Unfortunately, widespread misconceptions about libertarianism and capitalism (the free-market economy) exist throughout the world. Films, literature, mainstream media, and a significant portion of academic intellectuals have played a major role in perpetuating these misconceptions—portraying capitalism as the root cause of wars and attributing the crimes of the U.S.state to capitalism. In this environment, libertarianism is accused of supporting the U.S. state’s policies and its wars, and sympathizing with its imperialism. Many cannot tell the difference between American neoconservatives and libertarians. The truth is that warmongering neoconservatives are fundamentally enemies of libertarianism. Unfortunately, those unfamiliar with libertarianism fall for these claims, while those who have seriously studied thinkers like Rothbard know well that Austrian libertarians have always opposed the anti-libertarian policies of the U.S. state—its intervention in the economy, its wars, and its imperialism.
Drawing on the works of prominent figures of the Austrian School, this article briefly outlines the anti-war stance of libertarianism. It also demonstrates that the U.S. state is not a representative of libertarianism or capitalism, and that the root of war lies not in capitalism, but in statism. It must also be emphasized that opposition to states is not enmity toward people of those countries. Every state holds a monopoly on violence and exploits its citizens—and states, regardless of which party holds power, are nothing but gangs of criminals and thieves.
Is the U.S. State a Representative of Capitalism?
Like all other states, the U.S. state sustains itselfthrough coercive taxation and a monopoly on violence, intervening across various domains of the economy and social life. From the libertarian perspective, this state is not a representative of capitalism—on the contrary, it stands in direct opposition to it.
Every state is in conflict with the mechanisms of the free market; some less, some more, and the U.S. state is no exception; throughout history, it has also engaged in various interventions in the free market. The Austrian libertarian tradition has always maintained a critical stance toward the state, regardless of whether that state lies in the East or the West. Both socialist states, such as the Soviet Union, and Western states, such as the United States, have, to varying degrees, stood against the free market economy.
The U.S. state has never been a pure embodiment of capitalism; it more closely resembles a virus that feeds on the meager remnants of the free market economy, expanding its reach through coercive taxation and a monopoly on violence. Unlike the left-wing view that regards U.S. state imperialism as the pinnacle of capitalism, the libertarian view holds that imperialism is rooted in state power.
The Roots of War: The State, Not Capitalism
Contrary to the widespread misconception, the warmongering of states does not have its roots in capitalism. If capitalism were the cause of wars, how could one explain the widespread wars and violence of socialist states? Why was the Soviet Union—held up by many leftist intellectuals as a utopia—embroiled in repeated repression and wars? Why does socialist North Korea constantly issue military threats against its neighbor? These examples demonstrate that the roots of war lie in the structure of states and the competition for political power among them, not in capitalism or free markets.
Mises writes,“Whoever wants peace among nations must seek to limit the state and its influence most strictly.” He also writes in OmnipotentGovernment,
If you want to abolish war, you must eliminate its causes. What is needed is to restrict government activities to the preservation of life, health, and private property, and thereby to safeguard the working of the market. Sovereignty must not be used for inflicting harm on anyone, whether citizen or foreigner.
From the libertarian perspective, states welcome war because war provides a pretext for expanding economic interventions, raising taxes, and curtailing individual freedoms. Rothbard describes this relationship as follows:
“It is in war that the State really comes into its own: swelling in power, in number, in pride, in absolute dominion over the economy and the society.”
Libertarians: The Most Outspoken Critics of U.S. State Warmongering
The libertarian principles are clear and unambiguous. Rothbard summarizes the libertarian position as, “War is mass murder, conscription is slavery, and taxation is robbery.”
Based on these very principles, libertarians have been among the most outspoken critics of the U.S. government’s policies. They have consistently condemned allof America’s wars and military interventions—the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and every other war.
Rothbard was an opponent of the Vietnam War and always advocated an isolationist foreign policy, “The true principle of isolationism is that the government should be isolated, the government should do nothing abroad.”
It may seem surprising to readers unfamiliar with his perspectives, but Rothbard regarded the American government as the greatest threat to world peace,
“There’s another aspect, of course; this would apply to any government, but the thing is there is also an extra aspect—empirically it so happens that the American government since the days of Woodrow Wilson has been the main threat to the peace of the world, the main imperialist, the main embarker on a policy of meddling in every conceivable country every place in the world to make sure their government shapes up properly—so that the policy of American isolationism is more important for libertarian principle than any other country’s isolationism.”
The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: A Crime of the State, Not of Capitalism
One of the most tragic events of the twentieth century was the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some regard this atrocity as a sign of the “crimes of capitalism,” but the atomic bomb is a product of states and state military apparatuses, not the result of voluntary exchange in the market. From the socialist Soviet Union and North Korea to the United States, it is states that build nuclear weapons and instruments of mass killing. In a free-market economy, no one has any interest in building atomic bombs; it is states that fund their military expenditures by intervening in the market and extracting coercive taxation to build instruments of mass murder.
A truth that the contemporary left has no interest in addressing is that the atomic bombs were used on the orders of Harry Truman, a Democratic President, former Roosevelt VP, and supporter of left-leaning policies like the Fair Deal. The war crime of a left-aligned president has nothing to do with capitalism and the free-market economy.
Unlike those who today claim to be conservatives, Ralph Raico —as a libertarian— condemns this war crime in a compelling, must-read essay and writes, “If Harry Truman was not a war criminal, then no one ever was.”
Libertarians condemn the bombing of civilians from multiple angles: the violation of the Non-Aggression Principle (NAP), the rejection of the official narrative of “preventing greater casualties,” and the distinction between a state and the people—the people of Japan are not the State of Japan, and collective punishment is immoral. These principles apply to all wars and all bombings targeting civilians, regardless of which state or political party carries them out.
The Hypocrisy of the Two Parties and the Integrity of the Libertarian Position
In America, Democrats criticize Republican wars while having launched their own, and Republicans have done the same. Trump’s anti-war slogans proved just as hollow as those of the Democrats. Globally, many socialists condemned U.S. state crimes while supporting other repressive and warmongering regimes.”. In contrast, the libertarian tradition—especially the Austrian School—maintains a principled and consistent opposition to all war and centralized state power, rooted not in selective or partisan motives, but in the fundamental conviction that the state is always a threat to peace, liberty, and the free market.
Conclusion
America’s state is not only not a representative of capitalism and libertarianism— it sustains itself, like a virus, through coercive taxation and intervention in the free market. The U.S. economy is not a fully free economy; the state intervenes in it through various forms of taxation, regulation, and tariffs — and it is precisely these taxes that fund the state’s war budget.
War, civilian deaths, and war crimes are products of states, and the path to ending wars lies in limiting states — or abolishing them altogether. War expands state power, raises taxes, tightens economic control, and curtails civil liberties.
The libertarian position on the warmongering of the U.S. state — and every other state — has been, is, and will remain clear and unambiguous. Libertarians such as Rothbard have always been among the most vocal critics of the U.S. state’s warmongering and imperialist policies. Policies such as heavy tariffs and sweeping economic interventions can also undermine free exchange and voluntary cooperation among peoples and nations, laying the groundwork for full-scale wars. From this perspective, the expansion of state power — whether in America or elsewhere — stands as one of the greatest threats to the free economy and lasting peace.
