Theocratic Libertarianism

You probably know about Gary North already, but if you don't, you should. He represents an offshoot of the Austrian school that is a blend of Austrian economics and Dominionism.

Gary North, son-in-law of the late Rousas Rushdoony, is one of the most prolific Christian Reconstructionist writers.  He is also an adjunct scholarwith the Ludwig von Mises Institute (the U.S. center for Austrian economics), recipient of the its 2004 Rothbard Medal, and contributor of hundreds of articles for LewRockwell.com, the newsletter of the institute's founder and chairman. Link to my previous article on this topic, Waiting for the Day When We Can Say We're All Austrians: Ron Paul's Brand of Libertarianism.

North's writing explains the theocratic libertarianism of Christian Reconstructionism, a Dominionist movement which would dramatically reduce the federal government and control society through enforcement of biblical law at the local and state levels. Theocratic libertarianism has become a foundational philosophy for some of the Religious Right, but it is also surprisingly seductive to Tea Partiers and young people, some of whom may not fully understand what is supposed to happen after the federal government is stripped of its regulatory powers.

Following are quotes by Gary North in from the 1980s when he was part of a core group of Christian Reconstructionists in Tyler, Texas building the movement.  North stated in the introduction to his 1989 book Myth of Pluralism,  

"I am trying to lay the biblical foundations of an alternative society to humanism's present social order."

Christian Reconstructionism is often described as the movement that wants to execute adulterers, blasphemers, and homosexuals, by stoning.  Since this is not likely to happen any time soon, the movement is often dismissed as fringe and inconsequential.  The preoccupation with the stoning aspect has obscured the fact that many other foundational components of the movement have been mainstreamed in the Religious Right since the time when Gary North wrote the following words.  As you read the following quotes, consider how much of North's philosophy is now commonplace, not only in the Christian Right but also in this year's political campaigns.

Read the rest at Talk to Action

Theocratic Libertarianism: Quotes from Gary North, Ludwig von Mises Institute Scholar
by Rachel Tabachnick
(h/t Yves Smith)

Curious blend of Rothbard's extreme version of anarcho-capitalism (privatize the oceans) and far-right religious fanaticism. This would be merely a curiosity if it weren't making headway politically and now actually becoming influential in some ways, disguised of course. This post takes the wraps off.

In closing, I would argue that North's advice has been taken very seriously over the last 30 years by much of the Christian Right, and that Christian Reconstructionism has been at least partially successful in redefining the meaning of "freedom" and "liberty" in a way that has escaped the notice of much of the American public.

UPDATE: This just in from Kevin Fathi via email.

The Irrepressible Rothbard
Essays of Murray N. Rothbard
Edited by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
RIGHT-WING POPULISM
(Scroll down to read the juicy stuff)

Pretty much the current GOP talking points.

Related:

Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters? Libertarian movement veterans, and a Paul campaign staffer, say it was "paleolibertarian" strategist Lew Rockwell

Ron Paul doesn't seem to know much about his own newsletters. The libertarian-leaning presidential candidate says he was unaware, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, of the bigoted rhetoric about African Americans and gays that was appearing under his name. He told CNN last week that he still has "no idea" who might have written inflammatory comments such as "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks"—statements he now repudiates. Yet in interviews with reason, a half-dozen longtime libertarian activists—including some still close to Paul—all named the same man as Paul's chief ghostwriter: Ludwig von Mises Institute founder Llewellyn Rockwell, Jr.

Read it at Reason
Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters?
by Julian Sanchez & David Weigel | January 16, 2008

Rockwell was Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982 and vice president of Ron Paul & Associates, which published the Ron Paul Political Report and the Ron Paul Survival Report, until its dissolution in 2001.

Anyone seeing a pattern here?