About the Author
Martin van Staden is the Head of Legal (Policy and Research) at the Free Market Foundation of South Africa and the Editor in Chief of the Being Libertarian LLC group of publications. He has a law degree from the University of Pretoria, and is author of The Constitution and the Rule of Law: An Introduction (2019).
Learn more at his website.
What inspired you to start writing?
At a subliminal level, it was probably the realisation that every ideological victory (for any ideology) in recent years has been built on the back of good and persistent writing by its advocates.
What are your hobbies / interests?
Legal history and jurisprudence, video-gaming, writing.
How did you discover the freedom philosophy?
I considered myself a socialist up to my first year at university. This was the first time I met other, real socialists. I quickly realised how morally bankrupt that ideology truly is. An American libertarian friend of mine recommended reading 'The Ethics of Liberty' by Murray Rothbard. An hour after starting, I was a libertarian, and I haven't looked back since.
Who are your favorite writers?
Murray Rothbard, Bruno Leoni, Frederic Bastiat.