Hello and welcome to my website!  

My name is John F. Welsh.  I am a libertarian writer living in the midwestern United States. The purpose of my website is to help promote "Free Minds, Free Markets, and Free Lives" by disseminating my writings on libertarianism, egoism, and individualism. The web site is intended to provide a forum and networking opportunity for other people who are interested in these ideas.  I also want to provide a resource for ideas and literature pertaining to libertarianism, individualism, and egoism. 

Over the past thirty years, I have written and published extensively on a variety of topics. However, I am primarily interested in developing and articulating a perspective on politics, society, and culture that can be called "dialectical libertarianism," which is the application of dialectical methods of inquiry in the service of libertarian goals. Much of this website is devoted to this concept and the relationship of my work to it. If the term is new to you, please take a look at the section entitled, "The Dialectics of Liberty." That section of the web site provides a definition of dialectical libertarianism and discusses its roots and applications.

The website should be very easy to navigate.  The buttons on the column navigator to the left are descriptive of the materials located in each category. The homepage on my website is intended to introduce myself to readers. Subsequent pages focus more on the "dialectics of liberty" and how my work has contributed to this emerging theory of politics and individuality. Several sections of the website describe my writings and contain links to the publishers or journals in which they appeared. The link on the navigator labelled "Political Journal" is my blog that contains some thoughts on current events. In addition, I post replies to reviews of my writings. The Political Journal is mainly a venue to develop ideas and apply dialectical libertarian concepts to political, social, and cultural dynamics. Although it is not set up as a blog, I will post civil and intelligent replies to my commentaries.  

See my recent postings on the 2008 Presidential Campaign at my Political Journal .  Also see my reviews of movies and books at my Reviews and Favorites.

Visitors to my web site will see that I am very concerned about the political and cultural realities of the world we live in. In my view, our society and world are in need of fundamental transformation. Our primary social institutions are failing in many respects. Our culture has become trashy and dumbed-down to the lowest common intellectual and moral demoninator. Our social system is horrid. Persons are routinely abused by other individuals and by organizations. Our government is weak and corrupt. It seems incapable of identifying America's interests or even defining the country's geographic and cultural boundaries, much less its basic philosophic principles. Our military, law enforcement, and emergency services seem strong and honorable, but most of our other public services are in dire need of reform or elimination.

What is precious about the United States are not the realities of polity, society and culture in our historical period, but the values that the nation was founded on. In my view, these values need to be defended and supported wherever they appear: individual liberty, personal responsibility, freedom of commerce and association, and government that is limited to the protection of individual rights from either internal or external threats. It is regrettable that the realities of our society have departed so far from them.

Despite the many problems America confronts, the rest of the world is worse. Most of the world is governed by brutal collectivist regimes that function primarily to dominate and exploit for the benefit of a small political class.  These regimes legitimate their oppression through mysticism and uncritical ideologies that demand individual sacrifice to the state for the benefit of economic, political, and cultural elites. Unfortunately, even the western democracies are increasingly adopting the governance models of authoritarian national states and the collectivist policies of their social and economic systems. Increasingly, the rights and liberties of individuals are being undermined by the collusion of governments, large corporations, and other large organizations in the name of abstractions such as "national security," "economic development," and "social justice."

The best descriptor for the age we live in is "state capitalism."  The prevailing regimes today are not exactly capitalist, socialist, or fascist, although they have elements of each. Despite their differences, these regimes are characterized by the domination of the economic, social, and cultural life of nations by the apparatus of the state, usually to maximize political control and capital accumulation.

In totalitarian dictatorships such as China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, the fusion of state, society, and economic organization is nearly total.  Total state capitalism is a form of social organization in which state, society, and economy are collapsed and the state totally controls and directs economic and social life through the imposition of an absolute ideology, such as communism or Islamo-fascism. 

In the western democracies, such as the United States, and the oligarchical feudal societies, such as Russia, the interaction between state and economy is somewhat different because political and economic power are less monocratic and relatively less centralized. Fragmented state capitalism is a form of social organization in which the fusion of state, society, and economy is not total, but is moving in that direction with the "help" of political, cultural, and corporate elites. Under the domination by the Unity Party and its leader, Vladimir Putin, Russia is increasingly becoming more of a total state capitalist society, very close to a nationalist fascist state, although it still acks a unifying ideology despite the best efforts of Putin and the Unity Party.   

What unites all of these types of regimes is that the state functions as the dominant social institution charged with the maximization of capital accumulation. Culture and social life tend to be organized around the interests of maximizing capital accumulation and enforcing subordination to the state. My interest is in developing a critique of this global reality of state capitalism and the ideologies of those who defend it and seek to expand its systems of control.

The basic purpose of this web site is to serve as a vehicle to offer my interpretation of political and cultural dynamics to those who are interested, and to help promote discussion with others who are concerned about similar issues.  I realize that my point of view differs somewhat from the prevailing perspectives, but it think it is important to attempt to get some of these ideas into political discourse in the United States. I hope that this web site enables me to communicate with other individualists who are interested in challenging this global social formation.

My Background

I worked for thirty-four years as a faculty member and administrator in higher education.  While I published extensively on administration in higher education, this website focuses on my work on social and political theory. I recently retired as professor of higher education at a major research university where I taught courses in the administration and finance of higher education and mentored doctoral students through their dissertation projects. From 1987 to 1998 I served as the chief academic officer for the Kansas Board of Regents, which is the governing board for the six state universities in Kansas. During this period I also taught at Washburn University and the University of Kansas.  From 1978 to 1987 I served as professor of sociology at Pittsburg State University where I taught courses in social theory and political sociology. 

I earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in sociology from Samford University in 1973 and Emory University in 1975, respectively. I received a Ph.D. in sociology in 1978 from Oklahoma State University. The late Ivan Chapman served as my dissertation adviser. Chapman was a strong defender of individual liberty and critiqued social theories from that vantage point.

My dissertation examined the conflict between Karl Marx and Mikhail Bakunin on political organization, particularly the role of political parties and the state in social change.  I traced the development of this conflict in the history of the German Social Democratic Party and the French Communist Party from the later 19th century until the 1970s. Perhaps needless to say, my sympathies were with Bakunin's critique of Marxism. Basically, I argued that Marxist theory and practice are ultimately authoritarian and elitist. Consequently, Marxism is incapable of overcoming forms of domination and exploitation. For Marxism, especially, revolution is only a means of strengthening the power of the state over society and the individual. This continues to be an important topic today because of the flirtation of western societies with Marxist concepts of centralization and state control of economy and society.

I regard Bakunin's Hegelian critique of Marx's politics to be profoundly prescient of the development of Marxism theory and practice, as well as the twin roles of the state and scientific knowledge in modern society. I also consider Bakunin's critique of religion and politics to be enormously relevant to the political dynamics confronting us today, since their are many indications that World War III or the next Holocaust will be prompted by religious fanaticism. In Bakunin's view, both science and religion are distorted forms of communication and consciousness. They contribute to the power of the state and economic and cultural elites over persons.

However, I have since moved away from the collectivist aspects of Bakunin's thought in favor of more individualistic and egoistic perspectives, particularly in economics. Although I am very critical of what I believe is "state capitalism," I also believe that free markets are essential to a free society and to free individuals. I am also very suspicious of revolution and political activity generally, as these tend only to strengthen the collectivist and statist domination of the lives of persons. These days my political thought is much more influenced by individualists such as Max Stirner, Ayn Rand, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Frank Chodorov, Lysander Spooner, and Benjamin R. Tucker.  I have always attempted to pursue analyses of social and political phenomena in a fashion that helps promote the freedom of individuals.

My Writings

I have published widely in a variety of academic and popular journals, including articles and opinion-editorials that have appeared in newspapers. My very first publication was a discussion of the political philosopher William Godwin and the relevance of his work for interpreting the social crises that faced the United States in the early 1970s. That essay appeared in a 1973 edition of the radical libertarian monthly The Match!

I have authored or co-authored several books and research monographs on political and social theory. Most of my publications appeared in social science and higher education research journals, including the Journal of Higher Education, Race, Ethnicity and Education, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Journal of College Student Retention, Community College Review, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, Campus-Wide Information Systems, Community College Enterprise, Trusteeship, Cultural Logic, Quality Assurance in Education, Connection: The New England Journal of Higher Education, Midwest Quarterly, Humanity and Society, Free Inquiry, and Quarterly Journal of Ideology.

In addition, I published chapters in recent books on topics including dialectical inquiry, the future of public education, innovation in information technology in higher education, how the war on terror is affecting higher education, and the dialectics of race and liberty. Each of these was informed by a libertarian perspective.   

My most recent book is After Multiculturalism: The Politics of Race and the Dialectics of Liberty (Lexington Books, 2008), which is available at http://www.lexingtonbooks.com.

During my thirty-four career in higher education, I won several teaching, research, and service awards  In 2003, I won the “Red Apple Award” for outstanding teaching and mentoring at the University of Louisville. I won the award for Excellence in On-line Teaching from the Kentucky Virtual University in both 2003 and 2006. Several of my publications received honors and even some international recognition.

Some Personal Interests

I am a voracious reader. I enjoy many genres of literature. You will gain a sense of my nonfiction preferences in this website.

As far as fiction is concerned, I love the novels of Arturo Perez-Reverte.  Perez-Reverte is a Spanish writer whose novels have received international renown. He writes both mysteries and adventure novels.  You can learn about him at www.perez-reverte.com. I also really enjoy the novels of Steven Pressfield, Jack Higgins, Michael Curtis Ford, Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, and Daniel Silva. I believe that the novels of Pressfield, Thor, Flynn, and Silva have protagonists that are especially noble and heroic. The protagonists in Higgins' Sean Dillion novels are certainly heroic, although they are not always noble!

Beyond that, I work pretty hard to try to stay healthy and in good physical condition, although that is getting to be a much greater challenge as I "mature." I am very interested in self-defense and personal safety.  I am an advanced student of Krav Maga, which is a reality-based system of self-defense used by the Israeli military and is also taught to law enforcement around the country.  In between injuries I train at the Core Modern Training Center in Louisville, Kentucky, mostly under the instruction of Rolando Haddad. I have also taken some combatives classes from Eric Haycraft, a former professional Muay Thai fighter. I trained for two years with a team of much younger mixed martial arts fighters at MetroFitness in Louisville lead by John Imler, who now trains MMA fighters in Pennsylvania.  Eventually, the cuts and bruises healed up, but the inflammation due to trauma never seems to fade. You can visit the Core's website at www.corelouisville.com.

I also train in handgun and weapons defense at the Bluegrass Indoor Range in Louisville.  The website for the Bluegrass Range is www.bluegrassrange.com. I workout at the Baptist Milestone Fitness Center. The website for this wonderful athletic facility is www.baptistmilestone.com. Fortunately, they do not require members to be  Baptist to work out in their facility!  I am currently taking courses in Kenpo Karate, and Akido. My primary interest, however, is in the application of these skills to street realities.

Thank you for visiting my site. I hope that you will find interesting and provocative information and perspective herein. Please make sure that you visit my Political Journal. Please feel free to comment on my postings.  You can send me an e-mail at john@johnfwelsh.com.