Libertarian alliance press release
fuschia, 06 Sep 2005 18:14:59
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
In Association with the Libertarian International
Release Time: Immediate
Contact Details:
Sean Gabb, 07956 472 199, sean@libertarian.co.uk
For other contact and link details, see the foot of this
message
Release url: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/news/nr030.htm
"NO CONTROLS ON 'VIOLENT PORN'", SAYS FREE MARKET AND
CIVIL LIBERTIES THINK TANK
The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and
civil liberties think tank and pressure group, condemns
the proposals by the British Government to make possession
of "violent pornography" a criminal offence.
Libertarian Alliance spokesman, Dr Sean Gabb comments:
"There is no proven connection between pornography and
sexual violence. There have been dozens of reputable
studies. Not one has shown any connection. Indeed, the
evidence is that access to pornography reduces sexual
violence by providing an alternative release.
"Even if there were a connection, it is only a prompting.
Between prompting and action, there must still be some
process of deliberation. Anti-porn campaigners accuse
adults of being robots who cannot resist any external
impulse.
"In any event, if there is a connection between
pornography and sexual violence, there is exactly the same
kind of connection between reading the Koran and letting
off bombs on the London Underground. Are we to censor the
Koran on that argument?
"No - the anti-porn campaigners are anti-sex fanatics who
will use any excuse to make other people as unhappy about
sex as they are themselves.
"As for criminalising possession, this is a sinister
extension of a sinister principle established by the last
Conservative Government. It is not the business of the
State to tell us what literature we can have at home. At
the least, it gives another opportunity for the Police to
plant evidence.
"The Libertarian Alliance denounces all censorship -
whether of erotic material or of material deemed racist or
sexist or homophobic or islamophobic. There should be no
controls on the availability to adults of any literature.
We believe in freedom of speech."
END OF COPY
Note(s) to Editors
Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of Communications for the
Libertarian Alliance and edits its journal 'Free Life'.
His latest book, "Smoking, Class and the Legitimation of
Power", is available at http://www.seangabb.co.uk/buy.htm.
His other books are available from Hampden Press at
http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.
He can be contacted for further comment on 07956 472 199
or by email at sean@libertarian.co.uk
Extended Contact Details:
The Libertarian Alliance is Britain?s most radical free
market and civil liberties policy institute. It has
published over 700 articles, pamphlets and books in
support of freedom and against statism in all its forms.
These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.uk
Our postal address is
The Libertarian Alliance
Suite 35
2 Landsdowne Row
Mayfair
London
W1J 6HL
Tel: 0870 242 1712
Associated Organisations
The Libertarian International - http://www.libertarian.to
- is a sister organisation to the Libertarian Alliance.
Its mission is to coordinate various initiatives in the
defence of individual liberty throughout the world.
Sean Gabb's personal website - http://www.seangabb.co.uk -
contains about a million words of writings on themes
interesting to libertarians and conservatives.
Hampden Press - http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.- the
publishing house of the Libertarian Alliance.
Liberalia - http://www.liberalia.com - maintained by by LA
Executive member Christian Michel, Liberalia publishes
in-depth papers in French and English on libertarianism
and free enterprise. It is a prime source of documentation
on these issues for students and scholars.
ENDS
--
Dr. Chris R. Tame, Director
The Libertarian Alliance
Suite 35
2 Lansdowne Row
Mayfair
London
W1J 6HL
Tel: 0870 2421712
Email: director@libertarian.co.uk
LA Web Site: http://www.libertarian.co.uk
Free Life Web Site: http://www.libertarian.co.uk/freelife
The Hampden Press Website: http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk
LA Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum
"The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom is Courage".
Pericles' Funeral Oration (431BC)
Attachment:.
message.html (text/html)
Graham Marsden, 06 Sep 2005 18:59:35
Fusch1af@aol.com wrote:
> NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
> "There is no proven connection between pornography and
> sexual violence. There have been dozens of reputable
> studies. Not one has shown any connection. [...]
> [...] Anti-porn campaigners accuse adults of being robots
> who cannot resist any external impulse.
>
> "In any event, if there is a connection between
> pornography and sexual violence, there is exactly the same
> kind of connection between reading the Koran and letting
> off bombs on the London Underground. Are we to censor the
> Koran on that argument?
These are excellent arguments and ones we should consider incorporating
(although not parroting).
> "No - the anti-porn campaigners are anti-sex fanatics who
> will use any excuse to make other people as unhappy about
> sex as they are themselves.
Whilst I see the point, this one's a little dodgy because portraying the
opposition as "fanatics" risks them coming back and (seeming) to act
reasonably, thus allowing the counter argument of "they call us
fanatics, but we're reasonable, so it's *them* that are being fanatical"
> It is not the business of the State to tell us what literature we can
> have at home.
Agreed.
> At the least, it gives another opportunity for the Police to
> plant evidence.
Again, this one's a bit dodgy. We want the Police *on* our side saying
"what's the point of this law? It just wastes more of our time" rather
than "if they're going to insult us, we'll get the buggers!"
Still, overall it's a good piece.
SnowdropExplodes, 06 Sep 2005 19:52:08
--- Fusch1af@aol.com wrote:
> NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
> In Association with the Libertarian International
> Release Time: Immediate
>
> Contact Details:
> Sean Gabb, 07956 472 199, sean@libertarian.co.uk
>
> For other contact and link details, see the foot of
> this
> message
>
> Release url:
> http://www.libertarian.co.uk/news/nr030.htm
>
>
> "NO CONTROLS ON 'VIOLENT PORN'", SAYS FREE MARKET
> AND
> CIVIL LIBERTIES THINK TANK
>
> The Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market
> and
> civil liberties think tank and pressure group,
> condemns
> the proposals by the British Government to make
> possession
> of "violent pornography" a criminal offence.
>
> Libertarian Alliance spokesman, Dr Sean Gabb
> comments:
>
> "There is no proven connection between pornography
> and
> sexual violence. There have been dozens of
> reputable
> studies. Not one has shown any connection. Indeed,
> the
> evidence is that access to pornography reduces
> sexual
> violence by providing an alternative release.
>
> "Even if there were a connection, it is only a
> prompting.
> Between prompting and action, there must still be
> some
> process of deliberation. Anti-porn campaigners
> accuse
> adults of being robots who cannot resist any
> external
> impulse.
>
> "In any event, if there is a connection between
> pornography and sexual violence, there is exactly
> the same
> kind of connection between reading the Koran and
> letting
> off bombs on the London Underground. Are we to
> censor the
> Koran on that argument?
>
> "No - the anti-porn campaigners are anti-sex
> fanatics who
> will use any excuse to make other people as unhappy
> about
> sex as they are themselves.
>
> "As for criminalising possession, this is a
> sinister
> extension of a sinister principle established by the
> last
> Conservative Government. It is not the business of
> the
> State to tell us what literature we can have at
> home. At
> the least, it gives another opportunity for the
> Police to
> plant evidence.
>
> "The Libertarian Alliance denounces all censorship
> -
> whether of erotic material or of material deemed
> racist or
> sexist or homophobic or islamophobic. There should
> be no
> controls on the availability to adults of any
> literature.
> We believe in freedom of speech."
>
> END OF COPY
Personally, I think we need to distance ourselves from
this. It is the libertarian Alliance's stance, it
need not be ours.
We should look carefully to see which of the arguments
they have used, from the ones that we want to use, but
we need also to look out for the "crackpot" arguments
as well (such as the one about police planting
evidence, and the one about anti-sex fanatics).
Manniq's theory of creating narratives is being played
out in full by these guys (I believe Manniq even
posited the "anti-sex fanatics" narrative at one
point).
I think this is a good thing, because we can start to
present ourselves as eminently sensible people,
talking calmly and clearly about the facts. That is
in itself a part of the narrative we want to create, I
think.
Ta,
SnowdropExplodes
___________________________________________________________
Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
stripey, 06 Sep 2005 23:09:05
In message <431DD949.5070402@affordable-leather.co.uk>, graham
writes
>
>Fusch1af@aol.com wrote:
>
>> NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LIBERTARIAN ALLIANCE
>> "In any event, if there is a connection between
>> pornography and sexual violence, there is exactly the same
>> kind of connection between reading the Koran and letting
>> off bombs on the London Underground. Are we to censor the
>> Koran on that argument?
>
>These are excellent arguments and ones we should consider incorporating
>(although not parroting).
*preen*
I used exactly the above argument as part of my letter to my MP. My own
version was:
"... there are much stronger candidates than "extreme pornographic
material" that has supposedly led to the murder of one person. Several
dozen people were murdered in London on 7 July as a result of some young
men being exposed to highly selective readings of the Koran and Hadith.
Does the Government have any plans to ban these publications?
"Likewise, there are mass murderers such as Peter Sutcliffe, the
Yorkshire Ripper, who killed innocent women because "God told them to do
it". Clearly the Bible should also be banned. And let's not stop at
religious tracts either. Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot were responsible for
the murders of millions of innocent people due to their over-zealous
application of their ideologies. Should Mein Kampf and the collected
works of Marx and Lenin also be banned, even for students of history?"
I had been slightly surprised that populist soundbite arguments of this
sort hadn't been aired until now. I appreciate that a dry academic
style, meticulously citing published research, is a higher priority
during this consultation phase. But we do also need to be able to make
punchy bullet points that will get our point across to the general
public and we might as well start gathering them at the same time.
>> "No - the anti-porn campaigners are anti-sex fanatics who
>> will use any excuse to make other people as unhappy about
>> sex as they are themselves.
>
>Whilst I see the point, this one's a little dodgy because portraying the
>opposition as "fanatics" risks them coming back and (seeming) to act
>reasonably, thus allowing the counter argument of "they call us
>fanatics, but we're reasonable, so it's *them* that are being fanatical"
Agreed.
--
stripey
"There's only one way of life - and that's your own"