Anarchy, Order, and
Functions Performed by Government
by Richard O. Hammer
Contains a list of human needs that can be provided by the state.
Different people think government should fill different needs from the
list, so they support the state. But all of these needs could be
provided voluntarily. We can have order without the state.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
reviewed by Richard O. Hammer
As a source of insight into how we might create a free nation, this
novel is not very helpful, despite the libertarian beliefs of its heroes.
Climbing Off the Bandwagon
by Wendy McElroy
An argument against the Libertarian Party on the grounds
that, "Voluntaryists observe that politics will not bring freedom any
more than violence will bring peace."
Continued Dialog on the
Origin of the State
by Roderick Long and Phil Jacobson
Was the state inevitable or merely more likely to arise in times of famine?
Dialogue: Electronic
Democracy and the Prospects for a Free Nation
by Richard O. Hammer and Phil Jacobson
An exchange of letters regarding Phil Jacobson's article
Glorious Revolution
for an American Free Nation.
Dismantling Leviathan
from Within, Part I: Can We? Should We?
by Roderick T. Long
Argues that seizing political power could be justified as a form
of self-defense.
Dismantling Leviathan
from Within, Part II: The Process of Reform?
by Roderick T. Long
Argues that "those aspects of government whose immediate cessation
is ethically mandatory are distinct from the aspects which must for
practical reasons be phased out over time, so that an effective
state-dismantling program can take an abolitionist attitude toward
the former and a gradualist attitude toward the latter, consistent
with both libertarian moral scruples and pragmatic requirements."
Dismantling Leviathan
from Within, Part III: Is Libertarian Political Action Self-Defeating?
by Roderick T. Long
This part challenges the following three arguments: "first, that
reliance on political rather than educational solutions flies in
the face of libertarian recognition that the bottom-up approaches
are more effective than top-down ones; second, that trying to put
libertarians in power ignores the fact that power tends to corrupt
its holders, even if those holders are libertarian; and third, that
by engaging in political action libertarians would be perceived as
hypocritical and so would undermine their own effectiveness."
Dismantling Leviathan
from Within, Part IV: The Sons of Brutus
by Roderick T. Long
Argues that those who believe they stand to lose from the establishment
of a libertarian regime will obstruct it, and they can only be overcome
if libertarians use a bottom-up and a top-down approach simultaneously.
Does Freedom Need
to Be Organized?
by Carl Watner
An argument for self-improvement as the only strategy to achieve
a better world.
Elections, Libertarians,
and State Power
by Calvin Stacy Powers
"If we want to gain power to dismantle the state, we must start by
working for good in our own communities."
Embracing the New
World Order: Libertarians and Terrorism
by Phil Jacobson
An optimistic analysis of the terrorism problem. The failure of the
imperial, statist approach to the problem will lead to opportunities for
libertarian entrepreneurs.
Food Wars and the
Origin of the State
by Philip Jacobson
The state originated in food wars. Such wars are now obsolete and so
is the state.
Glorious Revolution for
an American Free Nation
by Philip E. Jacobson
Raises the possibility of a bloodless, libertarian revolution, which
may already be underway in America.
The Good News: Tyrants
Always Fail
by Richard O. Hammer
"When we comprehend, and communicate successfully, the pattern which
underlies the evil of the state, then we will defeat it."
How Can Governments
Be Abolished
by Lyof N. Tolstoy
Cease to give governments soldiers and money.
Ideas on Taking Apart
Government
by Richard O. Hammer
Can government dismantle government?
Is It Wise to Vote?
Getting My Head Ready for Freedom
by Richard O. Hammer
Voting wastes time and energy that could be better spent working to
create a free nation.
Libertarianism's stealthy
triumph
by Bill Winter
"Quietly, without much fanfare, many free-market, libertarian-style
alternatives to government-run systems--even ones considered hopelessly
radical, like private roads and money--have been implemented around
the country."
The Mechanism of
Mind by Edward de Bono
reviewed by Richard Hammer
"He gives a model of what we are up against, ingrained patterns of
thought, and suggests ways of overcoming adversely ingrained patterns."
Nations
by Consent: Decoupling the Nation-State
by Murray N. Rothbard
This is a PDF file. You need Adobe Acrobat(TM) or an equivalent program
to handle PDF files.
The Origins of
States
by Roy Halliday
Describes what experts have learned about how primary states arose.
A Pessimistic
View of Legitimizing the Institutions of a Free Nation
by Roy Halliday
"Our [libertarian] views are not wrong, they are just not likely to
be popular with the stupid masses or with their more intelligent but
evil rulers."
The Power of Non-Violent
Resistance
by Jerry M. Tinker
How non-violent resistance works as a radical alternative to electoral
politics.
Reply to Roderick
Long's "Was the State Inevitable?"
by Phil Jacobson
"The state was formed when bands of conquering warriors found it was
more expedient to treat the conquered as cattle than to simply kill
them and/or steal from them."
Roll Back U.S.
Government? Not This Time
by Marc D. Joffe
We can't count on the "Republican Revolution" or the Libertarian Party
to transform the USA into a free nation. The best prospects for liberty
remain somewhere outside the United States.
The State: Its History
and Development Viewed Sociologically by Franz Oppenheimer
reviewed by Candice I. Copas
A positive review and summary of Oppenheimer's theory of the origin of
the state, the stages of its development, its history, and its future.
The state: Its rise and decline
by Martin van Creveld
In the future, independent organizations can be expected to
emancipate themselves from state control and to play an
independent role. Depending on the issue and on the moment, they
may cooperate with governments, exercise pressure on governments,
oppose governments, and even wage war on governments.
Thoughts on Dismantling
Government
by Richard O. Hammer
When the state monopolizes an essential service, it is important to
establish a market alternative before entirely dismantling the
government service.
The
twisting of blame
by Joseph Rowlands
Who is to blame for "business controlling and manipulating
government?" Rowlands says that the argument is twisted because
government is the ultimate corrupting force.
Was the State Inevitable?
by Roderick T. Long
The state was not inevitable, although the material scarcity before the
industrial revolution made the creation of the state more likely.
Why Government Doesn't
Work by Harry Brown
reviewed by Marc D. Joffe
This book does an excellent job of explaining libertarian ideas to newcomers. It will also appeal to libertarian activists, whether they are advocates of pragmatism or consistency.
You Can't Do That
by Bobby Yates Emory
An argument that trying to use government to reduce government is
counterproductive.
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This page was last updated on March 7, 2004.