The Shame of Medicine: Celebrating Coercion

“Coercion is a subjective response to a particular intervention and has been considered an unfortunate but necessary part of the care of people with psychiatric illness.” That definition of the State-sanctioned forcible control of innocent persons labeled mentally ill by persons labeled psychiatrists was offered by Giles Newton-Howes—honorary senior lecturer in the department of psychological medicine, [...]

Psychiatry Versus Liberty

For millennia, slavery—involuntary servitude—was a universally accepted social institution. Today, psychiatric slavery—involuntary “treatment for mental illness”—is such an institution. Psychiatric incarceration and forced psychiatric treatment are integral parts of modern medical practice and social life. The libertarian philosophy of freedom is based on the premise that self-ownership is a basic right and that initiating violence [...]

Murray Rothbard’s Philosophy of Freedom

Murray Rothbard (1926–1995) based his political philosophy on a simple insight: slavery is wrong. Few, if any, would dare to challenge this obvious truth; but its implications are far reaching. It is Rothbard’s singular merit to show that rejecting slavery leads inexorably to laissez-faire capitalism, unrestricted by the slightest government interference. If we reject slavery, [...]

Book Reviews – December 2006

• The Ethics of the Market
  by John Meadowcroft Reviewed by Richard M. Ebeling
  
• Peddling Panaceas: Popular Economists _in the New Deal Era
  by Gary Dean Best Reviewed by Burton Folsom, Jr
  
• Philosophers of Capitalism: _Menger, Mises, Rand, and Beyond
  by Edward W. Younkins Reviewed by Aeon J. Skoble
  
• Winning the Race: Beyond the Crisis in _Black America
  by John McWhorter Reviewed by George C. Leef
  

Book Reviews – September 2006

• On Political
  Equality
  by Robert A. Dahl
  Reviewed by Richard M. Ebeling

• Collapse: How
  Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
  by Jared Diamond Reviewed
  by Gene Callahan

• Economic Liberties
  and the Constitution
  by Bernard H. Siegan Reviewed by George C. Leef

• Kidney for Sale by
  Owner: Human Organs, Transplantation, and the Market
  by Mark J. Cherry Reviewed by William L. Anderson

The Roots of Economic Understanding

The game of economics in the United States is something like a ball game where the home team fails to score. The record shows a lack of economic understanding. Despite the abundance of material splendor parading before us in the show of ostentatious consumption, we seem to be losing most of our games in terms [...]

Self-Ownership or Suicide Prevention?

The core libertarian principle of self-ownership implies that we have a right to commit suicide: the state has no right to forcibly prevent us from killing ourselves. The core psychiatric practice of suicide prevention implies that we have no right to kill ourselves: the state — through its mental health laws and psychiatric agents — [...]

Vices and Crimes

Susan Lee, of the Wall Street Journal‘s editorial board, accuses libertarians of an “annoying optimism,” but her article “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll” (February 12) is enough to make even the most sanguine libertarian glum. It’s a little discouraging at this late date to see libertarianism yet again described as a brand of moral [...]

Reflections on Self-Responsibility and Libertarianism

Nathaniel Branden is the author of 20 books, including The Art of Living Consciously, Taking Responsibility, and most recently, My Years with Ayn Rand. His Web site is www.nathanielbranden.net. The traditional American values of individualism, self-reliance, self-discipline, and hard work had their roots, in part, in the fact that this country began as a frontier [...]