I Chose Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Ernest Hancock 147
The second occasion when Hayek showed an unusual amount of warmth toward me
was at the 1982 meeting of the Mt. Pelerin Society, which was held in Berlin. Although we
had occasionally corresponded, I had not seen Hayek for five or six years, so it was particularly
pleasant to find him active and in good health. We both entered the main reception hall
where the meetings were to be held at about the same time, but at opposite ends of an enormously
large room, and we both appear to have noticed each other at about the same moment.
Both of us began to briskly walk towards each other. Hayek appeared genuinely delighted to
see me; when we met, he beamed down at me and I was surprised to find that, in shaking
hands, he put his other arm around me in what amounted to a half-hug. He went on to tell
me how pleased he was to see me again and that he had often thought of me. It was the last
time I was to see him and I remember that meeting with great fondness and affection.
In composing these comments, it has occurred to me how terribly lucky I’ve been to
have had the opportunity to get to know both Murray and Hayek. They were both truly
brilliant men from whom I have profited immensely. Indeed, they—together with three
other great men I’ve been fortunate enough to know or study with—have given shape to
everything I’ve ever written. I can claim no originality because everything I’ve composed
can be traced back to them. One of my regrets is that I did not get to know one of these
three, Ludwig von Mises, better than I did. He, together with my old college professor of
intellectual history, Hans Kohn, and Sir Isaiah Berlin, under whom I studied at Oxford,
are all responsible for how I understand the world. But this is especially true of Murray
Rothbard and Friedrich Hayek, whom I knew best and whom I loved most.
Ronald Hamowy is emeritus professor of history at the University of Alberta. He delivered this talk
at the 20th anniversary of the Mises Institute.
33
ERNEST HANCOCK
BEING LIBERTARIAN—I ONLY SEEK THE TRUTH
By the time I was 28 years of age in 1989, I had been lied to far too many times by
representatives of the government for me to put any faith in what they had to say.
As with most libertarian activists, I had personal experiences with government that made
it clear that they were not the defenders of freedom, but its enemy. I was young and naive and
wanted to help my father’s company help himself and the U.S.A. by exporting his already