World History

In The Foundations of Leninism, Stalin declared "For the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, we must have the efforts of the proletarians of several advanced countries." What he secured instead was the slavish devotion of Western intellectuals who claimed to represent the proletariat: left intellectuals. With some exceptions, these apologists either ignored or adamantly denied the atrocities of Stalinism. In doing so, they became accomplices to the bloodbath that was Soviet communism; that is, Marxism as popularized by Lenin.

In the last several decades, step by step, the system has become Diocletianized.

The last turn-of-the-century gave birth to Progressivism which was really statism in disguise. But after a century of the state, freedom still stands a chance. 

Finally, at the end of the century, a group of French intellectuals tell the truth about the horrifying crimes of communism. 

In the course of a largely appreciative review of Murray Rothbard's An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, David Prychitko, who has long positioned himself as an anti-Rothbardian, makes a few mistakes worthy of attention. 

This is not a bad book, but almost every major thesis in it is wrong or unproved. According to our author, human society depends to a large extent on "social capital." 

Thank goodness this bloody century, the era of communism, national socialism, fascism, and central planning-in short, the century of government worship-is coming to an end. May we use the occasion to re-pledge our allegiance to human freedom, which is the basis of prosperity and civilization itself, and to repudiate every ideological force that opposes it.

The free economy has liberated the human spirit to produce a level of prosperity unknown in the history of the world. (Opinion column by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.)

The most conspicious and odious symbol of socialist tyranny came down ten years ago. (Reflections by Tibor R. Machan)

This year marks the 250th birthday of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the greatest of all German writers and poets and one of the giants of world literature. In his political outlook, he was also a thorough-going classical liberal, arguing that free trade and free cultural exchange are the keys to authentic national and international integration. He argued and fought against the expansion, centralization, and unification of government on grounds that these trends can only hinder prosperity and true cultural development