Will Wilkinson has a must-read post on libertarianism, why he’s more of a liberal than a libertarian, and how he’d rather argue more with liberals than libertarians. He also condemns Ron Paul about as well as anyone could in a paragraph of his usual rhetorical genius:
Somebody’s going to ask “Isn’t Ron Paul making a difference?” So I’m going to say, “Yes.” None of this is to say that right-fusionism of the Ron Paul variety isn’t now having an influence, or that none of it is good. I’m glad to see Paul spreading a few profoundly important ideas about foreign policy. But that doesn’t mean Paul’s decades of bilking paranoid bigots with bullshit prophesies of hyperinflationary race war was really a stroke of strategic genius after all. Or maybe it means it was. But that doesn’t make it right. I don’t think Paul would be where he is today without all those years of vile fear-mongering. And I don’t think anyone ought to get away with climbing up that evil ladder, kicking it away, then pretending he was born a thousand feet off the ground in the pure mountain air right there next to heaven. He knew what he was doing, chose to do it, and none of it can be justified by a little TV-time for salutary anti-imperialist and free-market ideas. I’d rather not be affiliated with a “movement” that includes him in even a conflicted way.
I am not quite persuaded by Will’s rejection of the term libertarian to describe himself. Or rather I am not persuaded by his rejection of the term to describe ourselves, since I share a lot of the beliefs he says differentiate him from libertarians. Will appeals to the prevailing public understanding of “libertarianism”, but I think that this is more about the relative importance of a high level of economic freedom to both freedom overall and general welfare than about which rights and liberties are “off the table”.
Maybe I am biased because I don’t want to surrender libertarianism to those I see as the radicals among us. But then again maybe Will is biased because it’s easier to persuade liberals when you call yourself a liberal.
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Monday ~ January 2nd, 2012 at 1:58 pm
Bill Woolsey
How is Wilkerson’s view different from the libertarianism of Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, or James M. Buchanan?
Considering that question and how liberals generally treat the thought of, say, Milton Friedman, is there really much to be gained in terms of convincing liberals?
I think what is really motivating Wilkerson is a complete lack of interest in defending himself against attacks that he is a “sell out.”
Monday ~ January 2nd, 2012 at 2:29 pm
teageegeepea
I suppose it’s just as well that he’s not at Cato then. Now when the hell are they going to fire Roger Pilon?
Monday ~ January 2nd, 2012 at 3:18 pm
John
It would be nice if there was, say, a Gary Johnson-type on the left, that welcomed some (any?) of the policies “liberals” like Will actually support. But the progressives I know vilify “libertarian-leaning” people more than straight-out conservatives because “we should know better”, i.e. if you are against war and OK with gay people you also should support endless govt spending w/o regards to incentives and nanny-state policies, otherwise something’s wrong with you.
Arguing with liberals on something as simple as the drug war has gotten me labeled as a crazy person before, so this is something I have personal experience with.
Monday ~ January 2nd, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Justin
I wish the liberaltarians would just come clean and admit its all about status. Liberals are higher status so affiliate with them.
Tuesday ~ January 3rd, 2012 at 12:51 am
Donald Pretari
I would like to point out that the only Political Party in North America that advocates a Negative Income Tax/Guaranteed Income is the Green Party in Canada. While living in Berkeley, CA, for 33 Years, I found that many Liberals/Leftists/Etc. found such a plan agreeable. I never met a Conservative/Republican who liked it. Both Hayek & Milton Friedman advocated such a plan.
I’m not claiming that this is a general proof of Will’s point, but it does coincide with what I’ve found.
Tuesday ~ January 3rd, 2012 at 3:16 am
teageegeepea
I guess that explains why some of the bloggers at Worthwhile Canadian Initiative favor the Green party. Although I think there were complaints recently about them (or was it the NDP?) following the Conservatives in favoring a reduction in the GST*.
*Don’t ask me what that stands for, I’m not Canadian.
Tuesday ~ January 3rd, 2012 at 8:01 am
Wilkinson on Paul « M. Ulric Killion's space
[...] Wilkinson on Paul « Modeled Behavior GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_bg", "ffffff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_text", "4b5d67"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_link", "7f1d1d"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_border", "e7eef6"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_url", "526a74"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "politics"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "articles-and-essays-of-others"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "free-market-ideas"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "hyperinflationary-race-war"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "liberals"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "libertariansim"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "ron-paul"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "the-ron-paul-variety-of-liberalism"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "u-s-politics"); GA_googleFillSlot("wpcom_sharethrough"); Share this:ShareEmailPrintFacebookRedditStumbleUponDiggTwitterLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]
Tuesday ~ January 3rd, 2012 at 6:40 pm
amspirnationalist
Is he condemning Paul for secretly realizing America had enough open spaces providing for “white flight” to prevent near term racial conflict?
Wednesday ~ January 4th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
First Core Dump of 2012 « Modeled Behavior
[...] take the opposite position as Will Wilkinson and Adam. To quickly get to heart of my opinion even if Ron Paul were at some point and out and out white [...]
Wednesday ~ January 4th, 2012 at 5:22 pm
First Core Dump of 2012 « Modeled Behavior
[...] take the opposite position as Will Wilkinson and Adam. To quickly get to the heart of my opinion, even if Ron Paul were at some point an out-and-out [...]
Friday ~ January 6th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Wexler
While I identify with much of Wilkinson’s position here, I call myself a libertarian because most everybody in my social circles is a progressive who doesn’t take the libertarian critique seriously. I hope to present a face of libertarianism thay is less kooky and less rigidly ideological & thereby cause my friends to at least take the critique into consideration before reflexively calling for more taxation and regulation.
I suspect the social scene is quite different for Dub-squared since libertarians ate over-represented in the blogging and think-tank worlds. But I’m guessing most people are surrounded by liberal or conservative folks who have only a passing, picayune familiarity with libertarianism.
Saturday ~ January 7th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Republicans fan the flames of America in crisis « M. Ulric Killion's space
[...] rather not be affiliated with a “movement” that includes him in even a conflicted way (See Wilkinson on Paul « Modeled Behavior, January 3, [...]
Friday ~ July 13th, 2012 at 5:59 am
Bullshit prophesy | Cartographix
[...] Wilkinson on Paul « Modeled BehaviorJan 2, 2012 … But that doesn’t mean Paul’s decades of bilking paranoid bigots with bullshit prophesies of hyperinflationary race war was really a stroke of … [...]
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