Democracy and consent - a few links

1. 67

   innersmiffposted 10 years ago

   The following links should give you some insight into the thought process behind the voluntaryist philosophy.
   
   "People think that democracy is a buffet where we all to get choose what we want, but instead, it is the equivalent of a national debate on what’s for dinner.  The process is ugly and contentious, and the outcome is bound to settle on the lowest common denominator."
   
   George ought to help
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMQZEIXBMs
   
   You can always leave
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fasTSY-dB-s
   
   Edgar the Exploiter
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFbYM2EDz40
   
   The Democracy Diner
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_QRSKqDSL8

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   1. 82

      Don Wposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      And in the interest of balance, here are some sources holding a critical view of libertarianism. None of these links go to slick propaganda videos like those in the OP, they are just plain old articles for those who don't mind reading, and are not quite sold on the cult of libertarianism yet.
      
      The question libertarians just can’t answer
      
      Libertarians: Still a cult
      
      What's wrong with libertarianism
      
      What is Libertarianism? - a critic's view
      
      The problem with libertarianism in a nutshell
      
      Why Libertarianism Doesn't Work
      
      The problems with Libertarianism

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      1. 67

         innersmiffposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         The first two links have been refuted by Tom Woods better than I ever could:
         
         "The question libertarians just can't answer"  and "Libertarians: still a cult"  refuted
         http://www.tomwoods.com/blog/the-questi … nt-answer/
         
         "Right. Libertarianism is the cult. Not the state! There’s nothing cultish at all about allegiance to the state, with its flags, its songs, its mass murders, its little children saluting and paying homage to pictures of their dear leaders on the wall, etc." - Woods
         
         I'm working on refuting "What's wrong with libertarianism" myself and I shall post it here when I'm done.

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         1. 82

            Don Wposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I think "refuted" is a bit strong. Tom Woods has responded to the article, but hardly refutes it, i.e. proves it to be false or erroneous. In fact I think he fails to address the main point of the argument at all. That point is made clearly in one sentence of the article he is responding to: "Being able to point to one truly libertarian country would provide at least some evidence that libertarianism can work in the real world." To address that, and refute the implied argument, Woods would need to be able to cite real world examples where true libertarian principles have been successful in an actual country rather than just an idealized one. Instead he essentially says there are no libertarian countries because (to paraphrase) people are too greedy, power-hungry, violent, and at times selfish to put it into practice. That's self-defeating because what he is describing IS the real world, and that's the world libertarianism needs to work in. So to go back to the original question posed in the Salon article, "If your [libertarianism] is so great, why hasn't any country anywhere in the world ever tried it?" The answer according to Tom Woods is, because libertarianism cannot get off the ground without the nature of humanity fundamentally changing over night.
            
            Rather than refute the Salon piece, I think that demonstrates it further.

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2. 67

   innersmiffposted 10 years ago

   Further reading:
   Anatomy of the State - Murray Rothbard
   http://mises.org/document/1011
   
   Voluntary Exchange - https://www.facebook.com/WeSupportFreeMarkets

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