Average Right-Libertarians Support Direct Democracy?

I was debating a Ron Paul libertarian. It made me realize something I hadn’t realized before. Many right-libertarians will criticize democracy. They claim it’s mobocracy: two wolves and a sheep deciding on what is for dinner. I’ve often pointed out that conservatives and right-wingers have little understanding of democracy. They just present strawman caricatures and repeat [...]

Cato Institute: Corporatist Libertarianism

What is the Cato Institute? Who funds it? Who has been on its board? What are the connections? What is their agenda? http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cato-institute “My contact with [Cato] was strange. They’re ideologues, like Trotskyites. All questions must be seen and solved within the true faith of libertarianism, the idea of minimal government. And like Trotskyites, the [...]

The “S” Word: A Short History of an American Tradition…Socialism – review of a review

I was checking out a new book I came across: The “S” Word: A Short History of an American Tradition…Socialism by John Nichols. I noticed a book review of it by Michael Lind in the Guardian. Mr. Linds is very misinformed or else is intentionally spreading disinformation. Either way, I thought I should respond: – – – “Yet [...]

Is Classical Liberalism Liberal?

Was Classical Liberalism and Social Democracy Opposed? utubehayter wrote: Hold on, you think classical liberals were for social democracy? Oh boy, what Thomas Paine are you reading? The same anarchist that almost got himself killed by the Jacobins for his anti-democracy stance? And Henry David Thoreau, the “almost an anarchist” classical liberal? Where the hell [...]

Political Labels – Meaningless? Divisive?

I keep coming across the problem with political labels. I’m actually a fan of labels when they are used to accurately represent fundamental differences, but too often that isn’t how they are used. I probably don’t have much hope to disentangle that which has been intentionally tangled. Still, I can at least explain my own [...]

The End of Libertarianism – Jacob Weisberg

The End of Libertarianism By Jacob Weisberg “A source of mild entertainment amid the financial carnage has been watching libertarians scurrying to explain how the global financial crisis is the result of too much government intervention rather than too little. One line of argument casts as villain the Community Reinvestment Act, which prevents banks from “redlining” [...]

Ron Paul’s 19th Century Fantasy

I was just listening to a speech Ron Paul gave at a Tea Party convention. Some commenters noted it was the first full Ron Paul speech they’d seen from a major news source. Guess what the source is? RT America which is a Russian network that is partly financed by the Russian government. It’s rather [...]

Reagan: From Liberal to Neocon

Here is an early speech given when Ronald Reagan was still a liberal Democrat. What he says in this speech still applies today. The odd part is that the gist of his criticisms apply equally to the results of his own trickle-down economics and union-busting. How did Reagan go from being a union leader who [...]

Libertarians: Privilege & Partisanship

Here are two blog posts that connect. They’re about some of the problems and limitations of the present conservative-leaning libertarian world view. I entirely agree. http://usjamerica.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/libertarians-and-diversity-or-lack-thereof/ At the above link, the blogger is responding to these articles: http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/20/are-property-rights-enough http://www.willwilkinson.net/flybottle/2009/10/25/liberty-in-context/ And he responds with this commentary: . . . libertarianism – as a political movement – is [...]

Henry David Thoreau: Founding Father of American Libertarian Thought | by Jeff Riggenbach

I never thought about Henry David Thoreau in terms of libertarianism, but obviously some of his views pointed in the direction of libertarianism or even some form of anarchism. I noticed a glaring ommission in the portrayal.  Thoreau was a liberal libertarian who argued for egalitarianism and later inspired civil rights leaders such as Ghandi [...]