question is, what can be done about it?nI know about the deeper causes, thencultural-ethnic problems and thenbreakdown of self-discipline and familynvalues. But as a New Yorker, I’mnlooking for a quicker fix, and as anlibertarian I’m trained to look to governmentnas both the problem and thensolution. Government as the problemnis the welfare state, which creates massivendependency over the generations,nand which has destroyed family discipline.nBut also government as thenproblem is its egregious failure to donthe one thing for which organizednviolence is suitable: defending personsnand property from assault. And sincenthe government owns the streets, it hasnthe responsibility to run those streets inna manner fit for human existence: innshort, to restore the Bowery-only system,nand to bring back not only the copnon the beat, but also his power tonadminister instant retribution, and tonhell with the ACLU. And also tonrestore to New Yorkers the legal rightnto carry hatpins, mace, guns, or anynother weapon necessary to defendnthemselves and other innocents againstnassault.nAfter only months in office, andnamidst a summer of unprecedentednviolence in New York, Mayor Dinkinsnhad the gall to exhort its citizens tonabandon their fear of the streets, to getnout from behind their quadruplelockednand bolted doors, and to surgenforth, helpless and disarmed, to takenthe streets back from the criminals.nWhen the New York establishmentnlearns, or is made to learn by publicnoutcry, that this is what cops are supposednto be for, perhaps the Big Applencan be redeemed at last.nAnd, besides, Chronicles editors arenmainly backcountry Southern Borderersn(as they are called by historiannDavid Hackett Fischer), hailing originallynfrom the troubled borders ofnEngland and Scotland. And Borderers,nembodied in such great Americannleaders as Patrick Henry, Andrew Jackson,nand John C. Calhoun, have longnbeen noted for their spunk. Quietnresignation, bless them, has never beennone of their virtues.n— Murray N. RothbardnLas Vegas, NVnThe December issue contained thenfollowing statements: the Quebecoisnare “absolutely right to be concernednabout the threat to their culture fromnthe surrounding Anglophone world”n(John Shelton Reed, “What I Did onnMy Vacation”); “as we have seen mostnrecently in the flare-up over Quebecnand its relations to Canada, it makes anbig difference to everyone which languagenis used in courts, schools, andnstreet signs . . . Sowell’s blind spot onnthe language question …” (MurraynN. Rothbard, “Affirmative Scholarship”).nThomas Sowell, however, went tonthe heart of the matter: Quebec is annexample of affirmative action. In fact,nthe French Language Board (its inspectorsnare nicknamed “TonguenTroopers”) copies its “persuasion”nprocedures from affirmative actionnmanuals obtained from U.S. Federalnagencies. Montreal’s English hospitals,nwhich came under the hegemony ofnthe provincial government when Canadanadopted its national health system,nare supported by the English-speakingnpopulation. When French became thensole official language of Quebec, thenhospitals learned that it would no longernbe acceptable to communicate withnthe government in English and that itnwould be advisable to phase out thenEnglish-speaking employees and replacenthem with persons “sufficientlynfluent” in French.nThe inspectors peruse the list ofnemployees and nod agreeably whennthey see a French-Canadian name, antricky business sometimes as manynFrench Canadians have Anglo surnames,nand the first name may be, fornexample, Robert, which is the same innboth languages. By now, virtually allnthe administrative jobs in the Englishnhospitals are occupied by French Canadians.nOnly the medical work isncarried on, sometimes uneasily, in English.nThe English banks kill two affirmativenaction birds with one stone bynemploying French-Canadian womennas branch managers.nFurther evidence against Rothbard’snand Reed’s contention that the Quebecnauthorities are only protecting theirnlocal majority culture is the ruthlessnscrapping of traditional French-Canadianninstitutions: instead we have ancivil marriage, legalized divorce, atheismnand Marxism in the schools, and anphasing out of the handling of familynlegal and property matters by a pecu­nnnliarly French profession known as notaires.nImminent legal changes favorninstead the Anglo-Saxon adversarialnsetflement of civil disputes, handled bynattorneys.nIf there were genuine concern fornthe preservation of the French language,nthere would be no separatism,nsince the boundaries of Quebec havennot the slightest bearing on the subject.nThe only culture shock crossing fromnQuebec into either of its neighboringnprovinces is the change of licensenplates.nBut the borders of Canada haveneverything to do with preservation ofnFrench, as recenfly reiterated by JeannChretien, leader of the Federal LibertynParty. The language survives and evenngrows in parts of Canada hundreds ofnmiles from Quebec, but it is dead justnover the nearby U.S. border, evennwhere people watch Montreal television,nfly to U.S. destinations fromnMontreal’s airport, dine out in Montreal’snfine French restaurants (Reedndid manage to get one thing right), andnreside in towns, like Winooski, Vermont,nthat are ethnically French Canadian.nThe parish church of St. Pierre,nin Plattsburgh, New York, seventynmiles south of here, was renamed “St.nPeter” some years ago.nI don’t wish it on you, but you willnunderstand better when certain citiesnand even regions of the United Statesnare declared “African-American” amidnsuitable changes of name (it has alreadynbeen proposed that New York becomen”Martin Luther King City”) with undreamt-ofnchanges to follow. Montrealnis a French city only in the same waynthat Detroit or Atlanta are African-nAmerican cities. Lincoln (Avenue ornwhatever) — yes, Lincoln — would becomenJesse Jackson Avenue just asnDorchester Boulevard in Montreal becamenBoul. Rene-Levesque.nRothbard has apparently never beennto Montreal; John Shelton Reed’s accountnof his visit, however, repeatsnevery standard left-wing media mythnabout the place. He quotes “an Anglonreporter for the Canadian BroadcastingnCorporation,” which is like visitingnNorth Carolina and quoting a reporternfor the Charlotte Observer.nThe CBC reporter wouldn’t know,nand I wonder if Reed would even wantnto know, that Jefferson Davis sojournednin Montreal (his daughter at-nFEBRUARY 1991/5n