Difference between revisions of "What Is Wrong With Libertarianism"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
* [[Libertarians Misunderstand Rights]] | * [[Libertarians Misunderstand Rights]] | ||
Natural rights are nonsense on stilts. Rights are positive in the scientific sense: they are observable phenomena consisting of human behavior and institutions that can be studied as certainly as we study any other animal behavior. Rights are not mere claims: they exist because of enforced involuntary duties. And those involuntary duties conflict with freedoms. | Natural rights are nonsense on stilts. Rights are positive in the scientific sense: they are observable phenomena consisting of human behavior and institutions that can be studied as certainly as we study any other animal behavior. Rights are not mere claims: they exist because of enforced involuntary duties. And those involuntary duties conflict with freedoms. | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[Libertarians Misunderstand Property]] | ||
| + | Libertarians routinely assume modern property is natural, is absolute, is costless, should extend over all, and solves all problems. None of that is true. | ||
* [[Libertarians Misunderstand Freedom]] | * [[Libertarians Misunderstand Freedom]] | ||
| Line 27: | Line 30: | ||
* [[Libertarians Misunderstand Coercion]] | * [[Libertarians Misunderstand Coercion]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | * [[Libertarians Misunderstand Government]] | ||
| + | Libertarians are generally guilty of misrepresenting government. First, they discuss government as if it is monolithic, but it is not. Modern government is dispersed in two ways: by separation of powers among three branches and by division of responsibilities among federal, state, local, and non-government authorities. Second, libertarians represent government as a source of coercion, but it is not. Government is where we delibertarely channel coercion because the alternative (the private sector) gives much worse results, as the history of privately owned states (monarchies, dictatorships, and other despotisms) and private "law" such as slavery, mafias, warlords, etc. show rather clearly. We have constructed a government that is jointly owned by all, because private ownership gives too much incentive for profit through coercion of others. | ||
* [[Libertarians Misunderstand Liberalism]] | * [[Libertarians Misunderstand Liberalism]] | ||
