For a New Liberty summary

Libertarianism is often considered an anti-State philosophy. Really, though, all libertarian beliefs stem from one overarching principle: the nonaggression axiom.

The nonaggression axiom is simple: no person or group of people should initiate or threaten violence against anyone else.

It goes without saying that libertarians are vehemently opposed to slavery. There’s hardly a greater violation of the nonaggression axiom. But since slavery is now illegal everywhere in the world, is it still worthwhile to debate the issue?

A libertarian would answer yes. And that’s because libertarians believe that slavery is still alive and well in the modern world, albeit in hidden forms.

From the libertarian perspective, commonly accepted rights like freedom of speech and freedom of the press fall under the blanket of property rights. Importantly, though, libertarians also believe in freedom of the will.

To illustrate freedom of the will, take this example. Say Citizen A wants to start a riot. She goes out into the town square, shouting and whipping people into a frenzy. If Citizens B and C hear Citizen A’s speech and then decide to riot, who’s at fault – Citizen A, or Citizens B and C? Libertarians believe that only Citizens B and C are at fault, since they’ve acted of their own free will in choosing to commit a crime.

Nowadays, we consider education an integral part of a child’s life. But public education, specifically, is a relatively new phenomenon. 

In the 1920s, the state of Oregon passed a law banning private schools. Children were to be forced into public schools and taught the state-approved curriculum. And who was the group so ardently pushing for this new law? Not liberals or progressives, but the Ku Klux Klan, who wanted to force immigrants and Catholics into a homogenous “Americanized” school system.

One day, a government official visits the Jones family and hands them a money printer. The official tells the Joneses that they’re now in charge of printing the entire nation’s money supply. The family is elated, and they start using the printer to slowly pay off their debts and loans. But soon, that isn’t enough, so they begin printing money for luxury goods.

Over time, the country’s total money supply goes up substantially. This creates the illusion that citizens in general have gotten richer, which causes the price of consumer goods to go up.

Imagine living in a society in which, for as long as you can remember, the government has provided shoes to everyone in the population in exchange for a percentage of their taxes. One day, a libertarian comes along and says that the government should stop providing shoes and that the whole shoemaking business should be privatized.

Undoubtedly, many people would object. Who would possibly supply shoes without the government? How would we afford them?

Environmental conservation has become one of the most pressing issues of our time. Are capitalism and excessive industrialization to blame, as some believe?

Let’s look at the big picture. Thanks to capitalism and the technological innovations it’s brought with it, the continent of North America now supports several hundred million people at a very high standard of living. Prior to capitalism, however, the continent only supported about a million Native Americans living at the subsistence level. 

Due to their anti-war stance, libertarians are often smeared as isolationists or peace-loving hippies. But like all other libertarian beliefs, opposition to war comes down to the fact that it’s a gross violation of the nonaggression axiom.

In an ideal world, every country would follow libertarian principles, so war would rarely – if ever – break out. On top of that, there’d also be no foreign policy, since no nations or governments would exist. But, of course, this isn’t the world we live in – nor is it likely to be.