Unshackling the Shackled: An Essay in Honor of My Mentor, Prof. Walter Block
Unshackling the Shackled: An Essay in Honor of My Mentor, Prof. Walter Block

Author(s): Richard J. Fast
Subject(s): Economy, Political Philosophy, Higher Education , Sociology of Education
Published by: Addleton Academic Publishers
Keywords: Walter Block; Austrian School of Economics; libertarianism; Loyola University New Orleans;
Summary/Abstract: I first discovered Walter as a late teenager, after stumbling onto the Ludwig von Mises Institute website. Interest in politics and philosophy had led me to the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign, where I was on a quest for truth. Similar to many of my peers, attending a small teachers’ co-op high school in Berkeley, California, I was a statesocialist then, fascinated by Trotskyism and “perpetual revolution”. The 2008 ‘Great Recession’ while I was a sophomore, and the subsequent Occupy Wall St. demonstrations I witnessed and sometimes took part in, had instilled in me ideals of social justice, radical reform, and alternative political-economic systems. In retrospect, how ignorant I was to think that government would actually protect civil liberties and successfully orchestrate the economy. I was, however, open to learning about different economic systems, which eventually led to leftwing free-market anarchism, or “bleeding heart libertarianism”. Being a peace and civil liberties activist prompted me to join the Ron Paul rEVOLution [sic], but I was not yet convinced unbridled free enterprise could solve economic problems. Independent research showed me, though, that civil liberties were only one side of a gold coin; that freedom must be all-encompassing in both the economic and social realms to be authentic. Like other young libertarians new to the Austrian School, I was immediately impressed watching Walter’s lectures online. The ideas he espoused were a breath of fresh air, compared to the dominant narrative that government can or should solve every problem under the sun. What I did not expect was how this journey would transform my entire life.

• Details
• Contents