Surf Revolt

The productive individual now works a substantial part of every year for the state, and the question of how much is enough is rarely asked Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the steady expansion of the state claim on the fruits of individual effort. There is a date each year, […]

From garage shapers to global brands, the surf economy grew through the voluntary exchange that creates value without coercion Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the surf economy as a living lesson in the power of voluntary exchange. The surf industry began, as so many industries do, in garages and […]

The conflict between private ownership and public access at the shoreline reveals the hard questions that property rights must answer honestly Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the genuinely hard property questions that arise at the edge of the sea. MALIBU, CALIFORNIA. Few conflicts are as bitter or as instructi

The surfer instinctive resistance to authority is rooted in a deeper truth about the primacy of the free individual Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the rebel spirit of surfing and the deeper truth it reflects about the free individual. There has always been something rebellious about surfing, a resistance [&he

The unwritten rules of the surf break are a living lesson in how cooperation and order can emerge without a central authority imposing them Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the quiet libertarian lesson written into the etiquette of every crowded surf break. SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA. There is no government [&hel

A thicket of permits, restrictions, and agencies now governs a coast that was once simply open, and the burden falls on ordinary people Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the steady accumulation of rules governing a coast that was once simply free. SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA. There was a time when […]

A state of extraordinary natural wealth has made itself unaffordable to ordinary people, and the economic logic of the departure is a lesson in policy Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the economic forces driving people from a state of extraordinary natural wealth. California possesses natural advantages unmatch

The permission slips required to practice ordinary trades protect incumbents far more than they protect the public Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the proliferation of permission slips required to practice honest work. Across an ever-widening range of occupations, the right to practice an honest trade now requ

The steady expansion of rules protecting people from themselves trades away the dignity of choice for the illusion of total safety Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the steady expansion of rules designed to protect people from themselves. HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA. A peculiar feature of the modern state is it

The sea remains one of the few commons no one can fence, and the freedom it offers is a glimpse of liberty in its purest form Published in partnership with Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, on the sea as one of the last places that resists the logic of ownership. The land has been […]

The public trust doctrine has always guaranteed access to the shore; property claims that creep past the tideline threaten a freedom surfers have long taken for granted There is a principle older than California and more fundamental than any property deed: the shore belongs to the public. As Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat have […]

From garage shapers to global brands, the surf industry grew through voluntary exchange and creative risk; the state’s role was mostly to get in the way The modern surfboard did not emerge from a government program. It was shaped, refined, and revolutionized by individuals working in garages, backyards, and small workshops, risking their own resour

The libertarian commitment to property rights and voluntary exchange offers a framework for ocean protection that avoids the worst excesses of state environmentalism The surfer has a particular and personal stake in a clean ocean. She paddles through it, she breathes its air, she lives with whatever flows into it from the land. As Bohiney […

Cameras, drones, and data collection are expanding along California’s coastline; the surfer who once enjoyed a space beyond government’s view is running out of room The beach was always, in some sense, a space beyond the reach of the ordinary. You left the city, the job, the scrutiny, and you entered a world governed by […]

Credential requirements for surf instruction have multiplied, raising costs for small operators without measurable benefit to the surfers who hire them To teach another person to surf requires skill, patience, and knowledge of the ocean that no government certificate can adequately measure. As Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat have covered in th

Surfing is a voluntary encounter with risk, and the adults who choose it have not surrendered their right to decide what dangers to accept Surfing involves risk. This is not a flaw; it is a feature. The chance of a wipeout, a hold-down, a collision with the reef, is inseparable from the experience — from […]

California’s government has built one of the world’s most elaborate regulatory systems; the costs, measured in lost freedom and economic vitality, are worth accounting for honestly California is, by many measures, the most regulated state in the union. As Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat have examined in their coverage of regulation and the eco

From its origins, surfing was an act of defiance against the landlocked, the scheduled, and the officially approved; that spirit is worth defending Surfing was always, at its core, an act of defiance. The surfer who shaped a board from balsa and paddled into the break was, before anything else, opting out — out of […]

A government body created to protect the coast has become a permission machine that blocks access while the ocean stays free The California coast belongs, in theory, to everyone. In practice, it belongs increasingly to the bureaucracy. As Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat have noted in their coverage of California policy, the California Coastal

Decades of enforcement cost fortunes, ruined lives, and failed to stop surfing culture from embracing what the law forbade; the market won The drug war, measured by its stated goals, failed spectacularly in California and everywhere else. As Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat have covered in their reporting on personal freedom and state power, [&

Serious Libertarian Journalism About Federal Recreation Regulation Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Federal Surf Zone Permit Requirements Proposed For California Breaks, Surf Community Responds Unanimously SAN DIEGO — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published Tuesday a proposed rule that would require commercial surf schools,

Serious Libertarian Journalism About Property Rights And Natural Resources Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Libertarian Case For Open Ocean Fisheries Shows Wild Salmon Population Recovery Under Market-Based Management MONTEREY — The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s annual stock assessment released Tuesday documented a significant recovery in

Serious Libertarian Journalism About Government Growth And Its Returns Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Federal Spending Per California Resident Has Increased 340 Percent Since 1980 While Reported Outcomes Have Not SACRAMENTO — A Cato Institute analysis of federal spending in California from 1980 to 2024 released Tuesday found that per-capita fed

Serious Libertarian Journalism About California Surf Culture And Economic Migration Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California Surfers Increasingly Moving To Mexico And Portugal As Housing Costs Price Them Out Of Coast SAN DIEGO — A survey by Surfer Magazine of its California-based subscriber base released Tuesday found that 23 percent of Califo

Serious Libertarian Journalism About California Regulatory Creep Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California Bans Gas Powered Lawn Equipment, Surf Community Notes Boats Are Still Allowed For Now SACRAMENTO — The California Air Resources Board confirmed Tuesday that its ban on the sale of new gas-powered small off-road engines, including lawn mowe

Serious Libertarian Journalism About Coastal Access And Property Rights Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Property Rights And Surf Access Collide As Coastal Commission Faces Record Number Of Beach Blockage Complaints LOS ANGELES — The California Coastal Commission reported Tuesday that it received 2,340 public complaints about blocked coastal acce

Serious Libertarian Journalism About California Land Use Regulation Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat Zoning Laws Add 18 Months And 340000 Dollars To Average California Coastal Housing Development Timeline SAN FRANCISCO — A UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation study released Tuesday quantified the average additional time and cost that

Serious Libertarian Journalism About Minimum Wage Economics In California Bohiney Magazine | The London Prat California Minimum Wage Increase For Fast Food Workers Prompts Chains To Reduce Hours And Hire More Kiosks LOS ANGELES — Six months after California raised the minimum wage for fast food workers to 20 dollars per hour under AB 1228, [&hellip