Right and Left Wings in Libertarianism/la Droite Et la Gauche Dans Le Liberalisme (Report‪)‬

1. INTRODUCTION What is the essence of the concept of libertarianism? As David Boaz of the Cato Institute states, "libertarianism is the view that each person has the right to live his life in any way he chooses so long as he respects the equal rights of others ... Libertarians defend each person's rights to life, liberty, and property--rights that people possess naturally, before governments are created. In the libertarian view, all human relationships should be voluntary; the only actions that should be forbidden by law are those that involved the initiation of forces against those who have not themselves used force--actions like murder, rape, robbery, kidnapping, and fraud. (Boaz, 1998) In Libertarianism: A Primer, Boaz attempts to trace the ideas of libertarianism to the Ancient World and where they were further developed during the Enlightenment. (Boaz, 1998)