When I was in law school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I was a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party. I voted for the Libertarian candidate, Ed Clark, in 1980. By the time I got to graduate school in August 1983, I had drifted away from the party. My reasoning was simple. The state itself, it seemed to me, was responsible for disparities in wealth and power, so how could it be fair to restrict the power of the state to minimize inequality? Wouldn’t that just entrench those disparities? I was perfectly willing to endorse a minimal government, but only after equality had been achieved. There would need to be a period of socialism to bring about equality; then libertarianism would be implemented. I wanted everyone to have a fair opportunity to become wealthy. I’ve now come much of the way back to libertarianism, although I would never again join the Libertarian Party. (I’m not the joining type.) Here is a review of a new book on the libertarian movement.