Robert LeFevre

“ The libertarian, however he mulls over this dilemma to his progress, is not concerned with government. His concern is with [Pg 9] liberty. He is not opposed to government. He favors freedom. The libertarian wishes to preserve all human rights, among which and predominantly among them is the right to own property privately and to enjoy it fully.
The libertarian is a champion of individualism. He is an advocate of tools which can perform certain functions for him. He has no objection to the formation of any kind of tool that will assist him to protect his rights or his property. ”

“ He sees in government a tool of man’s devising. He has no objection to this tool so long as it is totally responsive to the man who hires the tool and pays for its use. He does object to the employment of this tool by some against others in an aggressive manner, since he is primarily concerned with human liberty and the preservation of it for all individuals.
But it is destructive of libertarian aims and objectives to label a seeker after total freedom with the opprobrium of “anarchist.” ”

“ At this fork in the road, libertarians hesitate, some briefly and some for lengthy periods of time. The choice to be made is a difficult one. To abandon liberty at this juncture and to endorse minimal governments as devices which might prevent license, could cause the devotee of liberty to endorse the active enemy of liberty, albeit in small doses. On the other hand, to pursue liberty to its logical conclusions might end in an endorsement of license, The very antonym of liberty. ”

“ The most constructive of the anarchists were, socially speaking, individualists, peaceful and harmless. The least constructive, socially speaking, were dedicated to the overthrow of force by counter force. But without exception, in the realm of economics, every anarchist comes unglazed.
In brief, let us define the anarchist as a political individualist and an economic socialist. In contrast, the libertarian can be defined as an individualist, both politically and economically. ”

“ Economically speaking, all anarchists are, socialists, however they may coalesce to the political spectrum. Economically speaking, the libertarian is an individualist, believing in and supporting the concept of private ownership, individual responsibility and self-government. ”

“ The idea of one person actually owning and controlling another, which we would call slavery, and which Godwin saw as the marriage state, was repellent to him. He insisted that females were human beings and as such had as much right to individuality as males. ”