Remember the news from France last spring and summer? No, not that news--I'm talking about the strikes, threats of strikes, demonstrations, and counter-demonstrations. The mess even, briefly, threatened to disturb the French stops on the Rolling Stones' 40th-anniversary tour.
A central figure in much of that was Sabine Herold, one of the few libertarian activists in France. Now, you may, like me, be tempted to say that by French standards anyone short of a thoroughgoing Stalinist qualifies as a libertarian. Still, you'll enjoy reading this interview with Mlle. Herold, courtesy of Andrew Schwartz and The Atlasphere.
Here's what she says about why a friend (and libertarian activist-colleague) liked The Virtue of Selfishness:
What he told me he liked about it is that it's based on moral issues and values. And that's how we view libertarianism. I think one of the problems in France is that libertarians are only focused on economic issues. That is not the most important thing. Of course, I think it's really important to be economically libertarian. But what is really the basis of a free society is the idea that people should be free to decide for themselves in any area — that means economically, but also in social issues, moral issues, or any issue. The economy is important but it's not the whole of it.
Also, economics is something that is very boring for many people. I think if you want to touch many people, you should not speak in an economic way — you should tell them about values.
Posted by Craig Ceely at January 13, 2004 10:04 AM