Monday, June 2, 2014

Is Lew Rockwell the Anthony Bourdain of the Libertarian Movement?

By Robert Wenzel

Over the weekend, I mentioned that I enjoyed watching Anthony Bourdain's CNN show, Parts Unknown. That I like this show is, in some ways, quite out of character for me. It is part travel diary and part food show. These are two subjects whose coverage I hardly ever watch on television. I never watch the Travel Channel and I am not even sure if my cable provider carries the Food Network, though I am aware there is such a network.

I watch Bourdain on these subjects because he is a master storyteller, with a beautiful gift for observation. That's what I am watching.

I rank Lew Rockwell in the same category as Bourdain. Not only is his understanding of liberty masterful, but he tells the story in a beautiful manner. His books, in short, are a joy to read.

The recent publication of his book Fascism versus Capitalism is a great example of this. The book is a collection of essays that is divided into two parts. The first part is a discussion of fascism in contrast to liberty. The second part is a collection of essays on libertarian greats and their ideas, including the ideas of Murray Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises and Henry Hazlitt.

If you are familiar with the threat that is fascism, or not familiar, you will still learn from this book. If you are familiar with Rothbard, Mises and Hazlitt, or not, you will still learn from this book.

What's more, reading every page of the book will be like tasting a fine wine, every sip to be cherished. As such, this book belongs as a must addition to your library and it is, also, a great book to give as a gift to  someone you want to introduce to liberty. Lew, through this book, will treat the new reader on liberty gently. He will be a gracious host, as he slices and dices that readers faulty advocacy of government interventions. He will do it in a manner that may put such a reader on the path to wanting to learn even more about liberty---and that is what being a great libertarian writer is all about.

You can buy the book here:



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Robert Wenzel is Editor & Publisher of EconomicPolicyJournal.com and author of The Fed Flunks: My Speech at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

5 comments:

  1. Lew is the man! He is a man of prodigious intellect, generosity and humility. Where would the ideas of liberty be without his input, influence and foresight?

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  2. If you are kissing Lew Rockwell's ass. I have one question for you.

    How does Rothbard's dick taste?

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    Replies
    1. I don't think this is the original Jerry Wolfgang. As obnoxious as he is/was - he was never crass like this.
      (I shall now flog myself for defending JW)

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  3. Jerry can't stop thinking about men loving men.

    ReplyDelete