The Student Revolution by Murray N. Rothbard

This article first appeared in the May 1, 1969, = issue=20 of T= he=20 Libertarian Forum.

All = through the=20 land, this wondrous month of April, the student revolution = has=20 spread to campus after campus, even to the most conservative = and the=20 most apathetic. Last year confined to Columbia and a few = other=20 campuses, this spring's revolutionary wave has hit all types = of=20 campuses, from mighty elite Harvard to working-class San = Francisco=20 State, from poor-boy Queensborough Community to formerly=20 conservative Catholic Fordham. This is a wave that must be=20 considered, that must be understood, for it clearly heralds = a mighty=20 and accelerating phenomenon in American life.

Many of us,=20 including this writer, thought that the dearth of student=20 revolutionary activity last fall, after the high point at = Columbia=20 the previous spring, meant that the campus revolution was = fizzling,=20 and was in serious trouble. But, beginning in the late fall = with San=20 Francisco State and then Berkeley, the student rebellion has = reached=20 a crescendo this spring which few of us have ever dreamed = could be=20 possible in America. Of course, the pattern of student = activity =96 of=20 all types =96 is to start slowly in the fall and reach a = peak in the=20 spring. But this year's peak is so far above last year's = that the=20 permanence of the student revolution seems evident. And all = reports=20 state that each succeeding class is more revolutionary than = its=20 elders, that freshmen are more radical than seniors; = finally, the=20 sudden emergence of radical high school movements throughout = the=20 country again ensures the deepening of the campus rebellion = in the=20 years to come.

How, then,=20 should we respond to this remarkable new phenomenon? There = are two=20 typical responses to any revolution against State power = anywhere,=20 whether it be campus, Negro, or national liberation front. = These are=20 the conservative and the liberal. The Conservative answer is = to=20 shoot them down, to use maximum coercion, to bring in = courts,=20 police, armies, missiles, you name it, anything to crush and = kill.=20 This response accords with the Conservative view of the = State=20 generally, which is to preserve and cherish the State's rule = at all=20 costs. The Liberal "answer" is to cozen and sweeten, to = co-opt with=20 petty and trivial reforms fueled by great gobs of federal = tax-money.=20 In the end, if the revolutionaries persist and refuse to be = either=20 beaten or bribed into submission, the liberal, too, turns to = State=20 coercion, but with more hand-wringing and more do-gooding = pieties.=20 In the end, he will use almost as much force as the = conservative,=20 but his "humanitarian" patina often makes him even more = repellent to=20 the true libertarian.

In = our=20 judgment, neither of these tactics =96 apart from their = morality or=20 immorality =96 is going to work. The conservative tactic, in = fact, is=20 precisely the one that has led to the greatest victories for = the=20 revolution. The model proceeds somewhat as follows: a small = group of=20 radicals presents their demands; the demands are brushed off = by the=20 Administration; the radicals seize a building and/or strike; = the=20 Administration calls in the cops, who wade in and beat and = club and=20 arrest; this naked manifestation of State brutality = polarizes and=20 radicalizes the campuses, pushes almost all the moderate = students to=20 the side of the radicals, and the revolution is on. This was = the=20 pattern, for example, at Columbia, at San Francisco State, = at=20 Harvard. The liberal tactic is by far the most dangerous for = the=20 revolution =96 most clearly successful at this year's sit-in = at=20 formerly sedate Sarah Lawrence =96 but this too is = increasingly=20 failing, witness Cornell and the City College of New York. = What,=20 then, would be the successful tactic in dealing with the = student=20 revolution? It is beginning to look as if the only = successful=20 tactic, ultimately, will be what the press calls = "capitulation." It=20 is interesting that the press and the politicians are = beginning to=20 refer to the student body of our nation as one of those = "aggressor=20 enemies" that we have become all too familiar with in the = past: the=20 "Huns," the Nazis, the Commies; and now it is our kids, = virtually=20 the entire generation of them. What are we supposed to do = with them,=20 Mr. Conservative? A little napalm? Or maybe the H-bomb, a = "clean"=20 one perhaps, so it won't fall on too many of us adults? How = far are=20 you prepared to go in using brutality and suppression as = your answer=20 to all the problems of this century?

For = make no=20 mistake; a generation is speaking. Anyone who is the = slightest bit=20 familiar with the campus situation knows the total absurdity = of the=20 typical conservative belief that the whole thing is being=20 manipulated by a few "Commies" and "outside agitators" who = zip from=20 campus to campus exerting their supposedly Svengali-like = effect on=20 the nation's youth. These rebellions are spontaneous and=20 spur-of-the-moment; they take inspiration and heart from = rebellions=20 on their fellow campuses, but they are in no sense = manipulated by=20 any arcane forces from outside. They stem from the deepest = yearnings=20 and values of the kids on campus.

Whether or not=20 capitulation is the only tactic that will work, it is our = contention=20 that it is the only moral response we can make. Let us = approach this=20 question by considering the usual baffled cry: What do these = kids=20 want? Capitulate to what?

The = goals of=20 the revolution can be broken down into two different = categories: the=20 immediate and the ultimate demands. The immediate goals are = the=20 concrete, day-to-day demands that emerge from the everyday = crises=20 and irritants of each campus, and each campus and each group = of kids=20 will have different variations on a very similar national = theme. The=20 ultimate demands deal with the kids' perception of the = fundamental=20 evils inherent in our present educational system, as well as = a=20 vision of what that system could and should be like in the=20 future.

The = immediate=20 demands deal with concrete cases of the particular = university either=20 being repressive or tying in with the military-industrial = complex=20 and the war activities of the government. The prime goal is = to sever=20 the universities' all-pervading tie-ins and linkages with = the=20 government and its war machine. This year's major protest = demanded=20 the abolition of ROTC on campus. ROTC has become intolerable = to our=20 youth; the spectacle of military training insinuating itself = as a=20 legitimate part of academic life and of the educational = process, the=20 realization that ROTC is training officers to enslave their = fellow=20 soldiers and to murder en masse in Vietnam, has = become too=20 obscene for any of our articulate and self-respecting kids = to=20 tolerate. And these kids never forget that the ROTC is = training an=20 elite officer corps who will be employed to enslave and = command that=20 hapless mass of youngsters =96 among whom will be many from = our=20 campuses =96 who will become enmeshed in the toils of the = draft. One=20 of the events that radicalized the ordinarily cool Harvard = student=20 body was an arrogant speech by President Pusey defending = ROTC on=20 campus as supplying a much-needed Harvard elite to our = officer=20 corps. This sort of pretension of the right of Harvard men = to rule=20 was much too blatantly despotic for the libertarian = instincts of the=20 present student generation.

This year ROTC;=20 last year the protests were against the university's = intimate=20 connections with the Institute of Defense Analysis = (Columbia), and=20 against the university allowing its facilities to be used = for=20 recruiting purposes by the armed forces and its mass of = murderers,=20 and by corporations such as Dow Chemical heavily involved in = the=20 production of napalm, an instrument of this mass = murder.

Everyone gets=20 excited over student disruptions, sit-ins, a few bread = crumbs left=20 in rooms, a few blades of grass trampled on; all this leads = the=20 general public to a frenzy of denunciation of the "violence" = committed by the students. But where oh where is anything = like the=20 equivalent frenzy directed at the monstrous engines of = violence,=20 slavery, and mass murder against which the kids are = directing their=20 protests: the army, the draft, the war, the police? Why not = try to=20 tote up the balance sheet of violence committed by both = sides and=20 see what comes out?

We = are=20 particularly puzzled by that legion of "libertarian = conservatives"=20 who condemn the kids unreservedly for "initiating violence." = But=20 who has initiated violence? The kids, or the = universities=20 that collaborate in the draft and the war machine, who = eagerly=20 obtain funds from the taxpayers for all manner of research = and=20 grants, including research for germ warfare? The tie-ins = between=20 government and the universities link them inexorably, as = witness the=20 acts set forth in James Ridgeway's recent The=20 Closed Corporation. Particularly grotesque was the = Randian=20 argument, put forward by Robert Hessen in a widely = distributed=20 article, that Columbia was private property and that = therefore the=20 students were and are everywhere violating the sacred rights = of=20 private property; in addition, there is a definite sense in = the=20 Randian approach that our university system is really pretty = good=20 and that the rebel students are in the process of busting up = a sound=20 and virtuous institution. Apart from the various specific = tie-ins=20 with the State which the Columbia rebels were pinpointing = (such as=20 the IDA), nearly two-thirds of Columbia's income comes from=20 governmental rather than private sources. How in the = world=20 can we continue to call it a private institution? = Where does=20 private property come in?

In = fact,=20 Columbia, as most of our universities =96 and of course = all of=20 our frankly state-owned universities such as San Francisco = State or=20 Berkeley =96 is governmental property, paid for by = government though=20 run by corporate leaders tied in with government. And = government=20 property is always and everywhere fair game for the = libertarian;=20 for the libertarian must rejoice every time any piece of=20 governmental, and therefore stolen, property is = returned by=20 any means necessary to the private sector. (In libertarian = theory,=20 it is not possible to steal from someone who is = already a=20 thief and who is only losing property that he has stolen. On = the=20 contrary, the person who takes stolen property from a thief = is=20 virtuously returning it to innocent private = hands.)

Therefore, the=20 libertarian must cheer any attempt to return stolen, = governmental=20 property to the private sector: whether it be in the cry, = "The=20 streets belong to the people", or "the parks belong to the = people",=20 or the schools belong to those who use them, i.e. the = students and=20 faculty. The libertarian believes that things not properly = owned=20 revert to the first person who uses and possesses them, e. = g. the=20 homesteader who first clears and uses virgin land; = similarly, the=20 libertarian must support any attempt by campus = "homesteaders", the=20 students and faculty, to seize power in the universities = from the=20 governmental or quasi-governmental bureaucracy.

Randians retort=20 that public universities, too, are under the rule of = legitimate=20 authority because these authorities are elected by the = taxpayers,=20 who therefore "own" these campuses. Apart from the fact that = university trustees are scarcely elected by anyone, this is = a=20 particularly grotesque argument for alleged libertarians to = use. For=20 it brings them squarely back to the virus of Social = Democracy=20 against which they began to rebel decades ago. The = government=20 "represents" the taxpayers indeed! If this were true, then = any kind=20 of libertarian viewpoint goes by the board, and we may as = well all=20 become Social Democrats, applauding any conceivable activity = of=20 government so long as an elected government performs the = deed.=20 Surely the basic libertarian insight is that the taxpayers = do not=20 rule, that, on the contrary, they are mulcted and robbed for = the=20 benefit of the State and its cohorts, and therefore the idea = that=20 the "public" or the "taxpayers" really own anything = is a=20 fundamental lie palmed off on us by the apologists for the = State. It=20 is not we but the government rulers that own "public" = property, and hence the vital importance of getting all this = property from the "public" to the private or "people's" = sector as=20 rapidly as possible. "Homesteading" is often the easiest and = most=20 rapid way of accomplishing this goal.

It = is=20 particularly amusing that the one act of students which = upset the=20 most people, and especially called upon their heads the = charge of=20 "initiating violence," was the act of the Cornell black = students in=20 bringing rifles and ammunition on campus. Laws were = immediately and=20 hysterically passed imposing the severest penalties on such = action.=20 But what's wrong with carrying guns? Does not every American = have a=20 constitutional right to bear arms? And these weren't even=20 concealed arms, so why the fuss? Surely the crime=20 comes not in carrying weapons but in using them = aggressively.=20 Libertarians and conservatives know this full well when they = quite=20 properly call for the repeal of gun laws, restricting the = right of=20 everyone to bear arms. Why does everyone forget all this = when Negro=20 students bear arms? Could it be that for many "libertarian=20 conservatives" racism runs far deeper than devotion to=20 liberty?

Another broad=20 type of immediate demand is the ending of the university's = use of=20 the property-killing power of eminent domain to oust ghetto = poor=20 from their homes (major charges at Columbia and Harvard). = Surely the=20 libertarian, opposed to urban renewal and eminent domain, = can only=20 applaud this goal. A third type of widespread demand is an=20 insistence on simple academic freedom =96 an insistence that = the=20 university is a place for freedom to express radical = political views=20 without harassment. The San Francisco State rebellion was = touched=20 off by the university's firing of instructor George Mason = Murray, a=20 Black Panther, and this year's Berkeley strike by the = attempted=20 firing of Panther Eldridge Cleaver. The current = Queensborough=20 Community College rebellion was touched off by the firing of = a=20 Progressive Labor member of the faculty, Don Silberman. In = all these=20 cases the rebels are fighting for an elemental feature of = what makes=20 a genuine university.

Again,=20 conservatives might protest that the trustees have the right = to fire=20 anyone they please. But, as we have pointed out, this is not = so in=20 the vast bulk of our universities that are openly or = covertly=20 governmental. The trustees of those colleges that are = genuinely=20 private have the legal right to fire anyone, it is = true; but=20 so then do the faculty and the students have the right to = quit, to=20 demonstrate, or to strike =96 in protest against the kind of = a=20 university where the trustees would do such a thing. And = here again,=20 any person concerned with education and freedom of inquiry = must=20 agree with that vision of a university where academic = freedom rather=20 than trustee dictation prevails.

Another=20 crucially important demand concerns the ways in which the = university=20 reacts to the other demands of the rebels: that the State = must=20 not be called in to decide the issue. Again, everyone = gripes at=20 the disruption of the educational process caused by canceled = classes=20 or a barricaded door. But the really violent destruction = consists in=20 calling in the police, the brutal cops with their mace and = their=20 clubs and their tear gas. It is no wonder that police = brutality has=20 been the major and almost instant catalyst of radicalization = on=20 campus. There can be no education, no dialogue, no community = of=20 scholars, where there are helmets and clubs and bayonets. = "Cops=20 Out!" is an elemental and crucial cry that erupts from the = embattled=20 rebels, and it is one that any person of elemental good = will, let=20 alone a libertarian, must commend. Even more despotic is the = new and=20 sinister instrument of Statism first employed this year by = Columbia=20 University: the court injunction. The labor unions knew = precisely=20 what they were doing when they lobbied to pass the = Norris-LaGuardia=20 law outlawing the use of injunctions in labor disputes; = libertarian=20 theory requires the extension of this principle to = abolishing=20 injunctions everywhere!

For = the=20 injunction has two profoundly tyrannical features: (a) it = moves to=20 prohibit someone in advance from specific actions that, for=20 libertarians, are totally legitimate. Thus, Mr. X. is = enjoined by=20 the courts from demonstrating at College Y because the = courts have=20 concluded that X might engage in an illegal action. But to = move thus=20 in advance of action is totally illegitimate; a libertarian = legal=20 order moves only against people after they have = proceeded to=20 commit a crime, and not before. And (b) the alleged violator = of an=20 injunction gets thrown into jail by the judge at the = latter's=20 discretion, without a jury trial, without a proper defense, = the=20 right to cross-examine, etc. Furthermore, the judge can keep = jailing=20 anyone whom he adjudges in "contempt of court" =96 whether = for=20 violating injunctions or for any other reason =96 as long as = he feels=20 like it. The whole area of "contempt of court" is one where = judges=20 can reign by their whim unchecked by law or rights. The = entire field=20 must be swept aside in the system of libertarian law. =

Along with the=20 demand for keeping the State and its minions out of campus = disputes=20 comes one for general amnesty, both civil and criminal, in = the=20 courts and in the university. Again a perfectly legitimate = demand,=20 especially since in the vast majority of cases the kids have = done=20 nothing wrong according to libertarian doctrine. Somehow, = the=20 curious theory prevails that "it's okay to disobey a law or = a rule,=20 provided you're willing to take your punishment," and = amnesty very=20 often meets widespread resentment. But the whole point is = that the=20 kids, and libertarians too, don't recognize the justice of = the=20 particular rule or law, and that is precisely why they = violate it.=20 So therefore they should not, at least according to their = lights, be=20 punished. Besides, Mr. Christian Conservative, what's wrong = with=20 mercy?

If = the bulk of=20 the immediate demands of the student rebels is proper and=20 praiseworthy from the libertarian point of view, what of the = ultimate demands? What do "they" want, down deep? Mainly it = is what=20 we touched on earlier: (1) the demand to transfer power from = the=20 trustees to students and faculty; and (2) the = severing of the=20 university from the government-military-industrial complex. = Both=20 demands are interconnected; for the students perceive as few = others=20 do, that the American university is a critical and vital = part of the=20 ruling system by which the Establishment trains the rising=20 generation to become cogs in the military-industrial = machine. The=20 new rebels want no part of being such cogs; and all = libertarians=20 must bless them for their revulsion against the educational = status=20 quo. The students see that the only way to remove the = universities=20 from their "brainwashing" and apologetic role on behalf of = the State=20 and its allies is to transform the very nature of the = university=20 into student-faculty rule. And why not? As we have seen, for = governmental universities this is an eminently libertarian = demand, a=20 necessary means for transforming governmental into private = property.=20 But, in addition, it is a worthy objective for genuine = education,=20 and there is no libertarian reason why even legitimate = trustees=20 cannot transfer power voluntarily. Such eminent universities = as=20 Oxford and Cambridge are essentially "producers' co-ops," = owned and=20 directed by the faculty. Student-faculty power means a shift = back to=20 the university, not as servitor of the military-industrial = complex,=20 not as apologist for the State, but as a genuine community = of=20 scholars searching for and discovering the truth. This is = the vision=20 that animates the student revolutionaries, and it is a noble = vision=20 indeed. Considering what our universities have become, it is = also a=20 vision radically different from the status quo: hence it is=20 revolutionary.

It = is=20 particularly ironic that conservatives and libertarians = should be so=20 distressed at the prospect of students having a say in the=20 universities. After all, a free-market proponent is supposed = to=20 favor "consumer sovereignty," and what are students but the=20 consumers of the educational product? Why react with hatred = to any=20 attempt by the consumers to influence their education? =

Furthermore,=20 conservatives have for decades inveighed, and properly so, = against=20 the American educational system. They have seen how that = system=20 imprisons and indoctrinates the youth of America into the = statist=20 system, how it functions as intellectual apologists for the = State=20 apparatus. For decades, no one did anything about this = insight. Now,=20 at long last, that the students are reacting precisely = against this=20 system, now that they see the evil and are trying to change = it, why,=20 Mr. Conservative, why in hell are you on the other = side?

The = students=20 see even more than the traditional Conservatives did. They = see that,=20 apart from other tie-ins, corporations have been using the=20 government schools and colleges as institutions that train = their=20 future workers and executives at the expense of others, = i.e.=20 the taxpayers. This is but one way that our corporate state = uses the=20 coercive taxing power either to accumulate corporate capital = or to=20 lower corporate costs. Whatever that process may be called, = it is=20 not "free enterprise," except in the most ironic = sense.

And = so,=20 libertarians must hail the student revolution, their means = and their=20 ends, their demands both immediate and ultimate. These kids, = the=20 first generation in a century to really see and understand = the evils=20 of the State, deserve encouragement and support and not our=20 condemnation or our petty complaints. Libertarian students = and=20 adults alike have begun to realize this truth. One = heartening event=20 has been libertarian participation in some of the recent = rebellions.=20 One prominent young libertarian not only participated=20 whole-heartedly in the Cornell rebellion, but he was the = only person=20 among the rebels to vote against thanking President Perkins = for his=20 liberal concessions to student demands.

The most striking adherence came at Fordham = University,=20 where the Fordham Libertarian Alliance constitutes our=20 best-organized chapter on the college campuses =96 = hopefully, a=20 harbinger of the future. FLA was the first group on the = Fordham=20 campus to raise the libertarian demand of "Abolish ROTC"; = SDS,=20 dominated by Progressive Labor on that campus, hung back for = weeks=20 because of fear that the "working class" would not go along = with=20 such a demand. But finally, SDS swung into line, and the = Fordham=20 sit-in on April 23=9624, which lasted over 24 hours, = included members=20 of SDS, FLA, and mainly, unaffiliated individuals. The = sit-in was=20 unpremeditated, spontaneous; there was no manipulation by a = few=20 sinister persons, let along outsiders. Instead, everything = was=20 spontaneous, joyous, done by discussion and genuine = consensus. FLA=20 members conveyed their exhilaration at the true spirit of = community=20 animating all of the students, and their joy at the = liberating act=20 of taking control of their own lives, at acting dramatically = and=20 even heroically for a moral cause. They experienced, for = that=20 unforgettable day in their lives, the shared joy of = liberation, one=20 that, perhaps some day, all of us may share. God bless them = and=20 their generation.

Perhaps the whole thing can be summed up by = a sign=20 carried by some of the kids at an anti-war march in New York = City on=20 April 5. The sign read simply: "Death to the State. Power to = the=20 People." How can you fault a movement having that as a=20 slogan?

Murray N.=20 Rothbard (1926=961995) was the author of Man,=20 Economy, and State, C= onceived=20 in Liberty, What=20 Has Government Done to Our Money, For a = New=20 Liberty, The=20 Case Against the Fed, and many other books = and=20 articles. He was also = the editor=20 =96 with Lew Rockwell =96 of The=20 Rothbard-Rockwell Report.

The Student=20 Revolution