Writes Ralph Raico:

Lew, I was interested to see the article by Eric Peters, on the allegedly super-scientific metric system. That was, of course, another of the brainstorms of the French revolutionaries, who aimed to extirpate all of the inherited traditions and ways of life of the people they came (briefly) to rule over. Peters’s article brought to mind the critique by the “reactionary anarchist,” Gustave de Molinari, who founded the doctrine of anarcho-capitalism, horrifying even famous liberals like Bastiat. Rejecting the French Revolution root and branch, Molinari attacked “the system of weights and measures, invented by professors of mathematics, in contempt of the experience and needs of those engaging in exchange.” Throughout his very long life, he was tireless in condemning imperialism and war, including Lincoln’s war. That conflict, Molinari held, “ruined the conquered provinces,” but permitted the Northern industrialists to impose the protectionism that led to “the regime of trusts and produced the billionaires.” No wonder Murray loved this guy.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.