Philosophy

While it is tempting to think of state power as being maintained by sheer force, it still needs a “theological” justification, be it secular or religious. The US state is no exception.

Almost 90 years later, Albert Jay Nock's Our Enemy the State remains a classic and definitive work on examining the state for what it is: a liberty-crushing behemoth. David Gordon takes another look at this important work.

David Gordon takes another look at Thomas Nagel's Equality and Partiality. While he finds some of Nagel's arguments appealing, they still are inferior to Murray Rothbard's systematic interpretation of natural rights.

When great ones err, they often err greatly. Such was the case with Albert Einstein, who mastered quantum physics but whose view on economics were, well, unscientific.

While Henri Bergson did not point his intellectual abilities toward politics, lesser men who were unscrupulous commandeered his ideas to promote their own collectivist ideologies. 

Legal philosopher Jeremy Waldron in his book The Rule of Law and the Measure of Property challenges the Lockean view of legitimate property ownership. David Gordon sheds light on Waldron's confusing positions.

Frederic Bastiat was a well-known and eloquent defender of liberty and free-market economics. He also was a devout Catholic who looked to tie his faith to his economic and political beliefs.

The political zeitgeist is to embrace protectionism, leading some who support free trade to embrace open borders. However, as Murray Rothbard explained, people and societies are complex entities and what may work for trade does not work for open immigration.

Einstein's name is synonymous with brilliance, yet his great intelligence did not translate to logical economic thinking. Instead, Einstein embraced socialism, thinking that one could guide an economy like one guides a mathematical equation.

The standard belief is that slavery was about obtaining “cheap labor,“ yet nothing could be further from the truth. Slavery comes with high opportunity costs, which is why American slave owners depended upon several government regulations to subsidize their “peculiar institution.”