Today would have been  Ralph Raico’s eighty-second birthday. He was a foremost 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 was also my friend for thirty-seven years, and his learning, analytical abilities, and devotion to liberty always inspired me. He was also extremely funny and a master of the sarcastic put-down. He once said, responding to a radio interviewer who challenged him “You libertarians criticize the state, but this is a democracy, and the state represents all of us” with “Is that right?” delivered in a mordant tone of voice that was all his own.