Liberty and Power: A Reader

An anthology of writings on the eternal conflict between individual liberty and those who seek to control our lives.

A
Anthony Comegna

Anthony Comegna received his M.A. (2012) and Ph.D. (2016) in history from the University of Pittsburgh, where he specialized in early American, intellectual, and Atlantic history. His dissertation, “The Dupes of Hope Forever:” The Loco-​Foco or Equal Rights Movement, 1820s-​1870s, revives the submerged and forgotten legacy of locofocoism. Anthony has taught undergraduate courses in American history and Western Civilization. He produces regular historical content for Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org and is the writer/​host of Liberty Chronicles. He currently works at the Institute for Humane Studies as the Academic Programs Design Manager.

 

Liberty and Power takes readers through a documentary tour of the timeless and fundamental social conflict between individuals seeking liberty from external control and those seeking power over others. With medieval law codes, Early Modern corporate charters, narrative accounts from pirates, filibusters, and revolutionaries, and cultural products like popular literature and paintings, this volume introduces the classical liberal theory of history. To liberal thinkers-​-​great and humble alike-​-​the social use of force necessarily divides the population into warring factions and produces disruptive change. History, then, is a train of errors in need of moral and intellectual correction.