‘Libertarian Studies’ Archives
Lysander Spooner’s “No Treason, Number 1″
"Notwithstanding all the proclamations we have made to mankind, within the last ninety years, that our government rests on consent, and that that was the rightful basis on which any government could rest, the late war has practically demonstrated that our government rests upon force – as much so as any government that ever existed." ~Lysander [...]
Vices Are Not Crimes: A Vindication Of Moral Liberty
by Lysander Spooner I. Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another. Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with [...]
Prohibiting The Call Of Nature
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies." ~Groucho Marx I arrived in Honolulu yesterday. It's good to be back. As much as I love Texas, I feel more at home in Hawai'i. The sad thing, however, is watching the deterioration of Hawai'i's economy and its [...]
Throwing The Bums Out Is Not Enough
“The important thing is to concentrate upon what you can do - by yourself, upon your own initiative.” ~Harry Browne Woo hoo! Hot Damn! Yee haw! Arlen Specter got kicked out. Rand Paul wins, and that woman from Arkansas with the vile name is forced into a run off. If she had completely lost it would have been an "A+" day. Instead it [...]
The Death Of Politics by Karl Hess
I do not usually post other's works but this is too good not to post. It was originally published in 1969. I found it at Faré's Home Page This is not a time of radical, revolutionary politics. Not yet. Unrest, riot, dissent and chaos notwithstanding, today's politics is reactionary. Both left and right are reactionary and [...]
Anarchy And The Free-Market: Yes, I’m An Anarcho-Capitalist
"I define anarchist society as one where there is no legal possibility for coercive aggression against the person or property of any individual." ~Murray Rothbard I started out as a conservative, then rediscovered my libertarian leanings and began calling myself a classical liberal. While definitely a minority position, it has some [...]
Public Schools Failed To Teach Me About Liberty
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." ~Mark Twain I don't really remember much of American History from my "schooling." Most of my education in public school and college regarding the American Revolution and the Founding Fathers covered their failures and hypocrisies, especially the fact that many of them owned [...]
On State Idolatry
"The coldest of all cold monsters is known by the name, State. Coldly it lies, and this lie slips from its mouth: ‘I, the State, am the people.’” „Staat heißt das kälteste aller kalten Ungeheuer. Kalt lügt es auch; und diese Lüge kriecht aus seinem Munde: ‘Ich, der Staat, bin das Volk.’” ~Friedrich [...]
What’s Really Important? Liberal vs. Conservative? or Libertarian vs. Statist?
"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." ~Thomas Paine Is Libertarianism Liberal or Conservative? Liberals don't like libertarianism because it's "conservative" (whatever that means), and conservatives don't [...]
The Attack on Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Tea Partiers, And Now Confederates
"I saw in State Rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy. . .. Therefore I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization; and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond [...]
Is Texas Independence A Good Idea?
"The consolidation of the states into one vast republic, sure to be aggressive abroad and despotic at home, will be the certain precursor of that ruin of all that has proceeded it." - Robert E. Lee The Texas Nationalist Movement The Texas Nationalist Movement is growing in strength as it becomes obvious that the Federal Government is [...]
Lysander Spooner: All Legislation Is A Crime
"Thus substantially all the legislation of the world has had its origin in the desires of one class --- of persons to plunder and enslave others, and hold them as property." ~Lysander Spooner Natural Law: or The Science of Justice: A Treatise on Natural Law, Natural Justice, Natural Rights, Natural Liberty, and Natural Society; Showing [...]
The Politics of Slavery
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe When talking to people about the injustice of income and property taxes, I sometimes hear them claim that they are happy to pay their fare share of taxes. What they really mean is that others aren't paying enough and they want [...]
Does Orthodox Christianity Condone Government Force?
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." ~George Washington Today a fellow Orthodox Christian, questioned my dogmatic rejection of government force. He reminded me that parents discipline their children must often use force instead of reason or persuasion. He [...]
Health Care, The New Bread
"… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses" ~Juvenal Bread and Circuses; Panem et Circenses; [...]
