R.J. Rummel

professor emeritus and champion of "freedomism"

Overview:

R.J. Rummel is a professor of political who spent his career compiling data on the violence of war and government murder of their own people. He coined the term “democide” for murder by government and concluded that totalitarian (non-free) societies have killed six times as many people in the 20^th century than were killed in all the wars during the same period.

Positions:

Professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii

Worldview:

A reformed "democratic socialist" he describes himself as a libertarian in domestic affairs but a proponent of "freedomism," a term he coined, in international relations

History:

While compiling data on the violence of war and government murder of their own people, Professor Rummel .coined the term “democide” for murder by government and concluded that totalitarian (non-free) societies have killed six times as many people in the 20^th century than were killed in all the wars during the same period and the same governments caused the wars also.

As a young man he described himself as a “self-professed democratic socialist” but under the influence of Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, and Milton Friedman gave up his belief in socialism in the 1970s for “democratic libertarianism.” Although a libertarian in domestic affairs, he disagrees with the isolationist views of many libertarians, believing that free countries need to do what they can to promote freedom in other countries and to limit the power of “thug” regimes, a position he calls “freedomism”.

From his extensive research he concludes that FREEDOM leads to democracy and peace while POWER leads to democide and war. One of his books, Freedom’s Principles, describes his views and can be downloaded in PDF form. In the Preface he describes his political philosophy and a little about his personal history.

Contributions:

Rummel has written extensively on the subject of democide, a term he coined, that covers genocide, politicide, and mass murder by totalitarian governments and the value of freedom in preventing such atrocities. He has published at least 20 books and over 100 peer-reviewed articles.

Sources:

Prof. Rummel's University Website: Freedom, Democracy, Peace; Power, Democide, and War.

Wikipedia: R.J. Rummel