For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto

Do you feel like there is something terribly wrong in this country?
If you want true Liberty, then this is a must read book for you.

Be prepared to have your paradigms challenged about what government should do. You'll no doubt also agree on much government shouldn't do. Plus, Murray Rothbard destroys many myths about the rest that you think government must do.

"For A New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, 2nd Edition" is an uncompromising romp through a world of Pure Liberty. In the end, Rothbard illuminates a complete vision of Liberty toward which we can all strive together.

Note: some of the references in this 1978 book are dated in terms of technology, nominal dollar values and government issues. Also, many comments seem prescient in today's context, over 30-years later. Regardless, these shouldn't detract from the overall message of pure Liberty that Murray Rothbard so brilliantly delivers.

Eleanor Roosevelt used to say "small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas". Well this book most definitely discusses ideas.

Rothbard breaks doesn't look for more ways to restrain the state and instead sets out to explain how the world would look like if it adopted a free market in everything. If you are looking for ways to improve the status quo, I wouldn't recommend this book. But if you want to look at how the market can work as an alternative to both "dictatorship" and "universal suffrage" or are just looking for new ideas, this book is truly great.

Murray Rothbard has the ability to elucidate a rational theory of anarchism like no other author I have read. Over the past couple of years his writings have fully convinced me of the case for liberty and an anarchist social order. This is an important and valuable book that I would recommend to anyone studying economics, ethics, political economy, social justice, or any number of academic subjects. I just wish Murray Rothbard were still alive today so that I could meet this wonderful human being.

You wonder why anyone would ever vote Republican or Democrat again. A solid argument on how the Federal and some State Governments have grown out of scale. Does the person living in major city have the same needs as the Farmer in the country?

I heard about this book on "Free Markets With Dr. Mike Beitler," a libertarian internet-radio talk show. I don't agree with everything Rothbard says, but Rothbard is challenging and entertaining to read. I would recommend this book along with Beitler's "Rational Individualism" Rational Individualism: A Moral Argument for Limited Government & Capitalism. If you have any interested in libertarianism, limited government, or free-markets, I would recommend both books.

As a reader of Rothbard's, "What Has Government Done to Our Money" and "The Case Against the Fed" (both of which I learned about while reading debates about banking and the economy on the Internet), and a 15 year supporter of Libertarian values, this book was a necessary adjunct of my ongoing political and intellectual growth.

Other reviewers have detailed the incredible amount of pithy information included in this volume, and it does take repeated readings to properly digest it. But I must say that Murray N. Rothbard had a gift for expressing complex economic and political processes that would confound most people. You can't go wrong turning to Rothbard for a profound and lucid explanation of Libertarian ideals. I must-read for all lovers of truth and freedom!

Rothbard's demolition of all justification for the state is astonishing. To my mind this is Rothbard's best book. The sections discussing education, laws, courts and police in a "free society" are highly stimulating. Although I don't share Rothbard's enthusaism for capitalism he does present a great case for a stateless society. I am elated that such a great mind is on my side (anarchism). I say 'is' because his legacy lives on.

As powerful as first written in 1973, Rothbard's stirring manifesto still radiates his unyielding optimism for humanity's ultimate triumph over tyranny, vanquishing all forms of statism and oppression.

This beautiful new edition is terrific.

Rothbard wields a pen like a knight wields a sword. His analysis is so precise and so appropriate for all times and all places. This book will give you an entirely new perspective on all the myths you didn't even know you held dear. Read Rothbard.

Murray Rothbard really knocked it out of the park!
This book spells out very clearly what a Libertarian world could be.
The absence of government seems scary and wierd until you are educated.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is waking up from the haze
of the big media nanny state. Individual liberty for all!!!!!

Rothbard has written a rambling, poorly-executed manifesto which consists merely of infinite variations of the same assertion: market good, government bad. Every argument hinges on the notion of "property rights," yet nowhere is this concept adequately defended, or even defined. Rather than present actual solutions to questions involving the right to assemble, the use of roads, abortion, and media censorship, Rothbard sidesteps each issue by shifting the burden of decision-making to "the property owner". Rothbard is quick to point to government as an authoritarian monolith from which all "coercion" (Rothbard's ultimate evil) springs, yet fails to consider that in the system he advocates, business and industry, once stripped of the restrictions placed on them by government, would have even more coercive power. Ultimately, Rothbard advocates a plutocracy where "one person, one vote" is replaced by "one dollar, one vote", and fails to provide compelling evidence that such a system is either practical or desirable.

Rothbard makes a strong case that government has become too powerful and intrusive. I agree with a lot of what he says in the book. But there's just no way around the fact that he goes way too far. He advocates disbanding the military, police, courts, etc. and privatizing them all. I just don't see that as a viable solution. The title is misleading: it's an anarchist manifesto, not a libertarian one. I don't think a society could function in this anarchist paradise. He carries a legitimate philosophy into political lunacy. Even Ron Paul, the closest Congress has to a libertarian today, wouldn't go nearly as far as Rothbard in dismantling the government.

Yeah, I read the book. The Buddha stated that the ultimate and best form of government is anarcy. And since Murray Rothbard is an Anarchist Libertarian, he is in good company. In this book, Rothbard goes into great detail about the details of Libertarianism. Even covering who will own the ocean! I like the form of government that I envision. It is based on Gandi's "Voluntary Socialism". But with only one change, is also anarchy. Or Anarchist Libertariansim. Let's discuss Rothbard's vision. Then Gandhi's. And then a compromise. Rothbard states in this book that there are two types of Libertarians. Gradualist Libertarians. And Anarchist Libertarians. He uses a push-button analogy which is stated as such. If you had a button right now that would destroy all governments immediately, would you push the button? If your answer is yes, you are an Anarchist Libertarian. If you want to dismantle government gradually, you are a Gradualist Libertarian. Rothbard makes it clear in this book that he is an Anarchist Libertarian. Now for Gandhi's Voluntary Socialism. In this system, envisioned by Gandhi, people could become as rich as they wanted. No taxes. But they would be required to work for the needy by government. Now for the Bill Butler Libertarians (which is sort of a combination of Rothbard and Gandhi). All bussinesses and peoples must give 10% of their gross income to the needy and must give 10% of their working hours to the needy (roughly 4 hours) OR they will be boycotted from the rest by Libertarian citizens. What this means is simple. I am writing a review for the store.com. I ask for proof that they are giving 10% of gross revenue to organizations which help the needy and that their employess put 4 hours weekly to helping the needy. Let's call this Liberal Libertarianism to distinquish it from the other systems. If the store.com does not comply, I will not buy their books or videos. I will not write reviews for them. As a CITIZEN, I join other citizens in "boycotting" them. And all other businesses which do not comply. THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT ACTION INVOLVED. Just boycotting by private citizens according to a specialized code of conduct. The Libertarian Party needs such an understanding before it can thrive. Remember, the Buddha stated that anarchy will GRADUALLY be the ultimate form of government. Buy the book. Rothbard is very insightful.

I agree with another reviewer that this book does not express radical views. It expresses utterly insane ones. I mean no sarcasm when I say that many times I did not know whether to laugh at Rothbard's off-the-wall viewpoints or be disgusted by them. Suffice it to say that you would not want to live in Rothbard's fairyland of libertarianism. Most of us to the right of Cindy Sheehan can agree that the government does not run things as efficiently as private enterprise and that the courts have become too activist, but neither should we forget that switching government services totally to private enterprise puts our safety and well being under the mantle of the purely-for-profit motive. His book is well written and clearly puts forth the Libertarian mantra. In short, Rothbard hates any form of government and substitutes the profit motive even for things such as ownership of streets and roads and, most astonishingly, the criminal justice system. Mandatory education is both immoral and illegal, and taxes should not be lowered, they should be eliminated. In most cases, Rothbard's examples of pure libertarianism are ancient, such as the tribal existence of the Celts or 18th century England. Motivation for his ideals comes from his pacifism. (He opposed the United States' entry into World War II.) Eliminate the governments, and you eliminate war. Sure. Only if Tinkerbelle brings along an extra sack of pixie dust. Take away government, and tribal grouping is inevitable, as Rothbard points out in his ideal Celtic society. And we all know that tribal warfare never happens. Right?

A poorly referenced 14.6 hour rhetorical polemic rant of unqualified pontifications without bibliographic references and few facts beyond a few interesting statements here and there is a lengthy recording of what seems like one endless speech.

Clearly it states property rights are intrinsic to all other rights but it never states where those property rights were originally acquired: much like biblical "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" without ever answering where did god come from this work never explains similarly where private property came from. Actually on the question of private property the Judeo-Christian bible is clearer as that states "The earth and all that there in belongs unto the lord" though it seemingly in the Greek section contracts itself by saying "the world is in the hands of the" "wicked" "evil" "evil one" as if also a product of "god" though it states "god" is supposed to be "good".

The dogmatic comparisons are shallow self-serving sophist statements of conjecture lastly without a state to protect the rights of society's members this work is at odds to suggest who will protect society from the consolidation of wealth and power in a few hands in convenient arguments that are made without any real time frame of historical context much like the work of science fiction like Doctor Who where they begin in the jungle with us natives then in the board rooms of modern corporations and governments.

Great work by someone considered a pillar of capitalist libertarianism if you want to struggle to dissect it to check references to destroy those arguments.