Karl Hess
Karl Hess (May 25, 1923–April 22, 1994), was a libertarian writer whose career included stints on both the Republican right and the New Left.
Hess was born in Washington, D.C. and spent most of his life there. He was born to a wealthy father, but marital problems led his mother to leave her husband and take a job as a telephone operator. She then raised him in very modest circumstances by his mother. Young Karl left school at 15 and went to work for the Mutual Broadcasting System as a news writer (he was hired by someone who didn't realize how young he was). He continued to work in the news media (for newspapers), and by the time he was 18 was assistant city editor of the Washington Daily News. He was later an editor for Newsweek and for The Fisherman.
Hess enlisted in the US Army in 1942, but was soon discharged for health problems.
As a one time speechwriter for Barry Goldwater, Hess's explorations of ideology and politics drew some public interest. Hess is widely credited with writing the famous line "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice," but others dispute his authorship of the phrase. He was also the primary author of the Republican Party's 1960 and 1964 platforms. He later called this his "Cold Warrior" phase.
Following the 1964 presidential campaign, Hess' politics became more radical. He became a critic of big business, suburban American hypocrisy, and the military-industrial complex. Though well beyond student age, he joined Students for a Democratic Society, worked with the Black Panther Party, protested the Vietnam War, and was severely sanctioned by the IRS for tax resistance. Hess later joined the Libertarian Party and served as editor of its newspaper from 1986 to 1990.
Hess wrote an intriguing account of an experiment that he and several friends and colleagues launched to bring self-built and self-managed technology into the direct service of the economic and social life of a poor, largely Afro-American neighborhood of Washington, D.C. — Adams-Morgan. The book is titled Community Technology. While much of the experimentation proved successful in technical terms (apparatus was built, food raised, etc.), the community, continuing on what Hess felt was a path of deterioration, declined to throw itself into efforts to expand on the technology and get greater value out of its application.
Subsequently, Hess moved to rural Opequon Creek, West Virginia, where he set up a welding shop to support his household. He became deeply involved with local affairs there.
Hess ran a symbolic campaign for governor of West Virginia in 1992. When asked by a reporter what his first act would be if elected, he memorably quipped, "I will demand an immediate recount."
Books
- Nature and Science (1958)
- In a Cause That Will Triumph (1967)
- The End of the Draft: The Feasibility of Freedom (with Thomas Reeves) (1970) ISBN 0394708709
- Dear America (1975)
- Neighborhood Power: The New Localism (with David Morris) (1975)
- Community Technology (1979)
- A Common Sense Strategy for Survivalists (1981)
- Three Interviews (1981)
- Capitalism for Kids (1986)
- Mostly on the Edge: An Autobiography (edited by Karl Hess, Jr.) (1999) ISBN 1573926876
Films
Karl Hess: Toward Liberty documentary film
The film won two Oscars in 1981, including one for best short documentary.
Links
External links
- The Karl Hess Club
- LP News Jun94 - Karl Hess 1923-1994
- THE PLOWBOY INTERVIEW KARL HESS
- The Death of Politics: 1969 Playboy article by Hess
- From Far Right to Far Left — and Farther — With Karl Hess by James Boyd: 1970 New York Times article about Hess