Saturday, June 21, 2014

Wolf DeVoon

"Inside each book is a man," said Montag.  That line from Fahrenheit 451 sums all literature, fiction and non-fiction, poetry no less than articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals.  Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy must be reflections of Jane Austen, even if she had only recorded them as passengers on a stagecoach she shared: they were in and of her. These books are self-consciously Wolf DeVoon.

He is not special; but he is representative because we live in a renaissance. Never before have so many people given so much of themselves to the collective wisdom.  Independent movie producers eclipse Hollywood.  Downloads leave Random House (Bertelsmann) in the dust for sheer volume.  MySpace was intended as a Facebook but was taken over by music creators, artists, and producers.  In that context, Wolf DeVoon stands out as a creator of legal theory.

The Good Walk Alone is a novella, set in a post-apocalyptic Costa Rica.  The cops are women.  Wolf DeVoon's personal experiences working in prisons and working for prisoners showed him reasons to assert that women should not be subject to criminal law and that law enforcement should be entrusted to them exclusively.  It is a radical theory.  But I found it empirically supported.  As I was earning a baccalaureate (Summa cum Laude) in criminology administration in 2008, I was shown statistics proving that women write more citations than men, and with fewer complaints from the public.  Tangentially, college-educated police (2-year or 4-year degrees) also conduct more stops and write more citations with fewer complaints from citizens than do police officers with only a high school education.  If you want the best police force, get college educated women.  The story has all the usual elements: love, jealousy, some suspense, and gunfire, with a conclusion that is not quite resolved.

The Constitution of Government in Galt's Gulch is not really any kind of a specific proposal until the very end. First, you spend a lot of time with Wolf DeVoon, drinking coffee and drinking Dewars, listening to him explain how he came to these ideas. That is important and necessary and consequential because inside each book is a man. Jefferson is within the Declaration of Independence.  Washington is within his Farewell Address.  Lincoln is within the Gettysburg Address.  Wilson is within his Fourteen Points; Roosevelt his Four Freedoms.  Denounce or endorse them each as you choose.   DeVoon is deep or shallow to the extent that you find him.  In the famous words of the Higley Tokens: "I am Good Copper: Value Me as You Choose." 
DeVoon on LuLu here
DeVoon on Tripod here
DeVoon on Book Country here

ALSO ON NECESSARY FACTS
Laissez Faire Criminology
Inspecting the Objectivist Theory of Government
A Culture of Reality, Reason and Freedom
Stand Up and Be Counted

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