35 Years Ago in reason

John Hospers, Murray Rothbard, and Robert Poole Jr.

From the March 2009 issue

“Harry Browne is in many ways a modern day Epicurean. ‘You can’t change the fate of a nation,’ he says, ‘but you can do a great deal to make sure you’re not affected adversely by it.’ ”

—John Hospers, “The New Epicureans”

“Instead of a bumbling and inefficient tool of society, the radical [libertarian] sees the State itself, in its very nature, as coercive, exploitative, parasitic, and hence profoundly antisocial. The State is, and always has been, the great single enemy of the human race, its liberty, happiness, and progress.”

—Murray Rothbard, “Two Libertarian Classics”

“The pious defenders of postal subsidies in the name of press freedom should remember history—and their own government’s recent Watergate exploits. (Do you really feel safe entrusting your mail to agents of the State?)”

—Robert Poole Jr., “Free Press and the Postal System”