The Non-Aggression Principle Is Realistic and Not an Abstract Concept

In his book the Ethics of Liberty, Murray Rothbard sets out the links between individual liberty, property rights, and the non-aggression principle. Rothbard’s explanation of property rights as the essence of liberty has greatly influenced the libertarian understanding of the NAP, but there is often a great deal of confusion as to what amounts to an act of aggression.

1775: Putting Tyrants on the Run

April 19 was the 250th anniversary of American militiamen routing the best army in the world. Seven hundred British troops arrogantly came out of Boston early that day in 1775 to seize firearms and gunpowder in Concord, Massachusetts. By the time the tattered remnants of that force escaped back to Boston, hundreds of British troops were left dead, wounded, or captured along the road. The “shot heard around the world” became one of the most dramatic blows against tyranny in modern history.