Every so often, people opine on the question of why libertarians are mostly men (Jeet Heer, Kevin Drum, Brink Lindsey). As someone more interested in the philosophical debate, not the sociological debate, I generally stay out of these discussions. However, if I had to speculate, I’d say that the reason libertarians are mostly men is… Continue reading Why Are Libertarians Mostly Men?
Results for "libertarian"
Capitalism is coercive and creates patterns of deprivation, as explained by libertarian blockquotes
I have a piece in The Washington Post that argues for a Universal Basic Income. The piece is part of a general UBI forum with lots of participants. I was solicited to provide a left-of-center perspective, and so that’s what I did. The piece identifies two problems inherent in capitalist economic systems — employer coercion… Continue reading Capitalism is coercive and creates patterns of deprivation, as explained by libertarian blockquotes
The amusing case of tech libertarians
One of the remarkable things about tech libertarians and the culture that surrounds them is that the modern tech economy is only possible because of more socialistic endeavors. By this I don’t mean the by now hackneyed point that the internet was the fruit of public research while the world wide web was gifted to… Continue reading The amusing case of tech libertarians
A Note On Libertarian Anti-Paternalism
Whenever libertarians talk about the evils of liberty-restricting paternalism, I can’t help but recall that the endorsement of paternalism is the only plausible way their theory of laissez-faire property is supposed to get off the ground in the first place. As Nozick notes, the appropriation of property is inherently liberty-destroying: It will be implausible to… Continue reading A Note On Libertarian Anti-Paternalism
#NotAllLibertarians: An Illustration
Every time you attack libertarianism, libertarians respond by saying you haven’t actually attacked libertarianism. You’ve only attacked one libertarian or one perspective, but that’s not the right one to look at it. You are engaging in a straw man argument. And so on. It never ends. You can’t ever deliver a square blow against it… Continue reading #NotAllLibertarians: An Illustration