Carlo Lottieri

The paper points out the deep connection between libertarian philosophy and political realism. At the core of the analysis there is the idea the State is an anti-juridical organization, because it rests on a bellicose way to conceive human relations. In this sense, the theory of a free society is not only the logical consequence of Misesian refutation of every collectivist way to produce goods and services in absence of market prices. Using Rothbard’s and Salin’s studies on monopoly and cartels, the paper emphasizes the difference between a market society and a society without State, remarking that in the last one a monopoly de facto is also a monopoly de jure. For this reason, libertarians are called to prove that a society without State is the best way to reduce coercion and aggressions; and that the suppression of the legal monopoly of the force is the necessary condition to realize a social order less unjust, whit a checks and balance system marked by a strong competition of companies charged to provide legality, security and protection

The moral and political philosophy of Wilhelm Röpke is among the finest instances of European classical liberalism in the twentieth century, and in many occasions he stated that only a society which understands the importance of markets can be reconciled with human dignity. Röpke elaborated a political theory that focused on the harmony between moral principles and economic law. In this sense, his liberalism is unique not only because it defends private property and competition as pillars of a thriving economy, but above all that it provides the preconditions of a society that can remain secure from the immorality of despotism and subsequent ethical degeneration. To that end he upheld an economic order based on voluntary cooperation as the basis for a more humane society, emphasizing the role of institutional competition and federalism. Röpke’s cultural conservatism should not therefore be misunderstood, as it is very much connected with his defense of the essential role of property. It is only in this sense that he found in liberal humanism a third way, which is not however situated halfway between the market and socialism, but which represents instead a defense of a competitive society that is aware of its own historical and cultural basis.