'Hall Of Fame' Of Anarcho-Capitalists - Episode One -- Walter Block
Walter Edward Block (born August 21, 1941) is an American Austrian School economist and anarcho-capitalist theorist. [1] He currently holds the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at the J. A. Butt School of Business at Loyola University New Orleans . He is a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama . [
excerpts from Walter Block bio (wiki)
.....A January 2014 article in the New York Times noted that Block opposed slavery because it was involuntary. The Times piece also quoted him as saying, apart from its involuntary nature, slavery was "not so bad — you pick cotton and sing songs."
...Block also told the Times that Woolworth 's had the right to exclude blacks from its lunch counters, arguing that "no one is compelled to associate with people against their will.
...He reiterated his opposition to slavery on the basis of its being involuntary, as well as his support for the right of Woolworth's to segregate on the basis of race. He called slavery monstrous, but only because it violated the libertarian non aggression principle, and for no other reason.
...In a lecture Block called "Injustices in the Politics and Economics of Social Justice" presented at the invitation of the Adam Smith Society of the Economics Department of Loyola College, Baltimore in November 2008, Block asserted that blacks and women were paid less than whites because they are "less productive".
...Block did offer two thoughts that might account for the disparity: first, what he called the "politically correct" explanation, or socioeconomic disparities and historical injustices towards blacks; second, a "political incorrect" explanation, or "lower black IQs".
...Block has written two papers about punishment of those engaging in "statist, governmental or other gangster activity". Block argues that there should be "a presumption that all government employees are guilty of a crime against humanity,"
...Block examines issues like restitution of land taken through eminent domain and possible retribution against politicians, IRS employees, and others who cooperated in governmental activity. He describes rules by which libertarian " Nuremberg Trials " might operate.
...Block has theorized on whether a person defending oneself can harm a human shield or hostage used by an aggressor while in an act of self-defense. Block holds this is legitimate because the human shield is the first victim of the aggressor and, as such, he cannot be allowed to pass on his misery to the person defending oneself, the intended second victim of the aggressor. Block calls this "negative homesteading theory"
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aka libertarianism from the right
Block has also been quoted as saying 2 or 3 dollars an hour is an acceptable wage for some people who are unskilled because "it is better than zero".
No one should be compelled, at the point of a government gun, to associate with anyone else, against his will. Compelling Woolworths to seat blacks is thus incompatible with libertarianism. It was a violation of their private property rights over their establishment.
Walter Block
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We have some libertarians here. Perhaps they would like to address what Walter Block wrote.
Just to add a point to this last comment. Block's boss at Loyola University replied
"In a letter, Father Wildes said: "In speaking of discriminatory lunch counters, Dr. Block makes the mistake of assuming that because of the civil rights legislation people would be compelled to associate with others against their will. The civil rights legislation did no such thing. What the civil rights legislation did was prevent places like Woolworth’s from excluding people because of their race. No one was forced to sit at the lunch counter. The law simply made clear that people could not be excluded from the lunch counter because of their race.
"If these remarks were made in a paper for my class, I would return the paper with a failing grade. This is hardly critical thinking. Rather it is a position filled with assertions, without argument or evidence, to gain attention."