Amia Srinivasan has four questions for free-market moralists, specifically those who accept something like a Nozickian account of individual rights. My own take is more Rothbardian than Nozickian, but that still seems close enough to give her four answers, and to ask four questions in return about the assumptions that underlie her essay. Amia begins by asking: 1….

Imagine you make your living as a university professor  –  you have a low salary, no health benefits and no retirement benefits. Now imagine that at the end of this semester your career will be suddenly terminated with no due process or severance pay. Now imagine this circumstance is not unique – because it’s not. This circumstance is experienced…

After watching a couple of people I know argue about whether “economic freedom” or “social freedom” was more important, I had the typical libertarian reaction: That’s a meaningless question, they’re the same thing. All transactions are “economic” in an important sense, and all relationships between people are “social.” To violently repress any non-invasive action is…

In a syndicated column last October, television journalist John Stossel lamented the downgrading from sixth to eighth place—“behind Canada!”—of the United States on the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom. The Index is based on several metrics, including freedom of movement of capital, the degree of business regulation, and levels of taxes and spending….

Of late I have been trying to balance my staunch support of the non-aggression principle (NAP) and self-ownership with my increasingly leftist values. For some anarchists the NAP and property rights are totally and wildly incompatible with anarchism, with the argument going so far to claim that stereotypical anarchism is rooted in a rejection of…

It’s impossible to make this stuff up, folks. Salon.com columnist Tom Watson, in an article on the upcoming “Stop Watching Us” rally in Washington, D.C., has excoriated all of his progressive friends for supporting something that libertarians — surprise! — also support. He writes, “Some of the biggest names in civil liberties and digital freedom…

C4SS Senior Fellow and Molinari Institute Director and President, Roderick T. Long, presenting before the 2013 Students for Liberty Dallas Regional Conference at the University of North Texas. Roderick T. Long particpated in a brief interview regarding his talk, Objections to Libertarianism, Transitioning to Free(d) Markets, and More.

In The Wealth of Nations Adam Smith famously wrote, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the publick, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” It may seem strange that history’s best-known advocate of the free market would cast such aspersions on business…

Welcome to the third edition of my weekly review! Let’s get started on a fantastic series of articles. First off are the usual pieces on foreign policy and military affairs: 1. Barry Lando discusses how presidential intervention almost squashed a damning 60 minutes segment on American involvement in Iran. 2. Andre Vltcheck discusses the recent…

Esta postagem se inicia onde a primeira metade parou: com a desilusão (e o abandono) da New Left por parte de Rothbard. Agora eu quero olhar para algumas das pessoas que continuaram a tradição rothbardiana de esquerda. Karl Hess estava entrando de cabeça na esquerda quando Rothbard deu a New Left como uma causa perdida. Mesmo durante…

Em “Libertarianism: What’s Going Right”, eu mencionei o Rothbardianismo de Esquerda como uma base possível para buscar áreas de concordância entre libertários de mercado e a esquerda. Eu gostaria de entrar já nessa questão com mais profundidade. Em 2004, eu estava extremamente animado sobre a “Era of Good Feelings” entre os políticos Michael Badnarik do…

Welcome to the second edition of my libertarian leftist weekly review! There are many exciting new pieces to share. I will be sending 30 a week. Let’s get started. A hot topic of late has been the potential war with Syria. Here are some articles addressing it from an anti-war/anti-imperialist perspective: 1. Rob Urie talks…

L’utilité industrielle Dans les vastes plaines arides du Bassin Arckaringa, en Australie, a eu lieu une découverte majeure d’huile de schiste. Linc Energy a découvert sur 6,5 millions d’hectares de terrain environ 133 – 233 milliards de barils d’huile de schiste situés sous la lithologie de la région. Peu importe le volume d’huile accessible via la…

Welcome! This is my first weekly review. In the tradition of the individualist anarchist, Benjamin Tucker, it will be edited to fit the editor. The political-cultural-economic angle will be anti-state, anti-authoritarian, left-wing market anarchist, anti-imperialist, libertarian, and pro-sex feminist. Let us begin with a rundown of some fantastic foreign policy related pieces: 1. Sean Scallon discusses…

Throughout the US government “shutdown,” Democratic politicians have compared their Republican rivals to “anarchists” and argued that the “shutdown” proves government necessary. A recent speech by US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on the Senate floor exemplifies this trend. Misconceptions run rampant in Senator Warren’s speech. She conflates cooperation and government, stating “In our democracy, government is…

I should know better than to take seriously the insipid words of presidential speechwriters, especially those who composed an inaugural address. Still, I can’t let some of the words President Obama read at Monday’s inauguration pass without comment. For example, Obama said this: Preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can…

To a large extent, discussion of this issue tends to be dominated either by anarcho-capitalists who think in terms of for-profit protection “firms” or insurance companies, or communists and syndicalists who for the most part don’t frame issues in terms of the “non-aggression principle” or “initiation of force.” So where does that leave those of…

The government shutdown is teaching us a lot about the “public sector” — mainly that it doesn’t exist. For many folks Autumn is a season for getting out into the wild, for viewing fall colors, building camp fires, breathing in the still sweet air and plainly enjoying the great outdoors — “our” public lands. With…

In my summary of the C4SS vs IP episode, I made it clear that, We would even be happy to encourage and facilitate a conversation with members of the Muslim community for him, if he so desires. It would be a good learning experience for all of us. To take steps toward honoring this declaration…

On the 28th of September four European classical-liberal and libertarian parties signed the Utrecht declaration and covenant of European Classical liberal and Libertarian parties which provides the foundation for the new European Party for Individual Liberty (EPIL). The coming years will show if the EPIL can bring a new perspective on the principle of liberty…