Political Theory

Michael Rozeff explains ways in which power comes to work its evil. A ruler is never as careful with public money as with his own.

Recorded at Mises University 2005.

The guiding motif of what we might call the "old American Right" was a deep and passionate commitment to individual liberty, and to the belief that this liberty, in the personal and the economic spheres, was gravely menaced by the growth and power of the Leviathan state, at home and abroad.

Block says he was a pinko commie type at 22 who believed that laissez-faire capitalism would result in mass starvation. Then, he met Ayn Rand and read Atlas Shrugged and Economics in One Lesson. Block says libertarianism is the non-aggression principle. Keep your mitts to yourself.

There are many enemies of a free society. Some, like Ronald Coase, call themselves libertarians or free enterprisers. Block’s main critique of Coase is that Ronald Coase denies any private property rights. Coase deals with externalities through taxes only, but not with property rights at all.

Block continues to parse all of the cases of libertarianism found in his book, Defending the Undefendable. Privatization solves the tragedy of the commons scenarios. Rent control resulted in nobody building residential units.

Free trade is "I give you something; you give me something in return". Trade rights are part of property rights. Nosick calls trade a capitalist act between consenting adults. If you trade, you won't fight. It becomes harder to have wars. Trade benefits all parties.

Environmentalism sees market failure as the cause of environmental problems. Block sees the absence of private property rights and the interference of government as the causes of problems. Libertarianism provides solutions. Man is not a cancer on the planet. Markets have not failed.

Lew Rockwell writes on how to square universal rights with radical decentralism in politics and globalization in economics.

Hans-Hermann Hoppe A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism Acrobat 3.0 Import Plug-in