Quotation of the day on the ‘libertarian moment’….
Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:20 AM PDT
… is from Conor Friedersdorf’s excellent article in The Atlantic “Libertarians Can Be a Significant Force for Good in U.S. Politics.” Conor’s article is in response to the recent New York Time article “Has the ‘Libertarian Moment’ Finally Arrived?” and the disdainful responses to that article from Paul Krugman of the Times, Jonathan Chait of New York, and David Frum — “All three concur that the notion of a libertarian ascendancy is an unsophisticated, laughable fantasy.” Here’s Conor:
Drug reform has been a core goal of libertarians for decades. The war on drugs has done as much as any policy in modern U.S. history to erode the Bill of Rights, particularly the 4th Amendment, to squander taxpayer dollars, to militarize the police, and to empower murderous cartels abroad. The reforms we’re witnessing constitute significant expansions of liberty.
Yet many who think of themselves as libertarians (or who are friendly to many but not all libertarian goals, like me) don’t particularly care who is ascendant in Washington, or what party affiliation appears beside the name of a legislator. If fewer people are caged for inhaling the smoke of a plant, that’s a libertarian victory. If fewer people’s doors are kicked in late at night by police officers dressed in combat fatigues, that’s a libertarian victory. If more cancer patients can legally obtain a substance that alleviates their suffering, that’s a libertarian victory. If fewer assets are seized by police without proof of guilt, that’s a libertarian victory. (Were I to embrace the rhetorical tactics of Paul Krugman, I might point to the war on drugs and ask, “Is non-libertarain domestic policy at all realistic?”)
On issues where libertarians have a somewhat realistic chance of winning over their fellow citizens—reining in the NSA, eliminating the most inane professional licensing laws, insisting on due process in the War on Terrorism, avoiding foolish wars of choice, ending the war on drugs, reducing the prison population and the militarization of the police—a “libertarian moment” would have a salutary effect on American life. Commentators like Frum, Chait, and Krugman don’t see this in large part because, if their output is indicative of their beliefs and priorities, they aren’t particularly troubled by NSA spying, or inane professional licensing laws, or civil asset forfeiture, or foolish wars of choice, or the war on drugs. For them, the path to a better America is further empowering an enlightened faction of technocrats within the political party to which they’re loyal. On particular issues, their respective prescriptions are sometimes worth trying. But I notice egregious incompetence and abuses—and lots of innocents dying needlessly—on the watches of the leaders they’ve overzealously supported. Libertarians have concrete policy proposals to protect against such ills. One needn’t embrace their entire philosophy to see the wisdom in them.
HT: Steve Horwitz
Michael
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