Should our law be made by judges?

by D.J. Webb

Libertarians have generally been concerned about the development of a police state. While I am concerned over the behaviour of the police—and in particular, what Sam Francis in the US called anarcho-tyranny [“we refuse to control real criminals (that’s the anarchy) so we control the innocent (that’s the tyranny)”; see here]—there is a good deal of evidence that it is the courts that are driving the creation in our society of the miasma of state control. So I am more worried about living in a judicial state. A police state could be a state where laws passed by Parliament are enforced in an overbearing manner; a judicial state is one where the laws aren’t even drawn up by Parliament in the first place. There is a connection between the two, of course, because in the absence of judicial tyranny, high-handed actions by the police and other officials could be combated. Once the judges are committed to unaccountable rule, it is harder to discern a path out of the maze we’re in.

Is Libertarianism “Unfair”?

by D.J Webb

I have umm’d and aah’d for a long time over how to approach this issue, because it often seems that libertarianism is an ideological reflex of personal interests. For example, Allister Heath at City AM, generally fairly free-market in his approach, called recently for tax reform, but a “reform” that would retain taxes on income and profits and avoid imposing any levies on the occupation of land. On this very LA blog, many people otherwise libertarian in their general views have seemed vituperatively to oppose shifting taxation from income and profits onto property. Such people are often vocal in decrying any attempt to talk about the “fairness” of the free market, while happy to accept state intervention to skew economic opportunities in the interests of those who already have wealth and property. It is likely that most people who are “free-market” in their view of economics are simply expressing their own interests in the economy.

Who wields the Royal veto?

by D.J. Webb

An intriguing article on the Telegraph website claims that the Royal family are regularly vetoing new laws, although the article appears sloppily written, and in particular the writer doesn’t appear to know the difference between the formal casting of a veto and the registering of some kind of objection to a law in advance.

Why is the State Involved in Childcare?

by D.J. Webb

Women are forced out to work by house prices. This is the real subtext to absurd plans for the state to pay £2,000 to each working woman for childminding. With high taxes and council tax, high transport fees and high childminding bills, it is hard for women to make work pay — and the only result of their trying to do so is to push up the income on which mortgage loans are calculated, thus supporting the property Ponzi scheme.

Economics or politics? The arguments the élite tries to sell us

by David J. Webb

The real key to understanding politics in a country like the UK is that the élite long ago tired of the nation-state. It is not that the concept of a self-governing nation lacked support among the wider population—after all, the opinions of the wider population are heavily influenced by the “opinion-formers”—no, it is that the élite themselves no longer believed in the concept, and so set about trying to move on to more cosmopolitan territory. I would argue that the real reasons for our membership of the EU, our promotion of multiculturalism and our encouragement of mass immigration are political or cultural—our élite wants to change the look and feel of the country—and not economic. Yet these policies are “sold” to us in economic terms, as if dropping these policies would lead to a collapse of the economy. Even people who are opposed to the EU and immigration on political/cultural grounds have to pause for breath while considering the economic impact of a policy change, as we all depend on the economy for our livelihoods. Most people simply don’t know whether the economic arguments are true or not, and so a large section of the population is hoodwinked by bogus economic arguments.

WHY LIBERTARIANS SHOULD SUPPORT A LAND VALUE TAX

by D.J. Webb

Libertarians support low taxation on principle, in order to free people and the economy from the burden of the state. If the writings of Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill are anything to go by, however, there is an important exception: land taxation. Land taxation is not just a necessary evil that affords the state some revenues with which to perform the very few necessary functions of government; it is a positive good, in that it tackles monopoly and speculation, and should ensure efficient use of land. If land taxation had remained the key source of government revenue in the UK, the current economic crisis would not have taken place.

A Constitutional Daydream

by DJ Webb

My thoughts wandered for a while after I read that Boris Johnson had taken part in discussions to find him a safe seat by means of which he could be propelled into Parliament. Mr Johnson has made a name for himself as a eurosceptic, although I fancy this is just clever positioning. I doubt he really gives two figs for our ancient constitution—and as Mayor of London, he has made clear his support for mass immigration to displace the majority population of England. For various reasons, therefore, I doubt his true political convictions are much more conservative than David Cameron’s, although he might be able to promise a little bit more “true blue water” between the Conservatives and Labour, although not so much as to restore our country’s constitution. Nevertheless, my subconscious filled in the blanks in my rêverie and this is what I dreamt of as I suspended belief for a few minutes:

Civil Society or Manipulated Democracy?

by D.J. Webb

Libertarians have traditionally stressed the need for freedom, rather than democracy. There is a good reason for this: democracy is a way of selecting legislators, but contains no guarantee that legislators will not seek to become ever more intrusive in the lives of citizens. Furthermore, democracy, if interpreted as indicating widespread popular support for the political élite, may be used to justify state interventionism. A democracy can be a manipulated democracy and not a free society. Consequently, freedom and democracy are not equivalents, and are not necessarily even mutually supporting concepts.

My education manifesto

by D.J. Webb

1. Privatise the whole education system
2. All teachers’ salaries set by the schools
3. A voucher system instituted allowing parents choice, but the vouchers set at a level that does not cover the full cost of education (e.g. requiring a top-up co-payment averaging 10% of the cost of attending an unglamorous school from the parents, and much larger top-ups to attend better schools). Unmarried mothers with five children would still have to find a certain sum for their children’s education.

Homosexuality

Note: Because this has attracted nearly a hundred comments, and is one of our most active threads, we have decided to stick it back to the front page. SIG

by D.J. Webb

HOMOSEXUALITY

Homosexuality is in many ways an awkward subject to write about. In the old days, such things were not mentioned in polite conversation. Even today, the continual discussion of sexual orientation can grate: surely such things are meant to be intimate and private? However, conservatives do not set the tone of public debate, and for good or ill homosexuality has become a high-profile topic of political discussion.

Accountable Government

by D.J. Webb

Accountable Government

Accountable government is not the same as democratic government. We have seen in recent years how we are still able to vote for governing parties, and yet still see the business of government largely conducted behind closed doors in Brussels and in Whitehall. The democratic electoral mechanism is still in place, but it doesn’t appear to make any difference any more. The reverse could also be true: a government could be accountable, while not being fully democratic. Before the advent of full democracy in the late 19th century, for example, the British government was accountable, in law and to Parliament, a consideration aided by the fact that government was still relatively small in scope and objectives.

The English élite’s cultural style

by D.J. Webb

Are Unflappable Englishmen Actually Just Complacent?

England, and especially the political élite, has long cultivated a rather admirable cultural style. I call it unflappability. It is a kind of sang froid that dates back to the days when England ruled the waves. Our current prime minister, David Cameron, exudes unflappability partly because of his upper-class, Eton and Oxford roots. His class were born to rule—to rule one-quarter of the earth, and not just England—and many members of his class retain a serene cultural style, which means that he performs well in a crisis, debates well in Parliament and gives a good account of himself in front of a television camera.

D.J. Webb on Anglo-Irish Relations

British-Irish Relations: “Not Entirely Benign”? David J. Webb

Historical Notes No. 53

ISBN 9781856376501 ISSN 0267-7105 (print) ISSN 2042-2571 (online)

An occasional publication of the Libertarian Alliance, Suite 35, 2 Lansdowne Row, Mayfair, London, W1J 6HL.

© 2012: Libertarian Alliance; David Webb.

David Webb studied Chinese and Russian at Leeds University, where he was involved in Marxist politics.  He has since become a conservative writer, contributing to The Salisbury Review and Right Now!, and more recently contributing extensively to the Libertarian Allianceblog.  He lived for four years in China (Tianjin, Kunming and Chengdu) and now writes freelance on Chinese politics and economics.  He is also a student of the Cork dialect of Irish and runs the Cork Irish website at http://www.corkirish.com.

The views expressed in this publication are those of its author, and not necessarily those of the Libertarian Alliance, its Committee, Advisory Council or subscribers.

FOR LIFE, LIBERTY AND PROPERTY!

What are new citizens expected to know?

I took the UK Citizenship Test at http://www.ukcitizenshiptest.co.uk/ to see what questions they ask. I got 14 of 24 questions right. I wonder if that means my passport will be revoked. 45 minutes are allowed for a test that takes 3 minutes.

Propaganda for Fiscal Embezzlement

by D.J. Webb

I have commented on Peter Oborne’s blog on the budget, where he says “the decision to educate ordinary citizens about how their taxes are spent is inspired: it is one of those apparently small innovations which over time can generate profound cultural changes”. I don’t regard this as a positive thing, and this is the comment thereon that I left on his blog:

The Roman Catholic Church: Cross in One Hand, Gelding Knife in the Other

by David Webb

Occasionally you read something that makes clear to you that there is no going back to the old culture, which had undesirable elements to it, otherwise the current cultural revolution would not have been embarked on in the first place. Was our old culture rotten? Not entirely, and in fact in many respects the modern culture with the seizure of children for no reason and prosecution for Twitter comments is just as rotten in its own right.

Mortgages and Repossessions

Mortgages and Repossessions
by D.J. Webb

Traditionally in England it was considered disgraceful not to pay your debts. Yet with the current financial crisis apparently running and running the way in which financial products are rigged against the consumer—and the way in which property prices have been fuelled over decades by a number of government policies—has introduced the notion of the lenders’ responsibility into the debate surrounding the property market. I welcome this development.

A Minimum Wage or a Free Economy?

by D.J. Webb

A MINIMUM WAGE OR A FREE ECONOMY?

 dj

The Conservative and Liberal Democrat halves of our ruling coalition government are engaged in a debate over employment legislation, with some Conservatives calling for less regulation of employment and also for smaller companies to be exempt from minimum-wage legislation. Libertarians oppose state regulation, although I think it would be fair to say that libertarians are seeking a more holistic, workable approach than simply deleting minimum-wage laws. The reason for this is that, in the absence of welfare reform, abolishing the minimum wage will have the result of decreasing yet further any incentive for the unemployed to find work. I am not convinced that removing the minimum wage—especially one set at current rates—will have a significant positive impact on the employment market in the absence of a broader package of measures to free the economy.

Gatwick Airport’s Cultural Revolution

by D.J. Webb

I read a story in the Daily Telegraph today that reminded me somewhat of my experience in Gatwick airport last year. A man who, incidentally happened to be the creator of the Fireman Sam children’s character, made a comment while going through security checks about a Muslim woman in a veil who had not been subject to the same level of checks that he had. His comment was not a racial attack, or a diatribe on the subject of immigration or multiculturalism, but the following: “if I was wearing this scarf over my face, I wonder what would happen.”

Obesity by DJW

OBESITY
dj

An undeniable problem…

It is difficult to deny that obesity is a problem in England today. An apparent inability to control one’s body size and shape is cited by millions as something that diminishes their enjoyment in life. We only live once, and a life spent battling “flab” can only be described as a wasted life. It is clearly far from ideal to look back in one’s 40s or 50s, as many do, on what should have been the best years of one’s life, knowing that one’s own lifestyle choices spoiled those years. For this reason, propaganda by the government and healthcare professionals on obesity and lifestyles is undeniably relevant, albeit objectionable from the point of view of individual freedom.