For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto

by Murray N. Rothbard

A classic that for over two decades has been hailed as the best general work on libertarianism available. Rothbard begins with a quick overview of its historical roots, and then goes on to define libertarianism as resting "upon one single axiom: that no man or group of men shall aggress upon the person or property of anyone else." He writes a withering critique of the chief violator of liberty: the State. Rothbard then provides penetrating libertarian solutions for many of today's most pressing problems, including poverty, war, threats to civil liberties, the education crisis, and more.

Genres: Politics, Economics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Political Science, Society

338 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Murray Newton Rothbard was an influential American historian, natural law theorist and economist of the Austrian School who helped define modern libertarianism. Rothbard took the Austrian School's emphasis on spontaneous order and condemnation of central planning to an individualist anarchist conclusion, which he termed "anarcho-capitalism".

In the 1970s, he assisted Charles Koch and Ed Crane to found the Cato Institute as libertarian think tank.

Reviews

[Johhny Appleseed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The level of radical thought in this book is so exciting, I literally read all 419 pages in a personal record of 5 days. In the book, Rothbard hones in all the pieces connecting the modern Libertarian movement (as of 1972 when the book was first published at least) and the most striking thing was the consistency of the logic. It's solid. That's not to say that it shouldn't open to scrutiny, but that's precisely what Rothbard expects, and it gets me eager to catch up on the 35+ years of scholarship that's followed his manifesto, as well as specific predecessors that he used as examples.

The most important and most amazing parts of his book are how he explains most of the aggression and economic woes that we're experiencing today. It's not that he's a magician with a window into the future. It's that he understands the ultimate unattainable utopianism of supporters of stateism. From government bailouts to war quagmires like Iraq and Afghanistan, Rothbard not only predicts them, but explains why they are occurring, and the inevitable failure that can come from them, because it's the only logical conclusion.

The concepts espoused in For a New Liberty are gathered and encapsulated in virtual perfection by Rothbard, to expose a new generation of the world that could be. It is so fierce, unapologetic and unrelenting in its logic, that this book, more than any I've ever read, makes me want to hold it as tight to my breast as possible, while raising my other arm and proclaiming Vive La Liberte!

[Foppe · Rating 1 out of 5]

A facile argument that attempts to borrow authority from Locke and the natural rights tradition.
Interestingly, what is wrong about this book is fairly easily summarized. On p.38, he quotes from one of Locke's treatises on government:

. . . every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever, then, he removes out of the state that nature hath provided and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with it, and joined it to something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property. It being by him removed from the common state nature placed it in, it hath by this labour something annexed to it that excludes the common right of other men. For this labour being the unquestionable property of the labourer, no man but he can have a right to what that is once joined to.

Now, what is interesting is not that he is quoting Locke (or the natural rights tradition, flawed as it is, more generally), or what he is quoting from Locke, but rather what Rothbard is omitting. Consider the full paragraph, which runs as follows:

Though the earth, and all inferior creatures, be common to all men, yet every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever, then, he removes out of the state that nature hath provided and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with it, and joined it to something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property. It being by him removed from the common state nature placed it in, it hath by this labour something annexed to it that excludes the common right of other men. For this labour being the unquestionable property of the labourer, no man but he can have a right to what that is once joined to, at least where there is enough, and as good, left in common for others.

See what is left out? It is basically because of this omission that Rothbard can make his case at all (ignoring the fact that the rest of the book is filled to the brim with false dichotomies and other kinds of sloppy argumentation). Because most if not all of the rest of his argument rests on the twin assumptions that a. a society is just only if there exist private property rights, and b. these rights are necessarily absolute, which these omissions -- concerning the absolute nature of this status, and property rights as an organizing principle more generally -- are explicitly meant as checks against.

[Gary · Rating 1 out of 5]

a truly evil man who believed parents should have the right to starve their children and a 'free trade in children''! Libertarians bug the crap out of me with their self-righteousness when they actually totally amoral. And I am NOT a woke lefty!

[Jakub Maly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words like liberal, conservative, left and right were twisted, distorted and deformed in such a manner that their meaning is kind of lost. Rothbard explains the values of libertarianism - so in this book you will find not only Rothbard's views on money, banking, FED and gold standard - which are leading topics of the majority of his work - but also on many other fields of the organization of a human society.



Rothbard defends liberty, property rights and gives a thorough description of functioning of a society built upon few simple principles.



This kind of an "axiomatic" way is innovative and refreshing compared to that of main stream politicians, whose claims and policies contradict the common sense and sometimes even themselves.



The book can be downloaded for free at Ludvig von Mises Institute's website (www.mises.org) in PDF and also as audiobook in MP3 - I strongly recommend reading it to everyone.

[Clinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

For A New Liberty systematically exemplifies the philosophical theory of libertarianism while categorically denouncing the destructive violent and coercive nature of government. The existence of government is preposterous given it is the only entity that enjoys the monopolistic legal use of violence and coercion and obtain revenue without voluntary exchange by some arbitrary decree. Rothbard brilliantly chronicles the nascent of libertarianism while in addition to explaining the philosophy of the libertarian creed in establishing free markets, personal liberty and property rights, yet government intervention continually disrupts voluntary action and exchange thus acting as a combative to individualism. All societal problems originate from government intervention, so Rothbard applies the libertarian creed as a remedy.
The American Revolution sparked the greatest event to libertarianism but commenced by the French and English Revolutionaries before it. The fundamental axiom to the libertarian creed is “that no man or group of men may aggress against the person or property of anyone else.” The non aggression axiom is naturally amended to property rights for individual ownership. The most important aspect of the market economy is voluntary exchange for mutual benefit; thus, any exchange not agreed upon by means of violence or coercion violates the libertarian creed, so the state is the eternally superior and most organized aggressor of all persons and property. It's rulers and operators are held above moral law where criminal activity is cloaked by rhetoric. For centuries murder has been called war, and slavery has been called conscription, and theft has been called taxation.
Every problem of society inscribes the failure of government, for every application of the libertarian creed would bring increased social and economic cooperation, and each solution is as important as the next, but there were some standouts. The chapter on inflation and the business cycle is the crowning jewel of the book, for without the power to inflate the money supply, government is powerless if expenditures are not expanding particularly by war. Honorable mention goes to the chapters on war and foreign policy along with police protection, the law and courts.
For A New Liberty naturally stimulates discussion for the prospect of absolute freedom and the abolition of government. Rothbard unequivocally postulates logical and rational arguments supplemented by an plethora of examples. For A New Liberty describes an alternative means how individuals could interact in an completely non aggression society. Lastly, Rothbard was known as the "State’s Greatest Living Enemy,” for this manifesto leaves no doubt as to why.

[Scott Templeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had been debating a foray into this book for a while, as I have saturated myself thoroughly with Libertarian reading the past few years and really wondered if I wasn't going to just rehash ideas I am well familiar with. That being said I was floored by this book. While I was certainly part of the choir being preached to, Rothbard has an incredible ability to make you reanalyze seemingly mundane standards and precedents and recognize now-glaring inconsistencies in logic/philosophy. His rhetoric is among the best I have read in recent times, and his arguments all come packed with preemptive counterarguments and relevant history. Rothbard is extremely unique, and indeed prophetic in many elements highlighting the issues in this country. One could read through this book and disagree with his entire philosophy the whole way, but if you didn't learn anything that made you question the value of the status quo, you didn't actually read it (particularly when you note the further decline since the writing of this book and his key criticisms of the US's direction). While this book is often recommended as a first step in exploring Libertarian philosophy, I would recommend reading some of the previous thought leaders & economists and then reaching this book (as I did). You will appreciate just how unique it shines from others, while admiring how it synthesizes the key elements that bind a highly diverse political philosophy

[Void lon iXaarii · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I was familiar with some of the libertarian views before starting the book, I had doubts about the feasibility of others... doubts which this book managed to address, and much more than that. The author describes in a rigorous and logical way a world which is even more amazing than I could imagine. I was very very impressed by this book. I also liked that the focus was not on complaining on how twisted our present state is, but on presenting the solution... and a fantastic one at that. One of individual freedom, social peace and prosperity.

I must admit I'm often tempted to the more utilitarian side of the argument, but I can't help but wholly admire and be drawn to the authors more principled view, who puts freedom and right of personal ownership way above any other social principles... and yet manages to prove that a world like that would be beneficial to us all and not the anarchic dangerous wild west that many imagine. We need more people like this!

For myself I must admit I often am amazed at how blessed we are to be living in a world in which the utilitarian and principled/moral views lead to the same optimal solution. It didn't have to be like that (and indeed many tragedies in history have been caused by reasonable hypothesizing that it isn't)... and yet it is! What an amazing world we live in!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a MUST-READ! This book explains the only way to have a TRULY free society without the contradictions and hypocrisy of both the right and the left. I've said for years that the only real difference between the Republicans and Democrats is WHICH big corporations they are in bed with and WHICH of our liberties they want to strip from us. This book details the reasons for this.
The book was written in the late '70's, so some of the examples area dated, but the concepts still hold true. The only real problem was his prediction that T.V. would become better once we had choices in channels. . .

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical Libertarian manifesto. Though in the solutions sections he never really did tell us how libertarians will take over the government and make it into what he thinks government should be.

A couple of problems with some of his more interesting proposals.

The police officers and the streets would be a disaster if people were allowed to each own their own street and their own police and their own courts and their own bridges...I'm a republican and happy that we have government to handle things like that. I don't think it's plausible.

Another problem I have with libertarian doctrine is that he says the poor are poor because they are forced by the gov't to be poor. While many of the social programs do do this, that's not the ONLY reason that they are poor. In a libertarian society, the poor wouldn't be able to own their own houses either. That's why they are poor!!!!!!! They don't have any money for a reason!!! God forbid Gov't tries to help them out.

The society proposed in this book would be highly unpredictable and unsustainable. He says that communism is way different than libertarians and that only communism is impossible. Yet, he doesn't see that a libertarian society, a different utopian society, is as impossible as communism.

That being the case, I gave him two stars for effort, because most libertarians couldn't even imagine their own ideal society and do in fact often confuse it with communism.

[María Álvarez Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro es bastante introductorio. Hay muchas pegas que se le pueden poner a ciertos aspectos (aborto, coeficiente del 100%, etc). Sin embargo, es una buena guía para gente que se introduzca en el tema del libertarismo.

Lo que más me ha impactado es la dura crítica que dirige Rothbard a EEUU sobre su política exterior expansionista (a la que él denomina explícitamente “imperialista”) y el halago que dirige a la política exterior de Stalin, no expansionista. Casi parece que habla bien de él, me ha hecho verle con (medio) buenos ojos por primera vez en mi vida jajajajjajaja. Intuyo que ese será el capítulo que más crispe a los yankees.

Hay un error que lleva a confusión en esta traducción. No recuerdo en qué página es exactamente, pero en el capítulo sobre medioambiente (13, si no me equivoco), la traducción dice explícitamente que puede haber propiedad sobre el aire. Sin embargo, en la versión en inglés queda más claro que lo que dice Rothbard es que se puede tener propiedad sobre tus pulmones y de ahí que la contaminación aérea sea un daño punible, pero NO dice que se pueda poseer el aire.

[Christopher Hudson Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot more enjoyable than I was expecting. There’s definitely parts that sound dated / don’t age very well. But in many places Rothbard manages to come across both more radical and more nuanced than many of his libertarian contemporaries at the time.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is mind-blowing. It’s like reading something completely, refreshingly new and yet innately familiar and comfortable. Rothbard is an expansively knowledgeable historian, a clear and concise economist, and a hopeful yet practical political philosopher. As I read, I was conflicted because half of me wanted to read slowly and savor each page, but the other half wanted to rush through and devour all the exciting information. This is one of those rare books you come across that just might change your life, or at least the way you think about it.

Quotes:

“The book is still regarded as dangerous precisely because, once the exposure to Rothbardianism takes place, no other book on politics, economics, or sociology can be read the same way again.” Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

The new federal government formed by the Articles of Confederation was not permitted to levy any taxes upon the public; and any fundamental extension of its powers required unanimous consent by every state government.

America, above all countries, was born in an explicitly libertarian revolution, a revolution against empire; against taxation, trade monopoly, and regulation; and against militarism and executive power.

Socialism was a confused and hybrid movement because it tried to achieve the liberal goals of freedom, peace, and industrial harmony and growth—goals which can only be achieved through liberty and the separation of government from virtually everything—by imposing the old conservative means of statism, collectivism, and hierarchical privilege. It was a movement which could only fail, which indeed did fail miserably in those numerous countries where it attained power in the twentieth century, by bringing to the masses only unprecedented despotism, starvation, and grinding impoverishment.

Whatever services the government actually performs could be supplied far more efficiently and far more morally by private and cooperative enterprise.

The task of the court intellectuals who have always supported the State has ever been to weave mystification in order to induce the public to accept State rule, and that these intellectuals obtain, in return, a share in the power and pelf extracted by the rulers from their deluded subjects.

Either the land belongs to the first user, the man who first brings it into production; or it belongs to a group of others; or it belongs to the world as a whole, with every individual owning a quotal part of every acre of land.

There is no existing entity called “society”; there are only interacting individuals.

Service to the State is supposed to excuse all actions that would be considered immoral or criminal if committed by “private” citizens.

Only the government, in society, is empowered to aggress against the property rights of its subjects, whether to extract revenue, to impose its moral code, or to kill those with whom it disagrees.

The government does not in any accurate sense “represent” the majority of the people, but even if it did, even if 90 percent of the people decided to murder or enslave the other 10 percent, this would still be murder and slavery, and would not be voluntary suicide or enslavement on the part of the oppressed minority.

There is nothing sacrosanct about the majority; the lynch mob, too, is the majority in its own domain.

Since the early origins of the State, its rulers have always turned, as a necessary bolster to their rule, to an alliance with society’s class of intellectuals.

In the modern era, when theocratic arguments have lost much of their luster among the public, the intellectuals have posed as the scientific cadre of “experts” and have been busy informing the hapless public that political affairs, foreign and domestic, are much too complex for the average person to bother his head about.

A thief who presumed to justify his theft by saying that he was really helping his victims by his spending, thus giving retail trade a needed boost, would be hooted down without delay. But when this same theory is clothed in Keynesian mathematical equations and impressive references to the “multiplier effect,” it carries far more conviction with a bamboozled public.

In a profound sense, the idea of binding down power with the chains of a written constitution has proved to be a noble experiment that failed.

The earliest compulsory schooling in America was established by the Calvinist Puritans in Massachusetts Bay, those men who were so eager to plant an absolutist Calvinist theocracy in the New World.

Thus, from the beginning of American history, the desire to mould, instruct, and render obedient the mass of the population was the major impetus behind the drive toward public schooling.

Having no need to make profits and sheltered from the possibility of suffering losses, the bureaucrat can and does disregard the desires and demands of his consumer-customers.

The “right” to schooling, to a job, three meals, etc., is then not embedded in the nature of man, but requires for its fulfillment the existence of a group of exploited people who are coerced into providing such a “right.”

There is in fact increasing evidence that a vast amount of current schooling is not needed for productive employment.

How much of the burgeoning of mass public schooling is a means by which employers foist the cost of training their workers upon the taxpayers at large?

If there seems to be a shortage of supply to meet an evident demand, then look to government as the cause of the problem.

It is the rich who provide a proportionately greater amount of saving, investment capital, entrepreneurial foresight, and financing of technological innovation that has brought the United States to by far the highest standard of living—for the mass of the people—of any country in history. Soaking the rich would not only be profoundly immoral, it would drastically penalize the very virtues: thrift, business foresight, and investment, that have brought about our remarkable standard of living.

Surely it is no accident that the current renaissance of Austrian economics has coincided with the phenomenon of stagflation and its consequent shattering of the Keynesian paradigm for all to see.

For now the rulers of the State can simply create their own money and spend it or lend it out to their favorite allies.

Just as the State arrogates to itself a monopoly power over legalized kidnapping and calls it conscription; just as it has acquired a monopoly over legalized robbery and calls it taxation; so, too, it has acquired the monopoly power to counterfeit and calls it increasing the supply of dollars

After a great deal of economic finagling and political arm-twisting to induce foreign governments not to exercise their right to redeem dollars in gold, the United States, in August 1971, declared national bankruptcy by repudiating its solemn contractual obligations and “closing the gold window.” It is no coincidence that this tossing off of the last vestige of gold restraint upon the governments of the world was followed by the double-digit inflation of 1973–1974, and by similar inflation in the rest of the world.

So identified has the State become in the public mind with the provision of these services that an attack on State financing appears to many people as an attack on the service itself.

There is no profit-and-loss mechanism in government to induce investment in efficient operations and to penalize and drive the inefficient or obsolete ones out of business. There are no profits or losses in government operations inducing either expansion or contraction of operations.

The railroads had to consolidate; and in 1883 they agreed to consolidate the existing 54 time zones across the country into the four which we have today.

The highways grant gross subsidies to the users and have played the major role in killing railroads as a viable enterprise.

Being voluntary, furthermore, the rules of arbitration can be decided rapidly by the parties themselves, without the need for a ponderous, complex legal framework applicable to all citizens.

For a thousand years, then, ancient Celtic Ireland had no State or anything like it. As the leading authority on ancient Irish law has written: “There was no legislature, no bailiffs, no police, no public enforcement of justice. ... There was no trace of State-administered justice.”

At best there are only two parties, each one close to the other in ideology and personnel, often colluding, and the actual day-to-day business of government headed by a civil service bureaucracy that cannot be displaced by the voters. Contrast to these mythical checks and balances the real checks and balances provided by the free-market economy!

Guerrilla warfare has proved to be an irresistible force precisely because it stems, not from a dictatorial central government, but from the people themselves, fighting for their liberty and independence against a foreign State.

In Europe, where private ownership of forests is far more common, there is little complaint of destruction of timber resources. For wherever private property is allowed in the forest itself, it is to the benefit of the owner to preserve and restore tree growth while he is cutting timber, so as to avoid depletion of the forest’s capital value.

With respect to the ocean, however, we are still in the primitive, unproductive hunting and gathering stage. Anyone can capture fish in the ocean, or extract its resources, but only on the run, only as hunters and gatherers. No one can farm the ocean, no one can engage in aquaculture. In this way we are deprived of the use of the immense fish and mineral resources of the seas… If private property in parts of the ocean were permitted, a vast flowering of aquaculture would create and multiply ocean resources in numerous ways we cannot now even foresee.

The argument that such an injunctive prohibition against pollution would add to the costs of industrial production is as reprehensible as the pre-Civil War argument that the abolition of slavery would add to the costs of growing cotton, and that therefore abolition, however morally correct, was “impractical.”

In the field of strategic thinking, it behooves libertarians to heed the lessons of the Marxists, because they have been thinking about strategy for radical social change longer than any other group.

The idea of a strictly limited constitutional State was a noble experiment that failed, even under the most favorable and propitious circumstances. If it failed then, why should a similar experiment fare any better now? No, it is the conservative laissez-fairist, the man who puts all the guns and all the decision-making power into the hands of the central government and then says, “Limit yourself”; it is he who is truly the impractical utopian.

Ever since the acceleration of statism at the turn of the twentieth century, big businessmen have been using the great powers of State contracts, subsidies and cartelization to carve out privileges for themselves at the expense of the rest of the society.

Only liberty can achieve man’s prosperity, fulfillment, and happiness. In short, libertarianism will win because it is true, because it is the correct policy for mankind, and truth will eventually win out.

Lord Keynes once scoffed at criticisms by free-market economists that his inflationist policies would be ruinous in the long run; in his famous reply, he chortled that “in the long run we are all dead.” But now Keynes is dead and we are alive, living in his long run. The statist chickens have come home to roost.

Libertarians are squarely in the great classical-liberal tradition that built the United States and bestowed on us the American heritage of individual liberty, a peaceful foreign policy, minimal government, and a free-market economy. Libertarians are the only genuine current heirs of Jefferson, Paine, Jackson, and the abolitionists.

All other theories and systems have clearly failed: socialism is in retreat everywhere, and notably in Eastern Europe; liberalism has bogged us down in a host of insoluble problems; conservatism has nothing to offer but sterile defense of the status quo. Liberty has never been fully tried in the modern world; libertarians now propose to fulfill the American dream and the world dream of liberty and prosperity for all mankind.

[Sean Rosenthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting Quotes:

"The libertarian insists that whether or not such practices are supported by the majority of
the population is not germane to their nature: that, regardless of popular sanction, War is Mass Murder, Conscription is Slavery, and Taxation is Robbery. The libertarian, in short, is almost completely the child in the fable, pointing out insistently that the emperor has no clothes . . . The libertarian therefore considers one of his prime educational tasks is to spread the demystification and desanctification of the State among its hapless subjects. His task is to demonstrate repeatedly and in depth that not only the emperor but even the 'democratic' State has no clothes; that all governments subsist by exploitive rule over the public; and that such rule is the reverse of objective necessity."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Take, for example, the liberal socialist who advocates government ownership of all the 'means of production' while upholding the 'human' right of freedom of speech or press. How is this “human” right to be exercised if the individuals constituting the public are denied their right to ownership of property? If, for example, the government owns all the newsprint and all the printing shops, how is the right to a free press to be exercised? If the government owns all the newsprint, it then necessarily has the right and the power to allocate that newsprint, and someone’s 'right to a free press' becomes a mockery if the government decides not to allocate newsprint in his direction. And since the government must allocate scarce newsprint in some way, the right to a free press of, say, minorities or 'subversive' antisocialists will get short shrift indeed. The same is true for the 'right to free speech' if the government owns all the assembly halls, and therefore allocates those halls as it sees fit. Or, for example, if the government of Soviet Russia, being atheistic, decides not to allocate many scarce resources to the production of matzohs, for Orthodox Jews the 'freedom of religion' becomes a mockery; but again, the Soviet government can always rebut that Orthodox Jews are a small minority and that capital equipment should not be diverted to matzoh production . . .

"Property rights *are* human rights, and are essential to the human rights which liberals attempt to maintain. The human right of a free press depends upon the human right of private property in newsprint."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"It is true that, in the United States, at least, we have a constitution that imposes strict limits on some powers of government. But, as we have discovered in the past century, no constitution can interpret or enforce itself; it must be interpreted by men. And if the ultimate power to interpret a constitution is given to the government’s own Supreme Court, then the inevitable tendency is for the Court to continue to place its imprimatur on ever-broader powers for its own government"

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"The law of libel, of course, discriminates in this way against the poor, since a person with few financial resources is scarcely as ready to carry on a costly libel suit as a person of affluent means. Furthermore, wealthy people can now use the libel laws as a club against poorer persons, restricting perfectly legitimate charges and utterances under the threat of sueing their poorer enemies for libel. Paradoxically, then, a person of limited resources is more apt to suffer from libel—and to have his own speech restricted—in the present system than he would in a world without any laws against libel or defamation."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Every station is grievously restricted, and forced to fashion its programming to the dictates of the Federal Communications Commission. So every station must have 'balanced' programming, broadcast a certain amount of “public service” announcements, grant equal time to every political candidate for the same office and to expressions of political opinion, censor 'controversial' lyrics in the records it plays, etc. For many years, no station was allowed to broadcast any editorial opinion at all; now, every opinion must be balanced by 'responsible' editorial rebuttals . . .

"The public has only put up with this situation because it has existed since the beginning of large-scale commercial radio. But what would we think, for example, if all newspapers were licensed, the licenses to be renewable by a Federal Press Commission, and with newspapers losing their licenses if they dare express an 'unfair' editorial opinion, or if they don’t give full weight to public service announcements? Would not this be an intolerable, not to say unconstitutional, destruction of the right to a free press? Or consider if all book publishers had to be licensed, and their licenses were not renewable if their book lists failed to suit a Federal Book Commission? Yet what we would all consider intolerable and totalitarian for the press and the book publishers is taken for granted in a medium which is now the most popular vehicle for expression and education: radio and television. Yet the principles in both cases are exactly the same."


-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

[Note: The Supreme Court upheld the fairness doctrine in 1969, but it was administratively repealed in 1987 and is no longer in effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness...]

---------------------------------------------------------------

"The irony, of course, is that by forcing men to be 'moral'—i.e., to act morally—the conservative or liberal jailkeepers would in reality deprive men of the very possibility of being moral. The concept of 'morality' makes no sense unless the moral act is freely chosen. Suppose, for example, that someone is a devout Muslim who is anxious to have as many people as possible bow to Mecca three times a day; to him let us suppose this is the highest moral act. But if he wields coercion to force everyone to bow to Mecca, he is thereby depriving everyone of the opportunity to be moral—to choose freely to bow to Mecca. Coercion deprives a man of the freedom to choose and, therefore, of the possibility of choosing morally. The libertarian, in contrast to so many conservatives and liberals, does not want to place man in any cage. What he wants for everyone is freedom, the freedom to act morally or immorally, as each man shall decide."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Violent acts such as rape, of course, are to be classed as crimes in the same way as any other act of violence against persons. Oddly enough, while voluntary sexual activities have often been rendered illegal and prosecuted by the State, accused rapists have been treated far more gently by the authorities than accused perpetrators of other forms of bodily assault. In many instances, in fact, the rape victim has been virtually treated as the guilty party by the law enforcement agencies—an attitude which is almost never taken toward victims of other crimes. Clearly, an impermissible sexual double standard has been at work . . .

"The double standard imposed by government can be remedied by removing rape as a special category of legal and judicial treatment, and of subsuming it under the general law of bodily assault. Whatever standards are used for judges’ instructions to the jury, or for the admissibility of evidence, should be applied similarly in all these cases."


-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"There is no right more personal, no freedom more precious, than for any woman to decide to have, or not to have, a baby, and it is totalitarian in the extreme for any government to presume to deny her that right."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"There are few laws more absurd and iniquitous than the laws against gambling. In the first place, the law, in its broadest sense, is clearly unenforceable. If every time Jim and Jack made a quiet bet on a football game, or on an election, or on virtually anything else, this were illegal, an enormous multimillion-man gestapo would be required to enforce such a law and to spy on everyone and ferret out every bet. Another large super-espionage force would then be needed to spy on the spies to make sure that they have not been bought off. Conservatives like to retort to such arguments—used against laws outlawing sexual practices, pornography, drugs, etc.—that the prohibition against murder is not fully enforceable either, but this is no argument for repeal of that law. This argument, however, ignores a crucial point: the mass of the public, making an instinctive libertarian distinction, abhors and condemns murder and does not engage in it; hence, the prohibition becomes broadly enforceable. But the mass of the public is not as convinced of the criminality of gambling, hence continues to engage in it, and the law—properly—becomes unenforceable."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"The most ambitious attempt by the public school partisans to maximize their control over the nation’s children came in Oregon during the early 1920s. The state of Oregon, unhappy even with allowing private schools certified by the state, passed a law on November 7,1922, outlawing private schools and compelling all children to attend public school. Here was the culmination of the educationists’ dream. At last, all children were to be forced into the 'democratizing' mould of uniform education by the state authorities. The law, happily, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1925 (Pierce v. Society of Sisters, June 1, 1925). The Supreme Court declared that 'the child is not the mere creature of the State,' and asserted that the Oregon law clashed with the 'fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose.'

"The public school fanatics never tried to go that far again. But it is instructive to realize what the forces were that attempted to outlaw all competing private education in the state of Oregon. For the spearheads of the law were not, as we might expect, liberal or progressive educators or intellectuals; the spearhead was the Ku Klux Klan, then strong in the northern states, which was eager to crush the Catholic parochial school system, and to force all Catholic and immigrant children into the neo-Protestantizing and 'Americanizing' force of the public school. The Klan, it is interesting to note, opined that such a law was necessary for the 'preservation of free institutions.' It is well to ponder that the much-vaunted 'progressive' and 'democratic' public school system had its most ardent supporters in the most bigoted byways of American life, among people anxious to stamp out diversity and variety in America."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"There is, in short, a break-even point of the price of a house beyond which a new family in a new house will more than pay for its children’s education in its property taxes. Families in homes below that cost level will not pay enough in property taxes to finance their children’s education and hence will throw a greater tax burden on the existing population of the suburb. Realizing this, suburbs have generally adopted rigorous zoning laws which prohibit the erection of housing below a minimum cost level—and thereby freeze out any inflow of poorer citizens. Since the proportion of Negro poor is far greater than white poor, this effectively also bars Negroes from joining the move to the suburbs. And since in recent years there has been an increasing shift of jobs and industry from the central city to the suburbs as well, the result is an increasing pressure of unemployment on the Negroes—a pressure which is bound to intensify as the job shift accelerates. The abolition of the public schools, and therefore of the school burden–property tax linkage, would go a long way toward removing zoning restrictions and ending the suburb as an upper middle-class-white preserve."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"New York City, for example, has suffered periodically from a water 'shortage.' Here is a situation where, for many years, the city government has had a compulsory monopoly of the supply of water to its citizens. Failing to supply enough water, and failing to price that water in such a way as to clear the market, to equate supply and demand (which private enterprise does automatically), New York’s response to water shortages has always been to blame not itself, but the consumer, whose sin has been to use 'too much' water. The city administration could only react by outlawing the sprinkling of lawns, restricting use of water, and demanding that people drink less water. In this way, government transfers its own failings to the scapegoat user, who is threatened and bludgeoned instead of being served well and efficiently . . .

"In short, while the long-held motto of private enterprise is that 'the customer is always right,' the implicit maxim of government operation is that the customer is always to be blamed."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"In England before the eighteenth century, for example, roads, invariably owned and operated by local governments, were badly constructed and even more badly maintained. These public roads could never have supported the mighty Industrial Revolution that England experienced in the eighteenth century, the 'revolution' that ushered in the modern age. The vital task of improving the almost impassable English roads was performed by private turnpike companies, which, beginning in 1706, organized and established the great network of roads which made England the envy of the world. The owners of these private turnpike companies were generally landowners, merchants, and industrialists in the area being served by the road, and they recouped their costs by charging tolls at selected tollgates. Often the collection of tolls was leased out for a year or more to individuals selected by competitive bids at auction. It was these private roads that developed an internal market in England, and that greatly lowered the costs of transport of coal and other bulky material. And since it was mutually beneficial for them to do so, the turnpike companies linked up with each other to form an interconnected road network throughout the land—all a result of private enterprise in action.

"As in England, so in the United States a little later in time. Faced again with virtually impassable roads built by local governmental units, private companies built and financed a great turnpike network throughout the northeastern states, from approximately 1800 to 1830. Once again, private enterprise proved superior in road building and ownership to the backward operations of government. The roads were built and operated by private turnpike corporations, and tolls were charged to the users. Again, the turnpike companies were largely financed by merchants and property owners along the routes, and they voluntarily linked themselves into an interconnected network of roads. And these turnpikes constituted the first really good roads in the United States."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"[T]he entire law merchant was developed, not by the State or in State courts, but by private merchant courts. It was only much later that government took over mercantile law from its development in merchants’ courts. The same occurred with admiralty law, the entire structure of the law of the sea, shipping, salvages, etc. Here again, the State was not interested, and its jurisdiction did not apply to the high seas; so the shippers themselves took on the task of not only applying, but working out the whole structure of admiralty law in their own private courts. Again, it was only later that the government appropriated admiralty law into its own courts."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"It is particularly ironic that conservatives, at least in rhetoric supporters of a free-market economy, should be so complacent and even admiring of our vast military-industrial complex. There is no greater single distortion of the free market in present-day America. The bulk of our scientists and engineers has been diverted from basic research for civilian ends, from increasing productivity and the standard of living of consumers, into wasteful, inefficient, and nonproductive military and space boondoggles. These boondoggles are every bit as wasteful but infinitely more destructive than the vast pyramid building of the Pharaoh."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"The idea of a strictly limited constitutional State was a noble experiment that failed, even under the most favorable and propitious circumstances. If it failed then, why should a similar experiment fare any better now? No, it is the conservative laissez-fairist, the man who puts all the guns and all the decision-making power into the hands of the central government and then says, 'Limit yourself'; it is he who is truly the impractical utopian."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

---------------------------------------------------------------

"I am convinced that the dark night of tyranny is ending, and that a new dawn of liberty is now at hand."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Perhaps the best sign of all, the most favorable indication of the break-down down of the mystique of the American State, of its moral groundwork, was the Watergate exposures of 1973–1974. It is Watergate that gives us the greatest single hope for the short-run victory of liberty in America. For Watergate, as politicians have been warning us ever since, destroyed the public’s 'faith in government'—and it was high time, too. Watergate engendered a radical shift in the deep-seated attitudes of everyone—regardless of their explicit ideology—toward government itself. For in the first place, Watergate awakened everyone to the invasions of personal liberty and private property by government—to its bugging, drugging, wiretapping, mail covering, agents provocateurs—even assassinations. Watergate at last desanctified our previously sacrosanct FBI and CIA and caused them to be looked at clearly and coolly. But more important, by bringing about the impeachment of the President, Watergate permanently desanctified an office that had come to be virtually considered as sovereign by the American public. No longer will the President be considered above the law; no longer will the President be able to do no wrong."

-Murray Rothbard, For a New Liberty

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a New Liberty, Murray Rothbard's classic anarcho-capitalist "manifesto," is an undeniable classic of libertarian literature. The broad vision Rothbard offers - of a society built on voluntary association and exchange, free from the coercion and violence of the state - doesn't need to be recapitulated here, since it can be found in the hundreds of online reviews this book has received, and in the thousands of posts in the libertarian blogosphere that reference it. I would, therefore, like to simply point out a few areas of agreement and disagreement that I had with Rothbard as I read the book.

To me, the strongest part of the book is Rothbard's discussion of the basis of individual rights and the extent to which states violate such rights. Rothbard's explanation that the libertarian concern with the individual and his rights is not, as some have claimed, a call for the "atomization" of the individual, is a welcome clarification. Also excellent is Rothbard's treatment of how the free market (or, more simply, people voluntarily interacting with each other) could handle the issues relating to education, the environment and public works (like roads). While Rothbard takes a definitely libertarian perspective on these issues, the net effect of the procedures he would prefer - such as using property rights to protect the environment - would be considerably more favorable to the preservation of traditional society than what has actually taken place under state control. In fact, reading Rothbard's recommendations on how to deal with environmental issues brought to my mind similar arguments made by Roger Scruton, who Gerard Casey has called "the philosopher of conservatism."

Rothbard's explanation of how courts, military defense and police services could exist within a purely free market (and without the state), while interesting, is less convincing to me, not because his ideas could obviously not work, but because the questions regarding them aren't as easily answered as Rothbard seems to think, and would likely need to be modified by trial and error. Rothbard references traditional Irish society - based on clans that could accede to or secede from a multiplicity of federations, and in which property rights, common law, and voluntary associations provided police and court services - as a case study for how all of these services could exist on a purely free market. And while this is an interesting topic, it seems obvious that this system of government was based on cultural norms and traditions, not on pure rationality, and that there are therefore essential cultural aspects to any society that prioritizes liberty and systematizes its protection. This is an angle that Rothbard doesn't explore, but that I think would be critical to the actual attainment of the political system he desires.

Rothbard is at his weakest, in my opinion, when invoking history to support his theories. The problem is not that the historical examples Rothbard uses don't support his positions at all, it's that they don't support them as clearly and conclusively as he lets on. For instance, Rothbard bases his case for the possibility of developing a radically libertarian society in America on the claim that the American Revolution was itself radically libertarian, nearly to the point of anarcho-capitalism, as was American government in the antebellum period. Again, the problem here is not that Rothbard is entirely wrong - certainly there were classical liberal, or libertarian, influences on the American Revolution and, as Jeffrey Rogers Hummel showed in Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War, there was more political freedom for most (but, obviously, not all) American citizens before the Civil War than there has been after it. But there were also obviously conservative aspects to the American Revolution, as M Stanton Evans showed in The Theme is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition, that relied more on traditional freedoms under the English common law than on Enlightenment rationality. The idea of an anarcho-capitalist society was simply not under consideration by either the American Revolutionaries or their descendants.

A similar problem appears in Rothbard's attempts to show why non-interventionism is the proper basis for American foreign policy. While I agree with Rothbard on this point, his argumentation in support of it is sometimes suspect, if not specious. For instance, in attempting to show that American foreign policy has been essentially imperialistic since the turn of the 20th century (which it generally has), Rothbard attempts to show that the United States has been "the single most warlike, most interventionist, most imperialist government [in the world]," a claim that, in order to be accepted, would need considerably more evidence than Rothbard provides.

To prove this point, Rothbard claims that the Soviet Union had been, over that same time, comparatively peaceful and conservative in its foreign policy. To reach this conclusion, he glosses over Soviet aggression in Poland and Finland at the start of World War II (when Stalin was allied with Hitler) as simply the Russians attempting to regain territory that they had previously lost after World War I. This, beyond being a considerable oversimplification of that history, is not obviously peaceful, non-imperialistic, or consonant with libertarian theory, and therefore not definitively supportive of Rothbard's claim. Similarly, Rothbard claims that the Soviets were content to let the communist revolution happen organically in capitalist countries, but this ignores the extent to which communist parties, often directed by Soviet agents, trained their members to infiltrate the intelligentsia and governments of Western countries (including the U.S.) with the explicit goal of fomenting insurrection and influencing policies.

Some of this is understandable in the context of the 1970s, when Rothbard was writing the book. To make the case for non-interventionism at that time required dealing with the claimed threat of Russian aggression in the then-ongoing Cold War. That Rothbard attempted to deal with this issue is not the problem. Rather, it's that his argumentation resorts to oversimplifying history and the realities of the period. Rothbard finds great significance in the Soviet Union's failure to extend its empire after World War II, though he does not mention that the Soviets showed little reluctance to extend the empire during the war, and in fact demanded territorial concessions from the Allies during wartime conferences at Tehran and Yalta. Nor does Rothbard cosider that its failure to continue on the same path after the war could have been the result of the United States and Western Europe posing enough of a military threat to curtail further advances. Rothbard even excuses the Soviet Union's violent suppression of Hungarian and Czechoslovakian independence movements as essentially defensive, which will seem odd to anyone familiar with his opinion of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.

I have seen another reviewer of this book cite Frederic Bastiat's statement that "the worst thing that can happen to a good cause is, not to be skillfully attacked, but ineptly defended." I wouldn't go so far as to charge Rothbard with ineptitude, but his arguments along these lines seem much too forceful for the evidence he offers in their support. This is not to say that the non-interventionist case is invalidated by the facts (quite the opposite, I believe), and Rothbard brings forward many good arguments against an interventionist foreign policy. But, overall, I didn't find Rothbard's analysis as convincing as it could have been. In some cases, resorting to dogmatic lines of argumentation serves an argument less well than dealing carefully with the nuances involved.

Ultimately, a person's opinion of this book is likely to be determined not only by how much he agrees with Rothbard's opinions. How much he accepts Rothbard's historical analysis and the extent to which he thinks that society, even political society, can be rationally planned, irrespective of culture, are also likely to play a role. Even though I have great sympathy for Rothbard's perspective on a great many issues, his method of argumentation detracts from the book, in my opinion. For a New Liberty is, in many ways, a very good book, but its mingling of theory with highly-selective history (without acknowledgment of such) reduces its usefulness outside of the libertarian movement.

[Alan Johnson]

Chapter 1 (“Is Government Necessary”) of my forthcoming book Reason and Human Government includes a critical analysis of Murray Rothbard’s anarchocapitalist theories set forth in For a New Liberty. The current draft of that chapter can be accessed at https://www.academia.edu/143007716/Ch....

I am unable to rate this book. Although I strongly disagree with much of it, Rothbard occasionally makes some arguments that are worth consideration.

Alan E. Johnson
Independent Philosopher, Historian, Political Scientist, and Legal Scholar
July 22, 2025

[Денис Агафонов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Актуальная нынче книга, т.к. Ротбард считает войну - массовым убийством, а мобилизацию и службу по призыву - насильственным похищением. А также, налогообложение - воровством, государственную собственность - захватом, сертификаты и лицензии - рэкетом, наказания за преступления без потерпевшего - произволом. И т д.

Это достаточно длинная, но последовательная книга, которая не вдается в философские дебри, а по пунктам и на простых примерах показывает преимущества либертарианства, которое Ротбард считает единственным перспективным общественно-экономическим строем. Т.к. оно основано на рыночной экономике, частной собственности (любые вопросы рассматриваются с ее точки зрения). А только так и возможна индивидуальная свобода.

В первой части книги Ротбард убедительно критикует существующее положение, экономически объясняя причины кризисов. Во второй - предлагает пути их преодоления и неповторения в либертарианском обществе. В эпилоге - набрасывает возможные варианты прихода либертарианцев к власти.

Ротбард был оптимистом. И видя кризисы начала 80-х как в либеральных режимах Запада, так и в соц блоке, рассчитывал, что это дает шанс третьей либертарианской силе. Не ожидая, что падение одной, не только окрылит другую, но и позволит перенимать опыт как бывших соперников, так и идеи самого Ротбарда, которые он придумывал, чтобы сделать людей менее зависимыми от государства. Государство же сделало их новыми методами контроля. О мусульманском мире или Китае Ротбард не упоминает вообще.

Но книга все-равно до сих пор бьет по больным местам государства, которое не просто порабощает людей, но, в первую о��ередь, постоянно ведет экономически провальную и хищническую политику, за которую расплачиваются в итоге люди. И в этом Ротбард на удивление близок с социалистами. Но в отличие от них, он не смотрит назад, а предлагает попробовать что-то совершенно новое. И это подкупает.

Он сознает определенный идеализм в абсолютном стремлении к свободе. Но справедливо замечает, что без идеала либертарианцы не выдержат никакой конкуренции. Он приводит в пример марксистов, у которых есть идеал равенства, которого пусть и не получается никогда добиться, но стремление к нему объединяет людей. Ротбард же в равенство не верит - он предлагает объединиться ради свободы.

Лично для меня есть два слабых места в либертарианском манифесте:

1) Отрицание леволиберальной концепции естественных прав.
Ротбард считает, что рыночная экономика сама расставит все права по своим местам. Как бы это ни было тяжело, но это нужно для стабильной работы экономики. Люди - существа эмоциональные, религиозные, моральные - очень не проста будет борьба свободы с равенством. Я не уверен, что готов принять ее на все 100%, хотя и признаю экономическую логику ее. Надо воспитывать новых людей? Но сам же Ротбард отрицает возможность воспитания социалистами других людей.

2) Либертарианство во внешней политике.
Очевидно, что если мир будет либертарианским, то эта проблема отпадет сама собой. Или если либертарианскими будут хотя бы все крупные игроки и ядерные державы. Но Ротбард рассматривает пример либертарианских США и нападающего на него СССР. И отделывается
словами, что скорее всего СССР не нападут, а если и нападут, то слишком сложно будет захватить миллионы индивидов, а не конкретное правительство. Сам себя не убедив, он говорит, что единственное, что мы можем потерять - это свободу, а ее у нас и так нет.

Учитывая, что он сам подробно рассказывает о том, как США стали самой милитаристской и интервенциональной страной в мире, думаю крайне важно, чтобы, в первую очередь, либертарианство победило именно в США.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good as far as manifestos go. It felt really formulaic and dry, but managed to avoid that nagging, almost cultish creepiness that most manifestos seem to radiate. All things considered, I'd say it's a great introduction to Rothbardian libertarianism, or in other words, the "controversial" """""""anarcho""""""-capitalism". While I have my reservations of it's practicality and possibility here and there, the scorn and blind hatred levied against it by advocates of other political philosophies is so fervent as to border a realm equal parts annoying and absurdly comical.

If you're dying to drink the kool-aid of an oddball yet fascinating political philosophy, drink up; this book's got you covered on the basics. If you want to read this to legitimize your hatred and scorn of anything daring the word "capitalism", furrow your eyebrows into a comfortable scowl and get cracking; the only solidarity these fuckers are getting is your pointed, Marxist rebuttals up the ass... or something like that anyway.

[Ron Cooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're interested in Libertarianism, or in Libertarian thought, you do yourself a disservice by not reading this. While I don't agree with every word uttered by Rothbard, he makes a compelling and incisive argument against big government.

For me, this book gave me a lot to think on and evaluate within my own views. He paints a picture of a purely Libertarian society, which allows the reader to understand the virtues and challenges it would face. The passion which he feels for liberty is tangible on every page, and makes this book (which could have been a very, very boring treatise) come alive.

If you are interested in reading this, do it. There is also an audiobook version by the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, which can be found for free in Podcast form, if sitting down and reading this seems like too much of a commitment.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my hundredth review on this website, I wanted to pick a special book. What better one than the one that transformed my entire way of thinking? It is not so much that I still follow Rothbard a hundred percent; I have moved away from him in some ways, but I have never abandoned him. I am still an anarchocapitalist, just one who is now also influenced by Thomism, Christianity, and reactionary and conservative thought generally. I don't fully subscribe to Rothbardianism anymore, but I still deeply love it and think that if it became predominant, the world would be a better place to live.

The first one hundred pages of this are just Rothbard laying out his ethical philosophy. It's a simple philosophy, based around very few principles, like self-ownership, non-aggression, and the homesteading principle, all firmly ontologically grounded, very easy to grasp, sometimes challenging but never arbitrary in their application. Like every good system of ethics, the Rothbardian one is a guide of conduct for your own private life, not just a blueprint for a perfect society. Where they don't apply, they leave space for other life philosophies. An anarchocapitalist can be egoistic or altruistic, religious or atheistic, and socially liberal or conservative, and he can be all these things from the bottom of his heart, without succumbing to moral relativism. All that's required is that you disavow force as the means to persuade others that your way of life is the only true one. Instead, persuade them with words or good deeds.

The far bigger part of the book is the application of Rothbards principles to such topics as national defense, monetary policy, and crime and punishment. Rothbard shows both how to apply his principles and what the effects of a consistent application would be, and why these would be superior than anything you could achieve with compulsion. Rothbard leaves most of his competition in the field of political philosophy behind by virtue of being not just a philosopher, but also an economist, historian, and generally very well versed in all the social sciences. Rothbard was not a dreamer, he is a man who combines academic rigor and moral idealism with a deepseated realism. Hence, the charge that he is a utopian is completely unfounded. Rothbard never compromised on his principles, but strategy was a different matter. Despite his optimism and jolly attitude, his expectations never became unrealistically high, as proven by his never succumbing to despair even in his old age.

If this book doesn't fully satisfy you, or if you want to deepen your knowledge of anarchocapitalism for any other reason, there is plenty of literature to pick up on. The Machinery of Freedom provides a somewhat different, and very vivid perspective on how anarchocapitalism could work in practice. The Problem of Political Authority deals with all the same topics from a different angle. The Myth of National Defense has a lot more to say on the topic of military defense, both from an ethical and pragmatic perspective, Chaos Theory talks about military defense and the criminal system and is very short and to the point. Human Action and Man, Economy, and State teach you the economic theories that Rothbard subscribed to, Choice does the same if you want a much shorter (but still complete) book. If you want to read about even more specialized topics, there are works like The Privatization of Roads and Highways or Against Intellectual Property. And, lastly, if you want to learn more about Rothbards philosophy, try his The Ethics of Liberty, an even better book that goes deeper and deals with some competing perspectives. It is written from a more academic perspective, but is still quite easily understandable. I could go on with the recommendations, but I have to stop myself somewhere.

If you want to learn political philosophy, read this book. That, or jump straight to The Ethics of Liberty, but I suggest you read both. Your professor - if you have one - will probably not know who Rothbard is, but an increasing number of people does, and why jump on the bandwagon so late? Furthermore, no one before ever took liberty as far as he did, and no one after him surpassed him. These are two good reasons to give Rothbard a chance. The most important reason, of course, is that his theories are a work of genius. So don't miss out on For a New Liberty.

[Jairo Fraga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mais um excelente livro de Rothbard. O livro resume os ideais libertários, passando por uma breve história da liberdade nos EUA e sua decadência.

Rothbard desenvolve bem e de forma simples o credo libertário e seus princípios, baseado no direito de propriedade, e seu antagonismo com a existência do estado.

Neste livro gostei da abordagem um pouco diferente do padrão ao mostrar as aplicações libertárias aos variados problemas existentes hoje fruto da própria existência do estado, refutando ainda críticas de não libertários a essas propostas.

Dá uma pincelada em economia mostrando a teoria dos ciclos econômicos (a Ricardiana e a Misesiana) e os malefícios do intervencionismo do governo na moeda.

A parte que mais gostei se refere ao esclarecimento das dúvidas de libertários iniciantes (ou do resto da população) à privatização de polícia, ruas, leis e mieo ambiente.

Traz fatos que mostram o perigo do imperialismo norte-americano, e como ele pode por diversas vezes ser pior do que qualquer país socialista no que tange à política externa.

Rothbard finaliza esboçando uma estratégia para se alcançar a liberdade, composta por ações como o envolvimento na Academia, publicação de livros, dentre outras formas de educar os outros. Não se furtando de combater os erros na medida em que esses aparecerem. No final, a verdade política aparecerá.

[Artur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid and coherent criticism of statism and government in the XX century followed by actual concrete libertarian solution for each issue mentioned. The book is perfectly aligned with its own title. It is a manifesto. And as each manifesto it puts most of the effort into showcasing the best parts of the described subject and revealing the flaws of opposing regime. That means that some rough spots like the possibility of government restoration by a group of statists striving for power in the libertarian society or connection between XX century technical progress and its centralized governments and economies that competed with each other militarily joining much more resources than any corporation in libertarian world could are omitted. I doubt that libertarian society will be reached in the closest future but it is a right direction for the modern world and this manifesto is a great starting point for consideration of freedom and minimal government both left and right.

[Kerry Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this book for my Adult level online Socratic Seminar. It's very useful for introducing people to the fundamental problems face by this country, what the libertarian response is, and how to go about achieving it. Our final lesson discusses how libertarianism is a philosophy that takes into the corrupt and distorted nature of society. It doesn't rely on illusions of the goodness of man to function. It's interesting to me that libertarians are accused of being utopian - maybe this comes from Robert Nozick's unfortunate take - regardless, libertarianism doesn't purport to be utopian by any stretch of the imagination. This is ironic given that those who levy this charge tend to be enticed by some form of authoritarianism, which - especially in the case of socialism - does indeed to claim to be the means of achieving utopia. For a New Liberty is a primer in a political philosophy that understands humans aren't perfect, and never will be.

[Ahmad Ebaid]

"نحو حرية جديدة، مانيفستو الليبرتارية، أو البيان التحرري"

يقول هانز هيرمان هوبه، بأنه لولا "موراي روثبورد" لما كان هنالك "أناركية رأسمالية" أو "لاسلطوية رأسمالية"

أفكار روثبورد كانت مؤثرة وعميقة الأثر على المدرسة الرأسمالية التحررية ككل، واليمينية منها على الأخص
لم يتم تبني الكثير من أفكاره المنبثقة بالضرورة عن مدرسته الاقتصادية، كالأفكار التي استعرضتها في المراجعة المبدئية لكتاب "ماذا فعلت الحكومة بأموالنا"
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

ولكن كان لأفكاره المعادية لما تبقى من سلطة الحكومة، عظيم الأثر في لفت أنظارنا لبعض فساد النظام المالي الحالي، وعقم البنوك المركزية

الكتاب يعتبر الشارح الأعظم لفكر "موراي روثبورد" التحرري بالكامل، وأتمنى إني ألاقي له وقت للقراءة وسط جدولي المزدحم

[Michele Giacomini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, I know what kind of guy wrote this. But still, I didn't even manage to read it all as its almost insulting. The author sound very very patriotic to be a supposed anarchist and relly takes a lot of effort in his process of cherry picking demonstrating how the building of the great nation America is, is grounded solely on great Libertarian values, now under attack by evil statists. No mention of slavery, no mention of genocide, no mention of inequalities-by-birth ( And it makes sense if you want to picture the U.S as the land of opportunities, equal opportunities for everyone you have to totally ignore every social and cultural aspect of economic inequality...it exists because shit happens).
Ante Litteram MAGA manifesto

[T.Z. Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will change the way you look at the world, especially government, and make you question its very existence. Rothbard systematically explains how the State is not needed—and is actually detrimental—to the areas of society where most people assume it is most essential such as education, police, military, defense, and the courts. In each case, free-market competition in the private sector will provide those services at lower cost and higher quality. “But what about the roads?” Yeah, he answers that question too.

[ziombel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rothbard wrote a brilliant critique of the government, but weaker proposals to remedy these problems. For now, I don't want to translate reviews into English, because it is long and I would have to rewrite part about "peaceful" Communism (Poland was enslaved by the Soviet Union and average Pole have much greater knowledge than average human about this shit. Also I recommended some additional materials about this and they are in Polish, so I must find something different.

//polish
Dostępna za darmo:
http://mises.pl/blog/2006/12/23/murra...

Rothbard napisał świetną krytykę rządu, ale już słabszą propozycję naprawy tych problemów. Zdecydowałem się na napisanie krótkiej krytyki dzieła rothbarda oraz niektórych poglądów anarchokapitalistów.

O aborcji - Rothbard robi arbitralne założenie o tym, że płód jest pasożytem. Dlatego też ten wywód jest błędny. Czy jeśli zaproszę kogoś na kawę do swojego domu, a potem w trakcie picia kawy się rozmyślę i rozwalę mu głowę, to czy nie powinienem być niewinnym? Dodatkowo, jeśli kogoś porwę i zamknę w klatce a następnie porzucę go na czyjejś ziemi, to czy właściciel nie powinien mieć prawa do popełnienia dowolnego okrucieństwa na tej osobie, ponieważ jest na jego własności nieproszona. Oczywiście ktoś może mi zarzucić, że przesadzam, ponieważ zdecydowana większość ludzi nie jest psychopatami i pomoże takiej osobie. Ale psychopaci mogą to wykorzystać i zgodnie z koncepcją anarchokapitalizmu byłoby to dozwolone. Np. mógłbym założyć firmę porywającą osoby i porywać takie osoby na zlecenie jakiś bogatych ludzi. Oczywiście takie coś byłoby karalne, ale porwanie kogoś na pewno byłoby karane znacznie mniej niż zabójstwo itp. Np. jacyś bogaci ludzie mogliby płacić za porywanie ludzi aby się nad nimi później znęcać. Oczywiście poniósłbym karę, ale przecież wynagrodzenie za porwanie mogłoby ją zrekompensować. Dziecko nie jest w łonie z własnej winy, tylko z winy rodziców, więc to oni odpowiadają za taki stan matki a nie dziecko. Tak samo ja bym odpowiadał za te zbrodnie a moje ofiary nie powinny być karane za to, że znalazły się na czyimś terenie.

Innym przykładem absurdów anarchokapitalistów jest pogląd, według którego oszustwo nie jest złe, ponieważ klient dobrowolnie dał się oszukać. Jest to absurdalne a nawet nie jest zgodne z zasadą NAPu, ale niektórzy anarchokapitaliści tego nie widzą. Np. Załóżmy że zakładam firmę i oferuję lekarstwo na raka. Oczywiście sprzedawany przez mnie środek nie jest lekarstwem. Jestem pewien, że znalazłbym zdesperowanych ludzi gotowych za to oszustwo zapłacić. Dla anarchokapitalisty nie ma w tym nic złego, ponieważ obie strony zawarły dobrowolną wymianę. Jednak według mnie jest tu łamana zasada NAPu. Należy zwrócić uwagę na to, że klient wymienia tytuł własności do swoich pieniędzy na tytuł własności na lekarstwo na raka. Kiedy zamiast tego daje mu w zamian jakieś gówno, to czy nie łamię jego prawa własności? Według mnie łamie i ofiara powinna mieć prawo do odszkodowania. Takie podejście rozwiązało by całkowicie problem oszustów nabierających zdesperowanych ludzi sprzedając np. lecznice kołdry albo garnki leczące raka. Po prostu klient po zakupie takiego cuda i po zauważeniu że został oszukany, mógłby taką osobę pozwać i domagać się odszkodowania. Oczywiście aby taki system działał, potrzebny jest jednolity system prawny dokładnie definiujący co jest oszustwem a co nie jest. A do tego potrzebna jest instytucja która ma monopol na przemoc a nie konkurencja na "rynku" prawa.

Rozwijając dalej powyższy przypadek, można pokazać inny absurd anarchokapitalizmu - prawo do zabijania za pomocą podstępu. Załóżmy, że jestem wkurwionym mężem który chce pozbyć się swojej żony. Mógłbym dodać do jej jedzenia cyjanku i zabić ją. Oczywiście anarchokapitalista nie widzi w tym problemu, ponieważ obiad zjedzony przez żonę został zjedzony dobrowolnie. Według mnie znów łamałbym zasadę żony do samo posiadania. Za inny przykład może posłużyć sklepik z lemoniadą. Czy gdybym był psycholem i czerpał radość z zabijania ludzi, to czy dobrym pomysłem nie byłoby sprzedawanie latem zimnych napojów z dodatkiem cyjanku? Oczywiście ktoś może mi zarzucić, że przecież każda substancja w nadmiarze jest szkodliwa i każdy mógłby pozwać każdego producenta o próbę otrucia. Dlatego znów potrzebny jest nam jednolity system prawny który musiałby być respektowany przez wszystkich. W nim mogłoby być zdefiniowanie pojęcie trucizny, używki itp. W takim wypadku osoba która dobrowolnie zażyje truciznę nie mogłaby pozwać producenta za to, że jej ją sprzedał. W pewnym zakresie mogłoby być tak samo z używkami.

Ale wracając do dzieła Rothbarda, zacytuję fragment o prywatnym sądownictwie:
"Gdyby sąd ogłosił wyrok, a następnie przeszedł do bezładnej strzelaniny, klienci uznaliby zapewne, że jego usługi są nic niewarte. Istotną pozycją w ofercie sądów byłaby usługa polegająca na prowadzeniu postępowania odwoławczego. Wszystkie sądy zobowiązywałyby się do honorowania wyroków sądów apelacyjnych."
Rothbard w tym fragmencie tekstu zakładka arbitralnie, że wszystkie sądy będą przestrzegać NAPu. Co w sytuacji, gdyby mafia założyła własny sąd i pozywała do niego ludzi i nie uznawała odwołań? Czy jakaś firma ochroniarska odważyła by się ryzykować kapitałem i życiem swoich ludzi aby brać udział w regularnych walkach w obronie jakiegoś pojedynczego klienta? Ktoś może mi zarzucić, że przecież taka firma ucierpiała by na reputacji. Ale czy nie ucierpiała by na reputacji, gdyby mafia dokonała by na niej(lub członkach jej rodzin) masowej egzekucji? Mafie na pewno nie będą przestrzegać NAPu, ponieważ są to instytucje oparte o przemoc. Oczywiście Rothbard odpiera tego typu zarzut, ponieważ według niego rządy mają większą siłę i środki niż mafie. A co w sytuacji gdy takie mafie zaczną formować feudalne państwa i akap zamieni się w sieć mniejszych państewek walczących ze sobą? Czy to nie doprowadzi w końcu do ponownego powstania dużego państwa, kiedy to najsilniejsza grupa podbije wszystkie pozostałe, tyle że z nowymi elitami?

Kolejną słabością tego dzieła jest arbitralne założenie, że jak zlikwiduje się rząd USA, to nagle wszystkie inne kraje przestaną mieć wrogie zamiary wobec mieszkańców akapu. Fragment o "pokojowych" komunistach jest dnem intelektualnym. Według wywiadu historyka który niedawno widziałem, marksizm był pierwszą ideologią w Europie, która nawoływała do masowej eksterminacji innych grup społecznych. Na temat zbrodni, terroru oraz bojowych zapędów komuchów, polecam serię filmów dokumentalnych Grzegorza Brauna: Transformacja oraz film sfinansowany przez IV Rzesze: Sowiecka historia(dla przeciwwagi, gdyby ktoś uważał że powołuje się jedynie na prawicowych "oszołomów"). Komuniści od samego początku do samego końca mieli zamiar podbić Europę a później cały świat. Powstrzymały ich jednak: arsenał nuklearny USA oraz niemożliwość racjonalnej kalkulacji ekonomicznej w socjalizmie. Rothbard kumplował się z lewicowymi organizacjami i przesiąkł komunistyczną propagandą. Komuniści wspomagali Hitlera aby ten osłabił Europę i umożliwił im szybki podbój. Także finansowali agenturę na całym świecie aby rozsiewać propagandę o dobrym i sprawiedliwym komunizmie. Polecam gorąco filmy Brauna. Po nich zrozumiecie dlaczego ZSRR było i jest nadal postrzegana na zachodzie jako ten dobry. Dlatego też twierdzenie, że po zlikwidowaniu USA, ZSRR nie miało by żadnych pretensji do jego mieszkańców jest absurdem. Zapewnie zbombardowali by "burżuazyjnych" akapów nukami i zajęli by ich ziemie. I wtedy skończyłoby się śmieszkowanie.

Innym poważnym zagrożeniem dla akapu byliby islamscy terroryści. W krainie talmudycznych libertarian tacy bojownicy mogliby spokojnie się osiedlić, zarabiać hajs, kupić atomowego krasnala, gaz bojowy lub coś innego a potem zabić paręset tysięcy ludzi(przecież wolność, nie?). Do obrony przed takimi sytuacjami są niestety potrzebne służby, które nie mogłyby opierać się na dobrowolnych relacjach z islamistami. Dla wszelkich "lewicowych libertarian" wierzących w pokojowe współistnienie z muslimami polecam przeczytać Koran, albo przynajmniej moją recenzję którą niedługo napiszę. Trzeba skończyć ze śmieszkowaniem.

Wracając do akapów, co w sytuacji gdy założę sklepik z lemoniadą zawierającej narkotyki. Co w sytuacji, gdym później dał takiemu klientowi pod wpływem dokument do podpisania, który zobowiązałby go do oddania mi całego swojego majątku oraz służenia mi do końca życia? Rozumiem że nie ma złamania NAPu? Ktoś może mi zarzucić, że rynek zweryfikowałby takiego sprzedawcę. Tak, zrobiłby to ale najpierw zdążyłbym zniewolić kilka osób. Później mógłbym wyjechać w jakieś dalekie miejsce i zacząć od nowa. Tak robią współcześni oszuści.

Myślałem że Maurycy posiada Rozum i Godność Człowieka. Jednak po fragmentach o komunistach w moich oczach poziom RiGCZu Rothbarda znacznie spadł. Według mnie z tego powodu fragment o wolnościowej Islandii powinien być całkowicie zapomniany przez libertarian. Niewiadomo z jakich odmętów czerpał Rothbard oraz osoby które cytuje. "Pokojowy" komunizm Rothbarda mocno podważa wszystkie inne jego twierdzenia o historii i polecam być bardzo sceptyczny wobec tego, co Murray pisze o historii. W świetle powyższych argumentów uważam, że anarchokapitalizm to piękna, ale niemożliwa do zrealizowania utopia. Dlatego popieram państwo minimum mające armię, zapewniające system prawny, służby i jakieś minimalne siły policyjne.

[Mudiwa Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the closest book I have read which provides a clear framework on how a society organised around libertarian principles would function.

There is no scope for force/violence against innocent people as a means to keep society stable in peaceful existence.

There is a concise description of how classical liberal societies and their advocates have been subverted through out history

[Luis J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro imprescindible para quien quiera aprender de uno de los grandes pensadores libertarios de la historia. Un autor inspirador que hilvana un ensayo exhaustivo, argumentado y planteando soluciones libertarias a situaciones concretas o controvertidas como los delitos sin víctimas, la educación, sanidad, policía, calles, la ley y los tribunales... en definitiva un manifiesto libertario que he disfrutado leyendo y que recomiendo sin duda.

[Shane Hawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rothbard was a prolific writer and master of concision. For A New Liberty feels a little dated, yet it was prescient. He laid intellectual groundwork for the liberal-society thought experiment.

[Luubstar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buen libro, lleno de citas científicas y complejo como ninguno. Deja ver que el mundo no es tan simple como parece.