After much thought and debate about this topic over the last 25 or so years, here is my attempt at a lean, concise, precise definition of what a libertarian is:

A libertarian is a person who believes that the invasion of the borders of (trespass against) others’ bodies or owned external scarce resources, i.e. property (with property allocations determined in accordance with Lockean homesteading rules and contractual transfer rules), is unjustified, because they (for whatever reason) prefer or value grundnorms of peace, prosperity, and cooperation and who have enough honesty, consistency, and economic literacy to recognize that the libertarian assignment of property rules is necessary to achieve these grundnorms.

Such a person, if he is consistent, also cannot help but recognize that the state, being an agency of institutionalized aggression, is inherently criminal and illegitimate.

Note what this does not say: It does not say that the libertarian necessarily believes all aggression is immoral, but rather that it is unjustified; it does not imply that rights are a “subset” of morals. It also does not say why the person values peace, prosperity and cooperation and favors it above interpersonal violent conflict. It also does not make the common mistake of interpreting the libertarian-Lockean property allocation rule as requiring one to prove title all the way back to the very first use of the resource; rather, it says that whoever has the best claim to a disputed resource has a property right in it (is its “proper” owner), and that as between any two claimants, the one having an earlier claim (use) of the property has the better claim. This does not require title to be traced back to the beginning of time but only to the earliest time needed to defeat any actual or potential claimants; though it implies that someone who can trace title back to the first appropriation has the best possible claim of all (unless title has been assigned by contract). Note also that although the libertarian rule is the Lockean rule this does not imply Locke’s reasoning in justifying his homesteading rule was correct—in particular it does not imply that Locke was right to say that labor is owned or that labor-ownership is the reason why first possession of a resource is sufficient to establish property rights in the resource.

For more, see my posts and articles below:

• “What Libertarianism Is”
• “How We Come To Own Ourselves“
• The relation between the non-aggression principle and property rights: a response to Division by Zer0
• The Division of Labor as the Source of Grundnorms and Rights
• Empathy and the Source of Rights
• Thoughts on the Latecomer and Homesteading Ideas; or, why the very idea of “ownership” implies that only libertarian principles are justifiable
• Justice and Property Rights: Rothbard on Scarcity, Property, Contracts…
• What is Aggression?
• The problem of particularistic ethics or, why everyone really has to admit the validity of the universalizability principle
• Hume on Intellectual Property and the Problematic “Labor” Metaphor”
• Locke on IP; Mises, Rothbard, and Rand on Creation, Production, and ‘Rearranging’
• Locke, Smith, Marx and the Labor Theory of Value
• “Introduction to Libertarian Legal Theory”
• “What It Means To Be an Anarcho-Capitalist”

Also: Rothbard, Ethics of Liberty, chs. 4-5, 15; Hoppe, A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism, chs. 1, 2, and 7.

[SK]

As many of my readers know, I often lecture and speak and give podcast or radio interviews on various libertarian topics and issues, such as intellectual property (IP), anarcho-libertarians, Austrian law and economic, contract theory, rights and punishment theory, and so on. I also blog and comment regularly on such matters in various blogs (primarily The Libertarian Standard, on general libertarian matters, and C4SIF, on IP-related matters), Facebook, and so on—often posting my take on a given issue in response to a question emailed to me or posted online.

This month I am launching a new podcast, Kinsella on Liberty. I expect to post episodes once or twice a week. The podcast will include new episodes covering  answers to questions emailed to me (feel free to ask me to address any issue of libertarian theory or application) as well as interviews or discussions I conduct with other libertarians. I’ll also include in the feed any new speeches or interviews of mine that appear on other podcasts or fora, as well as older speeches, interviews, and audio versions  of my articles, which  are collected for now on my media page). Audio and slides for several of my Mises Academy courses may also be found on my media page, and will also be included in the podcast feed later this year. Feel free to Subscribe in iTunes or Follow with RSS, and spread the word to your libertarian friends. I welcome questions for possible coverage in the podcast, as well as any criticism, suggestions for improvement, or other feedback. My general approach to libertarian matters is Austrian, anarchist, and propertarian, influenced heavily by the thought of Ludwig von Mises, Murray N. Rothbard, and Hans-Hermann Hoppe. My writing can be found in articles here and blog posts at The Libertarian Standard and C4SIF, such as:

• How I Became A Libertarian, December 18, 2002, LewRockwell.com (published as “Being a Libertarian” in I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians (compiled by Walter Block; Mises Institute 2010))
• “What Libertarianism Is,” Mises Daily (August 21, 2009)
• What It Means To Be an Anarcho-Capitalist, January 20, 2004, LewRockwell.com
• How We Come To Own Ourselves, Mises Daily (Sep. 7, 2006)
• Causation and Aggression, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, vol. 7, no. 4 (Winter 2004)
• A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability, Journal of Libertarian Studies 17, no. 2 (Spring 2003)
• Inalienability and Punishment: A Reply to George Smith, Winter 1998-99, Journal of Libertarian Studies
• Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide, Mises Daily (May 27, 2011)
• New Rationalist Directions in Libertarian Rights Theory, 12:2 Journal of Libertarian Studies (Fall 1996)
• Punishment and Proportionality: The Estoppel Approach, 12:1 Journal of Libertarian Studies (Spring 1996).
• Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan, Anti-state.com (Sept. 19, 2002)
• Montessori, Peace, and Libertarianism, LewRockwell.com (April 28, 2011)

On IP in particular, which I’ll also cover from time to time in the podcast, see:

• C4SIF Resources page;
• The Case Against IP: A Concise Guide
• Against Intellectual Property
• Selected Supplementary Material for Against Intellectual Property

[C4SIF; SK; PFS]

Most of us probably will admit that we keep resolutions only slightly better than politicians keep campaign promises. Even President Obama couldn’t keep a promise not to raise taxes on all but the wealthiest Americans, as the current “fiscal cliff” deal does not extend the 2% payroll tax cut, which impacts every person earning a paycheck.

So don’t look to Washington to keep any resolutions in the new year. Instead, we’ve come up with a list of suggestions for our readers to continue stoking the flames of liberty, or at least keep them flickering a little while longer. (Editorial resolution for TLS: drop the tired metaphors for liberty already.)

1. Play with guns (and invite a non-gun owner to come with you)

Guns, and more to the point gun control, promise to figure prominently in the media and in Congress this year, as the country still grapples with its most horrific school shooting yet. But the public debate is largely fueled by hysteria, misinformation, and outright lies. For the vast majority of gun owners, they are simply tools for self-defense, hunting, and having fun. And what better way to demonstrate the latter than an outing to a shooting range? For a lot of people, that’s the only legal place to try their hand at firing some types of guns. Actually handling an AR-15, the so-called assault rifle that is the focus of both media pundits and gun policy wonks, may help demystify them and return some sanity to the average non-gun owner’s perspective on these useful and important tools.

2. Start blogging

There’s almost no excuse anymore for not sharing your thoughts with the world; there are near-endless varieties of blogging platforms and hosting services to choose from, and you can make it as casual or as professional as you like. But the important thing to remember is that communicating ideas of liberty is almost effortless, and they can spread faster than ever – far faster than any governmental attempt to rein them in. The “money bombs” which drove Ron Paul’s presidential campaigns would not have been possible without the use of social media, including blogs, and it’s easier than ever now to keep it going.

3. Always keep a smartphone or video recording tool handy

The violation of civil rights by law enforcement has in all likelihood been a problem since the beginnings of the modern police force, but now they face more intense scrutiny than ever, because cameras are almost literally everywhere – and many of them aren’t controlled by the state. Citizens have become the watchmen’s watchers, at least where it’s legal (and some courts are now ruling against state restrictions on recording police). It may well be that a smartphone with real-time video uploading abilities will become a more effective tool for justice than any gun or legal action.

4. Explore alternative forms of education – for yourself and your kids

With public schools still swirling the drain and recent college graduates facing few job prospects and a mountain of student loan debt, may we suggest opting out of the traditional state-backed education model entirely? Technology is enabling a full-blown education renaissance, with online learning on a vast array of subjects freely available, and homeschooling and unschooling resources more abundant than ever before. They won’t replace formal college degrees in every field of study, but they at least offer an alternative for those who wish to pursue knowledge without the excessive cost and politics of government schools.

5. Speaking of education…give the gift of Austrian economics and libertarian literature

Another benefit of the online revolution is the speed and ease of acquiring educational material on libertarianism and economics, and more importantly, sharing it with others. And it’s available for many reading and educational levels. A great example is Robert Murphy’s Lessons for the Young Economist, a high school-level economics textbook with a fresh Austrian School perspective. Other recommended books include Jacob Huebert’s Libertarianism Today, Brian Doherty’s Ron Paul’s rEVOLution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired, and Paul’s own The Revolution: A Manifesto.

6. Above all, strive to improve yourself

Demonstrating success in your daily endeavors is a great way to attract people to the message of liberty. One of the most significant differences between libertarians and statists are the former’s desire to change themselves – to lead the life they wish to lead, and not interfere with the same desires of others. By striving for excellence, others will be more interested in hearing your ideas. By such achievements we can indelibly change the world.

It is on the edge of Fall 2012, and I realized today that it is about twenty years since the publication of my first scholarly article, Estoppel: A New Justification for Individual Rights. It was published in Reason Papers No. 17 (Fall 1992), a journal established and then edited by my friend Tibor Machan. In How I Became A Libertarian, I explain how it came about:

By 1988 I was in law school, and becoming a more well rounded libertarian, having read by this time Rothbard, Mises, Bastiat, the Tannehills, and a non-trivial portion of the books offered in the Laissez-Faire Books catalog. In that year there were two significant events in my life, from a libertarian perspective. One was Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s controversial and provocative article in Liberty, “The Ultimate Justification of the Private Property Ethic” (related articles linked here). In this article Hoppe sets forth his “argumentation ethics,” which holds that the libertarian private property ethic is implied in the very activity of argumentation—because those engaged in argumentation already presuppose the value of conflict-avoidance and the ability to control property and thus, those arguing in favor of socialism contradict themselves.

The second thing was that I encountered the legal principle of “estoppel” in my contracts class. This is the ubiquitous legal principle that precludes someone from asserting a legal claim or position that is inconsistent with earlier statements or behavior. I remember sitting in contracts class, as Professor Morris lectured on this topic, thinking “Eureka!” to myself, as I began to see that the concept of estoppel meshed perfectly with libertarian logic (and also with Hoppe’s argumentation ethics). The libertarian non-aggression principle holds that force may only be used in response to (initiated) force. There is a nice symmetry here. One may use force, if and only if it is response to initiated force (aggression).

I saw in class that day that the principle of estoppel could help explain and justify the non-aggression rule. Force was justified against an aggressor, because having used force himself he would be estopped from objecting to retaliation. For him to assert that force is wrong—which he must do in order to object to retaliation—would contradict the “force is permissible” maxim underlying his own act of aggression. He is “estopped” from asserting a claim inconsistent with that underlying his earlier behavior.

My estoppel theory complements and draws on Hoppe’s argumentation ethics. For years I believed that I first came up with my estoppel theory and then read Hoppe’s work, and linked the two together. Now I am not so sure, and think that I first read and absorbed Hoppe’s argumentation ethic, which made me fixate on the similar logic of estoppel when I coincidentally studied it in law school shortly thereafter.

I was at King’s College London–University of London in 1991, pursuing a master’s degree in law, when I produced the first draft of a paper arguing estoppel can help justify libertarian rights. Somewhat naïvely, I submitted it to King’s College Law School’s law review, whereupon it was summarily rejected. Not daunted, I submitted an improved draft to Tibor Machan for his journal Reason Papers. I had read many of Machan’s works, including his Human Rights and Human Liberties and Individuals and Their Rights, and he had been kind enough to respond to several of my letters. I remember speaking with him one night, about the submission, from a students’ pay telephone at King’s College in London, and then getting drinks at a pub with friends, none of them knowing or able to appreciate I had just spoken with a libertarian writer whose books I had read. Estoppel: A New Justification for Individual Rights was published in the Fall 1992 issue of Reason Papers ….

In the meantime, I’ve elaborated on this theory in:

• Punishment and Proportionality: The Estoppel Approach, 12:1 Journal of Libertarian Studies 51 (Spring 1996);
• Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan, Anti-state.com (Sept. 19, 2002) (reply to Bob Murphy and Gene Callahan, Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s Argumentation Ethic: A Critique, Anti-state.com (Sept. 19, 2002); debate discussed in this forum);
• New Rationalist Directions in Libertarian Rights Theory, 12:2 Journal of Libertarian Studies: 313-26 (Fall 1996);
• Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide, Mises Daily (May 27, 2011).

This whole topic still interests me. In the meantime, I realize some think of me as “Mr. IP” in the libertarian movement, but I am far more interested in rights theory than in patents and copyrights…

Laissez Faire Books (LFB) is a seminal libertarian institution that dates back to 1972, six years before I was born. In its heyday, it played a central role in the libertarian movement as the largest libertarian bookseller, a publisher of libertarian books, and an old-school social network, hosting social gatherings and other events. This was before my time.

I’d never bought a book from LFB until yesterday (the 19th). By the time I became a libertarian in my undergraduate years at Louisiana State University, after reading the work of Ayn Rand (starting with The Fountainhead) at the urging of a friend, I was able to learn about libertarianism and Austrian economics from a large and growing sea of resources online. I bought books from Amazon and the Ludwig von Mises Institute (LvMI), read online articles and blogs, and took advantage of the growing library of digitized books and other media put online and hosted by the LvMI.

Laizzez Faire Books was fading into irrelevancy and, I think, in danger of being shuttered for good as it was passed from new owner to new owner. Enter Agora Financial, the latest owner of LFB, and hopefully the organization that will oversee its resuscitation and return to relevancy. With Jeffrey Tucker at the helm as executive editor, the prospects for profitability, innovation, and spreading the message of liberty are exciting indeed.

Many, if not most, of you know Jeffrey Tucker as the editorial vice president who led the LvMI into the digital age, building it into the open-source juggernaut with a vast online and free library of liberty and a thriving community that it is today. We were sad to see him leave that beloved institution, but eager to see what he would do in charge of a for-profit publisher and bookstore. Now we’ve been given the first taste.

Laissez Faire Books will of course be publishing and selling ebooks and dead-tree books individually. They’re a bit pricey this way, if you ask me.  The way you’ll want to get these books and the added value that LFB has to offer, however, is to sign on to the new business model that promises to return the company to the center of the libertarian movement as a book publisher, seller, and community (with online forums).

Yesterday, on the 19th of April, Jeffrey Tucker and LFB launched the Laissez Faire Club. This is an innovative subscription-based book club that offers a host of members-only benefits for the price of $10 per month, or $120 per year. Members will receive a 20% discount on all LFB products, a new ebook at no extra charge every week (in epub and mobi formats) as well as access to the entire archive of previously distributed ebooks, Tucker’s Take (short video book reviews by Jeffrey Tucker), free reports, live author interviews, a private online community forum shielded from search engines and prying eyes and drive-by trolls, and more now and to come.

That sounds like a good deal to me. I signed up last night for a free trial, which comes with some free content that’s yours to keep even if you choose to cancel your membership before the free trial is up.

In the information age, and in light of the illegitimacy of so-called intellectual property, how do you  make money publishing and selling books? Many are wailing and gnashing their teeth, rending their shirts, and lashing out in fear and lazy greed — unable to let go of their precious, state-supported publishing model, dependent on IP and an oligopoly over the publication and distribution of dead-tree books. The Big Six publishers don’t seem to have a clue. But I think it’s not really that hard to figure out:

You treat your customers right, provide them with valuable content that they’ll want to ensure you’re able to continue providing, and sell them added value built around the books: reasonable prices, great customer service with a personal touch, knowledgeable and engaged staff, early access, extra content like free reports on how to circumvent the state legally or Tucker’s Take, personal engagement with their favorite authors, a private and secure community comprised of fellow lovers of liberty, and so on.

Head on over to Laissez Faire Books to learn more about the new Laissez Faire Club and, if you’re a lover of liberty and books and books about liberty, become a member today.

[Prometheus Unbound & Is-Ought GAP]

The Capital Free Press has compiled a list of the top ranked “libertarian websites based on the number of unique visitors in the most recent month according to the data compiled by Compete.” The post is pasted below. Not surprisingly, LewRockwell.com is the most visited libertarian site. Four of my own sites made the list: StephanKinsella.com (#84), Libertarian Papers (#100), The Libertarian Standard (#75), and Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (C4SIF, #78).

The Most Visited Libertarian Websites

Rank	Name	Website
1	LewRockwell.com	lewrockwell.com	Compete Site Profile
2	Electronic Frontier Foundation	eff.org	Compete Site Profile
3	Ron Paul 2012 Official Campaign Website	ronpaul2012.com	Compete Site Profile
4	Reason Magazine	reason.com	Compete Site Profile
5	Daily Paul	dailypaul.com	Compete Site Profile
6	The Cato Institute	cato.org	Compete Site Profile
7	Ludwig von Mises Institute	mises.org	Compete Site Profile
8	AntiWar.com	antiwar.com	Compete Site Profile
9	RonPaul.com	ronpaul.com	Compete Site Profile
10	Outside the Beltway	outsidethebeltway.com	Compete Site Profile
11	Economic Policy Journal	economicpolicyjournal.com	Compete Site Profile
12	Library of Economics and Liberty	econlib.org	Compete Site Profile
13	The Daily Bell	thedailybell.com	Compete Site Profile
14	Ron Paul Forums	ronpaulforums.com	Compete Site Profile
15	Endorse Liberty PAC	endorseliberty.com	Compete Site Profile
16	Tenth Amendment Center	tenthamendmentcenter.com	Compete Site Profile
17	Cato-at-Liberty Blog	cato-at-liberty.org	Compete Site Profile
18	The Freeman	thefreemanonline.org	Compete Site Profile
19	Future of Freedom Foundation	fff.org	Compete Site Profile
20	Campaign For Liberty	campaignforliberty.com	Compete Site Profile
21	The Independent Institute	independent.org	Compete Site Profile
22	Advocates for Self Government	theadvocates.org	Compete Site Profile
23	Marginal Revolution	marginalrevolution.com	Compete Site Profile
24	The Agitator – Radley Balko	theagitator.com	Compete Site Profile
25	Carpe Diem – Mark J. Perry	mjperry.blogspot.com	Compete Site Profile
26	Libertarian Party	lp.org	Compete Site Profile
27	Tom Woods	tomwoods.com	Compete Site Profile
28	Whiskey and Gunpowder	whiskeyandgunpowder.com	Compete Site Profile
29	Revolution PAC	revolutionpac.com	Compete Site Profile
30	Run Ron Paul	runronpaul.com	Compete Site Profile
31	The Ayn Rand Institute	aynrand.org	Compete Site Profile
32	Cop Block	copblock.org	Compete Site Profile
33	Acton Institute	acton.org	Compete Site Profile
34	Free State Project	freestateproject.org	Compete Site Profile
35	Adam Vs The Man	adamvstheman.com	Compete Site Profile
36	United Liberty	unitedliberty.org	Compete Site Profile
37	Reason Foundation	reason.org	Compete Site Profile
38	Moment of Clarity – Tim Nerenz	timnerenz.com	Compete Site Profile
39	Cafe Hayek	cafehayek.com	Compete Site Profile
40	Downsize DC	downsizedc.org	Compete Site Profile
41	Free Keene	freekeene.com	Compete Site Profile
42	The Humble Libertarian	humblelibertarian.com	Compete Site Profile
43	Laissez-Faire Books	lfb.org	Compete Site Profile
44	Strike-The-Root	strike-the-root.com	Compete Site Profile
45	Foundation for Economic Education	fee.org	Compete Site Profile
46	John Locke Foundation	johnlocke.org	Compete Site Profile
47	Break The Matrix	breakthematrix.com	Compete Site Profile
48	BuildFreedom.com	buildfreedom.com	Compete Site Profile
49	Competitive Enterprise Institute	cei.org	Compete Site Profile
50	Libertarianism.org	libertarianism.org	Compete Site Profile
51	Vox Popoli	voxday.blogspot.com	Compete Site Profile
52	The Institute for Justice	ij.org	Compete Site Profile
53	OpenMarket.org – The Blog of the CEI	openmarket.org	Compete Site Profile
54	Freedomain Radio	freedomainradio.com	Compete Site Profile
55	Institute for Humane Studies	theihs.org	Compete Site Profile
56	Peter Schiff Show	schiffradio.com	Compete Site Profile
57	Center for a Stateless Society	c4ss.org	Compete Site Profile
58	Learn Liberty	learnliberty.org	Compete Site Profile
59	Young Americans for Liberty	yaliberty.org	Compete Site Profile
60	Young Americans for Liberty	yaliberty.org	Compete Site Profile
61	Reason.tv	reason.tv	Compete Site Profile
62	Free Talk Live	freetalklive.com	Compete Site Profile
63	The Future of Capitalism	futureofcapitalism.com	Compete Site Profile
64	Doug Wead The Blog	dougwead.wordpress.com	Compete Site Profile
65	Libertarian Republican	libertarianrepublican.net	Compete Site Profile
66	Adam Smith Institute	adamsmith.org	Compete Site Profile
67	The Capital Free Press	capitalfreepress.com	Compete Site Profile
68	Bleeding Heart Libertarians	bleedingheartlibertarians.com	Compete Site Profile
69	Militant Libertarian	militantlibertarian.org	Compete Site Profile
70	Students for Liberty	studentsforliberty.org	Compete Site Profile
71	Coyote Blog	coyoteblog.com	Compete Site Profile
72	Ron Paul News	ronpaulnews.net	Compete Site Profile
73	Republican Liberty Caucus	rlc.org	Compete Site Profile
74	Bastiat Institute	bastiatinstitute.org	Compete Site Profile
75	The Libertarian Standard	libertarianstandard.com	Compete Site Profile
76	AgainstCronyCapitalism.org	againstcronycapitalism.org	Compete Site Profile
77	Coordination Problem	coordinationproblem.org	Compete Site Profile
78	Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom	c4sif.org	Compete Site Profile
79	realfreemarket.org	realfreemarket.org	Compete Site Profile
80	Goldwater Institute	goldwaterinstitute.org	Compete Site Profile
81	Liberty Radio Network	lrn.fm	Compete Site Profile
82	Ideas – David Friedman	daviddfriedman.blogspot.com	Compete Site Profile
83	Daily Anarchist	dailyanarchist.com	Compete Site Profile
84	Stephan Kinsella	stephankinsella.com	Compete Site Profile
85	NeverTakeaPlea.org	nevertakeaplea.org	Compete Site Profile
86	Liberty Underground	1787network.com	Compete Site Profile
87	Liberty Pulse	libertypulse.com	Compete Site Profile
88	Peace, Freedom & Prosperity	peacefreedomprosperity.com	Compete Site Profile
89	Free Advice – Robert Murphy	consultingbyrpm.com	Compete Site Profile
90	Libertarian Leanings	libertarianleanings.com	Compete Site Profile
91	Americans for Limited Government	getliberty.org	Compete Site Profile
92	Liberty Documentaries	libertydocumentaries.com	Compete Site Profile
93	Liberty PAC	libertypac.net	Compete Site Profile
94	Taking Hayek Seriously	hayekcenter.org	Compete Site Profile
95	Liberty Maven	libertymaven.com	Compete Site Profile
96	Congress Shall Make No Law: IJ’s Free Speech Blog	makenolaw.org	Compete Site Profile
97	Ron Paul Radio	ronpaulradio.com	Compete Site Profile
98	LacrosseWatchDog	lacrossewatchdog.org	Compete Site Profile
99	Bad Quaker	badquaker.com	Compete Site Profile
100	Libertarian Papers	libertarianpapers.org	Compete Site Profile
101	Porcupine Freedom Festival	porcfest.com	Compete Site Profile
102	The Libertarian Patriot	thelibertarianpatriot.com	Compete Site Profile
103	The Southern Libertarian	thesouthernlibertarian.com	Compete Site Profile
104	The Tireless Agorist	tirelessagorist.blogspot.com	Compete Site Profile
105	Liberty Classroom	libertyclassroom.com	Compete Site Profile
106	Government by Contract	governmentbycontract.com	Compete Site Profile
107	Freespace – Timothy Sandefur	sandefur.typepad.com	Compete Site Profile
108	Austrian Dad	austriandad.blogspot.com	Compete Site Profile
109	JasonPye.com	jasonpye.com	Compete Site Profile
110	Libertarian Advocate	libertarianadvocate.blogspot.com	Compete Site Profile
111	Liberty Web Alliance	libertyweballiance.com	Compete Site Profile
112	Liberty On Tour	libertyontour.com	Compete Site Profile
113	Libertarian Book Club	libertarianbookclub.com	Compete Site Profile
114	Run Rand Run	runrandrun.com	Compete Site Profile

[Crossposts: StephanKinsella.com; Libertarian Papers; C4SIF]

Recommended podcasts:

• Profiles in Liberty: Tibor Machan, by Stephen Hicks. Great profile of an important libertarian thinker and good friend of mine.  “Tibor Machan is professor of philosophy at Chapman University in California. He was born in Communist Hungary, smuggled out as a teenager, and came to the United States, where he earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. A prolific writer, he has published over forty books and scores of essays. A recent collection of scholarly essays on Machan’s work, Reality, Reason, and Rights: Essays in Honor of Tibor R. Machan, edited by Douglas B. Rasmussen, Aeon J. Skoble, and Douglas J. Den Uyl, was published in 2011.”
• The World No One Will Tell You is Possible, Radio Free Market interview with Jeff Tucker, about various themes discussed in his book It’s a Jetsons World, such as intellectual property and other issues.

Pretty much everyone knows–or should know–that many, and maybe most, of the points made by most politicians are of little value, amounting to little more than equine feces at best. A commercial I saw the other day illustrated that the same is true of TV commercials. (Yes, I realize that’s no discovery. But still…) The advertisement I saw featured a clean-cut young man making a pitch to “buy American-made gasoline at Kwik Fill” because doing so “strengthens our economy.” Do people believe that type of thing? The short answer is:  Yes. How do I know? Because presidents–and presidential candidates–have been saying pretty much the same thing for close to 4 decades, beginning with Nixon and continuing right up through Obama.

Rachel Maddow–not exactly a standard-bearer for libertarian ideals and the power of the free market–demolished this lunacy on her show, and the episode is immortalized on YouTube, under the appropriate title, “Oil Is Oil Is Oil.” There is no such thing as “foreign” oil and there is no such thing as “domestic” oil. There is no way to purchase oil from domestic sources or that “benefits Americans only.” Maddow covers many valid points in the video–which is recommended viewing–but in economics-speak, oil is fungible. As such, the concept of energy independence by lessening the U.S. dependence on foreign oil is just the same old jingoistic bird cage liner scrapings. All oil is sold on an international market and all oil is purchased from that same place. Which service station you use is largely irrelevant.

Admittedly, Maddow makes a couple points with which I disagree, most notably in her suggestion that we can affect positive change by lessening our overall dependence on oil. To that suggestion, my response would be “Why?” To what purpose should we–users of energy–attempt to cut back on our usage of energy? To what purpose should we–people who benefit from all manner of conveniences due directly to the technology of fossil fuels–attempt to change our ways? I can only assume that Maddow believes, like many liberals, and many conservatives, that the consumer should react to policy concerns versus market signals. If oil is the cheapest alternative, then the consumer should continue to buy it, period. If, and when, oil becomes so rare as to not be the cheapest alternative (and/or the best technological alternative) the costs should reflect it, and we consumers will move on to something else. (The costs will reflect it, unless the government gets in the way.) The problem is not over-dependence on oil. The problem is lack of understanding of basic economics, the market, and the ramifications of supply and demand.

Of more concern to me, and maybe more importance, is this:  If this type of obviously-flawed economics thinking, as evidenced by that commercial, has pervaded presidential talking points for forty years and continues to pervade TV advertising even now, how much more horribly flawed information flows unabated?

Bottom Line:  I guess they don’t call it the idiot box for nothing.

Cross-posted at the LRCBlog.

As noted previously, the venerable Laissez Faire Books–whose catalog I devoured and used for years in the 80s and 90s as a source of libertarian and free market books–was recently purchased by Agora Financial, which then hired Jeff Tucker as Executive Editor.

The site was rolled out today and it’s really nice, and sure to keep improving over time. Spread the word, and do your libertarian book shopping there!

Another full chapter of Libertarianism Today is now online for free — this one on why libertarianism is antiwar. This is my favorite chapter of the book, so I’m especially glad I could make it available through Antiwar.com.

Other parts of the book you can read for free online:

• Reagan: No Revolution
• When All Drugs Were Legal
• The Drug War’s Dubious Foundations
• What Is Libertarianism? (full chapter)
• The Fight Against Intellectual Property (full chapter)

And if you want to read the whole thing, it’s on sale at a special low price for a limited time.