Libertarian Theory

Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according to which each individual has the right to live as they choose, as long as they do not violate the rights of others by initiating force or fraud against them.

Libertarians advocate the expansion of individual autonomy and political self-determination, emphasizing the principles of equality before the law and the protection of civil rights, including the rights to freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of choice. They generally support individual liberty and oppose authority, state power, warfare, militarism and nationalism, but some libertarians diverge on the scope and nature of their opposition to existing economic and political systems.

Schools of libertarian thought offer a range of views regarding the legitimate functions of state and non-state power. Different categorizations have been used to distinguish these various forms of libertarianism.Long, Joseph. W (1996). "Toward a Libertarian Theory of Class". ''Social Philosophy and Policy''. 15 (2): 310. "When I speak of 'libertarianism' ..I mean all three of these very different movements. It might be protested that LibCap ibertarian capitalism LibSoc ibertarian socialismand LibPop ibertarian populismare too different from one another to be treated as aspects of a single point of view. But they do share a common—or at least an overlapping—intellectual ancestry."Carlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilburn R., ed. ''The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America''. London: SAGE Publications
p. 1006
. . "There exist three major camps in libertarian thought: right-libertarianism, socialist libertarianism, and left-libertarianism; the extent to which these represent distinct ideologies as opposed to variations on a theme is contested by scholars." Scholars have identified distinct libertarian perspectives on the nature of property and capital, typically delineating them along left–right or socialist– capitalist axes. Libertarianism has been broadly shaped by liberal ideas.

Overview

Etymology

The first recorded use of the term ''libertarian'' was in 1789, when William Belsham wrote about libertarianism in the context of metaphysics. As early as 1796, ''libertarian'' came to mean an advocate or defender of liberty, in the sense of a supporter of republicanism, when the London Packet printed on 12 February the following: "Lately marched out of the Prison at Bristol, 450 of the French Libertarians". It was again used in a republican sense in 1802 in a short piece critiquing a poem by " the author of Gebir" and has since been used politically.

The use of the term ''libertarian'' to describe a new set of political positions has been traced to the French cognate ''libertaire'', coined in a letter French libertarian communist Joseph Déjacque wrote to mutualist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in 1857. Déjacque also used the term for his anarchist publication '' Le Libertaire, Journal du mouvement social'' (''Libertarian: Journal of Social Movement'') which was printed from 9 June 1858 to 4 February 1861 in New York City. Sébastien Faure, another French libertarian communist, began publishing a new ''Le Libertaire'' in the mid-1890s while France's Third Republic enacted the so-called villainous laws ('' lois scélérates'') which banned anarchist publications in France. ''Libertarianism'' has frequently been used to refer to anarchism and libertarian socialism.Ward, Colin (2004)
''Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction''
. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 62. "For a century, anarchists have used the word 'libertarian' as a synonym for 'anarchist', both as a noun and an adjective. The celebrated anarchist journal ''Le Libertaire'' was founded in 1896. However, much more recently the word has been appropriated by various American free-market philosophers .."

In the United States, the term ''libertarian'' was popularized by the individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker around the late 1870s and early 1880s. ''Libertarianism'' as a synonym for '' liberalism'' was popularized in May 1955 by writer Dean Russell, a colleague of Leonard Read and a classical liberal himself. Russell justified the choice of the term as follows:

Subsequently, many Americans with classical liberal beliefs began to describe themselves as ''libertarians''. One person who popularized the term ''libertarian'' in this sense was Murray Rothbard, who began publishing libertarian works in the 1960s. Rothbard described this modern use of the words overtly as a "capture" from his enemies, writing that "for the first time in my memory, we, 'our side,' had captured a crucial word from the enemy. 'Libertarians' had long been simply a polite word for left-wing anarchists, that is for anti-private property anarchists, either of the communist or syndicalist variety. But now we had taken it over".

In the 1970s, Robert Nozick was responsible for popularizing this usage of the term in academic and philosophical circles outside the United States, especially with the publication of '' Anarchy, State, and Utopia'' (1974), a response to social liberal John Rawls's '' A Theory of Justice'' (1971). In the book, Nozick proposed a minimal state on the grounds that it was an inevitable phenomenon which could arise without violating individual rights.Schaefer, David Lewis (30 April 2008)
"Robert Nozick and the Coast of Utopia"
. ''The New York Sun''. Retrieved 26 June 2019.

According to common United States meanings of '' conservative'' and '' liberal'', libertarianism in the United States has been described as ''conservative'' on economic issues ( economic liberalism and fiscal conservatism) and ''liberal'' on personal freedom ( civil libertarianism and cultural liberalism).Boaz, David; Kirby, David (18 October 2006)
"The Libertarian Vote"
. Cato Institute. Retrieved 10 February 2020. It is also often associated with a foreign policy of non-interventionism.Edward A. Olsen (2002). ''US National Defense for the Twenty-First Century: The Grand Exit Strategy''. Taylor & Francis
p. 182
. .

Definitions

Although libertarianism originated as a form of anarchist or left-wing politics, the development in the mid-20th century of modern libertarianism in the United States resulted in libertarianism's being commonly associated with right-wing politics, as well as viewed by many as neither left- nor right-wing, but an independent pro-freedom and anti-authoritarian philosophy. Block, Walter (2010)
"Libertarianism Is Unique and Belongs Neither to the Right Nor the Left: A Critique of the Views of Long, Holcombe, and Baden on the Left, Hoppe, Feser, and Paul on the Right"
. '' Journal of Libertarian Studies''. 22. pp. 127–170. It also resulted in several authors and political scientists using two or more categorizations to distinguish libertarian views on the nature of property and capital, usually along left–right or socialist–capitalist lines.

While all libertarians support some level of individual rights, left-libertarians differ by supporting an egalitarian redistribution of natural resources. Left-libertarian ideologies include anarchist schools of thought, alongside many other anti- paternalist and New Left schools of thought centered around economic egalitarianism as well as geolibertarianism, green politics, market-oriented left-libertarianism and the Steiner–Vallentyne school. Some variants of libertarianism, such as anarcho-capitalism, have been labeled as ''far-right'' or ''radical right'' by some scholars.

Those sometimes called "right-libertarians", usually by leftists or by other libertarians with more left-leaning ideologies, often reject the label due to its association with conservatism and right-wing politics and simply describe themselves as ''libertarians''. However, some, particularly those who describe themselves as paleo-libertarians, agree with their placement on the political right. Meanwhile, some proponents of free-market anti-capitalism in the United States consciously label themselves as ''left-libertarians'' and see themselves as part of a broad libertarian left.

While the term ''libertarian'' had been substantially synonymous with anarchism and seen by many as part of the left,Marshall, Peter (2009). '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism''
p. 641
. "For a long time, libertarian was interchangeable in France with anarchism but in recent years, its meaning has become more ambivalent. Some anarchists like Daniel Guérin will call themselves 'libertarian socialists', partly to avoid the negative overtones still associated with anarchism, and partly to stress the place of anarchism within the socialist tradition. Even Marxists of the New Left like E. P. Thompson call themselves 'libertarian' to distinguish themselves from those authoritarian socialists and communists who believe in revolutionary dictatorship and vanguard parties." continuing today as part of the libertarian left in opposition to the moderate left such as social democracy or authoritarian and statist socialism, its meaning has evolved during the past half century, with broader adoption by ideologically disparate groups, including some viewed as right-wing by older users of the term. As a term, ''libertarian'' can include both the New Left Marxists (who do not associate with a vanguard party) and extreme liberals (primarily concerned with civil liberties) or civil libertarians. Additionally, some libertarians use the term '' libertarian socialist'' to avoid anarchism's negative connotations and emphasize its connections with socialism.Guérin, Daniel (1970). '' Anarchism: From Theory to Practice''. New York City: Monthly Review Press. p. 12. " archism is really a synonym for socialism. The anarchist is primarily a socialist whose aim is to abolish the exploitation of man by man. Anarchism is only one of the streams of socialist thought, that stream whose main components are concern for liberty and haste to abolish the State." .

The revival of free-market ideologies during the mid-to-late 20th century came with disagreement over what to call the movement. While many believers in economic freedom prefer the term ''libertarian'', some free-market conservatives reject the term's association with the 1960s New Left and its connotations of libertine hedonism. The movement is divided over the use of ''conservatism'' as an alternative. Those who seek both economic and social liberty would be known as ''liberals'', but that term developed associations opposite of the limited government, low-taxation, minimal state advocated by the movement. Name variants of the free-market revival movement include ''classical liberalism'', '' economic liberalism'', '' free-market liberalism'' and '' neoliberalism''. As a term, ''libertarian'' or ''economic libertarian'' has the most everyday acceptance to describe a member of the movement, with the latter term being based on both the ideology's importance of economics and its distinction from libertarians of the New Left.

While both historical and contemporary libertarianism share general antipathy towards power by government authority, the latter exempts power wielded through free-market capitalism. Historically, libertarians, including Herbert Spencer and Max Stirner, supported the protection of an individual's freedom from powers of government and private ownership. In contrast, while condemning governmental encroachment on personal liberties, modern American libertarians support freedoms based on their agreement with private property rights. The abolition or privatization of amenities or entitlements controlled by the government is a common theme in modern American libertarian writings.

According to modern American libertarian Walter Block, left-libertarians and right-libertarians agree with certain libertarian premises, but "where heydiffer is in terms of the logical implications of these founding axioms". Although several modern American libertarians reject the political spectrum, especially the left–right political spectrum, Rothbard, Murray (1 March 1971)
"The Left and Right Within Libertarianism"
. ''WIN: Peace and Freedom Through Nonviolent Action''. 7 (4): 6–10. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Read, Leonard E. (January 1956)
"Neither Left Nor Right"
. '' The Freeman''. 48 (2): 71–73.Browne, Harry (21 December 1998)
"The Libertarian Stand on Abortion"
. HarryBrowne.org. Retrieved 14 January 2020.Raimondo, Justin (2000). ''An Enemy of the State''. Chapter 4: "Beyond left and right". Prometheus Books. p. 159.Machan, Tibor R. (2004)
"Neither Left Nor Right: Selected Columns"
. 522. Hoover Institution Press. . several strands of libertarianism in the United States and right-libertarianism have been described as being right-wing, New Right or radical right and reactionary. While some American libertarians such as Walter Block, Harry Browne, Tibor Machan, Justin Raimondo, Leonard Read and Murray Rothbard deny any association with either the left or right, other American libertarians such as Kevin Carson, Karl Hess, and have written about libertarianism's left-wing opposition to authoritarian rule and argued that libertarianism is fundamentally a left-wing position. Rothbard himself previously made the same point.

The '' Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' defines libertarianism as the moral view that agents initially fully own themselves and have certain moral powers to acquire property rights in external things. Libertarian historian George Woodcock defines libertarianism as the philosophy that fundamentally doubts authority and advocates transforming society by reform or revolution. Libertarian philosopher Roderick T. Long defines libertarianism as "any political position that advocates a radical redistribution of power from the coercive state to voluntary associations of free individuals", whether "voluntary association" takes the form of the free market or of communal co-operatives. According to the Libertarian Party, of the United States, libertarianism is the advocacy of either anarchy, or government that is funded voluntarily and limited to protecting individuals from coercion and violence.

Philosophy

According to the '' Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (IEP), "What it means to be a 'libertarian' in a political sense is a contentious issue, especially among libertarians themselves." Nevertheless, all libertarians begin with a conception of personal autonomy from which they argue in favor of civil liberties and a reduction or elimination of the state. People described as being left-libertarian or right-libertarian generally tend to call themselves simply libertarians and refer to their philosophy as libertarianism. As a result, some political scientists and writers classify the forms of libertarianism into two or more groups to distinguish libertarian views on the nature of property and capital. In the United States, proponents of free-market anti-capitalism consciously label themselves as left-libertarians and see themselves as being part of a broad libertarian left."Anarchism". In Gaus, Gerald F.; D'Agostino, Fred, eds. (2012). ''The Routledge Companion to Social and Political Philosophy''. p. 227.

Libertarians argue that some forms of order within society emerge spontaneously from the actions of many different individuals acting independently from one another without any central planning. Proposed examples of systems that evolved through spontaneous order or self-organization include the evolution of life on Earth, language, crystal structure, the Internet, Wikipedia, workers' councils, Horizontalidad, and a free market economy.

Libertarianism or right-libertarianism

What some academics call right-libertarianismMarshall, Peter (2008). '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism''. London: Harper Perennial. p. 565. "The problem with the term 'libertarian' is that it is now also used by the Right. ..In its moderate form, right libertarianism embraces ''laissez-faire'' liberals like Robert Nozick who call for a minimal State, and in its extreme form, anarcho-capitalists like Murray Rothbard and David Friedman who entirely repudiate the role of the State and look to the market as a means of ensuring social order".Carlson, Jennifer D. (2012). "Libertarianism". In Miller, Wilburn R., ed. ''The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America''. London: SAGE Publications
p. 1006
. . is more often simply called "libertarianism" by its adherents. Based on the works of European writers like John Locke, Frederic Bastiat, Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig Von Mises, it developed in the United States in the mid-20th century, and is now the most popular conception of libertarianism.Lester, J. C. (22 October 2017)
"New-Paradigm Libertarianism: a Very Brief Explanation"
. PhilPapers. Retrieved 26 June 2019. Commonly referred to as a continuation or radicalization of classical liberalism, the most important of these early philosophers and economists was Robert Nozick.

While left-libertarians advocate for social freedom, right-libertarians also value social institutions that support capitalist conditions. They reject institutions that oppose this framework, arguing that such interventions unnecessarily coerce individuals and violate their economic freedom. Anarcho-capitalists seek the elimination of the state in favor of privately funded security services while minarchists defend night-watchman states which maintain only those functions of government necessary to safeguard natural rights, understood in terms of self-ownership or autonomy. Libertarian-authoritarianism has been associated with right-libertarianism, due to its broader critique of democracy, its power, and its laws.

Left-libertarianism

Left-libertarianismGoodway, David (2006). '' Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow: Left-Libertarian Thought and British Writers from William Morris to Colin Ward''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press
p. 4
. . "'Libertarian' and 'libertarianism' are frequently employed by anarchists as synonyms for 'anarchist' and 'anarchism', largely as an attempt to distance themselves from the negative connotations of 'anarchy' and its derivatives. The situation has been vastly complicated in recent decades with the rise of anarcho-capitalism, 'minimal statism' and an extreme right-wing ''laissez-faire'' philosophy advocated by such theorists as Murray Rothbard and Robert Nozick and their adoption of the words 'libertarian' and 'libertarianism'. It has therefore now become necessary to distinguish between their right libertarianism and the left libertarianism of the anarchist tradition".Marshall, Peter (2008). '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism''. London: Harper Perennial
p. 641
. "Left libertarianism can therefore range from the decentralist who wishes to limit and devolve State power, to the syndicalist who wants to abolish it altogether. It can even encompass the Fabians and the social democrats who wish to socialize the economy but who still see a limited role for the State".Newman, Saul (2010). ''The Politics of Postanarchism'', Edinburgh University Press
p. 43
. . "It is important to distinguish between anarchism and certain strands of right-wing libertarianism which at times go by the same name (for example, Murray Rothbard's anarcho-capitalism). There is a complex debate within this tradition between those like Robert Nozick, who advocate a 'minimal state', and those like Rothbard who want to do away with the state altogether and allow all transactions to be governed by the market alone. From an anarchist perspective, however, both positions—the minimal state (minarchist) and the no-state ('anarchist') positions—neglect the problem of economic domination; in other words, they neglect the hierarchies, oppressions, and forms of exploitation that would inevitably arise in a ''laissez-faire'' 'free' market. ..Anarchism, therefore, has no truck with this right-wing libertarianism, not only because it neglects economic inequality and domination, but also because in practice (and theory) it is highly inconsistent and contradictory. The individual freedom invoked by right-wing libertarians is only a narrow economic freedom within the constraints of a capitalist market, which, as anarchists show, is no freedom at all". encompasses those libertarian beliefs that claim the Earth's natural resources belong to everyone in an egalitarian manner, either unowned or owned collectively. Kymlicka, Will (2005). "libertarianism, left-". In Honderich, Ted. ''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy''. New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 516. . "'Left-libertarianism' is a new term for an old conception of justice, dating back to Grotius. It combines the libertarian assumption that each person possesses a natural right of self-ownership over his person with the egalitarian premiss that natural resources should be shared equally. Right-wing libertarians argue that the right of self-ownership entails the right to appropriate unequal parts of the external world, such as unequal amounts of land. According to left-libertarians, however, the world's natural resources were initially unowned, or belonged equally to all, and it is illegitimate for anyone to claim exclusive private ownership of these resources to the detriment of others. Such private appropriation is legitimate only if everyone can appropriate an equal amount, or if those who appropriate more are taxed to compensate those who are thereby excluded from what was once common property. Historic proponents of this view include Thomas Paine, Herbert Spencer, and Henry George. Recent exponents include Philippe Van Parijs and Hillel Steiner." Contemporary left-libertarians such as Hillel Steiner, Peter Vallentyne, Philippe Van Parijs, Michael Otsuka and David Ellerman believe the appropriation of land must leave " enough and as good" for others or be taxed by society to compensate for the exclusionary effects of private property. Socialist libertarians such as social and individualist anarchists, libertarian Marxists, council communists, Luxemburgists and De Leonists promote usufruct and socialist economic theories, including communism, collectivism, syndicalism and mutualism. They criticize the state for being the defender of private property and believe capitalism entails wage slavery and another form of coercion and domination related to that of the state.

There are a number of different left-libertarian positions on the state, which can range from advocating for its complete abolition to advocating for a more decentralized and limited government with social ownership of the economy.Marshall, Peter (2009) 991 '' Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism'' (POLS ed.). Oakland, California: PM Press. p. 641. "Left libertarianism can therefore range from the decentralist who wishes to limit and devolve State power, to the syndicalist who wants to abolish it altogether. It can even encompass the Fabians and the social democrats who wish to socialize the economy but who still see a limited role for the State." . According to Sheldon Richman of the Independent Institute, other left-libertarians "prefer that corporate privileges be repealed before the regulatory restrictions on how those privileges may be exercised".

Other variants

Libertarian paternalismThaler, Richard; Sunstein, Cass (2003). "Libertarian Paternalism". ''The American Economic Review''. 93: 175–179. is a position advocated in the international bestseller ''Nudge'' by two American scholars, namely the economist Richard Thaler and the jurist Cass Sunstein. In the book ''Thinking, Fast and Slow'', Daniel Kahneman provides the brief summary: "Thaler and Sunstein advocate a position of libertarian paternalism, in which the state and other institutions are allowed to ''nudge'' people to make decisions that serve their own long-term interests. The designation of joining a pension plan as the default option is an example of a nudge. It is difficult to argue that anyone's freedom is diminished by being automatically enrolled in the plan, when they merely have to check a box to opt out." ''Nudge'' is considered an important piece of literature in behavioral economics.

Neo-libertarianism combines "the libertarian's moral commitment to negative liberty with a procedure that selects principles for restricting liberty on the basis of a unanimous agreement in which everyone's particular interests receive a fair hearing".Sterba, James (2013). ''The Pursuit of Justice''. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 66. . Neo-libertarianism has its roots at least as far back as 1980 when it was first described by the American philosopher James Sterba of the University of Notre Dame. Sterba observed that libertarianism advocates for a government that does no more than protection against force, fraud, theft, enforcement of contracts and other so-called negative liberties as contrasted with positive liberties by Isaiah Berlin. Sterba contrasted this with the older libertarian ideal of a night watchman state or minarchism. Sterba held that it is "obviously impossible for everyone in society to be guaranteed complete liberty as defined by this ideal: after all, people's actual wants as well as their conceivable wants can come into serious conflict. .. is also impossible for everyone in society to be completely free from the interference of other persons." In 2013, Sterba wrote, "I shall show that moral commitment to an ideal of 'negative' liberty, which does not lead to a night-watchman state, but instead requires sufficient government to provide each person in society with the relatively high minimum of liberty that persons using Rawls' decision procedure would select. The political program actually justified by an ideal of negative liberty I shall call ''Neo-Libertarianism''."

Libertarian populism combines libertarian and populist politics. According to Jesse Walker, writing in the libertarian magazine '' Reason'', libertarian populists oppose "big government" while also opposing "other large, centralized institutions" and advocate "tak ngan axe to the thicket of corporate subsidies, favors, and bailouts, clearing our way to an economy where businesses that can't make money serving customers don't have the option of wringing profits from the taxpayers instead".

Typology

In the United States, and increasingly worldwide, ''libertarian'' is a typology used to describe a political position that advocates small government and is culturally liberal and fiscally conservative in a two-dimensional political spectrum such as the libertarian-inspired Nolan Chart, where the other major typologies are '' conservative'', '' liberal'' and '' populist''.Arbor, Ann. ''The ANES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior, 1948–2004''. American National Election Studies. ''Libertarians'' support the legalization of victimless crimes such as the use of marijuana while opposing high levels of taxation and government spending on health, welfare, and education. ''Libertarians'' also support a foreign policy of non-interventionism''.Olsen, Edward A. (2002). ''US National Defense for the Twenty-First Century: The Grand Exit Strategy''. Taylor & Francis
p. 182
. .'' ''Libertarian'' was adopted in the United States, where ''liberal'' had become associated with a version that supports extensive government spending on social policies.Tucker, Jeffrey (15 September 2016)
"Where Does the Term "Libertarian" Come From Anyway?"
. Foundation for Economic Education. Retrieved 28 November 2019. ''Libertarian'' may also refer to an anarchist ideology that developed in the 19th century and to a liberal version that developed in the United States that is avowedly pro- capitalist.

According to polls, approximately one in four Americans self-identify as ''libertarian''."Gallup Database: 2006 Survey Results"
. Gallup. Retrieved 23 December 2019.Kiley, Jocelyn (25 August 2014)
"In Search of Libertarians"
. Pew Research Center. "14% say the term libertarian describes them well; 77% of those know the definition (11% of total), while 23% do not (3% of total)."Becker, Amanda (30 April 2015)
"Americans don't like big government – but like many programs: poll"
. Retrieved 31 October 2019.Boaz, David (10 February 2016)
"Gallup Finds More Libertarians in the Electorate"
. Retrieved 31 October 2019. While most members of this group are not necessarily ideologically driven, the term ''libertarian'' is commonly used to describe the form of libertarianism widely practiced in the United States and is the common meaning of the word ''libertarianism'' in the U.S. This form is often named '' liberalism'' elsewhere such as in Europe, where ''liberalism'' has a different common meaning than in the United States. In some academic circles, this form is called '' right-libertarianism'' as a complement to '' left-libertarianism'', with acceptance of capitalism or the private ownership of land as being the distinguishing feature.

History

Liberalism

Elements of libertarianism can be traced back to the higher-law concepts of the Greeks and the Israelites, and Christian theologians who argued for the moral worth of the individual and the division of the world into two realms, one of which is the province of God and thus beyond the power of states to control it.Boaz, David (21 November 1998)
"Preface for the Japanese Edition of Libertarianism: A Primer"
. Cato Institute. Retrieved 10 December 2019. The right-libertarian economist Murray Rothbard suggested that Chinese Taoist philosopher Laozi was the first libertarian, likening Laozi's ideas on government to Friedrich Hayek's theory of spontaneous order. Similarly, the Cato Institute's David Boaz includes passages from the '' Tao Te Ching'' in his 1997 book ''The Libertarian Reader'' and noted in an article for the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' that Laozi advocated for rulers to "do nothing" because "without law or compulsion, men would dwell in harmony". Libertarianism was influenced by debates within Scholasticism regarding private property and slavery. Scholastic thinkers, including Thomas Aquinas, Francisco de Vitoria, and Bartolomé de Las Casas, argued for the concept of "self-mastery" as the foundation of a system supporting individual rights.

Early Christian sects such as the Waldensians displayed libertarian attitudes. In 17th-century England, libertarian ideas began to take modern form in the writings of the Levellers and John Locke. In the middle of that century, opponents of royal power began to be called Whigs, or sometimes simply Opposition or Country, as opposed to Court writers.Boaz, David (7 March 2007)
"A Note on Labels: Why 'Libertarian'?"
''Libertarianism.org''. Cato Institute. Retrieved 4 July 2013.

During the 18th century and Age of Enlightenment, liberal ideas flourished in Europe and North America. Libertarians of various schools were influenced by liberal ideas., ed. (1994). ''Noam Chomsky: Critical Assessments, Volumes 2–3''. Taylor & Francis
p. 617
. . For philosopher Roderick T. Long, libertarians "share a common—or at least an overlapping—intellectual ancestry. ibertarians ..claim the seventeenth century English Levellers and the eighteenth century French Encyclopedists among their ideological forebears; and ..usually share an admiration for Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine."

John Locke greatly influenced both libertarianism and the modern world in his writings published before and after the English Revolution of 1688, especially '' A Letter Concerning Toleration'' (1667), '' Two Treatises of Government'' (1689) and '' An Essay Concerning Human Understanding'' (1690). In the text of 1689, he established the basis of liberal political theory, i.e. that people's rights existed before government; that the purpose of government is to protect personal and property rights; that people may dissolve governments that do not do so; and that representative government is the best form to protect rights.

The United States Declaration of Independence was inspired by Locke in its statement: " secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." Rothbard, Murray (1973) 006br>"The Libertarian Heritage: The American Revolution and Classical Liberalism"
. In '' For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto''. LewRockwell.com. Retrieved 10 December 2019. According to American historian Bernard Bailyn, during and after the American Revolution, "the major themes of eighteenth-century libertarianism were brought to realization" in constitutions, bills of rights, and limits on legislative and executive powers, including limits on starting wars.

According to Murray Rothbard, the libertarian creed emerged from the liberal challenges to an "absolute central State and a king ruling by divine right on top of an older, restrictive web of feudal land monopolies and urban guild controls and restrictions" as well as the mercantilism of a bureaucratic warfaring state allied with privileged merchants. The object of liberals was individual liberty in the economy, in personal freedoms and civil liberty, separation of state and religion and peace as an alternative to imperial aggrandizement. He cites Locke's contemporaries, the Levellers, who held similar views. Also influential were the English '' Cato's Letters'' during the early 1700s, reprinted eagerly by American colonists who already were free of European aristocracy and feudal land monopolies.

In January 1776, only two years after coming to America from England, Thomas Paine published his pamphlet '' Common Sense'' calling for independence for the colonies.Sprading, Charles T. (1913) 995 ''Liberty and the Great Libertarians''. Mises Institute
p. 74
. . Paine promoted liberal ideas in clear and concise language that allowed the general public to understand the debates among the political elites. ''Common Sense'' was immensely popular in disseminating these ideas, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Paine would later write the '' Rights of Man'' and '' The Age of Reason'' and participate in the French Revolution. Paine's theory of property showed a "libertarian concern" with the unequal distribution of resources under statism.

In 1793, William Godwin wrote a libertarian philosophical treatise titled '' Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its Influence on Morals and Happiness'' which criticized ideas of human rights and of society by contract based on vague promises. He took liberalism to its logical anarchic conclusion by rejecting all political institutions, law, government and apparatus of coercion as well as all political protest and insurrection. Instead of institutionalized justice, Godwin proposed that people influence one another to moral goodness through informal reasoned persuasion, including in the associations they joined as this would facilitate happiness.

Libertarian socialism (1857–1980s)

In the mid-19th century, libertarianism originated as a form of anti-authoritarian and anti-state politics usually seen as being on the left (like socialists and anarchists especially social anarchists, but more generally libertarian communists/ Marxists and libertarian socialists). Along with seeking to abolish or reduce the power of the State, these libertarians sought to abolish capitalism and private ownership of the means of production, or else to restrict their purview or effects to usufruct property norms, in favor of common or cooperative ownership and management, viewing private property in the means of production as a barrier to freedom and liberty.

Anarchist communist philosopher Joseph Déjacque was the first person to describe himself as a ''libertarian'' in an 1857 letter. Unlike mutualist anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, he argued that "it is not the product of his or her labor that the worker has a right to, but to the satisfaction of his or her needs, whatever may be their nature".Robert Graham, ''Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas – Volume One: From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)'', Black Rose Books, 2005 According to anarchist historian Max Nettlau, the first use of the term ''libertarian communism'' was in November 1880, when a French anarchist congress employed it to identify its doctrines more clearly. The French anarchist journalist Sébastien Faure started the weekly paper ''Le Libertaire'' (''The Libertarian'') in 1895.

The revolutionary wave of 1917–1923 saw the active participation of anarchists in Russia and Europe. Russian anarchists participated alongside the Bolsheviks in both the February and October 1917 revolutions. However, Bolsheviks in central Russia quickly began to imprison or drive underground the libertarian anarchists. Many fled to Ukraine. After the anarchist Makhnovshchina helped stave off the White movement during the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks turned on the Makkhnovists and contributed to the schism between the anarcho-syndicalists and the Communists.

With the rise of fascism in Europe between the 1920s and the 1930s, anarchists began to fight fascists in Italy, in France during the February 1934 riots and in Spain where the CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo) boycott of elections led to a right-wing victory and its later participation in voting in 1936 helped bring the popular front back to power. This led to a ruling class attempted coup and the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). Gruppo Comunista Anarchico di Firenze held that during the early twentieth century, the terms libertarian communism and anarchist communism became synonymous within the international anarchist movement as a result of the close connection they had in Spain ( anarchism in Spain), with ''libertarian communism'' becoming the prevalent term.

Libertarian socialism reached its apex of popularity with the Spanish Revolution of 1936, during which libertarian socialists led "the largest and most successful revolution against capitalism to ever take place in any industrial economy". During the revolution, the means of production were brought under workers' control and worker cooperatives formed the basis for the new economy. According to Gaston Leval, the CNT established an agrarian federation in the Levante that encompassed 78% of Spain's most arable land. The regional federation was populated by 1,650,000 people, 40% of whom lived on the region's 900 agrarian collectives, which were self-organised by peasant unions. Although industrial and agricultural production was at its highest in the anarchist-controlled areas of the Spanish Republic, and the anarchist militias displayed the strongest military discipline, liberals and communists alike blamed the " sectarian" libertarian socialists for the defeat of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War. These charges have been disputed by contemporary libertarian socialists, such as Robin Hahnel and Noam Chomsky, who have accused such claims of lacking substantial evidence.

During the autumn of 1931, the "Manifesto of the 30" was published by militants of the anarchist trade union CNT and among those who signed it there was the CNT General Secretary (1922–1923) Joan Peiro, Ángel Pestaña CNT (General Secretary in 1929) and Juan Lopez Sanchez. They were called ''treintismo'' and they were calling for libertarian possibilism which advocated achieving libertarian socialist ends with participation inside structures of contemporary parliamentary democracy. In 1932, they established the Syndicalist Party, which participated in the 1936 Spanish general elections and proceeded to be a part of the leftist coalition of parties known as the Popular Front obtaining two congressmen (Pestaña and Benito Pabon). In 1938, Horacio Prieto, general secretary of the CNT, proposed that the Iberian Anarchist Federation transform itself into the Libertarian Socialist Party and that it participate in the national elections.Renof, Israël Renof (May 1968)
''Possibilisme libertaire''
(PDF). ''Noir et Rouge''. 41: 16–23.

The ''Manifesto of Libertarian Communism'' was written in 1953 by Georges Fontenis for the ''Federation Communiste Libertaire'' of France. It is one of the key texts of the anarchist-communist current known as platformism. In 1968, the International of Anarchist Federations was founded during an international anarchist conference in Carrara, Italy to advance libertarian solidarity. It wanted to form "a strong and organized workers movement, agreeing with the libertarian ideas".Short history of the IAF-IFA
A-infos news project, Accessed 19 January 2010. In the United States, the Libertarian League was founded in New York City in 1954 as a left-libertarian political organization building on the Libertarian Book Club. Members included Sam Dolgoff, Russell Blackwell, Dave Van Ronk, Enrico Arrigoni and Murray Bookchin.

In Australia, the Sydney Push was a predominantly left-wing intellectual subculture in Sydney from the late 1940s to the early 1970s which became associated with the label Sydney libertarianism. Well known associates of the Push include Jim Baker, John Flaus, Harry Hooton, Margaret Fink, Sasha Soldatow, Lex Banning, Eva Cox, Richard Appleton, Paddy McGuinness, David Makinson, Germaine Greer, Clive James

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