[Rodney King]

I once had drinks with Charles Murray at the Amsterdam Cafe at 119th street and Amsterdam in NYC. It was right before the Bell Curve came out. As I recall, he ordered a double bourbon with a beer chaser. Anyway, he told a great story about how he became a semi-libertarian.

He had been a hippie, and was in the peace corps. He went to a remote area of Thailand, where society functioned very well, and he noticed that it did so without any government. It was that experience that led him to discount the view that government tentacles are neccessary to constantly try to improve society.

[truthpls]

I like your literary style. There are some questions I would like to ask you. Which country, Thailand, or the United States, has done more to further civilization; in the realm of protecting people from the horrible diseases of the world, or protecting people from the insanity of a leader who thinks they should be killed because of certain ideas they have developed, or; made their life more enjoyable, and less work intensive because of the scientific developments that a free society produces? Produced people who try to solve their problems by communication, rather than brute force, torture, and death.

[dennisw]

Great story!