One difference between libertarianism and socialism...

Discussion in 'Markets & Economies' started by yennus, Dec 27, 2016.

  1. yennus

    yennus Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

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    https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/creating-framework-utopia

    Creating a Framework for Utopia
    By David Boaz

    ...One difference between libertarianism and socialism is that a socialist society can't tolerate groups of people practicing freedom, while a libertarian society can comfortably allow people to choose voluntary socialism. If a group of people even a very large group - wanted to purchase land and own it in common, they would be free to do so. The libertarian legal order would require only that no one be coerced into joining or giving up his property...

    In such a society, government would tolerate, as Leonard Read, founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, put it, "anything that's peaceful." Voluntary communities could make stricter rules, but the legal order of the whole society would punish only violations of the rights of others. By radically downsizing and decentralizing government by fully respecting the rights of each individual we can create a society based on individual freedom and characterized by peace, tolerance, community, prosperity, responsibility, and progress.

    Libertarian Prospects

    Can we achieve such a world? It is hard to predict the short-term course of any society, but in the long run, the world will recognize the repressive and backward nature of coercion and the unlimited possibilities that freedom allows. The spread of commerce, industry, and information has undermined the age-old ways in which governments held men in thrall and is even now liberating humanity from the new forms of coercion and control developed by twentieth-century governments.

    As we enter a new century and a new millennium, we encounter a world of endless possibility. The very premise of the world of global markets and new technologies is libertarianism. Neither stultifying socialism nor rigid conservatism could produce the free, technologically advanced society that we anticipate in the twenty-first century. If we want a dynamic world of prosperity and opportunity, we must make it a libertarian world. The simple and timeless principles of the American Revolution individual liberty, limited government, and free markets turn out to be even more powerful in today's world of instant communication, global markets, and unprecedented access to information than Jefferson and Madison could have imagined. Libertarianism is not just a framework for utopia, it is the essential framework for the future.
     
  2. CriticalSilver

    CriticalSilver New Member Silver Stacker

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    That's an interesting observation isn't it. One could almost argue that under that distinction, humanity lives according to libertarian ideals. In so much that once a socialist collective group gets large enough and its control structures stringent enough, the only way coercion from the elite can be held to account is via a revolution from within the collective.

    We see this play out across human history with revolutions by the masses against excessively punitive enforcement of social or economic controls and then the re-establishment of greater freedoms. Or at least under the claim of re-establishment of greater freedom.

    That continual correction of excessive controls for greater freedom could lead one to think that the desire for individual freedom is the natural state of humanity and that providence only tolerates excesses in controls up to a point, before re-establishing liberty.

    So do we live within a universe of libertarian values?
     
  3. gingham69

    gingham69 Member

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    OMG the 3 stooges are gonna love you CS! :lol:
     
  4. mmm....shiney!

    mmm....shiney! Administrator Staff Member Silver Stacker

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    Some have a keen sense of humour, those that don't just troll.
     

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