Every so often, you hear about a rise or "comeback" of libertarianism in American politics, and it leaves many curious about what exactly libertarianism is. This, in my opinion as a longtime libertarian, is the definitive book to read in order to understand the core philosophy that drives libertarian thinking. If you want to comprehend the beating heart of today's liberty movement, as well as its place in the history of political thought for the last few hundred years *and* its possible future, read Murray Rothbard's "For a New Liberty."
Rothbard, the greatest champion of the Austrian school of economics in the latter 20th century, begins his book by explaining how similar the American Revolution and founding was to his idea of libertarianism and places the American experiment as the culmination of a longer progression toward more liberty and freedom. He then proceeds to explain the very simple and compelling moral idea that drives the entire philosophy: the non-aggression principle.
The non-aggression principle states that it is wrong to aggress, or initiate violence, toward someone's person or property. In natural rights philosophy, John Locke's thinking that a person's right to certain tangible objects or spaces of land (property) follow from that person's right to their own body. Every person owns their body as well as what they produce with their body. Rothbard takes Locke's logic one step further: if we all own our bodies and what we produce with our bodies, and we all have the right to associate and exchange our property as we see fit, then the state (the government) has no special excuse to violate these rights. The state no more has the right to tax and control its citizens lives than the mafia does to those who live in its claimed neighborhoods.
Agree or disagree with that logic, its simplicity is coherent and compelling.
After explaining that core ethic of non-aggression, Rothbard applies it abstractly to property and exchange rights and the state in general. From there, he applies his line of thinking to individual issues that are often perceived as the "weak spots" of libertarianism: welfare and poverty, education, corporate monopolies, streets and roads, environmental issues, and, of course, how to deal with crime. In closing the book, Rothbard discusses his purist view of how libertarians should seek to advance their agenda in the real world.
This book is written for a general audience—no background in political philosophy or history needed to understand anything he's talking about. The writing is clear and concise. Never wordy or longwinded. I am a libertarian myself largely because of my exposure to Rothbard's logic, but I think for non-libertarians looking for one book that will explain this whole "libertarianism" thing, this book would be it. My one warning for those thinking of purchasing it from Amazon: make sure you're buying the right version. I bought the paperback without knowing it was the large print edition. A little annoying, but it was my own mistake for not double checking.
I highly recommend this book for all libertarians and anyone with an interest in politics, political philosophy, or ethics.
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