Various new publications from the Libertarian Alliance. To read them in
full - and two of them are long enough to print as books - follow the
links, either to the html or pdf files. I recommend the pdf files, as
these print out very nicely, and are some of the finest work our
Editorial Director has produced so far.

Please feel free to repost, or to print and hand out or recommend to
friends, students, loved ones, and so on and so forth.

By the way, I will be reposting our conference brochure in the next day
or so. The version I sent out was seriously corrupt. Apologies to all.

Sean Gabb
Director of Communications
The Libertarian Alliance

==
Sociological Notes No. 48
ISBN 1 85637 591 9
Related To Bigotry: The Repression of Swingers in Early 21st Century
Britain,
Mark Roberts - 36pp

SUMMARY

Swinging is a safe, international, middle class and increasingly popular
leisure choice for married and courting couples. Yet contrary to its
obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, the United
Kingdom effectively criminalises swingers in contrast to the high degree
of tolerance it rightly extends to gay men for precisely the same
activities. This provides the justification used by unethical elements
in the press to harass swingers even in their own homes. The British
government promotes bigotry against swingers by funding an NGO that
campaigns against swingers by pretending contrary to the scientific
evidence that their lifestyle is detrimental to any couple's
relationship. The British government should recognise its
responsibilities under the European Convention on Human Rights to
respect the sexuality of swingers and stop discriminating against them.
It should cease to fund the NGO that campaigns against swingers and
investigate whether it has breached its charitable status; and should
legalise swingers' activities and lightly regulate their dedicated
premises through Acts of Parliament.

http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/socin/socin028.htm
http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/socin/socin028.pdf

===
Cultural Notes No. 48
ISBN 1 85637 579 X
Hugo, Rand, and the Purpose of Art
Peter St Andre - 4pp

Thinker vs. Artist

In her introduction to Victor Hugo's novel Ninety-Three, Ayn Rand writes
as follows about the author:....

http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/cultn/cultn048.htm
http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/cultn/cultn048.pdf

===
Cultural Notes No. 49
ISBN 1 85637 578 1
The Art of Friendship
Peter St Andre - 4pp

An Ancient Ideal

The ideal and pursuit of friendship held great fascination for ancient
Greek thinkers and artists as diverse as Aristotle and Epicurus, Homer
and Sappho. Yet friendship has received little philosophical attention
since the time of the ancients. Surprisingly, even modern Aristotelian
philosophies have not treated friendship as a topic for serious
reflection (e.g., despite the portrayal of strong friendships in the
novels of Ayn Rand -- such as those between Gail Wynand and Howard Roark
in The Fountainhead and between Hank Rearden and Francisco D'Anconia in
Atlas Shrugged -- neither Rand herself nor thinkers in her "Objectivist"
tradition have written on friendship)....

http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/cultn/cultn049.htm
http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/cultn/cultn049.pdf

===
Historical Notes No. 46
ISBN 1 85637 586 2
Labor History Revisionism: A Libertarian Analysis of the Pullman Strike
Dr Chris Matthew Sciabarra - 20pp


The following work, originally entitled "The Implications of
Interventionism: An Analysis of the Pullman Strike," was submitted as my
undergraduate senior honors thesis to my advisor, Professor Daniel
Walkowitz of the New York University Department of History, on 20 April
1981. ...

Traditional interpretations of the Pullman strike have focused on the
"inherent struggle" between labor and capital. This struggle is a
manifestation of the "inner contradictions" of capitalism as it
developed in the nineteenth century. Violent worker resistance is seen
as the outgrowth of capitalist control over the production process and
the consequent expropriation of "labor's product" (238, passim.).
Frequently, violence or armed state intervention plays a critical role
in precipitating social polarization (246). While historians have
underscored the military and judicial intervention of the federal
government in crushing the American Railway Union's boycott of Pullman
cars, they fail to examine the fundamental role of the state as the
source of social and economic instability.

This thesis attempts to fill a gap in the existing literature....

http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/histn/histn046.htm
http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/histn/histn046.pdf
-- 
Sean Gabb sean@nojunkcandidlist.demon.co.uk (remove "nojunk")
http://www.seangabb.co.uk               http://www.candidlist.demon.co.uk
http://www.libertarian.co.uk            http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk
http://www.libertarian.co.uk/freelife/
"Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign"
                (J.S. Mill, On Liberty, 1859)