I have always been fascinated with the way Libertarians think….I will admit that some of their stuff I can get on-board with….like the non-interventionism thing……I am not so sure about their economic outlook….I seems to me that it would allow the ideology to rape the poor worker and the country…..on economics I disagree and on social I tend to agree somewhat but not totally…..
This is an interesting piece that I thought my reader would like to read……it is an elective and not meant to be a required piece……
Hardcore libertarians sometimes criticize me because of my focus on the Constitution and political action at the state level to limit federal power. They argue that the American constitutional system will never bring about liberty, and that by working through government at any level, I undermine the cause of freedom.
I am sympathetic to the idea that “where government begins, your freedom ends,” and I believe some of the hardcore libertarians philosophical objections to the Constitution have merit. But to quote Murray Rothbard, “Libertarians must come to realize that parroting ultimate principles is not enough for coping with the real world.”
Source: Decentralization: A Strategy For Liberty | Michael Maharrey
Does anyone have any thoughts about Libertarians? Please do not start with the Ayn Rand stuff…..I prefer to concentrate on the ideology and not that of a the drug addict with a big mouth….thank you.
I’ve bumped into more than my share of Libertarians. Many of them are rather bright and well intentioned. However, Libertarianism is unquestionably the last train station before Crazytown…or the first station IN Crazytown….Actually, a train is “too collectivist”, so it’s “the last privately owned gas station on the privately owned toll-highway to Crazytown Inc.”
I too agree with some of their ideas (legalize weed, anti-Big Brother) but their economic policies are INSANE! They inevitably take us down a path towards monarchy and slavery. Both of which are the exact opposite of their supposed ideals.
Over-simplifying things, but assuming best intentions (ie, the Libertarianism just isn’t a moral cover for nasty shit The Riches want to pull):
1) They have an INCREDIBLY NAIVE view of people. They actually believe that people tend to act rationally and will do what is in their “enlightened self-interest”! Have these guys ever met “people”??? Most people would burn all their money, cut off their own dicks & eat them raw, if their favourite Hollywood celebrity did it, or it was “trending” in The Twit Zone!
Most people use their “brains” for about 30 seconds a day, at least 25 of which are dedicated to crude plots to satisfy their base urges. (food, fuck, fight) And most people who can use their brain for more than 30 seconds spend nearly all of that time trying to manipulate the 1st group for their own short-term benefit.
2) Their anti-government philosophy has built-in contradictions. The “free will” of democracy versus the “tyranny” of a government….freely chosen by citizens with their “enlightened self-interest” in mind. If the results actually represent “the will of the people”, then that government tyranny IS the will of the people.
I get the “inherent rights” & “tyranny of the majority” arguments, but that’s what constitutions are meant to protect. Sure, we’ve done a shitty job at every key point in the system (poor voting choices, politicos “going rogue”, judges failing to do their job). But that falls more under Human Error, than Systemic Failure. But other than people magically becoming the enlightened automatons Libertarianism requires, what’s the alternative? Usually, every “solution” resembles a recipe for corporate rule, or outright anarchy.
While it’s great to have their perspectives out there, especially socially, Libertarianism is a masturbatory-fantasy masquerading as a practical political philosophy. It celebrates The Self in an era when everybody is already self-fellating…and that fellatio is a major part of the problem.
Self-interest isn’t their problem. There’s NO shortage of that. The Achilles Heel is the “enlightened” part.
I am thinking more toward the anarchy part…..I agree there are parts that I can like….mine is the non-interventionist thinking….their economics are just scary…..