We Already Tried Libertarianism - It Was Called Feudalism (Mike Konczal - Rortybomb)

[swag]

http://www.nextnewdeal.net/rortybomb/we-already-tried-libertarianism-it-was-called-feudalism

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Michael Lind had a column in Salon where he asked, “(i)f libertarians are correct in claiming that they understand how best to organize a modern society, how is it that not a single country in the world in the early twenty-first century is organized along libertarian lines?” EJ Dionne agrees. Several libertarians argue that the present is no guide, because the (seasteading?) future belongs to libertarians.

I’d actually go in a different direction and say the past belonged to libertarians. We tried libertarianism for a long time; it was called feudalism. That modern-day libertarianism of the Nozick-Rand-Rothbard variety resembles feudalism, rather than some variety of modern liberalism, is a great point made by Samuel Freeman in his paper "Illiberal Libertarians: Why Libertarianism Is Not a Liberal View." Let’s walk through it.

Freeman notes that there are several key institutional features of liberal political structures shared across a variety of theorists. First, there’s a set of basic rights each person equally shares (speech, association, thought, religion, conscience, voting and holding office, etc.) that are both fundamental and inalienable (more on those terms in a bit). Second, there’s a public political authority which is impartial, institutional, continuous, and held in trust to be acted on in a representative capacity. Third, positions should be open to talented individuals alongside some fairness in equality of opportunity. And last, there’s a role for governments in the market for providing public goods, checking market failure, and providing a social minimum.

The libertarian state, centered solely around ideas of private property, stands in contrast to all of these. I want to stick with the libertarian minimal state laid out by Robert Nozick in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (ASU), as it's a landmark in libertarian thought, and I just re-read it and wanted to write something about it. Let’s look at how it handles each of the political features laid out above.

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http://www.nextnewdeal.net/rortybomb/we-already-tried-libertarianism-it-was-called-feudalism

[Beakybird]

1. Pun of the day

In democracy, it's your vote that counts. In feudalism, it's your count that votes.

[JoeyT]

2. I'd argue that feudalism wasn't when we tried libertarianism,

I'd argue that libertarian policy was given a true and honest shot at power in the late 1800s. And it gave us robber barons, child workers being maimed and killed, monopolies, starving workers, and company towns.

The only good things it did were inadvertent and came about as a mass public desire to be rid of it. Unions, anti-monopoly laws, child work laws, etc.

[davhill]

3. There is a libertarian utopia in the world right now

It's called Somalia. They haven't had a government there for decades. Any warlord with enough cash can buy himself an army. Anyone with a gun and a boat can become a pirate. I think we should send all the libertarians there.

[freshwest]

4. What a relief to see some catching on. Thanks for posting this.