What a Libertarian Is and Is Not

What a Libertarian Is - and Is Notby Sam Wells A libertarian is a person - any person - who consistently advocates individual freedom and consistently opposes the initiation of the use of coercion by anyone upon the person or property of anyone else for any reason. (Coercion is here defined as any action taken by a human being against the will or without the permission of another human being with respect to his or her body or property. This includes murder, rape, kidnaping, assault, trespassing, burglary, robbery, arson and fraud.) Some libertarians (such as the late Robert LeFevre) not only oppose all forms of initiatory coercion, but also the use of retaliatory coercion (revenge or criminal justice). The vast majority of libertarians, however, maintain that physical force used in self-defense or defense of one's family or property is fully justifiable. But, all libertarians, by definition, at least oppose the initiatory use of coercion.

Ludwig von Mises Institute You have found the world center of the Austrian School of economics and libertarian political and social theory. If this is your first time here, sign up to receive Mises Daily in your inbox. You can also jump immediately to: This site offers many thousands of hours of audio and video, thousands of free books in the literature section along with the full run of rare and wonderful journals, biographies and bibliographies of great economists, an active bookstore with outstanding titles as well as ties and shirts, and a full community with forums, chat, user blogs, and more. The Ludwig von Mises Institute was founded in 1982 as the research and educational center of classical liberalism, libertarian political theory, and the Austrian School of economics. "How does a world-class think tank end up in east Alabama?" "Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. History Mises.org went online in 1995.