The only thing you need to know about Laura Stein's sophomoric piece on Libertarianism . . .

. . . (which argues that big government is both awful and oppressive but nonetheless absolutely necessary to civilization) is that her college Anthropology professor convinced her of the old canard that the Iroquois had something to do with the US Constitution.

She knows about as much about Libertarian concepts of governments and markets as she does about, uh, the evolution of government. Which is to say: not much about either.

But, again, the fact that so many ill-informed people are attacking Libertarian thought these days is indicative of how many people are starting to become nervous about Libertarian (big and small "L") voters.

Comments

Hube said…

OMG. Another PC dolt who believes the Founders were significantly influenced by the Iroquois Confederation? I'm surprised the Pilgrims haven't been yet transformed into devil-worshiping vampires in our textbooks.

August 27, 2012 at 8:45 AM

delacrat said…

What an anthropology professor said about the similarities between Iroquois confederation and the Constitution 200 years ago says nothing about what Ms. Stein has to say about Libertarianism today.

For example:

"Saying that free markets can only exist by eliminating "regulations" is akin to saying that we can only have leprechauns if Ireland removes all the fences and hedges in the Irish countryside. No removal of restrictions will enable the existence of leprechauns, and the "free market" is just as much an imaginary entity as they are."

Do the Constitution and/or Iroquois confederation disprove Ms. Stein's contention that "free markets" are as imaginary as leprechauns?

August 27, 2012 at 11:02 AM

Comment Rescue (?) and child-related gun violence in Delaware

In my post about the idiotic over-reaction to a New Jersey 10-year-old posing with his new squirrel rifle , Dana Garrett left me this response: One waits, apparently in vain, for you to post the annual rates of children who either shoot themselves or someone else with a gun. But then you Libertarians are notoriously ambivalent to and silent about data and facts and would rather talk abstract principles and fear monger (like the government will confiscate your guns). It doesn't require any degree of subtlety to see why you are data and fact adverse. The facts indicate we have a crisis with gun violence and accidents in the USA, and Libertarians offer nothing credible to address it. Lives, even the lives of children, get sacrificed to the fetishism of liberty. That's intellectual cowardice. OK, Dana, let's talk facts. According to the Children's Defense Fund , which is itself only querying the CDCP data base, fewer than 10 children/teens were killed per year in Delaw

The Obligatory Libertarian Tax Day Post

The most disturbing factoid that I learned on Tax Day was that the average American must now spend a full twenty-four hours filling out tax forms. That's three work days. Or, think of it this way: if you had to put in two hours per night after dinner to finish your taxes, that's two weeks (with Sundays off). I saw a talking head economics professor on some Philly TV channel pontificating about how Americans procrastinate. He was laughing. The IRS guy they interviewed actually said, "Tick, tick, tick." You have to wonder if Governor Ruth Ann Minner and her cohorts put in twenty-four hours pondering whether or not to give Kraft Foods $708,000 of our State taxes while demanding that school districts return $8-10 million each?

New Warfare: I started my posts with a discussion.....

.....on Unrestricted warfare . The US Air force Institute for National Security Studies have developed a reasonable systems approach to deter non-state violent actors who they label as NSVA's. It is an exceptionally important report if we want to deter violent extremism and other potential violent actors that could threaten this nation and its security. It is THE report our political officials should be listening to to shape policy so that we do not become excessive in using force against those who do not agree with policy and dispute it with reason and normal non-violent civil disobedience. This report, should be carefully read by everyone really concerned with protecting civil liberties while deterring violent terrorism and I recommend if you are a professional you send your recommendations via e-mail at the link above so that either 1.) additional safeguards to civil liberties are included, or 2.) additional viable strategies can be used. Finally, one can only hope that politici

Search This Blog