Why Not Even Libertarians Can Name a Single Successful Libertarian State

[thomhartmann]

Can you name a single successful libertarian experiment in running a country? Even libertarians are having trouble.

[lapfog_1]

1. Somalia... oh wait... n/t

[Voltaire2]

2. Iceland circa 1200.

[paleotn]

3. The Icelanders of the Middle Ages had a system of government...

with assembly men and a legal system based on the complexity of their society. Libertarianism has no such structures and is basically anarchy. It is grossly unrealistic in its accounting for human nature and is thus, nothing more than a ridiculous fallacy.

[Voltaire2]

6. It was a minimal government and does

fit within the right-libertarian framework. Most libertarians are minimalists not anarchists with respect to government.

It is pretty much the only example.

[vkkv]

4. "Libertarianism" sounds good, sounds like 'freedom'. And it is sort of:

( I wrote this back in 2014 )


"Libertarianism" sounds good, sounds like 'freedom'. And it is sort of:

* Freedom for corporations to buy up competing businesses and monopolize control of a single market. (Yes, I know, it's already happening with the GOP Congress we've had.)

* Freedom for corporations to bilk you with no legal remedies for you.

* Freedom for corporations to buy up and privatize beach front land - sorry, um, what's a surfboard?

* Freedom for corporations to build enormous hotels in the middle of a high elevation, pristine meadow (say Tuolumne?).

* Freedom for sub-corporations to pollute your rivers, lakes and public water with toxins, go bankrupt, leave the mess to you while the umbrella corporation reaps all the profits. Oh wait, this is already happening, too, thanks to the G.O.P.!

* Freedom for corporations to track your every online movement, it's for the good of business and the economy of course. (see Ebay and Facebook).

* Freedom for your crazy neighbor to own as many firearms as he wants - ah, but you get to shoot him with your AR-15 after he's already killed your kids, yay, revenge is so sweet!

* Freedom for doctors not to treat an emergency patient because they don't have the right insurance, or enough, or no cash, no credit card, no house to seize.

* Freedom to sue the person who has no auto insurance and no money who hits your car because your insurance no longer offers "uninsured motorist coverage" because under a libertarian government no one is legally required to buy liability insurance - yay!

* No EPA to slowdown the installation of a furnace to burn all of your garbage when someone else's house is downwind. This is especially great news for the hazardous waste creators like chemical factories, forges, tire dumps and hospitals.

* No messing with any unions!

* "Stand your ground" will the be the law of the land. But, most of the land will be owned by mega-corporations.

* No maternity leave pay!

* Privatized courts will always let you win as long as you're supplying the payroll.

* Privatized police forces will keep you safe from the other privatized police forces. You need "protection", right?

* Rand Paul looks really good with a Hitler mustache, don't you think?

[DBoon]

5. Real Anarchists can pont to Catalonia and the Ukraine

Anarchism is based on community ties and ethical relationships that predate capitalism. In a couple of cases, it existed for a few years even within modern societies.

A society based on capitalist individual self interest cannot exist, at least not until they create a new type of human with all the humanity removed.

[Voltaire2]

8. Yes but libertarians are not left anarchists

so that example doesn’t work for them.

[DBoon]

9. Exactly my point

Libertarianism is completely foreign to the human experience. It is the ideology of an emotionless machine.

Left anarchists can at least call up a prehistoric tribal collectivism, which served us well for millions of years.

[Locrian]

7. libertarians

The ultimate 12yr old boy fantasy of "freedom".
Never mind they're suckers for the more organized, more powerful, etc.

A power vacuum doesn't last very long....nor does it spring out of thin air.