I Chose Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

396 I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians
and confident enough from their own successes in practice that they can allow those who
want to be different to go their own way in peace, so long as the latter (1) are not bothering
anyone else, (2) not using anyone else’s financial resources to fund their deviant practices,
whatever they may be, or (3) not making appeals to the government to use the financial
resources of the productive to fund whatever it is they are doing.
Christian libertarianism is not a widely promulgated philosophy of society and life,
not even on the World Wide Web (although Vox Day, a weekly columnist over on
WorldNetDaily.com, also characterizes his views in this way). I believe that reconciliation
between Christianity and libertarianism has much to offer. Christianity can check any
libertine tendencies hiding within libertarianism–tendencies to moral relativism, subjectivism
and latter-day Epicureanism. Libertarianism can check any theocratic impulses hiding
inside the veneer of the so-called “religious right.”
Thus the story of how I became a Christian libertarian. I became a libertarian out of
consciousness of my need for freedom and sense of my own individuality, a need and sense
I share with my fellow human beings. I became a Christian out of consciousness of my sin
and a need for redemption—again shared with my fellow human beings. The marriage
between the two—Christianity and libertarianism—is bound to be an uneasy one at least
for a while yet because of longstanding tendencies within each that lead to distrust of the
other. Too many libertarians are too close to Enlightenment rationalism and can become
“irrational rationalists.” Too many Christians succumb to the temptation to seek statesponsorship
for their goals. A marriage between the two would benefit both. That such a
marriage would strengthen the movement to restore our rapidly diminishing liberties in
this country is and continues to be my hope.
Steven Yates has a Ph.D. in philosophy and is an independent author.
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FERNANDO ZANELLA
AN AUSTRIAN ECONOMIST BY ACCIDENT
I was born in Volta Redonda, State of Rio de Janeiro, where my father worked as an
engineer for one of the most famous Brazilian state companies, i.e., Companhia Siderúrgica
Nacional (CSN). CSN was founded in 1941 as the first steel producer in Brazil. The U.S.
funded it after the then Brazilian president, the dictator Vargas, threatened to join the