Print
Share
Add to MyMises
Subscribe

Listen, YAF

Mises Daily by Murray N.=20 Rothbard | Posted on 8/26/2008 12:00:00 AM

[First published in the = Libertarian=20 Forum, August 15, 1969.]

Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), late = 1960s

This open letter is addressed to the libertarians attending the YAF = national=20 convention in St. Louis this Labor Day weekend. Notice I said the=20 libertarians in YAF; I have nothing to say to the so-called=20 "traditionalists" (a misnomer, by the way, for we libertarians have = our=20 traditions too, and they are glorious ones. It all depends on = which=20 traditions: the libertarian ones of Paine and Price, of Cobden and = Thoreau, or=20 the authoritarian ones of Torquemada and Burke and Metternich.) Let us = leave the=20 authoritarians to their Edmund Burkes and their Crowns of St.=20 Something-or-other. We have more serious matters to discuss.

In the famous words of Jimmy Durante: "Have ya ever had the feelin' = that ya=20 wanted to go, and yet ya had the feelin' that ya wanted to stay?" This = letter is=20 a plea that you use the occasion of the public forum of the YAF = convention to=20 go, to split, to leave the conservative movement where it belongs: in = the hands=20 of the St. Something-or-others, and where it is going to stay regardless = of what=20 action you take. Leave the house of your false friends, for they are = your=20 enemies.

For years you have taken your political advice and much of your line = from=20 assorted "exes": ex-Communists, ex-Trots, ex-Maoists, = ex-fellow-travellers. I=20 have never been any of these. I grew up a right-winger, and became more=20 intensely a libertarian rightist as I grew older. How come I am an exile = from=20 the Right-wing, while the conservative movement is being run by a gaggle = of=20 ex-Communists and monarchists? What kind of a conservative movement is = this?=20 This kind: one that you have no business being in. I got out of the = Right-wing=20 not because I ceased believing in liberty, but because being a = libertarian above=20 all, I came to see that the Right-wing specialized in cloaking its = authoritarian=20 and neo-fascist policies in the honeyed words of libertarian rhetoric. = They need=20 you for their libertarian cover; stop providing it for them!

You can see for yourselves that you have nothing in common with the = frank=20 theocrats, the worshippers of monarchy, the hawkers after a New = Inquisition, the=20 Bozells and the Wilhelmsens. Yet you continue in harness with them. Why? = Because=20 of the siren songs of the so-called "fusionists" =E2=80=94 the Meyers = and Buckleys and=20 Evanses =E2=80=94 who claim to be integrating and synthesizing the best = of "tradition"=20 and liberty. And even if you don't quite believe in the synthesis, the = existence=20 of these "centrists" as the leaders of the Right gives you the false = sense of=20 security that you can join a united front under their aegis. It is for = that very=20 reason that the fusionists, those misleaders, are the most dangerous of = all =E2=80=94=20 much more so than the frank and open worshippers of the Crown of St.=20 Wenceslas.

For note what the fusionists are saying behind their seemingly = libertarian=20 rhetoric. The only liberty they are willing to grant is a liberty=20 within "tradition," within "order," in other words a weak and = puny=20 false imitation of liberty within a framework dictated by the State = apparatus.=20 Let us consider the typically YAFite-fusionist position on various = critical=20 issues. Surely, you might say, the fusionists are in favor of a = free-market=20 economy. But are they indeed? The fusionists, for example, favor the = outlawry of=20 marijuana and other drugs =E2=80=94 after some hemming and hawing, of = course, and much=20 hogwash about "community responsibility," values and the ontological = order =E2=80=94 but=20 outlawry just the same. Every time some kid is busted for pot-smoking = you can=20 pin much of the responsibility on the Conservative Movement and its=20 fusionist-Buckleyite misleaders.

So what kind of a free market position is one that favors the = outlawry of=20 marijuana? Where is the private property right to grow, purchase, = exchange, and=20 use? Alright, so you know the Right-wing is very bad on questions of = compulsory=20 morality. But what about the hundreds of billions of dollars siphoned = off from=20 the producers and taxpayers to build up the power of the State's = overkill=20 military machine?

And what of the state monopoly military-industrial complex that the = system=20 has spawned? What kind of a free market is that? Recently, = National=20 Review emitted its typical patrician scorn against leftist carpers = who=20 dared to criticize the space moondoggle. $24 billion of taxpayers' money = of=20 precious resources that could have been used on earth, have been poured = into the=20 purely and totally collectivistic moondoggle program. And now our = Conservative=20 Hero, Vice-President Agnew, wants us to proceed on to Mars, at Lord = knows what=20 multiple of the cost. This is a free-market? Poor Bastiat and Cobden = must be=20 turning over in their graves!

What has YAF, in its action programs, ever done on behalf of = the=20 free market? Its only action related to the free market has been to=20 oppose it, to call for embargoes on Polish hams and other = products from=20 Eastern Europe. What kind of a free-market program is that?

YAF, the fusionists, and the Right-wing generally, have led the = parade, in=20 happy tandem with their supposed enemies the liberals, in supporting the = Cold=20 War and various hot wars against Communist movements abroad. This global = crusading against the heathen is a total reversal of the Old = "isolationist"=20 Right-wing of my youth, the Right-wing that scorned foreign intervention = and=20 "globaloney," and attacked these adventures as statist imperialism while = the=20 Nation and the New Republic and other liberals were = berating=20 these Rightists as tools of the Kremlin.

But now your Right-wing leaders embrace every socialist, every = leftist with a=20 100% ADA voting record, every Sidney Hook and Paul Douglas and Thomas = Dodd, just=20 so long as they stand ready to incinerate the world rather than suffer = one=20 Communist to live. What kind of a libertarian policy, what kind even of=20 "fusionist" policy is it that justifies the slaughter of tens of = thousands of=20 American soldiers, of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese peasants, for = the sake=20 of bringing Christianity to the heathen by sword and brimstone? I can = understand=20 why the authoritarians applaud all this, they who would like nothing = more than=20 the return of Cotton Mather or Torquemada. But what are you = doing=20 supporting them?

Surely every libertarian supports civil liberties, the corollary and=20 complement of private property rights and the free-market economy. Where = does=20 the Right-wing stand on civil liberties? You know all too well. = Communists, of=20 course, have to be slaughtered or rounded up in detention camps. Being = "agents=20 of the Devil," they are no longer human and therefore have no rights. Is = that=20 it?

But it is not only on the Communist question where the conservatives = are=20 despots; don't think this is just one flaw in their armor. For in recent = years,=20 American politics has instructively begun to focus on very crucial = issues =E2=80=94 on=20 the nature of the State and on State coercion itself. Thus, the cops. = The cops,=20 with their monopoly of coercion and their overwhelming superiority of = arms, tend=20 to brutalize, club, and torture confessions from people who are either = innocent=20 or have not been proven guilty. What has been the attitude of the = Right-wing,=20 and your fusionist leaders, toward this systematic brutality, or toward = the=20 libertarian decisions of the Warren Court that have put up protections = for the=20 individual rights of the accused? You know very well. They hate the = Warren Court=20 almost as much as they do Reds, for "coddling criminals," and the cry = goes up=20 everywhere for all power to the police. What can be more profoundly = statist,=20 despotic, and anti-libertarian than that?

When Mayor Daley's cops clubbed and gassed their way through Chicago = last=20 year against unarmed demonstrators, the only libertarian reaction was to = revile=20 Daley and the cops and to support the rights of the demonstrators. But = your=20 fusionist leaders loved and applauded Daley, with his "manly will to = govern,"=20 and the brutality unleashed by his cop goons. And take the massacre at = People's=20 Park at Berkeley this year, when one unarmed bystander was killed, and = hundreds=20 wounded, and thousands gassed by the armed constabulary for the crime of = trying=20 to remain in a park which they had built with their own hands on a = state-owned=20 muddy lot. Yet your "fusionists" denounced People's Park and hailed = Reagan and=20 the cops.

And then there is the draft =E2=80=94 that obnoxious system of = slavery and forced=20 murder. There is nothing anyone even remotely calling himself a = libertarian can=20 say about the draft except that it is slavery and that it must be = combatted. And=20 yet how namby-pamby YAF has been on the draft, how ambiguous and tangled = the=20 fusionist leaders become when they approach the subject? Even those who = reject=20 the draft do so only apologetically, and only on the grounds that we = could have=20 a more efficient army if it were volunteer. But the real issue is moral. = The=20 issue is not to build up a more efficient group of hired killers for the = US=20 government; the issue is to oppose slavery as an absolute moral evil. = And this=20 no fusionist or Rightist has even considered doing. And even those who = reject=20 the draft as inefficient love the army itself, with its hierarchical = despotism,=20 its aggressive violence, its unthinking obedience. What sort of = "libertarians"=20 are these?

And what of the nation's educational system in which so many of you = have been=20 enmeshed? For years, I heard your fusionist leaders condemn in=20 toto, the American educational system as coercive and statist, = and,=20 when in their cups and heedless of their political status, even call for = abolition of the public school system. Fine! So what happens when, in = the last=20 few years, we have seen a dedicated and determined movement to smash = this system=20 =E2=80=94 to return control to the parents, as in Ocean Hill-Brownsville = in Brooklyn,=20 and take it from the entrenched educationists =E2=80=94 or, as with SDS = and the=20 colleges, to overthrow the educational rule of the government and the=20 military-industrial complex?

Shouldn't the fusionists have hailed and come to the support of these = educational opposition movements? But instead, they have called on the = cops to=20 suppress them.

Here is surely an acid test of the fusionists' alleged love of = liberty.=20 Liberty goes by the board as soon as their precious "order" is = threatened, and=20 "order" means, simply, State dictation and State-controlled property. Is = that=20 what libertarians are to end up doing =E2=80=94 fronting for despots and = apologists for=20 "law 'n' order"? Our stand should be on the other side =E2=80=94 with = the people, with=20 the citizenry, and against the State and its hired goon squads. And yet = YAF's=20 central theme this year is its boasting about inventing tactics to call = in the=20 judges, call in the cops, to suppress SDS opposition =E2=80=94 = opposition to=20 what? To the State's gigantic factory for brainwashing? What = are=20 you doing on the barricades defending the State's = indoctrination=20 centers?

It's pretty clear, or should be by now, what they're doing = there,=20 the fusionists. They're right where they belong, doing their job = =E2=80=94 the job of=20 apologists for the State using libertarian rhetoric as their cloak. And = since,=20 in recent years, they have snuggled close to Power, these apologetics = have=20 become more and more blatant. Fifteen, twenty years ago, the=20 "libertarian-conservatives" used to hail Thoreau and the idea of civil=20 disobedience against unjust laws. But now, now that civil disobedience = has=20 become an actual living movement, Thoreau is only heard on the New Left, = while=20 the Right, even the "libertarian" or fusionist Right, talk only of = law-n-order,=20 suppression and the bayonet, defense of State power by any and all means = necessary.

You don't belong with these deceivers on the political make. = I plead=20 with you to leave YAF now, for you should know by now that there is no = hope of=20 your ever capturing it. It is as dictatorial, as oligarchic, as close to = fascism=20 in structure as is so much of the content of YAF's program.

There is no way that you can overthrow the Jones-Teague clique, for = this=20 clique is entrenched in power. And behind this clique lie the fusionist = gurus:=20 the Buckleys, and Rushers, and Meyers. And behind them lie the real = power in YAF=20 =E2=80=94 the moneybags, the wealthy business men who finance and = therefore run the=20 organization, the same moneybags who reacted hard a few years ago when = some of=20 your leaders decided to take a strong stand against the draft.

$24 $20

When YAF was founded, on the Buckley estate at Sharon, Connecticut, = there was=20 heavy sentiment among the founders against the title, because, they = said,=20 "freedom is a left-wing word." But the "fusionists" won out, and freedom = was=20 included in the title. In retrospect, it is clear that this was a shame, = because=20 all that happened was that the precious word "freedom" came to be used = as an=20 Orwellian cloak for its very opposite. Why don't you leave now, and let = the "F"=20 in YAF stand then for what it has secretly stood for all along =E2=80=94 = "fascism"?

Why don't you get out, form your own organization, breathe the clean = air of=20 freedom, and then take your stand, proudly and squarely, not with the = despotism=20 of the power elite and the government of the United States, but with the = rising=20 movement in opposition to that government? Then you will be libertarians = indeed,=20 in act as well as in theory. What hangover, what remnant of devotion to = the=20 monster State, is holding you back? Come join us, come realize that to = break=20 once and for all with statism is to break once and for all with the = Right-wing.=20 We stand ready to welcome you.

Murray N. Rothbard = (1926=E2=80=931995)=20 was dean of the Austrian School. See his a= rchive. Comment=20 on the blog.

This essay was first published in the = Libertarian=20 Forum, August 15, 1969.

You can receive the Mises Dailies in your inbox. = Go here to subscribe or=20 unsubscribe.

User-Contributed Tags: = Tag=20 this document!

What is 2 + 3? =20 (Sign in to turn off = the=20 captcha.)=20

Add a=20 Tag =20 (Ex: Human Action, Inflation)

Print
Share
Add to MyMises
Subscribe

Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Newsvine
StumbleUpon

Search

">Advance= d Search=20 =C2=BB=20

The = Bailout=20 Reader

Mises Daily Search

rss=20

About the Author

Murray N. = Rothbard=20

Murray N. Rothbard (1926=E2=80=931995) was dean of the Austrian = School. He was an=20 economist, economic historian, and libertarian political philosopher. =

view = archives

Featured

=20

Economic = Policy:=20 Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow

Author: Mises, Ludwig = von
$8.00
view = all=E2=80=A6=20

Mises Community

G.A. Cohen = Fri, 07=20 Aug 2009 14:20:30 -0600 by David Gordon =
Modern Austrian = History: A=20 Response to Pete (Part 1) Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:16:37 -0600 by = Joseph = Salerno=20
No Job Losses in=20 Government Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:12:15 -0600 by Jeffrey = Tucker=20
Health = Economics Fri,=20 07 Aug 2009 09:26:10 -0600 by Briggs = Armstrong=20
Profiting from = Sickness=20 Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:37:17 -0600 by Jeffrey = Tucker=20
One Step Closer to = Heaven=20 Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:30:58 -0600 by Jeffrey = Tucker=20
Essays in Honor of=20 Hans-Hermann Hoppe Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:04:09 -0600 by J=C3=B6rg = Guido H=C3=BClsmann=20

view all=E2=80=A6 mises blog = rss

Non-scarcity=20 of intellectual property 8/7/2009 4:55:00 AM by Solre= yus=20
I= f you=20 don't like it... 8/5/2009 11:54:00 PM by thedo= =20
= A View=20 from the Trenches, August 6th, 2009: "Not so fast!" 8/5/2009 = 8:52:00=20 PM by Tinc= ho=20 Sibileau
a=20 poem 8/5/2009 4:17:00 AM by Solre= yus=20
= A View=20 from the Trenches, August 5th, 2009: An interesting day = 8/4/2009=20 7:29:00 PM by Tinc= ho=20 Sibileau
= A View=20 from the Trenches, August 4th, 2009: "Updating the forecast" = 8/4/2009=20 7:55:00 AM by Tinc= ho=20 Sibileau
Ask=20 Not... 8/3/2009 3:53:00 PM by Futbo= lGuru=20
Obama=20 Proves Tax Cuts Stimulate Economy 8/3/2009 3:33:00 PM by Futbo= lGuru=20
Environmentalism=20 and the Austrian Response 8/2/2009 12:07:00 PM by roma= ntivist=20
M= ore=20 Thoughts on Categorizing Economic Schools 8/1/2009 5:08:00 PM = by zirag= t=20
E= ntrevista=20 6 agosto 2009 como artista pict=C3=B3rico 8/1/2009 2:36:00 PM = by rroop= str=20
Mises=20 Daily Editing Group Newsletter 2 7/31/2009 4:39:38 PM by natma= rcus=20
A=20 Teachable Moment 7/31/2009 10:20:00 AM by Futbo= lGuru=20
Econ= omics=20 in One Lesson=E7=BC=96=E6=A0=A1the proofreading plan for Chinese = translation 7/30/2009=20 9:54:00 PM by Dingd= ong=20 Pu
T= he=20 Importance of Fellow Travelers 7/30/2009 3:39:00 PM by zirag= t=20
= A View=20 from the Trenches, July 30th, 2009: "A quick summary of main = thoughts"=20 7/29/2009 10:26:00 PM by Tinc= ho=20 Sibileau
Jatropha=20 biofuel, Third World exploitation 7/29/2009 1:41:00 PM by Charl= es=20 Anthony
Econ= omics=20 in One Lesson=E6=A0=A1=E8=AF=91=E4=B9=8B24. The Assault on Saving = (4-1,2) 7/29/2009 3:31:00 AM=20 by Dingd= ong=20 Pu
= A View=20 from the Trenches, July 29th, 2009: "On systemic risk and savings" = 7/28/2009 11:19:00 PM by Tinc= ho=20 Sibileau
Econ= omics=20 in One Lesson=E6=A0=A1=E8=AF=91=E4=B9=8B A NOTE ON BOOKS = 7/28/2009 7:43:00 PM by Dingd= ong=20 Pu

view all=E2=80=A6 user blogs = rss

Mises=20 Blog
User = Blogs
Forums

On the=20 non-optimality of free markets. 8/1/2009 7:43:28 PM by mick= anomics=20
Actual = Logical=20 Proof of Natural Law 8/5/2009 6:56:04 AM by Aman= ojack=20
Ideological=20 "evolution" among libertarians 8/7/2009 3:19:17 PM by ivanf= oofoo=20
Can You = Define=20 Natural Rights as a Meaningful Concept? 8/7/2009 4:06:58 PM by = Aman= ojack=20
Who are = the top=20 economists? 8/6/2009 10:20:37 PM by mookr= it=20
How do = natural=20 rights theories cross the is/ought divide? 8/1/2009 8:20:29 PM = by Lilb= urne=20
Where do = people=20 get the idea that it is honorable to fight in a war? 7/20/2009 = 1:11:49=20 PM by Silen= tXtarian=20
Children's=20 rights 8/1/2009 1:02:38 PM by Indiv= idualist=20
HR 875- = the=20 government wants to take over the food industry and no one cares?=20 7/7/2009 7:18:02 PM by Silen= tXtarian=20
Who are = the top=20 Austrian economists? 8/6/2009 10:13:39 PM by mookr= it=20
Rights, = Property,=20 and State 7/28/2009 12:15:27 PM by hash= em=20
On = CNBC=20 8/6/2009 10:14:53 PM by Salam= anca34=20
Property = rights=20 are an initiation of force? 8/7/2009 10:43:14 AM by Fried= =20 Egg
Antitrust: I need = a good retort to a stupid, stupid comment... 8/7/2009 11:42:22 = AM by=20 McDuf= fie=20
Cybernetic brains = and the march to egalitarianism 8/1/2009 8:19:45 AM by Laugh= ing=20 Man
The = Cambridge=20 "Controversy" 8/6/2009 11:10:51 PM by Esur= ic=20
Was = Keynes a=20 socialist.... 8/7/2009 11:49:42 AM by Andre= w=20
Fractional = Reserve=20 Banking 7/28/2009 7:54:59 PM by adam = knott
Subsidies for=20 Health Care vs Health Insurance 8/7/2009 11:12:59 AM by meamb= obbo=20
Protection from=20 the protectors 8/1/2009 1:10:16 PM by Indiv= idualist=20

view all=E2=80=A6=20 forums=20 rss

Literature

rss=20

= Reply=20 to Matt Mortellaro on "Block=E2=80=99s Paradox": Causation, = Responsibility,=20 Libertarian Law, Entrapment, Threats and Blackmail by Walter=20 Block
Gold, = the Golden=20 Rule, and Government: Civil Society and the End of the State = by D. G.=20 White
History of = American=20 Socialisms by John Humphrey Noyes
The Freeman 1999 = by=20 Foundation for Economic Education
The Freeman 1997 = by=20 Foundation for Economic Education
The Freeman 1996 = by=20 Foundation for Economic Education
Pro= perty,=20 Freedom, and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe by = J=C3=B6rg=20 Guido H=C3=BClsmann
The Freeman 1995 = by=20 Foundation for Economic Education
The Freeman 1986 = by=20 Foundation for Economic Education
The Freeman 1985 = by=20 Foundation for Economic Education
The Libertarian = Review December=20 1980 by Libertarian Review
The Libertarian Review = September=20 1980 by Libertarian Review

view all=E2=80=A6

Upcoming Events

rss=20

San Francisco, California, = Intercontinental Hotel August 29, 2009
= =20
Dealing with Economic Depression (Mises Circle sponsored by Mark = L. Hart=20 III)
Seattle, Washington=20 September 12, 2009
=20
The Greatest Depression? (Mises Circle, sponsored by James M.=20 Wolfe)
Greenville, South = Carolina=20 October 3, 2009
=20
Depression, Monetary Destruction, and the Path to Sound Money = (Mises=20 Circle sponsored by Atlantic Bullion and Coin, and Professional = Planning of=20 Easley LLC)
Salamanca, Spain = October=20 21-24, 2009
=20
The Birthplace of Economic Theory: A Trip to Salamanca,=20 Spain

view=20 all=E2=80=A6

Ludwig von Mises Institute

Listen, YAF

User-Contributed Tags: = Tag=20 this document!

Search

The = Bailout=20 Reader

Mises Daily Search

About the Author

Murray N. = Rothbard=20

Related

Featured

Economic = Policy:=20 Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow

Mises Community

Literature

Upcoming Events

San Francisco, California, = Intercontinental Hotel August 29, 2009

Dealing with Economic Depression (Mises Circle sponsored by Mark = L. Hart=20 III)

Seattle, Washington=20 September 12, 2009

The Greatest Depression? (Mises Circle, sponsored by James M.=20 Wolfe)

Greenville, South = Carolina=20 October 3, 2009

Depression, Monetary Destruction, and the Path to Sound Money = (Mises=20 Circle sponsored by Atlantic Bullion and Coin, and Professional = Planning of=20 Easley LLC)

Salamanca, Spain = October=20 21-24, 2009

The Birthplace of Economic Theory: A Trip to Salamanca,=20 Spain

The Quotable = Mises