Imagine the following person. He believes all individuals should be free to do anything that’s peaceful and therefore favors private property, free global markets, freedom of contract, civil liberties, and all the related ideas that come under the label libertarianism (or liberalism). Obviously he is not a statist. But is he an individualist and a capitalist or a socialist and a collectivist?
Tag: markets
An Agorist Manifesto in 95 Theses
Guest post by Human Advancement. Suitable for nailing to an appropriate door near you… agora (1) – n. A place of congregation, an ancient Greek marketplace.agora (2) – n. A market free of forceable regulation, taxation, and government(The) Agora – The aggregate of all such markets of any size.95 Theses 1. Free, unregulated, untaxed, and…
Droughts, Famines, and Markets
Guest post by Steven Horwitz. As I write, many high school students all over the United States, my daughter included, are reading John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, with its portrayal of the 1930s Dust Bowl, in preparation for literature courses in the fall. Steinbeck’s fictional account vividly captures the suffering endured by many Americans…
Is the Free Market a Utopia?
Guest post by Nielsio. Jon Stewart asks: “If we didn’t have government, we’d all be in hovercrafts, and nobody would have cancer, and broccoli would be ice-cream?” Libertarians are not against government, they are for economic cooperation. We would like to expand the division of labor in as many areas as possible, and as such…
Regulation Red Herring
Most people believe that government must regulate the marketplace. The only alternative to a regulated market, the thinking goes, is an unregulated market. On first glance that makes sense. It’s the law of excluded middle. A market is either regulated or it’s not.
Defining a Free Society
Guest post by Brian Lobb. What is a “free society”? Some people think that having economic freedom while controlling others socially is freedom. On the opposite side, certain folks think that having social freedom while controlling their neighbors’ pocketbook is freedom. Neither stance is freedom when you really break it down. To have a truly…
Chapter 18 – Schooling: The Hidden Agenda
Table of Contents Previous – Section Four – Chapter 17 – “The Trouble with Traditional Schooling” by Vahram G. Diehl 18 Schooling: The Hidden Agenda by Daniel Quinn A Talk Given at the Houston Unschoolers Group Family Learning Conference. I suspect that not everyone in this audience knows who I am or why I’ve been…
Chapter 16 – Agorist Living
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Three – Chapter 15 – “Why Socialism Must Fail” by Hans-Hermann Hoppe 16 Agorist Living by Nicholas Hooton The idea of joining the Libertarian Party tempted me years ago when I first discovered libertarian philosophy, as I’m sure it has tempted many before and since. The Party website stared me…
Chapter 15 – Why Socialism Must Fail
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Three – Chapter 14 – “Historical Capitalism vs. the Free Market” by Richard Ebeling 15 Why Socialism Must Fail by Hans-Hermann Hoppe Socialism and capitalism* offer radically different solutions to the problem posed by scarcity: everybody can’t have everything they want when they want it, so how can we effectively…
Chapter 14 – Historical Capitalism vs. the Free Market
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Three – Chapter 13 – “Planning vs. the Free Market” by Henry Hazlitt 14 Historical Capitalism vs. the Free Market by Richard Ebeling During the dark days of Nazi collectivism in Europe, the German economist Wilhelm Röpke used the haven of neutral Switzerland for continuing to write and lecture on…