[101] in libertarians
Laissez Faire Book News: Bandow's POLITICS OF ENVY
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Chris Whitten)
Wed Jul 27 16:53:31 1994
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 1994 16:38:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Chris Whitten <whitten@panix.com>
Apparently-To: <libertarians@mit.edu>
Doug Bandow's new collection will be available soon. It will be the
cover of our September issue--which happens to be our annual 15% off
sale. So, Bandow's book is an especially good deal: $18 off the
publisher's price.
Doug Bandow,
Christian libertarian and champion op-ed writer
THE POLITICS OF ENVY
Statism as Theology
by Doug Bandow
foreword by Robert A. Sirico
(reviewed by Jim Powell)
During the past decade, Cato Institute senior fellow Doug
Bandow has emerged as a champion op-ed writer, having contributed
hundreds of articles to the *Wall Street Journal*, *New York
Times*, *Washington Post* and other publications. He excels at
reporting dramatic facts and making a moral case for liberty in an
appealing, easy-to-understand way.
This book gathers together 27 of Bandow's best articles from
the past several years. They cover a wide range of controversies,
from abortion to drugs, education, environmentalism, foreign
policy, national service, taxes and welfare.
Notable contribution: while libertarians tend to be agnostics,
and many Christians react against libertarian ideas for that
reason, Bandow explains why Christians and libertarians both share
considerable common ground.
There's so much you can learn from this book, as the following
sampler makes clear:
* * *
"Government is not a particularly good teacher of virtue. The
state tends to be effective at simple, blunt tasks, like killing
and jailing people. It has been far less successful at shaping
individual consciences."
* * *
"Making government a moral enforcer encourages abuse by
majorities or influential minorities that gain power."
* * *
Bureaucratic perks department: annual cost of World Bank
staffers, $207,000 each.
* * *
"The official Medicare formula for physicians is 'Payment =
({RVUws x GPCIwa} + {RVUpes x GPCIpea} + {RVUms x GPUCma}) x CF.'"
* * *
"The EPA imposed wetlands rules requiring federal approval for
even the most basic uses of an estimated 100 million acres of land,
much of which was ordinarily dry."
* * *
"Drugs cannot be released until the FDA has certified not only
their safety, but also their efficacy. As a result, tens of
thousands of people have unnecessarily died while waiting for the
heart attack drugs streptokinase and TPA and the gastric-ulcer drug
misoprostol. Families with Alzheimer's sufferers have been
frustrated by the agency's refusal to authorize the use of the drug
THA, despite evidence that it has helped four of ten patients who
have tried it. Equally costly has been the delay in bringing anti-
AIDS drugs, such as AZT, to the market."
* * *
"Bigger cars better protect their occupants than do smaller
cars... [government regulations have] caused automakers to downsize
their products since that is the cheapest and most effective way to
improve gas mileage. The result... between 2200 and 3900 dead
drivers and passengers for each additional mandated mpg per model
year."
* * *
So much for environmental hysteria: "Between 1970 and 1986...
the amount of particulates spewed into the air fell by 64 percent,
carbon monoxide emissions dropped 38 percent, and releases of
volatile organic compounds fell by 29 percent. Ocean dumping of
industrial wastes was reduced 94 percent. There were 80 percent
fewer cities without adequate sewage treatment plants. Rivers unfit
for swimming dropped 44 percent."
* * *
"More people have died in 1993 in Angola than Bosnia. Yet why
is there no groundswell for intervening in the former? Starvation
stalks Liberia and Sudan, both victims of vicious civil wars. Why
no UN relief missions there? The Transcaucasus is suffering from
seven separate conflicts. All of these conflagrations are human
catastrophes, but none affects a single vital American interest and
warrants the sacrifice of even one U.S. soldier."
Book No. PT6131 (hardcover) 360p. Publisher's Price $34.95
Laissez Faire Price $19.95
SPECIAL SALE PRICE (this month only) $16.95
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Thank you,
Chris
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Chris Whitten whitten@panix.com
Laissez Faire Books 1-800-326-0996
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