Libertarian of the Century
Who is the leading libertarian of the 20th century? The distinguished
editors of the libertarian magazine Liberty cast their votes, and five
names dominated their list, which appears in their current (January 2000)
issue:
* Milton Friedman: For decades, this Nobel Prize-winning free market
economist has been a tireless champion of liberty. For many years he stood
almost alone as a widely-known academically respected defender of free
markets, individual liberty, and limited government. He is author of
numerous popular and scholarly books and articles, including the enormously
influential bestsellers Free to Choose, The Tyranny of the Status Quo, and
Capitalism and Freedom.
* Friedrich A. Hayek: This Nobel Prize-winning economist and philosopher
popularized and explored the concept of the free society as a huge
"spontaneous order" that, without central planning, satisfies human wants
and needs far better than a controlled society ever could - an awesome and
essential insight. He was author or editor of over two dozen path-breaking
books including The Constitution of Liberty and the best-selling The Road
to Serfdom (which reached millions of readers).
* Ludwig von Mises: This great economist and uncompromising advocate of
liberty overcame enormous obstacles to create some of the most magnificent
defenses of free markets and individual liberty ever penned. Mises
developed economics as a logical science rooted in human action. He created
the most devastating argument against socialism, showing that socialism
could not work because (among other things) it lacked a meaningful pricing
system to rationally allocate resources. He was author of numerous
magnificent books including Bureaucracy, Planned Chaos, The Anti-Capitalist
Mentality and his great masterpiece, Human Action.
* Ayn Rand: Though she would not herself have accepted the label
"libertarian," her writings - both fiction and non-fiction - popularized
libertarian ideas to millions and were a major force in the development of
the modern libertarian movement. Her writings explored and popularized the
key libertarian concept that it is wrong to initiate force against peaceful
individuals. Atlas Shrugged, the novel that is arguably her masterpiece, is
regularly proclaimed in surveys as one of the most influential books of the
20th century, and, astonishingly, has remained in print in hardcover since
it was first published in 1957.
* Murray Rothbard: Called "Mr. Libertarian" by many, Rothbard's
accomplishments were astonishingly wide and deep. Economist, historian,
philosopher, journalist, political strategist, movement activist… no field
seemed closed to him. A brilliant stylist, Rothbard was author of
thousands of articles and over two dozen essential books, including For A
New Liberty, Power and Market, and What Has Government Done To Our Money.
Uncompromisingly radical, Rothbard was the leading exponent of the
"anarcho-capitalism" branch of libertarianism, arguing that society can
flourish without the state.
What an awesome list! It's an honor to be part of a movement that can claim
such figures.
The winner, by just one vote: Ludwig von Mises.
(Source: Liberty, January 2000 issue)
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