Earlier this week I finished reading Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement by Brian Doherty, a senior editor at Reason magazine. It’s a great read for anyone interested in the history of the free-market activism in the United States. Here’s one of my favorite parts. Nothing deep, but worth noting, from page 585:
Libertarians do enjoy their badboy reputation, especially among conservative ranks, for taking the personal liberty thing as far as it can go. As an old movement joke goes, “You libertarians are the types that would allow fornication in public parks!” What do you mean, public parks?”
And in case you’re wondering, a Google search for “privately owned parks” does return some hits. The top hit is an article in an economics journal that says
Privately owned parks continue to proliferate worldwide. Their rapid expansion represents an important yet little understood private sector incursion into an activity long dominated by governments.
Photo of private park sign: from an on-line ad for Cookeville Tennesee vacation cabin rentals.
