The following story is part of Walter Block's Autobiography Archive.

How I Became a Libertarian

My journey to liberty began at the tender age of seven, when I fell madly in love with Walt Disney’s rendition of General Francis Marion. This legendary Southern freedom fighter harassed the British during the Revolutionary War and became known as the elusive Swamp Fox. My infatuation was not simply with the hero of the TV show, played by actor Leslie Nielsen, however. Somehow the concept of freedom, poorly understood by my young mind, drew me like a magnet.

After I had exhausted everything that the library had on the Swamp Fox, I began reading accounts of the American Revolution, just to gain a better understanding of what my hero had been up against. My history classes dealing with the founding of our nation were disappointing, however. They dealt with prominent battles and dates and not with the true meaning of liberty.

Consequently, throughout high school, I still equated liberty with democracy. My first introduction to hard-core libertarian concepts was in my freshman year of college when a friend insisted that I read Atlas Shrugged.

Although I enjoyed the book immensely, I was concerned with its apparent lack of compassion. Raised as a Catholic, I could not reconcile the concept of ending tax-supported welfare with Christ’s admonition to love our neighbors.

In considering this dilemma, I suddenly became aware of a pivotal point: although refusing to help others might not be very loving, pointing guns at our neighbors to force them to help those in need was even less so. Honoring our neighbor’s choice was more loving than the forcible alternative. If people needed helping, I should expend my energy to offer that help, rather than forcing others to provide it.

In the next couple of years, I quickly went from an objectivist to anarchist. In the late 1960s, Morris and Linda Tannehill lived in the E. Lansing, Michigan area, where I was going to school. Through the friend who encouraged me to read Ayn Rand’s books, I met this fascinating couple and obtained a copy of their libertarian-anarchist book, The Market for Liberty.

I was easily won over to anarchy.

For the next several years, although philosophically a libertarian, I was not even aware of the term. I finally discovered the Party in the early 1980s.

For me, libertarianism continues to be an evolution. As I detail in Healing Our World, all paths, whether spiritual, practical, rational, or humanitarian, appear to lead to liberty, where these separate modalities become intertwined. Perhaps we truly are hard-wired for freedom so that nothing less will do.

December 14, 2002

Mary J. Ruwart, PhD [send her mail] is the author of Healing Our World (new, updated edition now available) and Short Answers to the Tough Questions. Her website details her tapes, books, and free downloads.

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