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Title: The Libertarian Reader: Classic and Contemporary Writings from Lao-Tzu to Milton Friedman by David Boaz ISBN: 0-684-84767-1 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.62 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Valuable Addition to Any Political Science Library
Comment: If you are looking for a quick introduction to the principles and practices of the Libertarian Party, avoid this book; a good search engine and some basic research skills are all you need. If instead you're searching for a deeper understanding of the philosophy of liberty, then I can suggest no better starting point.
The book itself is a collection of short essays from a wide range of contributors to the libertarian tradition, from political economists and philosophers (such as Locke, Mill, and Adam Smith) to some perhaps more surprising sources (like the Old Testament and the Tao Teh Ching). These essays are grouped around broad themes - "individual rights", "free markets", "skepticism about power" - certainly a boon to students, but also an aid to the casual reader. Should a particular topic or thinker pique your interest, a lengthy essay called "The Literature of Liberty" catalogs the sources as it closes the book.
Whether reading this book will convince you to join the Libertarian Party, or send money to the Cato Institute, is a matter open to debate; indeed, some critics rightly point out elements of "big L" Libertarianism that are at odds with "small l" classical liberal thought. My own hope is that reading these essays will give you not only a better understanding of the founder's intent, but also a clearer vision of a better possible future - a freer, saner world. How we get there, if we get there, remains to be seen.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Anthology Capturing the Essence of Libertarian Thought
Comment: I being of a classical conservative mind, hope to offer a fair critique of both this book and libertarianism in general. I acquired it during my pre-law days when studying political theory. Anyway, David Boaz has assembled a motley collection of political and philosophical writings gleaned throughout history of what he deems to be 'libertarian thought.' The introductory section entitled 'Skepticism About Power' puts forward the crux of libertarian thought, namely skepticism of concentrated power and an affinity for the principle of subsidiarity and the widespread dispersal of power. In sum, libertarians affirm Lord Acton's axiom that 'power tends to corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Boaz tosses in a selection from the Scriptures, in 1 Samuel 8, which shows the consequences of the ancient Israelites insisting on a monarchy. Here, the prophet Samuel warned of the consequences of absolutism that would ensue, but they the people would not relent and God being sovereign gave them their monarchy. James Madison's poignant Federalist #10 is included and correlates the founder's reverence of liberty with libertarian thought. Boaz infers the continuity of mainstream libertarianism with the 'classical' liberalism of yesteryears. Not surprisingly, advocates of free-markets and opponents of statism are among the cast of characters featured in his selections. Economists like Adam Smith, Frederic Bastiat, F.A. Hayek and Ludwig von Mises grace the pages. Frenchmen Bertrand de Jouvenal offers a poignant critique of redistribution, which was gathered from the pages of 'The Ethics of Redistribution.' Some egalitarian levelers, anarchists, and other assorted radicals like Lysander Spooner and social Darwinist Herbert Spencer are featured as well.
With regards to foreign policy issues, the essays featured seem to acquiesce with the sentiments of the founding fathers, which may be summed up in the dictum of Jefferson: 'Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.' These essays advocate strategic disengagement, a policy of strategic independence, which is commensurate with the prevailing foreign policy of armed neutrality espoused in the early years of the American republic. One essayist, namely Ted Galen Carpenter, works alongside Boaz at the Cato Institute, and offers a sensible assessment of our entanglement with the UN and its negative long-term consequences. However, libertarianism may be shallow in some respect on international affairs, hence their affinity for Richard Cobden whom Boaz featured. Cobden's fanciful screed entitled, 'Commerce is the Grand Panacea,' acts as if free trade amongst the nations will whimsically do away with war. For political realists, this is a bit of well wishing that doesn't mesh too well with reality or history.
Thus far I've been dispassionate for the most part, but now let me toss in a monkey-wrench in regards to Boaz's selection of libertarian icons. Many contributors selected never identified themselves 'libertarians' as such. Moreover, some were avowed opponents of 'libertarianism.' In the 1950's, economist F.A. Hayek deplored those who would assign the 'libertarian' appellation to him. He insisted that he was an Old Whig, with emphasis on Old. Likewise, Ayn Rand too, had bad things to say about it, yet many in libertarian circles strangely have an affinity for her crude, materialistic objectivist philosophy. Some of the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of libertarianism (visible in the schisms of 19th century classical liberalism) planted the seeds of what mutated into modern, permissive liberalism with its penchant for radical secularizing and egalitarian leveling. Some of these flaws are manifest in the nineteenth century selections featured in this book. Granted, some libertarians (i.e. paleolibertarians) are openly appalled at these dark facets of modernity that I'm about to describe. Generally, many libertarians have a dogmatic affinity for an abstract liberty, a tendency to reject a transcendent moral order, a penchant for crude utilitarian reductionism, and some even find all forms of coercion appalling, apparently even the social stigmatism of family, tradition and societal custom. (BTW If you think this is an overstatement than read Harry Browne's 'How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World.') Murray Rothbard was adamant that libertarians aren't libertines. However, as libertarian writers prattle off screeds like 'Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do' and 'XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography''advocating an unfettered market for drugs and sex'the more libertine side of libertarianism is becoming more readily apparent. Those avowed libertarians that retort, 'but I'm against these things,' probably favor Edmund Burke over Thomas Paine, and might as well fall on the outskirts of the conservative camp if they do an accurate self-assessment. Furthermore, many libertarians devalue both community and the nation-state, and question the sovereignty of states to regulate immigration while they long for a borderless world of hyper-atomized individuals engaged in economic transactions. That 'globalization' is a cousin of 'internationalism' remains a fatal concession to what I'm saying whether they tacitly admit it or not. Some have a tendency to supplant the marketplace in place of civil society. In doing so, they adhere to a dictum that can be surmised as 'everything inside the market and nothing outside the market,' thus turning Mussolini's fascist mantra on its nose. 'Ideas have consequnces,' as Richard Weaver observes, and naturally the liberalism of Paine, Spencer, Mill and yes even Locke gave way to modern liberalism and the perils of modernity.
I was once an avowed libertarian, but with a kick; I fancied myself as 'a conservative with a libertarian bent.' As conservative thinker Russell Kirk surmises, anyone who thinks seriously about politics falls away from it. Nevertheless, there is much in libertarian thought to be admired, though they're not always the harbingers of all these good ideas they espouse. Libertarians particularly those affiliated with the Cato Institute are aligned with the Old Right in an effort to unleash what we might characterize as a 'devolution revolution.' Such a move would effectively restore the 10th Amendment and federalism commensurate with original intent of the U.S. Constitution's framers. (Neoconservatives are too apt to constitutional compromise.) Anyhow, for accomplishing his task of making an anthology offering a cross-section of 'libertarian thought,' I'll give Boaz a thumbs up and a five-star rating despite my misgivings about libertarianism.
Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding
Comment: This book inspires us to think about how collectivist ideas can damage our civil society. With its writings, this book also gives us a historical perspective of libertarianism since we keep in touch with all kind of authors: ancient (e.g. Bible, Lao-Tzu,), classical (e.g. John Locke, Adam Smith) and contemporary (e.g. Ayn Rand, Mario Vargas Llosa).
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Title: Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz ISBN: 068484768X Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1998 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: What It Means to Be a Libertarian: A Personal Interpretation by Charles Murray ISBN: 0767900391 Publisher: Broadway Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Toward Liberty: The Idea That Is Changing the World by David Boaz ISBN: 1930865260 Publisher: Cato Institute Pub. Date: 01 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek ISBN: 0226320618 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 List Price(USD): $9.48 |
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Title: Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, Rose D. Friedman ISBN: 0226264211 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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