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Libertarian != anarchy. What people mean by libertarian in relation to regulation varies considerably. The main thrusts of it are the non-aggression principle a
by aksss 5y ago
Libertarian != anarchy. What people mean by libertarian in relation to regulation varies considerably. The main thrusts of it are the non-aggression principle and the belief that there is no instantiation of government that is not systemically corrupt and self-interested (all because of the conflicts inherent in power over people). This doesn't require you to call for the abolition of government, but would not make additional bureaucracy your first solution to a given problem, either. If you tell me you're libertarian, I would assume nothing about where you stand on the EPA, but I would make assumptions about your instinctual reaction to foreign wars, trade policy, civil rights, and your default skepticism of a government's ability to carry out any given task effectively.
- MichaelZuo 5y agoSeems like managing every decommissioned factory or industrial plot of land will require an enormous bureaucracy? Perhaps even larger than present day if we really want to clean them up properly and enforce it? Sure it could be outsourced in part but that’s just moving around the goalposts because there would, and could only be, one customer.
- intrasight 5y agoThey aren't that far apart - little government vs no self-government
- aksss 5y agoZero is not just a really small number. “Little” or “less” are relative to current size at time of critique and stand in opposition to “large” and “more”. I’m simply saying that libertarian thought should not be straw-manned as anarchy, nor would it be accurate to treat libertarian-leaning people as a monolith with a dialed in prescription. Government, and governing, are highly complex particularly at the federal level. You could spend a lifetime just trying to fix the government’s relationship to the finance sector alone with libertarian principles which would still allow room for regulation, attempt to house expertise and manage corruption and count yourself lucky if you made any sort of improvement/dent. Giving catch-all advice about what should be done across the entire spectrum of government in a sound bite is foolish no matter what your political principles are. It’s never as simple as “go back to the gold standard and eliminate all regulation”, but sadly it’s easy to caricature the libertarian critique as this because there literally are nincompoops who spout this drivel. Judging any worldview by its worst examples is not intellectually honest, though.
- intrasight 5y agoextreme anarchist would say "zero goverment" but that different than "default to self-government" which is more consistent with rational anarchism. So I maintain that they aren't too far apart. Both are about choosing the limited scope of the state.
- cogman10 5y agoThis seems counter to every libertarian I've encountered in the wild. I've not met a libertarian that thinks any regulation is OK. An agency like the EPA, in particular, enforcing a large host of regulations is a ripe target for libertarian rage. Most libertarians will say we shouldn't have publicly funded police, schools, or fire departments (and plenty a libertarian city is going without fire departments). How then could you envision a publicly funded environmental protection agency? "Taxation is theft" is the credo of the libertarian.
- aksss 5y agoI believe violence is bad. That’s another one of my credos. But I’m not a pacifist.
- cogman10 5y agoThat's not really an answer. Do you not agree that libratarians are universally against public jobs and infrasructure? The only government I've seen universally supported by libratarians is a strong judicial system to enforce no harm principles.