4 ms·
On the spectrum of theories of how the human race might best thrive, libertarianism occupies the extreme right, where the free market and evolution reign comple
by kitd 12y ago
On the spectrum of theories of how the human race might best thrive, libertarianism occupies the extreme right, where the free market and evolution reign completely over community and self-denial for the common good.
While the extreme left theory has been shown in the 20th C to be unachievable, we haven't seen yet an extreme right version in real-life (or if we have, we've forgotten what it looks like). The libertarians want to try it out and I predict a similar disaster.
- Nursie 12y agoI would agree with you there. Libertarianism seems to me to be a recipe for a society that collapses into neo-feudalism as an ownership class of corporations and individuals emerge and (without any government controls in place) effectively forms a new aristocracy. One may say we're not too far from that now I suppose, and I have a lot of sympathy for the idea that we're over-taxed, over-ruled, over-governed etc etc. But yeah...
- MCRed 12y agoSo, because you're afraid that we might become slaves of a new aristocracy, you support us being the slaves of the current government, which can't even operate a fair election?
- Nursie 12y agoEnjoy fighting your straw man there. Looking at patterns of human activity in the past, I do believe that libertarianism would go that way, yes. That doesn't automatically mean that I'm a huge fan of the status quo, though. There is more spectrum to political thought than libertarians on one side who want to change everything and statists on the other who want to change nothing.
- icebraining 12y agohttp://www.amazon.com/Markets-Not-Capitalism-Individualist-Inequality/dp/1570272425 http://www.amazon.com/Markets-Not-Capitalism-Individualist-I...
- mercer 12y agoI used to think this, but I'm starting to question my assumptions. Saying that 'extreme left' theory has been shown unachievable is perhaps a bit too broad a statement. The left actually split over the very issue that then led to this 'failure', namely the idea that one can impose one's left-wing ideals through violent revolution. A significant portion of the 'left' believed that (violently) removing a system through revolution would leave a vacuum that would be quickly filled by a system similar to the one removed, instead of whatever utopian ideal that led to this revolution. That seems to have been correct. Furthermore, this group argues that one inherent problem of the 'left' that won (and then 'failed') was that they were too focused on economic equality, and, in a way, tried to implement a left-wing ideology on an incompatible foundation. I might have gotten some (or much) of this wrong though. My apologies if that's the case. My point is merely that they'd argue that it's primarily a particular strain of 'left-wing' though (state socialism) that failed, and that left-wing libertarianism is equally untried as right-wing libertarianism (well, they'd argue it's been successfully tried but destroyed by outside forces). And there are some important differences between the two strains of libertarianism.
- Nursie 12y agoInteresting stuff. I don't have much to add here but wanted to say I've enjoyed reading your thoughts in this thread.