One thing I notice in talking to libertarian minded people, is there always seems to be one or two issues that make you stray from the puritanical conformity of the movement. For me the intellectual caveat I had with libertarians is the inability of libertarian philosophy and thought to deal with the issue of tragedy of the commons. I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten older, while I still adhere to libertarian principles, I generally accept many elements of the dogma just aren’t practical for a functioning society.
5 thoughts on “Libertarian Disconnects”
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To borrow a line from Star Trek (terrible, I know) I’ve encountered a problem with libertarianism in that the hardliners refuse to acknowledge that sometimes “the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the one”.
I’d guess that you and I both know that this problem isn’t limited solely to hard line libertarians, though. Both the conservative and liberal movements actually have valid tenets of their doctrine; however they’re often polluted and obscured by their more rabid adherents.
The biggest problem with the Libertarian party is that they have no concept of baby steps.
google the phrase “libertarianism makes you stupid”. a gentleman named Seth Finkelstein is the author of a quite good essay by that title, wherein he makes arguments similar to (but more strident than) yours.
No form of government is practical, in a large society, in its pure form. All systems make the assumption that people are intelligent, honest, industrious, and practical. The only way any of them can be made to work in large society is by fudging them a bit. That is why I refer to myself as moderately libertarian.
I’ve come across that article before. I didn’t find it to be all that great an essay, to be honest. My criticism of libertarian thought is on the ideological purity vs. pragmatism. I still sympathize with more broadly libertarian goals of smaller, less intrusive government that respects people’s civil liberties and adulthood.