Is Libertarianism the Real Problem?
I’m beginning to think that libertarianism is actually a big part of the problem, on both sides of the political “divide”. Right Libertarians say “keep your government hands off my riches” and if people are poor or without healthcare it’s no business of the government; Left Libertarians say “keep your government hands off my body” and if fetuses are “terminated” that’s no business of the government. I see both as failures of solidarity. They are a failure to see that we should not consider ourselves as solitary atoms moving through space untouched by the needs and dreams and gifts of others: we fail to see that we are parts of molecules and compounds that need one another as much as hydrogen and oxygen need each other to make water.
The question to ask of the Great Libertarian Civil War is, “Cui Bono?” Who benefits from all this noisy, trumped-up “conflict?” Is it possible that it is a way of preventing another faction – a faction that questions the libertarian premises of both “sides” – from having a seat at the negotiating table?
I imagine that amazing progress could be made on several fronts – abortion and healthcare, to name two – if both parties had the fortitude to kick their libertarian factions to the curb, and ask themselves what their constituents actually need.
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Amen. Unfortunately, in the current political climate, I think the chances of this happening are next to nil. I hope I am wrong.
Mickey, the “current political climate” is created and sustained by folks that are spending colossal quantities to maintain it, so that the Wrong Questions never get asked.
They have lots of green pieces of paper – we have Us. There’s hope, my friend :)
Yes, libertarianism is part of the problem. There is an ongoing feud between two groups: one believes that the government is the best place to locate all power and force people to do what is good and right, the other believes the market is the place to locate all power and will eventually goad people into doing everything right and necessary. Neither has any time for the family – in one mind it is nepotism that corrupts government in the other, sentiment that distorts the market. Neither has space for the local community either; in one case, it is considered the seat of foolishness and in the other, an unnecessary restriction on the individual.
But the government and the market, necessary as they are, must be balanced by the family and the local community (often times religious community…) to create a stable and sustainable society. Only the family looks beyond this generation; only the local community being diverse under the federal government permits people true freedom – the freedom of association and doing silly things – without threatening everyone all the time.
As accurate as your assessment is, I wonder how many “left libertarians” actually consider themselves libertarian? I know many on the right do, but if pressed on the sexual issues I think many people still would say “no, I’m not a libertarian.”
With that said, I think that libertarianism is the root of many of our problems. In the economic sphere, private retirement funds have demolished the idea that companies serve the common good by investing in companies and voting for them to do whatever earns the biggest profit and not what advances their business. This was a huge factor in GE selling off its electrical engineering business and buying a bunch of non-related companies like NBC. From here we can probably draw a line straight to subprime mortgages and derivatives markets.
Matt,
One of the arguments against “the public option” that bothers me the most is this: “if your kid breaks his leg, why should I have to pay for it?”
I suppose I don’t have the selfish instinct to say, “no! This is MINE! You can’t have it!” like Golem when he has the Ring. I just don’t care enough about “my money” to get that worked up about it.
A lot of libertarians might argue that they give to charity, or would like to, but then, if you’re going to do it anyway, what difference does it make if someone tells you that you have to do it? To me, none. It’s when the government is trying to force me or others to do things that violate my conscience that I want to fight back.
It’s one thing to honestly believe that there are better alternatives to universal coverage than what is being proposed by the government, and another to argue that one does not have a moral or legal obligation to contribute to the common good.
Indeed, Joe – libertarians seem to almost deny that there really is such a thing as “the common good.” To me, the key to having a healthy society is…well, first of all to acknowledge that there is such a thing as “society” and that no man is an island.
I love your example of Golem – sort of the “ur” libertarian.
Matt, Joe:
It’s Gollum, not a golem. ;)
It’s one thing to honestly believe that there are better alternatives to universal coverage than what is being proposed by the government, and another to argue that one does not have a moral or legal obligation to contribute to the common good.
The reason I find appeals to subsidiarity unpersuasive is that no lower-level solution has been proposed. It would be one thing if there were a competing, non-governmental plan all ready to go, and the federal government undercut it with a plan of their own. This is not the case, and thus (at least as I understand it) subsidiarity concerns shouldn’t really be an issue…
So it’s not the Bush-Obama “vital center” welfare-warfare statist power structure that’s the problem, but the fringe characters and the right and left who are the problem? I think not!
We’d rather place our hopes in a revival of the “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion” coalition that the great Grover Cleveland was accused of embodying by his enemies. “Rum” represents the libertine libetarians, “Romanism” our Catholic Faith, and “Rebellion” those various “right-wing” movements.
Let San Francisco be San Francisco and let Salt Lake City be Salt Lake City! Let us stop being a nation of busybodies and clean up our own backyards first. Decentralization is the answer to the useless power struggles that plague us.
Henry – Thanks – having read a fair amount of Tolkien, I should have known :)