Good Books on Libertarianism?

[Circe]

Some of the classics:
1) The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
2) The Law by Frederic Bastiat
3) Liberalism by Ludwig von Mises

A few recent notables:
1) No, They Can't: Why Government Fails-But Individuals Succeed by John Stossel
2) Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays by Walter E. Williams

I have "The Road to Serfdom" by Hayek on my Kindle app; again, I didn't realize it was a Libertarian work, it was just talked about a lot so I put it on. Getting the study project organized and the books identified is a long way forward.

 

[Oddball]

Some of the classics:
1) The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
2) The Law by Frederic Bastiat
3) Liberalism by Ludwig von Mises

A few recent notables:
1) No, They Can't: Why Government Fails-But Individuals Succeed by John Stossel
2) Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays by Walter E. Williams

I have "The Road to Serfdom" by Hayek on my Kindle app; again, I didn't realize it was a Libertarian work, it was just talked about a lot so I put it on. Getting the study project organized and the books identified is a long way forward.

It isn't necessarily a libertarian work....It is, however, renowned economist Hayek's political treatise, which points out that all forms of authoritarian central control -socialism, communism, fascism, etcetera- eventually and inexorably lead to oppression and despotism....I personally find chapter ten, "Why the worst get on top", to be particularly instructive and prescient.

 

[dblack]

Circe,

I'll offer different advice from some of the other libertarian advocates here. You should read as many of the critical articles as you can stomach. And try to be open minded. Some of their concerns have merit and, in any case, it will be vital that we deal with such criticisms if libertarianism is ever to gain a foothold as a genuine national movement.

 

[Circe]

Circe,

I'll offer different advice from some of the other libertarian advocates here. You should read as many of the critical articles as you can stomach. And try to be open minded. Some of their concerns have merit and, in any case, it will be vital that we deal with such criticisms if libertarianism is ever to gain a foothold as a genuine national movement.

Okay, good suggestion, that's midcan5's list of critical articles.

 

[National Socialist]

Read books by Walter Block,Ron Paul,Lysander Spooner,Neil Schulman although I only liked one of his books Alongside Night which they are making into a movie.Search results for "Libertarian books" (showing 1-6 of 6 lists)
I love goodreads.

 

[National Socialist]

Ayn Rand has some good ones I just can't get through them lol...easiest book I ever read on economics was this one.How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes by Peter D. Schiff - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

I just finished reading Libertarianism Today by Jacob Huebert, and I have to say it's very good. It's designed to be an introduction to libertarianism, and describes libertarian stances and why libertarians take those stances. I didn't think it would be much worth my while, but it really is a great book and you can't beat the price.

https://mises.org/store/Libertarianism-Today-P10394.aspx

I would also highly recommend "Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature" by Rothbard. It's a collection of essays, and is probably my favorite book of Rothbard's. You can read it for free at the link below.

Murray N. Rothbard :: Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature, and Other Essays

I bought the Audible audiobook of Rothbard's "For a New Liberty" and also the Bastiat mentioned above, "The Law," for the Kindle app --- might as well have that, at $.99!

I am very interested in the Huebert you recommend, Kevin, and although it's an expensive textbook even on Kindle, I may read that next. It has rave reviews.

I appreciate all the suggestions and am adding them to my study project list.

"For a New Liberty" is an excellent read as well. Huebert's book was, in some ways, meant to be an update of it, I believe. Though it stands just fine on its own. At the link I gave to the Huebert book you can get it in paperback for $3.95. About $6 with shipping.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Some of the classics:
1) The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
2) The Law by Frederic Bastiat
3) Liberalism by Ludwig von Mises

A few recent notables:
1) No, They Can't: Why Government Fails-But Individuals Succeed by John Stossel
2) Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays by Walter E. Williams

"The Road to Serfdom" I found to be a very boring read, and I would only recommend it to people after they're very familiar with libertarianism to begin with since Hayek makes so many exceptions to libertarianism. "Liberalism" and "The Law" are, of course, indispensable.

Another, more recent, book I would recommend is "Rollback" by Tom Woods. Really anything by Woods is great, but in this one he gives a detailed look at many different topics.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Rollback-Repealing-Government-Before-Collapse/dp/1596981415/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372001184&sr=8-1&keywords=rollback]Rollback: Repealing Big Government Before the Coming Fiscal Collapse: Thomas E. Woods: 9781596981416: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Read books by Walter Block,Ron Paul,Lysander Spooner,Neil Schulman although I only liked one of his books Alongside Night which they are making into a movie.Search results for "Libertarian books" (showing 1-6 of 6 lists)
I love goodreads.

I would definitely recommend Block's "Defending the Undefendable."

 

[AquaAthena]

I've called myself a libertarian for years -- since I became completely disillusioned with the Republican Party about 2006.

But I suddenly realized I didn't really know what that meant! I am now finishing up David Boaz' "Libertarianism" and --- I'm in love. I need another good book on Libertarianism, to read next.

Does anyone have a favorite, or suggestions?

I am a fan of David Boaz, as well, and I have a book that is edited by him and is very informative. It features writings from classic & contemporary literature from Lao-Tzu to Milton Friedman and is titled: The Libertarian Reader. It's packed with thoughts and articles that I find well-reasoned. It has 453 pages.

The book includes essays by: Frederic Bastiat, Richard Cobden, Benjamin Constant, Richard Epstein, Fredrich A. Hayek, Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, James Madison, H.L. Mencken, Robert Nozick, Richard Overton, Thomas Paine, Ayn Rand, Murry N. Rothbard, Adam Smith, Herbert Spencer, Lysander Spooner, Alexis de Tocqueville, Mario Vargas Llosa, Ludwig von Mises, Mary Wollstonecraft, among others.

 

[Circe]

"For a New Liberty" is an excellent read as well. Huebert's book was, in some ways, meant to be an update of it, I believe. Though it stands just fine on its own. At the link I gave to the Huebert book you can get it in paperback for $3.95. About $6 with shipping.

I saw the cheaper paperback, but I avoid paperbacks to avoid eyestrain. I love ebooks because they all have the same size text font, big enough.

 

[Circe]

Ayn Rand has some good ones I just can't get through them lol...easiest book I ever read on economics was this one.How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes by Peter D. Schiff - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists

I have the Schiff book already! On audiobook. I moved it to the top. See, this is why this is so helpful --- I actually HAVE at least four of the suggested books but did not realize they are libertarian works. Categories, categories.

As for your point about Goodreads, what an interesting Libertarianism page!! Thanx. I joined Goodreads some weeks ago, but I have not learned to properly use it. I have a feeling it's very deep, but so far I haven't even learned how to join a bookclub there. Needs work.

 

[National Socialist]

Ah its pretty easy. If you want you can add me as a friend on there. Just PM your name or link or something.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

"For a New Liberty" is an excellent read as well. Huebert's book was, in some ways, meant to be an update of it, I believe. Though it stands just fine on its own. At the link I gave to the Huebert book you can get it in paperback for $3.95. About $6 with shipping.

I saw the cheaper paperback, but I avoid paperbacks to avoid eyestrain. I love ebooks because they all have the same size text font, big enough.

Well in that case, make sure you look at the Literature page on the Mises Institute.

Literature Library: free books from the Ludwig von Mises Institute

Just about any book you could want on libertarianism is there for free download in PDF or ebook files.

 

[Vandalshandle]

"Through the Looking Glass", and "Jabberwocky' by Lewis Carroll.

 

[dblack]

"Through the Looking Glass", and "Jabberwocky' by Lewis Carroll.

Pretty sure that was on midcan's list of 'critical' essays.

 

[National Socialist]

Look on Lew Rockwell's site.

 

[midcan5]

Wonderful! Thanks, Midcan. I had the Murray and the Boaz on my list, and I'll add the Nozick -- best to find out where anarchy fits into all this on the front end, perhaps.

I take it you are not a great fan of Libertarianism.... [

I guess. You find that political beliefs are similar to religious beliefs. We all like to think we are thinking, but what we are doing is something different, for if thought were broad enough to include all possibilities our conclusions would be more complicated than mere labels. How for instance could we include consequences, do we ignore them. Here's an analogy for how I feel about libertarianism and an example of why quoted at end.

If you are a Christian you are one of some denomination or sect, Baptist, Episcopalian, Christian Scientist. If for instance you are at what I would call the extreme side, you believe that God manages life, and whatever happens, God is at the control panel. This is fine until one of your children is sick and prayer is not sufficient. So what do you do? If you are religious you cling to your belief system and whatever happens is the will of God. Substitute libertarian beliefs in my analogy and you can guess where I place libertarianism.

From: 'National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers'

"....382 pages and describes in detail how other nations discriminate against U.S. services and products. Here's a snapshot:

The European Union: After many years of negotiations, the European Union maintains "significant barriers" to U.S. products, "despite repeated efforts to resolve them."

Japan: "The U.S. Government has expressed concern with the overall lack of access to Japan's automotive market, as well as with specific aspects of Japan's regulatory system that limit the ability of U.S. automobile and related companies to expand business in the Japanese market,"

China: "Many U.S. industries complain that they face significant nontariff barriers to trade .... These include regulations that set high thresholds for entry into service sectors ... and the use of questionable ... measures to control import volumes."

What's most troubling about the 2011 report is that it contains nothing new; every year the report reads the same as the year before. The types of barriers change, but the obstacles remain, with the same result-many of our products cannot be sold in other countries.

What can be done?" Quoted here: p253 'The Betrayal of the American Dream' Barlett and Steele

As you read above think 'free market' or 'free trade.'

2013 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers | Office of the United States Trade Representative


The American people have to fight for themselves for corporations and government are doing a terrible job - especially for the working classes. See book quoted above for another view of libertarianism. Support companies that make here. And yet many buy Japanese cars, not that GM is saintly.

http://www.usmessageboard.com/clean-debate-zone/299281-good-books-on-libertarianism.html#post7416460


FN I have personally seen (and tried to intervene) the death of a boy of only 15 who was raised in a religion of the extreme noted above. They hide him when the authorities came.

 

[JWBooth]

Well in that case, make sure you look at the Literature page on the Mises Institute.

Literature Library: free books from the Ludwig von Mises Institute

Just about any book you could want on libertarianism is there for free download in PDF or ebook files.

What Kevin says is true. All the best literature on libertarianism is there. Several are available as audio downloads.
I'd start you off with Albert Nock's Our Enemy the State, followed by Frank Chodorov's One is a Crowd.

 

[Circe]

"Through the Looking Glass", and "Jabberwocky' by Lewis Carroll.

Your opinion of Libertarianism is to "shun the frumious bandersnatch"? [