Neither Left Nor Right ─ Selected Columns

For more than two decades, Tibor Machan—a relentless advocate of the political philosophy of libertarianism—has championed the sovereignty of the individual. As he himself puts it, even "when I might lie back to enjoy a moment of triumph, the euphoria of doing well at something—I find the point about the price of liberty being eternal vigilance nearly impossible to lay aside." In this book, a collection of his columns written for newspapers published by Freedom Communications, as well as pieces written for other publications and websites, Machan offers his always well-reasoned, often controversial opinions on the variety of threats to individual liberty in the United States and around the world.

He includes a wide range of thoughts on why individual liberty is so important, along with insightful musings on nonconformity, self-importance, and moral virtue on the wane. He examines sex and politics in America—from Clinton's duplicity toward women to the insidious prejudice of "cultural identity"—and also shares his impressions of such well-known figures as Margaret Thatcher, Shelby Steele, and others. Machan also offers his take on America since 9/11, including thoughts on government, liberty, and security, why Islamists detest America, and much more. And, of course, he examines the ongoing conflict of the individual versus the state on numerous battlegrounds, from public schools to the Internet. Throughout this collection, Machan repeatedly seizes the intellectual offensive against those who seem to believe that only laws and bureaucrats can make life better—and provides a rigorous moral case for natural rights, individualism, and capitalism.

Tibor R. Machan is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is professor emeritus of philosophy at Auburn University, and holds the R. C. Hoiles Endowed Chair in Business Ethics and Free Enterprise at the Argyros School of Business & Economics, Chapman University. He lectures regularly, on political philosophy and business ethics, in Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and New Zealand and throughout the United States.