Blog 275 | The Libertarian Institute

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Jon Utley, Heroic Champion of Peace and Freedom, RIP

by Jim Bovard | Mar 23, 2020 | Blog

Jon Utley, one of the most dedicated and principled pro-freedom activists in the nation, passed away yesterday. For 30 years, Jon was in the forefront of the antiwar movement since he spearheaded a group to oppose President George H.W. Bush’s war against Iraq. Jon was a rare voice of reason and grace in conservative circles, patiently pointing out how foreign warring was destroying American freedom – as well as wreaking pointless havoc abroad. He was also a generous supporter of groups ranging from the Future of Freedom Foundation to Antiwar.com, where his columns trounced bloodthirsty politicians of all stripes.

Jon consistently raised issues that other Washington activists would not touch. In a 2005 Antiwar.com column headlined “Torture, the GOP, and the Religious Right,” Jon wrote: “The idea that America is ‘good’ and therefore need not show a decent respect to the opinions of mankind runs very deep among those now ruling Washington.” Many folks nowadays are unaware of how much support and acquiescence the Bush torture regime received from Washingtonians of most political stripes. Jon was opposed atrocities regardless of which political party was committing them.

I was always happy to see Jon at gatherings or conferences in Washington, Las Vegas, or wherever else he and I happened to coincide. Jon was almost a novelty in Washington: when he asked how you were doing, he actually gave a damn about the answer.

A few years ago, I asked him why he was attending an ACLU awards dinner touting a left-wing keynoter who didn’t seem truly concerned with individual liberty. Jon replied, “So that somebody will care when government agents take us away.” His own life was profoundly altered when government agents took his father off to the Gulag.

Jon was born in the Soviet Union in 1934. His mother was Freda Utley, a bestselling author who helped awaken Americans to the Soviet peril in the 1940s and beyond. Ms. Utley also wrote one of the first books published in America on the horrendous sufferings in postwar Germany – “The High Cost of Vengeance,” published by Regnery in 1949, available at this link. His father, Arcadi Berdichevsky, was murdered in Stalin’s Gulag in 1938. Return to the Gulag, a film on his father’s fate, has been shown on PBS and on other venues around the nation. Reason.com described the movie: “In 2004, Utley embarked upon a search to learn of his father’s fate. This documentary traces Utley’s journey through former labor camps and cities in northern Russia and his final uncovering of the horrible truth at the dreaded camp city of Vorkuta within the Arctic Circle.” You can watch the 28-minute documentary here.

Here is a video made during a Committee for the Republic celebration of Jon’s 80th birthday:

Here is a nine-minute tribute video last year from the American Conservative – which Jon helped found and served as Publisher and kept alive through perennial budget squeezes: “Jon Utley – A Lifetime of Courage” featuring Kelley Vlahos, John Henry, Roger Ream, and others:

That American Conservative dinner last year was “black tie optional.” Jon sent me a note a few weeks before the event: “Would you like to come, a comp ticket, to our GALA? I told them you might trim your beard, you really do sometimes look like an anarchist.”

Jon was sufficiently conservative that “look like an anarchist” was probably not an unvarnished compliment. In honor of Jon, I happily trimmed my beard for that event. I even sported a nice suit. Admittedly, a USA Today editor notified me that the knot in my necktie failed her inspection.

Jon Utley made the world a better place. He was someone who would sound the alarm when government agents took anyone away, regardless of whether he supported their cause. He will be sorely missed as America deals with the next deluge of threats to our peace and prosperity.

Cross-posted from JimBovard.com.

Jon Basil Utley, RIP (A great freedom-fighter and a wonderful friend, I will miss him so much)

by Eric Garris | Mar 23, 2020 | Blog

My good friend Jon Basil Utley died on Friday. Jon had been fighting lymphoma for a few years. I believe he was 87. He was one of the sweetest men I ever met. For the last several years, he served as Publisher of The American Conservative magazine and website. Last year, he wrote a brief history of trying to organize conservative opposition to US interventionism.

I met Jon in 1991 when he was organizing the Committee to Avert a Mideast Holocaust, against the first Gulf War. He was very supportive of my efforts in starting Antiwar.com in 1995, and became our first major donor in 1999, and continued to support us generously over the years. He was so genuinely appauled by US wars and committed the latter part of his life to fighting them. He wrote occasionally for Antiwar.com, his articles are available here. Jon was given a lifetime achievement award by The American Conservative last year.

Jon was the son of famous conservative writer Freda Utley and Russian communist economist Arcadi Berdichevsky, a close associate of Joseph Stalin. Jon was born in Russia in the early 1930s. In 1936, Stalin’s police arrested Arcadi. Unable to aid him, Freda left soon after for England with young Jon, using British names and passports. There, she mobilized important leftist friends like George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, and Harold Laski to try to find Arcadi and even sent a letter directly to Stalin. She received two postcards from Arcadi reporting his five years’ sentence to an Arctic Circle concentration camp for alleged association with Trotskyists. In 1956, she learned he had died on March 30, 1938. She later became a fervent anti-Communist and became an important figure in the US conservative movement.

Jon grew up around prominent conservatives, and became an important part of the movement. When he became disgusted with America’s wars, he used his position within the movement to try to turn them against the wars. Although frustrated with his attempts, he continued to attend meetings and speak out for peace for many years. Jon would often call me and tell me about these endeavors. I usually saw Jon in person about once a year when he would visit California.

In 2004 Jon travelled to Russia and learned that his father was executed by firing squad for leading a hunger strike at the Vorkuta prison labor camp. He was “rehabilitated” posthumously in 1961 under post-Stalin rehabilitation laws. Jon told me that he was able to see files in Russia that included photos of his father and the actual execution order signed by Stalin himself.

I am having a hard time writing this. I spoke with him a few weeks ago and realized how ill and frail he was getting. I had been trying to reach him every day for the last two weeks and feared the worst. I will so miss talking with him. I will post additional tributes to him in the coming days.

Here is Jon’s biography from The American Conservative website:

Jon Basil Utley is publisher of The American Conservative. Utley is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with language studies in Germany and France. He first worked for American International Group insurance in Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia. Later he became a foreign correspondent in South America for Knight Ridder newspapers and for 17 years, starting during the Reagan Administration, was a commentator about third world issues on the Voice of America. He managed an oil drilling partnership in Pennsylvania and later worked in real estate development. He has written for the Harvard Business Review, Washington Post, and other papers. He was formerly founding editor of The Bogota Bulletin, associate editor of The Times of the Americas, and a contributing editor to The Conservative Digest. He was born in Moscow.His father, a Russian trade official, was sent to the gulag and executed at the Brick Quarry in Vorkuta for being one of three leaders of a hunger strike. His mother, Freda Utley, became a prominent anticommunist author and activist.

Rest in Peace Jon Basil Utley

by Scott Horton | Mar 22, 2020 | Blog

Jon Utley asks me a question at my Committee For Responsible Foreign Policy speech in 2018.

The wonderful and heroic John Basil Utley, life-long anti-communist and antiwar crusader, and publisher of The American Conservative has died after a long illness.

We will update this entry with further details when they become available.

This is truly a sad day for all people who love liberty.

Rest in peace my friend.

Doctors In Italy: We No Longer Help Those Over 60

by Steven Woskow | Mar 22, 2020 | Blog

This is why people that work in U.S. health care are trying so hard to keep the number of cases down. When medical systems become overwhelmed, they have to make heartbreaking decisions about who lives and who dies.

“As his department receives coronavirus patients who are terminally ill the focus is to allow patients to meet loved ones and communicate with them during their last moments despite the quarantine regulations.”

Covidonomics: What Will the Covid-19 Crisis Do to Our Political Economy?

by Koen Swinkels | Mar 21, 2020 | Blog

The Covid-19 crisis is fueling a race to find solutions for the problem while also shutting down large parts of the economy and giving governments enormous economic powers. Except for wartime mobilization, this situation is unprecedented. In this article I discuss fifteen major potential negative consequences of the crisis.

1. Small, independent businesses will decrease as a share of the economy

Small, independent businesses will tend to be the first to collapse because:
· they typically have smaller reserves than big companies
· they typically have less access to stimulus funds
· they and/or their customers remain on (partial or complete) lockdown while giants such as Walmart & Amazon remain open (especially online) & take over their business

2. More people become dependent on government

Meanwhile, millions or tens of millions of people will lose their jobs or encounter great economic difficulties, and will turn to the government for help.

3. More businesses become dependent on government

Many smaller or medium sized businesses that do survive will have had to rely on government assistance. Dependence on aid and other privileges may persist for some time and to some extent, and government loans will have to be paid off.

4. Public-private partnerships benefit big business

The technological and institutional solutions to the Covid-19 problem will involve lots of ‘public-private partnerships’ that benefit well connected businesses and that will create new industries or transform existing ones. Through government contracts and regulations these businesses may come to form de facto cartels, keeping out or crowding out independent competitors.

5. A public-private surveillance industry and control system emerges

To keep track of virus spread governments need data. Businesses will develop new, more advanced and comprehensive tracking and collection systems that can be used by governments. Said governments will use those new tools to not just contain and control the virus but also the people.

6. Revolution through crisis

For decades governments, businesses, NGOs, voters have been talking about economic measures against climate change. These talks are slow, the negotiations tense and difficult, the changes small & incremental— lots of talk, little action. But now with Covid-19 we are fundamentally restructuring the economy in a matter of weeks, with little to no talk and all action.

7. A supply crunch followed by a demand crunch = not good

Due to the virus’s first confirmed cases happening in China and due to the drastic measures the Chinese government took to contain it, supply chains to Western economies were severely disrupted. These seem to be recovering but now Western economies are shutting down, causing a huge demand crunch. In a hyper-leveraged economy and a very uncertain economic environment, this is a recipe for disaster.

8. Borders become a thing again

The problem with viruses is that they spread. Border controls of people and goods can slow or halt that spread. So borders —both between countries and within countries— will become a thing again, and trade and travel will become less free.

9. The world economy becomes more protectionist, less free

Western countries —especially under pressure of a pre-existing anti-China lobby that is seizing its opportunity and is painting China as the Great Enemy that brought this plague upon us— will erect more barriers to trade with China, will try to decouple more, start making more goods (especially pharmaceutical & medical) at home or in other countries.

10. Protectionism creates a more dangerous international situation

A reduction in trade and the further politicization of existing trade cause political tensions between countries. With less economic interconnectedness the direct economic and social costs of conflict decrease which means there are lower barriers to war and war-like actions.

11. A big geopolitical shift away from the US and toward China could take place

If the US keeps its economy shut down for much longer and if China’s economy continues its recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, and if China continues to assist other countries in dealing with the pandemic, the US will lose economic and political power while China gains it. Expect the US to put up some serious economic, political and military resistance to this development. Few empires go gentle into that good night.

12. Anti-China rhetoric and policies will go up by a lot

For several years now politicians, media and think tanks have been increasing their anti-China rhetoric. Now faced with an economic collapse and looking for scapegoats the Trump administration will pull a Hillary: Blame a foreign power for his own failure.

China and China alone will be blamed for the Covid-19 crisis, despite the lack of evidence for the accusations, the considerable evidence to the contrary and ample evidence for the Trump administration’s own mishandling of the Covid-19 crisis and the disastruous effects it has had. Those people and special interests with a pre-existing hatred of China will seize the opportunity this climate provides them with.

Like Russophobia, Sinophobia will soon become a key part of the bipartisan foreign policy consensus.

13. High unemployment & high economic uncertainty create a volatile domestic situation

Institutions will come under pressure; scapegoats will be sought and found; demagogues find willing audiences; people become more open to radical solutions; people’s and businesses’ increased dependence on government means those governments will have more power to wield; divisions within the country can be created or fueled and exploited; war against perceived domestic or foreign enemies may come to be used as a tool to unite a country, give its people a sense of purpose and a way to channel their anger & frustration.

14. Emergency work and life changes become permanent

To contain the virus, protect themselves and the people around them, a lot of individuals, families and businesses are making big changes: Working from home, home schooling and online education, various forms of social distancing. After the virus threat has receded and life has gone back to normal, some of these changes will endure because more people will now have experience with these practices and because a better infrastructure will have been built up to facilitate them.

15. A new narrative rationalizing the transformed political economy emerges

There was no public process of discussion, analysis, reflection and justification that formed the intellectual basis for the fundamental changes made to the political economy. The public was not given an opportunity to vote on whether they want this new system or not. Instead, these changes came in the form of direct emergency actions taken in the middle of the crisis or as a result of more indirect macroeconomic developments that the crisis and the measures taken to combat it gave rise to over time.

But although there was no prior process of deliberation and justification of the new system, the public will have to come to see the new system as legitimate. And so a new narrative or framework that rationalizes the new system will form and be communicated to the public by politicians, media, economists, social scientists, think tanks, schools and other major influencers of public opinion.

Koen Swinkels

This article first appeared on Foreign Policy Follies.

Trump Is Pulling a Hillary

by Koen Swinkels | Mar 21, 2020 | Blog

He’s started a propaganda campaign to blame a foreign power for his own grotesque failure.

Please Don’t Hoard N95 Masks! Hospitals Need Them Desperately.

by Scott Horton | Mar 21, 2020 | Blog

This is a note just posted by my sister, a nurse at a hospital in Austin:

I know everyone has heard the healthcare workers cry for getting safe PPE. But I don’t think I’ve really read anything that explains exactly why.

My last shift at the hospital, I was asked to reuse my N95 mask and store it in a paper bag. As many of you have heard, this is absolutely unheard of before now. The CDC is saying health care workers can use bandannas, and many people are sewing masks. (Which is awesome all you volunteers looking to help. Thank you!)

I’m sure people who have their own N95 masks think that they need them if health care workers need them, especially if their immune system is depressed. But here is the MAJOR difference. If you have to go out in public, a simple mask will protect in ordinary day to day contact. If the person next to you coughs, for example.

But what I did on my last shift is this:

A child was in respiratory failure. This meant if we didn’t intervene immediately, that child would die. Absolutely, no question, be dead without immediate medical intervention or a miracle or both. So, just like any other typical day in the ER the team rushed to save this child’s life. Never for one second during any epidemic/pandemic/media scare have I EVER seen even one of my teammates hesitate to rush to a child’s rescue. This time was no different. We treated the child the same as we always did. EXCEPT…

We are daily around all kids of viruses. We all have rock-star immune systems because of it. However, we know there is a novel virus out there that our immune systems aren’t prepared for. So we don full PPE, we minimize the number of staff in the room. Which means all of us in there are doing multiple roles. I was initially the only nurse in the room. The doctor was helping hold the patient still for his IV. She was laying across half on the bed. The respiratory therapist was working with the equipment to help the little one’s breathing. This is a kid, so he would pull off the mask and cough all over her. My face was inches away as we worked to start the IV, give IV fluids, give medications. We stayed immediately at the bedside for an HOUR while we worked to stabilize this child, while the machine helping him breath aerosolized the particulates into the air.

I have no idea if this patient had COVID19. But what if? What if we did all of this without proper PPE? We did have PPE that day. But we might not even a week or two down the road.

Then what?

It isn’t just about my safety. I will gladly give my life for any of my patients. It isn’t even about the safety of my family when I come home. (Even though I have a medically fragile child on home oxygen. )

It’s about EVERYONE’S safety. If the nurses and doctors are sick who is caring for the patients? If our hospital systems are in danger of being overwhelmed, how on earth are we going to manage if large numbers of health care workers are among the patients?

What if it is you, your child, your loved one who needs me?

So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE if you have unused N95 masks, even if you are medically fragile, turn them in to your local hospital. You can use the cloth masks. They will help you. But I need more. My coworkers need more.

For the sake of everyone in the Austin area. For the sake of everyone everywhere.

What Limits Are Needed On Government During This Outbreak?

by Zack Sorenson | Mar 21, 2020 | Blog

Disease epidemics are perfectly solvable by libertarian theory. If someone is infected with a dangerous disease, and they bring themselves into a position where they can infect others, then they have violated someone’s rights. In an ideal ancap scenario, places like malls and movie theaters would have every right to demand your vaccination or medical history before permitting you entry. Don’t like it? Patronize someone else. Worried about getting sick? Go to the places that demand your vaccine records.

It gets a bit more complicated with rights protection agencies. Can a community hire private cops to patrol checkpoints into a town, testing people for fevers or disease as a necessary pre-condition for entry? Can some version of this be generalized into a developed ancap society? These are tough questions.

All I know is we have nothing like an ancap society right now. America is a highly degraded, barely free society with a broken bill of rights. Even so, we still have to survive this virus. Actual measures have to actually be taken to deal with the outbreak. As it stands, the government is in the position to be part of the solution.

Is there a way around this? Sure. Private citizens can start building systems and networks now to start independently doing what the government has monopolized. Not only are you likely to do it better, you can prevent the government from seizing power during this situation.

Nevertheless, we may just have to work with government on this one. For lack of a better answer, the best thing I can think of – banal as it is – would be an “outbreak bill of rights”. Something like 10 clear lines in the sand. Something we won’t let the government transgress, no matter how much we endure their martial law measures. Something non-libertarians would support. Something easily spread and understood.

This situation will leave folks vulnerable, but the government itself will be stretched thin. It will be an uneasy balance, especially as civil and social tensions between communities within America may increase.

If we develop a reasonable consensus between different political factions, I believe the people have more than enough real power to put our feet down and maintain our 10 lines in the sand. We don’t want this martial law to turn into world socialism or permanent fascism.

In preparation for an article on this subject, I would like you to help me develop these “10 lines in the sand” for the “outbreak bill of rights”.

Here’s one: “No microchips or bodily invasive tracking”. The government may want to track who is vaccinated or not. In the movie Contagion, this was done with plastic bracelets. Sounds like hell, but, you can at least take a bracelet off. An implant? You’ll never get rid of that.

Here’s another: “Remunerate any property seizures with at a minimum a common instrument of value.” These would be “outbreak bonds”. Sounds crappy, but better than eminent domain. Plus, if Boeing gets a bailout in order to built cheap pop-up aluminium hospitals or something, I think farmer Joe should be treated the same and get something if the feds use his barn to store equipment. The social and economic aftershocks of this situation will probably exceed the medical consequences, so war economy shenanigans are possible.

That’s the idea. 10 such lines in the sand. If you have any suggestions, please email them to: outbreakrights@gmail.com

I’ll try to mention all the ideas in my article, but will select the top ten on my own in consultation with the Libertarian Institute editorial board.