Difference between revisions of "What Is Libertarianism?"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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[[Category:Basics|400]] | [[Category:Basics|400]] | ||
{{DES | des = Twenty views of the big picture of libertarianism.}} | {{DES | des = Twenty views of the big picture of libertarianism.}} | ||
| − | It's obvious that definitions of libertarianism by opponents are prone to bias. By the same standard, self-serving definitions by proponents are also prone to bias. | + | It's obvious that definitions of libertarianism by opponents are prone to bias. By the same standard, self-serving definitions by proponents are also prone to bias. Because libertarianism is diverse and complex, the simple solution is to present multiple viewpoints, each true to some degree, to construct a picture of the whole. The story of [[The Blind Men and the Elephant]] illustrates how ridiculous clinging to a single viewpoint can be, and how building a more realistic picture would require critical acceptance of multiple viewpoints. Viewpoints of proponents of libertarianism are well known; here are some viewpoints of opponents. |
== A Rhetoric Of Liberty == | == A Rhetoric Of Liberty == | ||
Libertarianism is united only by a rhetoric of liberty. "Liberty" is the central glittering generality of libertarian propaganda. | Libertarianism is united only by a rhetoric of liberty. "Liberty" is the central glittering generality of libertarian propaganda. | ||
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No one libertarian exemplifies all of these viewpoints, nor do any of these viewpoints match all libertarians. There might be a libertarian who doesn't match any of these viewpoints. | No one libertarian exemplifies all of these viewpoints, nor do any of these viewpoints match all libertarians. There might be a libertarian who doesn't match any of these viewpoints. | ||
| − | But it is easy to find libertarians who are well-described by any these characterizations. A large, diverse ideology such as libertarianism requires large, diverse description the same way blind men describing an elephant used a lot of analogies. | + | But it is easy to find libertarians who are well-described by any of these characterizations. A large, diverse ideology such as libertarianism requires large, diverse description the same way the blind men describing an elephant used a lot of analogies. |
| − | Some of these characterizations are repulsive: hurrah for the libertarian who avoids matching the repulsive ones. There aren't too many of them in print because the vast majority of libertarian authors are sponsored by corporate funding (especially the Koch brothers) or rely on philosophical fairytales. A great many libertarians are repulsed by each other for one or more of these problems. | + | Some of these characterizations are repulsive: hurrah for the libertarian who avoids matching the repulsive ones. There aren't too many of them in print because the vast majority of libertarian authors are sponsored by corporate funding (especially the Koch brothers) or rely on philosophical or economic fairytales. A great many libertarians are repulsed by each other for one or more of these problems. |
== References == | == References == | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
