For the many who have already read Left, Right, and the Prospect for Liberty, the experience has marked a turning point in understanding.
The mainstream will forever attempt to pigeonhole belief systems based on the left-right dichotomy. The Right supposedly favors economic freedom plus militarism, while the Left favors socialism plus peace. But Rothbard says that this breakdown is neither coherent nor supported in the history of ideas.
In fact, he goes further to say that traditionally the Right has been the party of the establishment, of stasis, of the status quo, while the Left in history has been the party of progress, freedom, and peace. These roles have periodically reversed based on the times and the country in question. But in these reversals, the intellectual coherence of these paradigms has gotten lost and confused.
Rothbard's broad look is a mind-opening experience. It has the effect of liberating you from the prevailing paradigm, providing a completely new and ideologically consistent lens with which to view both history and current events.
Are you ready for a political paradigm shift? Then read Rothbard.
