Difference between revisions of "Libertarianism in One Lesson; The Fourth Lesson"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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This page is for assembling another lesson: none of the ideas are in final form. | This page is for assembling another lesson: none of the ideas are in final form. | ||
| + | In the libertarian propagandaverse, all lessons are one, despite methodological individualism. | ||
Remember that joke "if public libraries didn't already exist they would strike people as the most outlandish left-wing idea"? Libertarian Party's response: "this, but unironically". | Remember that joke "if public libraries didn't already exist they would strike people as the most outlandish left-wing idea"? Libertarian Party's response: "this, but unironically". | ||
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Oh. That was after the civil war, so I guess these southern libertarians don't remember anything so recent. | Oh. That was after the civil war, so I guess these southern libertarians don't remember anything so recent. | ||
| + | I have heard a lot of people who call themselves "libertarians" say and sagely nod at others’ saying that utility derived from satisfying a taste for discrimination is a proper thing to include in a social welfare function—and they are often the same people who are outraged at counting utility from redistribution, envy, or theft. | ||
| + | Brad DeLong, "A Lazy New Year's Eve Morn on Twitter..." | ||
* Government "fiat money" (backed by taxation) is a fraud, whereas BitCoin (backed by waste of electricity, money laundering by the corrupt and images of shiny symbolic coins) is the future and definitely not a bubble. | * Government "fiat money" (backed by taxation) is a fraud, whereas BitCoin (backed by waste of electricity, money laundering by the corrupt and images of shiny symbolic coins) is the future and definitely not a bubble. | ||
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* Voluntary smoking, even limited by regulations, has a higher death toll than ever communism did; but government is the problem! | * Voluntary smoking, even limited by regulations, has a higher death toll than ever communism did; but government is the problem! | ||
| − | * Unions donating money to progressive politicians is a cut-and-dry case of corruption and money influencing politics to the detriment of the people. Wealthy shareholders donating untraceable money to PACs in order to assist in the election of conservative politicians, on the other hand, is just smart business. | + | * Unions are illegitimate because they are state supported; but corporations are legitimate because they have state-issued charters. |
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| + | * Unions donating money to progressive politicians is a cut-and-dry case of corruption and money influencing politics to the detriment of the people. Wealthy shareholders donating untraceable money to PACs in order to assist in the election of conservative politicians, on the other hand, is just smart business. (Hat tip to [https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughLibertarianSpam/comments/a6v341/sss_thread_on_unions/ebyqry0/ Jonruy].) | ||
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| + | * Libertarians just want to leave you alone! After they've locked up the means to your survival in private property and left you with the generous choice of either playing by the property owner's rules or starving to death. | ||
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| + | * All three [[Atlas Shrugged]] films were terrific financial flops. The market has spoken! | ||
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| + | * Libertarians sneer at the possibility of equality, but conveniently forget that when they say they want equal liberty. | ||
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| + | * One man's liberty is another man's slavery. Often literally: the liberty to own slaves has been a frequent, real world oxymoron. | ||
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| + | * Wealth gains from crony capitalism are wrong and immoral! Which is why we should do absolutely nothing to remove those ill-gotten gains from the crony capitalists. | ||
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| + | * Social contracts are mythical: we never signed one. But the system of property rights is natural, doesn't need a signature, and must never be questioned. | ||
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| + | * A libertarian calling you a 'statist' is like a pedophile calling you an 'adult-fucker'. (Suetonius Jones) | ||
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| + | * You hate statism, yet you live in a state, rely on state defense and police, and are employed by fellow statists. (response to hate capitalism) You hate the state yet don’t see any power dynamic between corporations and people. | ||
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| + | * The two-party system of the USA is a [[Spontaneous Order]], and the Libertarian Party has the nerve to complain about it? | ||
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| + | * Isn't it funny that methodological individualists abandon all pretense of their methodology to denounce government? | ||
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| + | == See also: == | ||
| + | * [[Libertarianism in One Lesson (Parody)]]. | ||
| + | * [[Libertarianism in One Lesson; The Second Lesson]]. | ||
| + | * [[Libertarianism in One Lesson; The Third Lesson]]. | ||
