Editorial (November 1972)
“We hope *Speaking Out* will become a regular feature, but this all depends upon you our readers.”
With this issue, Outlook introduces a new section, Speaking Out, reserved for the thoughts and opinions of our readers which are too long or inappropriate for a letter to the editor, and too short to be used as an article. Manuscripts should be from about 500 to 700 words long and typed double-spaced. Please include a word count and a short autobiographical introduction. Manuscripts should be mailed to our editorial address and should include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. We hope Speaking Out will become a regular feature, but this all depends upon you our readers.
In the past month our circulation has increased by almost 1000; so let me take this opportunity to welcome our new subscribers and to invite them (as well as our old ones) to participate in Speaking Out.
After much soul searching, our semimonthly contributor Dr. Murray N. Rothbard has decided to name his column. Although this decision was made without benefit of any special Outlook “Name-The-Column-Contest,” reports are that Dr. Rothbard made use of the most sophisticated techniques of mathematical economics, including regression analysis, a favorite of his. After having wheezed, belched, bellowed, and blown half a dozen fuses, the computer spewed forth The Plumb Line. Our readers need not fear that Dr. Rothbard intends to regale us with advice on plumbing, however. He will rather continue to present us with a free-wheeling and running commentary on the issues of the day as they affect libertarianism; offering, as always, the sharp, incisive views of his that have a way of becoming the libertarian view on any given question.
In the December issue of Outlook, Dr. Rothbard will tilt his lance at the unresolved and puzzling question of “kid lib.”
In the December issue, we will also be proud to present a no-holds-barred exclusive Outlook interview with Vivien Kellems, IRS gadfly and valiant defender of the rights of single people. At 76 years of age, Miss Kellems takes on the minions of the state tax bureaucracy with a spirit that a confirmed statist could only regard as apalling. She discusses the legitimacy of taxation, young people of today, constitutional government, her famous sit-in at a Connecticut voting booth, birth control, William F. Buckley, the withholding tax system, women’s liberation, among other things.