L. K. Samuels (born December 7, 1951), also known as Lawrence Samuels, is an American author and libertarian activist associated with classical liberal political movements in California. He is known as the editor and contributing author of Facets of Liberty: A Libertarian Primer and the author of In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human Action.

Early life and education Samuels was born in Huntington Park, California, and moved to the city of Fullerton in Orange County, California, at approximately two years of age. He attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, where he became politically active after attending a speech by Dana Rohrabacher, who was later elected to the United States Congress.

Samuels attended Fullerton College, where he served as editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, and in 1976 earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in commercial art with a minor in journalism from California State University, Fullerton.

Political and activist activities

Student organizing and Young Americans for Freedom In 1973 following an interview with Robert LeFevre, president of Rampart College in Santa Ana, Samuels organized the Jefferson-Libertarian Caucus within YAF.Larry Samuels, "Rampart College: an unusual school," The Daily Titan, April 5, 1973. That same year he became editor and publisher of The New Horizon, an underground newspaper at Fullerton College, while also contributing columns to the official campus newspaper The Hornet."Conservative Youth Group Prints Paper," Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1971.

Society for Libertarian Life

In 1973 at California State University, Fullerton, Samuels founded and chaired the Society for Libertarian Life (SLL), which grew into one of the largest libertarian student organizations on the West Coast, reporting approximately 2,000 members by 1980.Phillip C. Rosmarin "'There Ain't No Free Lunch': Battle Cry of Cal State Libertarians, Fullerton News Tribune, Feb. 19, 1974. The organization sponsored lectures by figures including Tibor Machan, Nathaniel Branden, John Hospers, George H. Smith, David Bergland, and Robert LeFevre, among others.Ken Grubbs, "Luce adds voice to move for Nixon office ouster," Anaheim Bulletin, March 23, 1974."'Moral law overrides politics,' author states," Anaheim Bulletin, April 29, 1976.John Yench, "Branden stumps for libertarians," Anaheim Bulletin, May 5, 1976.John Yench, "Police don't protect, says speaker," Anaheim Bulletin, May 24, 1978. SLL published the journals The New Libertarian Horizon and later Libertas Review.Rosa Kwong, "'Students Burn Draft Cards in Rally at CSF," The Register, May 2, 1979."In The Wasteland," The Register (later known as the Orange County Register), editorial page, Sept. 17, 1973.

The Society for Individual Liberty, described at the time as the largest libertarian organization in the country, recognized SLL and Samuels as the outstanding local libertarian organization for 1975–76."College students to picket the IRS," Anaheim Bulletin, August 8, 1976Patt Morrison, "Forms go up in smoke: Libertarian Lodges Fiery Protest Against Census," Los Angeles Times, April 16, 1980. In 1978, SLL sponsored a debate on California Proposition 6, a ballot initiative that would have barred homosexuals from teaching in public schools. The opposing candidate, State Senator John Briggs, did not appear at the debate, and SLL subsequently filed suit against him through attorney David Bergland."Briggs Sued for Failing to Show up at Debate," Los Angeles Times, November 2, 1978Larry Peterson, "Briggs Faces Suit in Prop. 6 Debate," The Register, November 2, 1978.

In 1979, Samuels led a draft-card burning demonstration that received national attention.Eve Gumpel, "Peace Party Squabbling," Daily Pilot, October 27, 1976. He also organized the Voluntary Census Committee to oppose what he characterized as privacy encroachments by the 1980 U.S. Census, under the slogan Count Me Out.Lawrence Samuels, "How 'Libertarians' Engineered A PFP Takeover," The Register (now Orange County Register), May 18, 1976.

Peace and Freedom Party In 1974, Samuels joined the Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) and was elected to its Orange County Central Committee, representing the 39th Congressional district as a delegate to the 1974 PFP convention in Sacramento. The convention resulted in a split between libertarian and socialist factions; the libertarian faction was recognized as the legal PFP organization for approximately two years. Samuels assisted in the PFP gubernatorial campaign of Elizabeth Keathley in 1974. He was expelled by the socialist faction in 1976, following the resignation of the PFP State Central Committee, whose members subsequently joined the Libertarian Party.

Rampart Institute and Future of Freedom Conference In the late 1970s, Samuels supported the founding of Rampart Institute. When it became a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational foundation in 1980, he served as its president. Robert LeFevre and Harry Hoiles, owner of the Santa Ana Register, served on its board of directors. Samuels edited its quarterly journal Rampart Individualist and served as managing editor of the bi-monthly New Rampart.

From 1980 to 1985, Samuels co-managed and later managed The Future of Freedom Conference series in Southern California. Participants included Murray Rothbard, Karl Hess, Thomas Szasz, Timothy Leary, Ray Bradbury, Arthur Laffer, Robert Anton Wilson, and David D. Friedman, among others.

Monterey County and later activism In 1992, Samuels sold his typesetting and graphics business and relocated to Monterey County, California, where he became involved in real estate. He served as Northern Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of California from 2003 to 2007."Take This Law and Smoke It," the weeklytally, Coast Weekly, January 23, 2003.

In 2003, he managed the campaign opposing Measure Q in Monterey County, a proposed half-cent sales tax increase intended to fund Natividad Medical Center. Although proponents of the measure reportedly outspent opponents by a ratio of approximately 100 to 1, the measure was defeated. The medical center subsequently remained open and recorded profits of nearly $13 million in the 2009–2010 fiscal year, contrary to predictions made during the campaign that it would close.Jim Johnson, "Salinas' Natividad Medical Center post record profits,"Monterey Herald, August 5, 2010.

In 2008, Samuels was elected chairman of the Project Area Committee (PAC), a citizens' advisory body to the Seaside Redevelopment Agency concerning eminent domain matters in Seaside, California. He is also listed as a founder and vice chair of the Seaside Taxpayers Association.Jack Dean, "Lawrence K. Samuels Receives Bray Award," California Freedom, April 2008.

Samuels participated in opposition to the Iraq War, organizing peace rallies and speeches through the non-interventionist organization Libertarians for Peace and the Peace Coalition of Monterey County.https://libertarians4peace.net He co-founded the Foundation to End Drug Unfairness Policies (FED-UP), an organization opposed to drug prohibition policies.Sylvia Moore, "CSUMB students rally against possible war," Monterey Herald, March 6, 2003.David R. Henderson, "Working with the Left on the War," antiwar.com web-magazine, March 26, 2007, https://www.antiwar.com/orig/duncan.php?articleid=10704David R. Henderson, "End the War," antiwar.com web-magazine, March 22, 2010, https://original.antiwar.com/henderson/2010/03/21/end-the-wars/ He received the 2007 Karl Bray Memorial Award, presented by the Samuel Adams Society.

In 2009, Samuels ran for city council in the proposed incorporation of Carmel Valley, California, as one of the leaders opposed to the incorporation effort. He publicly encouraged voters not to support either him or the incorporation measure. The vote for incorporation failed.Jessica Lyons, "Town Criers: The battle over Carmel Valley incorporation continues," Monterey County Weekly, July 30, 2009.

Bibliography Samuel's published works include: Facets of Liberty: A Libertarian Primer, Freedom Press and Rampart Institute, 2nd edition, 2009, first published 1985. Dreams Gone to Seed, play written in 2009. In Defense of Chaos: The Chaology of Politics, Economics and Human Action, first published in 2013. Hitler and Mussolini: History’s Dirty Little Secret, written as content for a script to be used in the production of a documentary film. Killing History: The False Left-Right Political Spectrum and the Battle between the 'Free Left' and the 'Statist Left''' (2019) Ferret: The Reluctant King (2020) We Are Them: The Apocalypse Syndrome (2021) FACETAS DE LA LIBERTAD: Un manual libertariano (Spanish Edition of Facets of Liberty) (2021) We Are Them: The War Years (2022) Entering the Fascist-Marxist Twilight Zone: The Collected Works of L.K. Samuels and the Freedom Riders Groupe'' (2025) ISBN 978-09615893-8-7

References

External links

lksamuels.com