The Current State of World Affairs | Murray N. Rothbard

[PoetsLight]

Libertarianism is best used as a vehicle for living one's own life. I am economically an anarcho capitalist, but I have completely phased out politics from my life and am far happier for it. Being politically involved as a libertarian can destroy the soul because of the frustration and hopelessness it can sometimes manifest.

I now use my libertarian philosophy to live a more fulfilling life. It truly is a liberating view once you've eliminated government omnipotence from the picture.

[LogicalFlawDetector]

If you think history is against minarchism, then think about what history says about stateless societies in African nations -- complete disasters. The United States had a minimal state for most of its history. Hong Kong and Singapore today have minimal state intervention in their economies. Minarchist societies have a better record. Anarcho-capitalism, like Chomskian anarcho-socialism, is a big failure. Remember: Hayek, Friedman and Mises were minarchists, not anarchists.

[TenTonHorse]

@LogicalFlawDetector There's a difference between collapsed states and a society forming with a collective statelessness. The African examples are the former. But if you support secession, there's shouldn't be any conflict between a Rothbardian and a Hayekian.

[theoldways11]

Wow he mentioned colonel Ghadaffi as a target to keep the military state going! What a prophet

[capricioussole]

not so much a prophet,, Ghadaffi has been used as a strawman enemy for decades.

[theoldways11]

Hilarious and ever the optimist

[GoingGoingGalt]

Is it just me or does Rothbard look like a combination of Mises and Hayek?

[Debatewithme]

@GoingGoingGalt He honestly looks like a mini-greenspan.

[cheesechoker]

The great thing about listening to talks by Rothbard is that in addition to being interesting, they're really damn funny

[andrewbandrew]

sorry for the redundant posting here

gonna get some hate

[andrewbandrew]

Capitalism needs to be regulated . Screw corporate irresponsibility and George Bush's "dereg" business.

A socialized Capitalism! CANADA!

[phroto13]

@andrewbandrew listen to stefan molyneux on the canadian state... its good now because the baby boomers havent yet retired and sucked out the wealth from the productive peoples... as the population ages adn the wastes of the state become aparent, the immorality of institutionalized theft through taxes will show its ugly face just as it has in every other socialized country... also socialized capitalism is public prophet when things work and public loss when the business goes bad...

[andrewbandrew]

Is this a JAY LENO voice over holy.

Capitalism is great until businesses become so large that all competition is absorbed and the result is that they run their own little minisocialisms within the context of the free market.

As well its interesting that corporations, with the recent bailouts, exist in a type of corporate socialism, whereby they are so large that no alternatives exist to purchase products from, paralleling a government run mode of production.

This guy is a genius.

[andrewbandrew]

Is this a JAY LENO voice over holy.

Capitalism is great until businesses become so large that all competition is absorbed and the result is that they run their own little minisocialisms within the context of the free market.

As well its interesting that corporations, with the recent bailouts, exist in a type of corporate socialism, whereby they are so large that no alternatives exist to purchase products from, paralelling a government run mode of production.

[andrewbandrew]

Is this a JAY LENO voice over holy.

[CytherLynx]

this is sooo interesting. like really.. after reading a second book on rothbard, and seeing the genius he is, .. so interesting.

[CytherLynx]

"The decline of liberty in the United States began with Republican land grants to the Big Four railroad tycoons. It degenerated into the Interstate Commerce Act and anti-trust laws, regulation of employers, food inspection, exemption of trade unions from the criminal law, imposition of income taxes, and the creation of a Frankenstein fiat moneychanger called the Federal Reserve -- all within two generations, immediately prior to (and resulting in) the Great Depression."

[TobiasMuse]

Thank you Ludwig von Mises institute for sharing this video!

[TheCameo86]

Murray is God

[robertwc82]

"nineteen eighty-four" doesnt work? the book never claims the party every achieves permanent power. it says thats its goal. whether or not a revolution comes in the future is left open.

[WanderingSeer]

Our government schools would have us believe that it

s not socialism that is dying, but capitalism.

[Sfan985]

I was born in Iraq at the year of this speech.. we had a typewriter. Sigh. Facts maybe shit, but I like the free market.

[doughtymqan]

@Sfan985 Free markets= Free people!!

[SuperSuperfan]

Murray has a quite a large misunderstanding over the history and theory of socialism, he seems to only see it only as demonic and statist, when in reality original socialism was libertarian, the 20th century with Lenin and Mao would change all that though.

[rumco]

@SuperSuperfan Socialism = means of production are owned by the government. Did you mean libertarian socialism that is incompatible with human nature? Private property is the foundation of our civilization. Rothbard had almost encyclopedic knowledge of history.

[SuperSuperfan]

@rumco No socialism means the workers control of the means of production, the 20th century again changed all that, and sure private property created civilization but it also gave birth to a long history of a small number of people dominating the masses through property and then through the state, as property gave birth to the state. Also, I do have lots of respect for Rothbard his critique on state intervention in the economy in brilliant, he just has a false conception of what socialism is.

[rumco]

@SuperSuperfan As you can see, it's pointless in using any of these terms as they've been "redefined" all over. Let's just say that I believe private property is just, moral and the only way how one man cannot destroy all of his fellows. And the state is an evil mob.

[pretorious700]

Murray never ceases to amaze with his insight, even decades later.....he is right, but socialism will never die as long as people as happy letting others do their thinking for them.

[rgs11]

@pretorious700 Socialism will never die as long as large masses of the population are miserable. The best way to kill socialism is to cure poverty thru the free-market.

[hulksterification]

he sound like Leno

[eusurfer]

funny how theres a wave og nostalgia sweeping eastern euro right now for thold communist system. those countries got right royaly reemed by capitalists. still are i think. hungary with the fiscal austerity imposed by the IMF, russia with its cleptocrats and the baltic states who were told to, american fashion, treat there homes as ATMs. western capitalists it seems to me expoited the east. still does expolit

[Rhal95]

Read "The Shock Doctorine" by Naomi Klein. It details how the IMF was used to rape any country tragic enough to need IMF loans.

[lrsfirefighter]

@eusurfer You have it all wrong. "Capitalism" is the free, unhindered, and un-coerced exchange of goods and services between willing parties to mutual gain. All of these incidents you state were committed at the hands of Government. Government is the evil you misrepresent as "Capitalism". Once force is entered into a transaction it ceases to be free, and therefore ceases to be Capitalist.

[Fabyfakid]

collectivists stole the term liberal, and then libertarian.

[Capnwabbit]

Fantastic writer - but Christ he babbles when talking...

[whoo689]

Rothbard was a pretty good libertarian, but his conservative social views kinda turn me off. I believe in maximizing freedom for ALL spheres of life. This includes foreign policy as well. We should expand freedom for the American people by reducing state war powers and restore freedom for foreign peoples by reducing and ultimately ending the empire.

Rothbard was just too damn intolerant of "other" libertarians. He thinks anyone with left-wing views who's also libertarian is "libertine."

[whoo689]

Anyone who mixes progressive social views w/ economic conservatism or libertarianism, in rothbard's view, has no sense of ethics, which is a really dumb thing to say. I don't advocate hedonism or any of that bullshit. Everything in moderation. I just believe people should have maximum possible freedom under voluntarism.

[LouGrimaldi]

Honestly, a real libertarian cannot be left-wing, unless regarding social rights.

[cjanne9]

I also Believe in the great Australian-School

of Economics.The great Bruce Foster from

University of Canberra with desciples like Prof. Mrs. Mathilda Waltz

invented the Micronesian-Economy of Tariff Trading Theory and even predicted

9 of the 5 last recessions,if only Von Mises lived today and seen the great development of his theories.

[kdawg860]

dude. you mean AUSTRIAN not australian. lol. mises was from austria.

[kdawg860]

oh wait. youre probably talking about something else. university of canberra? okay. i dunno much about that. my bad. lol.

[cjanne9]

I thought he was Libertin from Canberra?

Is he Austrian?He talkes pretty good English,to be Austrian.Swarzegger is also Austrian,but talk pretty lousy english i think.

[lrsfirefighter]

@cjanne9 NO, he is American. He is an Economist of the Austrian School of Economics as described by Friedrich Von Hayek, Ludwig Von Mises (Austrian Economists.)

[Invirtuo]

9 of the last 5 recessions!! :O that's an accuracy percentage of 180! impressive lmao

[cjanne9]

Aussies are are unbeatable!

[OctoBox]

I'm a Minarchist (in predominance) but I have Rothbardian Dreams -- Rothbard has won me over (piece by piece) in the areas of utilities and education. My areas of contention (as Rothbard wants 100% privatization) are as follows: Navy - Orbital Weaponry - WMDs. We don't need a standing national Army, nevertheless how do we live without State Guards/Air Force. On Day #1 what private firms do we let buy up the Armies/Air Force toys (States yes).

The Navy no way (can't see it).

[sustaincain]

13:13 Our man is right: you can't IMPOSE totalitainism, but you can CULTIVATE it SECRETLY as they constantly do, until the people BEG for it and DEMAND it! Which one of YOU is going to fight the inexorable garbage-crusher logic of getting something embedded in you to do all your authentication, financial and health-care transactions?

[Joeey]

communism and socialism are different things. very different things. the roads and highways are socialism. socialism = services to support building wealth (or in other words not being ass-poor)

[clthinkingman]

"socialism = services to support building wealth" socialism doesn't build wealth it re-distributes it, wealth is create by entrepreneurs (socialism steals). Business that use gov to steal wealth thru gov force disgused as laws, becuase they fear competition and true free competitive markets. They are the soicalist that wear capitalist clothes. More soicalist the coutry the less wealth it will create and have ands the sooner its destruction.

[Joeey]

except, we needs to use real examples. Explain this to me. you say Socialism is used to steal wealth, etc. But the French have a lot of socialist services and they are quite wealthy. USA has none and what is really happenening is tons of debt for school and personal bankruptcy to get health care.

[clthinkingman]

USA has none (socialism) is not true. USA has alot of socialism, more Facistism in form regulation, this is the reason the USA is going down. However the US has created more wealth then any other country. Every country wants Silcone Valley but only in US u find it. Smaller country size helps europe nations in the socialist scheme, but given enough time the poniz scheme of socialism will collapse, it took Russia some time. Bigger ? what could france have created if it wasn't socialist?

[Invirtuo]

Americans who think France is an example of a successful society should try going there. It has horrific ghetto-like banlieues created by welfarism.

the place bears the hallmarks of shabbiness and neglect. In fact outside of Paris it has the depressing appearance of a soviet-type country. income is quite low by american standards and thats BEFORE high taxes are taken into account! The good aspects of france e.g its historic landmarks, language, culture etc. predate its modern welfarism

[WanderingSeer]

@Invirtuo Very good thank you.

[Bellantoni]

@Invirtuo If you think France's ghettos are bad, you should see the ones in the United States. And if you think those are bad you should see the ones in the Third World.

[Joeey]

"the death of the old order" yeah right Murray.

[leveraithan]

"I agree...[Communism] is great, but only in theory.....It just doesnt work in reality."

I disagree. Communism is just as disgusting theoretically as it is actualized.

[Slavesrevolt]

There is no People's government. Government's job is to govern. It seeks to expand it's power in all ways until it is all there is. The state versus you.

We had such great promise but everyone was asleep. Now that we have the wealth of information and the ability to share it we are creating a new reality.

[BIowback]

The guy is genius and hilarious at the same time.

[RichardRoy2]

I see the logic of the ideas presented here, yet I see people making comments that often don't sound like they're from someone who examined the vid or the ideas behind them. Some of them even sound like a perposeful attempt to discredit the vid or ideas presented here, and would be effective in that respect only to those who don't use their own minds to process them, and use someone elses summation to save them the trouble of using their minds.

[buffalofinancialgrou]

Marxism has never worked because it is opposed to mans nature. That is why every commie nation has failed. Anyone defending the NAZI's could also say, well Hitler was not a true NAZI. They could also say National Socialism has never really been tried. That is how lame your point is RJ. That is how foolish you are. Go and watch some more WWE wrestling and leave econ to the pros.

[RJGula]

For your information, I don't watch WWE pro wrestling I watch Pride Mixed Martial Arts. To just how foolish you are if you only read Marx's classic Value, Price and Profit--Wage Labor and Capital then, brother, you would know the truth about the capitalistic economic exploitive system that you cherish so much. Now go watch your red-neck fried chicken recipe segments which could give you a cardiac arrest by your mid-forties and speeches of a third-rate actor who got elected to the presidency.

[buffalofinancialgrou]

RJ That third-rate actor helped finish off your Marxism based nation. he also had a degree in econ as do I. if you do not like wrestling why is your page full of wrestlers?

Thanks for the so called red neck insult. If you economic IQ ever gets above 1 let me know. WE have saw how Marx ideas work in the real world. They have failed everytime they have been tried. Yet you still believe in his ideas even though they have always failed.

[jackson32]

buffalofinancialgrou

I think thats a myth that Reagan finished off the Soviet Union. It was their system that did them in, at least partly. I am suspicious of what went on behind the scenes, seeing as how much praise Gorbachev got from the US media and how he is in favor of things like a one world government.

Reagan is highly over rated in many conservative circles. He had great rhetoric, but when it came to acting on those statements, he failed to implement anything.

[RJGula]

Karl Marx is a much better economist.

[buffalofinancialgrou]

RJ,

Is that why the USSR did so well?

[RJGula]

The USSR failing was a big boost for Karl Marx's reputation because that country had nothing to do with Marxism in the first place and, for 74 years, emasculated Marx's teachings. True Marxism hasn't been tried yet.

[jackson32]

"True Marxism hasn't been tried yet."

Yeah because it is insane, unpractical, and immoral.

[bmtimv]

lol communism is great in theory

[RonPaul08Freedom]

No, it isn't.  That's why it doesn't work.

[willyrobinson]

not if you examine it.

[kalvinphil]

I agree...It is great, but only in theory.....It just doesnt work in reality.

[ITSjustTHATguy]

Its really bad even in theory

[kalvinphil]

I forgot....you are the judge of good theories. I will make sure I come to you the next time I need an opinion on a theory...lol smarty pants!

[ITSjustTHATguy]

I am the judge of what is good for me. You can implement whatever theory you want with people that are wiling to freely do so, but you can not impose your theories on me. That is communism. It is bad for me whether you like it or not, and you cant impose your ideas on people. Anarcho-capitalism doesnt force anyone to do anything they dont want to do.

[kalvinphil]

yep you are the judge of whats good for you. Take it easy.....dont bust a blood bessel!

[jackson32]

It's not even good in theory.

[Balden2]

The premises of marxism are false, so it's no wonder it the USSR developed into such a horror. Marxism is impossible.

[kurtisfolkerth]

indeed sir..besides.....if communists knew that Marx and Engels were hired by the captains of industry, to write the manifesto.....False from the start!!!!

[Mattes50A05]

I love Rothbard he is my hero

[marxbitesall]

Sad we can never meet him. Listen to a dozen of his talks and it takes little convincing of how loved he was and is by those that knew him.

This is just the kind of guy I'd love to see in today's discourse having debates, criticizing govt, educating us.

Harm no man, then do as you will.

I loves Mises to pieces!

Ron Paul 2008!

Socialism is just the best tool elites have devised to rob and rule us with & GW is the latest edition.

Real 100% freedom IS no government at all.

[anarchylogic]

I love his scense of humor. ^_^

[Annie55marie]

"Nobody loves Bush with the possible exception of his family."

[jackson32]

Nobodies perfect, and it's unhealthy to idolize people. In that spirit I would like to mention in regards to copyright, Rothbard had a very clumsy argument for copyright which was easily refuted by Kinsella and others. Rothbard was ahead of his time on all sorts things though, IMHO.

Ron Paul r3VOLution

[jeanChombier]

Nobodies perfect, and it's unhealthy to idolize people. In that spirit I would like to mention that in regards to immigration, Ron Paul mentionned in your sig makes... no actually he doesn't even care to make a coherent moral argument. Don't support statists, even when they're statesmen.

[jackson32]

"he doesn't even care to make a coherent moral argument."

Simply not true, go to lewrockwell. com and you will find a bunch of articles by Ron Paul on immigration. Calling Ron Paul a statist is just a smear, he's for very limited government under the constitution, that's hardly a statist.

Ron Paul r3VOLution

[jeanChombier]

There are a bunch of consequentialist arguments made by Ron Paul which don't amount to anything. Even the anti-immigrationist Hoppe demolished the stupid welfare/immigration argument, but refer to Walter Block for proper arguments.

Does Ron Paul want a government? If yes, that's the definition of a stasist, someone for the existence of the state, simple.

[jackson32]

Merriam-Websters Dictionary definition of statist: an advocate of statism

definition of statism: concentration of economic controls and planning in the hands of a highly centralized government often extending to government ownership of industry

What Ron Paul believes in is minarchism or a minimal state.

[Balden2]

Which is quite impossible. Throughout history people have tried to "limit" government and have failed. What makes you think Ron Paul and the "minarchist" state he intends to set up will be different?

[jackson32]

First of all I didn't say I was a minarchist. I agree that minarchism won't work. I am a believer in anarcho-capitalism.

I take issue with people who attack Ron Paul though. Constitutional government is an idea Americans are familiar with and is the correct strategy for educating people about liberty. Ron Paul has made a HUGE contribution to the spread of libertarian ideas and to attack him is simply wrong and un-libertarian in my opinion.

[InlandDiv]

I do agree that a 'minarchy' would eventually go bad, as America did. The Constitution has simply too many time bombs.

But does that mean one shouldn't support a politician who supports liberty? Rothbard certainly didn't feel that way. Not only did he support Ron Paul in 88 but also a candidate in almost every presidential election in his lifetime. Not only that but he was friends with several Congressmen.

[CptWillard1]

The only "timebomb" is a blank check on government power. America was never really a minarchy, but it was vaguely close to the libertarian area for a while.

[srvkws2]

I cannot speak enough praise for the Ludwig von Mises Institute. This is the type of information that the masses need.

[quark97]

This only goes to show us that most modern history and modern economics sold to the unwashed

masses by the secret ruling blood lines is pure Horse Hockey. See how deep the rabbit hole goes.

You better do your home work, almost everything we think we know is a Big lie. Look into

Edward Bernays how to control the sheeple

info wars dot com & cafr man dot com

Myron C Fagan and the CFR, Jordan Maxwell dot com

[Shimon8080]

but he is ugly

[Kl0kw3rk]

Painfully funny. He has a good ense of humour.

[johnebii]

'my favorite way of watching revolutions'...

hilarious. i love his humour.

[Rothgar12]

Nice, Thanks

[scottferrie]

"I hate the Government, the Banks, and the Lawyers. True Capitalism can not exist without Anarchism and True Anarchism can not exist without Capitalism. Hence Anarcho-Capitalism is the ONLY system that is capitalist and the ONLY system that is anarchist."

-Scott Ferrie

[regusted]

The irrepressible Rothbard lives on on Youtube! He was certainly one of the 20th Century's greatest economists, historians and political theorists.

I got to meet him three times, mostly at LP or Mises Institute functions. He will be missed!

I always liked the way Murray rubbed his head, not unlike Yoda or Takashi Shimura in the Seven Samurai. Surely, a sign of a wise man.

[jackson32]

To me there are two things that stand out about him. 1) He had an amazing knack for being right! 2) He had an encyclopedic knowledge of REAL history. REAL being the operative word because there is so much of history that is wrong. The main reason for this is the court intellectuals who have obscured and lied about history to benefit those in power. Also he came at history from the libertarian angle, the only way to look at it accurately.

[jackson32]

One interesting thing I recently learned while reading his book Conceived in Liberty was that Benjimen Franklin was not the fighter for freedom that almost everyone thinks he was. In fact he was an ambitious political wheeler dealer, who was well connected to many people in power, and he himself sought power and money whatever the cost to liberty. He consistently opposed ideas and policies that would aid the cause of liberty.

[ralphosize]

Very interesting. Thank you.

[stonedragon1027]

This is... America 2.0, and it's a complete scam, to boot. It didn't upgrade, it downgraded. But, anyway... GO ROTHBARD!

[stonedragon1027]

Rothbard. True American hero. Screw guys like Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Lincoln, Wilson, and Kennedy. Rothbard, Mises, and Hayek are the true post-founders era upholders of the ideal that is America. Ideal, not nation. This current statist hellhole sure isn't America, as created by men like Jefferson, Madison, and Washington, its on the same land that this America was built on, but Italy is on where Rome (the empire) once stood, and yet it is a different nation.

[Selecter]

jefferson madison and washington DEPISED anarchism and everything Rothbard stood for. Numerous quotes are vilable for each. Jefferson especially.

[bonkers45]

But wasn't anarchism in their time essentially left-anarchism? Which has the opposite property rights to anarcho-capitalism.

[jackson32]

Are you kidding? You need to go to lewrockwell. com and mises. org.

There you can take Libertarianism 101 and Economics 101.

[bonkers45]

Sorry, I don't think I was clear enough. I was just talking about the meaning of the word at that point in time. But, I agree with your comment below this, so that effectively answered my question!

I don't know anything about Jefferson, so I was just asking.

[jackson32]

You know what, I apologize, I misunderstood what you said. It's to embarrassing to say what I thought you said! That was a very gracious reply.

[bonkers45]

No problem. Thanks, I must try to remember to write comments that politely more often :) I'm not always so polite, hehe.

[jackson32]

It's true the founding father did not believe in anarchism, neither the anarcho-capitalism of Murray Rothbard or the traditional anarchism. However it is simply not true that they despised everything Rothbard stood for. They would have agreed on most things. They probably would have been interested in the remaining ideas because the focus of these ideas is liberty, just farther than they went, possibly because the theories were not as advanced at the time.

[MightyHigh85]

Jefferson believed anarcho-capitalism, but only for small comunities. He thought it couldn't work for a large society. That is why the founding fathers set up a very limited government. Only history has shown that governments can't stay small for a long time.

[inoxx]

comedic genius

[allixpeeke]

Ever the optimist. :)