Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty

Murray N. Rothbard

The Conservative has long been marked, whether he knows it or not, by long-run pessimism: by the belief that the long-run trend, and therefore Time itself, is against him, and hence the inevitable trend runs toward left-wing statism at home and Communism abroad. It is this long-run despair that accounts for the Conservative’s rather bizarre short-run optimism; for since the long-run is given up as hopeless, the Conservative feels that his only hope of success rests in the current moment.

Left, Right, and the Prospects for Liberty by Murray Rothbard

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Meet the Author
Murray N. Rothbard
Murray N. Rothbard

Murray N. Rothbard made major contributions to economics, history, political philosophy, and legal theory. He combined Austrian economics with a fervent commitment to individual liberty.

Mises Wire Murray N. Rothbard
[ Editor’s note: In this article, originally published in October 1984, Murray Rothbard critiques a problem with the economics of Republicans and conservatives. Namely, its proponents think they can...
Mises Wire Murray N. Rothbard
[This article is adapted from Murray Rothbard’s 1977 keynote address to the Libertarian Party.] I used to think that adopting the victory of liberty as the overriding goal must be almost self-evident...
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References

Left and Right, Spring 1965, pp. 4-22.