What Is Libertarianism All About?

Dear Jeremy:

Yes, in my view, the NAP of libertarianism should over ride any element of the US Constitution incompatible with it.

Here are some examples “of constitutional law that is contrary to anarchism”: taxes, post office, govt roads

What is the “anarchist method for changing such laws”: I advocate peaceful means. Publishing books, engaging in debates, voting, etc.

My (Rothbardian) view of anarchism is that it is both evolutionary and revolutionary (since it would imply the absence of government)

From: Jeremy Greenwald

Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 9:55 PM

To: Walter Block <[email protected]>

Subject: Re: Types of libertarians

Putting the contrast in that way makes it appear that you (as a self proclaimed anarchist) would take the view that libertarian principles should override any explicitly anti-libertarian concepts in the constitution. Is that an over simplification?

<< give me specifics. I’m not sure of what you’re asking

I didn’t have any specifics in mind. My assumption was that since you made a distinction between anarchism and constitutionalism you would have some examples of constitutional law that is contrary to anarchism. Perhaps I should have phrased the question as, what is the anarchist method for changing such laws. An example I can think of is patents, which the congress is explicitly authorized to issue. I assume (although I haven’t seen anyone from Mises discuss patents in particular), as time limited state granted monopolies an anarchist wouldn’t think the state should issue patents. So if you ran for Congress on the Libertarian ticket as an anarchist, would your stance be that an amendment should be passed to invalidate that section of the constitution or would your stance be that since the section is anti-libertarian it is invalid by its own existence.

I could see the argument that natural law does override the written law. But as someone in between 3 and 4, I would rather see that if anarchists want to explicitly override a clause in the constitution they would need to amend the constitution as that process is proscribed in the document itself.

<< ditto

I tried to answer that with my example of advocating for a constitutional amendment to invalidate the congressional authority to grant patents in the constitution.

What do anarchists (or you yourself personally) think about the rule of law? Again, if the written law contradicts natural law, is the anarchist response that the rule of law is just an excuse that anti-libertarian rulers use to justify their actions?

<< I favor the rule of JUST law. Otherwise, ditto

That probably gets to my philosophical question. I am probably somewhat confused myself about the difference between anarchism and strict constitutionalism. Maybe my question has two parts: 1) is anarchism inherently a revolutionary idea, since it does endorse small changes to our current constitution 2) is there no small violation of the NAP that would be acceptable on practical grounds (eg patents require the applicant to publicly disclose how their invention works, so that all of society can benefit when the patent expires)

On the evil of patents:

Boldrin and Levine, 2008; Block, 2014; De Wachter, 2013; Kinsella, 2001, 2008, 2012;  Long, 1995; Menell, 2007A, 2007B; Mukherjee and Block, 2012; Navabi, 2015; Palmer, 1989.

Boldrin, Michele and David K. Levine. 2008. Against Intellectual Monopoly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; http://www.dklevine.com/general/intellectual/against.htmhttp://levine.sscnet.ucla.edu/general/intellectual/against.htmhttp://mises.org/store/Against-Intellectual-Monopoly-P552.aspx

Block, Walter E. 2014. “Part 8, Block versus Wenzel on Intellectual Property.” October 9;

http://www.targetliberty.com/2014/10/part-8-block-versus-wenzel-on.html#more

De Wachter, Joren. 2013. “IP is a thought crime.” at TEDxLeuven. June 6;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=E5BOBs3Nmbw

Kinsella, N. Stephan. 2001. “Against Intellectual Property,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2, Winter, pp. 1-53; http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/15_2/15_2_1.pdf

Kinsella, N. Stephan.  2008. Against Intellectual Property.  Auburn, AL: The Mises Institute.

https://mises.org/library/against-intellectual-property-0

Kinsella, N. Stephan. 2012. “Economic Freedom of the World Rankings and Intellectual Property: The United States’ Bad Ranking is Even Worse Than Reported.” http://c4sif.org/2012/09/economic-freedom-of-the-world-indexes-and-intellectual-property-the-united-states-bad-ranking-is-even-worse-than-reported/

Long, Roderick. 1995. “The Libertarian Case Against Intellectual Property Rights.” Formulations. Vol. 3, No. 1, Autumn; http://freenation.org/a/f31l1.html

Menell, Peter S. 2007. “Intellectual Property and the Property Rights Movement.” Regulation, Fall; http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv30n3/v30n3-6.pdf

Menell, Peter S. 2007. “The Property Rights Movement’s Embrace of Intellectual Property: True Love or Doomed Relationship?” Ecology Law Quarterly, Vol. 34.

Mukherjee, Jay and Walter E. Block. 2012. “Libertarians and the Catholic Church on Intellectual Property Laws.” Journal of Political Philosophy Las Torres de Lucca. Issue No. 1, July-December, pp. 59-75;

http://www.lastorresdelucca.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=93:libertarios-y-la-iglesia-católica-en-las-leyes-de-propiedad-intelectual&Itemid=24&lang=en&Itemid=23

Navabi, Ash. 2015. “To Taylor, Love Freedom.” June 23;

https://mises.ca/posts/blog/to-taylor-love-freedom/

Palmer, Tom. 1989. “Intellectual Property: A Non-Posnerian Law and Economics Approach” Hamline Law Review, Spring, Vol 12 No. 2.

Best regards,

Walter

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11:11 am on August 24, 2020