If anyone doubted that the libertarian ‘vibe’ is seen by many as powerful and attractive, then the fact so many people who represent its antithesis keep trying to hijack the term to mean ‘someone opposed to liberty’ should make it clear that the word ‘libertarian’ is hot, hot, hot (i.e. much as the term ‘liberal’ within the Anglosphere was hijacked when it was hot and which has now come to mean ‘illiberal’, which is to say, socialist).
I have argued before that Libertarian Socialism is an oxymoron… well the same applies to Libertarian National Socialism. But then given that National Socialism and Socialism are just tactical variants within the same old statist collectivist class of political philosophy, it is hardly surprising the arguments as to why one is absurd to call itself libertarian applies equally well to the other.
The only real difference is that the Nazi variety of socialist collectivists just have better tailors and a worse press. The use of the term by overt Nazis is really no more bizarre than its use by Noam Chomsky, that socialist apologist for Pol Pot and several other of the world’s collectivist mass murderers.
If you recall, Perry, I railed against your your stand on recovering the word liberat, stating that we had a big enough job just educating the public on the meaning of the term libertarian. Well, I propose that we draw our line in the sand here. I’m going to cite your post on my own board, and forward it to the various dead tree denizens I know (most of the libertarian bloggers I know regularly read Samizdata). I propose that we all make a big push, corresponding to the coming US election, to educate the general public in the meaning of the term libertarian.
I propose that we all make a big push, corresponding to the coming US election, to educate the general public in the meaning of the term libertarian.
The blogosphere (and the internet as a whole) is doing that in spades. But you may have noticed that Samizdata has been de-emphasizing the word “libertarian” as of late in order to appeal more to mainstream readers.
On my blog, we try to call ourselves “liberals” whenever possible in order to let illiberals know that what they espouse is actually socialism, but if anyone calls us libertarians, I don’t shy away from it. I believe in individual liberty and am not afraid to say so.
Whats all this fuss about Librarians?
Sorry, that *was* bad.
Ah, and I thought it was only me…
I found myself getting all pedantic when people (particularly those in the USA) used the term liberal to describe exactly the opposite.
I always thought it meant “Liberal with facts” but apparantly I’m wrong.
“Libertarian National Socialist Green Party”
Are these guys ‘for real’? Do you think that they will just keep adding more words to their official party name until they stumble upon a winning combination of descriptions?
The only real difference is that the Nazi variety of socialist collectivists just have better tailors and a worse press.
This brings to mind an observation I once made. Everybody has at least one thing in common with the Nazis. Strong military and bashing Communists appeal to the right, gun control and bashing Jews appeal to the left. In my case, I think the Nazis have the snappiest uniforms.
the libertarian ‘vibe’ is seen by many as powerful and attractive
Many?
Do you have a quantitive measure for this apart from your own perspective.
These things are always subject to powerful personal selection effects.
Defining Libertarianism Down
…Whether libertarians are bothered by the conflation of social liberalism and libertarianism tends to vary based on their priorities. Libertarians who believe that lifestyle and privacy issues represent the gravest threat to our liberties tend to welcome help from the Schwarzeneggers, Venturas and Welds despite the ideological inconsistencies. Others who emphasize economic freedom and believe our private property and free exchange rights are most at risk are more likely to criticize self-styled libertarians who in fact favor bigger government. So, considering that I am no libertarian purist myself, what does it matter? Why do I care?
There are two reasons. Allowing people who essentially want free lifestyle choices paid for by other people through the welfare state to represent themselves as defenders of individual liberty hurts that cause. It helps people confuse liberty with license and irresponsibility. It is not uncommon to hear people inaccurately describe libertarianism as a political movement of people who want to be free to take drugs while the rest of us pay for it – is this how libertarians want people to understand their ideology?
But more importantly, given conservatism’s recent drift toward increased statism, anything that hurts libertarians and reduces their influence hurts the cause of smaller government. Serious conservatives cannot hope to revive constitutionalism and shrink government, particularly at the federal level, without libertarian help. Big government conservatism cannot be brought to heel without resurgent libertarian thought on the right. This will not happen if Bill Maher and the moderate-to-liberal wing of the Republican Party are seen as more representative of libertarianism than F.A. Hayek or Milton Friedman.
There are plenty of people who confuse libertarians and contemporary liberals already. Many seem stumped by the similarity between the words’ first syllables alone. People generally think of civil libertarians, like the ACLU, as being on the left. On top of that, libertarianism is descended from the political philosophy originally known as liberal. Some true believers prefer to call themselves “classical liberals” or “market liberals,” hoping to take this name back from the social democrats who have captured it. This seems like a losing battle.
Ed Clarke, the most successful Libertarian Party presidential candidate up to this point in history, often sold his party’s philosophy as “low-tax liberalism.” As we approach a presidential election in which many libertarians appear poised to support the candidacy of Howard Dean, who has proposed effective tax increases to pay for a new national health care program, one waits for the day an enterprising politico runs for office promising oxymoronic “high-tax libertarianism.” Stranger things have happened.
yes