This book challenges the assumption that the Constitution was a landmark in the struggle for liberty. Instead, Sheldon Richman argues, it was the product of a counter-revolution, a setback for the radicalism represented by America’s break with the British empire. Drawing on careful, credible historical scholarship and contemporary political analysis, Richman suggests that this counter-revolution was the work of conservatives who sought a nation of “power, consequence, and grandeur.” America’s Counter-Revolution makes a persuasive case that the Constitution was a victory not for liberty but for the agendas and interests of a militaristic, aristocratic, privilege-seeking ruling class. The Anti-Federalists were right: The pursuit of "national greatness" inevitably diminishes liberty and centralizes government. The U.S. Constitution did both, as Sheldon Richman demonstrates in this powerfully argued anarchist case against the blueprint for empire known as the U.S. Constitution. --Bill Kauffman, author, Forgotten Founder, Drunken Prophet: The Life of Luther Martin The libertarian movement has long suffered from a constitutional fetishism that embraces an ahistorical reverence for the U.S. Constitution. Far too many are unaware of the extent to which the framing and adoption of the Constitution was in fact a setback for the cause of liberty. Sheldon Richman, in a compilation of readable, well researched, and compelling essays, exposes the historical, theoretical, and strategic errors in the widespread reification of a purely political document. With no single correct interpretation, the Constitution has been predictably unable to halt the growth of the modern welfare-warfare American State. I urge all proponents of a free society to give his book their diligent attention. --Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, Professor, San Jose State University; author, Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War "No state or government can limit itself through a written constitution, no matter how fine the words or how noble the sentiments they express. It is one of the many virtues of Sheldon Richman's book that it shows how this is true even of the American Constitution, which despite the promises of its designers and the insistence of its defenders down the years, made limited government less and not more likely." --Chandran Kukathas, London School of Economics “Richman delivers an accessible, incisive, and well-grounded argument that the Constitution centralized power and undid some of the Revolution’s liberating gains. He rebuts patriotic platitudes but avoids the crude contrarianism so common in libertarian revisionism written for popular consumption. He does not romanticize America’s past or overstate his case. Radical and nuanced, deferential to freedom and historical truth, Richman rises above hagiography or demonization of either the Federalists or anti-Federalists to produce an unsurpassed libertarian exploration of the subject.” — Anthony Gregory, Independent Institute “[A]fter reading this book, you will never think about the U.S. Constitution and America’s founding the same way again. Sheldon Richman’s revealing and remarkably well-argued narrative will permanently change your outlook. . . . Richman . . . [is] one of this country’s most treasured thinkers and writers . . . . [H]e draws on the most contemporary and important scholarly research, while putting the evidence in prose that is accessible and compelling.” — Jeffrey A. Tucker, Liberty.me and Foundation for Economic Education

America's Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited

History

Richman, Sheldon

Americas

Griffin & Lash

In Separating School & State, Sheldon Richman effectively and comprehensively analyzes the failures of public schooling in America and explains the ideas and ideology behind the case for compulsory education. But beyond a historical interpretation and a critical evaluation of the state of public education in America today, Mr. Richman offers a vision of what a fully privatized educational system might look like--and in what ways it would solve many, if not most, of the problems that parents, students, and even a sizable number of professional educators see as the fundamental shortcomings of the present system. This book moves the debate over education in America to a higher and more fruitful level of discussion.

Separating School & State: How to Liberate America's Families

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Future of Freedom Foundation

In "Separating School and State," Sheldon Richman effectively and comprehensively analyzes the failures of public schooling in America and explains the ideas and ideology behind the case for compulsory education. But beyond a historical interpretation and a critical evaluation of the state of public education in America today, Mr. Richman offers a vision of what a fully privatized educational system might look like - and in what ways it would solve many, if not most, of the problems that parents, students, and even a sizable number of professional educators see as the fundamental shortcomings of the present system. This book moves the debate over education in America to a higher and more fruitful level of discussion.

Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax

Argues that the income tax should be abolished because it is an invasion of privacy that gives the government more money and power than the authors of the Constitution intended, and cannot be effectively reformed.

Ethics & Professional Responsibility

In this incredible volume of essays, collected over 30 years, Sheldon Richman exposes the true history of Israeli dispossession of the Palestinians. Coming to Palestine turns the typical story most Americans have been told about Israel's founding on its head. It is a ringing endorsement of reason, freedom, peace, and toleration in Palestine and Israel.

Coming to Palestine

Constitutional Law

The Libertarian Institute

A collection of essays by libertarian scholar Sheldon Richman

What Social Animals Owe to Each Other

Business & Money

Economics

Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State

"How tethered are you?" That's what Sheldon Richman starts out asking in this indispensable book laying bare "the theory and practice of the welfare state." 
Chances are Richman's answer will widen the eyes even of those who think they're familiar with the welfare state’s milestones, such as the New Deal. The author digs deeper, unearthing not just milestones but also the very foundation stones of the welfare state. And he shows how deeply welfare-state thinking has penetrated American society. 
Richman unmasks the conceptual trickery inherent in the term "welfare," explains who benefits and who loses from it, and – exploring democracy's dark side -- reveals how wrong it is to claim that the electorate has deliberately voted the welfare state into place. Moreover, he exposes the fraud of recent welfare "reform." 
As the author demonstrates, "welfare" isn't just for the poor. It never has been. Two of the foundation stones Richman examines are Bismarckian Germany's "social insurance," which went hand in hand with protection for industry, and post-Civil War America's vast system of veterans pensions, which came in handy for buying votes. And as for the "poor" themselves, readers will discover how hard it is to say, objectively, just who they are. 
What distinguishes Richman's account of the welfare state is his own consistent adherence to a philosophy of reason and individual rights. He doesn't compromise -- and he sees clearly how others who would defend freedom have compromised, and fatally. The author doesn't confine himself to attacking welfarism; he also demonstrates the virtue and power of individualism, property, and competition. Richman shows that economic competition is nothing more or less than peaceful cooperation in a climate of freedom. 
Thanks to Sheldon Richman, collectivists are going to sound like Flat Earthers the next time they talk about "atomistic individualism." Richman's ingenious and unforgettable riposte -- "molecular individualism" -- is only one example of how this exciting book untethers the mind.

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Richman, Sheldon. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Richman, Sheldon

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Richman, Sheldon. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

America's Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited

Separating School & State: How to Liberate America's Families

Separating School & State: How to Liberate America's Families

Your Money or Your Life: Why We Must Abolish the Income Tax

Coming to Palestine

What Social Animals Owe to Each Other

Tethered Citizens: Time to Repeal the Welfare State