Difference between revisions of "Diversity In Libertarianism"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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{{DES | des = Libertarianism is diverse. Libertarianism can be left or right, rationalist or antirationalist, essentialist or pragmatist, hardcore or soft core, based on rights or liberty or values, using Austrian or Chicago or other economics, statist or anarchist, political or philosophical, etc. No argument can truly be representative of all libertarianisms. Discussions will be incoherent if they change from one libertarianism to another without noticing. And there is no true, correct libertarianism: that would be an essentialist fallacy. These problems can be avoided if arguments are focussed on one specific libertarian viewpoint at a time.}}Part of [[What Is Wrong With Libertarianism]]. | {{DES | des = Libertarianism is diverse. Libertarianism can be left or right, rationalist or antirationalist, essentialist or pragmatist, hardcore or soft core, based on rights or liberty or values, using Austrian or Chicago or other economics, statist or anarchist, political or philosophical, etc. No argument can truly be representative of all libertarianisms. Discussions will be incoherent if they change from one libertarianism to another without noticing. And there is no true, correct libertarianism: that would be an essentialist fallacy. These problems can be avoided if arguments are focussed on one specific libertarian viewpoint at a time.}}Part of [[What Is Wrong With Libertarianism]]. | ||
| − | + | Libertarianism is like a shopping cart, full of different items. You've got libertines, gun loons, tax protesters, entrepreneurs, Austrians, Objectivists, anarcho-capitalists, Georgists, corporate shills... the list is extensive. | |
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| + | Libertarianism is united only by a rhetoric of liberty. Liberty is the central glittering generality of their propaganda. Liberty is vague enough to justify any atrocity. We routinely see libertarians living up to Barry Goldwater's "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice." It's not even the same liberty to all of them. | ||
It would be nice if there was a simple dismissal of libertarianism, but there are so many different kinds that no one argument could apply. | It would be nice if there was a simple dismissal of libertarianism, but there are so many different kinds that no one argument could apply. | ||
