---
title: "Timeline photos Some of my fellow libertarians have been pooh poohing…"
date: 2021-03-08
source: facebook
type: Archer T. Ships added a new photo.
---

# Timeline photos Some of my fellow libertarians have been pooh poohing…

*March 8, 2021 · Facebook*

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![](img/2021-03-08-fb-003-img01.webp){style="max-width:100%; margin:1em 0"}
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Some of my fellow libertarians have been pooh poohing the withdrawal of the \"problematic\" Seuss books, and accusing those of us expressing disapproval of the decision as hypocrites.\
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Don\'t libertarians believe that the Seuss Foundation have the right to do with their own property as they please, and stop publication?\
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Yes, yes, we do.\
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But one can agree that private actors, such as the Seuss Foundation, have the right to withdraw books under their control, while also expressing displeasure that they have done so.\
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I have two main objections:\
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1. The Seuss Foundation should not have a government enforced monopoly control over the books in the first place.\
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2. Threats of violence create an environment where people self-censor.\
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First, many libertarians (such as myself) think that government enforced monopolies\--copyright, patents, and trademark\--should be abolished.\
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In brief, while I think artists and other creators have the right to decide what they do with their own property, I don\'t think they have the right to use violence and threats of violence to dictate what other people do with \_their\_ property.\
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A copyright monopoly gives someone control over not only their own physical property, but also the property of others.\
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For a more on the libertarian case against copyright, see Stephen Kinsella\'s book:\
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[https://nakamotoinstitute.org/static/docs/against-ip.pdf](https://nakamotoinstitute.org/static/docs/against-ip.pdf){target="_blank"}\
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[https://indepreneur.io/podcast/ep-66-shocking-case-abolishing-copyright-laws-stephan-kinsella](https://indepreneur.io/podcast/ep-66-shocking-case-abolishing-copyright-laws-stephan-kinsella){target="_blank"}\
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If the Zeuss foundation wanted to burn Zeuss\'s original manuscripts, I might object but I wouldn\'t care that much, since, in the absence of copyright monopolies, another publisher could publish the works instead.\
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But as things stand now, publishers can deny legal access to the works under their control basically indefinitely.\
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Many of us are upset at the principle that publishers can dictate what we can see and read in this way, even if the loss of these particular books is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.\
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Second, it\'s important to remember that the Seuss Foundation\'s actions take place in a context in which some leftists spent much of the last year burning businesses, tearing down artwork, and physically assaulting people who did not conform to their ideology.\
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For example, Powell\'s books had to close as a safety precaution when they opted to carry Andy Ngo\'s book \"Unmasked\" in their online store:\
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\"Nevertheless, an angry crowd assembled outside the store's Burnside location in Portland's Pearl District, attaching signs denouncing Ngo to the windows. The store closed early citing safety concerns.\"\
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[https://www.koin.com/news/portland/powells-closes-main-store-for-second-day-amid-protests/](https://www.koin.com/news/portland/powells-closes-main-store-for-second-day-amid-protests/){target="_blank"}\
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Why might Powell\'s have feared for their safety?\
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Maybe it\'s because when Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at Berkeley lefty rioters threatened to kill him and set fire to the campus:\
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[https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/us/milo-yiannopoulos-berkeley](https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/us/milo-yiannopoulos-berkeley){target="_blank"}\
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\...or maybe it was because Antifa rioters had previously assaulted Andy Ngo at an earlier protest:\
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[![YouTube video](img/2021-03-08-fb-003-yt01.webp){style="max-width:100%; display:block"}](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WzMZxT-41k){rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"}

▶ Watch on YouTube
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\...or maybe it\'s because Antifa rioters burned down Uncle Hugo's, the oldest independent science fiction and fantasy bookstore during the Minneapolis \"protests\":\
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[https://www.thebookseller.com/news/over-80k-raised-burned-down-minneapolis-bookshops-1205745](https://www.thebookseller.com/news/over-80k-raised-burned-down-minneapolis-bookshops-1205745){target="_blank"}\
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The publishing industry is heavily dominated by progressives, so its probable that the Seuss Foundation executives didn\'t require much incentive to cease publication, but the fact remains that authors, publishers, and book sellers face death or injury if they persist in selling books that the left doesn\'t like. Libertarians oppose such threats of violence to impose censorship, even if it\'s pre-emptive self-censorship.
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