tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post1137770447370094175..comments2023-04-03T19:10:54.088-04:00Comments on Critiques Of Libertarianism: What is Political Capitalism?Mike Hubenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371469964446567690noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post-77735971360283290592009-07-26T10:01:31.453-04:002009-07-26T10:01:31.453-04:00Thanks for giving such a nice information on this ...Thanks for giving such a nice information on this topic.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.LEGAL-DIR.COM" rel="nofollow"> Lawyer directory </a>AMIThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09271598940693313554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post-3536626146279521992009-03-24T12:41:00.000-04:002009-03-24T12:41:00.000-04:00one of the problems with Libertarianism is that fo...one of the problems with Libertarianism is that for too long it has been anti-government,and thus produced a bias that excludes other factors as well. These factors can include anything from monopolies,to poor working conditions.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13278340812455776900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post-5696393785524179002009-03-08T11:12:00.000-04:002009-03-08T11:12:00.000-04:00There can't be any such thing as perfect freedom.W...<I>There can't be any such thing as perfect freedom.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, of course not - that's why it's a ideal, to be understood in the language and logic of values.<BR/><BR/><I>One basic problem of libertarianism is the pretense that only liberty should be satisfied, and not traded off for any of the other values.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, but any ideology is incomplete on its own terms. It is not a mechanistic rule system to be followed blindly, but then again, neither is democratic socialism.<BR/><BR/>We're agreed on number 2.<BR/><BR/><I>Other values ought to compete with liberty: it is an impoverished ideology that attempts to claim overriding importance for only one.</I><BR/><BR/>Of course - but that's why I think honest libertarians don't primarily frame things in terms of vague, romantic abstractions like "liberty". What does that even mean in any given context?<BR/><BR/>That's why being anti-government is so informative to my position. I'm not just "for liberty" - I'm against *specific* encroachments on my autonomy as an individual (such as political centralization, mass democracy, etc.). There are encroachments that come at a more local, community, or family level, but those aren't as big of a threat as those of large scale centralization driven by the myth of this thing called the "state".<BR/><BR/>Too many people practice ideological conformity like robots. We need fresh thinking, in libertarianism and other sectors, so that human beings can articulate their interests on terms that are not axiomatic and exclusive, but holistic and dialectic.<BR/><BR/>My bad on the definition question. I think Kolko nails the definition of "political capitalism" - with the political being pretty redundant if you ask me. There *IS* no capitalism without the state, so it is by definition inherently political.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08046932749797197182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post-88086317971886466162009-02-08T21:23:00.000-05:002009-02-08T21:23:00.000-05:00This isn't related at all to the post, but have yo...This isn't related at all to the post, but have you seen that Ugyur and Wayne Allyn Root interview? <BR/><BR/><BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZACKRrQo8E<BR/><BR/>To me, the rather centrist Ugyur comes off as much more sensible and focused than Root. Just because Root seems to reuse talking points whenever presented with an argument, rather than actual address the point head on.D.R.M.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00374029395451457451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post-11272321761789153062009-02-08T17:07:00.000-05:002009-02-08T17:07:00.000-05:00Jeremy:1. There can't be any such thing as perfec...Jeremy:<BR/><BR/>1. There can't be any such thing as perfect freedom. "Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values" according to Isaiah Berlin. One basic problem of libertarianism is the pretense that only liberty should be satisfied, and not traded off for any of the other values.<BR/><BR/>2. People who work for thinktanks (in my experience) have a particular sort of assholery shared by press secretaries and various other paid shills. It's the pretense of a conversation, when in actuality you might as well be discussing the issues with a sign on the wall.<BR/><BR/>3. I'm aware of the variety of libertarians (I link to Carson, among others.) I generally criticize libertarian arguments and positions, but I think it is important to identify those who do not engage in reasonable argument (paid shills and grotesque ideologues, for example.)<BR/><BR/>Other values ought to compete with liberty: it is an impoverished ideology that attempts to claim overriding importance for only one.<BR/><BR/>I did answer what political capitalism is, in two senses. First, in the academic sense, it is what the vast majority of others call corporatism. Second, in the public relations sense, it (Bradley's efforts) is yet another far-right think tank spawned pile of crap for the purpose of bludgeoning critics of capitalism.Mike Hubenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01371469964446567690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post-22576134894079583182009-02-08T10:30:00.000-05:002009-02-08T10:30:00.000-05:00Also, don't you think you should at least *offer* ...Also, don't you think you should at least *offer* an answer to the question stated in this post's title?<BR/><BR/>This is the problem with taking an exclusively critical stance towards any ideology: what you're left with, in the end, is the tearing down of one wall while still standing behind another.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08046932749797197182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8381613.post-14946264326166731692009-02-08T10:27:00.000-05:002009-02-08T10:27:00.000-05:00A few comments from a libertarian (but non-Austria...A few comments from a libertarian (but non-Austrian) point of view:<BR/><BR/>1. libertarians will, by definition, value perfect freedom over other goods, all other things being equal. That's largely what it means to be a consistent libertarian. There's nothing wrong with that as long as one is clear about that (and does not pretend it should be more convincing than it is - any honest libertarians will acknowledge that mere freedom is not the highest priority for most people).<BR/><BR/>2. libertarians are as susceptible to being assholes as anybody else. Spent much time on Daily Kos lately?<BR/><BR/>3. There are libertarians (the left libertarians) who (A) appreciate Kolko and his particular definition of political capitalism (see Kevin Carson), (B) are not market fundamentalists who think that every ill in the world can be reduced to some unit of economic inefficiency (Cowden's "Markets in Everything" series is a great example of this deification of the market).<BR/><BR/>Government is not always bad, and the market is not always good. OK. fair enough. Still, isn't it strange how so many libertarians are familiar with a new left historian like Kolko, while so many liberals / progressives / leftists are not? Isn't it remarkable that a leftist like Kolko would find such words for Bradley's work?<BR/><BR/>In critiquing arrogance and the incompleteness inherent in *any* human ideology, let us not overstate the case against libertarianism - at least, not to the extent that we ignore there are competiting *values* here, not just competing perspectives.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08046932749797197182noreply@blogger.com