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The Amazon Store at MillionDollarPetPix.com ( In association with Amazon.com )What It Means to Be a Libertarianby: Charles Murray  List Price: $15.00 Amazon.com's Price: $13.50 You Save: $1.50 (10%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 320.512 EAN: 9780767900393 ISBN: 0767900391 Label: Broadway Manufacturer: Broadway Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 196 Publication Date: December 29, 1997 Publisher: Broadway Release Date: December 29, 1997 Studio: Broadway Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category: Click to Display Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: Charles Murray first got famous for his book Losing Ground's argument that welfare programs actually hamper the progress of poor people. Then he got even more famous for saying (along with his co-author Richard Herrnstein) in The Bell Curve that genetically-based IQ deficits also hamper their progress. This little book is worth the read because we get to see what he thinks the government should really do about all this: not much. On the plus side, Murray is a very clear writer. So we get, for instance, a nicely drawn discussion of the nature of public goods. But although this book is offered in the spirit of the Revolutionary pamphleteers, when it gets down to cases, Murray comes across as a man who's lost his common sense. For example, he claims that if all businesses were allowed to opt out of the current government regulatory scheme, provided that they display prominent signs saying UNREGULATED, "just about every small business will want to be unregulated. ... No more building inspectors, elevator inspectors, or restaurant inspectors. Owners of unregulated small businesses will have to answer to no one but their customers." He doesn't seem to notice that those customers will be running at top speed away from those clearly marked buildings, elevators, and restaurants. Product Description: Charles Murray believes that America's founders had it right--strict limits on the power of the central government and strict protection of the individual are the keys to a genuinely free society. In What It Means to Be a Libertarian, he proposes a government reduced to the barest essentials: an executive branch consisting only of the White House and trimmed-down departments of state, defense, justice, and environment protection; a Congress so limited in power that it meets only a few months each year; and a federal code stripped of all but a handful of regulations. Combining the tenets of classical Libertarian philosophy with his own highly-original, always provocative thinking, Murray shows why less government advances individual happiness and promotes more vital communities and a richer culture. By applying the truths our founders held to be self-evident to today's most urgent social and political problems, he creates a clear, workable vision for the future. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Great Help for a Beginning LibertarianMurray is able to condense the main principles of libertarian government down to a few basics in brief paragraphs and simple language free of jargon. The overriding basic principle is: freedom. "When did you last hear a leading Republican or Democratic politician argue that preserving individual freedom is government's primary responsibility, even if it prevents government from achieving some other worthy goal." (p. 4) he asks and suggests we "meditate once again on the proposition that freedom, ... Read More Rating:  - Well written, but doesn't address the challenging questionsI give this book a mixed review because I have mixed feelings about it. I think the author does a reasonably good job of explaining the Libertarian position, as I have encountered it elsewhere. I found his style easy to follow, and the flow of the book smooth and logical. However, I was disappointed in several areas. There were a number of points that he tried to finesse, rather than deal with. He made a number of arguments in which he addressed a major point, but then did not address ... Read More Rating: - A Solid IntroductionIt is rare to find a political book that is free enough from pointless rhetoric and mundane argumentation to be this effective of a read. Charles Murray writes in a way that is simple and never deviates from the cause of explaining Libertarianism. He covers all bases, first by defining the idea, then explaining its principles, and finishes by addressing its more complicated nuances. I write this review from the perspective of someone who knew very little about Libertarianism before reading this book and ... Read More Rating: - Fantastic, clearly written book!Charles Murray eloquently explains the reasoning and ideals of Libertarians in a straight-forward, no-nonsense fashion. Easily the best book I've read this year. Rating:  - Murray The Part-Time Monster Shrinker What it Means to Be a Libertarian is a clear, concise and compelling account of Murray's brand of libertarianism. Murray fluidly moves from point to point, covering the broad range of social and political topics that concern libertarians. Murray makes particularly good use of his "trendline test" to argue that government interventions are almost always ineffective. His claim is that we can spend a lot of money on government programs to solve what ails us (with respect to crime, poverty, ... Read More 
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