Guy Incognito
DP Veteran
- Joined
- May 14, 2010
- Messages
- 11,216
- Reaction score
- 2,846
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian
There are a lot of libertarians on DP, and I think that's a great thing. I was discussing this recently with another poster and I think that the most basic principle of libertarianism is that of noncoercion. Respect for individual liberty is paramount, and any sort of forcible infringement on personal liberty is invalid. I think that is about as perfect a principle as you can come up with in political philosophy.
Now, where I disagree with most of my fellow libertarians is in thinking that the noncoercive maxim is best served by right-wing economic policies such as deregulation and lowering of taxes. Of course, in Libertopia, where our fundamental maxim is always applied in every situation, there are none of these things and never have been. Taxes and regulatory bodies do not exist in Libertopia, indeed, they have never existed.
But in reality, we don't live there, we live in a dystopic world where coercion is the norm, indeed it has been celebrated for the majority of human history.
Libertopia is a wonderful place, free of coercion. How do we best transition this world into Libertopia, then? Lowering taxes for the rich is not the answer. This only allows the bloodmoney built on the past coercive systems to pool into the hands of a privileged few, producing a de facto aristocracy.
The answer is tempering the libertarian maxim with a dose of rationality. If you apply it selectively it creates market distortions that are just as coercive as any government. You can't just adopt a dogmatic adherence to Enlightment-era economic philosophy (Read: Adam Smith). Libertarians, you have to get real.
Now, where I disagree with most of my fellow libertarians is in thinking that the noncoercive maxim is best served by right-wing economic policies such as deregulation and lowering of taxes. Of course, in Libertopia, where our fundamental maxim is always applied in every situation, there are none of these things and never have been. Taxes and regulatory bodies do not exist in Libertopia, indeed, they have never existed.
But in reality, we don't live there, we live in a dystopic world where coercion is the norm, indeed it has been celebrated for the majority of human history.
Libertopia is a wonderful place, free of coercion. How do we best transition this world into Libertopia, then? Lowering taxes for the rich is not the answer. This only allows the bloodmoney built on the past coercive systems to pool into the hands of a privileged few, producing a de facto aristocracy.
The answer is tempering the libertarian maxim with a dose of rationality. If you apply it selectively it creates market distortions that are just as coercive as any government. You can't just adopt a dogmatic adherence to Enlightment-era economic philosophy (Read: Adam Smith). Libertarians, you have to get real.
Last edited: