulwark against slavery. On the other hand, the so-called Civil Rights Act of 1964 undermines free association. It forces Woolworths to associate with people against their will. Thus, very paradoxically, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 supports slavery. It does so by undermining free association, the violation of which allows slavery. Our friends on the left, amongst whom we must include writers for the New York Times, are thus placed in a bit of a logical quandary. They, of course, as do all men of good will, oppose slavery. But, in their support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, they attack the law of free association. Logically, they cannot have it both ways. When it comes to slavery, they defend the law of free association, which would allow the slave to quit or not be enslaved in the first place; all well and good. But, when racial discrimination is under discussion, they reject the right of the Woolworths of the world to invoke that self-same right of free association, which would allow discriminators of that ilk to refuse service (decline to associate with) people with whom they do not wish to interact. It would appear that New York Times editors and journalists do not appreciate or even comprehend sarcasm.

But is it not unfair, and harmful, to racial minority groups to allow bigots to discriminate against them in lunch counters, or in employment, or in any other way? No, no and no. Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams have done more than any other two scholars to demonstrate the falsity of this sort of reasoning. If white owned restaurants do not wish to serve black people, the latter will be more desperate, willing to pay more than otherwise, to be able to purchase meals. Thus, profits in doing precisely that will rise, and other entrepreneurs, both white and black, will have more of an incentive to provide such services. If employers discriminate against black workers, this will drive down their wages to lower levels than would otherwise obtain. This, too, sets up enhanced profit opportunities for yet other firms, to hire these people. If some transportation companies insist that African-Americans ride only in the back of the bus, others will spring up to attract such customers; they will earn higher profits, at least initially. Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” works all throughout the economy. Racial discrimination is impotent to really harm its targets. Why, then, did this aspect of laissez faire capitalism not actually function in the south in the early part of the last century? ‘Twas not due to any “market failure.” Rather, the free enterprise system was not allowed to function, due to Jim Crow laws. For example, in order to set up a competing bus company, one that would allow black people to sit in any section of their vehicles, permission had to be obtained from state(ist) authorities, the very people responsible for the Jim Crow back of the bus law in the first place. Nor must it be thought that initially black people would have to suffer from higher lunch prices, lower salaries, sitting in the back of the bus, etc. These are only theoretical possibilities, if entrepreneurs do not take advantage of profit opportunities. But we have a name for businessmen of that type: bankrupt. For a more detailed explication of the economics of discrimination along these lines see my 2010 book on this topic, here, here or here.

I spent more than just several hours with Mr. Tanenhaus trying to explain to him how central to libertarianism is the non-aggression principle (NAP). I told him that the essence of this philosophy is that it is illegitimate to threaten or actually use violence against innocent people. I gave him all sorts of examples. I tried to make the point as dramatically as I could to him. I went so far as to say that the only thing horrid about actual slavery was that it violated the NAP. Otherwise, apart from that one thing, slavery was innocuous: you could pick cotton in the healthy outdoors, sing songs, they would give you gruel, etc. This of course was a hypothetical. A point made to dramatize exactly why slavery was wrong. Not because of cotton, gruel, singing, etc., but due to the vicious violation of the NAP against innocent black people.

And what does that intrepid New York Times reporter make of all this? He turned this into a supposed claim of mine that actual slavery was not so bad. Specifically, he reported my views in this manner: “Walter Block, an economics professor at Loyola University in New Orleans who described slavery as ‘not so bad,’ is also critical of the Civil Rights Act. ‘Woolworth’s had lunchroom counters, and no blacks were allowed,’ he said in a telephone interview. ‘Did they have a right to do that? Yes, they did. No one is compelled to associate with people against their will.’”

Minor problem. I never in a million years would have said “No one is compelled to associate with people against their will.” This is an obvious falsity, what with affirmative action and other anti discrimination laws. Rather, my view is, “No one should be compelled to associate with people against their will.” (Don’t they have tape recorders at the New York Times?) And this applies to Woolworths, to those forced into slavery, to victims of rape, to all those forced to associate, or interact with, or to have anything to do with, others under compulsion.

Major problem. In actual point of fact, I along with pretty much all other men of good will think that this institution was vicious, depraved and monstrous. Why? Again, because of NAP violations, not anything else, certainly not anything as peripheral as singing songs and eating gruel. I think that the movie “Django Unchained,” and the television series, “Roots,” accurately depicted this system. It would be impossible for any fair minded person to turn what I said into support for such a despicable system. Surely, no good-hearted person, such as I consider myself, let alone a libertarian for whom NAP violations are at the core of his philosophy, could think that actual slavery was “not so bad.” It is one of the worst things that man has ever perpetuated against man. The only thing I can think of that is worse is mass murder.