Libertarians will sorely miss David Boaz, who died last Friday after a year-long battle with cancer. While many familiar with the libertarian movement will remember Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard, and Karl Hess, Boaz, who was about a year younger than me, was arguably the most eloquent and influential libertarian of my generation.
When Ed Crane founded the Cato Institute in 1977, David Boaz was one of the first persons he hired. For the next 41 years, Boaz served as Executive Vice President. While Crane’s job was to raise money, Boaz effectively ran the organization, overseeing a shop of more than 50 policy experts.
I first met David in the mid-1980s at free-market environmentalist meetings in Montana. When I went to work for Cato in 2007, I soon learned that he kept track of what everyone in the organization was doing. David read every single one of the hundreds of books and thousands of policy papers that Cato published before they went the printers. That meant he had to maintain expertise in fields as far apart as national defense, social security, international trade, constitutional law, anti-poverty programs, and many others. He also wrote several books himself and edited several more.
He was a prolific public speaker, invariably cheering his audiences with an optimistic view of the world. Even as Congress passed such anti-liberty measures as the Patriot Act, he would remind us that in many important ways — civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, marijuana legalization, etc. — liberty was increasing, even if it sometimes took one step backwards for every two steps forwards.
Cato and I did not part on good terms, but David didn’t play a large role in that. During my first years at Cato, I reported directly to him and they were some of the best years of my career. Ed and David encouraged me to work on whatever issues I chose. Any policy recommendations I made had to be “Cato friendly,” meaning in favor of small government, but no one suggested that I either study or avoid any particular topic. My problems with Cato began after Ed Crane left and the policy scholars were reorganized so that I reported to someone else with whom I had ideological and methodological differences. I still wrote as much as before but Cato published less than half as much of my work.
In the greater picture, none of that matters. Ed Crane and David Boaz together made Cato into the world’s leading libertarian think tank, and David in particular served as an inspiration to thousands of libertarian activists throughout the nation. The world is a better place due to David’s work and it is poorer for his departure.
Always reminded of the old joke.
Ask 10 different libertarians and you’ll get 11 different answers
The democratic run dumpsters of Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles are living examples of legalized drugs. While Not legal “On Paper” basically been decriminalized. Embodiment of libertarian fantasies that the “Drug War” was worst thing since ever…….
Years ago Jordan Peterson was in interviews BBC/CBC he stated 10% US population; has IQ 83 or less. Untrainable in anything that’s not economically counterproductive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caR69G6wpwU
I wrote how low iQ groups cannot sustain a democracy or beneficial form of personal governance. Drug addicts occupy that bracket. Victims of modern pharmacology, brain sizzling drugs knock iQ down 10 more points…..
Junkie 5 years on opiates is knocked down 10 iQ points
And addicts 7 more years borderline retarded.
They can’t work becuz task management and multitasking require training. That requires short and long-term memory which drugs have fried. They can’t be trained because they’re too dumb multitasking. They can’t be reintroduced to society because they can’t function without perpetual chaperone; and we spend huge sums keep them in tow to resemble normal society.
You can have a welfare state or you can have junkies, But you cannot have both.
Libertarians don’t advocate for a welfare state. In fact they are completely opposed to it
That was sad news. Libertarianism needs more David Boaz and less of the riff-raff that seems to be dominating these days.
In news, NYC congestion fee plan has been permanently shelved. Hochul taken flack. But likeost politicians isn’t stupid to pass a chatge/tax firing election cycles.
Pundits say 15 dollars is a drop in the bucket. If 15 dollars, NOT to ride the subway but 2.90 is economically ruinous to it’s riders.
Since 2000s ,new york has taken over 100 lane miles roads/streets out commission to convert them into essentially tiny parks. With plans to convert more 120 miles.
1: decommission, convert whole roads to non automotive use
2: thus forcing thousands vehicles divert to roads increasing
3: look at all this traffic, let’s charge people a fee for creating all this congestion.
Congestion fee is shooting someone in the leg, and saying don’t worry my brother sells cane’s across the street