No one seems to know for sure what this means, but libertarians of all backgrounds are tweeting their support of the company’s CEO tweeting a link to the foundational book of one of the major schools of thought in Libertarianism.

Jack’s tweet has garnered approval from some prominent named Libertarian individuals and organizations, including former Congressman Justin Amash, 2020 LP vice-presidential candidate Spike Cohen, the Libertarian Party’s Mises Caucus, 2022 GA LP gubernatorial candidate Shane Hazel and many official accounts for several state branches of the Libertarian Party.

Some members of the liberty community joined in the thread to call for the Twitter CEO to cease his censorship of the liberty movement online and create a space that honors the spirit of the first amendment and the American tradition of free speech. 

The LP Mises Caucus even posted a screenshot of #Rothbard trending on Twitter nearly three hours after Jack tweeted out the link to a free online copy of “Anatomy of the State” published on Mises.org.

 Is the CEO of one the largest tech giants on the yellow brick road of libertarianism to AnCapistan? Only time will tell, but one thing is sure—this single act promoted the ideas of liberty, peace, and free markets—and that’s something worth celebrating.

The post Twitter CEO Rocks Libertarian Twitter With Mysterious Rothbard Tweet appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

By: Elias J. Atienza

Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight and former senior fellow for the Cato Institute, debated  immigration policy analyst Alex Nowrasteh. The two’s debate covered welfare benefits for legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, along with the ideal level of immigration. Carlson favored limiting immigration while Nowrasteh believes in not “letting Washington bureaucrats” limit immigration.

The two’s debate is just another battle in the never ending battle in libertarian circles about borders and immigration. Mainstream libertarians, such as those from the Cato Institute, believe in opening up the borders, while some schools of libertarian thought believing in closing the borders, such as Murray Rothbard and Hans Herman Hoppe. Ron Paul seems to be favor of killing the welfare state before increasing immigration, writing on it just last year:

“How to tackle the real immigration problem? Eliminate incentives for those who would come here to live off the rest of us, and make it easier and more rational for those who wish to come here legally to contribute to our economy. No walls, no government databases, no biometric national ID cards. But not a penny in welfare for immigrants. It’s really that simple.”

So watch Carlson and Nowrasteh argue about their positions on immigration.

WATCH:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRo-WrmGFdo

WATCH TLR’S LATEST VIDEO:

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There are far too many books in the libertarian spirit to mention here. So instead, enjoy this short list of the ones every libertarian should read at least once.

1. The Law

Written in 1850 by Frederic Bastiat, this book shows how the very laws that are in place to preserve our freedoms can instead be used to take them away. Bastiat also contrasts socialism and liberty, giving rise to this quote that still applies to arguments against libertarianism today: “Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education…It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.” Additionally, The Law is just under ninety pages in length, making it a quick, easy read and a great introduction to basic libertarian principles.

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]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/books-every-libertarian-read/feed/ 5 59808 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/in-defense-of-murray-rothbard/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/in-defense-of-murray-rothbard/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2016 17:28:01 +0000 http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=57196 If I owe my being a classical liberal or libertarian to any thinker, it is definitely the economist Milton Friedman. I accidentally stumbled on a YouTube video of him a couple of years ago and both his charisma and simple argument about the correlation between capitalism and freedom convinced me...

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]]> If I owe my being a classical liberal or libertarian to any thinker, it is definitely the economist Milton Friedman. I accidentally stumbled on a YouTube video of him a couple of years ago and both his charisma and simple argument about the correlation between capitalism and freedom convinced me that a free society required free markets.

Even though Friedman introduced me to pro-liberty philosophy, there are a number of thinkers that have helped me further develop my ideas: thinkers such as John Locke, Friedrich Hayek, Gustave de Molinari, and Adam Smith. But it is hard to deny that Murray Rothbard has been the libertarian thinker to influence me the most. This is why I don’t agree with Charles Peralo’s articles, Something Libertarians Must Admit and the most recent Dear Tom Woods, Murray Rothbard Did Indeed Suck.

Insulting other libertarians the way Peralo has done in these last two articles does not help the growth and development of the pro-liberty movement; it only hurts it. It is good to be critical of others’ beliefs, but not to completely disregard them and presuppose that you have it all figured out as to who is a libertarian and who is not. Here is a refutation of the four points he makes in his first article:

1. “The Man Just Never Got a Damn Thing Done”
Murray Rothbard is considered a great contributor to the school of Austrian Economics. Despite the Austrian school’s unorthodox status, it reintroduces humanity into economics with its praxeological method. Regardless of his contributions to economics, Rothbard’s works on libertarian political theory such as Ethics of Liberty, brings forward an unerring concept of natural law and natural rights, creating an inviolable defense of liberty; this is something that utilitarian libertarians are unable to do.
When it comes to spreading the ideas of liberty through organizations, Rothbard helped found the Cato Institute and the Ludwig von Mises Institute, two think tanks which have contributed to the development of liberty worldwide.

2. “He Was Politically a Total Moron”
Rothbard was known to interact and work with individuals and groups that many consider anti-capitalist and not pro-liberty. This is not because he always agreed with them, but because he would find areas where he could sympathize with these individuals in order to promote liberty, as Dr. Walter Block has discussed. Rothbard worked with the Peace and Freedom Party, a group with Maoists and Trotskyites, who were nonetheless against war. Rothbard did not have inconsistent beliefs, but utilized any possibility given to him in order to promote liberty.

3. “Rothbard Was Probably a Little Racist”
Rothbard’s neither favored nor disdained the Civil Rights movement, but instead opted for a pragmatic approach, viewing it as a movement with both positive and negative characteristics. Rothbard’s view of the Civil Rights Act was equally careful. While he opposed some aspects of the bill because they conflicted with the right to freely associate with who you wish, a hallmark of free markets. Rothbard also foresaw how it would become a tool to silence the radicalism behind the civil rights movement to push personal agendas and appeal to voters.
As for Rothbard’s position on immigration, the open border argument is only significant if one believes that state ownership of land is legitimate and Rothbard did not believe this was the case. Due to this, Rothbard did not promote open borders and his solution to the immigration question is as follows:

The libertarian society would resolve the entire “immigration question” within the matrix of absolute property rights. For people only have the right to move to those properties and lands where the owners desire to rent or sell to them. In the free society, they would, in first instance, have the right to travel only on those streets whose owners agree to have them there, and then to rent or buy housing from willing owners. Again, just as in the case of daily movement on streets, a diverse and varying pattern of access of migration would undoubtedly arise.

Finally, in regards to his views on the Confederacy, Rothbard was fundamentally opposed to the idea of slavery. He condemned the South for wanting to expand slavery into western territories and the militarism pushed by the North. Rothbard, according to his conception of natural law, thought that slaves should have been given the land they had worked for hundreds of years. Furthermore, in the Ethics of Liberty, he is highly critical of colonialism, regardless of its consequences, while Milton Friedman’s greater focus on mere economic development led him to be softer on the colonization of India.

4. Rothbard Made Libertarians Total Losers
Rothbard’s inability to compromise his beliefs and ideology should be seen as admirable and not as something to look down on. Compromising for the sake of politics has been the death and corruption of liberalism in the last two hundred years. Exceptions were made for the sake of politics, moving liberalism from its classical origins to the current statist and social liberal tradition found across Europe and Latin America.
“Murray Rothbard wasn’t a libertarian and did nothing to benefit the growth of libertarianism” is a statement made in ignorance of Murray’s writing and impact. Any individual who has read enough of Murray Rothbard’s works will acknowledge that he is one of the few individuals to develop a libertarian political philosophy that is as consistent and as well developed as his.

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]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/in-defense-of-murray-rothbard/feed/ 3 57196 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/murray-rothbard-quotes/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/murray-rothbard-quotes/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2016 22:23:42 +0000 http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=56992 by Eli Bowman Murray Rothbard is someone who is often quoted by libertarians. His writings and teachings have contributed to what the modern liberty movement is today. It’s difficult to narrow down the 10 best things he said, so what we’ve done is simply given you 10 Murray Rothbard quotes...

The post 10 Murray Rothbard Quotes That Will Make You Cry For Freedom appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> by Eli Bowman

Murray Rothbard is someone who is often quoted by libertarians. His writings and teachings have contributed to what the modern liberty movement is today. It’s difficult to narrow down the 10 best things he said, so what we’ve done is simply given you 10 Murray Rothbard quotes that will make you cry for freedom a la William Wallace from the movie Braveheart. The whole point of this list to to make you pause and think after reading each one, so stop multi-tasking and focus on good ol’ Rothbard for a few…let the enlightenment consume you.

1. Like we would pass on an opportunity to lead with taxation being theft.

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]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/murray-rothbard-quotes/feed/ 9 56992 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/voting-civic-duty-reckless-endangerment/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/voting-civic-duty-reckless-endangerment/#comments Sat, 27 Aug 2016 00:21:29 +0000 http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=54711 by Ryan Mohr “Get out and vote! It’s your American duty!” We hear this all of the time from movie stars, politicians, television personalities, musicians, and the like. We’re told that if we really care about our country, we’ll take a trip to the polls in November and fill in...

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]]> by Ryan Mohr

“Get out and vote! It’s your American duty!” We hear this all of the time from movie stars, politicians, television personalities, musicians, and the like. We’re told that if we really care about our country, we’ll take a trip to the polls in November and fill in those bubbles. Or maybe when you’ve found yourself complaining about the current political or economic climate you’ve heard the old, “Save it for the ballot box!” or my personal favorite, “If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain!” Every election cycle we hear from the countless media figures, poring over national data, either bemoaning low voter turnout or jumping up and down in jubilation at any increase in souls who chose to ‘Rock the Vote!’ But what does it all mean? Is voter turnout really something to be celebrated?

Believe it or not, a celebrity actually said something the other day on this subject that wasn’t completely asinine. Mike Rowe, consummate man’s man, whose claim to fame is his iconic role on the show “Dirty Jobs”, has engendered quite a name for himself on social media as perhaps one of the most thoughtful people in showbiz. On a fairly regular basis, Rowe takes some of the fan mail he receives, often times correlating with current events, and publishes a response to it online. He’s amassed a following of over three and a half million people on Facebook by delivering sharp, reflective insights indicative of a man who thinks carefully about what he is saying. Rather than perpetuating the norm of celebrities, bloviating about issues they obviously know nothing substantive about, preaching at the masses with contrived indignation, Rowe comes across as humble and contemplative. So when one of his fans wrote to him, compelling him to encourage his readers to get out there and pull the lever for a politician, one would hope that Rowe would have more to offer than the prototypical “Shucky darn, of course every American should vote!” And boy, did he deliver.

He starts off by acknowledging the shared concern he has for the country, and that while voting matters, it does not follow that everyone should be encouraged to vote. He then likens encouraging everyone to go vote just because they have the right to do so to encouraging everyone to go buy a gun just because they have that right. He explains that these rights come with responsibilities, responsibilities that many are not willing to shoulder. Therefore, it is ludicrous to encourage any and everyone to exercise a right that they may not take seriously. He goes on to castigate Hollywood for their shallow political activism and laments the current choices America has for president, pointing to this deranged mindset as the culprit.

So what does Mike Rowe think you should do then? “Read more.” He encourages his readers to take some time to study various world views on history, human nature, and economic theory (He even name-drops Henry Hazlitt!) in order for them to get a grip on where it is they stand. He then quips, “None of the freedoms spelled out in our Constitution were put there so people could cast uninformed ballots out of some misplaced sense of civic duty brought on by a celebrity guilt-trip. The right to assemble, to protest, to speak freely – these rights were included to help assure that the best ideas and the best candidates would emerge from the most transparent process possible.”

Not only are Mr. Rowe’s sentiments accurate, but they are in a sense understated. No doubt, the Left will take serious exception to their advocacy of uninformed voting en masse being compared to advocacy of mass gun ownership, but this comparison is in fact remarkably accurate. To understand just how on point it is, one must understand just what voting is. As the great Robert Heinlein once put it, “When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you’re using force. And force, my friends, is violence.” While many would spurn this characterization of something as ‘innocent’ as casting a vote, it can not be denied that every political act carries with it the implication of coercion to enforce it. In this respect, decisions made in the public sector are quite different than those made in the private.

People cast votes everyday in private life, whether it’s choosing what food to buy at the grocery store, choosing who they wish to insure their car, choosing who provides them medical care, etc. These votes are distinctly different from votes cast in the ballot box in that they are peaceful and completely voluntary. Not only that, but these choices virtually always impact no one, save the parties involved. On the contrary, votes cast in the political realm affect everyone in society because citizens are not voluntary patrons of the government. For example, if you cast a vote for Candidate A, whose platform is to raise taxes on Group X and ban the use of Substance Y, then implicit in the vote you have cast is the force necessary to steal from Group X and to prohibit Substance Y. If your candidate wins and I belong to Group X, it makes no difference that I cast my vote for Candidate B who pledged to leave me the hell alone. I must comply with the government’s demands, or else I will be forced to with the threat of violence. Sure, I could refuse to pay these new taxes without fear of any immediate harm, but only then my wages would be garnished. I could find a way to receive payment for my wages under the table, but only then I could be arrested for tax evasion. If I resist arrest or try to defend myself, I could be bludgeoned into submission or even killed. The point is that decisions made at the polls carry implied violence with them, and the ramifications impact a vast amount of people rather than just the individual. It is for this very reason that many people, namely libertarians, have a strong aversion to voting, after all, in a sense, the act of voting is far more imposing than simply personally initiating violence against another human being, because political action is backed up by all of the frightful firepower of the State.

I am not, however, suggesting that people should not vote or that voting is immoral. Even the famed economist and consummate libertarian philosopher, Murray Rothbard, criticized this idea. He addressed the issue of voting in an interview with The New Banner in 1972, where he channeled Lysander Spooner in stating that, “People are being placed in a coercive position. They are surrounded by a coercive system; they are surrounded by the state. The state, however, allows you a limited choice — there’s no question about the fact that the choice is limited. Since you are in this coercive situation, there is no reason why you shouldn’t try to make use of it if you think it will make a difference to your liberty or possessions… So in that case why not make use of it? I don’t see that it’s immoral to participate in the election provided that you go into it with your eyes open.”

And therein, lies the rub. You see, not only do many American voters fail to vote responsibly or ‘go into it with their eyes open’, most politicians in power count on just the opposite. If there is one thing that helps a member of the political establishment sleep soundly at night, it is the notion that millions of voters without the initiative to actually do their homework or think for themselves will be showing up to the polls to cast their votes. In truth, most people who aren’t already voting are failing to do so, not on principle, but because they are not engaged in political thought of any kind. So the most effective way for the vagabonds in Washington to see to the entrenchment of their power for the foreseeable future is not to target those who are actually read up on the issues, but to expand the voting block to encompass those who are uninitiated.

For example just a couple of weeks ago, a 2,500 document data dump, courtesy of DC Leaks, revealed that billionaire political activist, George Soros, has been dumping millions of dollars in legal fees behind a push to “Enlarge [the U.S.] electorate by at least 10 million voters through modernization of voter registration systems, and through expanded constitutional/legislative protections” by 2018. The mission statement is (quite ironically) to counter the “undue influence of wealthy interests acting for their own benefit.” Just last year, our own president endorsed the idea of compulsory voting along the same ideological lines, “to counter the outsized influence of money in politics.” But as Ilya Somin of The Washington Post pointed out in his response to El Presidente’s remarks, “The opposite effect is more likely. Most campaign spending represents expenditures on televised ads. For fairly obvious reasons, relatively ignorant voters are more likely to be influenced by simplistic 30 second ads than relatively well-informed ones (who, among other things, tend to have stronger preexisting views). Thus, a more ignorant electorate is likely to be one where campaign spending on television ads exercises more influence.”

And don’t think for a moment that this reality is lost on the likes of Soros or Obama, or any other power-hungry political figure. The uninformed voter tends to make voting decisions on the most primitive bases. Therefore, cheap political promises and broad platitudes, rather than complex explanations of complex issues, are more likely to win them over. These scoundrels count on this. Their parasitic livelihoods depend on it.

Just because the public may not consider the implications in their political decisions, the consequences of those decisions are no less tangible. Voting is a right, not an obligation to society. It is a right that should be exercised cautiously and thoughtfully. Those who choose to vote without having taken the time to educate themselves, or even ponder where it is they stand philosophically, do so not only to their own detriment, but they recklessly endanger the livelihoods of their fellow man.

Vote with open eyes. If you aren’t sure where it is that you stand, that is a perfectly alright place to be! Just don’t go casting ballots until you’re out of there.

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]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/voting-civic-duty-reckless-endangerment/feed/ 8 54711 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/trump-praises-planned-parenthood-vows-defund-anyway/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/trump-praises-planned-parenthood-vows-defund-anyway/#comments Sat, 27 Feb 2016 14:59:26 +0000 http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=43749 Rachel Stoltzfoos   Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards hit Donald Trump after his strange endorsement of the non-profit in Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate. Trump praised Planned Parenthood for providing healthcare to “millions of women” in the debate, but also said he would defund the organization because he’s pro-life. Richards...

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]]> Rachel Stoltzfoos

 

Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards hit Donald Trump after his strange endorsement of the non-profit in Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate.

Trump praised Planned Parenthood for providing healthcare to “millions of women” in the debate, but also said he would defund the organization because he’s pro-life. Richards wasn’t impressed.

“You can say whatever you want, but they have millions of women going through Planned Parenthood that are helped greatly,” Trump said in the debate. “And I wouldn’t fund it. I would defund it because of the abortion factor — which they say is 3 percent, I don’t know what percentage it is, they say it’s 3 percent. But I would defund it because I’m pro-life.”

His comments in the debate echoed an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press with Chuck Todd Sunday, when he said Planned Parenthood “does some good work,” but he would defund it as president.

Asked what benefit a Trump presidency might pose for Planned Parenthood on MSNBC Friday, Richards said he “can’t have it both ways.”

“There would absolutely be no benefit to having Donald Trump as president of the United States for women,” Richards said. “I mean he on the one hand he praises the work we do, and then says he wants to cut every single person off of health care that we serve. You just can’t have it both ways.”

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]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/trump-praises-planned-parenthood-vows-defund-anyway/feed/ 2 43749 https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/top-8-libertarian-music-acts-you-should-definitely-check-out/ https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/top-8-libertarian-music-acts-you-should-definitely-check-out/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2016 15:49:51 +0000 http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/?p=41311 8 Libertarian Musicians You Should be Listening To re you tired of the left-wing dominating the music and arts? Struggling to find any messages of liberty in a predominantly liberal field? Well, you’re not alone. Thankfully, we at The Libertarian Republic have compiled a list of 8 libertarian artists of all...

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]]> 8 Libertarian Musicians You Should be Listening To

[dropcap size=big]A[/dropcap]re you tired of the left-wing dominating the music and arts? Struggling to find any messages of liberty in a predominantly liberal field? Well, you’re not alone. Thankfully, we at The Libertarian Republic have compiled a list of 8 libertarian artists of all genres for you to listen to.

The post Top 8 Libertarian Music Acts You Should Definitely Check Out appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

]]> https://thelibertarianrepublic.com/top-8-libertarian-music-acts-you-should-definitely-check-out/feed/ 5 41311