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The Essence of Libety



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Liberty knows no compromise


A Universal Ethic for All Mankind: A Detailed Review and Synopsis of The Ethics of Liberty

by Murray N. Rothbard

Chapter 30: Toward a Theory of Strategy for Liberty

Compiled and Edited

by

Dr. Jimmy T. (Gunny) LaBaume

The last chapter of Murray N. Rothbard's seminal book, The Ethics of Liberty, is entitled “Toward a Theory of Strategy For Liberty .” As the name implies, he develops a clear strategy for the achievement of true liberty. To wit:

Natural Law and Natural Rights Theory

Natural law and natural rights theory form the moral and political “higher law” for judging any type of statism. Liberty is a moral principle grounded in the nature of man. It is a principle of justice and the abolition of aggressive violence in the affairs of men. Justice must be our motivation and our philosophy must hold that liberty is the “highest political end” and the overriding goal for society.

Abolitionism

Strategically, the libertarian must be an “abolitionist” in the sense that we must wish to achieve the goal of liberty at once. Gradualism undercuts the goal of liberty. Just like delaying the end to slavery, advocating any delay in the achievement of liberty is advocating the prolongation of crime and injustice. In other words (as Leonard Read once put it), if a button existed that would instantaneously abolish all invasions of liberty, we should be willing and egger to push it.

Goals such as the “elimination of poverty” or a “drug free America ,” for example, are not achievable. However, since the goal of liberty is entirely dependent on man's will, it is not unrealistic or “Utopian.” It is “realistic” in the sense that it is possible. It could be achieved immediately (and it would result in a viable system) if everyone suddenly agreed on its desirability. However, none of this is to imply that we believe that true liberty will in fact be attained in the near future. Nor does it imply that we should use contradictory means to achieve the goal of liberty. In other words, it would be contradictory to commit aggression (e.g., murder or theft) against persons and/or property in order to reach the goal of nonaggression.

As America 's Founders well knew, the State is the perpetual enemy of the people. Because of that, the idea of some sort of planned, gradual program toward liberty is flawed because it implies the contrary. It also implies that it is possible (even desirable) to use the mechanisms of the State itself to achieve liberty.

An example of a gradual, piecemeal approach to liberty would be to advocate the repeal of the income tax while, at the same time, advocate its replacement by a sales or value added tax. Conservatives hold budget-balancing a higher goal. Consequently they are guilty of such an approach. They invariably oppose any tax cut which is not strictly accompanied by an equivalent or greater cut in spending. The time to call for drastic slashes in government spending is when the budget is being considered—not when considering a tax cut.

Education and Professionals

Education is the characteristic strategic theory of classical liberalism. Since the world is ultimately governed by ideas, “education” is a necessary condition for the achievement of liberty. However, ideas are influential only to the extent that they are adopted and used by people . Therefore, education must be accompanied by an active and self-conscious libertarian movement . An integral part of any such successful movement would be professionals (educators, lawyers, reporters, etc) making their full-time career within the movement.

Coalitions

The libertarian may find it beneficial to enter into coalitions with non-libertarians for the purpose of advancing some single, ad hoc activity--for example, with conservatives to repeal the income tax or civil libertarians on conscription, pornography or “subversive” speech issues. The conservative can be made to realize that property rights or the free market can only be safeguarded if civil liberties are defended or restored. By the same token, the opposite can be demonstrated to the civil libertarian.

Conditions Necessary for Radical Social Change

Marxists have identified two sets of conditions necessary for radical social change. These are referred to as “objective” and the “subjective” conditions.

Subjective conditions consist of a self-conscious movement dedicated to the victory of the particular social ideal. These are the conditions discussed above.

Objective conditions are established by a “crisis situation” in the existing system. People normally do not pay much attention to the defects of an existing system as long as it seems to be working reasonably well. The few who are interested will usually see the problem as being abstract and irrelevant to their daily lives. They will not see action as being imperative until they perceive a crisis breakdown. So, the crisis must be serious enough to be widely perceived, and to be seen as the fault of the system.

Such a breakdown will stimulate a sudden search for new social alternatives.

At that point the cadres of the alternative movement (who hopefully will have a track record of predicting and warning against the existing crisis) must be ready to supply that alternative. They must be able relate the crisis to the inherent defects of the old system. They must point out how their alternative system would solve the crisis and prevent similar breakdowns in the future.

History bears out theory. Every single one of the revolutions in the modern world was precipitated by a breakdown of the system itself and subsequently utilized by a cadre of advocates of the alternative system.

Marxists and libertarians are very different and have contrasting ways. However, they both believe that the inner contradictions of the existing system (“capitalism” in the case of Marxists and statism-state intervention for libertarians) will inevitably lead to system collapse.

Conservatism can see nothing but long-run despair due to a steady decline of “Western values” from some past century. In contrast, Marxism and libertarianism are both highly optimistic for the long-run. The key question is, of course, how long will it take for the “long-run” to arrive.

The Marxists are facing indefinite postponement of their “long-run.”

By the same token, libertarians have been confronted by a shift from the quasi-libertarian system of the nineteenth century to far greater statism-collectivism.

The Industrial Revolution (itself a consequence of the classical-liberal political revolutions) introduced new and irreversible conditions. Prior to that era, agricultural countries could go along indefinitely at a subsistence level. Monarchs and states could tax the peasantry above subsistence level and live elegantly off the surplus while the peasants toiled for centuries at a bare subsistence level. Such a system is profoundly immoral but, provided the state does not get too greedy, it will “work” in the sense that it is able to continue indefinitely.

On the other hand, a modern industrial economy cannot survive in the same manner as an agriculturally based economy because it requires a vast network of free-market exchange and division of labor both of which depend on freedom and the free-market. Socialism and various types of “state capitalism” have attempted to preserve and extend the industrial economy while, at the same time, eliminating freedom and the free-market. This is a process that can't possibly continue. State regulatory controls, exorbitantly high taxation, and paper money inflation must all inevitably lead to a collapse of the system.

The world seems to be committed to industrialism (and the living standards it brings). Economic theory establishes the fact that industrialism requires freedom. Therefore, there is reason to be optimistic about the triumph of liberty in the long run. Furthermore, the various forms of statism that have been imposed on the Western world are facing imminent breakdown. The “long-run” is near.

Nineteenth century industrialization was made possible by a (quasi) laissez-faire attitude of government toward industry. This process created a large reserve or “cushion” that masked the depredations of statist intervention. The government could tax and inflate without suffering bad effects because the dislocations were not openly obvious. But now, due to the prolonged advancement of statism, that cushion is gone. The reserve fund has been used up. Now, whatever the government does leads to instant negative feedback that is obvious to anyone willing to see.

We have seen (and are seeing) a systematic breakdown of statism in economic, foreign, social, and moral policies which has been accompanied by a growing diffusion of libertarian ideas.

Rothbard assigns the precise beginning of the breakdown of statism in the united States to 1973–74. During this time, America suffered a serious recession which was simultaneously accompanied by inflation. This is a situation that simply cannot be explained by Keynesian economic theory. So, it opened the door for the “Austrian,” free-market alternative— abandoning monetary inflation and slashing government expenditures.

Since then, local and state reserve funds have dwindled to the point of exhaustion. Higher taxes have driven businesses and middle-class citizens out some areas. This, in turn, raises the risk of continuing to finance operations with public debt. Default would result in the loss of future access to the bond markets. Therefore, it is becoming progressively apparent that the only way to avoid financial default is with radical cutbacks in expenditures.

Furthermore, exorbitant taxes combined with inflation have led to an increasing scarcity of capital to the point of putting the country in imminent danger of consuming its vital stock of capital equipment.

This situation is becoming increasingly clear to the public as well as the molders of public opinion. Further hope stems from the fact that everyone knows that the State has controlled and manipulated the economy at least since Roosevelt 's “New Deal.” In other words, the current crisis comes after years of statism and the public can now perceive Big Government to be the culprit.

All the various forms of statism (socialism, the corporate state, the Welfare- Warfare State , etc.) have all been tried and have failed. There is nothing left to try but freedom.

Furthermore, a parallel crisis has occurred on the social front. The public school system is under severe criticism from across the ideological spectrum. It is clear that public schools do not properly educate their charges and that they are costly, wasteful, and require high taxes. Further, the public school system has created irresolvable conflict over such matters as integration vs. segregation, progressive vs. traditional methods, religion or secularism and sex education. Unhappy, uninterested students are being “conscripted” by compulsory attendance laws into prisons that their parents did not build.

In the area of legislated morality, there is a growing awareness that government prohibition (of such matters as pornography, prostitution, sexual practices between “consenting adults,” drugs, and abortion) is immoral and an unjustified invasion of the individual's right to make their own moral choices. The public is also beginning to understand that such policies cannot be practically enforced and that any attempt to enforce them will only bring hardship and a virtual police state.

The Watergate incident (1973–74) marked a drastic increase in awareness of the dangers of government. It initiated the breakdown of the mystique of the State and a radical shift in the attitude of everyone toward government itself. It awakened the public to government's inherent propensity to repress dissent and invade privacy and personal liberty. The impeachment of the President desanctified the office as well as the government itself . Hardly anyone has trusted politicians or government officials since. Hardly anyone still believes that “we are the government” and that anything elected officials do is legitimate and proper.

The desanctification and delegitimation of government in the eyes of the public is the most vital condition for the success of liberty. Watergate managed to initiate this and politicians, fourth branch bureaucrats, cops, etc continue to accomplish it on a daily basis.

[Editor's Note: Recent (post 911) legislation (such as the Patriot Act) will surely add “fuel to the fire” of delegitimation.]

In summary: The objective conditions for the realization of liberty have begun to appear and government is increasingly being perceived as the culprit. What is needed now is the growth of the “subjective conditions” –the propagation of libertarian ideas through a dedicated libertarian movement to advance and spread those ideas amongst the general public.

We possess a splendid heritage of freedom that goes back beyond revolutionary times. We are lucky that it has never been fully lost because it provides solid historical ground on which to build.

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