Links

PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE

The titles and links shown here were valid at the time of placement on this site. However sometimes these move, change URLs or become obsolete. Please let ALDA know if you find these links no longer usable, invalid or have migrated to another website. We will update as needed.

Organizations hosting publications do not necessarily endorse materials on the ALDA site nor does ALDA necessarily endorse organizations hosting these publications. In instances where individual publications are not directly linked, they can be found at the link shown which may host a number of different publications being hosted.

It is our intention to provide such links in order to make research and access easy to locate on a single website, relevant to the purpose of collecting digital archived publications from the pre-Internet era.

The Mises Institute   https://mises.org/about-mises/what-is-the-mises-Institute

The Mises Institute, named after pioneering Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises, is an established libertarian organization which focuses on scholarly and educational materials and outreach.

It hosts a robust collection of early American libertarian publications listed below and accessible directly at the link directly above this list. Some of these publications pre-date the 1960s and date back to the post WWII era, when the term “libertarian” was barely used in the American political/ideological context. In most cases included in the listing it appears that complete collections of these publications are available, or nearly so. (One exception is Liberty Magazine, the contemporary one, not the 19^thcentury version, for which only the 2003 issue is available on this site.)

 

https://mises.org/library/other-journals

AMERICAN AFFAIRS 1945-1950

AMERICAN MERCURY 1936–1943

FAITH AND FREEDOM 1951-1960

THE FREEMAN 1950-1953

THE FREEMAN 1950–1999

LEFEVRE’S JOURNAL

LEFT AND RIGHT

LIBERTARIAN FORUM 1969–1984

LIBERTARIAN PAPERS

LIBERTY MAGAZINE

ARTICLES OF INTEREST

PERSUASION 1964–1968

RAMPART JOURNALH AND FREEDOM 1951-1960

RAMPART JOURNAL

LPedia.org      http://lpedia.org/Category:National_Party_Newsletters

The national Libertarian Party, founded in 1972, maintains an archival website which hosts a number of libertarian and Libertarian Party related publications. It is sponsored by the LP’s national committee and maintained on a volunteer basis. As such it is somewhat difficult to navigate and most materials are not complete sets, though it has a large variety of Party related publications and documents.

It hosts a few, or single copies of many other non-Libertarian Party related publications and libertarian related ephemera.

The most important of the hosted publications is the national Party newspaper Libertarian Party News,or LP News.The earliest issue of which was produced in late 1971. This publication, usually produced monthly in newsprint editions, is a complete set.

In addition to Libertarian Party News LPedia.org features a few single issues or a small number of other libertarian movement publications:

A is A Newsletter– Only a single issue from the late 70s, this newsletter format publication existed only for a brief time (unknown) but seems to focus on current events from a libertarian/Objectivist (Randian) viewpoint, given the title (one of Ayn Rand’s most used philosophical statements.) (Cannot currently locate this on LPedia.org, but seems to have been hosted there once.)

Libertarian Vanguard– The sometimes tabloid, sometimes newsletter format publication of the self-described Radical Caucus (RC) of the Libertarian Party. The LPedia.org site has only two issues hosted, February 1979 and March 1984. This publication was erratically produced though originally intended to be a monthly publication. If most often appeared immediately prior to Libertarian Party national or state conventions (particularly California), in order to influence decisions voted upon there. Most of the founders/members/writers were active in the LP and most continued careers in LP or other libertarian movement activism. Most but not all of the Radical Caucus founders/members were from the San Francisco Bay area in California where the Cato Institute was originally located, along with s few other Koch funded publications at the time. By the late 80s most RC members had dropped out of the LP. Many of the core RC members in the late 80s went on to found the Libertarian Republican Organizing Committee (LROC), the first explicit libertarian group in the GOP, and some later went on in the late 90s to create and operate the still extant website antiwar.com

ALDA intends to eventually host all back issues of the Libertarian Vanguardwhen these are obtained.

 

Libertarian Party News     http://lpedia.org/LP_News

Libertarian Vanguard      http://lpedia.org/Libertarian_Vanguard

 

The Unz Review        http://www.unz.com/print/

This link is part of a much larger website mainly devoted to current events and essays along with many other pages devoted to archived books and articles, of which “Libertarian and Free Market” is only one of several categories offered. That is the subhead under “Periodicals” which early libertarian related publications are shown, in a unique “word cloud” format using differing type fonts for each publication.

There are a great many periodicals available; some are from the pre Internet libertarian era that ALDA focuses on.

Ron Unz is a former California based entrepreneur who has devoted himself to his extensive website and various political causes and issues, mainly in California. His general thrust on Unz.com is various “banned books” and subjects, often controversial topics not found elsewhere, and a counter Politically Correct thrust. But his extensive digital archives cover material from a large variety of political and ideological viewpoints, not merely his own perspective.

There are some duplications in archived materials, such as The Freeman, The American Mercury, and others which may also be hosted on other sites. Nonetheless the Unz collection is quite valuable especially for the larger magazine format publications.

Among the archived pre Internet publications included in his site are:

Human Events– a mostly hard right bi-weekly tabloid format published since the 1950s. Some early libertarian writers often appeared, though contributors were not libertarians. Still published today.

National Review– This monthly magazine begun in 1955 by William F. Buckley is often said to have been a secretly funded project of the CIA to aid in the “ideological war” against Communism in the 50s. Buckley is now believed by most libertarians to have been a CIA “asset” but mainly gained fame due to his media presence in NRand later numerous TV and radio appearances, some regular. His family had money, which made his publishing possible.

In the days of only a few major news networks and influential print media outlets, he was seen as the safe “go-to” conservative. Known for his affected verbal inflections and esoteric word usage, his intellectual depth was largely a deliberate creation based on imitation academic Brit style. The magazine content was mostly conservative, pro-Catholic and anti-Communist. Until the mid-60s it did often feature some columnists, editors and contributors who were libertarians or self-described “fusionists,” libertarian-conservative hybrids.

Actual libertarians were nearly all purged from NRby the early 60s.

• The Abolitionist –This was the initial Radical Libertarian Alliance (RLA) national newsletter, which the Unz site hosts for the period 1970-1971 issues. Remaining issues are scarce as the RLC, one of the initial libertarian splinter groups formed after the 1969 YAF split. ALDA will attempt to host a complete set of this publication if other copies can be found.
• Cato Journal–The major publication of the Cato Institute, which was formed with the financial backing of the Koch brothers and originally led (in part) by Murray Rothbard, who was subsequently purged. The Unz site hosts a collection from the mid-80s (when founded) to 2000. Cato still exists as a major “libertarian think tank” based in Washington DC. The Journal mostly contained scholarly articles by a variety of Institute authors and outside academics and contributors.
• Independent Review– The monthly academic journal format publication of the Oakland CA based Independent Institute. Unz hosts issues from 1986-1999, though this publication is still ongoing. Mostly scholarly articles or material about economic and social issues from a libertarian perspective by both Institute scholars and outside contributors. Also features articles of contemporary political or issues interest.
• Journal of Libertarian Studies– Published from 1977-2003, all hosted on the Unz site, this academic style journal featured research and analysis articles by independent libertarian scholars and authors. The principal output of the NYC based Center for Libertarian Studies.
• The Libertarian Review– A magazine format publication featuring articles by libertarian writers on contemporary political and economic subjects. The Unz site hosts the entire collection from 1974-1981.
• New Individualist Review– Published by the Chicago chapter of the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists (still extant in a subsequent form), the Unz hosts a complete collection of issues from 1961-1968. In a scholarly journal type format, this early publication featured articles by Original Libertarians mostly from academic or scholarly backgrounds. Covered economic and political policy issues.
• Persuasion – A very small but early newsletter format publication featuring short articles by libertarians about contemporary subjects and issues. The Unz collection features what are likely all the back issues, from 1964-1698.
• The Rothbard-Rockwell Report– A complete collection of this well produced monthly newsletter, from 1990-1998 features short essays and articles by the authors in the title, along with a few other libertarian contributors. Focused mainly on current events in American politics and events from what is now deemed the “paleo-libertarian” viewpoint pioneered by the two main authors.

The Voluntaryists, Voluntaryist.com 

The Voluntaryist   1982-Present

From their Home Page:

Voluntaryists are advocates of non-political, non-violent strategies to achieve a free society.

We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice, as incompatible with libertarian principles. Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy.

Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which State power ultimately depends.

This long standing and unique libertarian group organized in the early 1980s shortly after the boom in the Libertarian Party growth following the Ed Clark/David Koch presidential campaign in 1980. David Koch’s funding provided the LP with 50 state ballot access for the first time ever and considerable national publicity.

However a small but significant group of libertarians, including Voluntaryists founders Carl Watner and Wendy McElroy joined to create this libertarian group that rejects politics as a means of change. Hearkening back to 19^thcentury individualist anarchists like Lysander Spooner, Benjamin Tucker and Josiah Warren, this group instead advocates reliance on education and passive resistance to the State.

Their well-organized website contains all of the past issues of their regular publication (roughly bi-monthly) The Voluntaryist, in an online archive. This is linked from the Home Page at “Table of Contents & Archives” from 1982 to the present. In this they are one of the rare libertarian periodicals which is complete and online, hosted by the original organization (now run primarily by co-founder Carl Watner.)

While their Internet presence is well represented by their website, the influence of this group is difficult to measure. They don’t hold conferences or conventions though in the past did sponsor exhibits/tables at various libertarian venues. This loose organizational format and education-only strategy has limited fundraising and their opportunities for public presence awareness, unlike more visible political activity.

Nevertheless, this anti-political, anti-government stance appeals to many Americans who have become cynical about politics and politicians. It represents a purist version of modern American libertarianism which also has had advocates such as Robert Lefevre and his Rampart College. The core ideas of the still active Voluntaryist founders have shown continuing appeal and this longevity has outlived all but a few other libertarian organizations and groups.

On the other hand, the far more visible and identifiable group of contemporary libertarians who in one way or another engage in political action, via the Libertarian Party, the Republican Party or independent action via petitioning, initiatives or referenda, argue that merely criticizing politics and the State will not make it go away. You can try to ignore the government, but the government won’t ignore you. Engaging in political activity has, in practical terms, mainly been an educational activity in the past 50 years. The long term success of either approach remains to be seen.