Important Persons in the Continuing Libertarian Movement

~In 1971, John Hospers published Libertarianism: A Political Philosophy for Tomorrow, a book-length study of the modern philosophy of liberty. Along with Murray Rothbard's For A New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto and Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia, it is widely considered to be one of the defining books of the modern libertarian movement.~

Philosophers
* John Hospers
* Tibor Machan
* Jan Narveson
* Robert Nozick

Psychology
* Nathaniel Branden
* Peter Breggin
* Michael R. Edelstein
* John Rosemond
* Thomas Szasz

Heads of Think Tanks,
Political Organizations,
Educational Organizations
* John Baden, Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment (FREE)
* Joseph Bast, Heartland Institute
* Steve Buckstein, Cascade Policy Institute
* Alejandro Chafuen, Atlas Institute
* Ed Crane, Cato Institute
* Richard M. Ebeling, Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)
* Marshall Fritz, Alliance for the Separation of School & State
* Sharon Harris, Advocates for Self-Government
* Jacob G. Hornberger, Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF)
* Roy Innis, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
* Doug Lorenz, Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC)
* William Mellor, Institute for Justice
* Terry Michael, Washington Center for Politics & Journalism
* Vince Miller, International Society of Individual Liberty (ISIL)
* William Redpath, Libertarian Party USA
* Robert Poole, Reason Foundation
* Lew Rockwell, Ludwig Von Mises Institute
* Father Robert Sirico, Acton Institute
* Fred Smith, Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)
* David J. Theroux, The Independent Institute

Founders of the Modern Libertarian Movement
* Don Ernsberger
* Karl Hess
* Manny Klausner
* David Nolan
* Robert Poole
* Dana Rorabacher
* Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995)
* David Walter
* Jarret Wollstein

Historical Champions of Liberty
* Lord Acton (1834-1902)
* Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850)
* John Bright (1811-1889)
* Frank Chodorov (1887–1966)
* Richard Cobden (1804-1865)
* John T. Flynn (1882-1964)
* Garet Garrett (1878–1954)
* F.A. Harper (1905-1973)
* Friedrich Hayek (1899-1992)
* Henry Hazlitt (1894-1993)
* Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
* Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
* Rose Wilder Lane (1886-1968)
* Lao Tzu (600 BC?)
* Robert LeFevre (1911–1986)
* John Locke (1632-1704)
* George Mason (1725-1792)
* H.L. Mencken (1880–1956)
* John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
* Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)
* Albert Jay Nock (1870-1945)
* Franz Oppenheimer (1864-1943)
* James Otis (1725-1783)
* Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
* Lane Isabel Paterson (1886-1960)
* Ayn Rand (1905-1982)
* Leonard Read (1898-1983)
* Algernon Sidney (1622–1683)
* Adam Smith (1723-1790)
* Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
* Lysander Spooner (1808-1887)
* Willis Stone (1899-1989)
* Benjamin Tucker (1854-1939)

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C. S. Lewis

That's Not Blight. It's New Jersey.

Wall Street Journal on a New Jersey state court's decision to stop eminent domain abuse. Thank-you, Institute for Justice. Ms. Vendetti's shirt reads Stop eminent domain abuse; isn't any form of eminent domain, even for "public use," an abuse of an individual's private property rights? Uhh, yes!

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Lew Rockwell on the Fed

The heart of the modern state is the central bank. What it does do effectively is prop up the leviathan state and all its pomp. However, historians treat the establishment of the Fed as an event far less important than the creation of the Department of Labor.

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What happened to State's (and individual's) Rights?

Should medical marijuana be kept from minors at all costs? Why is it that pharmacists can dispense amphetamines without getting busted, but legal operators who dispense medical marijuana face federal prison time? Why do armed federal agents persist in raiding California? Charlie Lynch is facing 100 years in federal prison -- but he followed state law.

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Don’t Call the Cops. Ever.

There is no such person as a "good cop" in America. I cannot question the intentions of cops, but their profession is immoral: nothing legitimate can override an individual's rights to life, liberty, and property.

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Laissez-fair, or Consumer-oriented, Health Care

Since many Americans, especially those on the left, seem to imply a general misunderstanding of "Laissez-faire" by applying it to the United States' Mixed Economy and current Health Care System, I shall outline what is meant by a Laissez-faire health care:

1) Repeal of FDA drug-approval requirements, prescription laws, drug-development regulations, and restrictions on the dissemination of information.

2) Repeal of State and Local regulations for medical schools and hospitals, occupational licensing, diagnosis and referral, the employment of doctors by for-profit firms, non-physician ownership of medical firms, the use of brand names, the operation of multiple branch offices, the location of health-care facilities, and marketing practices.

3) For prepaid health plans and hospitals, it would mean the repeal of regulations on benefit packages, enrollment requirements, rate setting, and facility expansion.

4) Laissez-faire policy implies a consumer-oriented market for Health Care; this would mean "tax exclusions" for employees rather than employers, which would result in more portability between jobs, and individuals owning and control their own policies, forcing insures to compete for their business.

The Freeman: The Subsidy of History

Many libertarian commentators have remarked on the sheer scale of subsidies and protections to big business and on the emerging consolidation of corporate and state interests in the present mixed economy. The extent to which present-day concentrations of wealth and corporate power are the legacy of past injustice, I call the subsidy of history.

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