I get asked a lot “Are you a libertarian?” Or “What do you think of libertarianism?” And many students have asked me: “What is libertarianism?”
I have heard numerous guys (they are male right around 100 percent of the time) proudly declare “I tend to vote libertarian." They are inclined to say this for two reasons: (1) they think it’s thought provoking—“Ooh, you’re so interesting!”—and (2) they are convinced it makes them sound smart. From my many (many) years of observation, they have no idea what libertarianism even means—much like the terms liberal and conservative.
So, I thought a quick blog post explaining what that word actually means was in order.
The word libertarianism comes from the word “liberty.” It was originally a leftwing political philosophy promoting an anti-authoritarian philosophy. Anarchism was a libertarian philosophy. And libertarianism (more so in Europe) does have its roots in classical liberalism. Think John Locke’s “Second Treatise of Government.” So: limited government, emphasis on human equality and liberty, and the right to rebel against and overthrow tyrannical governments.
Contemporary American libertarianism tends to come in two flavors: economic libertarianism and social libertarianism. The former is against government regulation of private enterprise (namely, corporations), sometimes including any taxation whatsoever, and the latter is against government imposing on people’s freedoms and liberties. What does this mean?
It means, in the former case—economic libertarianism—leave Exxon Mobil and Lockheed Martin alone, but the impoverished, elderly woman down the street can rot. Private power and the rich have a duty to pay taxes so the elderly woman can eat and your kids can go to school and ride the bus to get there. Libertarians are very protective of power and much less protective of the poor, elderly, and vulnerable.
Social libertarians subscribe to the “I want the government out of my life!” ethos—except when their houses are on fire and their streets need plowing, presumably. They’re all about legality of marijuana, etc. Let folks do what they want. This type of freedom is labeled “negative liberty.”
On balance, libertarians go on about limited government, rave about the free market, and are quite solicitous about private power. However, there is no free market. Boeing, Apple, and Walmart are not interested in a free market (or unions, for that matter) and they despise the idea of competition; they want nothing to do with it. One could say that corporate America is anti-capitalist and seeks monopoly power The major Wall Street banks rely on the “nanny state,” to which they can run for protection and (when needed; see 2008) free money. And “free” here means YOUR money. These corporate firms do not want the government out of their lives, they love government involvement—except when that involvement disturbs their profits. They just want protection and access to a cash machine. We have a kind of socialism in this country, just for the rich and powerful; but when folks complain about what food-aid users are putting in their carts, they forget about the massive government aid that goes up. If that person wants steak, so be it. Goldman Sachs and Microsoft get a lot more than steak. "No free handouts!" No?? For whom, exactly?
In closing, libertarianism is basically a religion that worships a thing that doesn’t exist—except for power, now that exists, and libertarians glorify it. And American libertarianism holds in contempt the working class, the working poor, and the just plain poor.
Announcing a libertarian position is not thought provoking and it does not make you sound smart.
