What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
I’ve noticed that a lot of Ricochetti seem to self-identify as libertarians. This is interesting to me because I haven’t personally known a lot of real, grown-up libertarians. Undergraduate students, in my experience, are often quite attracted to libertarianism; in fact, they generally divide pretty neatly between the libertarians and the socialists. As they age, however, many move on to something a little more substantial.
That, at any rate, is how I tend to think about it. Libertarianism has always seemed a bit juvenile to me, which is not, of course, to deny that very smart people can sometimes get stuck in it. (I think utilitarianism is rather juvenile too, but it’s captured the loyalties of some very intelligent people in academic philosophy.) It could be, however, that I only think that because of the circumstantial fact that most of the libertarians I’ve known were themselves juveniles, and not particularly sophisticated mouthpieces for the philosophy. I’m willing to revisit the question.
I can’t really commit right now to tackling an extended reading list, which I would presumably need to do in order to get a nuanced perspective on the many flavors of libertarianism. But it would help a lot if I could get an answer to the above question. What must a person commit to in order to qualify as a libertarian? And, for those of you who identify yourselves with libertarianism, what’s the attraction?
Before you answer, it might help if I stated what I believe to be the attraction for the undergraduates. Libertarianism is what I like to call a “low buy-in” view. The “buy-in” I have in mind is something like, “commitment to a definite view of human nature, and to normative claims about how human beings should live”. Aristotelian, virtue-oriented moral theories are thus “high buy-in”. You have to commit to a lot to get on board with these theories. Utilitarianism, by contrast, has a very low buy-in. In its crudest form, it doesn’t ask you to commit to much of anything except that pleasure is good and pain bad.
Undergraduates love the low buy-in. I think it’s mainly because, being simpletons themselves, they hate to think that other people might know better than them, and even more to think that they should submit to the wisdom others in deciding how to live. Accordingly, they flock to low buy-in views, and the ones that most value opportunity become libertarians, while the security-lovers become socialists.
What’s the attraction for the more-mature conservative, though? To be sure, there are plenty of reasons for a non-moral relativist to favor limited government. In the first place, government tends to be inefficient at most jobs. Also, a person living in a pluralist society might pragmatically recognize that a small, relatively neutral government is the most optimal of the realizable options. Finally, there is the deep truth that some level of freedom is necessary for human beings to achieve full moral maturity, and exercise the virtues. Conservatives at different times have articulated all of these as reasons for favoring limited government, but it seems to me that they are not, per se, libertarian reasons (which is not necessarily to say that they are incompatible with libertarianism). The first two are too pragmatic; the libertarian sees small government as a requirement of justice. The third doesn’t clearly justify as limited a government as most libertarians seem to think we should have.
I’ll stop here, and hope other people offer their thoughts. But just to remind you, the two questions are, first, what most fundamentally defines a libertarian? And second, what’s the attraction of this view for mature conservatives?
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Comments:
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Has anyone made any jokes yet about a non *passive* aggression principle?
Nov '11
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
That it's morally wrong to initiate passive aggression against another?
Nov '11
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
CoolHand
Well, now you've met one who's not pro-choice or pro-cannabis. · 9 hours ago
Yeah. I'm not especially pro-cannabis, I'm just an anti-prohibitionist.
Aug '10
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Rachel Lu
As far as ancient Israel goes, it's true that the people demanded a (sic)kind, and that this may have been unwise. (Though again, note that they demanded it; they wanted to be subject to authority.) But before that they had judges, and from what I've read of the Old Testament, it doesn't sound like ancient Israel before Saul was exactly a libertarian paradise. Have you read the story of the guy who got stoned for gathering wood on the Sabbath? · 15 hours ago
We aren't given a lot of examples of everything that occurred in the time of the Judges, but I am struck by this passage repeated frequently (in Judges 17, Judges 18, Judges 19, Judges 21)
"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit."
I am also struck by God's warning when Israel demands a king. (1 Samuel 8:11 - 18) - Actually, I would be happy if the gov't only took a 10th.
Apr '12
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
..I believe a human's right to life is the first freedom that must be protected and that taking that life is not legitimate. With regard to cannabis...Too much downside. Ditto with drugs that cause a lot of damage to those who take them.
Libertarianism does not internally answer the right-to-life vs. right-to-abort debate, because both sides have a "right" to posit against coercion: of the mother or of the state respectively.
Drugs are an easier issue (but still not easy) from a libertarian perspective. The right to use drugs is not contravened by someone else's right, but only by the costs to third parties (or to society generally) compared to the benefits for the user. I can't imagine the most hard-core libertarian approving of the right to use a drug that would in 100% of cases cause the user to become homicidal. The costs of marijuana are, it seems to me, de minimus.
Instead, the proper libertarian approach should be to presume the individual has the right to do X unless the government can demonstrate that the costs of doing X are sufficient to overcome the presumption.
Jun '10
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
I established one early in my dating life.
Edited on July 24, 2012 at 2:26amFeb '12
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Very, very well put: pithy, incisive, and irrebuttable.
Jun '10
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Leporello
Very, very well put: pithy, incisive, and irrebuttable. · 41 minutes ago
Libertarianism is a political philosophy concerned almost exclusively with governance; ascribing an entire worldview a la Platonism, Aristotelianism, Objectivism, et al, to a political outlook is attempting to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Replace 'libertarianism' with 'republicanism' or 'monarchism' to see how silly that is.
Ask yourself this: Which informs the other, religion or political view? Does being a conservative make one a Jew/Christian/Muslim/Stoic/existentialist/atheist? Or does one's understanding of G-d and world make one a conservative? More to the point, do you raise your children according to your faith, or by how you vote?
Edited on July 25, 2012 at 2:03amFeb '12
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Casey,
The libertarian political stance is based on a certain moral view of the world. From this view, libertarians reason that the law should restrain us from some actions but not from others. But if that moral view of the world is deeply flawed - e.g., so narrow that it does not acknowledge the moral necessity (not the choice) of caring for and rearing children - then the view of governance is flawed as well.
Jun '10
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Leporello:
The libertarian political stance... libertarians reason that the law should restrain us from some actions but not from others. But if that moral view of the world is deeply flawed - e.g., so narrow that it does not acknowledge the moral necessity (not the choice) of caring for and rearing children - then the view of governance is flawed as well.
The same thing is true of any political stance; our morals inform our politics. That's a one-way street, though, for conservatives and libertarians, less-so for conservatives the last little while. It used to be that it was only progressives who tried to turn everything in their lives political, but conservatives are increasingly joining them in the endeavor. How many times have you seen, on this or another Right site, some variation of the question, "What is the conservative _____?" Broccoli? Motorcycle? Futon? It's just silly.
Libertarianism/conservatism/progressivism are not ways of life, or guideposts for better living; they are political philosophies. How you raise and care for your children shouldn't be informed by those. Do you send your children to conservative grade school, or just to the best grade school? Why politicize it?
Mar '11
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Casey Taylor
Libertarianism/conservatism/progressivism are not ways of life, or guideposts for better living; they are political philosophies. How you raise and care for your children shouldn't be informed by those. Do you send your children to conservativegrade school, or just to the bestgrade school? Why politicize it? · 9 hours ago
I would consider the amount of political proselytization of a school to determine the quality of the school. My wife and I will probably choose a more traditional parochial school when that choice arises.
Feb '12
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Casey Taylor
Leporello:
The libertarian political stance... libertarians reason that the law should restrain us from some actions but not from others. But if that moral view of the world is deeply flawed - e.g., so narrow that it does not acknowledge the moral necessity (not the choice) of caring for and rearing children - then the view of governance is flawed as well.
The same thing is true of any political stance; our morals inform our politics. That's a one-way street, though, for conservatives and libertarians, less-so for conservatives the last little while. It used to be that it was only progressives who tried to turn everything in their lives political, but conservatives are increasingly joining them in the endeavor... Do you send your children to conservativegrade school, or just to the bestgrade school? Why politicize it? · Jul 26 at 5:54pm
I'm not politicizing anything. The endeavor here is to examine a political position by reference to the validity of its underlying moral position. This endeavor does not require making every moral decision political. I agree with your examples. I think we are talking past each other.
Jun '10
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Leporello
Casey Taylor
The same thing is true of any political stance; our morals inform our politics. That's a one-way street, though, for conservatives and libertarians, less-so for conservatives the last little while. It used to be that it was only progressives who tried to turn everything in their lives political, but conservatives are increasingly joining them in the endeavor... Do you send your children to conservativegrade school, or just to the bestgrade school? Why politicize it? · Jul 26 at 5:54pm
I'm not politicizing anything. The endeavor here is to examine a political position by reference to the validity of its underlying moral position. This endeavor does not require making every moral decision political. I agree with your examples. I think we are talking past each other. · Jul 29 at 9:37am
I didn't mean you you, of course, I was speaking generally. And also past you, as I see now that I've read through the thread again. Damn you, Intarwebs!
Feb '12
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
:)
Thanks for the exchange, Casey.
Jun '10
Re: What Does It Take To Be A Card-Carrying Libertarian?
Leporello: :)
Thanks for the exchange, Casey. · 12 hours ago
Right back atcha, buddy.