An intellectual journey from libertarianism to classical liberalism

[Agaric]

Its nice to see someone got over their ugly case of libertarianism ...

I am a bit surprised at how many radical right wingers there are on this board and I hope the right wingers can maybe see themselves in this article, especially this paragraph.

It became difficult to distinguish between fiction and reality. Keith Olbermann’s Countdown seemed entertaining but not credible, since it looked and sounded just like Hannity and Beck. Without fact-checking any of Olbermann’s claims, I assumed that no serious person could trust Countdown and barely tuned in. I likewise dismissed Noam Chomsky as a liberal Limbaugh without reading his works, and maintained that Michael Moore is a chronic liar and fanatic, just as prior to my climate change research I gave credence to the idea that James Hansen and the scientists who contributed to the U.N. report were merely “liberal alarmists.”

http://www.splicetoday.com/writing/to-see-through-the-deceit

 

[Zep]

 

[Noztradamus]

An intellectual journey from libertarianism to classical liberalism


Shortest virtual distance? </Carnac the Magnificent >

 

[Tricky]

This thread got off to a bad start. I've moved most of the posts to AAH because they were bickering and/or off-topic. If that happens again, it is likely that the next step will be a little more severe.

Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: Tricky

 

[Darth Rotor]

Its nice to see someone got over their ugly case of libertarianism ...

An opening of this sort does not invite discussion. It invites a reading of "Warning: troll or self-convinced zealot just started a thread."

I suggest you adapt a less strident approach. Most people who post here have been to a rodeo before.

Libertarianism is not inherently ugly.

 

[C_Felix]

It seems like he's backing up the idea that there are nut jobs on both sides and peopel can go too far with anything.

Think about this: Somewhere out there, someone believes that God came out of the sky, split into five people, and those people formed the band Styx.

Scary....isn't it?

 

[tyr_13]

While the article linked to in the OP does make some good points and have some good ideas, he has a tendency to spiral into overstatement, to put it nicely.

 

[Beerina]

He seems to confuse Classical Liberalism, which is what the Founding Fathers had, with 1890-1930s Bloat Liberalism. The term "classical liberalism" is already associated with the Founding Fathers.

Conservatism -- The belief in the value of established traditions as a storehouse of hard-wrought wisdom.
Liberalism -- The belief big changes are needed to save society from itself.


With those definitions in mind, you see how the Founding Fathers were liberal -- wanting a big break with not just England, but the way England did things, with much greater freedoms, property rights, speech rights, no state religion, and so on. Big changes in the role and scope of government.

And you can further see how 1890-1930s, heck, through the 1960s, were also liberal -- wanting to create new things such as wealth transfer and regulation, also a major break from established traditions through new precedets in the scope of government.


ETA: The computer science guy in me would like to tell you that both liberalism and conservatism are "heuristics", a general rule of thumb that, hopefully, will usually give you good solutions, though is not guaranteed to give you an optimal one.

 

[JAStewart]

Libertarianism is an ideology I have flirted with. I think what appeals to me about it is the, frankly, (naive) positive attitude. I know that it can seem 'evil' in that it'd abolish welfare but it posits that all human are generally good.

Like I said, naive. I like the thought of it but I'm unconvinced of its practicality.