The Shoulders
On Which We Stand

The following three excerpts represent
the shoulders on which freethinkers stand.

Lysander Spooner, born in 1808 and died in 1887, was called a "libertarian pietist," meaning strong belief in individual rights and to harm no one. His topics of concern: how men live together in peace, what is just, what is unjust, what is honest, what is dishonest, to whom things belong, what are their boundaries, and how property is rightfully acquired. In this excerpt, from Vices Are Not Crimes, Spooner examines how these terms were defined in a moral society. Each person must be free to choose his own vices for without that there is no liberty and no pursuit of happiness.

Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before— and immediately following — the Revolution of February 1848. This was the period when France was rapidly turning to complete socialism. As a Deputy to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bastiat was studying and explaining each socialist fallacy as it appeared. And he explained how socialism must inevitably degenerate into communism. But most of his countrymen chose to ignore his logic.

Ludwig Von Mises (1881-1973) had a great influence on contemporary economic thought. He was a leading capitalist and a prodigious author. The following excerpt is a teaser. It gives give you a taste of his thinking. Here he tells us: ideas move history, not the other way around; it is not true that "socialism is the good guy, communism the bad guy" - they're the same; thinkers and writers, not the masses, produce the ideas that move history. This excerpt from Planned Chaos will help to explain the errors of those who believe a system based on individual freedom can be "mixed" with socialism.

Lysander Spooner: Vices Are Not Crimes (click to continue)

Frederic Bastiat: The Law (click to continue)

Ludwig Von Mises: Planned Chaos (click to continue)