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 Fred Reed’s latest work, which lambasts the American propensity to fight pointless yet destructive wars abroad, all the while destroying what is left of what was once a decent society at home.
Dr. David Gordon examines Hayek's reply to Galbraith, "The Non Sequitur of the 'Dependence Effect,'" showing why the claim that advertising-created wants are less "real" would, taken seriously, dismiss all of civilization.
In this week’s Friday Philosophy, Dr. David Gordon reviews Union At All Costs: From Confederation to Consolidation by John M. Taylor, who defends the southern secession.
Gordonh, David, ed. Secession, State, and Liberty (Transaction Publishers, 1998).
