Harry Browne was the first libertarian author I read, and he has shaped my views about what government should and should not be, and also about what real liberty means and what real freedom is. Rest in peace, sir. I hope you’re in a freer place.
KR: “Self-described ‘pro-life’ Libertarians are hesitant to see abortion outlawed and favor ‘persuasion,’ which is a pro-choice position.”
HB: “Libertarians are pro-choice, even if they oppose abortion. But it applies to everything.”
KR: “Would that apply to murder?”
HB: “You have a 99 per cent consensus in the country that murder is wrong. You don’t have that consensus with drugs, prostitution, abortion, so trying to have the government enforce something that is so contentious, that is going to lead to trouble.”
KR: “Surely you would agree that murder is wrong not only because of a 99 per cent consensus. Or are there no objective truths — is it just what the majority of people believe?”
HB: “No — It’s a pretend game for us to discuss what is morally right and wrong and then assume that government can enforce it — ”
KR: “Government cannot enforce anything?”
HB: “Right. Government doesn’t work. That isn’t the way the world works. Government is force and I want to minimize the use of force in solving social and political problems. . . . and we’re not going to solve them by discussing philosophy.”
Read the whole 1996 interview with Mr. Browne. He and I disagreed on some things, but he loved freedom, and he lived a principled life based on working for more freedom for human beings. I’ll miss him.
If you haven’t read any books by Harry Browne, you should.