11.05.2013
The Problem with Libertarianism
Libertarianism has created some excitement among the American masses recently in lock-step with the perception that government interference in citizens' lives is on the rise. However, opponents like to point out that libertarianism is not a panacea to societal ills, that there are problems with the philosophy. At least one of those problems, even among journalists, seems to be that no one can agree upon what it actually means or what its adherents stand for...
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As a libertarian, I have no hesitation in acknowledging the fact that libertarainism does not have definitive contours. It is a vast umbrella, and its adherents are divided into various sections. For instance, anarcho-capitalists often ridicule what they like to call "Establishment libertarians". But, it doesn't matter as long as all its adherents agree that the government which governs least is the best govt.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more annoying than people telling me what I believe as a Libertarian. "Oh yeah?! How are you going to build the roads!?!?" is one of my favorite questions. Government will always exist. It is impossible to look at the current situation in the US, however, and think that more government is the answer. If we ever start moving in a more Libertarian direction, then the movement can splinter. At this point however, everyone from anarchists to folks quietly thinking "Hey wait, why DO we need 800 overseas bases?" can be seen as Libertarian. The Libertarian instinct is so far removed from the way things are going, that a smaller definition just isn't necessary.
ReplyDeleteOk. There's a lot of heat here that, despite being inaccurate by and large, does not advance the question. Briefly, I'll point out the obvious.
ReplyDeleteThe federal government taxes at a fairly phenomenal; rate pf income (we revolted over a 2% tariff...cus our forefathers weren't sacless cowards, but more than that, in my opinion despite being far more illiterate people were often more knowledgable (obiously the totl wealth of info has grown incredibly, but if you aske someone one the street to name say, 5 of the last 10 presidents....I bet they'd get more than 5. Now back to the earliest commenter, obviously you have not red the quenticential books on libertarianism which can only go hand in hand with Constitutionalism and the rule of law. Libertarans are not neccecerily anarchists, or even minarchists, but both words are used by the uninitieated in poor context and confuse people who could seriously use a fine edeucation in Austrian economics (big mensa guys ....buy (1) The history of economonic thought from an Auustrian perspective by Murray Rothbard, thats the history in two leather bound books if your wise enough to shell out,. or 10$ ebooks, then by his PDH contribution to economics "Man, Economony, and State." If you just slipped in this crowd or endagered as many brain cells as I did, you might preffer one of his students books, still quite famous but written on a more collegiate level of vocabulary. That said, he does add to the field of knowledge, not just dumb down Rothbard. Your in Mensa get the books, but all state several basic principles of libertarianism, which can easily be looked at the of political progressivism (not that happy go lucky, for the people rhetoric many socialists and/orfascists try to blend with their own ideology to lend it, at least, emotional credence. (1) All laws are *repressive* in nature, there are no other kind. I mean that all laws take away someones freedom, in order to give another form of freedom or graft to another party. You say...ooh, so there should be anarchy, people raping in the streets, men beating little girls. Of course not, but it hardly necessary for a government with authoritarian powers over life and death (increasingly militarizing the police force...not to mention the dozen or so supermax prisons sitting empty with trains running through them and flanked by FEMA armored vehicles...this is for when the real crisis hits, and it will be like none this nation has ever seen....even in the 20-30's when good economists were confused and arguing over a 'standard' when the free market is ALways the answer.
ReplyDeleteKeynes walks in and makes the most obtuse reflections on economics and our federal fathers at the time Looooved it....why? b/c as flagging demand, causes a cyclical and shit spiraling resistance to spend, and only to save money....what can save us? Only the great and mighty Oz...the Government. Ridiculous. First, it demonizes "Savings" which in any real economy is the mechanism by which entreprenuers evaluate long term capital ventures and secure borwwoed funds....the more savings the lower the interest rates. But FDR and his FDIC bent us over the table there with the pretty and 'well intentioned' socialization of risk...no one looks to banks anymore, if they have more than 100k (or is it more now?) they can just put some in several banks and never worry about a bank run. Prior to that, banks had to worry about solvency and couldn't safely or wisely speculate, as in a land rush, less their inveestors come to pull out their monies, which by they way even when FDR had the military raid my grandfathers home, seize his gold, and give him "Fiat' worthless paper currency who's only value is that the government says so and peole will take it to a degree (like baseball cards). My friend argues, and hes bright, 'so you don't think the government should do good, you arent happy the government emancipated slaves and gave the vote to women. Hell No.
ReplyDeleteThats what you get for reading what someone else makes you read adn judges you on your regurgitation....pure silliness. Slaves didn't revolt like sparticus in America, or scareus into givin them freedom, teh Civil War was barely even indirectly fought over slavery. It was fought because an industrialized north wanted laws passed that would enable them to import raw maerials from England without (much if any) tarriff, but wanted the South to pay tax on all manufactured goods (especially those from new England, and tried on more than one occcasion to ban the trade of copeting manufactured goods from Europe. How would that make YOU feel? We fought the War for Independence over a 2% Tarriff on tea....and that is the most fair tax a naton can pass its main limiter being global tax competition. Even if I agreed Progressivisn seems nice, the government should save everyone, have socialized healthcare, food, education...(which I surely do believe in, as did our greatest President Mr. JEfferson)I wouldn't let the federal government exceed the Constitutnion which sets a specific enumerated (numbered for you math folk) set of powers, any not specificly given to the fed belong to the States. It's not about Slaves vs states rights. Christ. The constitution itself made blacks unto slaves, gave them 3/5 worth vote wise,and it was a growing, heartfelt, powerful social movement of the people that saw them free. Schools laud the 'intercontinental railroad' as a marvel of progressivism (they used trans/manifest-destiny back then) which mean the inexeorable connnecton of our nation but which imho grew into thi pompous arrrogant abuse of government power. The FED has enough serious and quite deadly tasks to take care of without meddling with the states, and in fact, their meddling has genrelaly made things much worse. I could get a bag of reefer/weed/marajane/ftheseeds at 13, i could barely get a beer at 21. States prosecute laws they pass and believe in. Why do we want some fascist central authority leaving us with one choice....fall in, or leave the US. That kills the marketplace of ideas. It's patentnly insane....we used to understand this to our very cores. All Americans. We fled countries who persecuted us for debts, for religious believes, for basicly freedoms they didnt really like, and put a man with threat of death into jail which is no less cruel than a small death worse than each choice of cowardice. Better to die a free man. Even if the government got lucky and tripped over a bannana peel and wrote up and passed perfect legislation in the areanas of say...health and education....in less than 20 years that would be wofeully stagnate, ou technology grows at amazing speeds...but you're right, lets have some fat cat politicians give gov't grants to some companies who "might" make the best pharms, bullets, energy, batteries, etc this day....but soon enough half the money the fed takes from the states and gives to these instutions...ends up being spent on lobbying to keep getting addtional funds. Forget the feee market. You think libertarians don't have a solid set of principles...thats hilarious, progrsssives have no ideaology but to spend more and more, ant higher and higher levels, relying on the increase in population and productivity to hopefully deter the bill that my friends IS COMING DUE. The debt clock that scares the ish outa peole only shows debt we 'recognize'. We made all our businesses write in their accounting statements their debt expenses related to healthcare, insurance, retirement sallaries. Our government doesnt feel the need to do tht, it might cause a panic. Which we a;lready have basicly illegal houseing for millions of americans weighting....just watch youtube...put in supermax fema prisons and trains.
ReplyDeleteMy apologies for the atrocious typing, but I was in a mad rush, I'm just going to take a few lines to correct some rather embarrassing mistakes/references. The phd!+ level author, historian, and economist whose books i mentioned is (obviously?) Ludwig von Mises, perhaps the greatest treat beyond his command of English is the intellectual integrity he gives each subject (in economics he deftly deudes the commonly taught (in the US anyways) view that economics has bsaicly held rather static position...God forbid a powerful and not quite as intellectual group as they'd like to think start preaching economics...*cough* church *cough* usury for example initially meant the lending of money in expectation of any return or profit....you aren't doing the work are you? It was incidently a Christinan who risked death centuries later to point out that the lender does add value by enhancing society and risking his savings which, of course, is simply a 'store of labor'. Thats hardly the only example of the back and forth economic thought took throughout the ages, and the books, my favorite economic and/or history cement so many historic characters together with ideas both good and bad..instead of the 'economics was bsaicly static/stagnant' throughout the centuries, save for 6 periods where a great thinker came along and revolutionized everything...hooooray
ReplyDeleteever onwards and upwards towards the light. If you believe that, and I'm sure thats what most were exposed to...you likely don't follow my favorite maxim....QUESTION EVERYTHING. The student of Mises was Rothbard....he did write Man, Economy, and State,....Rothbard's economic magnum opus was 'Human ACtion'...technically a book on praxeology...or how people make decisions given their capacity for reason. He chastises the Marxist quip that well.....capitalists and socialists rely on a different system of logic....I hope you can all agree, thats a load of..imagination! Some have tried to fault praxeology, or classic scholsatic economics for being based on 'axiomatic deductive reasoning' rather than pure empirical research. Many of our most complelling, useful, and powerful sciences are just that, and like the Declaration of Independence....based on truths we hold to be Self Evident. Sorry I wrote 10 pages, when you just needed 4 quick ideals to demonstrate the unifying thought behind libertarians. On a totaly seperate fear mongering tangent...FDR took citizens gold, replaced it with Fiat ("let it be" in latin) currency, and basicly took half the nations wealth over nite in the oldest trick in the book, the hidden inflation tax. And yet, not until 72? with Nixon did it really take on an exponential growth because while Americns were robbed of their liberty to own gold and use whateve TF they wanted to barter/trade...foreign countries could still redeem dollars for 1/16 of an ounce of gold (which was written on the bills before FDR ganked them and our gold). Quite likely the main thrust of that was to empty fort knox of sufficient gold to reresent our GDP as relates to the global economy. As it stands....China would own everything comparatively. The real concern is that in the 20's, financiers lost their asses because they were margined 10:1 or worse, and you can get a margin call quite fast in those straights. But for a century and so much worse since 72, presidents have typically over spent, blamed the prior administration, while borrowing a S#17 ton of coin from China to finance imports....which any economist, even a silly KeynesianNeoSynthesist can point out...simplly isnt susntainable. Our government capitalized for a long time on a growing population and in creasins in productivity, especially thanks to tech growing 2X every 1.7 years. Well, China has quit playing ball for some time now. Every time they loan us monies these days, they make us pay an absorbidant vig....or simply dont loan it. They've charged us huge concessions for short term loans (not the 20-30 year inflation magic our insipid leaders have relied upon to institute the oldest of all tricks....inflating currency, shaving coins, putting the princes head on it and handing out tin. We used to laugh at polynesians for using seashells, but, sadly they are starting to look clever by contrast....there are only a finite number of seashells, which must be gathered manually, not digitally multiplied by reserve ratio alterations etc. Its no surprise Obama raised more debt than all other presidents combined.....he couldn't get the love-me-long-time loans from China.
ReplyDeleteNot that long ago ?I heard a California immigrant calling racist because he kept folllowing up with a dude who didnt take a gig after the interview (probably got a better deal...or likes being lazy like most of us)...and told the guy 'hey sorry...I Ching CHong Changed my Mind." I laughed for hours....is that racist? It can't be, I'm in love with Asian cultures, although I'll admit Japan's my fav. Anyways.... When the dollar finally collapses (how it hasnt is a tribute to the average man's idiocy and/or blinders....or maybe they just feel JEsus will save us from the destruction of our own making. But when the dollar is gone, the Great Depression will look like Eden itself; far to long we have grown fat on the specialization of labor....which is only possible given a stable and somewhat trusted medium of exchange (i.e. Gold...Funny_Money, or I'd suggest you grab some cyber currency with your spare coin....the untracable aspect certain raises it over the historic experience of gold. Also, even if you have gold....after inflation rapes us all to death....youll pay half of it, or more trying to cover 'capital gains'.....on what should be considered currrency, but we the People have let brigands, propagandists, and traitors live large while they shear us and send our progeny to endless slavery. Well, you can't say Jefferson didn't warn you, or JAckson. Before I go...how many chickens will i need to trade, and eggs, to get a new desktop with a 1080Ti....and unlimited mobile? Haha, i'm just being defeatist, you'll be alright if you dont fall for Sprint's sucker deal. Well sorry to come of so egomaniacal....but for some reason this webpage kept sending me notifications every 10 second for EVER. So I got revenge by restoring Liberty to its hallowed place as the only true moral in a modern society. I love you all, even you crazy progressives. LAter.
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