Chaos Theory, by Bob Murphy

Review by Rob Yates, LPNC Communications Director

Bob Murphy, author of Chaos Theory, is a noted anarchocapitalist (ancap) economist who has worked at several Libertarian institutes and think tanks. He has also written for a number of prominent newspapers, journals, and publications. He is considered one of the most influential economists of the last two decades.          

Chaos Theory is a collection of two of his essays laying out the ancap case for private military defense services and private public safety / police services. The essays follow the theories of Rothbard, and seeks to develop the ideas around private insurance as a means to supplant state intervention to protect the individual and individual property from both malignant state actors and criminal perpetrators. It was published in 2002, before Murphy completed his economics PhD.

The essays are certainly worth the read for anyone even slightly interested in Libertarian economic theory. While there is certainly an ample amount of ancap economics literature available, much of it is esoteric, dry, acroamatic, didactic, and/or pedantic. In other words, it is difficult to get someone not into economics or Libertarianism to engage with it. Chaos Theory has no such limitations.

Even when he was writing more than 20 years ago, Murphy proves why he is one of our best voices on economics with the logical flow of his arguments, the ease of reading his writing style, and the overall accessibility of the essays. Further, it is a quick read, and most people who have even a perfunctory interest in economics should be able to get through it easily.

Of course, it is reflective of the time Murphy wrote it, as he has become a significantly more polished writer since then.

Regardless of people's feelings on how compelling his arguments Murphy's arguments are, in Chaos Theory, named for the order which arises out of the supposed chaos of a stateless society, the book sets the stage for some important discussions in Libertarian philosophy on governance and economics. 

Purchase here

Review by Rob Yates, LPNC Communications Director

RFK Jr.'s The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, is very much worth the read. 

Recently, discussion around whether RFK Jr. should potentially be accepted by the Libertarian Party as a candidate has distracted from some of the good work he has done exposing the revolving door connection between industry and the regulatory agencies ostensibly providing oversight. 

First, to caveat, I am completely against the entire covid regime. I think the jab is a useless cash grab that statistically is more likely to harm you than help, if it provides any help at all in any situations. I think lockdowns were madness and the way which most of the populace complied was even greater madness. I think masks were useless, at best, and became the biggest virtue signaling in all of history. And I think Mandy Cohen is the worst export from the state of NC in at least 50 years. The list goes on.

That being said, this book is relevant to any Libertarian regardless of your feelings on lockdowns, jabs, masks, and all other things covid related. Further, while the book does explore some conspiracies, or at least conspiracy-related rabbit holes, what it also does is meticulously document the way agents of the state abuse the power they have in regulatory agencies to hoard and wield power. Further, industry similarly exerts control over regulatory agency decisions by dangling high-paying jobs for those who play along once they leave the public sphere and enter the private.

Spanning from the emergence of AIDS and the ensuing panic through the covid insanity, this book traces the career development of Anthony Fauci. In punctilious detail, RFK Jr. tells the tale of Fauci, driven by hubris and self-indulgence, as he weaponizes fear and the power of his position to generate huge financial gain and cement his position in the NIH and as a power broker in the federal government, with no concern who he might hurt. Fauci ruined careers, blacklisted dissenters, broke laws around patents, covered up malfeasance, and drove through any roadblocks until he had achieved near complete dominance in his realm.

In a time when we need as many allies as possible to push back against the ever-growing machine that is the state, and when single-issue coalitions are a potential powerful way to unite against the power that is being taken from us by the uniparty, we should not forget that, although not all potential friends are Libertarian or libertarian, they are friends nonetheless. This book, in its focused capacity, is a powerful reminder of how the overreach of the omnipotent state can distress those who are not as far along the Liberty path as we are. 

Purchase here

Review by Rob Yates, LPNC Communications Director

Lou Perez's That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore: On the Death and Rebirth of Comedy, is a thought-provoking exploration of the evolving landscape of comedy in the modern world. In a pivotal moment in time, when the very purpose of comedy is being challenged, Perez takes readers on a witty and insightful journey through the history, challenges, and potential resurgence of comedy as a cultural force.

One of the book's strengths lies in its historical perspective. Perez skillfully traces the roots of comedy, showing off an impressive range of knowledge of comedy's roots while peppering in deeply personal and funny stories that drive the narrative and reinforce his arguments with a side of hilarious. This approach provides readers with a rich context for understanding how comedy has evolved and adapted to changing societal norms and technologies and what fitting into that evolution looks like.

Perez doesn't shy away from addressing the complexities and controversies surrounding comedy today. He delves into the challenges comedians face in navigating a world where prominent corners, once bastions of safety for all comedy, are increasingly sensitive and politically correct. He offers multiple perspectives on issues such as cancel culture, the boundaries of humor, and the role of satire, all while challenging outside forces that seek to control what is "acceptable" within the realm of the comic world.

Beyond the myriad laughs and the unapologetic honesty, what sets That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore apart is Perez's engaging and conversational writing style. He effortlessly blends humor with deep insights, making the book both entertaining and intellectually stimulating. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud one moment and pondering the profound implications of comedy the next.

Furthermore, Perez's personal anecdotes and experiences as a comedian add authenticity and relatability to the narrative. His willingness to share his own struggles and growth in the world of comedy adds a human dimension to the book, making it accessible to both comedy aficionados and newcomers.

As the title suggests, Perez explores the idea of comedy's rebirth. He argues that, despite the challenges, comedy continues to evolve and find new forms of expression. He points to the resilience of comedians and their ability to adapt to changing times as a source of hope for the future of humor. And he refuses to put shackles on the limitations of comedy based on potentially harming someone's manufactured sensibilities. Instead, he makes the seemingly obvious demand that comedy be funny, nothing more, nothing less.

That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore is a must-read for anyone interested in the art and cultural significance of comedy. Lou Perez's blend of humor, history, and insight makes for an engaging and enlightening exploration of comedy's past, present, and future. It's a book that will leave you both laughing and thinking long after you've turned the final page.

Purchase here.

Review by Steven DiFiore, LPMeck Chair

Published in 1870, a time when Ironclads were new technology and the seas were as mysterious a realm as the depths of space are to us today, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea burst onto bookshelves and into libraries the world over. 

Written by French novelist and playwright Jules Verne, this novel has gone on to become one of the most widely translated works in history and is a staple of the science fiction adventure genre. It tells a tale of the mysterious Captain Nemo, his crew, and a marvel of technology, "The Nautilus." The story is more than just one of madness, obsession, and the dangers of unchecked technology, though it is all those things as well. 

Written in the first person with Pierre Aronnax as the narrator, Verne writes an epic adventure as Aronnax and fellow travelers Conseil and Ned Land are rescued, then taken prisoner, by Captain Nemo. A great many themes are explored in its pages while enthralling the reader with a story of high adventure and fantastical locations. The Nautilus, a super science machine of the 19^th century, roams the oceans far beyond the reach of any of the world's governments and themes of freedom and oppression are peppered throughout. Captain Nemo and his crew are all men from oppressed nations and seek a life of freedom far from their would-be oppressor's clutches. In this the narrator observes that Nemo champions the downtrodden and persecuted. In one chapter, after rescuing an Indian pearl diver the man is gifted a bag of pearls, representing a lifetime of work and Nemo remarks that the pearl diver "lives in the land of the oppressed."

Nemo is no saint however, and his crusade against the oppressive governments of the world cost a great many seamen their lives as he destroys naval warships of every flag wherever he can. Indeed, a main point of contention between the protagonists and antagonists is the very fact that Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned are themselves prisoners who wish to be free in spite of the wonders the Nautilus and the world of the deep sea have to offer. 

These themes of freedom, liberty, and self-determination often get missed among the adventure and science fiction aspects but they are integral to the tale and weave a complex tapestry of characters and motivations that add to the depths of story telling to be enjoyed by the reader. I encourage everyone to read this grand classic at least once, and then re-visit it again a few years later. After all, there is a reason why Verne is considered among the greatest authors of western literature.

Review by Eric Rowell

Reading Bastiat was my "red pill" moment. I wasn't introduced to him in K-12, or in my macro econ class at NCSU, or in law school; it was only while listening to the great Dr. Walter Williams on a podcast while performing menial legal work around a decade ago that I learned for the first time about one of the most important political economists of the 19th Century. Bastiat changes the way a person thinks. After reading Bastiat you won't be able to read a news story or listen to a politician speak without seeing how the law is being perverted to serve injustice in one way or another.

Whether it's a story about government giving away money to nonprofits (forced charity), or about government giving business incentives (opportunity costs), or about any number of stories calling for the government to "do something" by spending other people's money (legal plunder); his clear, concise, and always entertaining style of writing demonstrates the fallacies inherent in all of these myths used by government to justify itself.

The Law is arguably Bastiat's most important work. Written just a few months before his death in 1850, it is a slim volume and can be read over a weekend - or even listened to in about 2 hours. It explores the role and purpose of law in society, and argues that law should protect individual rights and property, not be used to oppress and plunder. I don't have the space here to go into his arguments in depth, but I cannot encourage Libertarian readers of this newsletter strongly enough to familiarize yourself with Bastiat and The Law.

Review by Rob Yates

Vivek Ramaswamy follows his excellent book, "Woke, Inc." with another solid offering. Ramaswamy has a true American story, with roots in India through a high-end education leading to him founding and eventually exiting a company. From that experience, he now uses his platform to highlight the beauty and brilliance of the American opportunity and the degrading impact that victimhood culture, identity politics, and the associated virtue signaling has had on all the successes of the free market.

His prior book looked in much more detail at corporate hypocrisy, where massive companies champion whatever the catch phrase of the day is while supporting terrorist massacres in other countries or facing huge lawsuits for unchecked pollution of rivers right here in the United States, for example. In this book, he spends more time looking at the effect of the cultural shift from excellence to blame has had on our productivity and way of life. He shows how much opportunity is missed and how corporations and the politicians they have bought and sold are incentivized to perpetuate this paradigm. Then he offers some solutions.

Nation of Victims is well researched with compelling arguments, and balances a deadly serious tone regarding the direction of our country with a playful sense of humor as Ramaswamy reflects on his personal experiences. I can't say I agree with every proposal he makes, but I certainly recommend the book, and I commend him for acknowledging the problem and attempting to make serious suggestions on how to fix it.

Review by Rob Yates

"Our community of hackers tells me I have a garage-sale writing style. Odds and ends, bits of memoir, bursts of photography, shards of scholarship, vignettes, reportage, untranslatable words, history, shifting points of view... I turn to poems as often as economics. And if I digress at times, and weave multiple story arcs, I beg you to hold on tight"

Gibson gives readers this caveat in the foreword, but it is impossible to describe how simultaneously appropriate and understated this is. Never have I been more certain that someone could beat me in chess, fix my car, cook a gourmet meal, recommend a hostel in Thailand, and talk punk rock all night.

Paper Belt on Fire is part epic poem, part philosophy, part self-help manual, and part social commentary, all wrapped up in an autobiography that would qualify Gibson as Dos Equis next Most Interesting Man in the World. His writing style is as captivating and frantic as the stories he tells; the people and places feel honest as they weave together, buoyed by philisophical musings, with some genuinely funny parts as well.

The book follows Gibson, starting with his CIA interview, into his work for Peter Thiel, and through the foundation of the 1517 Fund with Danielle Strachman. At every turn, Gibson puts established orthodoxies to the test, defying broadly accepted predictors of success and ridiculing the importance given to institutional certificates as credentials.

The 1517 Fund is named for the year Martin Luther published his 95 Theses, railing against the absolute bureaucratic authority of the indulgences the Church afforded to anyone who could afford them. Similarly, Gibson disavows contemporary attitudes giving deference to people who possess certain meaningless certificates with the right name on them. From New England Ivy League schools down to D.C. strongholds, dubbed the "Paper Belt," elitist institutions gatekeep their club, reserving entry for those who embrace piece-of-paper meritocracy, bestowed exclusively by those same gatekeepers.

Paper Belt on Fire thoroughly dismantles the paper paradigm's validity, while also explaining how truly dangerous the stagnation created by this mindset is for the advancement of humanity. Gibson then gives reason for hope, detailing some ways out of this mess, and what to look for next.

It is impossible to properly celebrate this book in a brief review, but I highly recommend it, five out of five stars, two thumbs up. Definitely worth your time.

Review by Steven J. DiFiore II (authors note, "I took this journey into the mind of a madman so you don't have to")

"The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race"

The opening sentence of an essay by mathematician turned murderer, Ted Kaczynski, is a bold one and sets the tone for what is certainly one of the most interesting essays I've read in quite a while. Generally one would recoil at the mention of the "Unabomber," yet despite this, Industrial Society and Its Future, at 35,000 words, is a surprisingly easy read due to its plain language and a disarming idiosyncratic flair. Kaczynski outlines the fundamentals of a social-political ideology unlike anything in the current zeitgeist. His homily to Neo-Luddism is observant, well researched, and even prescient in some regards. His even-keel delivery is made all the more shocking as it belies the heinous crimes for which he is now imprisoned. The essay is a reflection of a man who personifies the blurry line between genius and madness.

Kaczynski's contention with modernity centers around something he terms "The Power Process" and the ways in which the industrial-technological system and modern society disrupts this process. While his concept of the power process seems a bit contrived, it is nonetheless an interesting perspective. Kaczynki's theory is certainly NOT libertarian. However, neither is it liberal, nor conservative, nor leftist, nor even right-wing. It's altogether different and singular in its focus. With a wide menu of topics, observations, and conclusions, there is certainly a lot to digest with this essay, particularly in the wider context of the times in which it was written. However, don't mistake fascination with advocacy. In his philosophy the author advocates for violence and in his life, he committed wicked acts of violence in a twisted effort to further said philosophy. With that clarification in place, I would certainly recommend reading it, especially if discussions of political philosophies, controversial ideas, and sad ironies are something that appeal to you.

Review by Olivia Broadway, Queen City Freedom Fellowship

Many consider The Bitcoin Standard to be the "Bible" for Bitcoin, and I can see why. The majority of the book is actually focused on the history of money and what makes money valuable, which is really important to understand if you are going to understand the case for Bitcoin. Ammous' writing style is engaging, and his love of Austrian Economics comes through loud and clear, which I appreciated. He takes aim at both Keynesians and Monetarists, since both see a role for the State in regulating the money supply, albeit to different degrees. As I read, I realized how little I actually knew about the history of money; such things as sea shells, glass beads, and heavy stones had been used in various civilizations, which had subsequently suffered economic catastrophes with the inflation of their money supplies when someone figured out how to easily make/find more of the "money."

The book doesn't get into the tactics of how to actually buy and store Bitcoin, but it does present a compelling case for Bitcoin as the best money we have, particularly from the "store of value" perspective. A money's "store of value" is largely based on its stock to flow ratio (stock = existing supply; flow = new amount created). The harder it is to create new amounts of the money, the higher the stock to flow ratio, and the more likely the money will be a good store of value. This is how gold became the standard across the globe for millennia. And this is why Ammous argues that Bitcoin could be "the best store of value humanity has ever invented."

This was a fantastic book that I found to be an easy read, explaining concepts in layman’s terms, while not losing the substance of the argument. I highly recommend this book for both the interesting history as well as the introduction to the case for Bitcoin.

Review by Olivia Broadway, Queen City Freedom Fellowship

Economics in One Lesson is a libertarian classic. Though the title may lead you to believe it to be a dry book of economic theory, the book is anything but that. Hazlitt begins the book by presenting the reader with "the lesson" in chapter 1, and he spends the rest of the book explaining how the lesson applies to real situations. He does this in layman’s terms, using examples most of us can relate to, without jargon or complicated graphs, so it is easy to read and understand.

What is this lesson? The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups. Hazlitt encourages us to think longer term and more broadly about the downstream impact of our decisions. For example, who really benefits from tariffs? Sure, the protected company or industry benefit in the short term, but what about everyone else? Hazlitt points out that tariffs hurt our exporters, and they make "the industries in which we are comparatively inefficient larger, and the industries in which we are comparatively efficient smaller…In the long run, [a tariff] always reduces real wages, because it reduces efficiency, production and wealth." The chapter on inflation also stood out as a timely reminder of the disastrous effects of an increase in the supply of money.

Economics in One Lesson was originally penned in 1961 and updated in 1978. The effects of our economic policy decisions were predicted decades, if not centuries, ago. Indeed, there seems to be nothing new under the sun. I highly recommend this book to anyone trying to understand what is going on in our economy. This lesson is still as true today as it was in 1961.