
The Fundamental Problem With Libertarianism - astrec
http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2009/01/fundamental-problem-with-libertarianism.html
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thomasmallen
_"Libertarian ideas are revolutionary. I've been told that Trotsky once said
"Every revolutionary should study chess."

The best book on chess that Libertarians should read is The Wrecking Crew by
Thomas Frank, which left me certain after many years that I was absolutely no
Libertarian, and more than that, embarrassed to have ever been one."_

What a clown. Libertarians are not revolutionary. Second, that book has
nothing to do with chess, and Trotsky's quote was literal.

This doesn't even warrant a rebuttal, but I'll continue.

 _"Republican Presidents and legislators use Libertarian arguments to advance
policy decisions which benefit business, then conveniently forget those same
arguments when it comes to issues of government debt or unnecessary military
spending."_

Republicans and Libertarians share certain conservative values. For what it's
worth, one point of libertarianism is that the government's first job is
national defense.

Ugh, this stuff is awful.

 _"If politics were chess, Libertarians would be trying to win by holding up
the pawn, saying "my pawn has a machine gun!", and making little pew-pew
noises. It just doesn't work that way."_

Politics is not chess. The writer's introductory quote associates _revolution_
with chess. The writer may want to use an outline next time.

Here's a summary: The government uses Libertarian arguments for purported
corrupt scheming between itself and big business. Thus, Libertarianism as a
political ideology is, according to the writer's ham-handed "arguments,"
flawed.

I want my three minutes back; I could've made toast.

~~~
dantheman
I agree 100%.

Also, the concept that businessmen contributing to libertarian causes are in
it so that they can capture regulatory agencies/contracts/etc misses that a
lot of companies just want the government out of their way.

~~~
thomasmallen
After that, I made toast, and found that toast is much better when made in an
actual oven (400°) as opposed to a toaster or toaster oven.

------
Nwallins
> American conservatives have followed a deliberate strategy of destroying,
> undermining, and sabotaging the Federal government.

That's not libertarianism.

> They even conveniently forget the arguments when advancing business
> interests in ways which contradict every last iota of Libertarian political
> theory.

Sounds like they're doing it wrong.

> Frank quotes one of their policy wonks freely confessing that he constructs
> his reasoning with no concern for intellectual integrity or even internal
> consistency. The arguments are only a means to an end.

This is true of both sides, Republican and Democrat. Again, not
Libertarianism.

> If you think it through, this should be enough to destroy Libertarianism for
> you.

Not at all. You've indicted current and past administrations. That in no way
reflects on libertarianism or its principles.

> This means that if you want to achieve a Libertarian transformation of the
> United States, your only possible winning strategy is to get as much money
> from business as possible. But that means that the only way to get
> government out of business is to get business into government.

Whoa! Slow down there, chief. Nice straw man, there (not really). Business
will be naturally attracted to libertarianism.

> In order to affect this revolutionary change, you would need to leverage a
> great deal of political momentum from campaign contributions originating
> with business interests. Then, once you had achieved a Libertarian
> transformation, you would need all the people with strong ties to business
> interests, who would owe their political careers to these strong ties, to
> turn their backs on their business allies.

The idea is not to lure constituents in by political favors. That is
antithetical to libertarianism.

> It just doesn't work that way.

Yes, finally! Libertarianism is about principles, none of which have been
addressed. All of the bad behavior -- real and hypothetical -- pointed out
here in no way indicts libertarianism or its principles.

We are all as disgusted with the bad behavior as you are.

------
maarek
This guy confuses Mercantilism with Libertarianism. Libertarianism is about
maximizing freedom, not empowering big corporations.

