For alternative meanings of libertarianism, see: Libertarianism (disambiguation).

Libertarianism is a term used by a broad spectrum^[1] of political philosophies which prioritize individual liberty^[2] and seek to minimize or even abolish the state.^[3][4] The definition of libertarian in a political sense is a contentious issue and there is no single principle or set of principles on which all libertarians would agree. The proper role of government is described from a number of different metaphysical, epistemological, and moral viewpoints.^[5] 'Libertarian' is an antonym of 'authoritarian'.^[6]

History

"Libertarian" was originally used by free-thinkers to mean those who believed in free-will (as opposed to determinism).^[7] Libertarianism is still used in metaphysical discussions of free will.

Political Adoption

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, "the first person willingly to call himself an anarchist," outlined a "libertarian society based on cooperation, as opposed to competition and coercion, and functioning without the need for government authority."^[8] The French anarcho-communist Joseph Déjacque's use of the word "libertaire" in an 1857 letter to Proudhon is said to be the first use of the term which translates into English as "libertarian."^[9][10]

The term libertarian was first popularized in France in the 1890s in order to counter and evade the anti-anarchist laws known as the les lois scélérates. According to the anarchist historian Max Nettlau, first use of the term libertarian communism was in November 1880, when a French anarchist congress employed it to more clearly identify its doctrines.^[11] The French anarchist journalist Sébastien Faure, later founder and editor of the four-volume Anarchist Encyclopedia, started the weekly paper Le Libertaire (The Libertarian) in 1895.^[10]

In the United States libertarianism as a synonym for anarchism had meantime begun to take hold. The anarchist communist geographer and social theorist Peter Kropotkin wrote in his seminal 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article Anarchism that:

"It would be impossible to represent here, in a short sketch, the penetration, on the one hand, of anarchist ideas into modern literature, and the influence, on the other hand, which the libertarian ideas of the best contemporary writers have exercised upon the development of anarchism."^[12]

Today, worldwide, anarchist communist, libertarian socialist, and other left-libertarian movements continue to describe themselves as libertarian. This style of libertarianism extends from Left-wing Marxism to Anarchism who are opposed to most or all forms of private property but would not use a coercive state to abolish it.

Adoption by pro-property movements

Age of Enlightenment ideas of "individual liberty, constitutionally limited government, peace, and reliance on the institutions of civil society and the free market for social order and economic prosperity" were the basis of what became know as liberalism in the 19th century. While it kept that meaning in most of the world "modern liberalism in the United States" began to mean a more statist viewpoint. Over time those who held to the earlier liberal views began to call themselves market liberals, classical liberals or libertarians.^[13] While conservatism in Europe continued to mean conserving hierarchical class structures through state control of society and the economy, some conservatives in the United States began to refer to conserving traditions of liberty. This was especially true of the "Old Right" who opposed The New Deal and U.S. military interventions in World War I and World War II.^[14][15]

In the 1940s, Leonard Read began calling himself "libertarian."^[7] In 1955, Dean Russell wrote an article in the Foundation for Economic Education magazine pondering what to call those, such as himself, who subscribed to the classical liberal philosophy. He suggested: "Let those of us who love liberty trademark and reserve for our own use the good and honorable word "libertarian."^[16]

Starting in the 1930s and continuing until today, a group of central European economists lead by Austrians Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek identified the collectivist underpinnings to the various new socialist and fascist doctrines of government power as being different brands of totalitarianism. The Austrian school of economics had a powerful impact on both economic teaching and classical liberal and libertarian principles.^[17][18] It influenced economists and political philosophers and theorists including Henry Hazlitt, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Israel Kirzner, Murray Rothbard, Walter Block, Richard M. Ebeling and others.

Ayn Rand's international best sellers The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) and her books about her philosophy of Objectivism inspired a new interest in ideas of liberty and influenced modern libertarianism. Brian Doherty describes her influence: "[H]er literary skills and burning moral passion, as much as her rigorous, systematic approach to the linkages between reason and liberty, will remain a powerful introduction to the idea that your life belongs to you, not to the state or the collective?and to the rich and complex series of conclusions about the proper nature and mission of government that follows from that idea."^[19] For a number of years after the publication of her books people promoting libertarian philosophy continued to call it "individualism."^[20] Two other women also published influential pro-freedom books in 1943, Rose Wilder Lane?s The Discovery of Freedom and Isabel Paterson?s The God of the Machine.^[21]

According to libertarian publisher Robert W. Poole, Arizona United States Senator Barry Goldwater's message of "individual liberty, economic freedom, and anti-communism" also had a major impact on the libertarian movement, both with the publication of his book Conscience of a Conservative and with his run for president in 1964. He made it "acceptable to question the legitimacy of an all-powerful national government."^[22] Goldwater's speech writer, Karl Hess, would go on to become a leading libertarian writer and activist.^[23]

The Cold War mentality of military interventionism, which had supplanted "Old Right" noninterventionism, was promoted by conservatives like William F. Buckley and accepted by many libertarians, with Murray Rothbard being a notable dissenter.^[24] However, the Vietnam War split the uneasy alliance between growing numbers of self-identified libertarians and anarcho-libertarians and more traditional conservatives who believed in limiting liberty if it conflicted with moral virtues. Libertarians joined the draft resistance and peace movements and even Students for a Democratic Society. They began founding their own publications, like Murray Rothbard's The Libertarian Forum and organizations like the Radical Libertarian Alliance. The split was aggravated at the 1969 Young Americans for Freedom convention when more than 300 libertarians organized to take control of the organization from conservatives. The burning of a draft card in protest to a conservative proposal against draft resistance sparked physical confrontations among convention attendees, a walk out by a large number of libertarians, the creation of new purely libertarian organizations like the Society for Individual Liberty and efforts to recruit potential libertarians from conservative organizations.^[25] It was finalized in 1971 when conservative leader William F. Buckley in a 1971 New York Times attempted to read libertarians out of the freedom movement. He wrote: "The ideological licentiousness that rages through America today makes anarchy attractive to the simple-minded. Even to the ingeniously simple-minded."^[21]

In 1971 libertarians including David Nolan and a few friends formed the first libertarian political party.^[26] Attracting former Democrats, Republicans and independents, it has run a presidential candidate every year since 1972, including Ed Clark (1980), Ron Paul (1988), Harry Browne (1996 and 2000) and Bob Barr (2008). By 2006 polls showed that 15 percent of American voters identified themselves as libertarian.^[27] World wide, dozens more libertarian political parties have been formed in the ensuing years. (See list). Educational organizations like the Center for Libertarian Studies and the Cato Institute were formed in the 1970s and more have been created worldwide in the ensuing years.^[28]

Philosophical libertarianism gained a significant measure of recognition in the academy with the publication of Harvard University professor Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia in 1974. The book won a National Book Award in 1975.^[29] According to libertarian essayist Roy Childs: "Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia single-handedly established the legitimacy of libertarianism as a political theory in the world of academia. Indeed, it is not too much to say that without Nozick's book, there might not be a vital and growing academic libertarian movement today, making its way from university to university, from discipline to discipline, from nation to nation."^[30]

Libertarian principles

According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:

Libertarians are committed to the belief that individuals, and not states or groups of any other kind, are both ontologically and normatively primary; that individuals have rights against certain kinds of forcible interference on the part of others; that liberty, understood as non-interference, is the only thing that can be legitimately demanded of others as a matter of legal or political right; that robust property rights and the economic liberty that follows from their consistent recognition are of central importance in respecting individual liberty; that social order is not at odds with but develops out of individual liberty; that the only proper use of coercion is defensive or to rectify an error; that governments are bound by essentially the same moral principles as individuals; and that most existing and historical governments have acted improperly insofar as they have utilized coercion for plunder, aggression, redistribution, and other purposes beyond the protection of individual liberty.^[5]

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states "libertarianism holds that agents initially fully own themselves and have moral powers to acquire property rights in external things under certain conditions." It notes that libertarianism is not a ?right-wing? doctrine because of its opposition to laws restricting adult consensual sexual relationships, drug use or imposing religious views or practices or compulsory military service. However, it notes there is a version known as ?left-libertarianism? which also endorses full self-ownership, but "differs on unappropriated natural resources (land, air, water, etc.)." "Right-libertarianism" holds that typically such resources may be appropriated by individuals. "Left-libertarianism" holds they belong to everyone and must be distributed in some egalitarian manner.^[1]

While the traditional political ?left-right? spectrum is a line, the Nolan chart, created by David Nolan, is a plane, situating libertarianism in a wider gamut of political thought.

Isaiah Berlin's 1958 essay "Two Concepts of Liberty" described a difference between negative liberty which limits the power of the state to interfere and positive liberty in which a paternalistic state helps individuals achiever self-realization and self-determination. He believed these were rival and incompatible interpretations of liberty and held that demands for positive liberty lead to authoritarianism. This view has been adopted by many libertarians including Robert Nozick and Murray Rothbard.^[33]

Libertarians contrast two ethical views: consequentialist libertarianism, which is the support for liberty because it leads to favorable consequences, such as prosperity or efficiency and deontological libertarianism (also known as "rights-theorist libertarianism," "natural rights libertarianism," or "libertarian moralism") which consider moral tenets to be the basis of libertarian philosophy.^[34] Others combine a hybrid of consequentialist and deontologist thinking.^[35]

Another view, contractarian libertarianism, holds that any legitimate authority of government derives not from the consent of the governed, but from contract or mutual agreement. Robert Nozick holds a variation on this view, as does Jan Narveson as outlined in his 1988 work The Libertarian Idea and his 2002 work Respecting Persons in Theory and Practice. Other advocates of contractarian libertarianism include the Nobel Laureate and founder of the public choice school of economics James M. Buchanan, Canadian philosopher David Gauthier and Hungarian-French philosopher Anthony de Jasay.^[36][37][38]

Libertarian viewpoints

Libertarians views differ regarding the degree of liberty and the means to achieve liberty.

Anarchism

Anarchism is a political philosophy encompassing many theories and traditions, all opposed to compulsory government, i.e. the state. Anarchism is usually considered to left-wing ideology, it always has included individualists who support pro-property and market-orientated economic structures. Anarchists support everything from extreme individualism to complete collectivism.

Geolibertarianism

Geolibertarianism is a political movement that strives to reconcile libertarianism and Georgism (or geoism).^[39] Geolibertarians are advocates of geoism, which is the position that all land is a common asset to which all individuals have an equal right to access, and therefore if individuals claim the land as their property they must pay rent to the community for doing so. Rent need not be paid for the mere use of land, but only for the right to exclude others from that land, and for the protection of one's title by government.They simulatenously agree with the libertarian position that each individual has an exclusive right to the fruits of his or her labor as their private property, as opposed to this product being owned collectively by society or the community, and that "one's labor, wages, and the products of labor" should not be taxed. Also, with traditional libertarians they advocate "full civil liberties, with no crimes unless there are victims who have been invaded."^[39] Geolibertarians generally advocate distributing the land rent to the community via a land value tax, as proposed by Henry George and others before him. For this reason, they are often called "single taxers". Fred E. Foldvary coined the word "geo-libertarianism" in an article so titled in Land and Liberty, May/June 1981, pp. 53-55. In the case of geoanarchism, the voluntary form of geolibertarianism as described by Foldvary, rent would be collected by private associations with the opportunity to secede from a geocommunity (and not receive the geocommunity's services) if desired.

Left-libertarianism

Left-libertarianism is usually regarded as doctrine that has an egalitarian view concerning natural resources, believing that it is not legitimate for someone to claim private ownership of resources to the detriment of others.^[1][40][41] Most left libertarians support some form of income redistribution on the grounds of a claim by each individual to be entitled to an equal share of natural resources.^[41] Left libertarianism is defended by contemporary theorists such as Peter Vallentyne, Hillel Steiner, Michael Otsuka, and Noam Chomsky.^[42] The term is sometimes used as a synonym for libertarian socialism.^[43]

Some members of the U.S. libertarian movement, including the late Samuel Edward Konkin III^[44] and Roderick T. Long,^[45] employ a differing definition of left libertarianism. These individuals depart from other forms of libertarianism by opposing intellectual property,^[46] by advocating strong alliances with the Left on issues such as the anti-war movement,^[47] and by supporting labor unions.^[48][49] Some wish to revive voluntary cooperative ideas such as mutualism.^[50]

Libertarian conservatism

Libertarian conservatism describes certain political ideologies which combine libertarian economic issues with social conservatism.^[51] Its four main branches are Constitutionalism, paleolibertarianism, small government conservatism, and Christian libertarianism. They generally differ from paleoconservatives, in that they are in favor of more personal and economic freedom.^[52] Agorists such as Samuel Edward Konkin III consider libertarian conservatism a form of right-libertarianism.^[53][54]

Notable libertarian conservatives include Barry Goldwater^[55] and Ron Paul.^[55][56].

In constrast to paleoconservatives, libertarian conservatives support strict laissez-faire policies such as free trade, opposition to the Federal Reserve and opposition to most business regulations.^[52] They are vehemently opposed to environmental regulations, corporate welfare, subsidies, and other areas of economic intervention. Many of them have views in accord to Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. ^[51] Others align themselves with Milton Friedman.

Libertarian conservatives are more tolerant of social issues such as drug legalization and illegal immigration^[57] than paleoconservatives. They view illegal immigration as being caused by the welfare state, which should be eliminated.^[58][59] They're more tolerant of gay marriage, although they think that marriage should be deregulated by the state and should be a church function.^[60] However, many of them oppose abortion, as they see it as a positive liberty that violates the non-aggression principle because abortion is aggression towards the fetus.^[61] Conservative libertarians usually call for strict construction of the U.S. Constitution, which they expect would vastly reduce the size and intrusiveness of government, and a strengthening of states rights.

Libertarian progressivism

Libertarian progressivism supports the civil libertarian aspect of freedom as well as supporting the kind of economic freedom that emphasizes removing corporate subsidies and other favoritism to special interests, and applying a responsible transition toward freedom - for example, some support a transition approach that includes certain trade restrictions on imports from countries that have very little freedom, so that more free trade with those countries would be phased in as they move toward more freedom. Libertarian progressives are sometimes libertarian Democrats.^[62][63]

Libertarian socialism

Libertarian socialism aims to create a society in which all violent or coercive institutions would be dissolved, and in their place every person would have free, equal access to tools of information and production, or a society in which such coercive institutions and hierarchies were drastically reduced in scope.^[64]

This equality and freedom would be achieved through the abolition of "authoritarian" institutions such as an individual's right to own private property,^[65] in order that direct control of the means of production and resources will be gained by the working class and society as a whole.

Political philosophies commonly described as libertarian socialist include: most varieties of anarchism (especially anarchist communism, anarchist collectivism, anarcho-syndicalism,^[66] social ecology,^[67] and council communism^[68] (or even communism itself, as it is described by Karl Marx or Lenin in a further stage of development of socialism).

Minarchism

Minarchism is the belief that a state should exist but that its functions should be minimal because its sole purpose is protecting the rights of the people, including protecting people and their property from the criminal acts of others, as well as providing for national defense.^[69]

Mutualism

Mutualism, as a libertarian^[70][71][72] free-market anarchist school of thought, can be traced to the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon that envisioned a society where each person might possess a means of production either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor. Integral to the scheme was the establishment of a mutual credit bank which would lend to producers at a minimal interest rate only high enough to cover the costs of administration.^[73] Mutualism is based on a labor theory of value which holds that when labor or its product is sold, it ought to receive in exchange, goods or services embodying "the amount of labor necessary to produce an article of exactly similar and equal utility"^[74] (receiving anything less is considered exploitation, theft of labor, or "usury"). Some mutualists believe that if the state did not intervene, economic law would ensure that individuals receive no more income than that in proportion to the amount of labor they exert.^[75] Mutualists oppose the idea of individuals receiving an income through loans, investments, and rent, as they believe these individuals are not laboring. Some of them hold that if state intervention ceased, these types of incomes would disappear.^[76] Though Proudhon opposed this type of income, he expressed: "... I never meant to ... forbid or suppress, by sovereign decree, ground rent and interest on capital. I believe that all these forms of human activity should remain free and optional for all."^[77]

Objectivism

Libertarianism's status is in dispute among those who style themselves Objectivists (Objectivism is the name philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand gave her philosophy). Though elements of Rand's philosophy have been adopted by libertarianism, Objectivists (including Rand herself) have condemned libertarianism as a threat to freedom and capitalism. In particular, it has been claimed that libertarians use Objectivist ideas "with the teeth pulled out of them".^[78][79]

Conversely, some libertarians see Objectivists as dogmatic, unrealistic, and uncompromising (Objectivists do not see the last as a negative attribute). According to Reason editor Nick Gillespie in the magazine's March 2005 issue focusing on Objectivism's influence, Rand is "one of the most important figures in the libertarian movement... Rand remains one of the best-selling and most widely influential figures in American thought and culture" in general and in libertarianism in particular. Still, he confesses that he is embarrassed by his magazine's association with her ideas. In the same issue, Cathy Young says that "Libertarianism, the movement most closely connected to Rand's ideas, is less an offspring than a rebel stepchild." Though they reject what they see as Randian dogmas, libertarians like Young still believe that "Rand's message of reason and liberty... could be a rallying point" for libertarianism.

Objectivists reject the oft-heard libertarian refrain that State and government are "necessary evils": for them, a government limited to protection of its citizens' rights is absolutely necessary and moral. Objectivists are opposed to all anarchist currents and are suspicious of libertarians' lineage with individualist anarchism.^[80]

Current Libertarian Movements

In Europe

Liberté chérie (Cherished Liberty) in France is a pro-liberty think tank and activist association formed in 2003. Liberté chérie gained significant publicity when it managed to draw 30,000 Parisians into the streets to demonstrate against government employees who were striking.^[81][82]

In Germany a Libertäre Plattform in der FDP (Liberty Caucus within the Free Democratic Party) was founded in 2005.

The Russian Libertarian Movement, or Rossiyskoye Libertarianskoye Dvizhenie (RLD) (2003-2006) was a short-lived political party in the Russian Federation, formed by members of the, a libertarian think-tank Institute of Natiology (Moscow). After electoral failure and government failure, it disbanded.

Commonwealth of Nations

The Libertarian Alliance was an early libertarian educational group. It was followed by British think tanks such as the Adam Smith Institute. A British Libertarian Party was founded on January 1st, 2008.

In the United States

Well known libertariani organizations include the Center for Libertarian Studies, the Cato Institute the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)

• International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL)

the Ludwig von Mises Institute. The Libertarian Party of the United States is the world?s first such party.

The activist Free State Project, formed in 2001, works to bring 20,000 libertarians to the state of New Hampshire to influence state policy. They had signed up 1,033 people by 2008. Similar projects include include the Free West Alliance and Free State Wyoming. (There is also a European Free State Project.

In Latin America

Costa Rica's Movimiento Libertario (Libertarian Movement) is libertarian party which holds roughly 10% of the seats in Costa Rica's national assembly (legislature). The Limón REAL Project seeks for autonomy in a province in Costa Rica.^[83]

See also

• Americans for Limited Government
• Australian Libertarian Society
• Criticisms of the War on Terrorism
• Criticism of fractional-reserve banking
• Free Talk Live
• International Society for Individual Liberty
• Issues in libertarianism
• Laissez Faire Books
• Liberator Online
• Liberism
• Libertarian Management
• Libertarianz
• Liberty
• Liberty Magazine
• List of libertarian political parties
• Progressive libertarianism
• Right-libertarianism
• Society for Individual Freedom
• South Park Republican
• The Freeman
• List of liberal theorists

References

Bibliography

External links

General Resources

• Mises Institute
• Lew Rockwell Institute
• Antiwar.com
• Reason Magazine
• Libertarianism.com - Mainstream Libertarianism by the Advocates for Self-Government
• Libertarian wiki
• Critiques from Critiques of Libertarianism.

Articles

• Libertarianism entry at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty by Murray Rothbard
• Are Libertarians "Anarchists"? - Article by Murray N. Rothbard
• "a libertarian Democrat manifesto" by former DNC press secretary Terry Michael, July 2006

Political parties and organizations

• Libertarian National Committee / Libertarian Party (U.S.)
• Democratic Freedom Caucus (U.S.)
• Republican Liberty Caucus (U.S.)
• ASP | Libertarian News A libertarian journal/newspaper
• Australian Libertarian Society
• Libertarianz - The New Zealand Party of Principle
• The Libertarian Alliance (UK)
• The UK Libertarian Party
• Association of Libertarian Feminists

Miscellaneous

• Libertarian Celebrities and VIPs
• Comprehensive Listing of Notable Libertarians
• "The Philosophy of Liberty" (Flash) at the International Society for Individual Liberty
• LibertyGator - Libertarian Social News Aggregate

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