In the 1970s, Manuel “Manny” Klausner co-founded Reason Foundation, which publishes this magazine, and served as an editor and publisher of Reason. In March, Klausner died at age 85. He was a longtime libertarian and Reason Foundation trustee and a happy warrior for free minds and free markets. What follows is a sampling of Klausner’s writing in Reason over the years.
7 years ago
October 2018
“As support for gay marriage increases in America, it becomes increasingly unlikely that gay couples will encounter serious difficulty in finding a florist or baker for their weddings. When one vendor turns a couple away, there are numerous others lining up to win that couple’s business. The economic harm falls squarely on the person with the moral qualms. There’s no doubt that emotional harm can result from being turned away from a business establishment because of who you love. But surely there is also harm when an American is forced to participate in an event that is contrary to his or her deeply held beliefs. A voluntary, market-oriented approach is the best way to reconcile the competing interests in such situations….Reason has favored gay civil unions since the 1970s, long before they received widespread support. But we’ve always insisted that the law respect views held by minorities, and as libertarians we oppose using coercion to compel conformity in the private sector.”
“Debate: Bakers Should Not Be Forced To Produce Cakes for Same-Sex Weddings”
48 years ago
January 1977
“Although it is commonly asserted that public schools are necessary to educate the poor, the term ‘twelve-year sentence’ has been aptly used to describe the public schools as analogous to a huge prison system which incarcerates the young. Perhaps the strongest case to maintain the present system is the ironic argument that the poor intentionally should be impeded and repressed by inferior schooling. It is hard to visualize a system of schooling that would function any worse for the poor than the system we have today. We urge radical educational reform as a top priority for those interested in personal liberty and in the goal of an educated populace. The program we advocate calls for the complete removal of government from the classroom.”
“Get Big Brother Out of the Schools”
49 years ago
January 1976
“What does REASON propose? We’re strong advocates of allowing New York City to default. The consequences of a default would be positive and healthy. Instead of a bailout, which would benefit primarily the banks and wealthy investors who chose to buy New York City bonds—at a high yield—we believe it just for those who voluntarily put themselves in the position of lending money to the government to bear the risk of a default. Since these banks and investors never offered to forego their profits when times were good, we’re hard put to see anything fair about them insisting that we now share their losses. Whether or not the city defaults, times are going to be rough in New York for awhile. But sooner or later, the city will be forced to change its ways and abandon its big-spending, high-taxing style. The financial crisis in New York was inevitable, and it presents an historic opportunity for reform for the aging metropolis: default.”
“Default”
52 years ago
September 1973
“In viewing the recently disclosed willingness of the Nixon administration to embrace extreme measures in the name of national security, it is pertinent to contrast the widespread acquiescence of the public towards encroachments on personal freedom which have regularly been taken by government in the campaign against drugs. The ‘Watergate mentality’ has its genesis in the imperial attitude that government knows what is best for its citizens and may use any means to accomplish its ends. The President’s 1970 ‘intelligence operations’ plan, devised for Nixon by Tom Huston, was not unique in providing for illegal entry and bugging against political dissenters. Authorization for surreptitious entry is expressly contained in the no-knock sections of the Drug Control Act of 1970.”
“Breaking and Entering as a Way of Life”
54 years ago
October 1971
“President Nixon’s executive order providing for stabilization of prices, rents and wages is an act of supreme defiance against the free market and the freedom of Americans. Nixon’s action was born of desperation, in the face of extreme pressure both domestically and internationally. His game plan to reduce inflation and end the recession was not on target, and Nixon was faced with rising unemployment together with rising prices in a dramatic practical refutation of the monetary and fiscal economic policies he sought to implement.”
“The Wage Price Freeze”
This article originally appeared in print under the headline “Archives: June 2025.”
