Just A Few Reasons I became A Libertarian

I suppose anyone who has read my blog once or twice probably wonders why I yammer on so often about free markets, the individual, and Austrian economics. Well, it's because I'm a libertarian. All that really means is I believe that the responsibilities of government are few and far between – specifically, that they should only do for individuals that which individuals cannot possibly do for themselves. Things like, make and enforce laws that protect people from the use of force and coercion regarding their life, liberty and property; make and maintain infrastructure; provide all voluntary military and intelligence services that are used only in self-defence; and help to maintain peace and rebuild a given area when there's a natural disaster.

Beyond that, there isn't much that people can't do for themselves. Things like “entitlement programs” (Social Security, Welfare, Medicaid, Medicare, etc.) don't count in the least, because no one person is “entitled” to the monetary earnings of another. When these kinds of “entitlement” or “transfer” programs are enacted, they give government a chance to grow, and turn citizens into slaves. At the very least economic slaves. And slavery, of any kind, is evil. It's the very antithesis of your guaranteed constitutional rights to pursue your own life, liberty and happiness.

And then there's what they shouldn't do, which is intervene and distort the peoples' economy.

So if these make sense to you, I thought I would put up some links that may be of interest. It's all just reading, but most of it is down loadable to your computer for free. (That's one of the things I love about Mises.org. All of that wonderful intellectual property just being given away.)

Books For Libertarian Beginners:

“The Austrian Theory Of The Trade Cycle,” by Richard M. Ebeling – 125pp.

“The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality,” by Ludwig Von Mises – 95 pp.

“Economics For Real People,” by Gene Callahan – 352 pp.

“The Austrian Theory of Money” – by Murray Rothbard – 24 pp.

Advanced Reading:

“Man, Economy & State,” by Murray Rothbard – 1,400 pp.

“Bureaucracy,” by Ludwig Von Mises – 135 pp.

“Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles,” by Jesus Huerta De Soto – 906 pp.

Against Keynesian Economics Reading:

“The Failure of the New Economics,” by one of my favorite authors, Henry Hazlitt – 440 pp. This book refutes, line by line, Keynesian economics, the very same brand of economics being used in Washington today to promote the multi-trillion-dollar “stimulus program.”

The Classics That Helped To Make Libertarianism What It Is Today:

“The God of the Machine,” by Isabel Patterson – 298 pp.

“Human Action,” by Ludwig Von Mises – 930 pp.

“Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal,” (Personally one of my all time favorite books. I consider it to be one that has changed my life.), “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Fountainhead,” all by Ayn Rand

A Comprehensive List Of Mises.org Reading By Subject:

A List Of Almost All Of The Books That Mises.org Offers For Free In .pdf Format: