Murray Rothbard

Concerning the fundamentalist author of Intellectual Schizophrenia, Rothbard writes, “The man seems almost incapable of ratiocination.”

“The key to [communist Cambodia’s] diabolic control was its abolition of all money, which abolition is also enforced through murder and terror.”

“So there we have it: two irreconcilable groups within the Libertarian Party: the Realists and the Necromancers, the “Earthlings” and the Space Cadets.”

“A new polarization… is fast taking shape…The lines are getting drawn with increasing clarity. Statism vs. liberty. Us or Them.”

“1978 has…been the breakthrough year, the year in which the libertarian movement has suddenly [developed into] a genuine mass movement. We have arrived.”

“The Libertarian Party is a vital organ of the libertarian movement, even if it never elects anyone to major office.”

Rothbard explores the difficulties of maintaining American hegemony in the post‐​colonial world.

History is an empirical discipline: “In short, libertarians and other Americans must guard against a priori history.”

“Let us proceed with a high heart, undeterred by obscurantists—from whatever end of the political spectrum—who are eager to place shackles on man’s mind.”

“Politicians, scared of their jobs and of the voters, will buckle under pressure.”

“Isolationism is not a principle for free‐​market defense agencies because there would be no nation-State[s or] foreign policy for anyone to worry about.”

“When they reach the ancient land, they manage to get themselves accepted not only as rulers but as gods.”

“If we ponder the history of compulsory education…it may well seem that the Klan and the ‘liberal’ educational reformers were not so far apart after all.”

Rothbard reviews a classic now more than a century old and as relevant as ever.

“Theory and History is…one of Mises’ greatest works,” a masterpiece “on the philosophy and methodology of the social sciences.”