Libertarians have ditched their support for "free markets and free people":
I would prefer not to lose my Libertarian purity certificate. I want a political philosophy that is simple and has universal application. That way I don’t have to think too hard. For the last 30 years libertarianism has been that philosophy. Name an issue of the day and I can give you the answer. Sluggish growth? Privatise, lower taxes and de-regulate. Busy roads? Privatise. Inflation? Abolish the Bank of England or re-introduce the Gold Standard, or, er… privatise the Bank of England. OK, some issues are not quite that easy but usually they are. Until we get to immigration. Because if libertarianism means open borders then libertarianism is wrong because open borders are a disaster.
Read the whole thing, and the comments. And remember that this is Libertarian Central. If the Open Borders crowd has lost Samizdata, they've lost everybody.
I have been a libertarian anarchist as a theoretical moral system for almost forty years. However, my degree in economics (Austrian School) and a thorough grounding in history made me reject the concept of open borders in our real world. Basically, there cannot be both government transfer payments and open borders.
ReplyDeleteIn an ideal libertarian society, which I believe is nigh impossible, freedom of travel across arbitrary borders would not be a problem. See the situation in "First World" countries in the second half of the 19th Century. Mostly workable. But once there are freebies from governments to anyone who shows up vertical and breathing, they will come in their millions and overwhelm that country's resources. It's a numbers game, and there are always more poor people than productive people.
Is it time for a National Libertarian movement?
ReplyDeleteOur land for our people. Our laws for our people. Our rights for our people. Our liberties for our people.
Oh WOW, I hadn't been on that site in a long time and had forgotten just how NUTS and out of contact with reality they all are.
ReplyDeleteJNorth, not of out of touch as they used to be, seemingly. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how easy it is to slip back from insanity to sanity once the ox being gored is you.
ReplyDelete"Welcome to the party, pal!"
Ah, I was always a historian. I let history be my range finder and spotter. It is as old as Greece but one thing I learned early was, 'everything in moderation.' Never did get carried away with labels.
ReplyDeleteAaaand there it is, the collision between idealistic theory and filthy reality. "First time, pal?'
ReplyDeletePeople find out Libertarians are idiots the same way they find out people are vegans:
ReplyDeleteThey'll tell you.
I gave up on the Libertarian party about a quarter century ago after a conversation at an Alexandria, VA venue with an official of the LP(not Ron Paul, though he was at the venue).
ReplyDeleteThe discussion had been enjoyable, but when he mentioned an article about a Vietnam MIA's remains being recovered and identified, he went into a rant on the wasteful spending. I conceded that the POW/MIA issue has been badly handled, but I've long supported the idea of trying to bring home both POWs and MIAs. He wanted to just leave the remains where they were, and he also wanted to end all services for vets, especially those wounded.
Not wanting to make a scene and embarrass my sponsor(a supervisor at my then client) I told him that my family has served with honor for several generations, even if we/they didn't agree with the war(s). Both my wife and I are USAF veterans, serving just after the Vietnam conflict.
I stopped my monthly $100 donation to the party after that and when I was asked why, I gave the person inquiring the name of the official and that was the end of it.
My wife and I still agree with some of the libertarian ideals and policies, but not as many as we once did.
It's lost on the libertarians that race, IQ, and culture matter. I'm still waiting for one who believe in open borders to find me that LGBTQ Sharia law loving Muslim libertarian.
ReplyDeleteLibertarianism is from Western civilization and few people from other cultures really get it. I did attend a Ron Paul event and there were a handful of Asian, Indian, and such, but it was mostly White people. This is why the left wants to overrun Western societies with turd worlders.
The late Robert Wenzel, thought open borders were great because 'cheap labor' though that is what is killing us here in the US. My STEM degree is worthless in part because of too much legal immigration.