Missed a words- should read “That would be fine if W.A.R.’s BOOK ACTUALLY was about libertarianism!

That would be fine if W.A.R.’s ACTUALLY was about libertarianism!

It ACTUALLY takes a libertarian to write authoritatively about libertarianism. W.A.R.’s book, to the extent I have read excerpts (many) appears to be is more of a personal exercise of bits of cutting and nibbling away at bloated government, and not at all with any reference back to principles of libertarianism. Thus, it fails miserably in presenting libertarianism fairly, though it does give an egotistical account of W.A.R.’s personal political philosophy. That philosophy, is mostly in line with mainstream Republican Party beliefs.

Why again, is it that W.A.R. is in the LP?

You really ought to think before hitting the submit button, Aaron.

That one left you so wide open in so many different directions, from Kool-Aid to the Monkees to Shrek to cult jokes, that it’s best to leave it alone and let everyone else draw their own conclusions.

Aaron, quoting Jefferson is one thing, but anybody with a web browser can do that.

What I want to know is does HE specifically mention those two at all? Not a point-by-point deflection argument by YOU about going through of the constitution (been there, done that, lost the file in a PC crash, and Story wrote one too), but those two specifically.

Does HE know the difference between rights and powers, who has them, and which is superior or subordinate to the other and why?

Do YOU?

That’s one of my basic litmus tests. 99.98% or more of the population fail that litmus test. That’s a shame, because all it requires to pass it is careful reading of two Founding Documents, and a little bit of Locke.

Here is my understanding of how it works.

Ultimately, it’s all a negotiation.

If you are an author who has managed to successfully sell your previous writings, you can actually have a bidding war between publishers, where they will compete in their offers of an advance payment to you before you write the book and for a book tour to promote your book. The publisher will print up many copies of your book at their expense. The royalties you earn from the sales of the book are first used to offset the advance, then the amounts above that become royalties that you, the author, receive.

If you are an author no one has heard of before and you have a story few are interested in, a publisher will not pay you an advance on royalties to write the book. They will not heavily promote your book. They will likely only be there to print up copies of your book at your expense, not theirs.

No-name authors may find that it is more economical to self-publish and self-promote, but soon also discover they have a garage full of unsold books.

Or, did or do the 9 and 10As override Article 1, Section 8’s “insurrection” clause? Some say yes, I’d say no.

Wayne Root speaks about the general concept, rather than mentioning those amendments by name.

For example, he writes the following:

As one of my heroes, Thomas Jefferson, once said, “The true theory of our Constitution is that States are independent as to everything within themselves and united as to everything respecting foreign affairs.” Jefferson recognized the right of a state to nullify a federal law within its own borders, even describing federal government intrusion in state matters as “interference by a foreign government.” In other words, let the voters decide these issues on the state and local level where government is closer to the voters and keep the federal government out of it. When it comes to personal issues and private choices, I believe the only answer, no matter what the question (unless it is specifically authorized by the Constitution) is: It’s none of the federal government’s darn business!

In other areas of the book, he makes it pretty clear that he does not want government interfering in our lives.

Perhaps others would write this differently by going through each article of the Constitution and each amendment one-by-one, providing historical background, case law citations and explanations as to what each means. I’m sure that approach might delight a few Libertarians across the country, but it is not likely to sell very many books.

That’s certainly not the type of book Wayne Root intended to write and it is an author’s prerogative to write his book in a style he prefers and that the publisher is willing to support. And he wanted to write a book that people not yet in our party will actually read. Writing a book few will read is a lot like the proverbial tree falling in the middle of the forest.

Of course, anyone else here is free to propose a book with a different approach and ask Wiley & Sons or any other major publisher to publish it and pitch it to thousands of book stores across the country.

So, I’ll repeat the question: What has he said about the 9th and 10th?

At this point we Libertarians have very few votes.

JT, you and I are probably part of the <1% of the population actually interested in reading a philosophical treatise on libertarianism. For people such as us, I highly recommend John Hospers’ book Libertarianism. That style of book is perhaps more appealing to you and me. However, it will never be a big seller.

Wayne Root wrote a book designed to appeal to a wider audience not yet familiar with libertarianism. I imagine this is why major publisher Wiley & Sons agreed to pay Wayne Root to write it.

Wayne Root is interested in marketing and strategy, when it comes to promoting and implementing our ideas. His book pushes a general theme of dramatically reduced government in both size and scope, and he does so in a very readable fashion that respects where the reader is today, not where we want necessarily him to be.

And this approach seems to have legs.

A few days ago, Wayne Root was telling me about some of the raving fans he has been accumulating who have been e-mailing him after reading his book, seeing him on television or listening to him on the radio.

I was a bit skeptical. I thought, “who in their right mind would take the time to write an author after reading their book or listening to a radio program?”

Wayne now forwards to me each day actual fan e-mails he receives.

Folks, I’m a believer.

I haven’t seen Wayne Root write about the Ninth Amendment (though that doesn’t mean he hasn’t), but I do note that on page 18 of his book he does quote Barry Goldwater’s comments on the Tenth Amendment.