People often assume that libertarians, given their professed opposition to the state, must also be staunchly anti-fascist. However, this is not necessarily the case. Libertarian thought has a long history of anti-democratic strains, traceable to some of its intellectual forebears, several of whom expressed sympathy — or at least tolerance — for fascist or authoritarian regimes.
This pattern appears among influential free-market economists. For instance, Vilfredo Pareto, a pioneer of neoclassical economics and a firm advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, welcomed Benito Mussolini’s rise to power in his later years. Mussolini appointed Pareto to the Italian Senate in 1922–1923, viewing his early rule as a potential transition toward a minimal state that would unleash pure market forces (though Pareto died in 1923, shortly after the appointment). A similar ambivalence appears in the work of Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. In his 1927 book Liberalism , Mises wrote: > > > > It cannot be denied that Fascism and similar movements aiming at the > establishment of dictatorships are full of the best intentions and that > their intervention has, for the moment, saved European civilization. The > merit that Fascism has thereby won for itself will live on eternally in > history. But though its policy has brought salvation for the moment, it is > not of the kind which could promise continued success. Fascism was an > emergency makeshift. To view it as something more would be a fatal error. > > Mises regarded Italian Fascism as a temporary bulwark against Bolshevism, even while criticizing its long-term viability. He also served as an economic adviser to Engelbert Dollfuss, the authoritarian chancellor of Austria (1932–1934), whose clerico-fascist regime suppressed socialist opposition and dissolved parliament before Dollfuss’s assassination in a failed Nazi coup. Mises fled Europe in 1934 due to his Jewish heritage and the rise of Nazism. In the United States, he associated with far-right circles, including serving on the editorial advisory board of American Opinion , the magazine of the anti-communist John Birch Society. Later figures revered in libertarian circles, such as Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, also engaged with Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile (1973–1990). Many of Pinochet’s key economic advisers — the so-called “Chicago Boys” — trained at the University of Chicago under Friedman and others. Friedman himself visited Chile in 1975, met briefly with Pinochet, and advocated “shock therapy” reforms to curb inflation, describing them as necessary medicine despite short-term pain. He was more guarded in his public support, focusing on economic advice rather than endorsing the regime outright. Hayek was more explicit. He visited Chile twice (1977 and 1981), held a Mont Pelerin Society meeting there, and praised Pinochet’s rule in interviews and letters. He described it as a “transitional dictatorship” preferable to unlimited democracy, arguing that personal liberty could sometimes be better protected under authoritarian governments than in certain democracies. Hayek even urged Margaret Thatcher to consider elements of the Chilean model for bolder economic liberalization in the UK, though she politely rejected the idea, citing Britain’s democratic traditions and need for public consent. These examples illustrate how some libertarian thinkers have prioritized market freedom and anti-socialism over democratic norms, occasionally viewing authoritarian regimes as acceptable — or even preferable — vehicles for economic reform. This tension does not define all libertarianism, but it highlights a recurring thread in its intellectual history. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#39856): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/39856 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/116944769/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
