[Audio + Video] Murray Rothbard’s ‘Nations by Consent’


CULTURE, FREEDOM, POLITICS, VIDEO / Wednesday, August 12th, 2020

By Rant A Tonne

What is a nation and what is a state? Can you be of one and not the other? Having been born in France to Kenyan diplomats, moved back to Nairobi from 5-10, then off to the United States of America, I have questioned my own identify as a member of a nation and wondered what exactly people consider so positive about states.

Murray N Rothbard, an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School is one of the fathers of the modern Libertarian movement. His work has influenced many other people whom have influenced me. I decided it was about time I began reading more of his work, and as I tend to enjoy material in the audio form, and I argue we evolved telling stories and still have that as a key delivery method, I decided to make a recording of it.

I chose his paper “Nations By Consent : Decomposing the Nation-state.” published in the Journal of Libertarian Studies in 1994. coincidentally this is the year my family moved to the United States of America. Many thoughts and suspicions I have had are discussed in this paper. I find it nigh unassailable. He condensed these ideas into this paper and it has not been available for decades yet goes unpracticed by the vast majority of people. If my reading of this can help spread the word to even one more person, then it is well worth the effort.

Audio

Original Youtube Video

Links

We would love to hear your thoughts on this