Ronald Kitching’s book ‘Understanding Personal and Economic Liberty’ shows why, and why it doesn’t work. This excellent beginners’ guide to the philosophy of freedom explains the essential institutions that gave rise to political liberty in the western world. It shows how the political value of individual freedom saw the rise of the living, including environmental, standards that we now take for granted. It shows how the past century’s disastrous flirtations with big government have institutionalised the destruction of so many of our freedoms, and what should be done to fix the problem.

People who want to get a summary of the philosophy of liberty often don’t know where to start, and hesitate to tackle the weighty works of numerous philosophers. Mr Kitching’s book is a great introduction because he explains all the major points in such a short compass. Much of the book consists of quotes from the great masters of the philosophy of liberty - the fruit of literally decades of reading. Each chapter, and the book, ends with a reading list, referring the reader to the major classics on that topic in the history of libertarian philosophy. So this book is really the essential guide and introduction to the whole field.

The people of Australia are fed up with the exploitative ‘business as usual’ of the major parties. Mr Kitching’s refreshing book explodes the myths of big government, and shows the way forward. Everyone should read this book.

You’ve got the right to disagree if thats where the chips fall.

Otherwise you are just being a jerk.

I never abandoned courtesy.

I never took it up in the first place having already had enough problems with beer.

Its an irrelevancy that you mention only because you are being gutless and irrational and wimping out.

What I said was not mindless repetition of motherhood, nor was there any need for abandoning courtesy in this dialogue.

But unfettered liberalism would be powerless to stop the powerful faction in Libertopia from imposing its will. However reviled such an imposition may be.

I’m an ethical genius of sorts. And so why should I endlessly apologise (thats what I’d be doing) for what I’m saying here by a sort of mindless repetition of motherhood statements.

Which is what you wanted me to do.

Don is being a pigheaded fool on this matter.

I wouldn’t have said that 3 months ago:

1. Because I didn’t know the Chilean situation.

2. Because I had no way of knowing how much Don knew.

But the fact is that this subject has been explored running into the hundreds of thousands of words since Pinochet died.

And so Don is not being ignorant about this.

Only pigheaded and allowing himself to be controlled by the accumulated leftist wall-of-sound.

Jason’s point stands - and it’s the temptation to think that your idea’s perfection can be actualised that leads more or less directly to some of the worst and messiest mistakes.

“Only ideas are perfect” ? That’s a scary thought. Wouldn’t it be better put that “only good ideas stand the test of time in the long run”. Read Robert Conquest on the danger of the “big” idea (or more recently Martin Amis). A libertarian driven society would NOT be perfect, just a helluva lot better than what we currently have. Every idea has a downside, although it is possible to detect more downside in some ideas than others.

Don what are you talking about?

If communists start a war in this country and they are backed by foreign assistance I’ll hang every one of them myself if I can get my hands on them.

How do you act responsibly and nuanced such a thing?

Or just to get you to thinking how would you deal with the Rwanda thing to stop the killing that happened there?

You are perfectly safe in your thieving yearnings Don.

Don’t start a civil war and a communist takeover and you won’t get shot or hung.

Pretty simple isn’t it?

I don’t think thats too much to ask.

The other thing is if that does happen don’t go near anyone whose involved. Don’t drive the car for them. Or give them money. Just stay away from them.

If you see one of these guys walk the other way and get at least 100metres from them then get another kilometre from them.

Don’t call them on the phone. On the home phone or the mobile or the pay-phone.

Because when we come through with the hard rain to stop their operation cold we would just have to go through anyone to kill the key people so that no bastard will want anything to do with them.

So that their own military operations become impossible to conduct in any rational way.

We wouldn’t want a goddamned Iraqi situation to develop would we?

Fortunately (or unfortunately) our geography does not lend itself to insurgency.

But instead lends itself to an easy takeover by a populous nation with a sound navy.

And because our country doesn’t lend itself to insurgency this sort of thing is hard to contemplate in Australia.

But have a bit of human understanding Don?

What the hell would you have had them do in that long, skinny country with endless mountain cover?

Don, lets cut the crap. There were about 3,000 people killed. nearly all were killed during the first two weeks of the conflict. That’s fact.

Allende’s own death squads were trying to take things back. they lost.

Now what’s your point? Read the post again. Please detail with proof what Ron actually got wrong.

let me tell you if a punk turned up trying to take my possessions ala Allende’s nasty crew they would end up with all their limbs broken crawling out to the road.