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Liberty A-Z

This soundbite buffet is like a "box of chocolates"

Reviewed by George Getz

Liberty A-Z: 872 Libertarian Soundbites You Can Use Right Now. Published by the Advocates for Self-Government. Trade paperback, 192 pages.

Harry Browne has finally written it all down -- and it's about time. I, for one, have been waiting for this book for years.

During the 1996 and 2000 Browne for president campaigns, my colleague Bill Winter and I used to marvel at all the clever quips and one-liners that used to roll off of Harry's tongue during radio and TV interviews.

"Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery." "If the government program you're proposing is really such a good investment, why is it that only the government is willing to make it?" "Every law is backed up by the threat of fine or imprisonment. If it weren't it wouldn't be a law; it would be a suggestion."

Winter once told me: "All of the material that Harry is producing could be a huge gold mine for the party. I understand that he's started to keep it all in a soundbite file on his computer. When this campaign is over, we've got to get him to turn it all over -- or else steal that computer."

Well, Harry has finally turned it all over -- 872 soundbites in all, numbered and categorized alphabetically by topic. It was worth the wait. I'm already nibbling away at the contents, trying to figure out which ones to cut and paste into my own soundbite file.

Every time the phone rings in my office, I know how Forest Gump felt when he said, "Life is like a box of chocolates: You never know what you're going to get." I never know who's going to be on the other end of the phone, or what they're going to want to talk about. So I have to be prepared -- and there's no substitute for the issue-by-issue soundbite file.

I remember the first time I was asked the "aren't-you-Libertarians-really-just-a-bunch-of-anarchists" question by a belligerent right-wing radio host. First I stumbled around a bit trying to define anarchy, then described what a Libertarian really is, and finally concluded that we Libertarians weren't really anarchists, (except, well, maybe a little.)

The following day I heard Harry answer the same question with aplomb, and the next time the question arose I was prepared with a little verbal jujitsu now known as soundbite No. 397:

"Some people say Libertarians want anarchy. But anarchy is what we have now. Our cities aren't safe, our schools are centers of violence and the politicians have turned the rule of law into a chaotic web of regulations and mandates. Libertarians want to restore order by removing the destabilizing influence of government."

The host meekly responded: "Oh."

Liberty A to Z is chock full of solid, quoteworthy arguments on almost every conceivable issue, from abortion to anti-trust laws, from balanced budget to the black market, from student loans to sweat shops. There's even a section labeled Omelets and Eggs, as in "social reformers say you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs -- but somehow it's always someone else's eggs that get broken, and the omelet never materializes."

Perhaps the most useful section is the all-purpose answers known as "Fall-Back Positions." You know the feeling: Someone will argue in favor of funding a government program that "everyone knows" is working (like Head Start), and you don't know enough specifics to refute them.

In cases like these, you can unholster one of Harry's all-purpose answers, such as, "Whenever you turn anything over to the government, it is no longer a scientific, medical, commercial or ethical issue; it is now a political issue, to be decided by people like Teddy Kennedy, George Bush and Trent Lott. Is this what you want -- to transform a serious political issue into a boondoggle?"

I can tell you that in eight years of using this answer on talk radio, no one's ever said: "Come to think of it, George, I am staunchly in favor of political boondoggles, and my listeners are, too!"

With a little practice, now any Libertarian who's running for office, giving a speech, doing media interviews or just trying to win over their friends can sound a little more like Harry Browne -- and have fun doing it. Think of Liberty A to Z as a smorgasbord of 872 pro-freedom soundbites: browse through the entire menu, and fill up on the tastiest ones.

* About the reviewer: George Getz is the Libertarian Party's Director of Communications. This review reprinted from the July 2004 issue of LP News, the official monthly newspaper of the Libertarian Party.

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