Freedom Home Page of the Week Archive Winter 2002

Organs are abundant. Everybody has them, after all -- and enough people die, of one cause or another, to provide organs for those who will die without a transplant. Unfortunately, getting hearts, lungs and livers from their late donors to living recipients has proven to be a difficult process. Last year, more than 6,000 Americans died while waiting for organs that never came. The waiting list grows five times as fast as the rate of organ donation, and about half of the patients awaiting transplant die before an organ becomes available.

We know that organ transplants save lives. We know that the market is the most efficient and equitable provider and distributor of goods and services, including organs and transplant surgery. Government, however, can't resist the temptation to meddle.

There's no market incentive to donate organs. People aren't allowed to sell theirs (even when they're dead and don't need them any more, they can't dictate that their organs be sold and the proceeds distributed to their heirs). Patients aren't allowed to buy them.

Because there is no market incentive, a lot of people don't bother to fill out an organ donor card or make their wishes known to their families. Their valuable organs, which might have saved lives, go into the ground with them. Our bureaucrats, it seems, would rather have a "charitable" organ donation regime that doesn't work than a market mechanism that does.

LifeSharers is out to change that. No, they aren't buying or selling organs, but they are offering an incentive for donors. LifeSharers members agree to donate their organs when they die, with the requirement that other LifeSharers members who need transplants get first preference in receiving those organs.

It's as simple as that, really. Membership is free. The incentive is that, if you someday need a transplant, your previous commitment to donate your organs will move you up the waiting list, past those who made no such commitment. If the idea catches on, lives will be saved as people decide to become donors and organs become more available.

LifeSharers is in its early phase, with only a few members (I'm one of them). They've already attracted the attention and endorsement of some very respected libertarians and they're seeking support for their common sense idea from organ procurement organizations and ethics bodies.

Drop by LifeSharers today -- and, if you find their idea as intriguing and forward-looking as I do, become a member.

Reviewing a satire site is difficult -- I mean, what can you say other than "it bites" or "it's hilarious?"

Everyone loves satire -- provided that it's aimed at the right targets. The folks at Movementarian spare no one, but their sense of humor is often aimed at the type of numbskulls libertarians love to hate: assorted government agencies, crisis-mongers and those who demand largesse at the public's expense.

Reader beware: Movementarian doesn't shy from coarse, even, some might say, vulgar material. If that's not your cup of tea, then don't click on the link (unless, of course, you want to do so with friends present so that you can publicly display your disapproval; that's always an option).

Like I said, it's difficult to review a satire site. About the only way to really convey the site's flavor is to quote some headlines:

Manatee tastes just like chicken
Environmentalists fail to protect entrepreneurs, earth melts
McDonald's introduces new McGetalife sandwich

All welcome breaks from the real headlines of the day, except when one pauses to reflect how ridiculous the real headlines can get. Which, I guess, is the point.

Libertarians, as a group, are a fractious bunch. Put two of us in a room, mention an issue, and three opinions on it will emerge, all of them completely incompatible with each other. Once the discussion gets past the elementary ("freedom good -- slavery bad!"), we're a diverse bunch.

Of course, from the outside, we don't often appear that way, especially when it comes to economics. Although "libertarian," in Europe, has traditionally been a word used to describe socialist anarchists, in the United States it is generally understood to mean "capitalist" in the economic realm.

Surprise. Not all libertarians are capitalist in the commonly understood sense of the word. While Austrian/neo-classical (and, to a lesser degree, monetarist) economics tend to appeal to most libertarians, there is a growing bloc of libertarians who subscribe to the ideas of Henry George (1839-97). Disciples of George's ideas refer to themselves as Georgists, geoists or geo-libertarians. The pre-eminent organization through which they reach out with their program is the Henry George Institute.

"Understanding Economics" is the home site of a free course -- including all necessary materials -- in George's ideas. I'm not going to go into them in great detail here. That is, after all, the purpose of the site and the course. A brief synopsis is in order, though, and the Institute's statement of purpose offers one:

"... that all persons have a right to the use of the earth and that all have a right to the fruits of their labor. To implement these rights it is proposed that the rent of land be taken by the community as public revenue, and that all taxes on labor and the fruits of labor be abolished."

I'm also not going to argue the merits of geo-libertarian ideas here. The material offered in the "Understanding Economics" course should be sufficient for you to form your own opinion of those ideas. My job is just to point out that it exists and that it offers a different, but still arguably libertarian, perspective that readers should find interesting and engaging.

Ilana Mercer is destined to be famous for more than the requisite fifteen minutes.

Many of you have read Mercer's work in various publications and on various sites -- at the moment she's doing a weekly column for WorldNetDaily -- but it's nice to have one place to go to immerse one's self in the clarity of her thought.

Don't take my meaning incorrectly: you'll almost certainly find something in Ilana Mercer's writings with which you vehemently disagree. As she says in one recent piece, "libertarians are peering at each other from behind ideological parapets" a lot these days.

It's not our disagreements that bind us together, though. It's our agreements. And Mercer's work pierces the issues with refreshing directness and uncommonly fine turns of phrase. In a political culture where groups tend to promote female writers on some kind of "affirmative action" basis rather on the merit of their ideas or the quality of their writing -- Ann Coulter's drivel is a prime example -- Mercer stands out as the exception: an inspired and talented individual who takes the issues seriously, examines them thoughtfully and dissects them with flair and precision.

I pick my favorites sites based, for the most part, on content. IlanaMercer.Com is replete with content, offering a variety of her articles on a broad array of issues. It is also well designed, easily navigable and not overwhelmed with extraneous stuff. "Just the facts, ma'am," per Joe Friday.

I was at Forest Lawn cemetery in Hollywood last weekend, and the place has a "Founding Fathers" theme running throughout the architecture: A giant mural featuring scenes from the early years of the nation; statues of Jefferson, Washington, etc. Putting aside the strangeness of seeing all this patriotism while walking among the graves of the greatest socialist propagandists in the U.S. (Hollywood actors and screenwriters), I was still able to work up a little pride. It's easy to forget that, by the standards of history, our country was a glorious experiment: A nation created not by the whims of conquest and monarchy, but strictly according to principles of freedom and equality. Unheard of.

And, yeah, it failed. Even a constitution as carefully worded as ours couldn't withstand 2 centuries of power-grabbing by the Lincolns, FDRs and LBJs of our world. But we can still gain inspiration from the original intentions of the founders.

All of this is my way of introducing you to the fantastic website of my friend Chris Whitten: FoundingFathers.info. This is the place to go to rekindle your revolutionary fire. Everything you could want to know about the Founders can either be found on this site or directed to by this site. And, for the flag-lovers, there is also a lot of interesting history about our flags, the one that we all know and the ones less familiar. The site is also full of links to the modern: movies, books, t-shirts, etc., which makes the ideas of the founders seem alive in a way that strolling through a cemetery somehow doesn't. This site is highly recommended.

EnterpriseEconomy.com is the latest website in The Freedom Network: the unstoppable, freedom-loving juggernaut that brings you Free-Market.Net, Libertarian.org, ifeminists, and several others of the best libertarian-oriented sites. This is the most economics-centered of the FN sites, offering market-based perspectives on the news of the day.

As with all the FN sites, EnterpriseEconomy shares the massive Free-Market.Net database to get you where you want to go on the web. But, before you start surfing offsite, you'll want to read the fantastic original content. The editorials by editor-in-chief (and former economics reporter for Investor's Business Daily) Charles Oliver and Managing Editor J.D. Tuccille are interesting, topical, and very informative. In their latest, our columnists offer perspectives on government overreaching (Oliver) and mis-directed blame (Tuccille) in light of the recent corporate scandals. And with the market being what it is these days, no investor should go without the latest Analysis by Brian Wesbury, the man the Wall Street Journal called "The #1 U.S. Economic Forecaster."

Add the membership program and always-lively discussion forums that are staples of the Freedom Network, and EnterpriseEconomy should be a useful site for anyone interested in real-world economics. As an employee, I may be biased, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. Check it out for yourself.

The Rational View offers a philosophical perspective on current events, specifically from an Objectivist viewpoint. The site is frequently updated, and the columns are short and concise, which makes this site a surprising rarity: a sort of philosophical news site, dealing with today's headlines from a pure philosophical perspective based on natural rights, capitalism and, of course, Ayn Rand's own brand of "selfishness."

The Rational View is the project of editor Wayne Dunn, and most of the articles published on the site are written by him (though the site is young, and submissions are accepted.) But where some Objectivist sites can be off-putting in their dogmatic approach, even if you agree with them, Mr. Dunn's writing is light, easy and friendly. Which is not to say that it's not serious. Since the way people perceive reality will greatly effect the way they'll act in civil society, as well as the way they'll vote and the policies they'll champion, philosophy is perhaps the most serious and important subject there is. If only everyone thought about today's issues from a rational view...

Popshot Magazine is a indie/punk rock music magazine with a libertarian, free-market perspective. And, as pointed out in a very persuasive argument, the values of punk rock and capitalism are a completely natural, though unfamiliar, match.

The site is bifurcated down the middle, with columns on politics on the left side and music reviews, interviews, etc., on the right. The political articles are all enjoyable and, being libertarian in a punk-rock, pull-no-punches way, they offer some of the clearest thinking on current issues that you can find. A recent column on the recent Pledge of Allegiance debacle is a perfect example, claiming that "It's difficult... to locate some sympathy for either side in this case", being that pledging allegiance to a flag is both "archaic" and "silly", and yet "the really annoying element to this whole shennanigan is this jerk who thought this a suitable issue to take to court."

But, even if you're primarily interested in the site for the politics, I personally, highly recommend the music section. I haven't heard of every group that Popshot covers, but many of the ones that I have heard of are bands that rarely get radio play, and I am usually the only person I know who has heard of them. Listen, any website that favorably reviews Essex Green, The Magnetic Fields, and The Divine Comedy (all more "pop" than "punk rock", but definitely "indie") is gonna get high marks in my book. Combine that with libertarian politics and it starts to get eerie. With this kind of convergence in tastes, I for one will definitely be reading Popshot's music recommendations before my next CD purchase.

The Pink Pistols are one of those groups who deserve attention if only for the stereotypes that they discredit. A gay second amendment group? Has the world suddenly gone sane? Finally, a gay-empowerment group actually interested in empowering gays, literally! Getting guns into the hands of law-abiding people who need them, proper training for those new gunowners, and keeping the government from further infringing on our gun rights are all within the scope of this excellent group's activities.

The Pink Pistols are focused on action rather than words, and their website is a useful resource for gay and straight gun activists across the country. An activist needs to know who his enemies are, and the Pink Pistols keep an exhaustive list of Anti-Gun Companies & People just for that purpose. There is also information on starting a local chapter, attending the upcoming Pink Pistols Summer 2002 Competitive Shoot, and much more. With the Pink Pistols, no longer do we have to live with the stereotype of gunowners as being separatists with beer bellies who live in cabins in the woods, not that there's anything wrong with that.

If you ever need a reminder of just how shaky the ground that our society stands on is, all you need is to pick up a copy of the supposed "law of the land", the Constitution. Reading this document, which has never been repealed and is still cynically paid homage to by our elected officials, can be like reading a wild-eyed utopian manifesto from outer space. Maybe it did come from outer space. Sometimes it seems as if there are as many aliens walking among us as there are people who understand the principles of our constitutional republic.

The Constitution Society hopes to change this sorry state of affairs through research and education, and their website is an excellent start. If you've ever been inclined to think of the web as a giant library, their "Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics" will thrill you. I've rarely seen a larger or more organized collection of webbed books and articles on a single site. Absolutely everything you could care to know about consitutionalism, from Basic Principles to coverage of Abuses and Usurpations to a fun list of public officials and personalities who avow constitutional principles. (The list of judges warns "We have found no judges anywhere who are consistently faithful to the Constitution, but it seemed appropriate to include the least unfaithful of those available")

Being a reader of Free-Market.Net, you probably already appreciate the intellectual foundations of our republic. But, these days, it is not hard for those constitutionalist muscles to atrophy. Bookmarking and returning to the Constution Society is a good way to keep from forgetting. And sending others there is a good way, through gradual education, to help return the country to freedom.

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