The Irrepressible Rothbard : The Rothbard-Rockwell Report Essays of Murray N. Rothbard

I was expecting these essays by Murray Rothbard to be a fun read, and they were. But they were also amazingly educational, providing a detailed political and cultural picture of the first half of the 1990's from a conservative/libertarian perspective. Yes, I said "conservative/libertarian"! Rothbard writes here from an unambiguously right-wing perspective. And that's fine with me--we libertarians have all spent so much time hating the present administration that we may have forgotten how bad Clinton's politically correct crew really was. Still, I suspect Rothbard, were he still with us, would regret some of his Republican political endorsements here (which include George W. Bush for governor of Texas). Anyway, these essays are full of wit, facts, and incisive analysis, all in Rothbard's usual crystal-clear writing style. The introduction suggests the book was edited down from a much larger group of articles Rothbard wrote for the Rothbard-Rockwell Report. I'd say it's about time for volume 2.

As I?ve said before, Murray Rothbard was a historian, cultural critic, economist and social theoretician, and political strategist. Until his death, Murray commented vigorously on the cultural affairs of the day in the Rothbard-Rockwell Report. These articles are collected in this outstanding work. Actually, I use the phrase ?cultural affairs? broadly since these articles concern history, political strategy, movie reviews and more. With Rotbard you don?t get canned bromides like some other would-be ?deep thinkers,? but an exciting and informed opinion on topic after topic. As just one example, consider the war against the Serbs. Leftists from all quarters (Hitchens, Lerner, etc.) couldn?t wait to go to war against the Serbs in defense of the so-called Bosnian nation. Murray points out that there never was Bosnian nation (or even a Yugoslavian nation for that matter.) Likewise, the left ? contrary to its supposed representatives -- has never really been in favor of peace; after all Barnes derided the ?pro war pacifists? of his day. Murray even points out the similarities of the Bosnian ?Moslems? to the old Bogomil heretics of that area (humorously pointing out that the Bogomils were what Ayn Rand falsely considered all Christians to be.) At the same time Rothbard was writing these essays, he was writing monthly articles on economics in The Free Market newsletter. Those articles are gathered in MAKING ECONOMIC SENSE. If years from now someone asks me what ?really? happened in the 80s and 90s, I?ll direct them to these two books.

This is a collection of essays and articles written by libertarian philosopher Murray Rothbard that first appeared in the Rothbard-Rockwell Report, a paleoconservative periodical that kicked against the goads of ultra-leftism and Israel-loving neo-con globalism from its inception in the late eighties, until its retirement in 1999. On each page, Rothbard comes off as flippant, erudite, jovial and politically sophisticated -- in other words, not very libertarian. He courageously praises David Duke, Philippe Rushton, and The Bell Curve; sides with Dan Quayle over his remarks regarding the decision of TV star Murphy Brown to conceive her child out of wedlock; and admonishes what he appropriately refers to as "big-government libertarians" that public institutions, such as the military, must be run as efficiently as possible until the day arrives when they become privatized. The Irrepressible Rothbard opens with a speech Rothbard originally delivered before The John Randolph Society in 1992 entitled "A New Strategy For the Right." Rothbard begins by expressing his elation at the re-emergence of the "Old Right," a group of individualists and isolationists, such as Albert Jay Nock, H.L. Mencken and Garet Garrett, who collectively opposed the statist New Deal and America's entrance into World War 2. Rothbard claims this short-lived, aging group of reactionaries was derailed in the mid-fifties by William F Buckley's National Review, which included among its original writers several ex-communists agitated at the turn for the worse their former god had taken in the Soviet Union. The magazine, in direct contrast to the Old Right's obstinate isolationism, championed the warfare-state to squelch communism abroad wherever and whenever it surfaced. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, the globalist-right didn't have a leg to stand on, and relegated itself to lukewarm social commentary and the New World Order. Rothbard concludes the speech by noting that post-Cold War America is run by a group of managerial elites, bent on duping the American public with constant appeals to imaginary "rights" and the social engineering schemes to achieve them. In response, Rothbard urges the resurgent Old Right to retaliate in the form of "right-wing populism," which can best be described as a clarion call to alert the masses that the emperor isn't wearing any clothes. This political strategy was embodied in the political campaigns of Pat Buchanan and David Duke. Perhaps the most interesting essay is the one entitled "Liberal Hysteria: The Mystery Explained," wherein Rothbard contemplates why the liberal media was so hell-bent on fudging the reelection of George Bush in 1992. Rothbard explains that the contemporary left is comprised mainly of social democrats, or "soft Marxists," who, unlike the communists of yesteryear, don't necessarily regard capitalism as a bad thing. Rather, today's ideological leftist belongs to a professional class of technocrats and administrato

Murray, Murray, Murray, DO WE MISS YOU! Rothbard is so Right-On so often here it almost makes me cry that more people aren't familiar with these writings from The Rothbard-Rockwell Report. Many of them are a pure joy to read. They are often hilarious, while still quite serious. Murray wasn't afraid to speak the truth as he saw it, regardless of the delicate sensibilities the self-annointed Thought Police (did anyone say Abe Foxman?). Read, for example, his excellent pieces on Marge Schott and Rwanda. My highest recommendation!

In the last five years of his life, Murray N. Rothbard--anarchist, economist, activist, historian--co-edited the monthly Rothbard-Rockwell Report, which featured some of his best polemical writings. This book collects many of the greatest pieces. (As a charter subscriber to that now-defunct journal, I might have included a few extra articles in this book, but thenŠ)At the time these articles were written, Rothbard had joined forces with a resurging populist paleo-right in his fight against the State, against war, and for free markets.(In decades past, he had built alliances with Stevenson Democrats, New Leftists, and the Libertarian Party, without ever changing his core political beliefs.) So the book is filled with attacks on Bush's war on Iraq, big-government "libertarians," Clintonian liberalism, and Newt Gingrich's still-born "Republican Revolution," all in Rothbard's curmudgeonly style. He is a joy to read.This volume is a must for fans of Rothbard.