I Chose Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

104 I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians
cannot fully understand economics without also understanding the interaction between
the economy and the state. That’s where public choice comes in and, just as importantly,
that’s where the work of Murray Rothbard is so important. Murray never hesitated to
combine economics, history, history of economic thought, political philosophy, sociology,
and statistics to get at the truth—whether he was writing about America’s Great
Depression, welfare policy, regulation, or any other topic. His relentless pursuit of the
truth is what always impressed me most about him, and it is a model that ought to be
followed by all libertarians.
Thomas J. DiLorenzo is professor of economics at Loyola University, Maryland.
24
MICHAEL EDELSTEIN
MY JOURNEY TO LIBERTY
My transition from a liberal Democrat to a libertarian began in Brooklyn, New York
in the mid-1970s when I met Walter Block.
Two of my passions then were chess and Dr. Albert Ellis’s Rational Emotive Behavior
Therapy (REBT.) At about this time, I met Bill Shooman through the REBT network. As
Bill and I became friends, he introduced me to his REBT friend, Walter, a chess devotee
and Brooklynite.
Walter and I began to play chess regularly in his dining room. Between chess games
we debated politics. I won most of the chess games and Walter won the political debates.
After two years I was a convert. My last liberal pillar was my naive faith that banning guns
would reduce crime. It’s logical: if no one has a gun, we’re all safer, right?
Today, libertarianism is my greatest intellectual passion and has immeasurably
enriched my life. I’m continually deepening my understanding of the freedom philosophy,
largely under Walter’s tutelage. He and I no longer play chess, though we’ve become fast
friends.
Murray Rothbard was Walter’s libertarian mentor as Albert Ellis was my psychotherapy
mentor. Both were groundbreakers and geniuses in their respective fields. Both had an
intense dislike for Ayn Rand. It only seemed fitting, Walter suggested, that we bring
Rothbard and Ellis together. He arranged a late night meeting in Al’s office with the four