The HHH controversy is out of control. I’m posting this for the benefit of the readers of this site, to help clarify things.
The precise comments being debated now among libertarians appeared in his 2001 book “Democracy: The God That Failed,” and he subsequently defended the comments in his article “My Battle With The Thought Police”:
“In my book Democracy, The God That Failed I not only defend the right to discrimination as implied in the right to private property, but I also emphasize the necessity of discrimination in maintaining a free society and explain its importance as a civilizing factor. In particular, the book also contains a few sentences about the importance, under clearly stated circumstances, of discriminating against communists, democrats, and habitual advocates of alternative, non-family centered lifestyles, including homosexuals.
For instance, on p. 218, I wrote ‘in a covenant concluded among proprietors and community tenants for the purpose of protecting their private property, … no one is permitted to advocate ideas contrary to the very purpose of the covenant … such as democracy and communism.’ ‘Likewise, in a covenant founded for the purpose of protecting family and kin, there can be no tolerance toward those habitually promoting lifestyles incompatible with this goal. … [violators] will have to be physically removed from society.’
In its proper context these statements are hardly more offensive than saying that the Catholic Church should excommunicate those violating its fundamental precepts or that a nudist colony should expel those insisting on wearing bathing suits. However, if you take the statements out of context and omit the condition: in a covenant… then they appear to advocate a violation of rights.
My praise of discrimination was part of a frontal attack against what is sometimes called left-libertarianism–against the politics that equates liberty with libertinism, multiculturalism, and so-called civil rights as opposed to existence and enforcement of private-property rights. In retaliation, to discredit me as a ‘fascist,’ a ‘racist,’ a ‘bigot,’ etc., the left-libertarian smear-bund has routinely distorted my views by quoting the above passages out of context.”
Stephan Kinsella also discusses this:
Hoppe on Covenant Communities and Advocates of Alternative Lifestyles
Cliff’s notes from the Kinsella piece:
Also from Democracy:
“To avoid any misunderstanding, it might be useful to point out that the predicted rise in discrimination in a purely libertarian world does not imply that the form and extent of discrimination will be the same or similar everywhere. To the contrary, a libertarian world could and likely would be one with a great variety of locally separated communities engaging distinctly different and far-reaching discrimination.”
And, he quotes Rothbard:
“With every locale and neighborhood owned by private firms, corporations, or contractual communities, true diversity would reign, in accordance with the preferences of each community. Some neighborhoods would be ethnically or economically diverse, while others would be ethnically or economically homogeneous. Some localities would permit pornography or prostitution or drugs or abortion, others would prohibit any or all of them. The prohibitions would not be state imposed, but would simply be requirements for residence or use of some person’s or community’s land area.”
For the history you didn’t learn in school, check out Liberty Classroom:
