Saturday, February 27, 2010
Scratch a Libertarian...
Scratch a Libertarian and you'll find someone just as unskeptical, uncritical and stupid as the worst religious believer. Libertarianism (indeed all forms of anarchism, left and right) is just an infantile non-theistic faith, as hostile to science, facts, evidence and reason as the most die-hard Christian or Islamic fundamentalist.
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It would be great to one day meet an intelligent, articulate and sane Libertarian, but after a fairly patient span of experience, I'm beginning to think they don't exist. I've never met or heard of a Libertarian -- at least the typical American variety -- who isn't filled with some kind of irrational hatred of government, is utterly tied to his ideology, or isn't otherwise preoccupied with some other kind of political myopia. They don't arrive at Libertarianism because they "love liberty."
ReplyDeleteThere are a few relatively sane Libertarians, just like there are a few relatively sane Christians: i.e. precisely those who don't take their religious beliefs very seriously. Of course, Libertarianism is so marginal that very few people are Libertarians "by default" or from external social pressure.
ReplyDeleteBut, by and large, you're right: Libertarianism is a religious belief, and it takes a special kind of insanity to take any religious belief seriously.
"...(indeed all forms of anarchism, left and right)...".
ReplyDeleteI understand and agree with your qualms and distaste for right-wing libertarianism but I can't say the same about the left wing variety. Are you saying that libertarian socialism is basically blind faith in humanity? Isn't libertarian socialism a more optimistic and unrealistic version of communism? I believe this is true but I hesitate to go as far as to say that it's hostile to science and evidence.
And if I remember correctly, you previously said that anarchism is the ultimate goal of communism. Do you still hold this position?
Are you saying that libertarian socialism is basically blind faith in humanity?
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what libertarian socialism actually means. Every time I try to examine the subject, I get yelled at by libertarian socialists.
I have come to the conclusion (which I of course can change based on additional evidence) that left anarchists are infantile faithists because they passionately defend a concept they are unable to explain and seems basically incoherent.
you previously said that anarchism is the ultimate goal of communism. Do you still hold this position?
Since I no longer believe that I know what anarchism means, I do not know if anarchism is the ultimate goal of communism. I believe that the ultimate goal of communism is that people will no longer be dicks to each other because of their struggles for money or economic well-being. It's beyond my capacity to predict whether or not they'll be dicks to each other for other reasons, and if they are, it's beyond my imagination to prevent.