Albert Jay Nock
A fiercely independent essayist who argued that the state was the enemy of civilization, becoming a foundational voice for American libertarianism.
1870–1945 (age 75)·American writer, social theorist, and critic·Birthday: October 13·The Gilded Age
Biography
Albert Jay Nock moved through the world as a man apart, a self-described 'superfluous' observer of America's rush toward collectivism. A former Episcopal priest turned sharp-penned editor, he used publications like The Freeman to dissect the growing power of government with erudite scorn. Nock saw the New Deal not as salvation but as a fundamental betrayal of the individual. His philosophy was a unique blend of Jeffersonian radicalism, aristocratic disdain for the 'mass man,' and a belief in a 'Remnant'—a small group who kept culture alive. While his views were often out of step with his time, his clear, uncompromising prose provided the intellectual bedrock for the libertarian movement that emerged decades later.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Albert was born in 1870, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Albert Was Born
The biggest hits of 1870
Albert's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1870Born
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1875Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1883Became a teenager
President: Chester A. Arthur
1886Could drive
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1888Could vote
President: Grover Cleveland
1891Turned 21
President: Benjamin Harrison
1900Turned 30
Boxer Rebellion in China
President: William McKinley
1910Turned 40
Halley's Comet makes its closest approach
President: William Howard Taft
1920Turned 50
Women gain the right to vote in the US
Home: $3,395President: Woodrow Wilson"Swanee" — Al Jolson
1930Turned 60
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1940Turned 70
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1945Died at 75
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
Key Achievements
- Authored the influential book 'Our Enemy, the State' (1935), a core libertarian text analyzing state power.
- Founded and edited the intellectual journal The Freeman in the 1920s, a platform for radical individualist thought.
- His autobiography, 'Memoirs of a Superfluous Man', became a classic statement of intellectual independence.
- His work directly inspired later conservative and libertarian thinkers like William F. Buckley Jr.
Did You Know?
He was an early American proponent of the single-tax theory of Henry George (Georgism).
Nock was one of the first Americans in the 20th century to publicly self-identify as a 'libertarian'.
He was a talented classical violinist and considered a music career before turning to writing and editing.
He lived for a time in Belgium, writing a well-regarded biography of the Renaissance thinker Rabelais.
“The State claims and exercises the monopoly of crime.”
