The Digital Library of Liberty & Power
incorporating the Guillaumin Collection of the Great Books of Liberty
Introduction The French political economist, politician, and journalist Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) placed “markets” and mutually beneficial “exchange” at the very heart of of his theory of economics which he elaborated in a two volume collection of essays Sophismes économiques (Economic Sophisms) (1846, 1848), a long essay on “La Loi” (The Law) (1850), and his unfinished … Read more
Introduction There was a sizable swing in the 2022 Federal election to the DNV (did not vote) camp as well as the “informal” vote, though this is less marked with the revised updated results than with the early and incomplete result I used in my earlier post. I now calculate that the total number of … Read more
[Honoré Daumier’s “Le Défenseur (Council for the Defense),” c. 1862-1865.] Note: This is part of a collection of posts on “The Current State of Liberty and the Threats it faces”. In this post I want to discuss the following issues: the multi-dimensional nature of Liberty requires a multi-dimensional approach to arguing for it the main … Read more
[James Gillray, ”More PIGS than TEATS, or the new Litter of hungry Grunters sucking John Bull’s old Sow to death” (1806)] Note: This is part of a collection of posts on “The Current State of Liberty and the Threats it faces”. In Part 1 I discussed state expenditure now and historically in “The Threats to … Read more
[The British Atlas holding up the Political Establishment.] Note: This is part of a collection of posts on “The Current State of Liberty and the Threats it faces”. This is part 2 of a two-part post on “The Big Picture”. See part 1 7.) We need to show the public in a more convincing way … Read more
[Australia peeping through the clouds.] Note: This is part of a collection of posts on “The Current State of Liberty and the Threats it faces”. This is part 1 of a two-part post on “The Big Picture”. See part 2 Below is a sketch of what I consider to be the “Big Picture” of where … Read more
[Titian, “Sisyphus” (1548-49) – Sisyphus is pushing a boulder up to the summit in punishment for bringing enlightenment to the people. It might also represent classical liberals and libertarians pushing the boulder of liberty up the mountain of statism, only to see it roll back down again before they ever reach the summit.] Updated: 11 … Read more
[Building the “beacon of liberty” (1876)] Where now is “the beacon of liberty”? The problem for a small, remote, and relatively insignificant country like Australia is to figure out what it can do to contribute to the broader, international liberty movement and where it fits in. One possibility is for it to become a “beacon … Read more