Classics of Liberty

In this episode, Caleb O. Brown reads part two of Lysander Spooner’s No Treason, VI.In our first number on Lysander Spooner’s No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, our author systematically rejects the notion that individuals consent to government by paying taxes or voting. There, the case is decidedly abstract and philosophical, but for our second number we turn to the more explicitly legal and constitutional. Spooner begins by demonstrating that the Constitution purports to be a contract between either sovereign individuals or sovereign state governments.This episode was written by Anthony Comegna, narrated by Caleb Brown, and produced by Mark McDaniel

This episode features Lysander Spooner’s infamous argument that the Constitution of the United States, and thus the “social contract,” has no legal authority and, properly construed, commands no allegiance from sovereign individuals.Lysander Spooner’s No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority (written 1867-1870) was in many ways the great man’s greatest contribution to liberal thought and without a doubt the best example of his originality as a thinker. With this inaugural item, we present our listeners one of the most radical, forceful, and influential statements of libertarian anarchism in American history. This episode was written by Anthony Comegna, narrated by Caleb Brown, and produced by Mark McDaniel.

In early 1838, John L. O’Sullivan’s United States Magazine & Democratic Review published a “Full Exposition and Exemplification of ‘The Credit System,’” in the form of a satirical autobiography. In this sly and amusing commentary on the emerging American monetary system, one Ferret Snapp Newcraft describes his upbringing as a young captain of finance.  Through his youth, he travels the countryside with his swindler father, learning the methods and ideology of graft. This episode was written and narrated by Anthony Comegna and produced by Mark McDaniel.

This episode features an excerpt from Subversion for Fun and Profit, with Karl Hess and Robert Anton Wilson. Hess and Wilson are icons of libertarianism and radical individualist thinking in the 1960s and 1970s. Karl Hess was an influential figure among high-level Republicans in the early 1960s. As a speechwriter for the GOP, Hess has been credited as the author of Barry Goldwater’s most iconic line, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Over time, Hess became more radical and his close associations with the both the GOP and broader white collar society strained and ultimately dissolved. Hess became an anarchist.Robert Anton Wilson, is best known for co-authoring the popular Illuminatus! Trilogy published in 1975. Wilson and his co-author, Robert Shea, had been editors at Playboy magazine and began cataloging the letters they’d receive describing various conspiracies of governments and secret societies. Wilson has been described as “maybe” a futurist, author, lecturer, stand-up comic, guerrilla ontologist, psychedelic magician, outer head of the Illuminati, quantum psychologist, Taoist sage and Discordian pope.The wide-ranging discussion presented here took place at the 1987 nominating convention of the Libertarian Party. Written by Caleb O. Brown and produced by Mark McDaniel.

The Conscience of a Conservative was first published under the name of Senator Barry Goldwater. The book was a smashing success beyond anyone’s expectations. Over 3.5 million copies sold, and its success garnered Goldwater enough national fame to secure his party’s nomination in 1964. For decades, it has been considered an unparalleled foundational text.In the final portions of Barry Goldwater’s movement-making 1960 book, he turns his pen from domestic affairs and the philosophy of limited government to the realm of foreign affairs and the supposed “Soviet Menace.”

The Conscience of a Conservative was first published under the name of Senator Barry Goldwater. The book was a smashing success beyond anyone’s expectations. Over 3.5 million copies sold, and its success garnered Goldwater enough national fame to secure his party’s nomination in 1964. For decades, it has been considered an unparalleled foundational text.

In this episode, Caleb O. Brown reads part one of a selection from Barry Goldwater’s 1960 book The Conscience of a Conservative.The Conscience of a Conservative was fist published under the name of Senator Barry Goldwater. The book was a smashing success beyond anyone’s expectations. Over 3.5 million copies sold, and its success garnered Goldwater enough national fame to secure his party’s nomination in 1964. For decades, it has been considered an unparalleled foundational text. It begins by identifying the most important distinctions between movement conservatives and their well-meaning but misguided fellows, left and right.

In mid-July, 1964, the Republican Party descended upon the “Cow Palace” arena in Daly City, California.  At the party’s national convention, a clique of traditionalist-conservatives surrounding Senator Barry Goldwater fulfilled their long-laid plans to overtake the GOP.  After Goldwater’s surprisingly energizing campaign for the Senate in 1958 (a year of sweeping Democratic victories), conservative talk show host and activist Clarence Manion commissioned Leo Brent Bozell to author The Conscience of A Conservative.  Manion and Bozell agreed with Goldwater to publish the small volume under the Senator’s name in 1960 during that year’s Nixon convention.  The Conscience of A Conservative launched a grassroots, ultra-conservative Goldwater movement culminating in the Senator’s primary victories in 1964.  Through a difficult and often dirty primary season, Goldwater emerged with enough delegates to handily wrest the convention from Nelson Rockefeller’s “liberal establishment” wing of the party.  Goldwater delegates won their candidate and wrote the party’s hardline Cold Warrior platform.  In his acceptance speech, Barry Goldwater echoed the ideas from his book and magnified his vision for the Republican Party’s role in world history.  His bold and enduring declaration on the virtues of extremism and the vices of moderation inspired generations of “conservative” advocates for American imperialism.  Goldwater believed deeply that America was inherently virtuous, and so thought it historically necessary that Americans act to defend Liberty against the evils of Communism. Goldwater temporarily conquered the GOP, but his loss to Lyndon Johnson was historical in its own right.  Though scorned by history as an epic loser, in the decades since his convention speech, virtually no one has been more important to conservative ideas and activism than Barry Goldwater.

In this second of two selections from Smith’s decision In re Booth (1854), Justice Smith verbally elaborated before the court his earlier written decision. Smith argues that state judges have obligations and duties to protect the rights of citizens regardless of the unconstitutional pronouncements of the Supreme Court and the Congress of the United States.Classics of Liberty is narrated by Caleb O. Brown, written by Anthony Comegna, and produced by Mark McDaniel.Source: Dixon, ed. Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin, with Tables of the Cases and Principal Matters. Abram D. Smith, Official Reporter. Vol. III, Containing Cases Decided at the June and December Terms, 1854. Chicago: Callaghan & Company, Law Publishers. 1875. 13-134. See also: Dunley, Ruth. “A.D. Smith: Knight-Errant of Radical Democracy,” (PhD Diss.). The University of Ottowa. 2008.