Minarchy, Anarchy, and the Future of Liberty

Ahead of YALCON I am excited to see the Anarchy vs. Minarchy debate between David Friedman and Austin Petersen.  Our chapter at Hillsdale College brought Petersen in to speak last fall about the future of the liberty movement and his thoughts on the state of libertarianism following the 2016 election.  He emphasized that it is important to be focused on where the liberty movement can grow and succeed in the future while still having that grounding in our intellectual philosophy.  That is why Petersen’s position for minarchy in this debate is particularly interesting, as there is a philosophical divide among libertarians.  Each side has a strong philosophical argument, but there is much more to the debate than pure philosophy and Petersen will bring ideas both within and outside of academic libertarianism while Friedman follows a more pure academic approach.  This debate is one many libertarians have and it will be great to learn and hear from two leaders in different areas of the liberty movement.  It is rare that we get the opportunity to hear a productive discussion on this topic, and I hope that the debate will inspire people to challenge both themselves and others with these new ideas during and after YALCON.