Manifesto The Case for Paleo­ Libertarianism by Llewelyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

Thirty years ago, an attempt was made to promote a fusion of libertarianism and conservativism. The attempt failed; Llewelyn H. Rockwell, Jr, thinks it is time to try again.

"The conservative crack-up is near," writes Charles Krauthammer. HAs Communism unravels, so does ... the conservative alliance." Indeed, old-fashioned conserva­ tives (paleoconservatives) are splitting with statist neoconservatives. Patrick J. Buchanan argues that America should "come home": we are not "the world's policeman nor its politi­ This conservative crack-up presents not sufficient condition for the good soci­ cal tutor." Ben Wattenberg, a neocon ad­ an historic opportunity for the libertari­ ety, and they're right. Neither is it suffi­ vocate of what Clare Boothe Luce called an movement. The Cold War ruptured cient for the free society. We also need globaloney, denounces Buchanan as a the Right; now the healing can begin, for social institutions and standards that en­ "Neanderthal." Joseph Sobran then Lord Acton's axiom that "liberty is the courage public virtue, and protect the in­ notes that democracy is not a good in it­ highest political end of man" is at the dividual from the State. self, but only in so far as it restricts State heart not only of libertarianism but of Unfortunately, many libertarians­ power. Jeanne Kirkpatrick-a former the old conservatism as well. Many is­ especially those in the Libertarian Humphrey Democrat like most ofthe ne­ sues separate good conservatives from Party-see freedom as necessary and suf­ ocons-says none ofthese intellectual ar­ good libertarians, but their number is ficient for all purposes. Worse, they guments mean anything because the lessening and none of them is so broad equate freedom from State oppression neocons hold State power and don't in­ as to prevent il1telligent,exchange, and with freedom from cultural'norms,relig­ tend to let go. cooperation. ion, bourgeois morality, and social Despite Kirkpatrick, these intra-Right There have been more than ideologi­ authority. arguments are extremely significant, and cal disputes, however; culture has also In its 17-year history, the LP may more than foreign policy is involved. As separated us, and there is no more pow­ never have gotten 1% in a national elec­ the U.S.S.R. is revealed as a paper bear, erful unifier or divider. So divisive has it tion, but it has smeared the most glori­ been in this case that good libertarians good conservatives are returning to their ous political idea in human history with and good conservatives have forgotten Old Right roots in other areas as well. libertine muck. For the sake of that glori­ how to talk to each other. Conservatives are questioning not ous idea, it's time to get out the scrub For the sake of our common ideals only foreign intervention, but the entire brushes. we should restore the old concord. But New Deal-Great Society-Kinder Gentler Most Americans agree that aggres­ can we? In my view, not untillibertari­ apparatus. This worries the neocons sion against the innocent and their prop­ anism is deloused. even more, since-like their Svengali Ir­ erty is wrong. Although these millions ving Kristol-they give at most "two The Conservatives Are Right: are potential libertarians, they are put off cheers for capitalism" but a full three Freedom Isn't Enough by the Woodstockian flavor of the move­ cheers for the "conservative welfare Conservatives have always argued ment. Hair may have left Broadway long state." that political freedom is a necessary but ago, but the Age of Aquarius survives in 34 Liberty Volume 3, Number 3 Janu 1990 the LP. also distinguishes them from the neo­ vast majority of Americans and has The cultural anti-norms that mark cons. We have no parallel to the necons, helped keep libertarianism such a small the libertarian image are abhorrent; they but it is just as urgent for us to movement. have nothing to do with libertarianism distinguish libertarianism from per se; and they are deadly baggage. Un­ libertinism. The Conservative Attack on less we dump that baggage, we will Briefly, paleolibertarianism, with its Libertarianism miss the greatest opportunity in roots deep in the Old Right, sees: None ofthe conservative criticisms of decades. I. The leviathan State as the institu­ the political philosophy of libertarianism Americans reject the national Demo­ tional source ofevil throughout history. is persuasive. The same is not true, un­ cratic Party because they see it as dis­ IT. The unhampered free market as a fortunately, of the cultural critiques. daining bourgeois values. If they have moral and practical imperative. Russell Kirk is the conservative critic ever heard of the LP, they rebuff it for ITI. Private property as an economic libertarians find most offensive. He similar reasons. and moral necessity for a free society. The Libertarian Party is probably ir­ IV. The garrison State as a preemi­ reformable-and irrelevant even if it nent threat to liberty and social well The conservative crack-up weren't. Libertarianism is neither. But being. unless we cleanse libertarianism of its V. The welfare State as organized presents an historic opportu­ cultural image, our movement will fail as theft that victimizes producers and even­ nity for the libertarian move­ miserably as the LP has. We will contin­ tually even its "clients." ment. The Cold War ruptured ue to be seen as a sect that "resists au­ VI. Civil liberties based on property thority" and not just statism, that rights as essential to a just society. the Right; now healing can endorses the behaviors it would legalize, VII. The egalitarian ethic as morally begin, for Lord Acton's axiom and that rejects the standards of Western reprehensible and destructive of private that "liberty is the highest po­ civilization. property and social authority. Arguments against the drug war, no VIIT. Social authority-as embodied litical end of man" is at the matter how intellectually compelling, are in the family, church, community, and heart not only of libertarian­ undermined when they come from the other intermediating institutions-as party of the stoned. When the LP nomi­ helping protect the individual from the ism but of the old conserva­ nates a prostitute for lieutenant governor State and as necessary for a free and vir­ tism as well. of California and she becomes a much­ tuous society. admired LP celebrity, how can regular IX. Western culture as eminently wor­ Americans help but think that libertarian­ thy ofpreservation and defense. claims that the libertarian, "like Satan, ism is hostile to social norms, or that le­ X. Objective standards of morality, es­ can bear no authority, temporal or galization of such acts as prostitution pecially as found in the Judeo-Christian spiritual. He desires to be different, in means moral approval? There. could be tradition, as essential to the free and civil­ morals as in politics" as a matter of prin­ no more politically suicidal or morally ized social order. ciple. As a result, there "is no great gulf fallacious connection, but the LP has Is Paleolibertarianism fixed between libertarianism and liber­ forged it. tinism." With their counter-cultural beliefs, Libertarian? The libertarian must agree with the A conservative critic libertarians find many libertarians have avoided issues of first six points, but most activists would more congenial is Robert Nisbet. But he increasing importance to middle-class be outraged by the last four. Yet there is too worries that"a state of mind is devel­ Americans, such as civil rights, crime, nothing unlibertarian in them. oping among libertarians in which the and environmentalism. A critic might point out that libertari­ coercions of family, church, local com­ The only way to sever libertarian­ anism is a political doctrine with nothing munity, and school will seem almost as ism's link with libertinism is with a to say about these matters. In one sense, inimical to freedom as those of the politi­ cleansing debate. I want to start that de­ the critic would be right. The libertarian cal government. If so, this will most cer­ bate, and on the proper grounds. As G.K. catechist need know only one answer to tainly widen the gulf between Chesterton said, "We agree about the one question: What is the the highest libertarians and conservatives." evil; it is about the good that we should political end of man? The answer: Kirk and Nisbet are right about all tear each others eyes out." freedom. too many individual libertarians, but not A Culturally Effective But no political philosophy exists in a about the formal doctrine, as Rothbard, Libertarianism for America cultural vacuum, and for most people po­ Tibor Machan, and others have shown. If we are to have any chance of victo­ litical identity is only an abstraction from Yet this distinction between the doctrine ry, we must discard the defective cultural a broader cultural view. The two are sep­ and its practitioners is difficult to make for non-intellectuals. framework of libertarianism. I call my arate only at the theoretical level; in prac­ suggested replacement, with its ethically­ tice, they are inextricably linked. Anti-Christianism vs Freedom based cultural principles, "paleolibertari­ It is thus understandable and desira­ 94% of Americans believe in God, yet anism": the old libertarianism. ble that libertarianism have a cultural a poll by Green and Guth showed that I use the term as conservatives use tone, but not that it be anti-religious, only 27% of LP activist-contributors do. paleoconservatism: not as a new creed, modernist, morally relativist, and These political scientists comment: "Al­ but as a harking back to their roots which egalitarian. This tone rightly repels the though some Libertarian thinkers [such Liberty 35 Volume 3, Number 3 Janu 1990 as Murray N. Rothbard] insist that ortho­ sisted outside Christianity" and he urged people, not creative but impotent dox Christian belief is compatible with that we "keep liberty as close as possible individuals." [their political ideas], the Party has cer­ to morality," since "no country can be The Role of the Family tainly not done well in attracting such free without religion." Libertarians tend to ignore the essen­ supporters." In fact, "many Libertarians While agreeing that it is not "anti­ tial task of the family in forming the re­ are not only areligious, but militantly an­ religious," Machan says libertarianism al­ sponsible individual. The traditional tireligious, as indicated by extensive lows no "reliance on faith for purposes of family-which grows out of natural write-in comments." understanding ethics and politics." Pale­ law-is the basic unit of a civilized and A later Liberty poll shows 74% of the olibertarians prefer the view of two other respondents denying the existence of non-believers: Rothbard, who says that God; this is no surprise to the editors, "everything good in Western civilization, who mention the "common perception from individual liberty to the arts, is due No political philosophy ex­ that libertarians are almost all atheistic." to Christianity," and F.A. Hayek, who ists in a cultural vacuum, and I do not, of course, argue that relig­ adds that it is to religion that "we owe ious faith is necessary to libertarianism.. our morals, and the tradition that has for most people political identi­ Some of our greatest men have been non­ provided not only our civilization but ty is only an abstraction from believers. But the vast majority of Ameri­ our very lives." cans are religious and too many libertari­ a broader cultural view. The ans are aggressive atheists who seek to Authority VI Coercion two are separate only at the portray religion and libertarianism as en­ "Question Authority!" says a leftist theoretical level; in practice, emies. That alone, if unchecked, is bumper sticker popular in libertarian cir­ enough to ensure our continued cles. But libertarians are wrong to blur they are inextricably linked. marginalization. the distinction between State authority The family, the free market, the digni­ and social authority, for a free society is ty of the individual, private property buttressed by social authority. Every free society. The family promotes values rights, the very concept of freedom-all business requires a hierarchy of com­ necessary for the preservation of a free are products of our religious culture. mand and every employer has the right society such as parental love, self­ Christianity gave birth to individual- to expect obedience within his proper discipline, patience, cooperation, respect sphere of authority. It is no different for elders, and self-sacrifice. Families en­ within the family, the church, the class­ courage moral behavior and provide for room; or even the Rotary or the Boy proper child rearing and thus the contin­ unfortunately, many liber­ Scouts. uation ofthe race. tarians see freedom as neces­ Giving trade unions license to com­ Chesterton said the family "might mit violent crimes subverts the authority loosely be called anarchist" because the sary and sufficient for all of the employer. Drug laws, Medicare, origins of its authority are purely volun­ purposes. Worse, they equate Social Security, and the public schools tary; the State did not invent it and nei­ freedom from State oppression sap the authority of the family. Banishing ther can it abolish it. religion from public debate undermines Yet the State attacks the family with freedom from cultural the authority of the church. through perverse economic incentives. norms, religion, bourgeois mo­ In a recent article, Jerome Tucille As Charles Murray has pointed out, fed­ rality, and social authority. claims he's fighting for freedom by bat­ eral welfare policy has been largely re­ tling "the orthodoxy of the Roman Cath­ sponsible for the 450% increase in olic Church." But there is nothing illegitimate births in the past 30 years. libertarian in fighting orthodoxy, Catho­ "The most vital function" the family ism by stressing the significance of the lic or otherwise, and by deliberately con­ performs, Chesterton thought, "is that of single soul. The church teaches that God fusing his prejudices with libertarianism, education." But beginning with the estab­ would have sent His Son to die on the­ he helps perpetuate the myth that liber­ lishment of the public schools in the 19th cross if only one human being had need­ tarianism is libertine. century, which sought in Horace Mann's ed this intercession. Authority will always be necessary in phrase to turn "local citizens into nation­ With its emphasis on reason, objec­ society. Natural authority arises from al citizens," the State has attacked the ed­ tive moral law, and private property, voluntary social structures; unnatural au­ ucational function ofthe family. Christianity made possible the develop­ thority is imposed by the State. Since the role of the State schools ment of capitalism. It taught that all men Paleolibertarians agree with Nisbet is-as one official put it-to "mold these are equally children of God (although that "the existence of authority in the so­ little plastic lumps on the social knead­ not equal in any other sense), and thus cial order staves off encroachments ·of ing board"-then a key part of the State should be equal before the law. It was power from the political sphere." Only agenda must be subverting the family. the transnational church that battled na­ "the restraining and guiding effects" of Libertarians, on the other hand, should tionalism, militarism, high taxes, and "social authority" make possible "so cherish and support it. We are not, as so political oppression, and whose theolo­ liberal a political government as that many commentators have claimed, gians proclaimed the right of which the Founding Fathers designed. promoters of "atomistic individualism." tyrannicide. Remove the social.bonds," says Nisbet We should show that by lauding the in­ Acton said that "Liberty has not sub- and you have "not a free but a chaotic dispensable roles of the family and 36 Liberty Volume 3, Number 3 Janu 1990 social authority. ciety, lithe court of taste and manners" be to seek State recognition of this belief, Hatred of Western Culture should be the strongest institution. He whether correct or incorrect. called it the only court of "undebatably From a Christian viewpoint, it is cer­ "Culture," said Matthew Arnold, "is competent jurisdiction." In this court, tainly wrong to treat someone unjustly or to know the best that has been said and many libertarians stand condemned. uncharitably as a result of racial beliefs. It thought in the world." For our civiliza­ is also wrong to treat someone unjustly tion, that means concentrating on the Egalitarianism and Civil Rights or uncharitably because he's bald, hairy, West. But the Left, from Stanford to New Most Americans despise civil rights skinny, or fat. But can it be immoral to York, denounces Western culture as ra­ and rightly so. At one time, civil rights prefer the company ofone to the other? cist, sexist, and elitist-worthy more of "meant the rights of the citizen against extinction than defense. the State," says Sobran. Now "it means Those who defend Western culture favored treatment for blacks (or some are called ethnocentric by leftists who other minority) at the expense of every­ The family, the free market, equate Dizzy Gillespie with Bach, Alice one else." the dignity of the individual, Walker with Dostoevski, and Georgia Yet because so many libertarians are O'Keefe with Carravaggio, and who themselves egalitarians, they are either private property rights, the teach our children such bosh. They seek blind to this issue or purposely ignore it. very concept of freedom-all to construct a cultural canon that is sexu­ Paleolibertarians suffer from no such lia­ are products of our religious ally and racially "balanced," meaning bility. They reject not only affirmative ac­ unbalanced in every other sense. Yet on tion, set-asides, and quotas, but the 1964 culture. With its emphasis on these cultural matters, too many libertar­ Civil Rights Act and all subsequent laws reason, objective moral law, ians agree with the Left. that force property owners to act against and private property, Chris­ Libertarians have to catch up with their will. the American people, who are fed up State-enforced segregation, which tianity made possible the de­ with modernism in arts, literature, and also violated property rights, was wrong, velopment ofcapitalism. manners that is. really an attack on the but so is State-enforced integration. State­ West. Consider the outcry against the enforced segregation was not wrong be­ government-subsidized pornography cause separateness is wrong, however. Black liberal William Raspberry re­ and sacrilege of Robert Mapplethorpe Wishing to associate with members of cently wrote about the newest slogan in and Andres Serrano. The people knew one's own race, nationality, religion, Washington, D.C.: "It's a Black Thing. instinctively that America's tax-funded class, sex, or even political party is a nat­ You Wouldn't Understand." art establishment is devoted to offending ural and normal human impulse. A vol­ This is "race-conscious in a healthy bourgeois sensibilities. Yet the typical li­ untary society will therefore have male sort of way," says Raspberry. ''But show bertarian newsletter was far more upset organizations, Polish neighborhoods, me a white with 'It's a White Thing ...' with Jesse Helms's correct position on black churches, Jewish country clubs, and my attitude changes," says Raspber­ this outrage than with taxpayer funding and white fraternities. ry. "A Congressional Black Caucus is le­ for the National Endowment for the Arts, When the State abolishes the right of gitimate" but a "Congressional White let alone with blasphemy orobscenity. free association, it creates not social Caucus would be unthinkable." ''Black Is "Art, like morality, consists in draw­ peace but discord. As Frank S. Meyer Beautiful" is permissible but "White Is ing the line somewhere," said Chester­ wrote, liThe multifarious adjustments of Beautiful is the slogan ofbigots." Oh? ton. Paleolibertarians agree, and make the relations of human beings-sensitive There is nothing wrong with blacks no apology for preferring Western and delicate, and above all individual in preferring the "black thing." But paleoli­ civilization. their essenc~an never be regulated by bertarians would say the same about Pornographic photography, "free"­ governmental power without disaster to whites preferring the "white thing" or thinking, chaotic painting, atonal music, a free society." Asians the "Asian thing." Paleolibertari­ deconstructionist literature, Bauhaus ar­ But the existence of such institutions ans hold no utopian vision of social rela­ chitecture, and modernist films have is a scandal to egalitarians. Congressman tions; we seek only to stop the State from nothing in common with the libertarian Ron Paul, the 1988 LP presidential candi­ interfering in voluntary actions. political agenda-no matter how much date, was attacked by libertarians for op­ individual libertarians may revel in posing the tax-financed Martin Luther Crime and Coercion them. In addition to their aesthetic and King holiday. King was a socialist who Libertarianism is widely seen as anti­ moral disabilities, these "art forms" are attacked private property and advocated force. But force will always be necessary political liabilities outside Berkeley and forced integration. How could he be a li­ to defend against wrong-doers and to ad­ Greenwich Village. bertarian hero? Yet he is-for egalitarian minister justice. Libertarianism opposes We obey, and ought to obey, tradi­ reasons. aggression against the innocent, not coer­ tions of manners and taste. As Rothbard Too many libertarians also join liber­ cion in general. explains: "There are numerous areas of als in using the charge of racism to bash The State has always been the pri­ life" where the "pursuit of custom eases non-conformists. It may be scientifically mary aggressor, but there is also private the tensions of social life and makes for a false to believe, for example, that Asians crime. As the breakdown of social au~ more comfortable and harmonious are more intelligent than whites, but can thority invites statism, so does the ab­ society." it really be immoral? From a libertarian sence of coercion against real crime. If Albert Jay Nock said that in ia free so- perspective, the only immorality would crime goes underpunished or unpun- Liberty 37 Volume 3, Number 3 Janu 1990 ished, as is typically the case today, im­ caught. But the perpetrator was seldom Environmentalists worship at the moral behavior is rewarded and encour­ turned over to the police, since he would altar of Mother Nature, sometimes, as in aged, and therefore increases. be released in a few hours and free to the Gaia Movement, literally. Too many Liberals and some libertarians tell us rampage again. The criminal was pun­ libertarians join them, proving Chester­ to be soft on crime because much of it is ished on the spot, and as a result, there ton's gibe that "people who believe in was almost no crime in this nothing will believe in anything." neighborhood. Paleolibertarians are unapologetic Although hardly an ideal system, it about preferring civilization to wilder­ Libertarians must adopt a was rough justice and eminently libertar­ ness. They are likely to agree with Nock new orientation. How nice ian. Yet many libertarians would oppose that "1 can see nature only as an enemy: a that it is also the old one. In such a system-even though it was a re­ highly respected enemy, but an enemy." sponse to State failure-because the crim­ Politically we need not be shy about the new movement, libertari­ inals were black. Paleolibertarians have being pro-Man. Few Americans are will­ ans who personify the present no such reservation. There should be ing to sacrifice their property and pros­ corruption will sink to their equal-opportunity punishment. perity to satisfy pagan delusions. natural level, as will the Liber­ The Return of Paganism The Challenge Paleolibertarianism is unabashedly If the American people continue to tarian Party, which has been pro-Man. It argues-and how can this be connect libertarianism with repellent cul­ their diabolic pulpit. controversial?-that only man has rights, tural norms, we will fail. But ifpaleoliber­ and that public policies based on mythi­ tarianism can break that connection, then cal animal or plant rights must have per­ anything is possible. caused by white racism. But if that were verse results. Even non-paleo libertarians ought to the case, given concentration camps, Environmentalists, on the other hand, be unhappy that our movement has a sin­ property seizures, and Widespread bigot­ claim that birds, plants, and even seawa­ gle cultural image. They ought to wel­ ry, we would be threatened by Japanese ter have the right to be protected from come, in conservative middle-class "Wilding." energy production and other human ac­ America, libertarians who are cultural In fact, crime is a result of moral evil, tivities. From the snail darter to the fur­ and moral traditionalists. But my guess is a 'conscious decision to attack innocent bish lousewort to wilderness as a that they will not, and that we will have a lives and property for immoral motives. whole-all deserve State protection from nasty fight on our hands. I, for one, wel­ For that reason, even more than for deter­ the production of goods and services for come that fight. rence, crime must be punished swiftly mankind. Do we want to remain a small and ir­ and harshly, although a libertarian crimi­ Environmentalists claim that nature relevant social club like the LP? Or do we nal justice system would make use of res­ was in perfect balance before the modem want to fulfill the promise of liberty and titution as well. era, and man's"damaging" economic de­ make our movement a mass one again as The present State monopoly over the velopment must be repaired by returning it was in the 19th-century? production of domestic security is a fail­ us to a more primitive level. Leaders of Culturally meaningful libertarianism ure. The streets of our big cities have be­ England's Green Party idealize the level has arrived during the greatest turmoil come the realm of barbarians (if that is of economic development between the on the Right since the 1940s. Libertarians not a libel against the Visigoths). In New fall of the Roman Empire and the corona­ can and must talk again with the resur­ York City, reports of home burglaries are tion ofCharlemagne-in other words, the gent paleoconservatives, now in the pro­ filed and forgotten. In Washington, D.C., Dark Ages. Friends ofthe Earth character­ cess of breaking away from the neocons. violent. muggings elicit police and prose­ ize the Industrial Revolution, and its enor­ We can even form an alliance with them. cutorial yawns. mous increase in standards of living, as a Together, paleolibertarians and paleocon­ Like all bureaucrats, police, prosecu­ "vicious worldwide stripmining." Earth­ servatives can rebuild the great anti­ tors, and judges have no incentive to re­ first! says, "Back to the Pleistocene!" welfare state, anti-interventionist coali­ spond to consumer demand, in this case The de-christianization of public poli­ tion that thrived before World War II and would-be consumers of protection cy has resulted inanenvironmental move­ survived through the Korean War. against crime or justice against criminals. ment that is not only anti-capitalist but Together, we have a chance to attain There is no consumer sovereignty when pro-pagan. Paganism holds that man is victory. But first we must junk the liber­ the State has a monopoly of fighting only a part of nature-no more important tarian image as repugnant, self-defeating, crime, and when the only crimes it treats than whales or wolves (and, in practice, and unworthy of liberty. seriously are those against itself: counter­ muchless important). Christianity and Ju­ Instead, we must adopt a new orienta­ feiting, tax evasion, etc. daism, on the other hand, teach that God tion. How nice that it is also the old one. I know a woman who lived in an Ital­ created man in His image and gave him In the new movement, libertarians who ian working-class enclave surrounded by dominion over the earth, which was creat­ personify the present corruption will sink Cleveland's slums. Crime was unre­ ed for man's use and not as a morally val­ to their natural level, as will the Libertari­ strained around this refuge, but within it, uable entity in its own right. The natural an Party, which has been their diabolic streets and homes were safe. order exists for man and not the reverse, pulpit. Anyone who crossed into the Italian and no other understanding is compatible Some will find this painful; I'm look­ area and committed a crime was-thanks with a free market and private property, ing forward to it. Let the cleansing pro­ to private surveillance-almost always and therefore withlibertarianism. cess begin-it is long past due. 0 38 Liberty