"The state lies in all the tongues of good and evil, and whatever it says is lies, and whatever it has, it has stolen, everything it is, is false, it bites with stolen teeth, and it bites often, it is false down to its bowels."
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Also Sprach Zarathustra [1896]

About

Gary D. Barnett

Gary D. Barnett:

I am a financial advisor, and have been in the investment business for the past 26 years.

I have been writing about a full range of topics concerning freedom and liberty for the past several years for Lew Rockwell at lewrockwell.com.

I have appeared as a guest on several Internet and radio shows, including Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano, the Brian Wilson Show, Antiwar Radio, the Karen Kwiatkowski Radio Show, Liberty News Radio, and Radio Liberty.

I currently live in Lewistown, Montana, and spend as much time as possible fly fishing Montana waters, attempting outdoor photography, riding my horses, upland bird hunting, and wrestling with dogs.

As far as my philosophy is concerned, I am a libertarian purest, or in the spirit of Murray N. Rothbard, an anarcho-capitalist, and my economic study is strictly limited to Austrian or free market economics. (To learn more, visit The Ludwig von Mises Institute) In my opinion, the best political system or social structure that could exist, and the only one that would allow for complete freedom, is peaceful anarchy. While I understand the skepticism concerning this type of system, peaceful anarchy is a system based on individual responsibility, self-reliance, voluntary exchange in free markets, and individual freedom. A society without the state could in my opinion be successful so long as the there was no tolerance for one to aggress against another, or to infringe upon any other’s natural rights. A stateless society would offer the best chance for a truly peaceful existence among us all, and one that would not tolerate aggression of any kind. In this type of system, any act of force would only be allowed for the self-defense of life, liberty and property.

Although there are many who have advanced the ideas of liberty and free markets that have my respect and admiration, if I could choose only one hero who has greatly influenced my thinking, it would be Murray N. Rothbard. As far as I’m concerned, over the past century his efforts to advance the freedom philosophy were Herculean in nature, and his fearless delivery of the truth unmatched. His brilliance will forever be with us because so many of the most anti-state and influential writers of the day, and most tenacious defenders of liberty, are bound to continue their wonderful work because of Rothbard’s teachings. What a magnificent legacy he left us all!

The enemy of freedom and liberty is always and forever the “State.” Therefore, the state should not be allowed the ability to gain any power over the individual. In fact, since the state has nothing, produces nothing, and creates nothing, and relies completely on the use of force, it should not be allowed to exist at all!