Currently viewing the tag: "war"

Libertarianism, Self-Defense, and Innocent Shields

By On November 24, 2012 · 68 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Current Events, Libertarianism, Rights Theory

Suppose A is unjustly attacking V, and using I as an “innocent shield.” In other words, A has positioned himself (or I) in such a way as to make it difficult for V to employ defensive force against A without endangering I in the process. In circumstances such as these, is it [...]

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Let’s Talk Fundamentals: Israel is Not The Problem and Israel Does Not Have The Solution

By On November 23, 2012 · 63 Comments · In Current Events, Libertarianism

[Editor's Note: In the interest of continuing and deepening our discussion of issues pertaining to the current conflict in Gaza, and of the implications of libertarian thought for issues of foreign policy more generally, we are running the following guest submission by Peter Lewin. Lewin is clinical professor of economics at the University of Texas at Dallas [...]

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Libertarianism, Israel, and Palestine – A Different View

By On November 21, 2012 · 148 Comments · In Current Events, Libertarianism

[Editor's Note: Toward the goal of fostering a deeper discussion of issues pertaining to the current conflict in Gaza, and of the implications of libertarian thought for issues of foreign policy more generally, we are running the following guest submission by John Glaser. Glaser is the Senior Editor at 

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“Anti-State” or “Pro-Liberty”? Some Thoughts on Israel

By On November 20, 2012 · 124 Comments · In Current Events, Democracy, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Liberty

A recent discussion on my Facebook wall has prompted me to share a few thoughts about libertarianism and the Israel-Palestine conflict.  Let me start with one point:  I am no expert on the history of the area.  Many, but not all, people whose knowledge of that history I trust share (I think) much, but not [...]

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Forgotten Libertarians of American History

By On August 2, 2012 · 15 Comments · In Libertarianism, Links

The great historian of classical liberalism, Steve Davies, has an excellent new podcast on “Forgotten Libertarians of American History” (podcast and a somewhat garbled transcript available through the link). Davies focuses on the period between 1870 and 1914, an era which he says is usually neglected by libertarians in [...]

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Life of Helai (Parody of Life of Julia)

By On May 7, 2012 · 35 Comments · In Current Events

Under President Obama: Three-year-old Helai is at home, learning about Afghani village life from her mother, father, and four older siblings, when a NATO airstrike ordered by Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Obama hits her home, killing her in a fiery flash. Helai joins an unknown but significant number of innocent civilians American forces have [...]

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Violence, Wars, and States

By On September 3, 2011 · 20 Comments · In Current Events, Left-libertarianism, Libertarianism, Rights Theory

[UPDATE: Due to an error, comments were disabled on the original version of this post.  It is being reposted with comments enabled.]

Violence is bad news. Individuals should think twice about the use of force, even for defensive purposes, and states should avoid war-making even more thoroughly.

 

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Ultimately, moral analysis needs to [...]

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Engaging—Just Not Radical

By On August 29, 2011 · 5 Comments · In Book/Article Reviews

Gillespie, Nick, and Welch, Matt. The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What’s Wrong with America. New York: PublicAffairs 2011. Pp. xvi, 266. Index. 978-1-58648-938-0.

The Declaration of Independents is a breezy, entertaining manifesto. Defending “libertarian politics,” Reason’s Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch make clear that they’re for decision-making that’s [...]

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