Libertarianism Archives

OPINION: Why the French Revolution Was Not a Libertarian Revolution

August 24, 2026 Ryan McMaken

A common misconception about the French Revolution is that it was some sort of classical liberal or libertarian revolution. That is, some still claim that the revolution was, for all its flaws, in “the spirit” of what is historically known as liberalism. This flawed interpretation of the revolution persists for two reasons. One is used … Read more

A Foundation for Libertarian Ethics

April 13, 2025 David Gordon

In this week’s column, I’d like to discuss an important contribution to libertarian theory by the philosophers Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl in their book, Norms of Liberty (2005). This book has meant a lot to me over the years, and I read the manuscript before publication. The book is a sustained attempt to solve what … Read more

Orwellian Libertarianism…

December 3, 2024 David Gordon

Walter Block asks us to consider the following case: Suppose someone is shooting at you. He has two babies strapped in front of his body. He is clearly an aggressor and, of course, you have the legal right to shoot back in self-defense. The moral and ethical considerations as to whether you ought to shoot … Read more

Tucker Carlson is Not Entirely Wrong About “Libertarian Economics”

December 23, 2023 Op-Ed

Tucker Carlson, who recently announced his own new media network, has been making the podcast rounds, talking to hosts of a variety of different ideological backgrounds.

Libertarianism is the widely reviled idea that we should use reason and persuasion to accomplish our distributive aims.

May 1, 2019April 30, 2019 Skip

Libertarianism is the widely reviled idea that we should use reason and persuasion to accomplish our distributive aims. Only reason and persuasion. According to the libertarian, it is wrong to utilize threats of violence in the form of state-sponsored coercion, however sublimated by bureaucratic routine, in order to redistribute property that we have an antecedent claim to. … Read more

Conservative v Libertarian or Libertarian Class A v Libertarian Class B?

September 26, 2018December 29, 2012

I never formally placed libertarians into two classes. However, I did recognize a difference but considered one as libertarian and the other as conservative, conservative in the Anglo-American sense: conserving American’s independence, the recognition of unalienable individual rights coming not from man but beyond, and the freedom from tyranny in every form. Doing so because it’s right, and not doing so is a violation of nature, virtue, and morals. I looked at libertarianism as more of a technical means to getting to this conservative moral ground. So, as is usually the case when I read something from Robert Higgs, I’m forced to reconsider my understanding. Higgs’ essay, “Freedom: Because It Works or Because It’s Right?” discusses “…two broad classes…” of libertarians, “Consequentialists versus deontologists”.

Libertarians divide into two broad classes: those who espouse a free society because it gives better results than an unfree society, and those who espouse a free society because they believe that it is wrong to deny or suppress a person’s right to be free (unless, of course, that person is suppressing the equal right of others to be free). “Consequentialists versus deontologists” is the oft-encountered labeling of this difference. It is unfortunate that so much energy has been devoted to infighting between these two groups.

im41 has some rules for Bloggers to defeat Libs

September 26, 2018December 15, 2012 Skip

He asked a number of bloggers what they believe the “rules” are to help recover what happened in November and in the culture in general. Here are a few of them:

Of course: Andrew Breitbart: War!

Atlas Shrugs: A complete reevaluation of the opposition strategy is needed. The Republicans have failed. The Republican Party has failed…..

Moonbattery: Be relentless. Liberalism is like rust; it never stops corroding every aspect of society. That’s we why can never stop fighting it…

(It’s BigFurHat) – There is no denying that American culture is on the decline. Most people. left and right, agree. Where we split politically is which way the finger of blame points. I think it’s important to be able to lay all societal ills at the feet of progressivism, where it rightly belongs…

(Zilla of the Resistance) – Don’t be afraid. Just tell the truth as you know it to be, because if you are thinking it the odds are that someone else is also thinking it and wishing someone would say it, so say it…

Tim will love this one: