In his book The Essential Rothbard, David Gordon observes that, “Rothbard was no ivory-tower scholar, interested only in academic controversies. Quite the contrary, he combined Austrian economics with a fervent commitment to individual liberty.” One of Rothbard’s important intellectual contributions to defending individual liberty concerns the subject of national self-determination. In his essay “The Nationalities Question,” he depicted national self-determination as “a moral principle and a beacon-light for all nations,” insisting that self-determination is derived from the individual right to self-ownership and “not something to be imposed by outside governmental coercion.” He rejected what he called a “simplistic” view of individual liberty which presumes that national identity is antithetical to individual liberty. He argued that, “In the real world, then, national self-determination is a vitally important matter in which libertarians should properly take sides…nationalism has its disadvantages for liberty; but also has its strengths, and libertarians should try to help tip it in the latter direction.”

Further, Rothbard argued that the ideal of justice, which he saw as essential to the defense of liberty, also applied to the delineation of national boundaries. Nations must be based on consent, and the boundaries between nations should—as far as possible—be just. He argued that, “National boundaries are only just insofar as they are based on voluntary consent and the property rights of their members or citizens.” In his view, it would follow that,

In practice, the way to have such national boundaries as just as possible is to preserve and cherish the right of secession, the right of different regions, groups, or ethnic nationalities to get the blazes out of the larger entity, to set up their own independent nation. Only by boldly asserting the right of secession can the concept of national self-determination be anything more than a sham and a hoax.

In practice, the way to have such national boundaries as just as possible is to preserve and cherish the right of secession, the right of different regions, groups, or ethnic nationalities to get the blazes out of the larger entity, to set up their own independent nation. Only by boldly asserting the right of secession can the concept of national self-determination be anything more than a sham and a hoax.

As Rothbard saw it, nationalism is tipped in the direction of advancing individual liberty when it is based on the principles of limited government and state rights. It is, therefore, no surprise that Rothbard also robustly defended the Southern tradition which historically championed these political doctrines. For example, John Randolph of Roanoke........

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