anarclaus

Looking for a good image to go with my praise of Gary North’s recent piece on Scrooge, I looked through the holiday images I’ve used in my blog over the past couple of years.

My favorite by far is Lysanta.

I think it goes particularly well with “Anarcho Claus is Coming to Town” by Samuel Edward Konkin III.

Initiate force?
You better not try.
You better not steal;
I’m telling you why.
Anarcho Claus is coming to town.

He’s taking a risk,
Flying in low,
Smuggling in toys
So the statists won’t know.
Anarcho Claus is coming to town.

He sees when you are trying
To trade what’s good for you
For all that which you really want
So he’ll run it in for you.

So…Be closing your door,
But not very tight,
The market will clear
Late Christmas night.
Anarcho Claus is coming to town.

My wife and I sang this to our baby boy the other night.

(Thanks to Wally Conger for posting the lyrics last Christmas!)

dining with Scrooge

Our whole culture gets plenty of Scrooge this time of year.

I think libertarians, anxious to defend the Industrial Revolution and the prosperity engine of capitalism more generally, drink in a lot more Scrooge even than the already supersaturated norm.

But Gary North has written such a wonderful piece on Dickens and Scrooge, such a rich and dimensional treatment of the historical background — both of book and author — of the issues Dickens was and wasn’t aware of, and even why Scrooge really did need redemption, contrary to many of his libertarian defenders … I just have to recommend it.

My favorite of the many libertarian pieces on Scrooge, which may sound like damnation by faint praise, but it’s actually hearty praise: