Lew Rockwell

Infobox Person
name = Lew Rockwell


image_size = 180px
birth_name = Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
birth_date = birth date and age|1944|7|1
birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts
nationality = United States
occupation = Political commentator, activist, blogger
religion = Roman Catholic
website = [http://www.lewrockwell.com LewRockwell.com]

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. (born 1 July 1944, Boston), widely known as Lew Rockwell, is an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and proponent of the Austrian School of economics.

Life and work

Rockwell is a Roman Catholic and has a degree in English from Tufts University. He served as Ron Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982. [Berlau, John. " [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n5_v13/ai_19092301 Now playing right field - Rep. Ron Paul - Interview] " Insight on the News. 10 February 1997.] [Hayes, Christopher, The Nation, " [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071224/hayes Ron Paul's Roots] ", 6 December 2007, retrieved 14 January 2008] He has maintained a working relationship with Paul over the years, as a contributing editor to "The Ron Paul Investment Letter" ["The Ron Paul Investment Letter," Volume 3, Number 3, March 1987] ; as a consultant to Paul's 1988 Libertarian Party campaign for President of the United States ["Campaign staffs announced", [http://lp.org LPNEWS] , May/June 1987, 10] ; and as vice-chair of the exploratory committee for Paul's aborted run for the 1992 Republican Party nomination for president. [Burton Blumert, "Ron Paul for President Exploratory Committee" fundraising letter, October 1, 1991.]

He is the author of "Speaking of Liberty", an anthology of editorials which were originally published on his web site along with transcripts from some of his speaking engagements. Rockwell and the Ludwig von Mises Institute together publish the "Journal of Libertarian Studies".

Ludwig von Mises Institute

In 1982, Rockwell founded the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama and is its president. [ [http://www.mises.org/about.aspx About the Mises Institute page] at [http://mises.org Ludwig von Mises Institute] website.] He also is Vice President of the Center for Libertarian Studies in Burlingame, California and publisher of the political weblog LewRockwell.com. Rockwell was closely associated with his teacher and colleague Murray Rothbard until Rothbard's death in 1995. Rockwell's political ideology, like Rothbard's in his later years, combines a form of anarcho-capitalism with cultural conservatism and the Austrian School of economics. He also advocates federalist concepts as a means of promoting freedom from central government, and also advocates secession for the same political decentralist reasons. Rockwell has called environmentalism " [a] n ideology as pitiless and Messianic as Marxism." [Rockwell, L. H., Jr. (1990). "An anti-environmentalist manifesto." "From The Right", Quarterly II, 1(6), 1. (newsletter of Patrick J. Buchanan), p. 1; Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/anti-enviro.html Rockwell's Anti-Environmentalist Manifesto] , May 1, 2000 version published by Lewrockwell.com]

Paleolibertarianism

In 1985, he was named a contributing editor to "Conservative Digest". [Berlet, Chip. "The Write Stuff: U. S. Serial Print Culture from Conservatives out to Neonazis," "Library Trends" - Volume 56, Number 3, Winter 2008, pp. 570-600.] During the 1990s Rothbard, Rockwell and others described their views as paleolibertarian [Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. "The Case for Paleo-libertarianism" in "Liberty" magazine, January, 1990, 34-38.] , but Rockwell no longer uses the term to describe his ideas. [ [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/liberal-post-interview.html Do You Consider Yourself a Libertarian?] , Kenny Johnsson interviews Lew Rockwell for [http://liberalpost.wordpress.com/ The Liberal Post] , as posted on [http://lewrockwell.com LewRockwell.Com] , May 25, 2007.] Jean Hardisty, founder of Political Research Associates, wrote in 1999 that Rockwell was one of the most influential proponents of the paleoconservative faction of "right-wing libertarianism." [Hardisty, Jean V. 1999. Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers. Boston: Beacon, pp. 170-178.]

LewRockwell.com

Lew Rockwell's web site features a selection of articles, including opposition to war and imperialism along with occasional articles criticizing the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. ["LewRockwell.com" Lincoln archive [http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig2/lincoln-arch.html] ] The site also carries essays which argue against the participation of the United States in the Second World War, speculation about an end of the United States as a cohesive union and assertions the Western world is threatened by an intersection of fascism and socialism alike as politicians and states centralize their power. [Rogers, Mike. "Dying For the Emperor? No Way." "LewRockwell.com". 12 October 2005. [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rogers/rogers178.html] ] [Gonella, Jason. "The Decline and Fall of the United States Empire." "LewRockwell.com". 9 December 2004 [http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/gonella4.html] ] [DiLorenzo, Thomas J. "Economic Fascism" "LewRockwell.com". 23 November 2004. [http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo85.html] ] These writings are sometimes controversial and have brought harsh criticism from some on the political right.Laksin, Jacob. "The Right’s Left Turn." "FrontPageMag". 5 October 2005. [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19727] ] [Goldberg, Jonah. "Farewell, Lew Rockwell: The final word." "National Review Online". 7 March 2001. [http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment030701b.shtml] ] As of August 21, 2008, his web site also provides a daily podcast on weekdays, usually consisting of interviews with scholars affiliated the Mises Institute.

Ron Paul newsletter controversy

On January 16, 2008 libertarian publication "Reason" claimed "a half-dozen longtime libertarian activists—including some still close to Paul" had identified Rockwell as the "chief ghostwriter" of several controversial, anonymously written articles published in Ron Paul newsletters from "roughly 1989 to 1994." According to "Reason," "Rockwell has denied responsibility for the newsletters' contents to "The New Republic's" Jamie Kirchick." Rockwell "has characterized discussion of the newsletters as 'hysterical smears aimed at political enemies.'" [cite news|url=http://www.reason.com/news/show/124426.html |title=Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters? |author=Sanchez, Julian and David Weigel|work=Reason |date=2008-01-16|accessdate=2008-01-16]

Books

Author

*"Speaking of Liberty" (2003; online [http://www.mises.org/etexts/sol.pdf e-book] ) ISBN 0-945466-38-2

Editor

*"Man, Economy, and Liberty: Essays in Honor of Murray N. Rothbard" (with Walter Block) (1986), (online [http://www.mises.org/books/maneconomyliberty.pdf e-book] ) ISBN 99911-786-2-7
*"The Free Market Reader" (1988), (online [http://www.mises.org/books/freemarketreader.pdf e-book] )ISBN 0-945466-02-1
*"The Economics of Liberty" (1990), (online [http://www.mises.org/books/economicsofliberty.pdf e-book] ) ISBN 0-945466-08-0
*"The Gold Standard: Perspectives in the Austrian School" (1992), ISBN 0-945466-11-0
*"Murray N. Rothbard: In Memoriam" (1995), (online [http://mises.org/books/memoriam.pdf e-book] ) ISBN 0945466196
*"The Irrepressible Rothbard" (2000), (online [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/ir/Contents.html e-book] ) ISBN 1-883959-02-0

Notes

External links

* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/ LewRockwell.com]
* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/speech-antiwar.html "My Speech at the Antiwar Rally," LewRockwell.com, 25 September 2005]
* [http://www.mises.org/multimedia/mp3/interviews/Rockwell-12-09-2005.mp3 "My Visit to DC: An Interview with Lew Rockwell," Mises.org Podcast, 9 December 2005]
*Lew Rockwell's Articles: at [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/rockwell-arch.html LewRockwell.com] , on [http://www.mises.org/articles.asp?mode=a&author=Rockwell%2C+Jr%2E Mises.org's "Daily Articles"] , [http://www.mises.org/freemarket.asp?sortorder=authorlast&order=Asc The Free Market] & [http://www.lewrockwell.com/archives/fm/ more here] , and [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/archives.asp?AUTHOR_ID=25 WorldNetDaily] .

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