The Essential Rothbard - Ludwig von Mises Institute

The Essential Rothbard 101
If Rothbard is right, we now stand in no doubt as to our main
obstacle in defending liberty: the Leviathan State. In “War, Peace,
and the State,” 269 Rothbard narrows the target, in order to enable
defenders of liberty to wage their struggle more effectively. One
activity more than any other marks the State as the enemy of liberty,
and it is here that supporters of liberty must concentrate their
efforts.
The activity, of course, is waging war. Besides the death and
destruction directly incident on war, nations engaging in armed
conflict pay a heavy price in liberty. Accordingly, Rothbard calls
for nations to engage in a strictly defensive foreign policy. Crusades
“to make the world safe for democracy” stimulate him to
opposition: how can the chief agency of predation, the State, serve
as a means to secure freedom? In “National Liberation,” 270 however,
he refuses to extend his condemnation of war to revolution. Often,
revolutions manifest a drive against the State and merit support.
Unfortunately for the cause of liberty, political philosophers
have not rushed to embrace Rothbard’s revolutionary challenge to
the foundations of their discipline. One of the characteristic objections
mainstream theorists have to natural rights libertarianism
goes like this: “Even if one concedes that self-ownership applies to
rational adults, what is to be done with children? Surely the rights
of these dependent human beings, and our duties toward them,
cannot be encompassed within the confines of Rothbard’s framework.”
Rothbard was well aware of this objection, and in “Kid Lib,” 271
he offers a cogent response. He sensitively balances the rights of
children, which increase as they become capable of exercising selfownership,
with the powers of parents to set rules for those living
in their home and under their support.
269 “War, Peace, and the State,” in ibid, pp. 115–32.
270 “National Liberation,” in ibid, 195–98.
271 “Kid Lib,” in ibid, pp. 145–55.