10,000 Ludwigs

I always introduce Mike Lynch as 'Dr.' Lynch when I introduce him to people. He often shrugs it off and belies his regularness with familiarities with all sorts of subjects, people, movements and places. Mike is one of the few people who show up to our local LP meeting with an active knowledge of Mises and everything Lew Rockwell. As part of a new project associated with that group, we packed our our gear for a trip to the big city and set out to cover part of the Institute's proceedings this weekend.

Despite his grumblings about the outset of the day, we managed to dig up a cane to replace a lost one and other a sundry incidentals and still caught the 1:50 in Beacon to Grand Central. I usually have a good feeling after the car is parked and the luggage is stowed, but this time the parking wasn't paid for. Despite a legitimate handicap hanger on the mirror, the imminent arrival of the train prevented a detailed working of the machine designed to track these costs. Any time this country boy can ride without family logistics involved every minute with a two and five year old, it's all gravy. It would suck if the car was gone early Sunday morning though.

Grand Central is usually a launching point for Gotham adventure instead of the end point. Thus there was no rush to fling up the sauna like ramp. Over fifteen years ago I once asked a pair of municipal workers how far it was to Battery Park and they were utterly astonished I was going to walk it. After just walking through most the major cities in Europe that summer it wasn't very hard. Mike's polio stricken leg and my instinct to dodge and scamper through the ever flowing crowd was tempered by the simple fact that the Grand Hyatt is right there. After a quick shower, some camera shots of Mercury's head and some quick intro takes I was ready for what has been described the pursuit of the leisure class. Lectures, seminars and all the associated eggheadedness is just not my cup of tea when my furnace needs cleaning before the new lower temperatures start, let alone the stark lack of stacked firewood.

I'm not bald and graying yet and don't have the term 'Doctor' associated with my name tag, so hanging back and checking things out is always better than barging into a room and sharing your own internal madness with everybody that will listen. While we had permission to tape stuff from Lew Rockwell himself, Dr. Mike and I feel that networking is just as important as sticking a mike and camera in people's faces. What little time there was before the commencement was spent chatting up a former Cato Institute staffer and current Villanova Law student. Apparently he had been told not to attend in the past due to the racist outlook of the Institute. He's recently concluded that this was the farthest thing from the truth. Competing eggheads do this kind of thing all the time.

It should be no secret that Judge Napolitano of Fox News is a dynamic speaker. But like John Stossel he's fairly new to the 'libertarian' thing and probably still charges a lot to speak. Explaining the Alien and Sedition Act of the John Adams presidency , the loss of hapeus corpus during the Civil War, the abuses of Espionage Act and the imprisonment of Italian Americans during WWII has to come with a flair and ease when Lew Rockwell, Thomas DiLorenzo, Thomas Woods and the entire corps. of libertarian contrarian writers are in the room. He's certainly not informing so much as entertaining at that point. The admission of his own fault for the Bush Presidency was probably the most heart felt moment of the address. It was the Bush aids watching Fox in 2000 that shuffled over to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's residence after Judge Napolitano suggested as much much during a broadcast around the time of that electoral flap.

After the applause subsides and otherwise rational men realize their cause is beyond association with celebrity, the gravitas of Liberty is given it's proper frame. While acknowledging his lack of oration skills compared to the erstwhile judge, Professor Robert Higgs, describes Jeffry Tucker, gave a speech worthy to be considered among the great libertarian speeches in all history. While I haven't been around the movement and its speeches that long, I was moved by what Dr. Higgs entitled "The Song That Is Irresistible: How the State Leads People to Their Own Destruction". Indeed what force allows men to scramble onto beaches where the skulls can still be seen. As he refers Margaret Atwood's in her poem "The Siren Song."

This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistible:

the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see beached skulls

As Jeffrey Tucker outlines, hopefully the text of this address is available soon from the recipient of the Gary Schlarbaum Award for Lifetime Defense of Liberty during this twenty fifth anniversary celebration. While Dr. HIggs does not 'wow-em' like the judge. I have to think that his impassioned plea and address was as equally compelling to the minds in that audience.

What a great spread in the adjacent ballroom. Despite nine seventy five bottled Heineken's, the salad spread, breads, pastas, meats, fruits and desserts were the stuff of New York City. I tend to zone out when I have the feed bag on whatever the occasion. Dr. Mike and I enjoyed the company of an older urbanite couple who seem to attend all the great conferences and seminars. They even listened to the minor details of my bumpkin life. As I returned from each spread with a different plate of goodies we had a grand conversation at the little stand up tables. As with all good things, it starts to break up. Before they did, Mike managed to sidle up to the man himself, Lew Rockwell. I was graciously introduced and made a few fleeting comments about the Party of Principle.

There was some buzz among the moderately youthful attendees about the Ron Paul Meetup somewhere near 29th Street downtown. As we demurred a shared cab to the event and the blackberries humming an even younger crowd than the retreating urbane professionals were crowding around Walter Block. Block's quick side long glances revealed he wouldn't hold court until 4 AM with the youthful crowd anxious to discuss the gold standard. A young man from Australia and one from Brooklyn did stay up for another hour with Dr. Mike and myself as the next shift for the ballroom was busily hustling chairs and tables all around us. While it was only midnight, I got the sense Rothbard might have been disappointed if he were still alive.

I hit the street Saturday morning while Dr. Mike showered. We'll have stock clips of Grand Central and the Hyatt in our archives soon. Cops and security left me alone. You can never tell anymore if they care or are prompted by some sense of uber security maximum that forces their reluctant hands. They can't get everybody with a camera or phone nowadays. Don't taze me bro. The faithful browsed the Mises bookstore and watched about videos of the Federal Reserve. Coffee was sure good. I can never sleep in hotels. Lectures are another story. While David Gordon and Jeffrey Herbener gave perfectly decent talks about "Illiberal Thinkers" and "Private Schools" respectively, it was truly a breathe of fresh air to see a gathering crowd of Ron Paul supporters across the street from the Grand Hyatt. Time for the camera again.

After a general panning of the crowd (for future YouTube use?) I came across libertarian activist and author of The Tycoons of Walton Street, Jim Lesczynski. Jim's a legendary activist for the LPNY and edits a publication and blog, Serf City. He was with his kids and wife hooting it up for Ron Paul. I stopped any taping to catch up with Jim. I hadn't seen him since the Weld nomination debacle. At the time Jim made a personal cash contribution to my campaign at the time, I didn't get a chance to thank him again.

Dave Doctor pops up at all things Libertarian. In the last year I've seen him at an LNC meeting in Alexandria and at the Liberty Forum last February in New Hampshire. He's even good for a few hundred signatures around petitioning time. He took some time for a quick interview and we shared a few trail stories. Thanks Dave.

Before I crossed the street to get a shot of Ron Paul being interviewed by CNN in the Hyatt restaurant overlooking 42nd Street, I bumped into Jeff Gaul. He's one of the leaders of Albany's meetup group for RP. He'll be a guest on Capital Outsider on October 23rd. He was down in Manhattan with his family and supporting the Paul rally.

It looked like a sole student with a sign and he was also asked why he supported RP. He barely answered as a brsque vinny type filled in about Paul and freedom for him. Giants jacket and bluetooth earpiece and unitied sneakers on a Saturday. HIs name really was Vinny and used to trade with Aaron Russo before he died a few weeks ago. Apparently Lyme disease was also created by the government and he has it. Wants to move if RP doesn't. While it wasn't completely ready to doze in the egghead ballroon just yet, I did take a strategic spot in the lobby hoping to follow Paul out into the crowd. Of course he did after my nap and stowing away the camera and letting the battery charge. I had to fly up two escalator's and back down again to get back out on the street with RP and his loyal followers. This is the stuff of YouTube. The highlight being the part where Paul enthusiastically blurts out " down with all authoritarians" while dishing autographs to supporters. As he wound back towards Grand Central station it's worth noting that Kent Synder kept a protective arm around Mrs. Paul while still taking and giving business cards to various VIP's who knew his status in the campaign. My secondary battery held out until Paul and Co. moved into Grand Central. Pack the camera it was lunch time.

Dr. Mike made sure we were on the list and Pat Barnett actually took the blue ticket out of Carol Paul's name tag and gave it to me. Mike had shuffled in and up the steps of Charlie Palmer's Metazur Restaurant in Grand Central Station before I could get back. As everyone was slowly checked on the list, all the guests and dignitaries associated with the Mises Institute slowly made their way up the steps. After Pat checked you in it still seemed a slow climb to the top. The reason for that was that Ron Paul was at the top signing stuff for people and shaking hands. Fully unprepared I whipped out a business card for him to sign as we attempted an awkward shake with a Sharpie in his hand. I mentioned that I was with the LNC and said I wouldn't bother him about it right now as we shared a mutual laugh.

Even though the table was cramped and the audio from the podium was low, the atmosphere was austere. The cream of the anarchy crop was sitting on top of the New York world under the stars of Grand Central. Even the loud kid from 'New York' who seated himself at the last minute and started to go around with Dr. Anthony Santelli about the abortion issue, it was just as easy to turn back and listen to Mike chat up the couple from Silicon Valley about the derivation of the term 'sucks'. Turns out it had to do with the lung punctures during the Civil War.

Dr. Paul seems at ease and comfortable as the campaign rolls on. He didn't seem that way up in NH last February. Perhaps it was the warm reception from all his friends at Mises or the gathering momentum of the movement some say he's leading now. With the Mises crew as the backdrop it's much harder for me to dismiss the gold standard and Federal Reserve positions that I thought he shouldn't utilize in a mainstream campaign effort. I realize now that it's part of a longstanding world view and requires the light of day just like his position to the war in Iraq.

After a brief exposition about LPNY and national efforts on ballot access to my side of the table, I managed a quick card drop with Kent Synder and commended him on their online effort. Apparently he's read Trippi's book twice. It shows. Having a better message must help too.

After lunch was Walter Block. I find it ironic that his talk about "Big Tent Libertarianism" comes at a time when the Libertarian Party also is wrestling with such considerations. While the LP seems to think that moderation of message is necessary to attract more voters, Block offers the idea that the core principles of libertarianism are like a tepee. The top is held by a coherent binder as the rest of the tepee widens beneath. While he goes on to show twenty positions that libertarians can disagree, he absolutely stops at the notion that liberty at the point of a gun in terms of foreign liberventions is coherent or logical. I only wish I had a chance to convince Mr. Block that the 'federal' LP , as he describes it, still has a solid corps. of true believers. Perhaps another day.

After Thomas Woods spoke, Dr. Mike and I convinced LRC contributor and anarchism.net's founder Per Bylund to do an on camera interview in the ballroom. Mike did the interview and they talked about the role of socialism and taxes in Sweden. Woods agreed to interview after his obligation at the front table was complete.

Roderic T. Long and Thomas DiLorenzo spoke after the break. Both gave solid talks about the value of Mises today. Perhaps the best went last as Hans-Hermann Hoppe discussed the role of anti-intellectual intellectuals. His clear concise reasoning on the plight of the anti-statist intellectual must have resonated with almost three quarters of the room of such luminaries. Of all the video taping done by the Mises Institute over the weekend, I wish this lecture would arrive on every public University professor's desks or emails. It pretty much crystallized the entire reason this author has never sought a position in higher education.

Of course the grand man of them all Ralph Raico gave the final talk. He's no longer the youthful cohort of Rothbard singing the Bastiat Circle's fighting/drinking songs. Apparently still self-deprecating, while his body may be failing it's still very clear that the twinkle of freedom is still in his eye. A great way to end the speaking portion of the event. These treasures of the post WWII libertarian world will not be with us forever. Raico was just a high school student interested the stuff of Rothbard, who nurtured then through what probably seemed a lonely proposition at that time in a young intellectuals life.

I was starting to hit the purpose panic button as we had hardly attained the interview we were hoping at this event, between the talks, breaks and buzz surrounding the Paul campaign, our interviews were not numerous. I found a nice spot near the escalators at the other end of the ballroom and setup two chairs with a small round table between them. As people were streaming out and scattering to prepare for the dinner event Mike had LRC contributor Wilton Alston in conversation. We quickly determined that it was now or never. Wilton gave a nice exposition about his efforts in Rochester and the Liberty effort in general. Thanks again Wilton, video coming soon.

After we wrapped Wilton, Mike hobbled back down to find Woods, our potentially last interviewee. As I stayed with the camera setup and watched people file into elevators and down the escalators, I was fairly certain we had lost Woods. To my ever loving surprise Mike was making his way back down towards me with the man of the hour himself, Dr. Robert Higgs. Having just been awarded the top honor at the seminar he took the time to sit with me and do an interview. I hope that I did the man justice in the process. Afterwards we sat for a good twenty minutes just chatting and talking about liberty issues and ideas in general. Wow. Blew me away. Dr. Higgs is a great guy and certainly deserves the honor bestowed upon him at this event. Hopefully we'll have the whole thing available soon. At least after this insanely New Yorker length post is finally done.

One would think that in a world of political correctness, that the term 'bell hop" would not be employed anymore for whatever offending reason. Apparently not at the Hyatt in NYC. It's were we stowed or stuff for the final gala. We plopped down opposite a pair of college students from Colorado doing the Mises thing for the weekend. They had one zero less on their hostel bill. We retreated to the bar when staff drove us out to set up for the final reception. We talked gaming, Colorado and Mises over wasabi laced salt snacks and kept our drink total to one, something about the twelve dollar rusty nail and the eight dollar Sam Adams that makes the city thing so tiring. For this country boy another reception followed by more food without enough physical activity was becoming tiresome.

Dr. Mike chatted up Thomas Dilorenzo more than I cared too. After the whole bit about over 100K books and translated into so many languages in regard to the controversy about Lincoln that he's stirred up, I could only manage a weak statist joke about Doris Kearns Goodwin. I let him fill in the joke about plagiarism. Per Byland's a tall guy without 'big guy' syndrome and I kept the conversation with him until we herded into the grand ballroom. I even mentioned the unmentionable, my book about last year's campaign. Either he feigned interest or is just a courteous Swede. I was happy to make his acquaintance and promised to visit his site.

Fortunately I spotted Mark Axxin of the LPNY after perusing the all the VIP reserved tables like the "Block" Party. He was with Becky Akers of LRC and the Colorado guys sat down with us. Hernando Salmen of the Dominican Republic and a guy named Terry from Cornwall NY rounded out the strays at the culmination of this special event. Lew Rockwell came over and grabbed Becky to introduce her to 'Butler'. We had a nice crew as we ate made toasts to freedom and shared anecdotes of liberty in our lives.

John Denson gave a nice summary of the history of the Institute and Guido Hulsmann provided a charming recant of the success of Mises around the world. He's charming, funny and has written another book I have to read sometime between Human Action and Man, Economy and State. Without recounting the austere and sincere final presentation by Lew himself, I want to address one thing Hulsmann mentioned in conclusion. He asked out loud who might be the next Mises or Rothbard. While this seems completely within range of a group or body of intellectuals who have toiled in obscurity and presumably in what they regard as truth, my answer is 'not me'. This comes not out of any disrespect or misunderstanding of their work, but simply as a possibility that no one need exist or act like they did. Certainly as Hulsmann concludes the next giant will very unlikely need anyone's help.

Whether we're beyond paradigm changing in any Kuhnian sense or we simply have a proliferation of knowledge and it's acceptance that cannot be denied on a cultural or technological sense, advocates of raw unadulterated liberty cannot be shunned or confined to obscure positions in history or working society. Whether it's the competing Institute's like Cato and Mises, official party's like the LP, the Free State Project or the Presidential candidacy of Ron Paul, freedom fighters, agitators, eggheads and just regular folk are responding, are justified and making a real difference in that statists hearts. While some reformers would quash or denounce the likes of Rothbard or Mises, the day that brilliance is obscured by institutional marginalization and the spirit is only kept by a small cadre of adherents is over. Whether they write a magnus opus on liberty or economics (I'm still hoping for something on law more modern than Bastiat) there are at least 10,000 Ludwigs out there shouting and promoting Liberty. Whether they are top dogs in an egghead hierarchy is irrelevant.

As I wound my way back up the Taconic State Parkway early Sunday morning ( they didn't tow the car if you're reading this intently) dodging and weaving deer, I found new inspiration to finish something that seemed like it would only get half done.

Thank you Lew Rockwell & the Mises Institute. I plan to be around for the next twenty-five.