Liberty is a profoundly revolutionary concept and it can only be achieved through the liquidation of the oppressor State. —Murray Rothbard
Tag: American libertarians
Taxation is theft, purely and simply, even though it is theft on a grand and colossal scale which no acknowledged criminals could hope to match. It is a compulsory seizure of the property of the State’s inhabitants, or subjects.— Murray Rothbard
It is in war that the State really comes into its own: swelling in power, in number, in pride, in absolute dominion over the economy and the society. —Murray Rothbard
It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. —Murray Rothbard
Statists, in fact, are really opposed to charity. They often argue that charity is demeaning and degrading to the recipient, and that he should therefore be taught that the money is rightly his, to be given to him by the government as his due. An act of charity, when given voluntarily, is generally considered temporary and offered with the object of helping a man to help himself. But when the dole is ladled out by the State, it becomes permanent and perpetually degrading, keeping the recipients in a state of subservience. Anyone who considers private charity degrading must logically conclude that State charity is far more so. —Murray Rothbard
It is hardly “charity” to take wealth by force and hand it over to someone else. Indeed, this is the direct opposite of charity… Compulsory confiscation can only deaden charitable desires completely, as the wealthier grumble that there is no point in giving to charity when the State has already taken on the task. —Murray Rothbard
Men can become more moral only through rational persuasion, not through violence, which will, in fact, have the opposite effect. —Murray Rothbard
Since the State necessarily lives by the compulsory confiscation of private capital, and since its expansion necessarily involves ever-greater incursions on private individuals and private enterprise, we must assert that the State is profoundly and inherently anti-capitalist. —Murray Rothbard
The State is an inherently illegitimate institution of organized aggression against the persons and properties of its subject. Rather than necessary to society… it lives parasitically off of the productive activities of private citizens. —Murray Rothbard
The libertarian insists that whether or not such practices are supported by the majority of the population… War is Mass Murder, Conscription is Slavery, and Taxation is Robbery —Murray Rothbard