StephanKinsella.com

In grad school and law school while at LSU (1988–1991) I wrote various columns and letters to the editor to the LSU Daily Reveille ¹ and also to the local paper, then The Morning Advocate, now The Advocate.

I just ran across one I wrote that was published Thurs., Sep. 28, 1989, under the title “Vote against taxes and power.” Like most of the things I published in those days it’s a bit cringe. In that letter, I went through 13 proposed amendments to the Louisiana Constitution coming up for a vote and suggested how to vote on them, and why. I basically said “vote not” if it seemed to increase taxes or restrict liberties. [continue reading…]

1.  My Stint at the LSU Daily Reveille. [↩]

Below is the “A draft constitution for the state in the third millennium,” by Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein, from Prince Hans-Adam, The State in the Third Millennium (2009; pdf). See also David Beattie, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein – a biography: With an overview of the history of the House of Liechtenstein (2020).

See also discussion of other libertarian and related “constitutions” and so on in KOL359 | State Constitutions vs. the Libertarian Private Law Code (PFS 2021),  KOL345 | Kinsella’s Libertarian “Constitution” or: State Constitutions vs. the Libertarian Private Law Code (PorcFest 2021) and The Universal Principles of Liberty. [continue reading…]

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 472.

This is my second talk this morning at Jayant Bhandari’s (@JayantBhandari5) Capitalism & Morality 2025 (Vancouver) conference. Part 1: KOL471 | “What Is Property? And What Is Not? — Part 1,” Capitalism & Morality (Vancouver).

In my first talk I focused on the the role of scarce means (conflictable resources) in action. I had to finish my talk before turning to the second part of action one needs to analyze to fully understand property rights and the intellectual property debate: the knowledge that guides actors in the use of means. In this second part, “Fireside chat between Stephan Kinsella and Albert Lu,” I picked up on where I left off in Part 1, and briefly discuss the knowledge aspect of action, and apply this understanding of the nature and structure of human action in detail to IP. (I’ve known Albert for year and previously appeared on his podcast.)  ¹

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (29.6MB)

1. • KOL193 | The Economy with Albert Lu: On IP and Double Counting (3/3)
   • KOL192 | The Economy with Albert Lu: On the Legal Significance of Ownership (2/3)
   • KOL191 | The Economy with Albert Lu: Can You Own Bitcoin? (1/3)
   • KOL171 | With Albert Lu Discussing Stossel and IP
   • KOL139 | Power and Market Report with Albert Lu: Law, Careers, Scholarship; Intellectual Property Law Policy, Law, and Career [↩]

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 471.

This is my talk this morning at Jayant Bhandari’s (@JayantBhandari5) Capitalism & Morality 2025 (Vancouver) conference. It was followed later that day by Part 2, Fireside Chat with Albert Lu, whose podcast I’ve been on in the past. ¹

The audio is from my iphone. I will replace it with the video and better audio at a later date. The video is up (see above). I have replaced the podcast audio with the better audio.

In my talk I focused on the the role of scarce means (conflictable resources) in action. I had to finish my talk before turning to the second part of action one needs to analyze to fully understand property rights and the intellectual property debate: the knowledge that guides actors in the use of means.

In my view, this talk, along with Part 2, is one of my better presentations of this important issue. I’m getting a bit better as I get older, because I’m maturing in my thought and integrating lots of interrelated ideas, I’ve developed more  mastery of this material and have had a lot of experience explaining these ideas,  and by now have gotten more comfortable speaking, something I have never really especially liked doing and something that used to make me very nervous. No longer. [continue reading…]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (41.8MB)

1. KOL193 | The Economy with Albert Lu: On IP and Double Counting (3/3); KOL192 | The Economy with Albert Lu: On the Legal Significance of Ownership (2/3); KOL191 | The Economy with Albert Lu: Can You Own Bitcoin? (1/3); KOL171 | With Albert Lu Discussing Stossel and IP; KOL139 | Power and Market Report with Albert Lu: Law, Careers, Scholarship; Intellectual Property Law Policy, Law, and Career. [↩]

Bert Schwitters alerted me to his book Liberating Liberty and upon my request, sent me a PDF. The book is apparently available only here, not on Amazon, and not in ebook form, and not available in PDF, epub, or other form online either. He describes some of his views and his book here too: Liberty and Libertarians. The book appears to have a subtitle but it is not clear what it is—perhaps “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness and The Creator of Man,” but it’s not clear. This is obviously an amateur effort.

I wrote this back:

On your book, I honestly do not know why people would spend time compiling a message about liberty–that you will never make money on, so you are doing it only to spread the word–and then trap it behind a paywall and copyright. Why not just post it online so everyone can read it, or do you only want to reach rich westerners? I’m not criticizing, I am just continually mystified by the way some libertarians think. See: On Leading by Example and the Power of Attraction (Open Source Publishing, Creative Commons, Public Domain Publishing) and Authors: Don’t Make the Buddy Holly Mistake.

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Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 470.

From my appearance on the Ayn Rand Fan Club with Scott Schiff and William. Their Shownotes:

Patent attorney, Libertarian & Ayn Rand fan Stephan Kinsella joins William & Scott to talk about his history in the liberty world and his unique view that property rights should only pertain to physical things, and not to intellectual property. They also talk about Elon Musk opening his patents and the effects of IP law on AI.

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Podcast (kinsella-on-liberty): Play in new window | Download (67.7MB)

[Spanish translation below; photos below from signing]

I’m pleased to announce the results of a project I’ve been working on with other libertarians for some time: The Universal Principles of Liberty (finalized and published Aug. 14, 2025).

I’d like to explain here how this came about.

I’ve been a libertarian since I was in high school and increasingly involved over the years learning about liberty and have devoted a lot of time to developing libertarian ideas, by my speaking and writing, ¹ and even in various forms of activism. Yes, despite my regular criticisms of activists and activism, I of course have participated in activism of various types—debating with family and friends and others, voting, participating in various groups; joining the Libertarian Party years ago and now serving on its Judicial Committee. ² [continue reading…]

1. See biographical pieces here and bio here; Stephan Kinsella, Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2023) [LFFS]; Kinsella on Liberty Podcast. [↩]
2. Member of the Judicial Committee of the Libertarian Party (2022–2026; Chair Jan. 1, 2023–July 31, 2023). [↩]

[From my Webnote series]

Related:

• Dualism, Monism, Scientism, Causality, Teleology: Hoppe, Mises, Rothbard
• The Great Fractional Reserve/Freebanking Debate
• Fractional-Reserve Banking, Contracts of Deposit, and the Title-Transfer Theory of Contract
• On Coinbase, Bitcoin, Fractional-Reserve Banking, and Irregular Deposits
• UK Proposal for Banking Reform: Fractional-Reserve Banking versus Deposits and Loans
• Musings on Fractional-Reserve Banking in a Bitcoin Age; Physicalist Shock Absorber Metaphors
• Michael S. Milano, “Privacy and Fungibility: The Forgotten Virtues of Sound Money,” Mises Wire (07/05/2025)

It’s time someone do this. I was hoping someone else had or would, but I’ve given up finding anyone comprehensive and solid on this. I guess I’ll have to do it, if I find time. Maybe I can coax Bob Murphy into doing it with he: I am decent on economic methodology; he is deeper and better. We are both solid on austro-libertarianism: he is a libertarian, and I am the libertarian. And he is probably decent on law, and I am deeper and better. I may approach El Bobborino about this at some point. Or maybe Hülsmann or Hoppe. Or Konrad Graf. ¹ [continue reading…]

1. Konrad Graf, “Action-Based Jurisprudence: Praxeological Legal Theory in Relation to Economic Theory, Ethics, and Legal Practice,” Libertarian Papers 3, art. no. 19 (2011); idem, Bitcoins, the regression theorem, and that curious but unthreatening empirical world February 27, 2013; Are Bitcoins Ownable?: Property Rights, IP Wrongs, and Legal-Theory Implications [PDF].  [↩]

When spanking and other issues are debated by libertarians, someone invariably brings up the issue of grabbing or touching someone in other contexts: for example, if you see a child or stranger about to run into traffic or into the path of a speeding bus, you might grab them to save them. Or you might have to grab or physically prevent a child from doing something harmful like sticking their hand into boiling water, and so on; you might even need to slap them to get their attention in an emergency situation. In these cases the third party is not trying to damage or punish or discipline the stranger or child; from it.

For defenders of spanking, they will mindlessly trot these non-analogous situations out in an attempt to justify spanking. [continue reading…]

I have mentioned before my year obtaining an LL.M. in international business law at the University of London, 1991–1992, after law school. ¹ In that course I was required to take at least half my courses from King’s College London, my “base” school, and was free to take other courses from the four other University of London law schools that were then part of this program. I other half of my courses at the London School of Economics law school. ² My favorite course in the program was “The International Law of Natural Resources,” taught by Professor Rosalyn Higgins at LSE—now Dame Higgins and later the first woman on the International Court of Justice. ³

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1. See various biographical pieces on my publications page, including Alan D. Bergman, Adopting Liberty: The Stephan Kinsella Story (2025), New Publisher, Co-Editor for my Legal Treatise, and how I got started with legal publishing, The Start of my Legal Career: Past, Present and Future: Survival Stories of Lawyers, KOL455 | Haman Nature Hn 109: Philosophy, Rights, Libertarian and Legal Careers,  KOL139 | Power and Market Report with Albert Lu: Law, Careers, Scholarship. [↩]
2. My friend Paul Comeaux and I, both applying to the same LL.M. program at the University of London, applied to four of the participating law schools: King’s College London (KCL), the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Queen Mary and Westfield College, and University College London (UCL); we did not apply to the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). We were both accepted into King’s, UCL, and Queen Mary, but were informed that the LSE decision would take longer. As we were told that local college housing was filling up, we both went ahead and selected King’s as our base school. [↩]
3. United Nations, “International Court of Justice names its first female president,” UN News (6 February 2006). Higgins received the Balzan Prize in 2007. It is her classic work Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It (Oxford, 1994) which I review below. See also her Themes and Theories: Selected Essays, Speeches and Writings in International Law (Oxford, 2009; (Oxford link). Her “dissenting opinion in the ICJ’s advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or the Use of Nuclear Weapons has been widely criticised by some legal scholars.” See Kinsella, On the Non Liquet in Libertarian Theory and Armchair Theorizing, Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, and “Dissenting Opinion of Judge Higgins, Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 1996 (I), p. 583,” in Themes and Theories, ch. 9. [↩]

Related:

• Hoppe, From Nation to Household: The Middle American Illusions of Sam Francis (and Pat Buchanan)
• Hoppe, Libertarianism and the Alt-Right: In Search of a Libertarian Strategy for Social Change (2017)
• Kinsella, The Three Fusionisms: Old, New, and Cautious
• Kinsella, Hoppe on Covenant Communities and Advocates of Alternative Lifestyles
• Hoppe, The Property And Freedom Society—Reflections After Five Years, The Libertarian Standard (June 10, 2010); also published at VDare and as ch. 24 in The Great Fiction; video

Hoppe, The Property And Freedom Society—Reflections After Five Years:

This, then, was the ultimate reason for the breakup of the libertarian-conservative alliance accomplished with the John Randolph Club: that while the libertarians were willing to learn their cultural lesson the conservatives did not want to learn their economics.

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