Property Rights

Every nation-state boundary was drawn by force. Should we treat them as sacred the same way we treat a house or factory? Rothbard says no, and proposes something more radical.

Philosopher Matt Zwolinski has declared libertarianism to lack any coherent standards. Zwolinski’s confusion is the result of his rejection of libertarianism as outlined by Murray Rothbard and others based upon free markets based on individual rights.

When the recent NFL draft was held in Pittsburgh, city officials declared bus fares would be free so fans would pack the auditorium where the draft was held. Who would have thought that making scarce goods free would bring about chaos with the bus riders?

Philosopher Matt Zwolinski has declared libertarianism to lack any coherent standards. Zwolinski’s confusion is the result of his rejection of libertarianism as outlined by Murray Rothbard and others based upon free markets based on individual rights.

When the recent NFL draft was held in Pittsburgh, city officials declared bus fares would be free so fans would pack the auditorium where the draft was held. Who would have thought that making scarce goods free would bring about chaos with the bus riders?

In his concluding argument, Molinari envisions a society where security is provided by competing private firms chosen voluntarily by consumers.

Molinari describes the inevitable consequences of monopolized security: rising costs, declining quality, and the use of force against the very citizens the government claims to protect.

Molinari argues that majority rule is no more legitimate than royal absolutism when it violates individual rights.

Molinari distinguishes between society, which arises naturally from voluntary human cooperation, and government, which imposes itself through force.

Molinari describes how coercive control over defense led to the familiar abuses of taxation, war, and the suppression of individual liberty.