Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

REVIEWS AND COMMENTS BY MURRAY N. ROTHBARD 59
All this is repugnant to a true individualist—to him every
individual has equal rights and has equal claim to be treated
with justice and to have an opportunity for self-development
with freedom.
The “dignity of the individual” means every individual
regardless of what era he happens to live in. No one can
have the right to sweat the present by any sort of Gosplan—
whether Stalinist or rugged—for the benefit of the future,
even if the future men actually did benefit, which is of
course highly doubtful.
Friedrich Nietzsche, the father of the rugged individualists,
said that “Man is a bridge and not a goal—the bridge
to the Superman.” The humane individualist—the true individualist—says
“No! Man himself is the goal; every individual
is a goal; no man must be permitted to use any other
man as a slave—as a means to any other goal!”
Having presented the reader with this appalling and fallacious
doctrine of rugged individualism, Dr. Cutten ends
with the usual flourish of desperate alternatives: “Will it be
rugged individualism or ragged collectivism? Judge quickly,
there is no time to waste.” 13
To a true individualist this is akin to choosing between
hanging and the electric chair. However, I feel in the same
position as your friend who commented on the choice facing
him between liberty and onions or government paternalism
and three square meals a day. He chose the latter, albeit
reluctantly. Similarly, I would choose ragged collectivism.
It may be that the reason for the general collectivist spirit
of modern intellectuals is that they were presented with
exactly the same choice by similar people. In other words,
the only type of individualism that they came into contact
with was the “rugged” type. The inevitable outcome was
their choosing ragged collectivism instead, and for that, they
are not to be particularly blamed.
13 Ibid., p. 71.