Walter Block: Rothbard Was a Warrior

Here, Matt Cockerill of Young Americans for Liberty interviews our own Walter Block on Murray, the resplendent intellectual and good man who was Mr. Libertarian, an extraordinary and prolific writer, dean of the Austrian School of economics, a revisionist American historian, and a political philosopher of peaceful human relations. Even today, 15 years since his passing, this polymath remains a  figure of contradiction. On one side are all those who appreciate some or all of his work, and with the advent of the internet, that is a vast international army of the young in years and heart. On the other side are those who love the state and the economics of power, not to speak of the historical fables that buttress it.

It was a great honor for me to work so closely with Murray Rothbard for more than 15 years, and what a funny and sweet guy he was, though he never, ever lost sight of the goal of liberty. It didn’t matter who opposed him, or how much money or power they had. It didn’t matter that they kept him on the margins of official academia. He wrote and taught and wrote. Today, he is at the center of the worldwide freedom movement. He was an indomitable fighter, as Walter–who knew him even better than I did–notes. So good for YAL. I should add that Murray was a friend and admirer of Ron Paul’s, and would have applauded a Paulian youth organization. The great libertarian Walter Block stands in this Paulian tradition too, of course. Listen.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.