After twenty years as a ‘small government’ libertarian, I have spent the last 18 months or so strenuously – and unsuccessfully – resisting the implacable logic of ‘market anarchy’. I started out thinking it was a rather odd theory, but I have come to appreciate some of its finer points, and thought it might be […]

Has this ever happened to you? You’re discussing liberty with someone, and you say something like: “The government shouldn’t take care of the poor.” The response you get is: “Oh yeah? Well then who would take care of the poor?” Ah, you reply, there will be more charities and job opportunities and everyone cares about […]

I am always astounded when someone rejects even the possibility of a stateless society by demanding that I supply proof such a society has ever existed, or could ever work. “But I can give you an example of a perfectly functioning non-violent society right this minute!” I reply. “Oh yeah?” my interrogator will demand skeptically. […]

Let us imagine that tomorrow morning, when you flip on CNN, you see Wolf Blitzer being jostled by surging crowds. Everyone is running, staring at the sky in fear. “Space aliens have landed in Luxemburg!” cries Wolf, wide-eyed and almost hysterical, “and they have a message for all mankind!” There is a burst of static, […]

Containing Danger without Enslaving CitizensBy Stefan Molyneux, MAHost, Freedomain - www.freedomain.com One of the great challenges of anarchistic philosophy is the challenge of prisons, or the physical restraint of violent criminals. I have dealt with this topic once before, but I am still receiving numerous requests for clarifications on how a stateless society might deal […]

By Stefan Molyneux, MAHost, Freedomain – www.freedomain.com A free society is by its very nature based on negative rights – i.e., thou shalt not rather than thou shalt. One common opposition to these negative rights is the ‘saving strangers’ scenario often advanced by statists. In this moral parable, an onlooker sees a man who is […]

Problems and Solutions By Stefan Molyneux, MA Host, Freedomain – www.freedomain.com The current controversy over immigration obscures – as most current controversies do – the depth and scale of the moral problem that is ‘immigration control’. Even the word ‘immigration’ is specious, since what is merely being described is ‘moving’. Moving from New York to […]

A commonly-heard response to criticisms of existing state policies – or, heaven forbid, the existence of the state itself! – is the demand that the person criticizing either drop his objection, or leave the country. (A third option is sometimes given, which is the option of working to reform the existing state system, however, the […]

One of the central challenges faced by libertarians is the need to prove that libertarian moral theory is universally correct, while statist and collectivistic moral theories are incorrect. Until moral rules can be subjected to the same rigour and logic as any other propositions, we will forever be stymied by subjectivism, political prejudices and the […]

All moralists interested in improving society must answer the most essential questions about human motivation, and show how their proposed solutions will create a rational framework of incentives, punishments and rewards that further moral goals generally accepted as good. The 20th century clearly showed that there is no possibility for ideology to invent or create […]