Karl Hess: Toward Liberty
It’s amazing what you can find on Google Video. This is the Academy Award-winning (yes, really) documentary about Karl Hess, who was one of the founding editors of National Review and a key Goldwater speechwriter — and who later became a New Leftist and an outspoken (as well as tax-resisting) libertarian. A very interesting figure, though I can’t say I’m impressed with the film, which won the 1981 Academy Award for best short documentary.
I think I’ve described Hess in the past as a “crunchy libertarian.” You’ll see why in the documentary:
For good measure, here’s a link to Hess’s best-known essay, “The Death of Politics.”
Explore posts in the same categories: Film, LibertyThis entry was posted on March 22, 2008 at 6:37 am and is filed under Film, Liberty. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Barry Goldwater, Crunchy Cons, Karl Hess, libertarianism, New Left, The Death of Politics, Toward Liberty
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
March 22, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Dan,
We were just discussing this in the car and how it was impossible to find. Thanks Dan!
Dylan
March 24, 2008 at 5:13 am
You’re welcome!
March 30, 2008 at 3:31 am
How weird to see someone who groks Bastiat’s “Broken Window Fallacy” (the false benefits of the car accident, in this case) so well going to such fanatical extremes in defense of autarky–the absence of exchange!
March 30, 2008 at 3:35 am
Yeah, Hess had some significant flaws in his understanding. A few years before this (if I’m getting the time-line right) he had a debate with Jeffrey Hart about the merits of the division of labor. Toward the end of his life — the story is included in his postumously-published autobiography, Mostly on the Edge — Hess realized he’d been wrong and apologized to Hart.