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Llewellyn H. Rockwell

Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto Paperback – May 28, 2014

by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. (Author)

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Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto diagnoses what is wrong with the American political system and tells us what we need to fix things. The cure is a radical one because, as the book incontrovertibly shows, the many problems that confront us today are no accident. They stem from the nature of government itself. Only peaceful cooperation based on the free market can rescue us from our present plight.

Against the State is written by Lew Rockwell, the founder of the Mises Institute and LewRockwell.com, and the closest friend and associate of Murray Rothbard, the leading theorist of anarcho-capitalism. Rockwell applies Rothbard’s combination of individualist anarchism and Austrian economics to contemporary America. The book shows how the government is based on war, both against foreign nations and against the American people themselves, through massive invasions of our liberties. Fueled by an out-of-control banking system, the American State has become in essence fascist. We cannot escape our predicament through limited government: the government is incapable of controlling itself. Only a purely private social order can save us, and Rockwell succinctly sets out how an anarcho-capitalist order would work.

Print length

190 pages
Language

English
Publication date

May 28, 2014
Dimensions

6 x 0.43 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0990463109
ISBN-13

978-0990463108
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rockwell Communication; 1st edition (May 28, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 190 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0990463109
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0990463108
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.5 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.43 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #546,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #156 in Anarchism

Customer Reviews:
244 ratings

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4 star		13%
3 star		8%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

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Myles Carter

Rhetorically deficient; this book reads like a poorly thought-out rant.

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2020

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Before I say anything, I myself an an anarcho-capitalist much like Rockwell. I purchased this hoping for some good arguments for a stateless society. This book, while it does contain some good points, is a waste of money if you intend to read it yourself or refer it to somebody you know. Through my reading of this I have found no sourced statistics to back up the points being made, and most of the citations are just direct quotes ripped from other authors such as Ludwig von Mises and Robert Higgs. Every page is riddled with rhetorically weak or fallacious analogies. Rockwell often likes to go on unnecessary tangents that harm his credibility and dissuade moderate readers from his positions, at one point stating that laws against drunk driving are just as “tyrannical” as the infamous war on drugs. He even resorted to the claim that some alcoholics actually drive better when intoxicated, without him even giving a smidge of evidence to support that claim. Any socialist or conservative reading that would shut themselves off from liberty faster than you can say, “but what about the roads??” This book was a waste of my time, and I recommend that people who want something to read for themselves on anarcho-capitalism read authors that know how to compose solid arguments such as Murray Rothbard or David Friedman.

10 people found this helpful

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Carmen A.

Great intro to making the case for a Anarcho-Capitalist society

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2018

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The book was quite easy to read and comprehend. Lew Rockwell makes his case against the existence of a statist society, even for those who believe in limited government. The book's first chapters go in detail on what is wrong with the existence of the state, why its existence is not compatible with individual liberty and individual growth, why the state and its leading politicians don't work to benefit the people despite what we've been programmed to believe since first grade. There's a chapter covering each of the most disturbing problems of statism with evidence of how these problems negatively impact the average people and interfere with their lives and liberties. Some of the problems in question are the promotion of wars with no indication that peace in a statist society could ever be achieved, the lack of existence of sound money which leads to impoverishment of its citizens (with the no. 1 culprit being the central bank which through its powers to control interest rates and inflate the money supply creates price inflation and economic booms/busts), the increase in government's surveillance leading to the Orwellian society, the ever growing expansion of the state which in Rockwell's view is a parasitic entity and largely depends on the coercive powers to tax the productive sectors of society. In the last chapters he describes the stateless society and how the private sectors can very well take over the state functions of providing protection and defense, a judiciary system, infrastructure, education, and overall a more productive and free society when markets are free and unhampered by the state. To those who visualize Somalia's anarchy as the Anarcho-Capitalist society described in this book, Rockwell gives compelling evidence as to how that kind of chaos was the consequence of prior state and political regimes whereas the society he endorses in America is one in which order would be more prevalent than in a politically man-controlled statist system. He ends the book with the idea that we've tried for thousands of years to be free, prosperous, and live in peace by allowing a group of people which we call "the government" to control us and the markets yet, it does not work. Why not try a new way? It may not be the paradise on earth, there would be challenges to overcome, but we owe to ourselves, the generations to come, and humanity in general to try a new society in which there is no state to interfere with the markets, there is no state to grant itself monopoly powers, there is no state to favor one group of people over others, there is no state to act as the paternalistic entity of human kind. Finally, this book is so easy to read that even a mature 8th grader would be able to grasp.

10 people found this helpful

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sillyghillie

So far so good

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2019

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I am about half way through the book and so far I dig it. I might recommend this book to someone who is already in the low right corner, as the book simply reinforces established libertarian/ancap ideology. In a sense, it gives you some power in your political punches when it comes to discussion about the state and its blatant inadequacies. I like the portion in the first third dedicated to US foreign policy, I learned quite a few new things- and prompted a very lengthy investigation into Abraham Lincoln. I would have finished the book by now but I haven't had much time to read anything lately.

5 people found this helpful

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Sacha VTop Contributor: Star Wars

Lew Rockwell uses just 162 pages to demolish the idea that we need the State

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2015

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Lew Rockwell uses just 162 pages to demolish the idea that we need the State. Covering every important aspect of the State that its apologists insist make it necessary for us to submit. That submission comes under threat of force and backed up by a history of unleashing violence to enforce that threat.
Lew tackles the Warfare State, the drug war, the assault on our liberties, how the bankers have waged war on the taxpayers, and how America really is a fascist system. His chapter on war dismantles the neocon propaganda that the various wars and military engagements since the end of World War 2 have resulted in the liberation of the oppressed, replaced by freedom and democracy. Lew Rockwell notes that because of technology, never before have we had access to so much information, yet American’s remain blind (by choice?) to the horrors perpetrated in their names.
Although he dedicates a chapter to “The Assault On Our Liberties”, this entire book is an interwoven testament to how the existing system dismantles the Bill of Rights. From the police state that has arisen with frightful speed since 9/11, to the government essentially claiming ownership of our bodies with the War on Drugs, and condemning America’s progeny to a life of debt slavery through massive money printing.
In the end, Rockwell disassembles the Minarchist idea of a limited government and explains how a free-market anarchist system would work. I’m not naive and I certainly don’t believe in utopia. It’s a world unlikely to exist anytime soon if for no other reason than the violence the current system can bring to bear to cling onto the power they’ve carved out for themselves. Nonetheless, this book should be read by anyone who even questions the status quo.

17 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Paul Burtwistle

Excellent book on why our capitalist/fascist state has failed and what we can do about it

Reviewed in Australia on September 19, 2019

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I thought this was an engaging, interesting read around anarchy and why we need it.
We need more modern books like this to bring the old writings of authors like Mises, Rocker, Rothbard etc to a modern audience along with more relevance to recent political events.

Julian B.

Great read!

Reviewed in Germany on July 22, 2020

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This book is a great read for anyone interested in Anarcho-Capitalism!

Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2016

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Insightful.

Mikkip

didn't convert me as promised in the introduction....

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 6, 2016

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The price is quite low and it is readable (and interesting) but my reasons for only 2 stars are:

* Some of what is written can be found (word for word) on the mises website
* Some parts of the book become a declamatory rant
* Important points are covered very superficially and the reader is simply referred to another author
* Many of the arguments are a rehash of other arguments, i.e. nothing original (though often a good summary)
* There are a lot of examples and digressions relating to the US (which personally I did not find so interesting, but you on the other hand may...)

Maybe I am being too harsh with 2 stars but I think the amount of 5 stars the book received is too generous.

4 people found this helpful

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