Mondays with Murray: A Lesson From the Abolitionists
Libertarians are often chided for their alleged vision of a "utopian" world, where free market defense agencies patrol the countryside, bestowing rainbows and happiness upon all the children. There indeed may be some naive libertarians who think that merely changing from a "public" to "private" system will cure all the world's ills. The more time and thought I've put into this here journey of advancing the ideas of liberty, the more I've come to realize that it is not the specific vision for the world libertarians must advocate for, but rather the principles behind that vision.We can see this theory played out by examining the movement to abolish slavery in the United States. In the August 1978 edition of Libertarian Review, Murray Rothbard wrote a piece discussing what he believed libertarians should learn from the abolitionists.
If victory is indeed our given end, an end given to us by the requirements of justice, then we must strive to achieve that end as rapidly as we can.But this means that libertarians must not adopt gradualism as part of their goal; they must wish to achieve liberty as early and as rapidly as possible. Otherwise, they would be ratifying the continuation of injustice. They must be “abolitionists.”The objection is often raised that abolitionism is “unrealistic,” that liberty (or any other radical social goal) can be achieved only gradually. Whether or not this is true (and the existence of radical upheavals demonstrates that such is not always the case), this common charge gravely confuses the realm of principle with the realm of strategy ...
Too many libertarians today seems to focus on strategy as their principle. They will ask "how best can I frame issue X in order to elect politician Y?" But this is a backwards way to advance an ideological goal. One must start with principle Z , in order to be able to take a consistent and logical position Y, and support politician X if they align with Y and Z.Why did I have to go confusing everyone with fake philosophical algebra? Back to Murray:
The “realism” of the goal can only be challenged by a critique of the goal itself, not in the problem of how to attain it. Then, after we have decided on the goal, we face the entirely separate strategic question of how to attain that goal as rapidly as possible, how to build a movement to attain it, etc.Thus, William Lloyd Garrison was not being “unrealistic” when, in the 1830s, he raised the glorious standard of immediate emancipation of the slaves. His goal was the proper one, and his strategic realism came in the fact that he did not expect his goal to be quickly reached. Or, as Garrison himself distinguished:"Urge immediate abolition as earnestly as we may, it will, alas! be gradual abolition in the end. We have never said that slavery would be overthrown by a single blow; that it ought to be, we shall always contend. (The Liberator, August 13, 1831)"
If one desires to end the War on Drugs - really end it - one must do so by taking the principled stance that a free individual should be allowed to possess and consume any plant or chemical compound he chooses, so long as he does not harm anyone else is doing so.Marijuana has attained various levels of legality in many U.S. states, and will likely be legal almost everywhere in my lifetime. This is certainly a positive development, but if the supporters of marijuana legalization have only been convinced by the utilitarian arguments for legalizing marijuana - medical benefits, the tax revenue, etc. - then you have not eliminated the overall idea that people should be thrown in a cage for merely possessing a certain substance. The greater War on Drugs will live on.Abolitionists did not spend their time bogged down in the technical details of how the cotton industry would adapt and thrive with the absence of slave labor. They did not advocate for only certain slaves to be freed, "for now." They did not produce charts and graphs detailing the various costs and benefits that freeing slaves would have on "society." Abolitionists were ultimately successful due to the fact that they held high the principle of abolition as the ultimate goal, and made their moral imperative clear from the beginning.Libertarians who wish to see an end to state tyranny of all kinds would do well to heed this lesson.Check out the full Mondays with Murray archive!Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
