The Rise and Fall of Society

by Frank Chodorov

Frank Chodorov adored the work of Albert Jay Nock, particularly Nock's writings on the State. And so Chodorov set out to do something implausible: to rework the Nock book in his own style.
Rothbard wrote of this book: "Frank's final flowering was his last ideological testament, the brilliantly written The Rise and Fall of Society, published in 1959, at the age of 72."

One reason it was overlooked is that it appeared after the takeover of the American right by statists and warmongers. The Old Right, of which Chodorov was a last survivor, had died out, so there was no one to promote this work. It is amazing that it was published at all. But thank goodness it was!

The book is short (194 pages) but pithy and enormously powerful. Indeed, for a book so overlooked, the reader will be surprised to find that it might be Chodorov's best work overall. Certainly it is suitable for classroom use, or as a primer on economics and society. Insight abounds herein.

Genres: Politics, History, Economics, Nonfiction, Philosophy

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is without a doubt, and by considerable margin, the finest text I have ever read on the nature of human beings, politics, and economics. Loaded with lean wisdom and simple truth, this should be required reading as early as secondary school. Which, clearly, is why it isn't.

For those interested in economics and politics, it's a no-brainer to read this classic. For others, it will probably read drily, but you will definitely learn a lot, so if you aspire to that, the destination is well worth the journey.

[Ned · Rating 5 out of 5]

Producer v. Predator, choose a side.

"Man, the producer, must have freedom, while man, the predator, puts limitations on freedom, and this inner dichotomy is the plot of his life story."

The preceding quote strikes me as key, and a good summary of the book.

[Zachary Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rise and Fall of Society is a short book arranged into easily manageable chapters of around ten pages apiece but it nevertheless gives a strong exposition of the libertarian viewpoint and the individualist view of human life. His early sections on economics are solid but will not give much new information to the reader familiar with free market economics. The latter half of the book dealing with the relations between society and the state features more original and stronger material.

[Gerardo Caprav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sin llegar a ser un libro disruptivo, tiene un lenguaje y conceptos muy interesantes, que tiene claras influencias del de El Estado de Franz Oppenheimer y Nuestro Enemigo el Estado de Albert J.Nock, una pluma de la vieja old right americana poco conocida hoy en día.

[Daniel Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

If someone were to read this along with The Mainspring of Human Action & The Income Tax: Root of All Evil, they would have a very good foundation for understanding basic economics and how they apply to sociopolitical institutions. This is a really great book!

[Christoffer Skuthälla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!