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For my summer time cottage studying, the primary non-fiction guide I’m studying is The Mayor of Castro Road by Randy Shilts. It’s about Harvey Milk. (By the way, I noticed Milk communicate in a downtown church in San Francisco in Could or June 1978 at an occasion held by BACABI, the Bay Space Coalition Towards the Briggs Initiative.)
Listed here are 4 fascinating highlights from the primary third of the guide.
Harvey Milk’s early political beliefs
A staunch conservative, Milk was then wanting ahead to Barry Goldwater’s getting the 1964 Republican presidential nomination. That might get the true conservative message out to the nation, he thought. His fiercest argument with Rodwell was not about homosexual equality, however [about] President Kennedy’s transfer in opposition to the metal corporations. The uncooked use of federal energy within the economic system made Harvey’s blood boil.
DRH be aware: I bear in mind studying within the late Nineteen Sixties about JFK’s 1962 assault on metal corporations for elevating costs. Ayn Rand wrote about it on the time additionally, and Wabash Faculty economics professor Ben Rogge talked about it in a chat in early 1969 on the College of Winnipeg that my Libertarian membership sponsored. It was an enormous deal to us.
Destruction of a Important A part of San Francisco
The Latino Mission district’s companies had by no means recovered from the digging up of the central purchasing strip for the Bay Space Speedy Transit.
DRH be aware: After I graduated from the College of Winnipeg in Could 1970, I set out in June to hitchhike from Winnipeg to Vancouver and from Vancouver to Los Angeles, stopping at varied locations on the best way. I stayed at an inexpensive, divy lodge in San Francisco (I believe it was about $5 an evening) and explored San Francisco. I bear in mind the chaos created by the constructing of the BART on the time. I needed to stroll over boards in varied elements of town and it was tough for individuals to get to sure companies as a result of the streets had been so ripped up. Later I discovered in George Hilton’s transportation economics class at UCLA simply how badly BART failed a value/profit evaluation take a look at even judged by the optimistic estimates of its proponents.
The Leftist Assault on Milk’s Enterprise
Some [left-wing gays] took to scolding Scott Smith [Milk’s business partner at Castro Camera], saying if Castro Digital camera actually cared about individuals, the would give away free movie and provide creating companies free of charge.
DRH be aware: No remark needed.
John Barbagelata’s Confusion concerning the Economics of Discrimination
[Barbagelata, who was running for mayor of San Francisco against George Moscone] would proceed to oppose the legislation banning anti-gay bias amongst metropolis contractors as a result of town is likely to be compelled to just accept larger bids from nondiscriminating corporations over the low bids of biased employers.
DRH be aware: On the time, employers had been discriminating in opposition to homosexual workers even in San Francisco. This presumably made homosexual workers a cut price for employers prepared to not discriminate. So Barbagelata had it precisely backwards. He didn’t perceive his Gary Becker. For the concise model of the economics of discrimination, see Linda Gorman, “Discrimination” in David R. Henderson, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.
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