@Minarchist: I’m trying to say that we need to broaden our approach. myhumangestme suggested Rose Wilder Lane and Albert Jay Nock… I think that’s brilliant if you’re trying to reach across the aisle, precisely because neither author is an economist.
Clayton -
@ Clayton -
What if the person just wants to be a slave? Why must it be that all men want freedom?
The people who don’t know economics believe that tyranny is unavoidable. They simply prefer the tyranny of the majority (the state, the democracy) to the (perceived) tyranny of the “propertied class” (the rich, the capitalists, the employers, the greedy, the exploiters, etc). Learning economics opens one up to the thought that society without tyranny is not only possible but preferable to any alternative.
For me, the economics path has been by far the most successful one for opening people up to libertarianism.
Just an idea: why not make a “book” based on Mises.org articles? In the end, it might be shorter than two books, but since you can include exactly what you think is most important and most persuasive it’ll have a much greater impact.
This is not logically possible. An evolutionary argument easily shows why (people who wanted to be enslaved could not reproduce and, thus, could not pass on their servility). Granted, the welfare state is doing its level best to pervert the natural order in this regard. Anyone who thinks its a mistake or accident or oversight that modern welfare programs result in the dregs of society being propagated at the expense of the productive class is naive.
Clayton -
America’s great depression
anatomy of the state
I would not recommend Ethics of Liberty to start her down the libertarian path. There are great ideas in that book to be sure, but there are also ideas that are shocking (e.g., that a parent can not feed their kid until the child dies) which could scare her off.
Dr. Paul’s The Revolution: A Manifesto, I think, might be able to spark her interest. If she’s willing to read and learn more about the subject, there’s no need to hit her with the full force of libertarianism right away.
Economics in One Lesson I’d suggest as the second book. This way, she’s read one in political philosophy and another in economics. Seems like a balanced approach to me.
Gay people cannot reproduce with those of their same sex. Your premise would conclude that it is logically impossible for someone to only want to be with others of his or her own sex (to be homosexuals).
Is it common for threads to get off topic like this? I feel bad arguing something unrelated to the question (it must get frustrating for the questioner).
For an introduction to libertarianism I suggest David Boaz “Libertarianism-A Primer”. Fairly broad, not too radical and an enjoyable read.
For a New Liberty
No Treason - The Constitution of No Authority (preferably one of the many audio versions available everywhere on the internet)
This may blow her mind and convert her, but remind her to keep an open mind; the best advice anyone can take is never to become invested in a theory. Any theory a person accepts at any given time should be viewed as the best least-wrong theory they’ve encountered. Even Murray Rothbard, one of the indisputable giants of libertarian anarchism, acknowledged the fact/value dichotomy. And as a bonus, tell her to read up on evolutionary biology and history, and even psychology. Even if a person has respectable emotions about how things could be in a perfect world, it’s important to come to terms with why they have those emotions, and the very real reasons—imposed by laws of chemistry and physics and fine tuned over billions of years—regarding why things are the way they are as opposed to every other possibility.
For a New Liberty
Power and Market
Chodorov, The Rise and Fall of Society
Sowell, Economic Facts and Fallacies
If you don’t think they’d be up for something so focused on the economy as Sowell’s book - even though it is aimed at a popular audience - put in Hayek, The Fatal Conceit instead.
I second the Sowell recommend. Why do you recommend Chodorov? I know nothing about the book, just curious what you like about it.
Clayton -
The Chodorov work is relatively short (less than 200 pages), introductory, wide-ranging, and frames the issue very well: as the state preventing the full flourishing of society, that not only should the state be seen as something different from society, but that it actually works against it. In doing this, he draws upon economics and proto-libertarian philosophy. Chodorov is one of my favourite writers, actually.
My husband, since the last election, finally told me that he is formally giving up on voting republican and will be changing his voter registration to libertarian. Hooray!
He’s not a great reader. But he will need to read something, at least, on the overviewish side. A lot of his opinions -like on the subject of national defense- are influenced by republican rhetoric.
I don’t think For A New Liberty would suit right off the bat-the language, in my opinion, is a little sales-pitchy in a way I find offputting and I think he would too. No quarrels with the content, though.
Do you think the Chodorov would be a good choice for an indifferent reader? If it was the only thing he ever read?
For a small-government conservative with hawkish foreign-policy tendencies (a lot of the small-gov’t Repubs fall in this category), I would recommend Molinari’s The Production of Security. It’s more direct and less technically theoretical than Hoppe’s stuff - which is the gold-standard for refuting the hardliner Pentagon-apologists, like neocons. If he’s reaching a tipping point, this might just be the nudge that will push him over the edge. And it’s brief.
Clayton -
For a New Liberty and Lessons For The Young Economist (about as much good economics you can possbily fit into a small book - I highly recommend it)
If she’s willing to go farther after that, I say you give her something about methedology. Methedology is essential, and I see it as what really allowed me to reach such radical, anarchist conclusions so easily. Once you start realizing that progress is only meaningful when it’s reached by the voluntary actions of individuals, the whole concept of a “useful” state withers away.
Anybody agree with me on the second point?
Oh, and then have sex with her. Women love radicals.
Edit:
Thanks for the rec. I need to check this out.
Yes, definitely.
No problem. It’s freely available in the mises.org literature section.
Thanks! I downloaded it on my phone and started reading it yesterday, and I think this might be the best-written introduction I’ve come across so far, at least the little bit I’ve finished. Definitely, if the content is broad enough, this’ll be my recommendation to my husband.