I recently had the chance to read Ralph Raico’s great essay Authentic German Liberalism of the 19th Century which is posted at Mises.org. One of the things that struck me was how some German liberals’ fear of socialism lead them to embrace authoritarianism and militarism. These liberals first flirtation with the state came when they supported Bismark’s “unification of Germany” (re:centralization of power) since Bismark was promoting free trade. Hmmm, self-described friends of liberty who believe that centralized government can lead to freedom as long as the “right people” are in command of the central state and whose fear of … Continue reading The roots of regime libertarianism