4 ms·

Are you a libertarian? You remind me of John Stossel. https://youtu.be/5hqzpD9drdc?t=5m29s https://youtu.be/5hqzpD9drdc?t=5m29s

• maxharris 9y ago
  I'm not actually a libertarian either. Of course the particular reasons depend on what kind of libertarian you're talking about, but I have different and serious disagreements with all of them. For example: I'm not an anarchist. I don't think there can be a market in courts, police, armies. (Yes, I've read Nozick.) Another example: I don't think that non-intervention is the fundamental on which to base a proper foreign policy. A third example: I don't think that fractional reserve banking is a form of fraud. Or that gold is the ultimate currency. Fourth example: I neither lionize nor demonize the police as an institution. Civil asset forfeiture is an abomination, to be sure, as is police racism, brutality, and their present "warrior mentality." These are definitely problems, to be sure. However, they are neither solved by markets, nor by simply eliminating a necessary and important pillar of society. Fifth example: Libertarians seem to despise the idea of intellectual property. While I have seen my share of asinine software patents, I generally think that IP is extremely important to protect. I think it's proper for the government to protect innovators (not as a matter of utilitarian principle, but rather as a matter of justice.) I could keep going from here, but that should be sufficient... I'm no libertarian!