Free to do what?

National Review, July 20, 1992 by Tim W. Ferguson

The school establishment had joined in the barrage with "family values" courses that simply softened up the kids for "drug dealers and homosexuals," Mrs. Decter went on, with most of the room--even some libertarians-- nodding agreement. But she had come, she said, to the reluctant and self-surprising conclusion that school choice and parental action were not the answer. "Call the cops, call the censors, if necessary call in the Marines!" she exhorted. "What the state has encouraged, the state has to be called in to undo."

Here the unanimity ended. Libertarians exploded all over the hall; traditionalists like Father Rebert Sirico, a fellow panelist, emphasized that "freedom is the necessary context for morality" and that powers granted to do good are frequently seized by bad actors.

The arguers were lined up six deep in the aisle by now, but Society secretary Don Lipsett passed the word that the room had to be cleared for that most sustaining of traditional ceremonies, a wedding. Who could object in this context?

Ronald Coase's whimsical opening act--Why was he in Tunisia? To buy a birdcage-included a story about his invitation to meet the president, General Ben Ami, who professed great (if recent) belief in a market economy. But while such ideas take root in the obscure reaches of Tunisia and other birdcage centers, here at home, Liberty's eagle remains an endangered species.