“Of Course!” was my typical response to Frank Chodorov’s essays. There are some writers who just bring a smile with their writing style. Frank Chodorov (1887-1966) was one. He was a clear, simple, elegant, writer on fundamental principles applicable to all libertarians. His prose remains to this day a standard for popular writing on liberty. Admired by such as Felix Morley, Murray Rothbard, and Joseph Stromberg, he was “Mr. Libertarian” for a generation of freedom-seekers.

Moving back and forth from anarchism and georgism prior to WWI (as many libertarians did then—the single tax parties were generally the political wing of the radical libertarians), and briefly the vice-presidential candidate for the Single Tax Party before he arrived at the conclusion that education was the only viable means to the expansion of libertarian ideals. Critical of voting as the libertarian political solution, he took upon himself the cudgel of educator to all those interested in liberty, but most of all to those that he (and Nock) thought of as “the Remnant.” Chodorov became editor of The Freeman (and Director--of the Henry George School of Social Sciences in New York) during the early ‘40’s until fired for his anti-war editorials, went on the found analysis , continued with Human Events , and was editor for many years of The Freeman under the auspices of FEE (the Foundation for Economic Education).

He founded ISI (originally the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists, renamed the Intercollegiate Studies Institute ), lectured at Robert LeFevre’s Freedom School, as well as writing and teaching at FEE.

As William Stepp says, he was the inventor of the Chodorov Principle: For every social problem A caused by government program X, problem A can be solved by abolishing program X. And as Aaron Steelman pointed out, long before Robert Higgs, Chodorov was writing about the “Ratchet Effect”:

"All wars come to an end, at least temporarily. But the authority acquired by the state hangs on; political power never abdicates. Note how the 'emergency' taxes of World War 11 have hardened into permanent fiscal policy. While a few of the more irritating war agencies were dropped, others were enlarged, under various pretexts, and the sum total is more intervention and more interveners than we suffered before 1939." (August 1950, analysis )

As Chodorov once said, freedom will never die, for it is deep within us all:

“Every civilization we know of arose and flourished in the sunshine of freedom; political institutions attached themselves even at the beginning, but remained quiescent until an abundance of economic goods stimulated cupidity; then followed a period of increasing political predation until at long last the civilization disintegrated and became an historical or archeological curio. After a while, freedom germinates a new civilization. That is the inevitable cycle, and we can do nothing, they say, to prevent or retard it.” (May 1950, analysis”United We Fall”)

Freedom will out! Happy Birthday, Frank!

from your admirers