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> "Ok, on that first test Libertarianism is doing quite well." I think you misunderstand the test. It is not whether an ideology has a growing number of believ

> "Ok, on that first test Libertarianism is doing quite well." I think you misunderstand the test. It is not whether an ideology has a growing number of believers over an extended period of time (On that measure, Islam is doing far better), but how well it does when actually implemented (i.e. in practice not theory). The article is claiming that this story is an example of failure when implemented.

MCRed 12y ago
The article is essentially a fabrication.
- eevilspock 12y ago
  Even if so, not nearly as much as the story of Atlas Shrugged and the tenants of Objectivism.
  - naturalethic 12y ago
    Atlas Shrugged is fiction, genius. Some libertarians are anti-Objectivist.
tracker1 12y ago
But the article is wrong.. most of my libertarian friends don't believe in no government, they believe in a minimalist one... this is a perfect example of where contract law should prevail, which is well within libertarian ideals. It's a matter of one party wronging another, not a failure of libertarian ideology. That which is actually not far from the ideals this country was founded on. The article itself is an opinion piece with a little bit of facts that don't at all support the opinion. I tend to be more pragmatic still... I feel that the role of a limited central government should be to ensure expected infrastructure to the greater community over time. That doesn't mean privatizing everything, or socializing it all either. It could mean reassigning roles when things aren't working.. it could mean staying the hell out, and it can mean relaxing regulations in certain ways. It really depends on the situation. For example, health care, I would have rather seen the resources government already spends in an open, competative non-profit insurance corporation. Then establish that as a baseline anyone can buy into... that would act as competition for other hmo's and insurance companies. FedEx and UPS compete fine with the postal service, though the USPS is fairly locked down with regulation, and could do with some ability to adapt without congressional approval. It really just depends on a given scenario. Rarely does the government taking over a function as a whole serve anyone better than some level of competition.

MCRed 12y ago

The article is essentially a fabrication.

eevilspock 12y ago
Even if so, not nearly as much as the story of Atlas Shrugged and the tenants of Objectivism.
- naturalethic 12y ago
  Atlas Shrugged is fiction, genius. Some libertarians are anti-Objectivist.

tracker1 12y ago

But the article is wrong.. most of my libertarian friends don't believe in no government, they believe in a minimalist one... this is a perfect example of where contract law should prevail, which is well within libertarian ideals. It's a matter of one party wronging another, not a failure of libertarian ideology. That which is actually not far from the ideals this country was founded on. The article itself is an opinion piece with a little bit of facts that don't at all support the opinion. I tend to be more pragmatic still... I feel that the role of a limited central government should be to ensure expected infrastructure to the greater community over time. That doesn't mean privatizing everything, or socializing it all either. It could mean reassigning roles when things aren't working.. it could mean staying the hell out, and it can mean relaxing regulations in certain ways. It really depends on the situation. For example, health care, I would have rather seen the resources government already spends in an open, competative non-profit insurance corporation. Then establish that as a baseline anyone can buy into... that would act as competition for other hmo's and insurance companies. FedEx and UPS compete fine with the postal service, though the USPS is fairly locked down with regulation, and could do with some ability to adapt without congressional approval. It really just depends on a given scenario. Rarely does the government taking over a function as a whole serve anyone better than some level of competition.