A century ago or so an outlaw was a person who raped, murdered and robbed. Today, thanks to the ever-expanding reach of the Nanny State, the above mentioned has been reclassified into a victim of society--or rather of those of us who feel strongly about their property rights and personal liberties. Violators of others' property, through the political process, have become respectable members of society: bankers, mayors, city councilors, members of legislature. Jaywalkers, farmers, people who wish to own a toiled that flushes away, non-recyclers, those who refuse to wear seat-belts, plant smokers and similar types of "non-violent criminals" have come to take the role of an outlaw.
One such "Bad Apple" is former editorial vice-president of the Ludwig Von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, and former editor of mises.org, Jefferey A. Tucker. An accomplished essayist, and adjunct scholar with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Mr. Tucker is presently executive director of Laissez Faire Books, and author of Bourbon for Breakfast: Living Outside the Statist Quo (2010) and It's a Jetsons World: Private Miracles and Public Crimes (2011).
I have asked for and been granted permission to republish some of Mr. Tucker's past work. These represent clever critiques on the expansive nature of collectivist action in society of the most practical nature. Tucker's pointed jabs at the absurdity and regressiveness of "conservation laws," restrictions on voluntary exchange and private property, and backwardness of certain laymen views on economic issues, to list a few, are delightful reads to the champion of liberty, and mind-blowing eye-openers to the novice to the philosophy of absolute freedom.
While the essays that I will be republishing are nothing new to Misesians, they will be new to a portion of my audience, which I hope to convince to join the cause of Liberty.
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