Disciples Afraid of Murray Rothbard's Ruling Elite Theory? Part I. David Gordon
The Curious Case of David Gordon: Hiding Rothschilds and Kuhn, Loeb
Introduction
The modern Austrian School of economics was pioneered by Ludwig von Mises, whose groundbreaking contributions laid its foundation. His most distinguished disciple, Murray Rothbard, expanded the Austrian School into diverse scientific fields, giving rise to both the Austro-libertarian and paleolibertarian schools of thought. Rothbard, in turn, mentored numerous scholarly disciples, the most renowned and loyal of whom include Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Ralph Raico, Walter Block, David Gordon and Joseph Salerno.
The great betrayal
Murray Rothbard instilled in his disciples the principle that the Austrian School must remain practical, serving to advance liberty and resisting co-optation by the ruling elite. Rothbard believed that the greatest enemy of humanity is the state and its rulers. Thus the highest priority was to expose the ruling elite and its aggressive and warmongering tendencies. Rothbard demonstrated this approach through his extensive articles and books, notably his seminal exposé, Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy.
Yet, none of Rothbard’s disciples have followed in his footsteps in this most important subject. None have continued to investigate the ruling elite in depth or even superficially. The sole partial exception is Hans-Hermann Hoppe, whose writings remain broadly theoretical and almost never specify the ruling dynasties or individuals within the elite. The situation is even more troubling: many of Rothbard’s prominent disciples not only refrain from exposing the elite but actively seek to downplay or conceal such revelations! This deliberate concealment focuses particularly on the Jewish segment of the ruling elite.
The most effective approach to validating this assertion lies in a careful examination of their writings and books about Murray Rothbard. Concurrently, this analysis offers an opportunity to discern potential differences between Jewish and Gentile disciples. Such an inquiry holds significance, as ethnic backgrounds frequently shape an individual’s intellectual development and scholarly output.
Ethnic and cultural backgrounds
The Jewish influence is particularly striking among Jews, as demonstrated by Walter Block, who elevates the interests of Jews and Israel to the forefront, even attempting to justify Israel’s actions and the Gaza Genocide on ostensibly libertarian principles. Yet, with the exception of Block and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Rothbard’s disciples exhibit a marked reluctance to disclose biographical details about themselves. For instance, it is only through Walter Block’s casual reference in his article The Jews and Capitalism: A Love - Hate Relationship Enigma that we learn of David Gordon’s Jewish heritage.
On the other hand, there can be little doubt that capitalism has been very good to Jews. Many members of this faith have prospered as businessmen. This would tend to incline most people in such a situation in the direction of support for the marketplace. Nor can it be denied that several of their numbers have taken on high profile roles in defense of this system. Examples include Gary Becker, Walter Block, Nathaniel Brandon, Aaron Director, Richard Epstein, Milton Friedman, David Friedman, Rose Friedman, David Gordon, Friedrich Hayek, Steve Horwitz, Israel Kirzner, Benjamin Klein, Dan Klein, Peter Klein, Michael Levin, Ludwig von Mises, Larry Moss, Robert Nozick, Larry Parks, Leonard Piekoff, Richard Posner, Ayn Rand, George Reisman, Murray N. Rothbard, Bernard Seigan, Dan Seligman, and Julian Simon. (Walter Block. The Jews and Capitalism: A Love - Hate Relationship Enigma. The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, Fall 2004.)
Naturally, Jewish ancestry does not inherently signify that these individuals prioritize Jewish identity and interests or harbor other biases. Culture carries greater weight in this context. Nonetheless, the degree to which these disciples are immersed in Jewish culture and interests remains obscure. For example, do they have Jewish spouses, relatives or sponsors? This question proves especially relevant to Rothbard’s disciples, given that they all appear to have benefited from numerous sponsors for their research and writings.
The sole confirmed detail is that, apart from Hans-Hermann Hoppe, all of Rothbard’s disciples, much like Rothbard himself, were raised in the New York-New Jersey region, sometimes called the Jew York area. Accordingly, it becomes necessary to classify the disciples into three distinct groups: purely Gentile (Hans-Hermann Hoppe), purely Jewish (Walter Block and David Gordon), and unclear (Ralph Raico and Joseph Salerno).
David Gordon
Let us begin with David Gordon, widely regarded as the preeminent authority on all matters related to Rothbard. According to Wikipedia:
Murray Rothbard referred to Gordon as a friend and "Mr. Erudition."[24] In The Myth of National Defense, Luigi Marco Bassani and Carlo Lottieri described Gordon as the "semiofficial reviewer of the libertarian community." Reason journalist Brian Doherty wrote in the foreword to Strictly Confidential: The Private Volker Fund Memos of Murray N. Rothbard that Gordon was "the only man around who knows as much as Rothbard did about the historical, philosophical, and economic background of libertarianism."[25] The Orange County Register called him a "polymath."[9]
David Gordon has also edited Rothbard A to Z, called “the ultimate Rothbard reference book”, a compilation exceeding 800 pages of Rothbard’s citations, collected by Edward W. Fuller. It remains unclear whether Fuller, like Gordon, is Jewish.
As the editor, Gordon likely influenced the content and organization of the citations. Let us now investigate whether the book addresses the ruling elite.
Search the letter R for “Ruling elite” or “Ruling class”. Nothing.
Search R for “Rockefeller” or “Rothschild”. Nothing.
Search M for “Morgan” and K for “Kuhn, Loeb”. Nothing.
Search the index for “Rockefeller,” “Morgan,” or “Kuhn, Loeb.” Surprisingly, there is no index! How could this be? Surely David Gordon and the Mises Institute could have included an index, which would be particularly valuable for a book of this style and scope.
Conduct a computer search for “Rockefeller,” “Morgan,” and “Kuhn, Loeb.” Still nothing! These names, despite their significance and Rothbard’s extensive writings about them, do not appear even once in this 800-page collection.
Search for “ruling elite.” Success: 13 results. Search for “ruling class.” Success: 24 results. How can these terms appear so many times yet neither be listed under R? Because, confusingly, some results fall under the letter E for “Elite.” However, the citations under “Elite” offer only vague references to the ruling elite, using the terms “ruling elite” and “ruling class” interchangeably. None of these citations hint at a ruling elite composed of power blocs centered on ethnic groups or even banking and industrial dynasties, except for one citation, which Gordon also highlights in his preface:
We live in a statist country and a statist world dominated by a ruling elite, consisting of a coalition of Big Government, Big Business, and various influential special interest groups. More specifically, the Old America of individual liberty, private property, and minimal government has been replaced by a coalition of politicians and bureaucrats allied with, and even dominated by powerful corporate and Old Money financial elites.
Perhaps Gordon recognized that Fuller omitted both “ruling elite” and “ruling class” from the alphabetical list and sought to subtly direct readers toward Rothbard’s ruling elite theory. Yet this is insufficient. Inquiring minds seek to understand who are those “powerful corporate and Old Money financial elites” that control America and the world?
Perhaps Gordon gives us the answer in his book The Essential Rothbard. On the download page Mises Institute calls this book “a landmark in Rothbardiana: the first, rigorous intellectual biography of Murray N. Rothbard.” Surely it includes the theory of the ruling elite that is so essential to Rothbard’s legacy? However, when searching for the term “ruling elite,” the result is zero. Remarkably, the phrase “ruling elite,” so pivotal to Rothbard’s theories, is conspicuously absent from The Essential Rothbard. How is that even possible?
Upon searching for the more general term “ruling class,” only two instances emerge. However, both occurrences are confined to a single, general quotation from Rothbard himself. What explains Gordon’s reluctance to employ “ruling elite” when articulating Rothbard’s core ideas? Is he trying to hide the Ruling elite theory? Not quite. When investigating the terms “Rockefeller,” “Morgan,” and “Kuhn Loeb,” a notable finding appears: on page 52, Gordon includes a compelling key Rothbard quote:
From the 1890s until World War II, much of American political history . . . can be interpreted not so much as ‘Democrat’ versus ‘Republican,’ but as the interaction or conflict between the Morgans and their allies on the one hand, and the Rockefeller-Harriman-Kuhn, Loeb alliance on the other.
Evidently Gordon recognizes the rivalry between the Morgans and the Rockefellers. Yet, he provides no further insight into Kuhn, Loeb. Indeed, this entity is also omitted from the index! As the third significant power bloc within the ruling elite, its identity and actions appear to be deemed unworthy of attention in The Essential Rothbard. Is it because they are part of the Jewish elite and connected with the Rothschilds whom Gordon never mentions?
This question becomes even stronger considering how Gordon immediately continues his explanation:
In the agitation to establish a central bank, the House of Morgan was in the ascendant; and Rothbard stresses the importance of the conference held at Jekyll Island, Georgia, under Morgan control, in planning for the Federal Reserve System. (p. 52)
But what about the Jews? First, Rothbard always emphasized that the FED was a three-way affair between the Morgans, Rockefellers and the Jews represented by Rothschild, Kuhn, Loeb and Warburg dynasties. Second, Rothbard emphasized that the Jewish role was probably the most important one.
Jews are clearly a taboo for Gordon. In fact, the J-word does not appear at all in The Essential Rothbard. This despite the fact that Rothbard himself is Jewish and the book includes a sort of mini-biography of Rothbard.
This hiding of Jews and especially the Jewish elite becomes even more clear in The Essential Rothbard when Gordon summarizes Rothbard’s expose, Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy by spending many pages explaining the power of the Houses of Morgan and Rockefeller. But never a word about the Jewish elite composed of Rothschilds and their proxies, Kuhn, Loeb banking house. Instead on page 55 Gordon concludes:
The book’s narrative is a complex one, and it by no means reduces to an account of the vicissitudes of the House of Morgan. A rival banking group, consisting most importantly of Rockefeller interests, challenged it for supremacy. For Rothbard, the New Deal can best be viewed as the victory of the Rockefeller group; he cites in this connection the political scientist Thomas Ferguson. Although the Morgans recovered some of their influence after the mid-1930s, they henceforward occupied a subordinate position.
What of the Jews? What of the so-called “Jew Deal”? Clearly, for Gordon, the concept of Jewish power holds no credence, particularly as one of the three dominant power blocs within the ruling elite. Fortunately, Rothbard diverged from Gordon’s stance, though this divergence remains obscured to readers of The Essential Rothbard.
Continued in Part II