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Whether or not the reader is a libertarian, he will learn a great deal from Radicals for Capitalism. He discusses the contribution of libertarian economists, from Mises to Hayek to the radical Murray Rothbard. This would be a great textbook for an Introduction to Libertarian Thought 101 class. Doherty covers the lives of many of the great libertarian thinkers, from famous authors like Ayn Rand and Milton to more obscure writers like Rose Wilder Lane. Doherty also discusses the ideological and personal disagreemnets between various libertarians, (many readers may already be familiar with the disagreement between the Austrian and Chicago schools of economics). I found little to criticize in this wonderful book.
Perhaps my personal fascination with libertarianism is to be held accountable for why I could not put this book down, but it goes unsaid that Doherty is a talented writer; an insider in the world of the ideology whose history he tells in this book, Doherty's ability to tie EVERYbody together adds the gravity of fiction to a work of nonfiction. This book is for people already familiar with the basic concepts of libertarianism but who wish to have a structured introduction to how different segments of the movement developed. I got this book for five bucks. This book is NOT an introduction to libertarianism, and I don't think it was intended to be.I cannot summon the right adjective to describe what an impressive job Brian Doherty (a self-admitted anarcho-capitalist) does at presenting an objective history. He does not marry himself to a single person nor does he pull punches. I cannot begin to tell you what a return on investment I have made. But I wouldn't expect less in the free-market world that is the internet.
When reading "Radicals for Capitalism", don't skip the endnotes. Another weird phenomenon is dubbed "hippies of the right", and then there was Michael Oliver, who attempted to create a libertarian nation on the Minerva reefs in the Pacific. I'm not an expert on libertarian history, but the book does seem to cover pretty much everything, at least as far as the post-war era is concerned. And Doherty himself is apparently a former punk rocker.
Overall, however, the libertarian movement (at least judging from Doherty's book) seems to be more fringey than the left. I recommend "Radicals for Capitalism" for everyone who wants a broad overview of the US libertarian movement. I suppose "free-wheeling" is a warning to the reader that the work isn't properly speaking a scholarly one. The libertarian movement has long been characterized by factional in-fighting, and alternative versions of many episodes exist. The attempt came to an inglorious end when Tonga (hardly a great power) sent a gunboat and evicted the libertarians from the atoll.
There are also some think tanks and magazines which attempt to make libertarianism intellectually respectable. Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Ayn Rand and the Libertarian Party are all prominently featured. Thus, in the main text we read that Ludwig von Mises once called Ayn Rand "the bravest man in America" (sic) while in the endnotes, Doherty mentions another version, according to which Mises considered the exasperating Rand to be "just an ignorant Jewish girl". In keeping with the free-wheeling traditions of libertarianism, the book seems to exist with several different covers.
"Radicals for Capitalism" by Brian Doherty is a self-professed free-wheeling history of the libertarian movement in the United States. The entire book is teeming with precocious teenagers reading science fiction novels, and there was even a "space cadet" faction within the Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party was modestly successful for a while, but mostly because it put itself forward as a real political party, supporting right-wing populist causes, taking money from big business, and more or less forcing the rank and file hippies to build stable party branches (or leave). And the far left is *very* strange, as we all know. Ayn Rand's personality cult around herself, or her amateurish forays into philosophy, are cases in point. My cover shows the American eagle, rather than a tocsin. Still, his book is well researched and quite extensive (740 pages).
Is that an underground edition. What struck me when reading Doherty's book is the sectarian and even frivolous character of much libertarian activity. There is also Murray Rothbard's strange attempts to infiltrate the far left and conspire with Maoists. PS. ;-)
As a newcomer to the libertarian movement, Brian Doherty's book gave me a sense of the proud heritage and colorful history we have as libertarians. An excellent read that I couldn't put down. I recommend it to others new libertarians as a primer on the history of the fight for genuine liberty in modern America. A must read for all other 'radicals' out there who have become distasteful of American politics and are looking for an alternate movement towards liberty that we can embrace.
It's unbelievable how many 'strange' and interesting characters are in our libertarian history. I was intimidated by its size I suppose. I appreciated getting to know the great scholars and the value of their work such as Mises and Hayak. Boy was I wrong on that score.
The book picked up for me whn Doherty started talking aobut the 3 women who essentially ignited the movement back in 1943. I remember a guy telling a group of people years ago 'did you ever notice that everyone who is homeschooled is really a weird/strange person.' Well I guess people who don't live in a conformity box or worry about group think seem strange to those who do. That brings me to this book. I admit I had this book laying around for over a year before I finally got into it. Doherty is a good writer. Most of them have great imagination, determination, and some are so far out as to defy any label.
I also appreciated learning of the many different types of libertarian thinking and the historical track and players for each of those. Often I laughed while reading the book due to the sheer outrageousnes of some of the characters involved.
Since the discourse in this book inter-connects with the history of our country in general I would say that non libertarians would find great value in this book as well. Or maybe I thought 620 pages about libertarian history would be a bore.
From that point on I couldn't put the book down and read it in 3 days. It would be interesting to count, but Brian Doherty must talk about nearly 100 different people in this book.
They are all such fascinating, unique, colorful characters that almost any one of them could be the focus of a movie. I learned an awful lot of great history in this book and I was also entertained.
It's a good history read for everyone.
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