Walter Block: The Myth, the Man, and Don Quixote
Walter Block: The Myth, the Man, and Don Quixote

Author(s): Nadia E. Nedzel
Subject(s): Political Philosophy, Other Language Literature, Government/Political systems
Published by: Addleton Academic Publishers
Keywords: Walter Block as Don Quixote; libertarian critique of government; controversial individual rights; mentorship and scholarship;
Summary/Abstract: In Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the protagonist is famous for tilting at windmills he believes are evil giants. Tilting refers to how the knights of yore made war, attacking someone with a lance, on horseback and wearing heavy armor. The myth of Walter Block, propounded by his political enemies, is that he attacks those things held most dear to the liberal agenda: welfare programs, big government, taxes, etc., and that he does so by saying outrageous things. An anarchic libertarian, he is steadfastly against almost all government, and proudly proclaims that no one is to his right. Dr. Block was barred from addressing Federalist Society presentations at Nadia’s Historically Black Law School because he posited that people should be allowed to sell themselves into slavery. (In fact, after his address, the entire Federalist Society Chapter was informally barred from SULC for a while, until one of my mentees revived it). The law school – as well as the New York Times – eagerly jumped in logic from his extreme statement about individual rights to the assumption that he was promoting slavery, an assumption that the New York Times ultimately regretted. Walter’s armor, apparently, was a solid argument based on libel (though we will never know for sure due to a settlement agreement requiring Walter’s silence).

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