# Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature: And Other Essays By Murray N. Rothbard **URL:** **By** Walter E. Grinder **Published:** July 1, 1974 --- “For well over a decade, libertarians all across the country have been looking through the archives like medieval monks searching out one or another of Murray Rothbard’s numerous articles in this or that—often obscure—journal.” For well over a decade, libertarians all across the country have been looking through the archives like medieval monks searching out one or another of Murray Rothbard’s numerous articles in this or that—often obscure—journal. To compile all of this amazingly prolific scholar’s articles, essays and reviews would be a multi-volume task, for his range of interests and knowledge is truly astounding. He is an economist, an historian, a social philosopher and a social critic and has written extensively in each of these areas of scholarship. In this one respect, he resembles the late Harry Elmer Barnes perhaps more than any other living scholar. Now, in this latest work of his, the welcome process of assembling Rothbard’s collected essays begins. Dr. Rothbard is best known for his work in economics and history, and therefore strangely enough he is least appreciated in areas where he has done some of his most cogent and seminal work, i.e. in the area of social philosophy and social commentary. The publication of _For A New Liberty_ has helped considerably in acquainting libertarians with the consistency and eloquence of his point of view. With the publication of _Egalitarianism as A Revolt Against Nature_, however, readers will now be able to go directly to the important foundations upon which the Rothbardian edifice has been built. In the mid-nineteen sixties, Rothbard wrote two seminal essays which have not yet been fully recognized in their historical importance. But important they were, for they were to give a uniquely libertarian sense of self-understanding and direction to the small and loosely knit young libertarian movement of that period. These essays formed the ultimate basis for the irrevocable break that libertarianism was to make from the conservative movement. This reviewer considers them still to be the two most important non-economic essays ever written by Rothbard. Happily, both of these seminal works are included here: “Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty” and “The Anatomy of the State.” In “Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty” (reprinted from the first issue of Rothbard’s journal _Left and Right_), Rothbard sets forth his grand historical vision whereby he explains the development of modern Western history from feudal times to the present. He shows the direct relationship between the decline of State power and class privilege on the one hand, and the growth of individualism and industrialism on the other hand. Most importantly, he shows that the movement from a status society to a free society was part of an ongoing revolutionary movement which ended in midstream when the utilitarian incrementalists took over the helm. The direction ever since has been back towards an increasingly statist environment and a reimposition of parasitic class rule and sustained exploitation of the people by the State and its associates. Rothbard holds that to be worthy of the title “libertarian,” the libertarian movement must be once again self-consciously revolutionary in the true meaning of the term revolution, both in perspective and in substance. Rothbard explains his concept of revolution in a short essay also included in this volume, “_The Meaning of Revolution_.” “_The Anatomy of the State_” is similarly packed with analysis and explanation. Next to Spooner’s “_No Treason #6_,” this essay has to rank as one of the two best reasoned and biting analyses and indictments of the State which has ever been penned. The State, Rothbard maintains, is an unwarranted, unjust, unnecessary set of anti-social institutional machinery which can never increase the general welfare of mankind. Rothbard shows what the State is not, how it originates in plunder and exploitation, how it maintains itself and relates to other States in “international relations,” and how it enlists the aid of intellectuals in maintaining its power. The State, to Rothbard, is always exploitative and parasitic—and taxation alone is enough to substantiate this point. On this point, see also Rothbard’s brilliantly insightful article “_The Fallacy of the Public Sector_,” reprinted here. In his ingenious essay “_War, Peace and the State_,” Rothbard applies his insights into the nature of the State to what he considers to be the highest stage of statism—war. He makes a passionate yet reasoned plea for libertarians to concentrate far more attention on the ultimate questions of war and peace in order that they see that statist war and war preparations can never be justified. War by any and all States must always be seen as anti-libertarian, which is not at all necessarily true of wars of revolution against the various states. Rothbard expands on this theme in his little but important essay “_National Liberation_.” In the Rothbardian ideology, two very important elements rank most high: private property and individualism. In the essay “_Justice and Property Rights_,” Rothbard sets out his theory of justice in property, moving from self-ownership, through the homesteading principle of ownership in unowned resources, to the whole array of free-market exchanges which must be seen as exchanges in the titles of ownership. In order to place the libertarian blessing on any and all market exchanges, one must first determine that the titles of ownership are in fact justly obtained and held. This theory of ownership is closely related to that of John Locke and the native American anarchists. In his essay “_The Spooner-Tucker Doctrine: An Economist’s View_,” Rothbard shows his similarities and differences with the views of Benjamin R. Tucker and Lysander Spooner, slashing away at the spurious economic doctrines of these early individualist anarchists. Another important investigation into the nature and source of property rights is found in his essay “_Kid Lib_”; Rothbard here sets out the libertarian view of the rights of children. And in “_Conservation in the Free Market_,” Rothbard shows how private property and the free market can solve the problems relating to the environment and conservation of resources. In an age of ever accelerating collectivism, it certainly is refreshing to find such a thoroughgoing, uncompromising individualist as Dr. Rothbard. And the title essay of this collection, “_Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature_,” is uncompromising indeed. This is not simply a statement of social philosophy; it is also a statement of social ontology. For people are different; they only should not be made the same, but they cannot be made the same, in any way, ever, and that is that! All egalitarian efforts, then, are necessarily doomed to failure, and such efforts should be recognized as anti-social and anti-natural acts. Egalitarianism in all of its many variants should, according to Rothbard, be fought against and foiled at every step of the way, otherwise the individual and society will tend to become weakened, stifled and ultimately snuffed out. Egalitarianism is stagnant and anti-human; individualism is vibrant and alive. In “_The Great Women’s Lib Issue: Setting it Straight_,” he shows why he thinks that much of women’s liberation is anti-human. And in what is the sharpest attack of the whole book, Rothbard as both economist and moralist executes a slashing, swinging, no-holds-barred assault on New Left economic collectivism in his short but penetrating essay, “_Anarcho- Communism_.” On several counts, this reviewer was delighted to see the inclusion of Rothbard’s affectionate tribute to Professor Ludwig von Mises in honor of his ninetieth birthday, “_Ludwig von Mises and the Paradigm for Our Age_.” It is an excellent study in the sociology of ideas, and is a fine presentation of the Misesian or Neo-Austrian paradigm. But even beyond that it seems important to remember that in addition to justice, private property, individualism and libertarian class analysis, and a revolutionary historical perspective and vision, Rothbard’s libertarianism is infused with the insights, the process and the perspective of “Austrian” economics. It is not something that is simply tacked on to the Rothbardian system, but rather it is an integral element of the system which permeates it from beginning to end. This collection ends with Rothbard’s oft-quoted essay “_Why Be Libertarian?_” in which he sets forth an impassioned plea for libertarians to concern themselves first and foremost with justice, not simply with the utilitarian increases in social welfare that, of course, accompany a regime of liberty. For libertarianism ever to become a successful movement, it must become imbued with a passion for justice. Libertarian Review Press is to be congratulated in choosing for their first venture into the world of publishing this very important work. There are very few ideas which are as important and more in need of circulation than the ideas of Professor Rothbard. This book—when combined with _For A New Liberty_—will take the reader far into the depths of the evolutionary process of the brilliant mind of this great libertarian. _Reviewed by Walter E. Grinder / Political Philosophy (151 Pages) / BFL Price $2.50_