Bert Schwitters alerted me to his book Liberating Liberty and upon my request, sent me a PDF. The book is apparently available only here, not on Amazon, and not in ebook form, and not available in PDF, epub, or other form online either. He describes some of his views and his book here too: Liberty and Libertarians. The book appears to have a subtitle but it is not clear what it is—perhaps “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness and The Creator of Man,” but it’s not clear. This is obviously an amateur effort.
I’m pleased to announce the results of a project I’ve been working on with other libertarians for some time: The Universal Principles of Liberty (finalized and published Aug. 14, 2025).
I’d like to explain here how this came about.
I’ve been a libertarian since I was in high school and increasingly involved over the years learning about liberty and have devoted a lot of time to developing libertarian ideas, by my speaking and writing, 1 and even in various forms of activism. Yes, despite my regular criticisms of activists and activism, I of course have participated in activism of various types—debating with family and friends and others, voting, participating in various groups; joining the Libertarian Party years ago and now serving on its Judicial Committee. 2[continue reading…]
It’s time someone do this. I was hoping someone else had or would, but I’ve given up finding anyone comprehensive and solid on this. I guess I’ll have to do it, if I find time. Maybe I can coax Bob Murphy into doing it with he: I am decent on economic methodology; he is deeper and better. We are both solid on austro-libertarianism: he is a libertarian, and I am the libertarian. And he is probably decent on law, and I am deeper and better. I may approach El Bobborino about this at some point. Or maybe Hülsmann or Hoppe. Or Konrad Graf. 1[continue reading…]
When spanking and other issues are debated by libertarians, someone invariably brings up the issue of grabbing or touching someone in other contexts: for example, if you see a child or stranger about to run into traffic or into the path of a speeding bus, you might grab them to save them. Or you might have to grab or physically prevent a child from doing something harmful like sticking their hand into boiling water, and so on; you might even need to slap them to get their attention in an emergency situation. In these cases the third party is not trying to damage or punish or discipline the stranger or child; from it.
For defenders of spanking, they will mindlessly trot these non-analogous situations out in an attempt to justify spanking. [continue reading…]
I have mentioned before my year obtaining an LL.M. in international business law at the University of London, 1991–1992, after law school. 1 In that course I was required to take at least half my courses from King’s College London, my “base” school, and was free to take other courses from the four other University of London law schools that were then part of this program. I other half of my courses at the London School of Economics law school. 2 My favorite course in the program was “The International Law of Natural Resources,” taught by Professor Rosalyn Higgins at LSE—now Dame Higgins and later the first woman on the International Court of Justice. 3
This, then, was the ultimate reason for the breakup of the libertarian-conservative alliance accomplished with the John Randolph Club: that while the libertarians were willing to learn their cultural lesson the conservatives did not want to learn their economics.
The business community in Texas has encouraged the State of Texas to form specialized new business trial courts as well as “the first operational appellate level business court in the United States, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals.” 1 This is a good illustration that civilized people, and businesses, value working courts, dispute resolution and legal certainty. It also illustrates the importance of federalism and states attempting to have reliable legal systems in part to attract corporate business, relocations, and incorporation in the state. [continue reading…]
On Commentators and Codes in Private Law, State Law, and Libertarian Law
I’ve pointed out previously the role of commentators and codification in the private law of systems such as the Roman law, the modern European Roman-based civil law, and the Anglo-American common law, and speculated also as to the role commentators, codification, and codes would play in a completely decentralized, legislation-free libertarian private-law legal system of a free society. [continue reading…]
In the discussion about proportionality, you state (for example on page 102 regarding property crimes), that if, for example, the money stolen from someone is more valuable to him than to the criminal, then the punishment could be, in addition to returning the money (in this case $10,000) and making the criminal pay another $10,000, paying additional compensation for the difference in value. [continue reading…]
For those who lived through this period, this book is a painful but gripping read. First serialized online, it has garnered praise from the world over for its steady tone, granular detail, narrative precision, and moral passion.
The times felt like a blur because normal life was so upended in unthinkable ways. This book operates as a tool of focus as if on a camera lens, turning fuzzy images into clear pictures. Therein lies the pain. [continue reading…]
Earlier this year I went to a fantastic conference at LSU Law on the bicentennial of the 1825 Louisiana Civil Code. 1 I found almost every panel and speaker interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of them, the esteemed international law specialist Vivian Curran, in the closing panel, had some interesting remarks about translation.
Q: In the panel here, law professor Viviane Curran makes the following comments. This is from the Youtube transcript so there may be spelling errors. She refers to some someone named “Lakoff”, who is apparently a linguist or a psychologist or both, and whose argument is that thinking is translation, that thinking itself is translation. Can you think of who she means? What is name of the author and what books would have this theory? [continue reading…]
Recent Comments