Difference between revisions of "Introduction To Libertarianism"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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Political libertarianism is the libertarianism that we are exposed to through the media, the mass market libertarianism. | Political libertarianism is the libertarianism that we are exposed to through the media, the mass market libertarianism. | ||
| − | Political libertarianism, like the media, is controlled by plutocrats and operated for the benefit of plutocrats. It is not about "[[liberty]]" or "[[freedom]]": it is about ownership. The plutocrats want to convince the populace that: | + | Political libertarianism, like the media, is controlled top-down by plutocrats and operated for the benefit of plutocrats. It is not about "[[liberty]]" or "[[freedom]]": it is about ownership. The plutocrats want to convince the populace that: |
* Ownership of the vast majority of the world's wealth by plutocrats is legitimate and untouchable. | * Ownership of the vast majority of the world's wealth by plutocrats is legitimate and untouchable. | ||
* Changing that distribution will result in assorted horrors for everybody, including loss of liberty and freedom. | * Changing that distribution will result in assorted horrors for everybody, including loss of liberty and freedom. | ||
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Individualistic libertarianism is what the targets of political libertarianism believe. This is a huge morass of conflicting ideas with only one constant: the political libertarian idea that ownership should be sacred. Ask a libertarian what part of ownership they would give up to achieve any other social end, and they will say no part. It doesn't matter if some socialistic government (such as roads or defense) would benefit the lives of everybody; they despise it because it conflicts with their property, no matter how meager. | Individualistic libertarianism is what the targets of political libertarianism believe. This is a huge morass of conflicting ideas with only one constant: the political libertarian idea that ownership should be sacred. Ask a libertarian what part of ownership they would give up to achieve any other social end, and they will say no part. It doesn't matter if some socialistic government (such as roads or defense) would benefit the lives of everybody; they despise it because it conflicts with their property, no matter how meager. | ||
| + | Individualistic libertarianism is bottom-up: it is not controlled directly by political libertarians beyond manipulation by propaganda. These useful idiots can be relied upon to inject libertarian viewpoints into discussions that are not controlled by the mass media. They are as welcome as door-to-door evangelists from another religion. | ||
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| + | Individualistic libertarianism ranges from the honorable and sincere to the vile and repulsive, with stops along the way for the immature, foolish, and intemperate. You've got your government haters, racists, sexists, pederasts, conspiracy theorists, tax evaders, exploiters and other socially repulsive types generously represented in this category. | ||
==Libertarian Philosophy== | ==Libertarian Philosophy== | ||
| − | Libertarian philosophy is mostly corrupt: much of it is funded by plutocrats to provide ideas and materials for their public relations campaigns. | + | Libertarian philosophy is mostly corrupt: much of it is funded by plutocrats to provide ideas and materials for their public relations campaigns. Hayek, for example, never held an academic position that wasn't funded by plutocrats. (Milton Friedman and Robert Nozick are exceptions to this funding generalization.) |
Common [[Failures Of Libertarian Philosophy|failures of libertarian philosophy]] include: | Common [[Failures Of Libertarian Philosophy|failures of libertarian philosophy]] include: | ||
