We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

The view from the eyrie

Following the remarkable reaction to the article The real England speaks, several people have e-mailed us to ask what ‘our’ views are regarding the ‘War on Terrorism’ or ‘Israel and the Middle east’ or just plain old ‘war’.

Firstly, Samizdata.net has no ‘editorial positions’ on issues per se. Our writers would all be described as libertarian, ranging from anarcho-capitalist to minarchist to neo-libertarian conservative. In other words we all hold fairly divergent views on quite a few issues, but broadly speaking we all tend to fall into the more hawkish end on issues of war and peace, taking the view that violence based tyranny is best dealt with by confronting force with force, though without losing sight of illiberal abridgements of civil liberties which may be wrapped in more genteel cloth closer to home.

Articles laying out what we feel is the rational position regarding these issues are…

The modern bestiary of comparative belligerency

Birds of a feather… sometimes don’t flock together

Brendan’s back and rallying…not

With friends like these…

Saddam moves in mysterious ways

Exquisite appeasement

None of the above

The Palestinian Götterdämmerung

The time for choice is long past

Why the US fights the way it does

As we have written enough articles on the topic of war and peace to fill ‘War and Peace’, this is by no means the totality of germane articles we have written… but if you read these you will have a pretty shrewd idea where the writers of samizdata.net are ‘coming from’.

3 comments to The view from the eyrie

  • Thanks for giving me the chance to express my appreciation to England for their support.

  • Julian Morrison

    Before being hawkish especially about Iraq, go look here for a Q&A exchange between Ron Paul and Jacod Hornberger and ask yourself what *your* answer to those questions would rationally be.

  • Well Julian, some of my answers would be the same, but some would be very different indeed… I feel a new blog article coming on!

    As two of Samizdata.net’s contributors grew up under communism, I suspect point 17 in your linked exchange between Ron Paul and Hornberger will have them disagreeing in a fairly forthright manner, as do I.