The essays in Secession, State & Liberty argue that the political impulse to secede—to attempt to separate from central government control—is a vital part of the Lockean classical-liberal tradition, one that emerges when national governments become too big and too ambitious.
Unlike revolution, secession seeks only separation from rule, preferably through non-violent means. It is based on the moral idea, articulated by Ludwig von Mises in 1919, that “no people and no part of a people shall be held against its will in a political association that it does not want.”
These seven important essays—which cover philosophy, history, economics, and law—argue that the threat of secession should be revived as a bulwark against government encroachment on individual liberty and private property rights, as a guarantor of international free trade, and as protection against attempts to curb the freedom of association.
David Gordon is Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute and editor of the Mises Review.
In this week’s Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon reviews John C. Calhoun’s A Disquisition on Government, published in 1850. Like Murray Rothbard before him, Dr. Gordon finds plenty to like in this book.
Reading this book confirms Charles Tansill’s emendation of a familiar saying: “The paths of military glory lead but to the grave.” When one considers the horrors of war for the combatants, Rothbard’s argument that the costs of war are virtually never worth paying is strengthened.
In today's Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon revisits The Calculus of Consent by James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, considered a "classic" by mainstream economists. Murray Rothbard, however, dissented loudly.
Gordonh, David, ed. Secession, State, and Liberty (Transaction Publishers, 1998).
