Defending the Undefendable

Defending the Undefendable
Author(s)	Walter Block
Original title	Defending the Undefendable: The pimp, prostitute, scab, slumlord, libeler, moneylender, and other scapegoats in the rogue's gallery of American society
Country	United States
Genre(s)	Non-fiction
Publisher	Fleet Press Corp
Publication date	1976
Media type	Print
Pages	256 pp.
ISBN	0830301364
OCLC Number	502814795

Defending the Undefendable is a book written by Walter Block that defends "capitalist acts between consenting adults" that most people would consider horrifying and showing that they are actually beneficial.

Reviews

"Defending the Undefendable performs the service of highlighting, the fullest and starkest terms, the essential nature of the productive services performed by all people in the free market. By taking the most extreme examples and showing how the Smithian principles work even in these cases, the book does far more to demonstrate the workability and morality of the free market than a dozen sober tomes on more respectable industries and activities. By testing and proving the extreme cases, he all the more illustrates and vindicates the theory."

—Murray Rothbard

"Looking through Defending the Undefendable made me feel that I was once more exposed to the shock therapy by which, more than fifty years ago, the late Ludwig von Mises converted me to a consistent free market position. … Some may find it too strong a medicine, but it will still do them good even if they hate it. A real understanding of economics demands that one disabuses oneself of many dear prejudices and illusions. Popular fallacies in economic frequently express themselves in unfounded prejudices against other occupations, and showing the falsity of these stereotypes you are doing a real service, although you will not make yourself more popular with the majority."

—Friedrich Hayek

Links

• Full text at the Liberty Archive

• Resources page at Mises.org
• Audiobook, read by Jeff Riggenbach

• Defending the Undefendable at Wikipedia