Don't Hurt People and Don't Take Their Stuff - A Libertarian Manifesto

Libertarians love to get bogged down in complicated policy debates, which, while undeniably fun, is not often helpful in converting others to the cause. What Kibbe has so skillfully done here, is succinctly stated the essence of the philosophy right there in the title. Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff.

Personally, I’m hard pressed to see how anyone could disagree with two so evidently moral and straightforward principles, but the fact remains that many people still do. We have to be constantly aware that the (admittedly noble) desire to use government for good always requires instituting force against the innocent.

This is a great and necessary book that highlights the abuses of government, from the current administration going back to JFK and Nixon, and makes the point that it’s not really about Republicans versus Democrats, but about limited government versus unlimited government.

A must read for anyone who has heard about libertarianism but doesn’t really know what it means.

The subtitle of this book says "A Libertarian Manifesto" but it is not the deeply philosophical argument. To me it is more of an introduction to what is happening now, what we can do about it, and what are the basic ideas of Libertarian philosophy. It is a very quick read because it is a small book. I guess that is a good thing because the attention spans today don't lend themselves to in-depth works. As such this book is simply outstanding. It is the kind of book that might convince libertarian leaning conservative and especially young people who don't know what they think to consider Libertarianism. I have had Libertarian beliefs for 35 years but pretty much gave up on politics and devoted myself to making my own freedom anyway I can. If this book represents a significant part of current Libertarian politics then I at least have some hope, however slight, that something may indeed change.

Recommended.

Great intro to the premise of liberty, libertarianism & the NAP: Non Aggression Principle. I learned a few things in here that I previously didn't know like how Martin Luther King was targeted by the establishment in more ways than one to discredit and goad him into suicide. Definitely a must read for all liberty lovers. [...]

This book displays a great case for a perspective that makes since. Freedom is universal and treating people with respect is universal. I don't think there is a point this book that doesn't make since on the grander scale of what our country is currently going through. This and American Séance are my two favorite books for reading this week. Nice job Matt.

So descriptive of the goals of America contrasted with the actual direction of the leftists and progressives controlling our country via Barack Olinsky, it is in many ways depressing to read. Wake me up in November 2016.

A good, relatively short (for me) read, that left me wanting to read more. Almost all of the sentiments expressed matched my personal outlook on the world of politics and government, and I am, by far, not a libertarian. I see enough similarities, though, that perhaps many of my ilk share an abundance of positions and need to consider alliances for the betterment of the country.

I recommend this book to all who seriously think that it's now, truly time for change.

I am a Dem, a progressive, ( there is a difference between that and liberal) but have always been drawn to libertarian thinking I see as it freedom in a pure way. I listened to CSPAN, Book TV tonight and they had Mr. Kibbe on for an hour and will purchase his book next....anyone interested in this stuff should also check out toe place where the one interviewing Mr. Kibbe is from, an institution that offers degrees and also free courses on our Constitution and other similar subjects; a foundation that allows understanding Mr. Kibbe's words. ( that interview is archived on CSPAN2)

This book is confirmation for people that believe in the rights of the individual. It explains why socialism never works. It discusses the ideology of the left while pointing out the greater respect for man kind made by the right. It is an ideology that allows man the freedmon to be whatever he is capable of being without interfering with the rights of others. Leaves absolutely no room for BIG government.

I keep hearing the word 'libertarian' being tossed about, but no one really explains what that means. Kibbe got right to the point in explaining the fault lines in conservative politics today. On one side is the old guard dinosaurs fighting to keep the broken system afloat for one more election cycle, on the other are the new generation of leaders like Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz. For all we hear about the Republican party needing to evolve or die, Kibbe makes a strong argument for back to the basics, common sense conservatism: don't hurt people and don't take there stuff. Its the golden rule for politics. If you want to get a preview on where the Republican party will be in five years, Kibbe will give you a sneak peak.

I've always been 50/50 on libertarianism since the ideas behind it have a nice logical ring to them, and who doesn't want personal freedom on the social level. But the implementation of libertarianism in terms of business deregulation, unrestrained capitalism, and international trade has always been less convincing to me. (Not to mention environmental issues, health care, education and other moral issues that libertarians can only offer optimistic and theoretical answers to). I randomly picked this up at a used book store and it is in fact, like the title says, a "manifesto" more than anything - a string of personal anecdotes and opinions ... like discovery of the band Rush whose lyrics are about individual freedom (in an adolescent kind of 'screw authority' way), and the teenage love for Ayn Rand. There's an even a passage where his answer to Chris Mathew's insult about "needing to grow out of Ayn Rand", he defiantly proclaims "we don't want to grow up!!". Yeah... we know. The real world is much more complicated.

In short it's a book of opinions ... not well researched arguments for why such a form of government would actually work in the real world, or how these ideas could actually be put in to practice. If you are already a libertarian, this will be an enjoyable read, as you will probably spend 200 pages nodding your head in agreement and relating to his various moments of self discovery and weakly defiant sense of individualism that defines so many libertarian "thinkers". I ended up scanning through about 2/3 of the book bc I could care less about the epiphanies that a 17 year old had after reading the liner notes of a 70s hair metal band. Not to sound elitist, but frankly, who cares...

Like most people who argue for a purist ideology like libertarianism, they are excellent critics of society and love to point out all the problems our society faces and how poorly we've been at addressing them. But they are very poor at explaining how to fix them. The reason is that applying a blanket principle to all of society's ailments is naive and oversimplified. The fact is, economics is a complex system and requires constant re-evaluation and balancing to ensure stability and progress is maintained. For example, not all tariffs are evil if they are used properly, and in the real world they are necessary to keep balance at the global level. In the libertarian mind, we live in a theoretical reality where ALL market conditions are ideal, all of the time.

This goes back to FA Hayek, the early 20th century founding father (of sorts) of the libertarian thinking, who wrote some compelling (at the time) indictments on socialism, but offered very weak answers on the implementation of alternatives. Similarly, in this book, there is one chapter book where he offers '12 steps' to fixing our society. It's very shallow, with no evidence or studies to back his claims. Just the same old tired arguments.

In short, if you are looking to read a masturbatory book about individualism and Ayn Rand, read this.

If you want to actually be convinced libertarianism is a viable alternative to the status quo with hard evidence and detailed, well thought out answers, look elsewhere.

I left this book less enthusiastic about libertarianism than when I came.

I found the book enlightening and entertaining. A great read for the Libertarian minded but I would think more useful for partisans of either major party. Take it in with an open mind and see if you have an intellectual counter not an emotional outburst.

First time readied of this author, but it certainly won't be the last! I think if more people read philosophy's like Mr. Kibbe's we would have a chance of saving our country! Three cheers for Matt Kibbe!
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Since I am old enough to have been politically active in 1964, I learned from this work that not much has changed in 50 years. Conservatives still have the same uphill battle to do what we think is right for this great country.

This book really exposes the Washington insiders club. It helps you understand why America today is in such a poor economic conditions and it helps us understand what we need to do to correct it.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who cares to help American get back on course as the founding fathers intended.

Kibbe and FreedomWorks project a grass roots and basic "common sense" (used throughout the book...) vibe; they're rooted in big conservative money and pedigree (Koch bros.) though and it kind of kills it. There's nothing wrong with their point of view save it comes across as the only way to look at Libertarian/anti-big government and asserts a certain claim on representing all forms of anti-big bloated waste thinking.

There's a variety of other permutations of resistance to poor governance and many of them exist outside the false choice of the liberal and conservative American paradigm. A more productive -- and truly accurate -- title and presentation would come around on this a bit. Something like, "Don't Hurt People; Conservative Big Capitalist Libertarianism". Chomsky's version of libertarianism ([...] or [...] are things to also take a look at if one is truly seeking to find alternatives to the mess we're in. Parecon or "participatory economics" lends some light as well ([...]).

And before anyone gets uppity about Wikipedia references, consider the accuracy and utility of a truly crowd sourced, no-central-authority, self managing/regulating source...especially if you want or think you're "Libertarian."

The big problem with the Right-wing Libertarian position presented in this book is in the very title: its NOT "your stuff" nor that of any other individual. You may have rulership over yourself, but not over the earth, which either belongs to no one or to all. Refusing to see this is why this kind of Libertarian so detest gov't "tyranny" and taxation but is totally blind to the kind of tyranny and betrayal of one's fellows in the community and the rest of human species as a whole that arises from the egocentric and untenable postulate of possessive, proprietary individualism. Because of this, this type of Libertarianism does "hurt people"!

This book is written for readers who already know what they believe and just want those ideas to be reinforced. There is no new information in this book. Matt Kibbe lacks any original ideas.

Kibbe spends the first chapter saying "common sense" a lot.Then, he lays out his 6 revolutionary ideas for how people ought to live with each other. These are all just really, really great, simple ideas that even a person like Matt Kibbe could understand, on account of all of his common sense-having.

Unfortunately, Kibbe never goes into how these really, just, really neat ideas for how to live are to be enforced. He makes no effort to tell us what to do with violators. Maybe he thinks the answer is just common sense.

Chapter 2, Kibbe walks us through his childhood, and where this bright-eyed, white boy living in the most free country on the planet first learned about freedom. His whole life changed, because he stopped listening to the radio and spent money on records and Ayn Rand books, instead. Kibbe hints at a conspiracy when he recalls how almost nobody used to like the same stuff as he did.

Chapter 3 isn't terrible. I agree with some of his positions, but not because they have anything to do with libertarianism. Sadly, he derails, and tries to talkabout the imaginary IRS scandal of '12. On this matter, Kibbe betrays that he knows nothing...about the actual IRS scandal. I won't spoil it for you. Then, Kibbe tells a few lies and half-truths about the Affordable Care Act, but who can blame him?! He's only had 4 years to read and research the actual law. He also casually omits that the history of the individual mandate he hates so hard was proposed in the early nineties, by the right-wing Heritage Foundation in an effort to encourage the personal responsibility Matt likes to talk about.

Chapters 4 and 5 include more complaining about the ACA. Then he uses this book to convince young people that they are better off without health insurance. He tells a story about a guy making $29000 a year and how opting out will be cheaper than paying a $147/month premium. This is, of course, nonsense. Kibbe cites the $95 individual mandate penalty to back himself up, but he neglects to inform the reader that the actual penalty is $95 OR 1% of his gross annual income. In this guy's case, the penalty will be $290, not $95. Cheaper than the premiums? Sure...but also 3 times as expensive as he originally thought.

Chapter 6 is about how totally awesome the internet is, but we have to be careful.

Chapter 7 has Matt jerking off with five other old, white dudes about freedom and liberty and Ayn Rand.

Chapter 8: Step 1: Get rid of all of the stuff that nobody likes. Step 2: Replace it all with old ideas, and a few of Kibbe's really, just really, great ideas for everybody. Don't ask him how, though.

Chapter 9 tells everyone to come on, because we can do it if we try.

Government is the opposite of liberty. Government always means coercion and compulsion. It must. Therefore, I would rather live with a small government enforcing limited powers than an overreaching government out to control my personal life, employment choices, and children's futures.

Speaking up for human decency and the liberty agenda is Matt Kibbe in this book.He points out to the millenial generation that they have been used and lied to.

Beginning at page 170 (hardcover), the book details the steps to retoring liberty in the republic.

Buy it, read it, and lend it out. This book isconvincing, easy to read, and worth buying.

Also try:

The Liberty Amendments Mark Levin : Liberty Amendments
Conservative Insurgency Kurt Schlichter: Conservative Insurgency