Category Archives: Libertarianism

Cato #39;s David Boaz Talks Politics, History, and His Path to Libertarianism
"I think the general idea of #39;it #39;s your life you get to run it the way you want to #39; is an appealing aspect of libertarianism," says David Boaz executive vice...

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Cato's David Boaz Talks Politics, History, and His Path to Libertarianism - Video

Excursions, Ep. 29: Neoconservatism Versus Libertarianism, Part 2
George H. Smith tells the story of how a disagreement with Roy Childs over the ideas of Irving Kristol resulted in a serious argument. George H. Smith begins his series on neoconservatism...

By: Libertarianism.org

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Excursions, Ep. 29: Neoconservatism Versus Libertarianism, Part 2 - Video

Over his 33 years at Cato and through his earlier activities in the libertarian policy sphere, Catos Executive Vice PresidentDavid Boazhas played a key role in the development of both the Cato Institute and the libertarian movement at large; he even wrote the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on libertarianism!

On Tuesday, in conjunction with the release of his new book, The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom (which, incidentally, sold out on Amazon within hours), Boaz took to Reddits iAMA forum to discuss libertarianism, his book, and the burgoening libertarian moment,inviting Redditors of all ilks to ask him anything.

During the hour long Q&A session, Boaz tackled a wide-array of questions, weighing in on everything from the drug warandabortionto effective strategies for social change and the efficacy of libertarian governance.Each one of his responses ignitedimpassioned debates amongst the forums diverse audience as commenters from all sides of the political spectrum hashed out the ideas of liberty.

The resulting discussion is a fascinating one, very much worth your attention. Check out the Reddit discussion and Boazs book, and then continue the conversation on Twitter using #LibertarianMind.

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You asked Cato EVP David Boaz anything. Heres what happened.

An ad-hominem rant by "Lazarus Long", based on the presumption that his opponents use the same attack tactics he does. His most glaring double-speak is that he claims the arguments are strawmen, but he defends them anyway instead of disclaiming them.

My normal policy is not to engage in ad-hominem pissing matches with libertarians, but Lazarus Long has been impugning me for quite a while now. So, I'd like to set the following straight, since it illustrates his debate style. Also, this can serve as an example of how argument with him can mire you endlessly, even when he is grossly wrong.

In his FAS , he writes: Incidentally, even though this article was not written at the time of Huben's e-mail to me, he stated "I'm hardly upset by your "refutation" or any of the other rather pathetic attempts (and yours is indeed the weakest by far.)" In other words... although the refutation had not been written, Huben miraculously claims that it is the weakest by far.

In an ad-hominem web page titled Who is Mike Huben , he writes: An example of his obsession, and lack of intellectual integrity can be seen by a visit to his "Critique of Libertarianism" site. He listed a link to my critique of his Non-Libertarian FAQ, before the critique had been written, along with a description of what was contained in the critique. A most impressive stunt, considering that the critique, not only was not on this site at the time, but hadn't been written.

Now, I'm not known for my psychic powers: how could I have known about his document to criticize it or create a link to it?

Very simple. He had posted it (or an early version) as Huben's FAS (Frequently Asserted Strawmen). in talk.politics.libertarian July 2, 1996. He wrote: This article will appear in full form on my webpage as http://vaxxine.com/rational/huben-bs-fas.htm within the next few weeks. I criticized his post by email, and made a link to the URL he had announced. No magic involved: I was just responding to the information he made publicly available. I'd like to know how he construes this as "obsession, and lack of intellectual integrity".

Most of his attacks and his FAS can be similarly handled. However, responding to them just gives him more material to similarly misuse. He likes to misinterpret non-response as his own triumph over the cowardly, but I trust most readers can see that he's a legend in his own mind.

[4/13/99: "Prince Lazarus", age 67, given name Howard Turney, has been hit with an SEC restraining order for his New Utopia internet scam.]

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Critiques Of Libertarianism: All links. - http://www.TheWorld.com ...

Some people think libertarians only care about taxes and regulations. But I was asked not long ago, whats the most important libertarian accomplishment in history? I said, the abolition of slavery.

The greatest libertarian crusade in history was the effort to abolish chattel slavery, culminating in the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement and the heroic Underground Railroad. Its no accident that abolitionism emerged out of the ferment of the Industrial Revolution and the American Revolution.

How could Americans proclaim that all men are created equal endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, without noticing that they themselves were holding other men and women in bondage? They could not, of course. The ideas of the American Revolution individualism, natural rights and free markets led logically to agitation for the extension of civil and political rights to those who had been excluded from liberty, as they were from power notably slaves, serfs and women. As the great English scholar Samuel Johnsonwrote in 1775, How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of Negroes?

The worlds first antislavery society was founded in Philadelphia that same year. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, yet he included a passionate condemnation of slavery in his draft of the Declaration of Independence the following year: [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him. The Continental Congress deleted that passage, but Americans lived uneasily with the obvious contradiction between their commitment to individual rights and the institution of slavery.

Racism is an age-old problem, but it clearly clashes with the universal ethics of libertarianism and the equal natural rights of all men and women.

As the idea of liberty spread, slavery and serfdom came under attack throughout the Western world. During the British debate over the idea of compensating slaveholders for the loss of their property, the libertarian Benjamin Pearsonrepliedthat he had thought it was the slaves who should have been compensated.

In the United States, the abolitionist movement was naturally led by libertarians. Leading abolitionists called slavery man stealing, in that it sought to deny self-ownership and steal a mans very self. Their arguments paralleled those of John Locke and the libertarian agitators known as the Levellers. William Lloyd Garrison wrote that his goal was not just the abolition of slavery but the emancipation of our whole race from the dominion of man, from the thraldom of self, from the government of brute force.

Frederick Douglass likewise made his arguments for abolitionin the terms of classical liberalism and libertarianism: self-ownership and natural rights. After the Civil War, he continued his fight for equal freedom, campaigning against Southern states efforts to avoid following the new constitutional amendments. And he applied his belief in liberty and equal rights universally: He backed womens suffrage, saying we hold woman to be justly entitled to all we claim for man. He defended Chinese immigrants, pointing out that there are no rights of race superior to the rights of humanity. In Great Britain he joined campaigns for free trade and Irish freedom.

Just as a better understanding of natural rights was developed during the American struggle against specific injustices suffered by the colonies, the feminist and abolitionist Angelina Grimknoted in an 1837 letter, I have found the Anti-Slavery cause to be the high school of morals in our land the school in which human rights are more fully investigated, and better understood and taught, than in any other.

Racism is an age-old problem, but it clearly clashes with the universal ethics of libertarianism and the equal natural rights of all men and women. As Ayn Rand pointed out in her 1963 essay Racism,

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Black History Is American History

A Short Introduction to Libertarianism: The Libertarian Mind with David Boaz
Libertarianismthe philosophy of personal and economic freedomhas deep roots in Western civilization and in American history, and it #39;s growing stronger. Two long wars, chronic deficits,...

By: Libertarianism.org

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A Short Introduction to Libertarianism: The Libertarian Mind with David Boaz - Video

Excursions, Ep. 28: Neoconservatism Versus Libertarianism, Part 1
George H. Smith begins his series on neoconservatism by exploring some of its fundamental differences with libertarianism. Read this essay: http://bit.ly/1K7...

By: Libertarianism.org

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Excursions, Ep. 28: Neoconservatism Versus Libertarianism, Part 1 - Video

A Left-Libertarianism I Dont Recognize
Intro/Outro by Jeff Riggenbach Written by Jeff Ricketson Read by Tony Dreher Edited by Nick Ford Online article: http://c4ss.org/content/29301 Excerpt: "In f...

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A Left-Libertarianism I Dont Recognize - Video

Im delighted to announce that my new book, The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom, goes on sale today. Published by Simon & Schuster, it should be available at all fine bookstores and online book services.

Ive tried to write a book for several audiences: for libertarians who want to deepen their understanding of libertarian ideas; for people who want to give friends and family a comprehensive but readable introduction; and for the millions of Americanswho hold fiscally responsible, socially tolerant views and are looking for a political perspective that makes sense.

The Libertarian Mind covers the intellectual history of classical liberal and libertarian ideas, along with such key themes as individualism, individual rights, pluralism, spontaneous order, law, civil society, and the market process. Theres a chapter of applied public choice (What Big Government Is All About), and a chapter on contemporary policy issues. I write about restoring economic growth, inequality, poverty, health care, entitlements, education, the environment, foreign policy, and civil liberties, along with such current hot topics aslibertarian views of Bush and Obama; Americas libertarian heritage as described by leading political scientists; American distrust of government; overcriminalization; and cronyism, lobbying, the parasite economy, and the wealth of Washington.

The publisher is delighted to have this blurb from Senator Rand Paul:

They say the libertarian moment has arrived. If you want to understand and be part of that moment, read David Boazs The Libertarian Mind where youll be drawn into the eternal struggle of liberty vs. power, where youll learn that libertarianism presumes that you were born free and not a subject of the state. The Libertarian Mind belongs on every freedom-lovers bookshelf.

I am just as happy to have high praise from legal scholar Richard Epstein:

In an age in which the end of big government is used by politicians as a pretext for bigger, and worse, government, it is refreshing to find a readable and informative account of the basic principles of libertarian thought written by someone steeped in all aspects of the tradition. David Boazs Libertarian Mind unites history, philosophy, economics and lawspiced with just the right anecdotesto bring alive a vital tradition of American political thought that deserves to be honored today in deed as well as in word.

Find more endorsements here from such distinguished folks as Nobel laureate Vernon Smith, John Stossel, Peter Thiel, P. J. ORourke, Whole Foods founder John Mackey, and author Jonathan Rauch. And please: buy the book. Thenlike it on Facebook, retweet it fromhttps://twitter.com/David_Boaz, blog it, buy more copies for your friends.

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The Libertarian Mind Now Available

City Police Commissioner A.B. Venkateswara Rao on Sunday advised students to understand various philosophies and study libertarianism that helped develop society.

He was addressing a workshop on Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship organised by the Department of Business Management, V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College, in association with the Language of Liberty Institute, USA.

Self-philosophy

He said students should develop self-philosophy to gain clarity in personal and professional lives.

College convenor M. Rajaiah observed that the difference between developing and developed nations was the concept of free market reforms.

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Students told to study libertarianism