Today is Ralph Raico's eightieth birthday. He is the greatest living historian of classical liberalism and a leading libertarian theorist. He was a member of Murray Rothbard's legendary Circle Bastiat and one of Murray's closest friends. Ralph has been my friend for more than thirty-five years, and his learning, analytical abilities, and devotion to liberty have always inspired me. He is also extremely funny and a master of the sarcastic put-down. Once in a lecture, Ralph said that Marx's definition of class is in part circular, because Marx includes in the definition that the class is conscious of itself as a class. A student asked, "Is this like the question, 'If a tree fell in the forest when nobody was around, would it make a sound?'" Ralph gave her a funny look, said, "Yeah, yeah," and went on with his talk.
