LR opposes statism, whether of the Left or of the Right. LR supports individual Liberty across the board, on matters of economic freedom and civil liberties, on issues of foreign and domestic policy, not caring whether we are perceived as “Left” on some issues, or “Right” on others. For the plain truth is that Libertarians are neither Left nor Right, but a new political movement with roots in a rich ancient tradition of opposition to tyranny and state power. We are a political movement whose commitment to a consistent set of principles lifts it out of that dull, gray morass which is the contemporary political spectrum.

We believe that in the modern world, there is simply no excuse for the ways in which governments habitually treat human beings. Holding firmly to the principle that Liberty is the highest political end, there is today scarcely a political policy or trend to which we would not object.

For the twentieth Century has been and continues to be the century of the State, a century where State coercion and violence of every form have become disgustingly commonplace. Every conceivable form of statism has been tried during this century: Fascism, Communism, Social Democracy, the Corporate State, Feudalism, and naked military dictatorships. None of them has in the long run brought anything other than human misery and degradation to the world. None of them has been able to exist for a minute without the most flagrant violations of human rights.

It is our conviction that all this is both unjust and unnecessary. In a world of cynics and pessimists, we are optimists: we believe that Liberty is a standard to which all can repair. In a world of timid opportunists, each trying to fine‐​tune the system for their own benefit, we are radicals who believe that coercion, aggression and tyranny ought to be swept away. In a world where selective indignation has become a high art, we shall not be afraid to oppose the injustices of the Left and the Right alike. In a world where older radicals have simply become exhausted, having witnessed the terrible failure of their ideals, having nothing new to say, we are just beginning.

Our doctrine of Libertarianism begins with the principle of inviolable individualism, with the view that all human beings are the sole legitimate owners of their own lives, free to do whatever they wish, so long as they do not use violence, aggression or fraud against the person or justly held property of others. We believe a basic humanism demands that we champion and defend a social system which fully respects the natural individuality and diversity of human beings, a society based on the twin axioms of self‐​ownership and non‐​aggression, a society wherein all social relationships are voluntary and uncoerced, where no one may force anyone else to obey him. Every human life should be regarded as an end‐​in‐​itself, never merely as a means. The only way to implement these principles is through a structure of voluntary social relations, resting on consent and agreement, reason and persuasion, where no one is subjugated to the will of another.

Thus, in objecting to the politics of our age, LR proposes to offer an alternative which is both consistent and non‐​dogmatic. We shall not be content to stay on the level of abstractions and glittering generalities, however. Our guiding principle will be that set down by Murray Rothbard in his classic journal, Left and Right: “General principles remain cloudy verbiage if they are not made systematic and applied to specific problems; and responses to such problems must stay hopelessly confused if they remain ad hoc and unsubsumed under guiding principle.”

At a time when other ideologies are floundering, when Liberalism is decaying, Socialism in retreat, Communism ever more openly despised, and Conservatism ever more accepting of the status quo, Libertarians are just beginning to fight for their ideals. At a time when Liberals, Conservatives, and even once‐​radical Socialists are openly denouncing “ideologies” as such, calling upon one and all to abandon failing principle and to uphold pragmatism, LRturns its back on such intellectual despair. It is not ideology which has failed us, it is statist ideology. Thus LR proudly upholds an ideology of liberty. It isthat which has been missing from the contemporary world, and which the Libertarian movement proposes to bring to public awareness. It is that to whichLibertarian Review is dedicated.