I Chose Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Roy Cordato 89
considering the times. Fortunately, I was good at mathematics, and this made them look
the other way in other matters. Those were days of relatively backward, soviet-type socialism,
when a fascination for mathematical truth, if no other, still lingered on.
Fortunately, I do not have to rely on my libertarianism to make ends meet, at least so
far. Many, if not all, my libertarian-minded Romanian friends have to work for government,
or governmentally controlled institutions, to make a living as professional economists or
political scientists. Hopefully they make a positive difference there and do OK. But it is an
extremely unfavorable environment for sound ideas to develop and spread. However, Tudor
Smirna, a founder of the Mises Institute—Romania, has given away his governmental
“academic” position, and successfully runs his own business—a teahouse, right in front of
the Romanian Presidential Palace.
Dan Cristian Comanescu is president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute—Romania.
18
ROY CORDATO
LIBERTARIAN JOURNEY
I discovered liberty as political philosophy (as opposed to libertarianism as a movement)
during the first Jim Buckley for Senate campaign in 1968. Buckley was the candidate
of New York’s Conservative Party. At the time I was actually the Chairman of the Teen
Age Democrats in Columbia County, New York. Buckley was interesting because a central
part of his campaign was to end the draft, and at the time the only candidates endorsing
such an idea were left-wingers. I found this fascinating and began to look more closely at
his views and candidacy. This led me to leave the Democrats, which was tough since my
father was a long time Roosevelt-Humphrey Democrat and Chairman of the Hudson, New
York Democratic Party. One of my high school teachers, a Conservative Party activist, told
me about the Young Americans for Freedom, and I joined. I went on to form a YAF chapter
in my high school and became very active in the organization. I remember becoming disillusioned
with YAF when I realized that they were not as consistently for freedom as their
statement of principle (The Sharon Statement) would indicate. While they were officially
against the draft, it was never something they emphasized, and on social issues like drug
legalization they were at best silent. Oddly enough, one of the things that stands out in my