Libretarian and Liberal
From Zanecorpwiki
I general consider myself a Libretarian, though I generally cast it in the light "classic" Libretarianism thought in order to distance myself from the modern Conservative movement. I more and more think, however, that I'm deluding myself somewhat by appealing to some golden age which probably never exist. The truth is that this first order taxonomy is far to coarse to place any individual with an independent mind who has given much thought to their political positioning.
Why, for instance, do I find myself voting Democrat? Part of it is that Libretarian means social liberalism--meaning social freedom. Though neither party has a track record, I feel on the whole that Republican policy does slightly more harm to our freedoms than Democratic policy--not that there's that much difference between either.
On balance, I reject the interventionists aspects of Liberalism and Conservatism alike. But I'm falling into the same trap I spoke of in the opening: painting Liberalism with a broad brush. This May 30th interview, Alan Wolfe makes a compelling argument for the modern Liberal. For Wolfe, there is a core of Liberalism that goes from Smith to Hayek to the modern Liberal that has much in common with my own view.[notes 1]
The problem I have with Libretarian viewpoint is that I feel they are naive about the dangers of big business. I believe in the free market, but I take an ACLU-like view of what the free market is. I'm referring the slogan "Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself." This is true of our social and political freedoms, an I believe it equally true of the free market. There are certainly bad regulations and improper interventions that make the market non-free, but a unregulated, unwatched market is not the answer either.
Here I depart from Smith and the classic Libretarian[notes 2] in that while I believe in the positive effects of the free market, I'm not optimistic about the chances of the free market emerging naturally from robust, fundamental economic forces.
To this point, I think the Libretarian fears of big government are the perfect example. If government can squelch the free market, then wouldn't it stand to reason that corporations--who do have a collective interest in certain systemic features--and are collectively far more powerful than any government be all the more able to overwhelm free market forces?
Fundamentally, I like Wolfe's claim that we can better ourselves and that our "purpose" should be to do so. The fact that there seems to be a lot of common ground between himself and the "classical" Liberal Russ Roberts makes me all the more intrigued by his conception of Liberalism.
- see also Liberal Revolution
Notes
- ↑ There are a couple specific questions which I disagree with both Roberts and Wolfe on (though I haven't specifically noted them), but in general, I loved this interview. It highlighted many of the questions I myself am working through. The only thing missing for me was a reference to Heidegger, with whom I'm only passingly familiar, but whose phenomenological critique of Kant I find intriguing.
- ↑ Not to say that Smith is a Libretarian; that's a hotly debated subject. Many claim Smith as their own.
