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.
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David Gordon is Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute and editor of the Mises Review.
Philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe questioned the legitimacy of the state, but left open a possible justification for its existence. Dr. David Gordon examines Anscombe’s argument and finds it interesting but wanting.
In this week’s Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon reviews Liberating Liberty; Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness and the Creator of Man by Bert Schwitters, praising the author's insights into the founding of the United States.
In this week’s Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon reviews The Woke Revolution: Up From Slavery and Back Again by H.V. Traywick, Jr., and finds Traywick’s observations have much credibility.
Gordonh, David, ed. Secession, State, and Liberty (Transaction Publishers, 1998).
