Libertarianism

Libertarianism is the moral view that persons fully own themselves, at least initially, and have certain moral powers to acquire property rights in external things. Individual liberty is based on universal moral principles that apply to all persons, across all times. Libertarians recognize that personal liberty and economic liberty are one and the same.

When considering social and political interactions, the default libertarian starting point is always that people are free and that we must have good reasons whenever we attempt to restrict their freedom. The burden of justification is not on the person who claims to be free, but rather on the person who claims to limit another’s freedom. As free and moral equals, libertarians reject any and all claims of the subjective authority of some person or persons over others.

Essential Resources

Myth and Truth About Libertarianism by Murray N. Rothbard
Key Concepts of Libertarianism by David Boaz
Man's Rights by Ayn Rand
Freedom Is Indivisible by Bruce Knight
History of Libertarianism by David Boaz
Chaos Theory by Robert P. Murphy
What Libertarianism Is by Stephan Kinsella
Libertarianism Through Thick and Thin by Charles Johnson
Toward a Libertarian Theory of Class (.pdf) by Roderick T. Long
Libertarianism by Peter Vallentyne
Liberty: The Other Equality by Roderick T. Long
Equality: The Unknown Ideal by Roderick T. Long
Libertarian Anarchism: Responses to Ten Objections by Roderick T. Long
Why We Couldn't Abolish Slavery Then and Can't Abolish Government Now by Robert Higgs
The Right to Ignore the State by Herbert Spencer

Further Reading

Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz
The Law by Frédéric Bastiat
For A New Liberty by Murray Rothbard
Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
What It Means to Be a Libertarian: A Personal Interpretation by Charles Murray

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