FEW INDIVIDUALS HAVE had a bigger impact on the libertarian movement than David Boaz, the longtime executive vice president of the Cato Institute, D.C.'s most prominent think tank. For decades, virtually every idea and policy utterance that Cato published crossed his desk at some point, where it was scanned not just for grammar and punctuation but for coherence, persuasiveness, and ideological seriousness.
He also put his own thoughts out into the world, in innumerable columns, articles, and policy papers. In 1997, he published Libertarianism: A Primer, an encyclopedic yet succinct account of libertarian thought rich with real-world examples of how free speech, free trade, and the free movement of people created a richer and more interesting world. In 2015, he published an updated and revised version called The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom, which covered issues such as post-9/11 surveillance, “forever wars,” the financial crisis, and Obamacare, along with libertarian successes in trade, drug policy, lifestyle issues, and other areas. If libertarians believed in required reading, these two volumes would be on that list.
Boaz recently turned 70 and gave a keynote address in February in Washington, D.C., at LibertyCon, the annual gathering of Students for Liberty. Nick Gillespie caught up with him at Reason’s Washington office to discuss disarray in the libertarian movement, why he thinks the nonaggression principle and cosmopolitanism form the core of the movement, why libertarians can never seem to take wins, and whether there’s anything to look forward to in a rematch of Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Reason: Having been in the libertarian movement for nearly half a century, how do you assess the current state of libertarian ideas and the broader libertarian movement?
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Esta historia es de la edición May 2024 de Reason magazine.
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THE REAL THREAT IS AN ISOLATED CHINA
DECOUPLING FROM TRADE WILL MAKE THE U.S. POORER AND CHINA MORE TOTALITARIAN.
Against Our Own Best Souls'
SISTER HELEN PREJEAN ON HERLIFE ASA WITNESS ON DEATH ROW
'THE POLITICS HAVE COME TO US'
HOW A CHRISTIAN CHARITY IN EL PASO ENDED UP AT WAR WITH THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT FOR HELPING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
MATERIEL LOSS
HOW THE U.S. MILITARY BUSTS ITS BUDGET ON WASTEFUL, CARELESS, AND UNNECESSARY 'SELF-LICKING ICE CREAM CONES'
'NOT A SUICIDE PACT'
HOW A 1949 SUPREME COURT DISSENT GAVE BIRTH TO A MEME THAT SUBVERTS FREE SPEECH AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
HOW MUSK CAN HELP TRUMP CUT TRILLIONS
DURING PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s first term in office, the national debt increased by $8 trillion—due, in large part, to huge spending hikes that Congress passed and Trump signed.
THE IMPROBABLE RISE OF MAGA-MUSK
IS ELON MUSK A REACTIONARY WITHA DEFECTIVE BULLSHIT METER OR THE BEST PART OF THE SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?
A Free-Range Family
RIGHT NOW, CHILDHOOD is intensely meh. Maybe you read the recent report in The Journal of Pediatrics that said that as kids' independence and free play have gone down, their anxiety and depression have been going up.
Educulture Wars
THE CULTURE WAR is costing school districts billions, according to a report released in October 2024 by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access. The report surveyed superintendents at 467 school districts nationwide about extra expenditures they undertook because of increased conflict over culture war issues such as critical race theory, book chal- lenges, gender-related debates, and other politicized topics. The report estimates that such fights cost school districts around $3.2 billion during the 2023-2024 school year.
Q&A Penny Lane
PENNY LANE'S NEW Netflix documentary, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, delves into her life-changing decision to donate a kidney to a stranger. Known for her thoughtful and provocative storytelling, Lane has explored human connection and empathy in films such as Hail Satan? and The Pain of Others. Last October she spoke with Reason's Nick Gillespie and shared her emotional, physical, and philosophical experience with anonymous kidney donation and the challenges that came with it.