Roderick T. Long


Roderick Tracy Long is an American professor of philosophy at Auburn University and left-libertarian blogger. He also serves as an editor of the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, director and president of the Molinari Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the Center for a Stateless Society.

Education and career

Long received a B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He edited the book Anarchism/Minarchism: Is a Government Part of a Free Country?. Long was an editor of the Journal of Libertarian Studies until it ceased publication, under his stewardship, in 2008.

Alliance of the Libertarian Left

Long is a co-founder and member of the Alliance of the Libertarian Left, a left-libertarian organization that seeks to unite various left-libertarian groups including agorists, geolibertarians, green libertarians, left-Rothbardians, minarchists, mutualists and voluntaryists, among others.

Philosophy

According to Long, he specializes in "Greek philosophy; moral psychology; ethics; philosophy of social science; and political philosophy." Long supports what he calls "libertarian anarchy", but avoids describing this as "capitalism", a term he believes has inconsistent and confusing meanings.
He is an advocate of "build worker solidarity. On the one hand, this means formal organization, including unionization—but I'm not talking about the prevailing model of 'business unions'... but real unions, the old-fashioned kind, committed to the working class and not just union members, and interested in worker autonomy, not government patronage."
Long identifies as a peace activist and points out that a "consistent peace activist must be an anarchist." He describes market anarchism as "a peaceful, consensual alternative" to society with a state. Long has identified himself as a bleeding-heart libertarian and has contributed to the Bleeding Heart Libertarians weblog.
In addition to supporting privatizing the military, Long advocates a non-interventionist foreign policy.