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Title: Why Radical Libertarians Are the New Communists
Source:
evonomics.com
URL Source: http://evonomics.com/why-libertarians-are-the-new-communists/
Published: Jun 21, 2016
Author: Nick Hanauer and Eric Liu
Post Date: 2018-07-10 03:51:55 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 2261
Comments: 36
Most people would consider radical libertarianism and communism polar opposites: The first glorifies personal freedom. The second would obliterate it. Yet the ideologies are simply mirror images. Both attempt to answer the same questions, and fail to do so in similar ways. Where communism was adopted, the result was misery, poverty and tyranny. If extremist libertarians ever translated their beliefs into policy, it would lead to the same kinds of catastrophe. Let’s start with some definitions. By radical libertarianism, we mean the ideology that holds that individual liberty trumps all other values. By communism, we mean the ideology of extreme state domination of private and economic life. Some of the radical libertarians are Ayn Rand fans who divide their fellow citizens into makers, in the mold of John Galt, and takers, in the mold of anyone not John Galt. Some, such as the Koch brothers, are economic royalists who repackage trickle- down economics as “libertarian populism.” Some are followers of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, whose highest aspiration is to shut down government. Some resemble the anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, who has made a career out of trying to drown, stifle or strangle government. Get Evonomics in your inbox Enter Your Email Yes, liberty is a core American value, and an overweening state can be unhealthy. And there are plenty of self-described libertarians who have adopted the label mainly because they support same-sex marriage or decry government surveillance. These social libertarians aren’t the problem. It is the nihilist anti-state libertarians of the Koch-Cruz-Norquist-Paul (Ron and Rand alike) school who should worry us. Human Nature Like communism, this philosophy is defective in its misreading of human nature, misunderstanding of how societies work and utter failure to adapt to changing circumstances. Radical libertarianism assumes that humans are wired only to be selfish, when in fact cooperation is the height of human evolution. It assumes that societies are efficient mechanisms requiring no rules or enforcers, when, in fact, they are fragile ecosystems prone to collapse and easily overwhelmed by free-riders. And it is fanatically rigid in its insistence on a single solution to every problem: Roll back the state! Communism failed in three strikingly similar ways. It believed that humans should be willing cogs serving the proletariat. It assumed that societies could be run top-down like machines. And it, too, was fanatically rigid in its insistence on an all- encompassing ideology, leading to totalitarianism. Radical libertarianism, if ever put into practice at the scale of something bigger than a tiny enclave, would also be a disaster. We say the conditional “would” because radical libertarianism has a fatal flaw: It can’t be applied across a functioning society. What might radical libertarians do if they actually had power? A President Paul would rule by tantrum, shutting down the government in order to repeal laws already passed by Congress. A Secretary Norquist would eliminate the Internal Revenue Service and progressive taxation, so that the already wealthy could exponentially compound their advantage, as the programs that sustain a prosperous middle class are gutted. A Koch domestic policy would obliterate environmental standards for clean air and water, so that polluters could externalize all their costs onto other people. Radical libertarians would be great at destroying. They would have little concept of creating or governing. It is in failed states such as Somalia that libertarianism finds its fullest actual expression. Extreme Positions Some libertarians will claim we are arguing against a straw man and that no serious adherent to their philosophy advocates the extreme positions we describe. The public record of extreme statements by the likes of Cruz, Norquist and the Pauls speaks for itself. Reasonable people debate how best to regulate or how government can most effectively do its work — not whether to regulate at all or whether government should even exist. The alternative to this extremism is an evolving blend of freedom and cooperation. The relationship between social happiness and economic success can be plotted on a bell curve, and the sweet spot is away from the extremes of either pure liberty or pure communitarianism. That is where true citizenship and healthy capitalism are found. True citizenship enables a society to thrive for precisely the reasons that communism and radical libertarianism cannot. It is based on a realistic conception of human nature that recognizes we must cooperate to be able compete at higher levels. True citizenship means changing policy to adapt to changes in circumstance. Sometimes government isn’t the answer. Other times it is. If the U.S. is to continue to adapt and evolve, we have to see that freedom isn’t simply the removal of encumbrance, or the ability to ignore inconvenient rules or limitations. Freedom is responsibility. Communism failed because it kept citizens from taking responsibility for governing themselves. By preaching individualism above all else, so does radical libertarianism. It is one thing to oppose intrusive government surveillance or the overreach of federal programs. It is another to call for the evisceration of government itself. Let’s put radical libertarianism into the dustbin of history, along with its cousin communism. A toxic strand of a political ideology.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 30.
#1. To: Gatlin (#0)
Oh lookie here - another rabid hit piece against libertarians. Reasonable people debate how best to regulate or how government can most effectively do its work — not whether to regulate at all or whether government should even exist. libertarians are not in favor of eliminating government altogether. Statists on the other hand want total government control. Apparently you fall into this camp since all of your recent hit-pieces have been disparaging of limited government. Schmuck!
Oh, keep watching....there will be more rabid hit pieces on a daily basis.
Rabid: extreme, fanatical, overzealous, extremist, maniacal. Seek help psycho.
Rabid: extreme, fanatical, overzealous, extremist, maniacal.
Absolutely, those adjectives are used to describe libertarians in many of the articles. Bullshit! You used the term to describe yourself and your articles statist clown. Did a libertarian steal your girlfriend in high school?
Libertarians STEAL? Don't be an asshat - just because your GF found someone better. You just don't have a clue, do you Gatlin. First you ignorantly claim that libertarians are White Supremacists, now it's commies. What next - calling libertarians "terrorists"? Your obsession is no longer bordering on insanity - you've gone way past that point.
That’s a BOLFD FACE libertarian lie....I made NO such claim.
That’s a BOLFD FACE libertarian lie....I made NO such claim. Two of the articles you posted expressed that very same viewpoint.
So, you did tell a BOLD FACE libertarian lie.
Yada, yada, yada. You have never posted an article slamming libertarians that you don't agree with.
To: Gatlin ,----- You have never posted an article slamming libertarians that you don't agree with I doubt even Freud could tell us why gatlin is so obsessive. --- I first encountered this persona when he called himself 'harrowup', ---- who was pretty weird. Now he's so far beyond weird, -- he needs professional help, and we should all pity him...
Didn't he claim to be a Rear Admiral? And drive one of these around town:
Weren't there some goats involved? Wasn't he the one who also claimed a job history as a canine sperm collector (used for AI)? It seemed like an unusual career choice but his detractors at LP started calling him the Dogjacker or something.
#31. To: Tooconservative (#30)
(Edited)
Weren't there some goats involved? Wasn't he the one who also claimed a job history as a canine sperm collector (used for AI)? It seemed like an unusual career choice but his detractors at LP started calling him the Dogjacker or something. Following his second retirement, from the Navy and Civil Service, he and his wife moved Wisconsin to take over her family’s farm. In a conversation he was having with a poster, he did mention he raised some goats on the farm. Some posters tried to use that as ridicule. For the many years I knew harrowup (a screen name he chose because of his activity in the stock mark showing “arrow up”), dating back to Free Republic, I never remember him mentioning anything about “claiming a job history as a canine sperm collector, used for AI.” You may be correct about this, I just never read that. I never saw a post where he was referred to as “Dogjacker” although you may have. The only nickname I ever saw was “admiral.” He was a private pilot and traveled extensively around the country in his own plane (I can’t recall the make and model but it was a six-seater) while living in Wisconsin. Many times for pleasure trips to Las Vegas, also to visit family and friends in the Texas panhandle. Not that this has anything to do with your questions, it is merely something I recalled while having some pleasant memories. He had to stop flying after he lost his right arm to cancer. He died on his farm in Wisconsin after a long battle with cancer. I posted excerpts on LP from his final email to me, you may or may not recall that. I trust this information has answered your questions.
Wasn't he the one who also claimed a job history as a canine sperm collector (used for AI)? It seemed like an unusual career choice but his detractors at LP started calling him the Dogjacker or something. There were all kinds of claims floating around about him some kind and some not so kind, that depended on if that person liked him or not. One of the funnier ones was something about him and some others all going on vacations together on a gay party barge, I think that one was courtesy of Hondo IIRC.
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#2. To: Deckard (#1)
Oh lookie here - another rabid hit piece against libertarians.
And it’s a great one too....read it very carefully.
#5. To: Gatlin (#2)
...there will be more rabid hit pieces on a daily basis.
#6. To: Deckard (#5)
...there will be more rabid hit pieces on a daily basis.
Absolutely, those adjectives are used to describe libertarians in many of the articles. Seek help psycho.
Nah. I can handle the task alone, thank you.
#7. To: Gatlin (#6)
(Edited)
Rabid: extreme, fanatical, overzealous, extremist, maniacal.
#8. To: Deckard (#7)
Did a libertarian steal your girlfriend in high school?
Libertarians STEAL?
#10. To: Gatlin (#8)
Did a libertarian steal your girlfriend in high school?
#13. To: Deckard (#10)
First you ignorantly claim that libertarians are White Supremacists, now it's commies.
#15. To: Gatlin (#13)
First you ignorantly claim that libertarians are White Supremacists, now it's commies.
#18. To: Deckard (#15)
First you ignorantly claim that libertarians are White Supremacists, now it's commies. That’s a BOLFD FACE libertarian lie....I made NO such claim. Two of the articles you posted expressed that very same viewpoint.
Yes, two articles made that claim....I never did.
#19. To: Gatlin (#18)
(Edited)
Yes, two articles made that claim....I never did.
#21. To: Deckard, y'all (#19)
#27. To: tpaine (#21)
I first encountered this persona when he called himself 'harrowup', ---- who was pretty weird.
#30. To: CZ82 (#27)
Didn't he claim to be a Rear Admiral? And drive one of these around town:
Replies to Comment # 30. Didn't he claim to be a Rear Admiral? And drive one of these around town:
He made no claim to be a Rear Admiral. He was a retired US Navy medical doctor who accepted a Civil Service position as a forensic pathologist in DC after his retirement from the Navy. He stated his Civil Service pay grade was equivalent to that of a Rear Admiral when answering a question for someone who did not understand the Civil Service pay grades. So, some posters then began referring to him as “Admiral.”
#32. To: Tooconservative (#30)
Weren't there some goats involved?
End Trace Mode for Comment # 30.
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