24. My Journey to Liberty

24

MICHAEL EDELSTEIN

MY JOURNEY TO LIBERTY

MY TRANSITION FROM A liberal Democrat to a libertarian began in Brooklyn, New York in the mid-1970s when I met Walter Block.

Two of my passions then were chess and Dr. Albert Ellis’s Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT.) At about this time, I met Bill Shooman through the REBT network. As Bill and I became friends, he introduced me to his REBT friend, Walter, a chess devotee and Brooklynite.

Walter and I began to play chess regularly in his dining room. Between chess games we debated politics. I won most of the chess games and Walter won the political debates. After two years I was a convert. My last liberal pillar was my naive faith that banning guns would reduce crime. It’s logical: if no one has a gun, we’re all safer, right?

Today, libertarianism is my greatest intellectual passion and has immeasurably enriched my life. I’m continually deepening my understanding of the freedom philosophy, largely under Walter’s tutelage. He and I no longer play chess, though we’ve become fast friends.

Murray Rothbard was Walter’s libertarian mentor as Albert Ellis was my psychotherapy mentor. Both were groundbreakers and geniuses in their respective fields. Both had an intense dislike for Ayn Rand. It only seemed fitting, Walter suggested, that we bring Rothbard and Ellis together. He arranged a late night meeting in Al’s office with the four of us. It was a tame evening, especially considering the iconoclastic and opinionated reputation of each. The highlight involved the four of us singing a humorous song Al wrote, a parody of individuals like Rand. The song, “Perfect Rationality,” is sung to the tune of Luigi Denza’s “Funiculi, Funicula” and has as its refrain:

Perfect, perfect rationality,
Is, of course, the only thing for me!
How can I ever think of being
If I must live fallibly?
Rationality must be a perfect thing for me!

In 1984 or ’85, Walter introduced me to Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, when Jeff and I were both living in Brooklyn. Jeff resided near Prospect Park. He and I began running together in the park. I found Jeff a fount of libertarian knowledge (among other kinds), so I availed myself of his wisdom during our runs. To be optimally efficient, I often carried a list of questions and a pencil for taking notes on our run.

Jeff, in turn, introduced me to David Ramsay Steele, a true Renaissance man. After a discussion with David about a book idea I had, he and I embarked on collaborating on Three Minute Therapy, Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, a psychology self-help book based on my psychotherapy practice and the pioneering work of Albert Ellis. It was published in 1997.

We’re presently collaborating on a second, The Revolution in Psychotherapy. This traces the history of the psychotherapy movement from Freud to the present.

As a libertarian, I’ve contributed articles to Liberty magazine. I’ve given many talks to libertarian groups, including the NYC and CA Libertarian Parties, the Mises Institute, the International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL) meetings in Norway and Canada, and Laissez-Faire Books. I debated Sharon Presley, a libertarian psychologist under the auspices of Free Exchange in San Francisco, and conducted an on-line chat on constructive communication strategies with the Free State Project. I’ve spoken on overcoming libertarian feuding and burnout.

My most famous convert to libertarianism is Nando Pelusi. He went on to play Murray Rothbard in the enactment of Rothbard’s Mozart Was a Red at Murray’s 60th birthday fest in New York.

I’m a clinical psychologist and practitioner of REBT. I’ve given talks to libertarian groups on the difference between REBT and libertarianism, and on the REBT notion that self-esteem is bad for you. My libertarian interests included the Free State Project to free New Hampshire of tyranny, Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential candidacy, and active involvement with the Libertarian Party of San Francisco. I’m also a member of a local libertarian Book club.

And it all began with Walter Block.

I’ve had memorable meals with many libertarian luminaries, whom I initially met through a variety of avenues.

They include my friends: Walter Block, Jeff Hummel, Jack Pugsley, Richard Winger (whom I first met at a meeting of the San Francisco Libertarian Party), and David Ramsey Steele, and David Friedman, both of whom I met through Jeff Hummel.

Walter introduced me to others: Murray Rothbard, Marshall Fritz, Thomas Szasz, Richard Stroup, Jane Shaw, Ken Schoolland, Victor Niederhoffer, Ed Stringham, Ben Powell, and Roy Childs.

Some I originally met at libertarian conferences: Harry Browne, Ron Paul, Michael Cloud, Sam Konkin, Vince Miller, Sharon Harris, Mary Ruwart, and Jarret Wollstein.

In addition, I carried on a long email exchange with Nathaniel Branden discussing his fatally flawed notion of self-esteem.

Through many conversations Hummel and Steele have influenced my libertarian thinking. However, I have been—and continue to be—most influenced by Block and secondarily by Rothbard’s writings and archived talks.

Dr. Michael R. Edelstein is a psychotherapist in private practice in San Francisco.