The following is a blog and email exchange between Paul Wakfer and libertarian blogger (and website hostess for several other bloggers), Sunni Maravillosa, and the subject of Paul's post, Jorge Codina, a blogger on her website, and more importantly, until recently a major supporter of the Costa Rican Movimiento Libertario and editor of its English language newsletter. A lack of philosophical consistency has been demonstrated here by Maravillosa, which is strongly connected to the exchange Paul had with her two years ago and contained in a separate Freedom Dialogue.
Today, July 25 2005, Paul and Kitty Antonik Wakfer have completed and uploaded an essay on the importance of completeness and fluidity of information concerning the personal characteristics of individuals in a society - Personal Characteristics as Market Commodities - which also relates to the claimed "right to privacy" of email correspondence with the two libertarian bloggers, Sunni Maravillosa and Jorge Codina.
In the mid-afternoon of Friday 7/1/05, Paul made a post to the blog of Jorge Codina after receiving the following announcement regarding a Newsletter to which he has been a subscriber for about three years, and then reading the linked message.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Newsletter of the Movimiento Libertario
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2005 09:43:35 -0600
From: Jorge
To: Jorge
To all subscribers,
I have resigned as editor of the English Language Newsletter of the
Movimiento Libertario. Members of the executive committee have asked me to
communicate this to you and have told me that the Newsletter will be
discontinued.
My reasons for resigning are posted here:
http://www.sunnimaravillosa.com/archives/00000384.html
For Liberty in our Life Time,
Jorge Codina
Paul's comment on the blog had been in place less than an hour when he refreshed the page to see if there where additional comments (which had all been interesting to him) only to find the following as the last one then showing.
On Friday, July 1st, at approximately 2:23 p.m. Mountain time, Sunni said:
Mr. Wakfer, you may not remember my name, but I certainly do remember
yours. You are not welcome on my web site. Your comment was deleted by
me, and your IP banned.
Paul then sent the following email directly to Jorge Codina.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Newsletter of the Movimiento Libertario
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2005 16:43:12 -0400
From: Paul Antonik Wakfer
Organization: MoreLife
To: Jorge
References: <6.1.2.0.2.20050701090742.03f073b0@libertario.org>
Jorge wrote:
> To all subscribers,
>
> I have resigned as editor of the English Language Newsletter of the
> Movimiento Libertario. Members of the executive committee have asked me
> to communicate this to you and have told me that the Newsletter will be
> discontinued.
>
> My reasons for resigning are posted here:
> http://www.sunnimaravillosa.com/archives/00000384.html
>
> For Liberty in our Life Time,
> Jorge Codina
Thanks for letting me know and for your excellent description of the situation and your reasons for resigning. For some reason unknown to me, the owner of the website that you used has deleted my comment and banned me from posting any more (not 100% libertarian it seems to me!).
For your information, here is the text of the original which was in any case more directed at you personally although some of your hardcore compatriots might also be interested.
--------------------------------------------
Jorge wrote:
"-- What happens to the Libertarians who are now "homeless"?
"The last question I can only answer for myself. I have been an
anarchist for a long time. I saw working with a political organization
as a method to advance liberty. I now see this as wrong. The only way to
advance liberty is to withdraw sanction from the state. To live your
life as free as possible under the circumstances and convince others to
do the same. The only way to have the state wither away is to stop
feeding it. How to best do this is another question, which I need to
ponder."
This is something which I discovered for myself over 20 years ago after several years of highly active involvement with Libertarian Parties in Ontario and Canada.
I have since developed my own unique solution of both the theoretical basis for and implementation of a minimally restrictive self-orderd society of maximally happy individuals, and a method by which it can be achieved *without* any sanction of or cooperation with the state in any manner. As you described very well above, the only viable method is one that stops feeding the state and causes it to "wither away".
Please examine the many elements of my solution that are detailed at the Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
--Paul Wakfer
MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org
Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality
The Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
Rational freedom by self-sovereignty & social contracting
At the time that Paul wrote the above he had not related the website owner (and host of Jorge's blogged resignation explanation), Sunni Maravillosa, to the email exchange of 2 years previously regarding 501(c)(3)tax-exempt organizations and publication of unsolicited emails. Less than an hour later Paul had realized the connection and notified Jorge in the email below.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Newsletter of the Movimiento Libertario
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2005 17:19:30 -0400
From: Paul Antonik Wakfer
Organization: MoreLife
To: Jorge
References: <6.1.2.0.2.20050701090742.03f073b0@libertario.org>
Hi Jorge,
I just realized where I had encountered Sunni before.
Here is a link to a dialogue that I had with her just 2 years ago now.
http://selfsip.org/dialogues/misc/subscrptioncancel.html
Note that out of courtesy, I did *not* include her name as the
respondent. After her peremptory manner of deleting my comment and
banning me from her blogs, I now will add [her] this latest interaction
and her name to that page.
I encourage you to try to talk some sense into her, since most of her
efforts appear to be highly beneficial. She needs to be able to
acknowledge any past errors and learn from them just as you and I have.
Above all she needs to learn not to ban people and delete comments
(without giving any public reasons) just because she has had some
argument fully and logically rebuked by them in the past.
--Paul Wakfer
MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org
Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality
The Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
Rational freedom by self-sovereignty & social contracting
Until Sunni Maravillosa publicly states why she has removed Paul's comments to Jorge's blogged resignation explanation and engages Paul in public discussion on it - almost certainly the subject of the latter portion of the 2 years earlier email exchange since that is the only contact that she has ever had with Paul to our knowledge, she is demonstrating a clear lack of logical consistency, not to mention fairness and openness of well presented ideas. This lack is a characteristic that those in the freedom-promotion efforts can not afford to retain and hope to convince others that their cause is correct and just.
Instead of removing Paul's comments from Jorge's blog (and banning Paul from "her website" - which we assume means from commenting on any of the blogs there), Sunni would have shown herself to be less of a (hissing?) snake (a self-description of herself in her bio) and more of a wide-view, long-range thinking human, by linking to a blog entry of her own authorship in which she raised the subject of public disclosure of email contents. Maybe such mature response is unusual in those under 40, especially those who have also acquired a PhD while writing on numerous subjects with very little real personal lifetime experience. However, she is not without the opportunity to make such a move - it will be interesting to see if she is capable of rethinking her actions and deciding that this particular one was not of maximum benefit to her.
A brief exchange of emails with Jorge Codina himself, demonstrates that he too is inconsistent in his thinking as a libertarian. Paul sent a follow-up to his message above the very same day; Jorge's response is not "inline". Paul's reply immediately follows.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: My Deleted Comments on your Blog
Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2005 20:09:09 -0400
From: Paul Antonik Wakfer
Organization: MoreLife
To: Jorge
References: <6.1.2.0.2.20050701090742.03f073b0@libertario.org>
Hi Jorge,
I have a couple of questions regarding the deletion of my comment and
the banning of my IP by Sunni (which I assume means that I cannot
comment on *any* of the blogs that she hosts).
1) Did she ask and get your permission to delete my comment?
2) What was your understanding about her entitlement to do this when you
agreed to have a blog hosted by her?
3) Do you think this is 100% libertarian behavior?
Here again is a composite of the two emails which I previously sent you,
but you may not have seen them because I did not change the email subject.
[Paul's composite of previous emails not included; see them as separate items above.]
--Paul Wakfer
MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org
Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality
The Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
Rational freedom by self-sovereignty & social contracting
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: My Deleted Comments on your Blog
Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 09:20:13 -0600
From: Jorge
To: Paul Antonik Wakfer
References: <6.1.2.0.2.20050701090742.03f073b0@libertario.org>
<42C5DB25.90302@morelife.org>
1) no.
2) of course, she owns the site and can do as she pleases. It did not
have to be explict.
3) yes. right of association includes the right not to associate.
Owners may exclude anyone they like from their property for any
reason. As long as force is not iniciated, it is 100% libertarian.
regarding the previous correspondence:
1) emails are private communications and should remain so absent
explict permission to make them public. Making the conversation
public was rude.
2) you clearly did not remove indentity information: Namely "Hi
Sunni" and refering the the organization as "xxxx-xxxxxx.NET",
everyone was going to know that was Free-Market.Net.
This email address is going away very soon.
--jorge
[Paul's intact email not included here for brevity.]
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: My Deleted Comments on your Blog
Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 15:35:29 -0400
From: Paul Antonik Wakfer
Organization: MoreLife
To: Jorge
References: <6.1.2.0.2.20050701090742.03f073b0@libertario.org>
<42C5DB25.90302@morelife.org>
<6.2.3.4.2.20050702091858.02983d10@libertario.org>
Jorge wrote:
> 1) no.
Based on the timing, that is what I figured.
> 2) of course, she owns the site and can do as she pleases.
I agree 100% with this. However, She must also bear all the consequences
of her actions.
> It did not have to be explict.
No, but would you not want it made explicit one way or the other so that
you would know exactly what are the rules of usage? Are you now not
concerned about incursions limiting your own possible actions on her
website?
> 3) yes. right of association includes the right not to associate.
Of course. But again, not the right not to suffer the consequences of
one's own actions in not associating, particularly not even giving
reasons or allowing the other person to defend himself.
> Owners may exclude anyone they like from their property for any reason.
The same as above applies again. They must pay the price (in
interpersonal preferencing by others) for such decisions.
> As long as force is not iniciated, it is 100% libertarian.
That is the trouble with the definition of "libertarian". It regards as
totally acceptable many behaviors which certainly should not be stopped
or inhibited by any coercive means, but most certainly should be
inhibited by social discrimination and preferencing (against her as she
is doing against me). In this manner the market of interpersonal
evaluations of individuals will be the final arbiter of right and wrong
behavior.
> regarding the previous correspondence:
>
> 1) emails are private communications and should remain so absent explict
> permission to make them public.
Where is this written down? Why can I not disagree with it? My position
is that there is no right of privacy and everything said or written is
given away without any restrictions *unless* a written agreement to the
contrary is executed before transmittal. Because you did not conclude
such an agreement with me before answering my questions, this email is
now mine to do with as I like.
> Making the conversation public was rude.
What exactly is "rude" and why is it in any manner unlibertarian? If it
is not unlibertarian, then why is it not perfectly okay just as was
Sunni's action. Instead trying to keep one's conversation private is
what is closer to "rude", because it prevents people from knowing
information about you so that they can make a better informed decision
in their interfaces with you. It is little different in kind than using
"buyer beware" against a customer. Such as not telling him that the
engine block of a car is cracked or that you have just turned back the
odometer. Note that I said *not* telling, I did not say actively lying,
since that would be direct and clear fraud.
> 2) you clearly did not remove indentity information: Namely "Hi Sunni"
Yes, Kitty noticed her editing oversight only yesterday, after I emailed
you. We will state this in an update that includes my post to your blog
and Sunni's message deleting it, which will soon go online, However, I
think that it should have been clear from all the other deletions, that
it was an oversight. I could have corrected it before you saw it and not
told you, but I am far too honest to do that sort of thing. If I were
trying to hide something, then I would not have given you the link. I am
not only honest about all my intentions, but also about all my errors, I
am proud of everything that I do and have no use for any personal
privacy whatsoever (except from government of course). I give full
permission and even encourage anyone to publish anything truthful and
factual about me that they wish, except where it can fall into
government hands.
This whole subject of privacy is one that should be openly discussed and
I encourage you to engage me in such a discussion at a place of your
choosing. This is precisely what Sunni would have done if she had any
sense and open-mindedness beyond her narrow libertarian principles. A
great opportunity was missed. In fact, this is stated on our new page
(yet to be uploaded) about this episode.
> and refering the the organization as "xxxx-xxxxxx.NET", everyone was
> going to know that was Free-Market.Net
I do not agree with that at all. There are many, many .net domains. And
most people that read our site are not "in-group" libertarians anyway.
> This email address is going away very soon.
Please let me know of your new email address.
--Paul
No reply from Jorge Codina has been received and no comment on Sunni Maravillosa's blog page has appeared. Yes, she does have what she terms "Rules of Engagement" for her blog. (Interesting that she looks upon written exchanges with others in a warlike fashion.) In it she states: "Any conspirator can exercise the option to edit or delete any comment for any reason. Generally, only comments that violate the spirit of continuing the conversation, as outlined above, are likely to be get such treatment. Don't whine about being censored if it happens to you; we aren't the state's shills. Get your own blog going, and have at it in your own corner of the internet -- no one owes you soapbox time on his or her domain. We don't owe you an explanation for a deletion, either." But Sunni did not simply delete Paul's comment, she went on to smear by inferring that his comment "violated the spirit" of her blogspace. To make the history completely available to Internet users, this Freedom Dialog was created.
Furthermore, an essay discussing the need for completeness and fluidity of personal information in a society (self-ordering without coercion as the goal) has been created. This dialog serves as additional information for readers concerning the thinking (and actions) of Sunni Maravillosa and Jorge Codina, both self-described (and for the most part) freedom-from-government-seeking libertarians - and of course, Paul Antonik Wakfer.
