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Dude, the whole world is converting. What direction is China, India, Brazil, Israel, Africa, Southeast Asia, and much of South America, notably including Chile
by MCRed 12y ago
Dude, the whole world is converting. What direction is China, India, Brazil, Israel, Africa, Southeast Asia, and much of South America, notably including Chile going? Libertarian.
Chile is an excellent example. To prevent it from being taken over by communists, the CIA forced a coup, resulting in a military dictatorship, which was quite terrible. But not knowing economics, Pinoche brought in Americans, namely Milton Friedman a nobel prize winning Libertarian. His advice turned the country around economically producing one of the most prosperous, fast growing, and stable democracies in the region. The chilean government runs a budget surplus, while spending essentially all of their time and taxes on programs for the poor.
Look no further than the USA. Founded by immigrants from Europe, far behind Europe when organized the country developed into super power status in a rapid fashion because the constitution was strong, the federal government was weak and property rights (and human rights generally) were respected.
If you look at history, you find that Libertarianism is so successful, that the only enemy that can vanquish it is itself--- when a country becomes propserous enough -- as europe did, and the USA has-- eventually the politicians are able to collectivize the country in order to loot it, because people are too comfortable to realize what's at stake.
So, yes, the USA is not a libertarian country-- anymore-- and its economic decline and turn to socialism are a tragedy--- but they were, ironically, a tragedy enabled by the paramount success of libertarianism here for most of the countries history.
- dragonwriter 12y ago> Look no further than the USA. Founded by immigrants from Europe, far behind Europe when organized the country developed into super power status in a rapid fashion because the constitution was strong, the federal government was weak and property rights (and human rights generally) were respected. There are times in US history where you can argue that property rights and human rights in general were respected (but not any time before the end of the Indian Wars), and times when you can argue that the federal government was weak (but not any time after the Civil War) -- but they don't overlap. Your ideological fantasy interpretation of history is amusing, but not very much related to anything like facts.
- MCRed 12y agoI have never asserted that property rights were always respected for everybody for the whole history of this country. To claim that I did is merely to erect a straw man. The propose of which was obviously to try and give yourself cover to throw mud at me personally. That you have chosen this as your avenue of response, I take as a concession of my points in completion and admission of intellectual bankruptcy.
- rdtsc 12y ago> super power status in a rapid fashion because the constitution was strong So was the terrorism. Nice constitutions are easy to write, but slaughtering the local population and driving them into deserts and marshes takes more bravery and teamwork. > you find that Libertarianism is so successful Well so far it was pretty much equivalent to terrorism (not unlike other Fantasy Systems, like Communism for example). So where are these successful Libertarian countries. As I mentioned in another comment. For the amount of press and number of adherents this movement is getting, you'd think there would be scores of easy and obvious success examples in today's world to point to.