Saturday, October 1, 2011

The problem with libertarians



This is my biggest problem with libertarians, that they tend to be fanatics. I suppose I could understand a moderate leaning towards libertarianism, but I'm not sure there are any moderate libertarians. Certainly, the only ones I seem to encounter are those who follow their beloved philosophy to its most absurd conclusions.

I wouldn't be even a moderate libertarian myself, because I recognize that we are social animals. We live in groups. We always have. And so we've always needed some degree of organization - government - to maintain the peace and, generally, to keep the strongest (who are not necessarily the smartest) from completely dominating everyone else.

Governments are not always bad! Indeed, governments are necessary. Maybe we should have the smallest government we need, but no smaller than that. The loons who want to shrink America's government until it can be drowned in a bathtub are loons.

Even the most primitive tribes had a kind of "government," if only a set of customs they followed. But as our numbers increased, and as our societies became more diverse, we needed bigger governments. Well, societies which didn't do that were generally conquered by those which did. Either way, bigger governments were necessary.

And that's still the case. We are far wealthier today than we've ever been, and more peaceful, too. So now we're supposed to throw this all away for some pipe-dream philosophy, especially when the major proponents show no common sense at all? Forget that!

2 comments:

Jim Harris said...

I grew up loving the fiction of Robert A. Heinlein, but as I got older I rebelled against my literary father over his libertarian views. Heinlein, and other libertarians worship the idea of the rugged individualist. I believe that's bullshit. I'm a loner by nature, but I know absolutely well that we're a social species, and government is for the good of all. I want to be left alone, but I know I depend on a vast infrastructure to support my needs. I don't want gas pipes blowing up, so I depend on the government to make sure that doesn't happen.

This was a great video clip. It shows what insanity the small government movement really is all about. I believe government could be more efficient and fairer, but I don't want it smaller. I want to spend trillions to make a great nation. I do not want to lower taxes and have some poor-ass backward country to live in.

Jeff said...

"This is my biggest problem with libertarians, that they tend to be fanatics."

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. - Sir W. Churchill