| Original Article |
Anarchist Reponse |
| Check
out these links |
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- Why I Am
Not a Libertarian
- Jonathan Wallace's personal understanding of why libertarianism is
insufficient and wrong. An article from The
Ethical Spectacle.
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- George
Walford: On The Capitalist Anarchists
- Justly ridicules a major myopia of anarcho-capitalists. Brief.
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- Why
is libertarianism wrong?
- Paul Treanor's very European-style analysis.
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- Why
I'm Not a Libertarian
- Travis Stansel takes libertarians to task for excessive market
orientation. From Conscious
Chocie magazine.
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- The
Capitalist Threat.
- George Soros' February 1997 article from The
Atlantic Monthly. 'The main threat to social justice and economic
stability now comes from the uninhibited pursuit of laissez-faire
economics, argues one of the world's most prominent capitalists, who
warns that the very ideal of an "open society" is at stake.'
- "The Capitalist Threat" -- Related Articles in
The Atlantic
- If
the GDP is Up, Why is America Down? , by Clifford Cobb, Ted
Halstead, and Jonathan Rowe (1995)
"Rarely does anyone point out how the market itself can
undermine family values in the name of growth."
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- Christians
are flirting with libertarianism, but it is not a biblical option.
- Ronald J. Sider & Fred Clark write in Christianity
Today that evangelicals should avoid association with libertarian
pornographers and the like. Socially conservative.
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- Libertarianism:
Bogus Anarchy.
- by Peter Sabatini.
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- Is government
eeevil? We Have Met the Gummint And He Is Us.
- Mark Rosenfelder points out the paradox that only people with really
good government could think they didn't need it. Good commonsense.
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- Liberals
and Libertarians #1
- How libertarians misrepresent themselves as classical liberals by
focusing on means, not ends. Part of a new site about Classical
Liberals.
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- Of
the Functions of Government in General
- J. S. Mill, a REAL classical liberal, explains at great length why
"protection against force and fraud" is too simplistic a
standard.
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- When
Theft is Moral
- Amod Lele examines the assumptions behind "theft",
observing the coercion that underlies all property.
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- The
Limits Of Markets.
- Robert Kuttner's article in The
American Prospect which summarizes his book "Everything For
Sale". This short article goes a long way towards explaining the
fallacies of libertarian economic arguments. Highly recommended.
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- Get
Uncle Sam off my back! and other misguided impulses.
- Gary Kamiya's review of A
Necessary Evil" by Garry Wills. Praises the debunking of many
Revolutionary Era myths of the Founders and Constitution exploited by
anti-governmentalists.
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- A
Non-Libertarian FAQ.
- A general introduction to discussion with libertarians, with an
extensive discussion of arguments commonly used by libertarian
evangelists.
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- A
Critique Of Libertarianism.
- James Hammerton's criticisms of Nozick and Hayek's ideas. Excellent
philosophical rebuttals of some libertarian axioms.
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- Libertarians
& Conservatives
- by Ernest van der Haag. A 1979 National Review comparison of
libertarianism to conservatism that finds libertarianism to be "anarcho-totalitarianism".
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- The
Machinery of Freedom: Chapter 41: Problems.
- An introduction to the newest and best section of David
Friedman's otherwise evangelical text. He takes most libertarians
to task for their much too simplistic philosophical claims.
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- Why
I Am NOT a Libertarian
- Rev. Jimi Freidenker's plain, straightforward reasons for rejecting
his former libertarian/objectivist beliefs.
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- Criticisms
of Robert Nozick and "Anarchy, State, and Utopia".
- The foremost philosophy of libertarianism has been thoroughly
discredited.
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- Criticisms
of Objectivism (or Ayn Rand).
- Ayn Rand was a truculent, domineering cult-leader, whose Objectivist
pseudo-philosophy attempts to ensnare adolescents with heroic fiction
about righteous capitalists.
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- Reviews
Of Books Related To Libertarianism.
- An index to reviews that show libertarianism in an unfavorable
light.
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- Humor,
Satire, and Quotations.
- These make an otherwise dry subject more palatable.
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- Liberal
Criticisms.
- Liberals understand that government has a useful track record.
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- Conservative
Criticisms.
- Few conservatives seem to feel much need to bash libertarianism:
liberals are much bigger enemies.
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- Left-Libertarian
and Anarchist Criticism.
- A resounding clash of ideologies!
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- Objectivist
Critiques Of Libertarianism.
- While Objectivism is a type of libertarianism, there is a great deal
of conflict between the two groups, sometimes resulting in some good
criticisms.
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- Libertarians
Criticizing Each Other.
- Libertarians are by no means unified in their positions, and some of
their strongest criticisms are aimed at each other.
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- The
Liberal Alternative.
- Some excellent liberal sources that contrast strongly with
libertarianism.
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- The Cato
Institute.
- A libertarian quasi-academic think-tank which acts as a mouthpiece
for the globalism, corporatism, and neoliberalism of its corporate and
conservative funders.
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- David
Friedman.
- An anarcho-capitalist libertarian whose ideas undermine most
libertarian's philosophy. His writings and criticisms of them.
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- Testimonials
by former libertarians and objectivists.
- Let's see what we can learn from some of the many who have left
libertarianism.
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- Criticisms
of the Libertarian Party.
- There's lots to laugh at, behind the veil of propaganda.
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- Make Or
Break Views Of Libertarianism.
- Positions so absolute and extreme as to border on self-ridicule.
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- The
"World's Smallest Political Quiz".
- What's wrong with this prime propaganda.
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- Government
And Economics.
- Libertarians tend to consider government a drain on the economy,
when in actuality it is an active player in creating a more vigorous
economy.
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- Liberty
And Government.
- Most libertarians view government as a destroyer of liberty. But the
fact is that government is essential to create liberty.
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- Austrian
Economics.
- A fringe academic view which is greatly preferred by many
libertarians on ideological grounds.
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- Criticisms
of Neoliberalism, Capitalism, and Free Markets.
- Libertarians are unabashed promoters of capitalism and free markets,
and generally can see no wrong with them, either historically,
philosophically, or economically. The rest of the world can though.
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- Libertarian
Economic Experiments.
- Chile and New Zealand are often cited by libertarians as sites of
successful libertarian economic reform. They tend to cite a few
"benefits", but there are many downsides....
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- Freedom
Through Technology.
- Cypherpunks, high-tech libertarians, and various others mistakenly
think technology will eliminate the need for government (if not
outright eliminate government.)
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- The
Constitution, Laws, and Libertarians.
- Libertarians frequently parrot bizarre pseudolegal formulas or
selective histories to justify militias, common law courts, sovereign
citizenship, immunity from taxes, etc. They also adopt many right wing
criticisms of modern court interpretations of the Constitution.
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- Libertarian
Revisionist History
- Ideologies often require revision of inconvenient history, and
identification of famous historical figures as fellow believers.
Libertarians have their own ludicrous literature and claims.
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- Society
Versus Individuals Versus Markets.
- Most libertarians myopically focus on individuals: indeed, they
often deny that society exists at all. The problem is that individuals
reside in an environment called society.
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Let's
Gut the Political Community
Defining the
State and Society, by Wendy McElroy
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- Environmentalism.
- Libertarians are often grotesquely anti-environmental in terms of
regulation. (Though some do like market-oriented pollution rights.)
They frequently repeat anti-environmental propaganda.
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- Gun
Control.
- Libertarians tend to be strongly anti-gun-control, more so even than
the NRA leadership, since ideology knows no bounds.
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- Privatization
and Deregulation.
- Libertarians are generally unabashedly in favor of privatization and
deregulation, with only minor limits in the case of minarchists. It's
not that simple.
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Privatization |
- Social
Security.
- Social Security is one of the biggest libertarian bugaboos. It's
obvious success clashes harshly with the sink-or-swim ideology of most
libertarians.
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Anyone who ran a private
pension fund or insurance firm using the Social Security system as a model
would be indicted for criminal fraud. Social Security is immoral.
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- Transferring
Power To The States.
- Libertarians frequently prefer to decentralize government power by
moving it to the states. Sometimes that's not good planning.
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- Public
Schools, Education, and Vouchers.
- Libertarians generally adopt anti-public school rhetoric, and
recommend vouchers as a first step towards elimination of public
schools.
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Vouchers
Early
Education and Childcare Cato #30.
Homeschooling
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- Taxation.
- Most libertarians are opposed to taxes, and make various arguments
why they should be "equal" and not progressive.
|
Taxation
is Theft |
- Limited
Property: Zoning and Takings.
- Most libertarians are in favor of absolute property rights, in
contradiction to essentially all traditions of property ownership.
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- Limited
Property: Property Taxes.
- Most libertarians are opposed to property taxes. The Georgists have
an answer that libertarians are unable to rebut.
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| Reciprocal
Links and other Resources Of Interest. |
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