Originally Posted by
MEMpilot
Libertarianism as a philosophy and paradigm for state order is as extreme and full of contradictions as any Marxist ideology. I think Karl Marx and Ayn Rand shared a similar penchant for spouting off sanctimonious nonsense.
The most successful free-market societies as previous posters had listed, have developed a healthy balance of government and capitalism and have never taken the pathway to all-out free-market society. All of those listed still have some semblence of government. Some of those extreme "free-market" societies listed even provide free-health care! Japan for instance.
Extremist ideologies are dangerous. Marxist or Libertarian? Pick your poison. Do you want Joseph Stalin telling you what to do or Milton Friedman?
Ayn Rand, while celebrated by many Libertarians, was an Objectivist and had a quasi-mystical view of selfishness, etc. She spun a good yarn, but serious and sober libertarians don't have
Atlas Shrugged open when they make policy proposals.
Milton Friedman was a serious economist who wrote serious books with sound proposals. He wrote
Capitalism and Freedom, a book based on logic, sound economics, and a belief in individual liberty. Nowhere does he suggest abolishing the state. Give it a try.
The CATO Institute is probably the nation's leading Liberatrian think tank. They publish a handbook for policy makers which, as far as I know, does not quote Ayn Rand anywhere. The link to the publication is here:
Here is the executive summary from a chapter titled "limited Government and the Rule of Law":
Congress should:
●
live up to its constitutional obligations and cease the practice
of delegating legislative powers to administrative agencies—
legislation should be passed by Congress, not by unelected
administration officials;
●
before voting on any proposed act, ask whether that exercise
of power is authorized by the Constitution, which enumerates
the powers of Congress;
●
exercise its constitutional authority to approve only those
appointees to federal judgeships who will take seriously the
constitutional limitations on the powers of both the states and
the federal government; and
●
pass and send to the states for their approval a constitutional
amendment limiting senators to two terms in office and representatives
to three terms, in order to return the legislature to
citizen legislators.
What here is extreme?
The core belief of Libertarainism is a belief that free citizens (not children or the insane) live their lives according to their interests and their talents. They are free to chart their own course--
respecting the rights of other citizens and complying with the rule of law-- and to live with the fruits of good decisions and the consequences of bad ones. If that is extreme, then I am an extremist.
WW