Friday, March 28, 2014

11 questions for libertarians.

11 questions to see if libertarians are hypocrites. From:



I've decided to have a go.

The preamble attacks libertarianism solidly with an army of straw men.

1. “So our first hypocrisy test question is, Are unions, political parties, elections, and social movements like Occupy examples of “spontaneous order”—and if not, why not?”
Yes but there are alternative now to each: Employment and 'temp' agencies, Charitable clubs and Crowd funding that can and do get things done without waiting for the political process. And Ironically Occupy was funded in part though Assurance Contracts which were invented by libertarians as an alternative to taxing anyone. [Generally the first thing banned by a socialist government are employment and temp agencies that compete with unions. The second thing regulated to death are charities that compete with government welfare.]

2. “Which gets us to our next test question Is a libertarian willing to admit that production is the result of many forces, each of which should be recognized and rewarded?”
No many markets not many forces. Labour is marketed and justly recognized and rewarded according to skill and effort. The Marxist premise of the question is that labour is a 'force' and that it is not in a market or has skill capital involved. The worker sells his skills to the highest bidder. A business man that bids to low gets no skilled workers.   

3. “Is our libertarian willing to acknowledge that workers who bargain for their services, individually and collectively, are also employing market forces?”
Yes and an employer that refuses to trade with such a group and employs others is also bargaining and employing market forces. Also If the Union covered, out of fees, unemployment insurance for ex-employees it would be a fully valid market entity. Most would also be bankrupts. Only government can make a closed shop.

4.“Is our libertarian willing to admit that a “free market” needs regulation?”
No! Define regulation? Why should we use regulations that are quickly obsolete in a changing world and can only be changed years late when parliaments get around to it. Insurance, private dispute resolution agencies, quality assurance branding organizations can all do this faster. Also in the free market no one is exempt from boycott or lawsuit where-as someone that is met the regulations but still does harm because they're obsolete or unworkable is cleared in court. Love Canal was fully regulated yet people died.

5. “Does our libertarian believe in democracy? If yes, explain what’s wrong with governments that regulate.”
The majority is not always right. So no an absolute democracy will fail. The free market rewards effort and innovation, no one is excluded from participating, house wives and minorities are not excluded from it. Opportunity is equal for all. Thiel's welfare beneficiaries” are those that are taught that effort and opportunity are racial impossibles. They are minorities, socialists of all colour.
Those that are truly disabled, brain damaged or quadriplegics can be supported in the market by non state charity entities and crowd funded trusts but its early days there.

6. “Does our libertarian use wealth that wouldn’t exist without government in order to preach against the role of government?”
Yes. While there are many things government has built because it has banned any private agency from building or running the same things; there are still things that government did not build but now owns because it excluded competition and then took ownership. There are other things used by libertarians that the government never built: Linux, bitcoin, most optic fibres, some roads, most ports.

7. “Does our libertarian reject any and all government protection for his intellectual property?”
There is a big split there but it depends on who's defining the property. All are agreed that the current system is broken and needs a free market overhaul. Even the anti-patent school believes in industrial secrecy or trade secrets. Needs more work.

8. “Does our libertarian recognize that democracy is a form of marketplace?”
No if the consequences do not fall on the voter that voted for something stupid. No if its not an open entry democratic system but on controlled by two or three large parties. Yes if its fully free entry and people suffer the consequences of stupid laws. The free market is a democracy but not all democracies are free. Despotism of a majority over a minority can not be freedom.

9. “Does our libertarian recognize that large corporations are a threat to our freedoms?”
Define large corporations! If open entry in the marketplace exists then no large corporation can be a threat to anyone's freedoms. Remember Kodak and Lehman Brothers? If a corporation offers something new, cheap and valuable it can get very large. However an obsolete corporation can only stay large with government protection. Most of the big banks are zombie banks, in the free market they would be gone and few of us would notice their disappearance.

10.“Ayn Rand was an adamant opponent of good works, writing that “The man who attempts to live for others is a dependent. He is a parasite in motive and makes parasites of those he serves.” That raises another test for our libertarian: Does he think that Rand was off the mark on this one, or does he agree that historical figures like King and Gandhi were “parasites”?”
Rand was taught that Charity = communism in her Soviet Union schooling. While she rejected socialism she never could shake that assumption. Altruism is a simple purchase in the free market. It may be entertainment, showing off, advertising, negotiation, or informal insurance (there but for the grace of god go I) . You can't buy love but you can buy respect. In some cases voluntary activity is a form of training and adventure tourism. [And remember Gandhi's victory triggered a war that got millions killed.] 

11. If you believe in the free market, why weren’t you willing to accept as final the judgment against libertarianism rendered decades ago in the free and unfettered marketplace of ideas?”
Who says I'm dead? Some of us were active without funds for decades. And who says that the American billionaires are the only players? The question ignores the activity in Britain: Adam Smith clubs, Asia much of the rapid development there is linked to people taught under the Austrian school teachers of the 30's. Many books were published and sold well in the 40's, 50's and 60's in many languages. The free market did not reject us only the universities and they're all state subsidized institutions.

So in effect the Eleven questions that expose their contradictions and faulty logic” only really expose R.J. Eskow's lack of logic and research. Most of what I have said above has been published for decades though the corporation and technology named change decade by decade.


Saturday, February 15, 2014