(From the Intellectual Ammunition section in Volume 19, No. 6 of the Liberator Online. Subscribe here!)
The Ludwig von Mises Institute has created one of the great online libertarian treasures. It has made hundreds of classic libertarian books available online — for free.
If you have an e-reader, or don’t mind reading on your computer, then an intellectual feast awaits you. In just minutes an incredible library of vital libertarian writing, worth thousands of dollars in cover value and of inestimable intellectual value, can be yours.
Many of the most important and essential works by the greatest libertarian authors are here. There are established classics and exciting new works. There’s so much great reading, in fact, that it’s difficult to know where to begin.
The newcomer to the writings of liberty can pick and choose from essential classics like these:
- For A New Liberty, Murray Rothbard’s acclaimed 1973 libertarian primer.
- What Has Government Done to our Money?, Rothbard’s short, easy-to-read mind-opening guide to the fundamentals of market-based money.
- Defending the Undefendable: Walter Block’s superb assault on victimless crime laws (with a provocative new introduction by Block).
- Great Wars and Great Leaders by Ralph Raico: Hard-hitting essays that will forever change the way you view modern history.
Those wanting to dig deeper into these ideas can explore all the works of Murray Rothbard, arguably the greatest libertarian thinker and writer of the past century. And all the works of Ludwig von Mises, arguably the greatest economist of the past century. And peruse books and other writings by a legion of legendary liberty writers: Friedrich A. Hayek, Albert Jay Nock, Robert LeFevre, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, and so many more.
There’s even classic libertarian-themed fiction. Henry Hazlitt’s clever and enlightening Time Will Run Back. Eugene Richter’s 1893 anti-socialist novel Pictures of the Socialistic Future. Garet Garrett’s long out-of-print turn of the century business novels.
Even for the well-read libertarian reader, surprises abound. Think you’ve read all by Rothbard? Check out the collections of his short book reviews and memos for the William Volcker fund. Or his mesmerizing intellectual autobiography, The Betrayal of the American Right.
And still more. In addition to books, there are periodicals that were essential to the development of the modern liberty movement, including Rothbard’s Left and Right and Libertarian Forum, H.L. Mencken’s American Mercury, and the modern Liberty magazine. Some of the publications you’ll find had a circulation in the mere hundreds and have been virtually unavailable for years. Now they are yours, free.
And then there are the articles, the scholarly papers. (Tip: use the drop-down menus to narrow your search of the nearly 2,000 items available. For instance, if you only want books, click on Source and choose books. If you’re looking for all by an author, click on Author. These guides are very helpful.)
We’ve barely skimmed the surface. We could go on and on, listing titles and making recommendations. But by now you should be eager to start looking yourself.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of this. Years ago, in the pre-web days, anyone seeking to learn about liberty quickly discovered that some of the greatest and most essential books and periodicals were unavailable except from rare book dealers or at large libraries. Some of the treasures the Mises Institute is offering for free were hard to come by even from those sources.
Now they are available to the entire world, instantly and free.
This is a magnificent gift to the liberty movement and to the world. Take advantage of it!
Fifteen years ago — in 1999 — the Liberator Online published my first Persuasion Point Column.
Libertarianism in Pop Culture
Libertarianism in Pop Culture
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There is no shortage of “libertarian books,” whether you mean fiction works like Orwell’s 1984, Huxley’s Brave New World, and any of Heinlein’s sci-fi, or more academic non-fiction texts like Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson, Mises’ Human Action, or Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom.
How many of you became libertarians because someone handed you a book to read?
I didn’t. I don’t remember when a “libertarian switch” turned on, but I do remember when former talk-radio host Neal Boortz shared that my political philosophy had a name… libertarian.
Libertarians recognize that every individual is different. To me, that means that what opens one person’s mind to libertarianism may not work with another. Each individual’s path to libertarianism is different, and I think that many can be reached by the “normalization” of libertarianism and libertarians in popular culture.
As with any change to the status quo, a political change happens behind the wave of change in popular opinion. Popular culture plays a large role in that, and we are on track to have libertarian thought remain a part of that conversation.
Parks and Recreation’s Ron Swanson was a libertarian hero for many, and Community’s Jeff Winger and Californication’s Hank Moody both self-identified as libertarians. One of the longest running and most consistent libertarian television shows began my senior year of high school, South Park. On a recent flight, I even read this book about the libertarian lessons the show contains, which begins its 19th season next month.
The stand-up comedy world also features Doug Stanhope and Joe Rogan, while actors like Vince Vaughn, Dax Shepard, and Glenn Jacobs recently “came out” as libertarian thinkers. Recently, musicians Big Boi (from the hip hop group, OutKast), country music singer Kacey Musgraves, and Aimee Allen released songs with strong libertarian messages. Former MTV VJs Kennedy and Kurt Loder mix pop culture and political leanings for Reason and Fox Business, respectively.
We’ve collected quite a few libertarian celebrities here, and we plan to update that list shortly with many new additions this fall.
It’s a start, and we have a long way to go, but there’s hope still with all of the non-political avenues noted above that we can reach and recruit new libertarians. Let’s make sure we support the artists and commentators that share our views to keep them in the public eye.
Will you commit to that with me?