 |
 | |
| Abbreviation | PFS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2006 |
| Type | Social theory |
| Location | |
| Website | www |
The Property and Freedom Society (PFS) is an anarcho-capitalist political organization located in Bodrum, Turkey. Founded in May 2006 by the academic Hans-Hermann Hoppe, PFS presents itself as a more radically right-libertarian alternative to the free-market Mont Pelerin Society.[independent source needed]
The PFS holds annual conferences where paleolibertarian and paleoconservative intellectuals deliver speeches and exchange ideas in what Hoppe suggests is a "political correctness–free zone".[independent source needed] Leading figures of the European New Right and the American alt-right have attended.[1] The group has garnered controversy for including speakers such as the white supremacists Jared Taylor and Richard Spencer and the eugenicist Richard Lynn.[2][3][4][5][6]
History and mission
[edit]PFS conferences include members of the former John Randolph Club along with "new advocates of stateless libertarianism and racial secession", in the words of the academic Quinn Slobodian.[7] According to the society, it promotes free trade, peace, and the right to "discriminate against anyone in one's personal and business relations".[2]
Hoppe, the founder, is a Rothbardian political theorist and Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Business School.[independent source needed] On the fifth anniversary of PFS, Hoppe reflected on its goals: "On the one hand, positively, it was to explain and elucidate the legal, economic, cognitive and cultural requirements and features of a free, state-less natural order. On the other hand, negatively, it was to unmask the State and showcase it for what it really is: an institution run by gangs of murderers, plunderers, and thieves, surrounded by willing executioners, propagandists, sycophants, crooks, liars, clowns, charlatans, dupes and useful idiots – an institution that dirties and taints everything it touches."[8]
In a 2017 speech titled "Libertarianism and the Alt-Right", Hoppe asserted that "highly restrictive, highly selective and discriminating immigration" was "highly compatible with libertarianism and its desideratum of freedom of association and opposition to forced integration".[9]
Leading figures of the European New Right and the American alt-right hosted by the conference have included Paul Gottfried, Thomas DiLorenzo, Peter Brimelow, John Derbyshire, Tomislav Sunić, Spencer, Lynn, and Taylor.[1][9]
Conferences
[edit]Conferences have been held annually since 2005, in Bodrum, Turkey.[7] At the conferences, "prophets of racial and social breakdown share the stage with investment advisors and financial consultants", Slobodian wrote in 2023.[7]
The PFS annual meeting explicitly aims to promote discrimination as logical choice. In addition to the formal proceedings of the conferences, there are integrated activities such as a boat trip into the Aegean Sea, excursions to local fishing villages, and firework displays followed by gala nights.[10]
Allegations of racism
[edit]PFS has garnered controversy for including speakers such as the white supremacists Jared Taylor and Richard Spencer[3] and the eugenicist academic Richard Lynn.[6][2] A May 11, 2007, Las Vegas Review-Journal article about the PFS noted that Lynn has described black people as "more psychopathic than whites".[2] Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described the 2007 conference as a "serious academic racist event".[2] A 2013 Anti-Defamation League report about "increased cooperation" between European and American racists cited Taylor's speech at the 2013 PFS conference titled "A Brief History of US Race Relations".[3]
Describing the PFS, the SPLC said in 2016 that "in Hoppe one can see the connection between the ultra-Libertarians and white nationalists".[4] Intelligencer in 2017 described the annual PFS meeting as "Davos, but for racists".[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Wasserman 2019, p. [page needed].
- ^ a b c d e Mower, Lawrence (May 11, 2007). "Researchers tied to hate groups get invitations." Las Vegas Review-Journal
- ^ a b c "Racists in Europe and the United States Increase Cooperation | ADL". www.adl.org. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
- ^ a b Piggott, Stephen (9 June 2016). "PayPal Co-Founder Peter Thiel to Address White Nationalist-Friendly "Property and Freedom Society" Conference in September". Southern Poverty Law Center.
- ^ a b Van Zuylen-Wood, Simon; Malone, Noreen; Read, Max; Sullivan, Andrew; MacDougald, Park; Willick, Jason; Jacobson, Mark; O'Connor, Maureen; Sherman, Gabriel; Crair, Ben; Richardson, Nick; O'Connell, Mark (30 April 2017). "Beyond Alt: Understanding the New Far Right". Intelligencer.
- ^ a b Ganz, John (2021-10-28). "Perspective | Libertarians have more in common with the alt-right than they want you to think". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
- ^ a b c Slobodian 2023, p. [page needed].
- ^ Hoppe, Hans Hermann. "The Property And Freedom Society – Reflections After Five Years". lewrockwell.com. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
- ^ a b Hermansson et al. 2020, p. [page needed].
- ^ The Backbencher (14 October 2015). "The Club Med of Libertarian Conferences". The Backbencher.[self-published source?][dead link]
Sources
[edit]- Hermansson, Patrik; Lawrence, David; Mulhall, Joe; Murdoch, Simon (2020). The International Alt-Right. doi:10.4324/9780429032486. ISBN 978-0-429-03248-6.
- Slobodian, Quinn (2023). Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy. Metropolitan Books. ISBN 978-1-250-75390-8.
- Wasserman, Janek (2019). The Marginal Revolutionaries. Yale University Press. doi:10.12987/9780300249170. ISBN 978-0-300-24917-0. JSTOR j.ctvnwbxwf.
External links
[edit]- "Tolerating intolerance: Far-right activists and libertarians converge in Turkey". HOPE not Hate. 13 September 2019.