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The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom
A revised, updated, and retitled edition of David Boaz's classic book A Primer, which was praised as uniting "history, philosophy, economics, and law - spiced with just the right anecdotes - to bring alive a vital tradition of American political thought that deserves to be honored today". (Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago)
Libertarianism - the philosophy of personal and economic freedom - has deep roots in Western civilization and in American history, and it's growing stronger. Two long wars, chronic deficits, the financial crisis, the costly drug war, the campaigns of Ron Paul and Rand Paul, the growth of executive power under presidents Bush and Obama, and the revelations about NSA abuses have pushed millions more Americans in a libertarian direction. A Primer, by David Boaz, the longtime executive vice president of the Cato Institute, continues to be the best available guide to the history, ideas, and growth of this increasingly important political movement - and now it has been updated throughout and with a new The Libertarian Mind.
Boaz has updated the book with new information on the threat of government surveillance; the policies that led up to and stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis; corruption in Washington; and the unsustainable welfare state. The Libertarian Mind is the ultimate resource for the current, burgeoning libertarian movement.
Libertarianism - the philosophy of personal and economic freedom - has deep roots in Western civilization and in American history, and it's growing stronger. Two long wars, chronic deficits, the financial crisis, the costly drug war, the campaigns of Ron Paul and Rand Paul, the growth of executive power under presidents Bush and Obama, and the revelations about NSA abuses have pushed millions more Americans in a libertarian direction. A Primer, by David Boaz, the longtime executive vice president of the Cato Institute, continues to be the best available guide to the history, ideas, and growth of this increasingly important political movement - and now it has been updated throughout and with a new The Libertarian Mind.
Boaz has updated the book with new information on the threat of government surveillance; the policies that led up to and stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis; corruption in Washington; and the unsustainable welfare state. The Libertarian Mind is the ultimate resource for the current, burgeoning libertarian movement.
- GenresPolitics
432 pages, Paperback
Published February 4, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 24, 2025
I like ideologies that are neatly wrapped up in a single book. David Boaz does a nice job summing up Libertarian ideology in the context of 2015, but obviously we can see the tremendous harm these ideas are doing now in 2025 (even he admits that in last podcast for Reason in 2024). With that being said, Boaz starts out clunky for the first 1/3 of the book, but takes off later throughout the other 2/3rds, so it's going to take some patience to get in to. The benefit of this book is that instead having to read multiple books on Libertarian perspectives, you can just read this book and be done with it.
August 16, 2025
Agreed on some economic and international issues, to me it removes the soul out of politics and takes a cold approach to dealing with humanity.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews