Fortune does not change men, it unmasks them.
Suzanne Necker
Tweet of the Day
A while back, I had a long Twitter exchange with a cancer patient where I was arguing for a more open prescription drug market, unimpeded by FDA bureaucracy. In this exchange, I deal with a progressive's perception of slavery, the Civil War and Lincoln. Like in the former case, I don't necessarily like to get drawn into these debates. As a libertarian, I find the Confederacy's embrace of slavery morally unacceptable, and the last thing I want to do is to be seen as some sort of reactionary defender of the racist South. But being pro-liberty, I found Lincoln's unprovoked aggression on the Southern states inexcusable, his economic nationalism economically illiterate, his abandonment of constitutionally-protected liberty (e.g., suspension of habeas corpus) a contradiction of his oath of office. As a libertarian, I find contemporary worship of Lincoln contemptible.
"...no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists." #AbrahamLincoln— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
"I believe I have no lawful right to do so [interfere with the institution of slavery], and I have no inclination to do so." #AbrahamLincoln— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
Why do so many Americans celebrate the memory of the man who launched the bloodiest war against Americans in our history? #AbrahamLincoln— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom Fascist Know Nothing. https://t.co/jybSJ90hxe— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@cptnspiky Wrong. The thirteenth amendment ended slavery. Keep in mind Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to Northern states.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@cptnspiky Stop believing propaganda. Lincoln owed his nomination & election to protectionist policies not slavery. https://t.co/lznTzxcqe0— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
I'm amused by how many profile clicks I get by challenging the myths of America's Saint Lincoln. We who are pro-liberty oppose slavery.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
I refer the interested reader on Lincoln to Thomas DiLorenzo's research. Lincoln was a protectionist, he suspended habeas corpus, etc.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
To a significant extent, Lincoln used the slavery issue to isolate the Confederacy. For example, England had already abolished slavery.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@GerYBal Look at the man in the mirror. Lincoln perverted the Constitution.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@TheEditor26 @billclinton @BarackObama Except for Reagan, all of the ones you mentioned were mediocre sons of bitches.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
I think this American fetish with American Presidential hero worship is overdone. The historian bias towards activist Presidents is absurd.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
The idea that one man, like Trump, can micromanage the American economy better than 320 million American consumers is utterly delusional.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
George Will continues to be America's best columnist. Quoting Tina Turner:"we don't need another hero". Trump's pushing-on-a-string policies https://t.co/EgBjR2Mzsb— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom Yeah, right. Every other nation in the Western world managed to abolish slavery without sacrificing the next generation.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom Lincoln specifically cited collection of Union tariffs in his war proclamations against the Confederacy in the spring of 1861.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom Slavery was abolished with the thirteenth amendment; as you know, the President does not have a role in the amendment process.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
One of the points Will pointed out in his latest piece is there was been a net outflow of Mexican migrants over the past decade.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
Of all the problems we are facing, including a $20T debt & insolvent entitlement programs, Trump wants to build a wall & deport taxpayers.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
This is Soft Rock America. Remembering jazz great Al Jarreau: https://t.co/ySmtCMrhR8— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
Despite no credible evidence that already heavily vetted refugees or migrants contribute to existing security threats. Trump stokes fears.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
Should we be surprised by Trump's absurd priorities on policies? This is the same pattern of thinking that led to 6 bankruptcies.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom It was ratified 7 mos after war was over. The Confederate states were occupied territories and had to ratify to rejoin Union.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom I assume you meant "seceded". It's rather absurd to think a people have the right to join the Union but not to leave.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom The fact is that the South was engaged in a defensive war; few battles were on Union territory (like Gettysburg).— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom Well, the problem was that you had a court system which did a poor job of enforcing Amendments 13-15.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom Of the 620,000 or so soldiers who died during the war, about 40,000 were black. Approximately 13% of population was black.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom I am a libertarian. I oppose restrictions on liberty. The government is the biggest threat to liberty.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom But victors don't get to change facts. There were better ways to resolve the slavery issue without sacrificing a generation.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom The best way to control perversion of the Constitution is to limit the power of the government to common defense & enforce rights— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom The best way to control perversion of the Constitution is to limit the power of the government to common defense & enforce rights— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom The war wasn't about saving African lives. That is a post hoc rationalization. Lincoln was more interested in protecting revenue.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom The idea that people are born into privilege is a myth. My own ancestors worked at textile mills in New England, a hard life.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom England had the world's largest economy after abolishing slavery. We took the crown in the decade following the Civil War.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom It depends on your perspective. From the South, about 80% of tariffs were collected from them and largely spent in the North.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom Slavery is an evil institution and should have never been allowed in America from the get-go. I'm just arguing over the means.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom And the alternative institution, sharecropping, was also a hard life. I think technological improvements weakened labor demand.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom What are you talking about? Tariffs, the main source of federal revenue prior to 1913, were sales taxes on foreign goods.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom First of all, I made the point that sharecropping was a difficult life. However, your equating it with slavery is over the top.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 12, 2017
@helmicmom I always said that I was pro-liberty. We generally believe in the non-aggression principle. Lincoln was the clear aggressor.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
@helmicmom Let's not forget the Southern economy in those times was largely agrarian. Sharecropping was a way of living for poor farmers.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
@helmicmom Sharecropping was a way of providing poor farmers access to resources and credit through harvest. Could they get trapped in debt?— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
@helmicmom There were inefficiencies in the sharecropping model, e.g., lack of economies of scale & poor market competition hurt farmers.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
@helmicmom There were inefficiencies in the sharecropping model, e.g., lack of economies of scale & poor market competition hurt farmers.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
@helmicmom I think a slave rebellion would have entirely justifiable. But we are talking individual rights, not this collectivist nonsense.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
#WeThePeople didn't vote for Clinton or Trump.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
Economic idiocy in the GOP has now spread beyond Trump. Cotton and Perdue are advocating for cuts in legal immigration & labor protectionism— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
As the American labor force continues to age and senior entitlements draw closer to insolvency, we can't afford to cut younger immigrants.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
We also should stop playing zero-sum games with immigrant categories. We have inadequate, obsolete & unjustifiable quotas. Liberalize them.— Ronald Guillemette (@raguillem) February 13, 2017
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Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists
Tom Petty (with Stevie Nick), "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"
