The intolerance of private property: freedom and critique of democracy in the Paleolibertarianism of Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore the link between freedom and property rights in libertarian ideology. To this end, the thought of Hans-Hermann Hoppe will be examined in order to account for the mutually exclusive nature of democracy and a society based on the absolute right to property. In the process, we will address the delegitimizing implications of this conception for the values associated with pluralism and tolerance. Likewise, we will incorporate to our analysis the predominance that traditions acquire as mechanisms to safeguard and self-affirm a social order that enshrines the right to property, and by virtue of which the violent exclusion of those who pose a threat to such order is enabled. Finally, it will be argued that Hoppe's thought represents a radicalization of the theoretical postulates put forward by Murray Rothbard without implying a divergence from the libertarian ideology.