I decided to read something by Rothbard and I was looking through the contents of
For a New Liberty - http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp#contents
and The Ethics of Liberty - http://mises.org/rothbard/ethics/ethics.asp
and there seems to be a fair bit of overlap. I was wondering if I could get some opinions on which is the better of the two, or if they are both wonderful unique snowflakes worth reading.
Thanks.
FANL is more about “how might an anarchist society handle this” whereas TEOL is “what would be the law in an anarchist society, roughly?” The two are different and the overlap is minimal.
The only complaint I have about FANL is the first half of the taxation chapter, which would be less tedious to read than to listen to (seeing as it’s statistics being listed, although important ones, albeit).
TEOL struck me as more advanced (under the assumption that understanding earlier works makes the later works easier to digest), so I opted for FANL instead (it was also the first libertarian audiobook I attempted as well).
For what it’s worth, I’ve seen TEOL referenced here more frequently than FANL, though.
I just wish FANL would be updated, in case the taxation methodology has altered, to reflect that; maybe in the intro or in an editor’s footnote? FANL is IMO the book I’d give to a borderline libertarian to bring them to anarchism. It addresses a lot of important practical questions about anarchism. Before even contemplating the stuff TEOL raises, they’d need the groundwork FANL sets down.
Cool. I’m going to start on FANL and I’ll get to Ethics at another date.
Both in the mail. Come on Mr Postman… (If only there was a free market in mail/delivery/postage). The books are probably being rifled through in customs, as I type.