Nozick and Rothbard at the WTC

Miscellaneous General
1

Excerpt

Nozick and Rothbard at the WTC (link)
by Burton S. Blumert

I only met Robert Nozick on one occasion, and learning of his death today brought a kaleidoscope of images surrounding that encounter.

Here’s how I remember it, but please don’t jump all over me if some of the dates and details are skewed.

I think it was 1981: the Center for Libertarian Studies was going through a difficult time.

For the first five years of its existence, CLS received funds from a major conservative foundation, but an antiwar essay by Murray Rothbard bothered them, and they unceremoniously cut us off. (Rothbard, like Mises, was uncompromising, intractable, they fumed.)

The Center, free from their clutches, found itself poor, proud, and independent – a condition maintained through the years.

At about the same time, CLS was having bad luck with its Executive Directors. One was lost in a tragic suicide, and his successor – the CLS board would sadly learn – was a partially recovered member of Gambler’s Anonymous.

Humble beginnings and the politics of small groups. Great article, give the whole thing a read.

2

“It was well known in libertarian circles that Murray Rothbard had overcome a list of phobias. It took a great deal of effort, but poor Murray could now deal with airplanes, tunnels, and bridges, but, one fear remained – he was not about to enter an elevator in a skyscraper; a moving, sealed coffin that propelled a body over 100 stories in a few seconds.”

Is there anything on Rothbard that talks more about his phobias?

3

It is always inspiring to hear how far the movement has come. It’s gone from publishing in obscure periodicals to publishing several of its own journals. I always like to listen to Lew Rockwell’s lectures every once and awhile to try and remind myself that lest I fall into the ambivalence of not knowing our ideological roots.

How States Fall and Liberty Triumphs

I always thought that this is one of his most inspiring lectures.