Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed

Description

In 2010 in South Fulton, Tennessee, each household paid the local fire department a yearly fee of $75.00. That year, Gene Cranick’s house accidentally caught fire. But the fire department refused to come because Cranick had forgotten to pay his yearly fee, leaving his home in ashes. Observers across the political spectrum agreedsome with horror and some with enthusiasmthat this revealed the true face of libertarianism. But libertarianism did not always require callous indifference to the misfortunes of others.

Modern libertarianism began with Friedrich Hayeks admirable corrective to the Depression-era vogue for central economic planning. It resisted oppressive state power. It showed how capitalism could improve life for everyone. Yet today, it’s a toxic blend of anarchism, disdain for the weak, and rationalization for environmental catastrophe. Libertarians today accept new, radical argumentswhich crumble under scrutinythat justify dishonest business practices and Covid deniers who refuse to wear masks in the name of freedom.

Andrew Koppelmans book traces libertarianism’s evolution from Hayeks moderate pro-market ideas to the romantic fabulism of Murray Rothbard, Robert Nozick, and Ayn Rand, and Charles Kochs promotion of climate change denial. Burning Down the House is the definitive history of an ideological movement that has reshaped American politics.

Author Information

ANDREW KOPPELMAN is an award-winning John Paul Stevens Professor of Law at Northwestern University. He is the author of Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty? and The Tough Luck Constitution and the Assault on Health Care Reform. His work has appeared in USA Today, CNN.com, The New Republic, Salon, The Chicago Tribune, and Vox. He is a regular contributor to The Hill and to Balkinization, a leading blog in constitutional law.