3 ms·

I know of very few libertarians who support private prisons. The private prison movement is definitely part of the crony capitalism/fascism trend here that mos

by jnbiche 11y ago

I know of very few libertarians who support private prisons. The private prison movement is definitely part of the crony capitalism/fascism trend here that most libertarians hate with a passion. Don't believe me? Check out this discussion on /r/Libertarian, featuring comments from many /r/Libertarian habitues: https://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian/comments/rn2re/what_do_libertarians_believe_about_private_prisons/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian/comments/rn2re/what_do_... As a rule of thumb, if a "capitalist" business depends on the largesse of and/or connections/bribes to the government, it's not really engaging in capitalism, at least not the capitalism that the libertarians I know promote. I think many people who disdain libertarianism view it as a more extreme version of free market conservatism. But the two are in fact very different.

rdtsc 11y ago
> As a rule of thumb, if a "capitalist" business depends on the largesse of and/or connections/bribes to the government, it's not really engaging in capitalism, at least not the capitalism that the libertarians I know promote. That is why I don't think Libertarianism is viable. It is just as a nice fantasy ideology, much like Communism is. It looks good on paper, if you remove lots complications -- such as how the real world works. They keep talking how they believe Libertarianism would be great if just government stayed away. Communism is just like that, it is perfect, if everyone just worked consciously, without cutting corners and so on. In the real world, the shortest and quickest way to make a profit and rise to the top is regulatory capture and lobbying. For a mere couple of million it is possibly to buy state and federal legislators. It is just stupidly profitable to promise executive position to those in regulatory agencies after they quit. How many revolving doors there are between FCC and Verizon, or FDA and drug companies and so on...

by jnbiche 11y ago

rdtsc 11y ago

> As a rule of thumb, if a "capitalist" business depends on the largesse of and/or connections/bribes to the government, it's not really engaging in capitalism, at least not the capitalism that the libertarians I know promote. That is why I don't think Libertarianism is viable. It is just as a nice fantasy ideology, much like Communism is. It looks good on paper, if you remove lots complications -- such as how the real world works. They keep talking how they believe Libertarianism would be great if just government stayed away. Communism is just like that, it is perfect, if everyone just worked consciously, without cutting corners and so on. In the real world, the shortest and quickest way to make a profit and rise to the top is regulatory capture and lobbying. For a mere couple of million it is possibly to buy state and federal legislators. It is just stupidly profitable to promise executive position to those in regulatory agencies after they quit. How many revolving doors there are between FCC and Verizon, or FDA and drug companies and so on...