Libertarianism Debunked
A world in which the government doesn’t interfere in your private life sounds pretty great, right? In the last 100 years the United States Government has become oppressive onto the American citizens from the ping pong tax rates that seem to change every 4 years (8, if were lucky), to the government intervention into our smartphones and computers. Libertarians seem to have a philosophy that can change drastically from whom you speak with. Thus confusing the majority of the public on the central beliefs of their ideology.
The idea of “small-government” is also popular among modern day conservatives, this typically means that libertarians will vote conservative and not liberal. With this being said libertarians are typically more progressive when it comes to social issues. The stance they have on social issues is to legalize prostitution, legalize every drug, and legalize abortions. Libertarians also believe that military intervention into foreign nations is wrong, unless justified by an attack onto the United States. So far, so good, right?
Now onto the economic front — this is where they lose me.
Libertarianism economics typically believe that a free market economy can be controlled by how humans govern themselves. In an article for Huffington Post, Hasan Piker says that Libertarianism is, “…this idea that an invisible hand…guides the free market which will also drive human interaction with social order.” (Piker, 2016). This idea is one of which I disagree with, when ungoverned — man motivated by self gain ultimately wont do the right thing. This can be explained better by why there are crimes committed even when there is a system to prevent said crimes.
The whole goal of a civilization is to insure that basic needs are met for ALL civilians. These needs include housing, food, clothing, and clean water. Without these needs being met your civilization turns into a complete aristocracy. The goal is not to create a place where only a few can live solidly. In a libertarian society who will defend the defenseless, or protect the unprotected. Even libertarians acknowledge that a free market will drive to larger wealth disparity. Some believe this will be offset by the trickling down of wealth and technology. This uneven wealth when paired with deregulation leads to a ruling one group over another group. This helps make an argument for some sort of regulation, to prevent the rich from imposing their unjust and destructively onto poor multitudes.
Libertarianism is similar to communism, both sound noble but in practice would crumble. But unlike communism we have not seen a truly libertarian society crumble due to the pure fact one has not existed yet. With the direction of the republican party a libertarian life appears to being coming closer and closer.
Works Cited
Kuttner, Robert. “The Libertarian Delusion.” The American Prospect. 26 Feb. 2015. Web.
“Platform.” Libertarian Party. 02 Oct. 2020. Web.
Watkins, Eli. “What Is Libertarianism? | CNN Politics.” CNN. Cable News Network, 22 June 2016. Web.
Piker, Hasan. “The Problems With Libertarianism.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 26 Aug. 2016. Web.