How I Became a Libertarian

https://www.cato.org/policy-report/march/april-2021/how-i-became-libertarian

by evrimfeyyaz • 5 years ago

25 32 5 years ago

cato.org

shimonabi• 5 years ago

He explicitly writes libertarian with a small "l", yet the title is different.

HKH2• 5 years ago

It's title case. It's part of English, but I guess it's gradually falling out of use.

avereveard2• 5 years ago

Not that he's wrong about some of the principles highlighted but calling taxation straight up predation seems quite the stretch.

golergka• 5 years ago

Why? Taxation is taking money from people and companies with the threat of voilence.

avereveard2• 5 years ago

Because you get some basic services back, like roads.

Imagine the mess that are ISP peering agreements but for private transit. Jesus this community truly lives in a bubble.

jordank• 5 years ago

Are there any examples of current or past successful libertarian governments?

1cvmask2• 5 years ago

Economically some are like Hong Kong and to a lesser extent Switzerland.

collective-intl2• 5 years ago

The USA was founded on the idea of limited government. It was very successful!

Government only gets bigger over time. Even early 20th century America had a tiny fraction of our budget and regulations today.

ObserverNeutral3• 5 years ago

Libertarians are pretty smart.

But apolitical people with no real ideology who just limit themselves to bet (financially and socially) who will win, they are even smarter

sigmaprimus2• 5 years ago

>> People with no real ideology who just limit themselves to bet (financially and socially)...

AKA Agorists / AnCaps

Ps: The smatest people in the room get lined up against the wall or loaded in the box cars 1st.

ObserverNeutral3• 5 years ago

Not really. I mean those who bet on proper lines and on financial markets that Republicans will win after 8 years of Democrats and vice versa

Also those who automatically assume the political leaning of the person they are interacting with.

If I am with a hot college girl who is a Bernie supporter, you bet I'd be strongly and passionately arguing for the redistribution of wealth and a 95% income tax because that creates empathy and increases my chances.

If I am pitching to a VC in Texas, you bet I'll be strongly pro-Trump and pro 2nd amendment, because it creates empathy and increases my chances.

Politics is a tool to improve your quality of life, and I mean by acquiring friends and allies while talking about it, the trick is to not have a political opinion and polish your acting skills and suddenly the sky is the limit

recursivedoubts• 5 years ago

libertarianism is an interesting & coherent political philosophy, but I notice that it keeps losing

my understanding is that, from a political perspective, the idea is to win

listless• 5 years ago

This is an excellent point. And I _think_ that the answer is that government is inherently about control. Both sides seek to gain power and then use it to control and manipulate people into behaving a certain way. Politics itself is essentially at odds with libertarianism.

smitty1e3• 5 years ago

Perhaps libertarianism itself and alone is less than sufficient as a political system.

1cvmask2• 5 years ago

Someone should write an updated book on Socialism for the rich, Corporate Socialism, regulatory capture, funding of politicians to get government benefits, the political funding cycle and revolving door, politicians cashing in after leaving office, and the DC gravy train of the military industrial complex.

It is sending taxpayers money to the rich through multiple mechanisms like tax subsidies for mortgages, bank bail outs, government guarantees of different financial instruments (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac etc..) etc....

A classic:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Calculus_of_Consent

—

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_choice

hirundo• 5 years ago

Someone should write an updated book on Socialism for the rich

This article is from the Cato Institute, who have had a major focus on corporate welfare for many years. Here are 309 results from them on that topic:

https://www.cato.org/corporate-welfare

Here's their review of a six year old book about it:

https://www.cato.org/blog/corporate-welfare-james-t-bennett

Spoiler: They don't think it's a good idea.

smitty1e3• 5 years ago

This is a thoughtful, well-written piece.

It would be helpful to see solid counter-arguments instead of flagging.

collective-intl2• 5 years ago

How can we stop all the flag killing on HN? It's 90% censorship.

smitty1e3• 5 years ago

Much of the time, the flagging filters obvious advertising and flamebait.

It's the tendency to flag ideas that challenge the orthodoxy that raises ire.

evrimfeyyaz• 5 years ago

I personally don't agree with most of the things the article says and that's exactly why I shared it on Hacker News. I was hoping that some smart people with good insights on the topic could respond with rebuttals and I could learn from them. But I guess even on Hacker News people are intolerant towards ideas that they don't "like."

taylodl• 5 years ago

I stopped reading when I saw their definition of socialism - if they couldn't be bothered to research to ensure they got that correct then why spend time with anything else they have to say? Straw-man arguments may be fun, but they're not constructive.

How I Became a Libertarian

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