The Rothbard-Paul Message

Introduction

Earlier this year, when asked in an interview about his views on anarchism, Ron Paul expressed that he believed anarchism to be a good idea.

To some young libertarians in the liberty movement, this might come as a total shock after all, wasnt Ron Paul a constitutionalist and a former member of congress? But to those who understand the true origins of the Ron Paul Revolution, and in particular the influences of Ron Paul himself, such remarks should come as no surprise.

First, Ron Paul was a close ideological ally of Murray N. Rothbard, the renowned Austrian economist, historian, and political theorist. Murray Rothbard, the author of twenty five books and literally thousands of articles, is considered by many as one of the most important and prolific libertarian scholars in history. Furthermore, grounding his libertarianism in natural law theory, Rothbard came to the conclusion that government, even if limited in size, represents an intolerable moral evil. The State, Rothbard would argue, violates the natural law by merely existing, seeing as even basic state activities, such as national defense, must be funded though theft, i.e., through compulsory taxation.

Of course, while Paul has certainly not embraced the anarcho-capitalist vision of a stateless society, Murray Rothbard has had a profound impact on Ron Paul, who admired Rothbards writings tremendously. According toRon Paul:

It would be difficult to exaggerate Professor Murray N. Rothbards influence on the movement for freedom and free markets. He is the living giant of Austrian economics, and he has led the now-formidable movement ever since the death of his great teacher, Ludwig von Mises, in 1971. We are all indebted to him for the living link he has provided to Mises, upon whose work he has built and expanded.

Furthermore, Ron Paul not only recognized the important contributions set forth by Murray Rothbard, but also declared that Rothbard was an essential figure in his conversion to Austrian Economics and Libertarianism. He writes:

Years before I ever thought of running for Congress, I came across Rothbards Americas Great Depression. Before reading it, my thinking was clouded by the temptation to divide these issues and ideas in partisan terms. Rothbard fixed that. Americas Great Depression was a key book in my conversion to pure free-market, libertarian thinking. The confidence I gained with ammunition supplied by Rothbard encouraged my entry into politics, since I needed the reassurance that my intuitive allegiance to liberty was shared by great thinkers. Rothbard taught me to always keep the distinction between peaceful market activity and State coercion in my mind. It served as a constant guide once I was in office.

1. Natural Law

One clear example of Pauls Rothbardian roots, then, can be illustrated by his opposition to the income tax on the ground that it is a form of involuntary servitude. When Ron Paul claims that the income tax is theft, moreover, his opposition is not grounded in a cost-benefit analysis, i.e., that the costs outweigh the benefits. On the contrary, he understands it to be a moral issue above anything else. The income tax should not be abolished because it is fiscally irresponsible, whatever that means, but because it is a form of morally reprehensible robbery.

Read the rest here:
The Rothbard-Paul Message