Earlier today it was announced that Dr. Walter Block endorsed the bid of Austin Petersen for the Libertarian Party Presidential nomination. Dr. Block has since rescinded his endorsement. Dr. Block provided the following to this IPR editor:
My reason for rescinding my endorsement. I have just learned that Mr. Peterson rejects the non aggression principle. I think it is the very core of libertarianism, properly understood. Also, he thinks that anarcho-capitalists such as me (and Rothbard, Hoppe, Rockwell, etc.) are not libertarians. That just bespeaks his misunderstanding of our beloved philosophy.
I can support a minarchist such as Ron Paul as our LP standard bearer. I can also support an anarchist. Mr. Peterson violates my understanding of the LP Dallas Accord which provides that neither side will trash the other.
Editor’s note: Below are some statements from Mr. Petersen’s Facebook page:
gd: I didn’t say anything about the ‘Pledge’,…
me: Oh really. Look back at your own post at 12:21:
Massimo: “….The ###pledge### of the Libertarian Party includes that any tax must be voluntary?”
gd: Yes, that’s what it means.
me: Care to clarify?
RC: “me: Assuming the Nolan’s interpretation is incorrect as you do, where is the “caveat” that you describe? Surely not in the Pledge itself, yes?”
I didn’t say anything about the ‘Pledge’, much less anyone’s interpretation of it. My comments were about the Platform. Section 2.4 calls for less than the abolition of all taxation, while the Preamble makes it clear that “These specific policies are not our goal, however. Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands.”
gd: There’s the important caveat, of course, that ending coercion in taxation is the goal, the last step not the first
me: Assuming the Nolan’s interpretation is incorrect as you do, where is the “caveat” that you describe? Surely not in the Pledge itself, yes?
I’m sure no one removed your comment, George. Starting at some unknown (to me) time on Monday, anything new posted seemed to be lost in the server change.
Massimo: “Regarding the pledge, which I did not know, not being interested in politics, it seems to me that implies not forcing any taxation on anyone. If it is so, I am pleasantly surprised, but I wonder if I am interpreting it right. Can someone respond? The pledge of the Libertarian Party includes that any tax must be voluntary?”
Yes, that’s what it means. There’s the important caveat, of course, that ending coercion in taxation is the goal, the last step not the first; but, yes, taxation backed up by the threat of force is wrong and Libertarians don’t believe in it.
TK: “Then Block endorses him and comes back almost immediately to admit that he hadn’t bothered to actually, you know, think about what he was doing.”
Really? You think it had nothing to do with the fact that Petersen’s been running two campaigns: as Petersen1, the upholder of orthodox libertarian belief in the public media (including the televised debates); and as Petersen2, the iconoclast railing on Facebook and Twitter against the “losertarian” establishment and their “anarchist” principles, and threatening to throw them all “out on the street”?
It’s not possible that Block based his initial endorsement on what he’d seen (Petersen1), and didn’t even know about Petersen2 until after he’d made his endorsement (when he was undoubtedly bombarded with information about the latter)?
“Feel sorry for Austin,” indeed!
(I realize this comment was removed earlier, but I’m willing to accept that was due to the server migration.)
Alex Jones on Austin Petersen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDlKan5UXR4
I always suspect when a pol use “life boat examples” to denigrate somebody else position, like this having children to starve.
I don’t remember the specific passage in the Ethics of liberty, but I would say that if a parent knowingly starves his kid, he automatically renounces his homesteading of the child education and raising, so somebody else has the right to take care of the kid until he can homestead himself.
Regarding the pledge, which I did not know, not being interested in politics, it seems to me that implies not forcing any taxation on anyone. If it is so, I am pleasantly surprised, but I wonder if I am interpreting it right. Can someone respond? The pledge of the Libertarian Party includes that any tax must be voluntary?
Nice job migrating to the new server! It’s MUCH better. Too bad a lot of neat stuff was lost but what the hell.
I understand the choice to practically choose a candidate with compromised Libertarian values such as Johnson) because he has actual career experience that could benefit the party.
I don’t understand compromising Libertarian values to support a candidate with no experience in anything and nothing more than unrealistic expectations for his candidacy
Is the pyramid pile of pussy collapsing?
I predict Mr. Petersen will have a very bad week.
Surprisingly, I feel bad for him.
And that video is a typical Austin diversion. The issue has never been the NAP pledge but the Statement of Principles which he openly repudiated. (and he is wrong on the Pledge…. which ironically is conceded by the Bylaws Committee proposals this convention)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEOFo6Yg9es&feature=share
I feel bad for Austin. It’s one thing to not endorse him. It’s another thing to endorse him and then yank it back. That’s happened to him twice in two or three days.
First Beck endorses him, then Beck says “oh, I didn’t mean my endorsement as an ENDORSEMENT.”
Then Block endorses him and comes back almost immediately to admit that he hadn’t bothered to actually, you know, think about what he was doing.
Endorsers should commit to keeping their goddamn minds up for some reasonable minimum period of time. If you’re not sure, don’t endorse. How hard is that?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MOGPDAFTLQY
I thought he was endorsing Trump. Which philosophically pure libertarian icon was that? I can’t keep up.
I am sure Austin will update his page. He relies on volunteers for this, and volunteers have limited time.
Does Petersen actually know how to keep an endorsement? This is the second high profile endorsement in the better part of a week that has up and vanished on him.
Yeah, Walter. Better to admit you are wrong than keep defending an error!
TODAY I SENT THIS TO 22 REPORTERS AND EDITORS OF THE GUARDIAN {US}>>
What Do Jill Stein & Gary Johnson have in Common?
The Guardian and other media all but ignore that they are running for president, too. How about more coverage of the two minor parties that will probably be on the ballot in all fifty states?
The two major parties are about to nominate the two most disliked candidates in polling history. Many people will go to the polls in November trying to chose between the lesser of two evils.
A Libertarian ticket of Gary Johnson and Bill Weld {two former GOP governors} has more executive experience than Trump and Clinton has together and Jill Stein of the Green Party speaks to the most important issue of this century. What good is a tax cut if your home is underwater {Literally, not figuratively}.
The American vote has a right to know more about how their presidential options extend beyond the two major parties.
The presidential debate commission run by the two parties since the League of Woman Voters gave up trying to run fair debates have set an almost impossible standard for minor party candidates to achieve for a podium at the debates – 15% in five different national polls to be chosen by the debate commission.
Most news organizations have gone along with this standard as an excuse not to give a reasonable amount of coverage to minor party candidate thereby assuring that it is all but impossible to achieve that polling number.
Two former governors challenging a reality TV star for the presidency is certainly a story that should be covered by the media on at least a weekly basis.
And a champion of the environment and foe of global warming has to be at least as newsworthy as the obstructionist and naysayers who declare that the jury is still out on global warming.
I URGE EVERY READER OF IPR TO SEND SIMILAR NOTES TO EVERY MEDIA SITE THAT THEY FREQUENT.
Petersen has (as of right now) not yet updated his FB page to reflect this.
Block should now throw his support to Darryl Perry.