Too bad Murray Rothbard is no longer with us, we could sure use him. But this piece, published in 1978, is as spot-on and relevant now as it was three decades ago. Some of its key insights include:
• The importance of victory for liberty in the world as the ultimate and overriding goal of a libertarian movement
• Why the Libertarian Party was a positive development
• How radicals and agitators exist in symbiosis with libertarians who work via electoral politics
• The concept of "cadre"
• How to work in coalitions
• His reasons for optimism
WWMD (What Would Murray Do?) is a question it can't hurt to ask ourselves often!
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Strategies for a Libertarian Victory
Mises Daily: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 by Murray N. Rothbard
"Unfortunately many libertarians have failed to see the importance of victory as the ultimate and overriding goal."
[Libertarian Review, August 1978]
Libertarians have given considerable thought to refining their basic principles and their vision of a libertarian society. But they have given virtually no thought to a vitally important question, that of strategy: now that we know the nature of our social goal, how in the world do we get there?
To the extent that libertarians have thought at all about strategy, it has simply been to adopt what I have called "educationism": namely, that actions rest upon ideas, and therefore that libertarians must try to convert people to their ideas by issuing books, pamphlets, articles, lectures, etc. Now, it is certainly true that actions depend upon ideas, and that education in libertarian ideas is an important and necessary part in converting people to liberty and in effecting social change. But such an insight is only the beginning of arriving