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Libertarian Left Politicians: A Paradoxical Fusion of Freedom and Equality
Introduction:
The political spectrum is often presented as a simple left-right dichotomy, but the reality is far more nuanced. One fascinating and often misunderstood area lies at the intersection of libertarianism and the left: the realm of libertarian left politicians. These individuals champion individual liberty, much like traditional libertarians, but couple it with a strong emphasis on social justice and economic equality, a hallmark of the left. This blog post delves into this paradoxical political stance, exploring its core tenets, key figures, challenges, and potential future impact. We'll examine the philosophical underpinnings, dissect real-world examples, and analyze the significant differences between libertarian left ideologies and more traditional libertarian or left-wing approaches. Prepare to challenge your preconceived notions about political classifications as we unpack this complex and evolving political landscape.
Understanding the Core Tenets of Libertarian Left Politics:
Libertarian left politics, also known as left-libertarianism, isn't a monolithic ideology. However, several core principles unite its diverse proponents. These include:
Individual Liberty as Paramount: Like traditional libertarians, left-libertarians strongly believe in individual autonomy and self-determination. They oppose undue government interference in personal lives, including restrictions on speech, association, and bodily autonomy.
Economic Justice & Equality: This is where the left-libertarian perspective diverges from its classical counterpart. Left-libertarians advocate for significant economic redistribution to address inequality and ensure everyone has access to essential resources such as healthcare, housing, and education. They believe in market mechanisms but see a crucial role for social safety nets and worker empowerment.
Rejection of Hierarchy and Authority: Left-libertarians are critical of hierarchical power structures, whether in government, corporations, or other institutions. They champion decentralization and participatory democracy to ensure power is distributed more equitably.
Emphasis on Mutual Aid and Community: Often emphasizing community-based solutions, left-libertarians prioritize mutual aid and cooperation over reliance on state intervention. They seek to foster a society where individuals support each other and work collaboratively to achieve common goals.
Environmentalism and Sustainability: Many left-libertarians embrace environmentalism, recognizing the interconnectedness between individual liberty and ecological well-being. They advocate for sustainable practices and oppose policies that harm the environment.
Key Differences from Traditional Libertarianism and the Left:
Left-libertarianism differs significantly from both traditional libertarianism and mainstream left-wing ideologies. Unlike classical libertarians, who often prioritize minimal government intervention even at the expense of social inequality, left-libertarians believe that genuine liberty necessitates addressing economic disparities. Simultaneously, they differ from many on the left who may advocate for strong state control over the economy to achieve equality. Left-libertarians seek to achieve social justice through alternative mechanisms, such as worker cooperatives, mutual aid networks, and community-based initiatives.
Prominent Examples of Libertarian Left Politicians and Thinkers:
Pinpointing specific politicians who exclusively identify as "libertarian left" is challenging, as political labels are often fluid and complex. However, many political figures and thinkers embody aspects of the left-libertarian philosophy:
Murray Bookchin: A prominent anarchist and ecological thinker, Bookchin's work profoundly influenced the development of libertarian municipalism, a form of direct democracy that emphasizes local autonomy and ecological sustainability.
Noam Chomsky: Although not explicitly labeling himself a "left-libertarian," Chomsky's advocacy for individual liberties alongside his critiques of corporate power and economic inequality align with many aspects of the left-libertarian perspective.
Certain Green Party Members: While the Green Party encompasses a diverse range of views, some members align more closely with left-libertarian principles, emphasizing environmental protection alongside social justice and decentralization.
Challenges and Criticisms of Libertarian Left Politics:
Left-libertarianism faces several significant challenges:
Practical Implementation: The practical implementation of left-libertarian ideals often proves challenging. Balancing individual liberty with economic equality requires innovative and potentially complex solutions.
Internal Tensions: The inherent tension between individual liberty and collective action can create internal disagreements within the left-libertarian movement.
Lack of Mainstream Acceptance: Left-libertarianism remains a relatively niche political ideology, lacking the widespread recognition and influence of more established political movements.
The Potential Future of Libertarian Left Politics:
Despite these challenges, left-libertarianism holds significant potential for shaping future political discourse. Its focus on individual liberty, economic justice, and ecological sustainability resonates with growing concerns about inequality, climate change, and the limitations of traditional political models. As these concerns become more prominent, left-libertarian ideas may gain traction and influence political movements.
Article Outline: Libertarian Left: A Synthesis of Freedom and Equality
I. Introduction: Hooking the reader and introducing the concept of libertarian left politics.
II. Core Tenets of Libertarian Left Politics: Defining the key principles, including individual liberty, economic justice, rejection of hierarchy, and emphasis on mutual aid.
III. Key Differences from Traditional Libertarianism and the Left: Highlighting the distinctions between left-libertarianism and its more conventional counterparts.
IV. Prominent Examples of Libertarian Left Politicians and Thinkers: Showcasing individuals whose ideologies align with left-libertarian principles.
V. Challenges and Criticisms of Libertarian Left Politics: Examining the obstacles and criticisms faced by this political philosophy.
VI. The Potential Future of Libertarian Left Politics: Discussing the possible trajectory and influence of left-libertarianism in the future.
VII. Conclusion: Summarizing the key points and emphasizing the enduring relevance of left-libertarian ideas.
(Each point in the outline above is addressed in the main body of the blog post itself.)
FAQs:
1. What is the difference between libertarian left and anarchist politics? While there's overlap, left-libertarianism encompasses a broader range of perspectives than anarchism. Some left-libertarians may advocate for minimal state intervention, while others might support a more robust state focused on social justice, unlike anarchists who reject all forms of state authority.
2. Are there any successful examples of left-libertarian political systems? While no nation fully embodies left-libertarian principles, certain historical and contemporary communities showcase elements of left-libertarian ideals, such as various worker cooperatives or mutual aid networks.
3. How does left-libertarianism address the problem of free-riders? Left-libertarians propose solutions like community-based accountability mechanisms and social contracts to incentivize participation and prevent free-riding.
4. How does left-libertarianism reconcile individual liberty with social responsibility? Left-libertarians argue that true individual liberty necessitates a society that addresses systemic inequalities preventing many from freely exercising their autonomy.
5. What are the main criticisms of left-libertarianism? Criticisms often involve concerns about the practicality of implementing its ideals, potential for internal conflicts, and the challenges of balancing individual liberty with collective action.
6. Is left-libertarianism a viable political alternative? Whether it's a viable alternative depends on various factors, including its capacity to address challenges and gain wider acceptance.
7. How does left-libertarianism differ from democratic socialism? Democratic socialism typically emphasizes a stronger role for the state in regulating the economy and achieving social justice compared to left-libertarians' preference for decentralized models.
8. What is the role of property rights in left-libertarianism? Left-libertarians often advocate for different conceptions of property rights than traditional libertarians, sometimes proposing limits on property ownership to address inequality and environmental concerns.
9. How does left-libertarianism address issues of global justice? Many left-libertarians advocate for international cooperation and fairer distribution of global resources to ensure global justice and reduce inequalities.
Related Articles:
1. Mutual Aid Networks: A Left-Libertarian Approach to Social Welfare: Explores the role of mutual aid networks in achieving social justice within a left-libertarian framework.
2. Libertarian Municipalism: Decentralizing Power for a More Just Society: Examines Bookchin's philosophy of libertarian municipalism and its implications for local governance.
3. The Ethics of Property in a Left-Libertarian Society: Debates the complexities of property rights within left-libertarian political philosophy.
4. Left-Libertarianism and Environmentalism: A Symbiotic Relationship: Discusses the convergence of left-libertarian and environmentalist perspectives.
5. Comparing and Contrasting Left-Libertarianism and Classical Liberalism: Analyzes the key distinctions between these two ideological approaches.
6. The Challenges of Implementing Left-Libertarian Ideas in a Capitalist Society: Examines the practical obstacles to implementing left-libertarian principles within a predominantly capitalist system.
7. Left-Libertarianism and the Future of Work: Explores the left-libertarian vision for worker empowerment and alternative economic models.
8. The Role of Technology in a Left-Libertarian Society: Discusses how technology might facilitate the realization of left-libertarian ideals.
9. Criticisms of Left-Libertarianism and Their Rebuttals: Presents a balanced overview of common criticisms and the responses from left-libertarian thinkers.
| libertarian left politicians: Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow David Goodway, 2006-01-01 From William Morris to Oscar Wilde to George Orwell left-libertarian thought has long been an important but neglected part of British cultural and political history. This work seeks to recover that indigenous anarchist tradition. It argues that a recovered anarchist tradition could be a touchstone for contemporary political radicals. |
| libertarian left politicians: Libertarianism without Inequality Michael Otsuka, 2003-07-03 Michael Otsuka sets out to vindicate left-libertarianism, a political philosophy which combines stringent rights of control over one's own mind, body, and life with egalitarian rights of ownership of the world. Otsuka reclaims the ideas of John Locke from the libertarian Right, and shows how his Second Treatise of Government provides the theoretical foundations for a left-libertarianism which is both more libertarian and more egalitarian than the Kantian liberal theories of John Rawls and Thomas Nagel. Otsuka's libertarianism is founded on a right of self-ownership. Here he is at one with 'right-wing' libertarians, such as Robert Nozick, in endorsing the highly anti-paternalistic and anti-moralistic implications of this right. But he parts company with these libertarians in so far as he argues that such a right is compatible with a fully egalitarian principle of equal opportunity for welfare. In embracing this principle, his own version of left-libertarianism is more strongly egalitarian than others which are currently well known. Otsuka argues that an account of legitimate political authority based upon the free consent of each is strengthened by the adoption of such an egalitarian principle. He defends a pluralistic, decentralized ideal of political society as a confederation of voluntary associations. Part I of Libertarianism without Inequality concerns the natural rights of property in oneself and the world. Part II considers the natural rights of punishment and self-defence that form the basis for the government's authority to legislate and punish. Part III explores the nature and limits of the powers of governments which are created by the consensual transfer of the natural rights of the governed. Libertarianism without Inequality is a book which everyone interested in political theory should read. |
| libertarian left politicians: Libertarianism Jason Brennan, 2012 With the rise of the Tea Party movement, libertarian principles have risen to the forefront of Republican politics. But libertarianism is more than the philosophy of individual freedom and unfettered markets that Republicans have embraced. Brennan offers a nuanced portrait of libertarianism, proceeding through a series of questions to illuminate the essential elements of libertarianism and the problems the philosophy addresses, and overturns numerous misconceptions. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Logics of Party Formation Herbert Kitschelt, 2019-05-15 Drawing on interviews with more than 130 party activists, Herbert Kitschelt provides an incisive account of the development of three vanguard ecological parties in contemporary Western Europe—the Green party of West Germany, and the Belgian ecological parties Agalev and Ecolo. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Origins of Left-Libertarianism Peter Vallentyne, Hillel Steiner, 2001-03-07 This book contains the historically most important discussions of the philosophical foundations of left-libertarianism. It addresses questions such as: What exactly is self-ownership? What are the principle objections to it, and how powerful are they? What are the most plausible views about ownership of natural resourcesw? Do they imply joint ownership and collective-decision making? Do they allow private appropriation? How is the social fund generated from such payments to be spent? Is it to be divided equally? Is it to be used to purchase public goods? Is it to be devoted to promoting equality of opportunity? Includes selections from Groitus, Pufendorf, Locke, Paine, Mill, George, Walras and others. |
| libertarian left politicians: Liberal Fascism Jonah Goldberg, 2008-01-08 “Fascists,” “Brownshirts,” “jackbooted stormtroopers”—such are the insults typically hurled at conservatives by their liberal opponents. Calling someone a fascist is the fastest way to shut them up, defining their views as beyond the political pale. But who are the real fascists in our midst? Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing conveniently manufactured myths with surprising and enlightening research, Jonah Goldberg reminds us that the original fascists were really on the left, and that liberals from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Hillary Clinton have advocated policies and principles remarkably similar to those of Hitler's National Socialism and Mussolini's Fascism. Contrary to what most people think, the Nazis were ardent socialists (hence the term “National socialism”). They believed in free health care and guaranteed jobs. They confiscated inherited wealth and spent vast sums on public education. They purged the church from public policy, promoted a new form of pagan spirituality, and inserted the authority of the state into every nook and cranny of daily life. The Nazis declared war on smoking, supported abortion, euthanasia, and gun control. They loathed the free market, provided generous pensions for the elderly, and maintained a strict racial quota system in their universities—where campus speech codes were all the rage. The Nazis led the world in organic farming and alternative medicine. Hitler was a strict vegetarian, and Himmler was an animal rights activist. Do these striking parallels mean that today’s liberals are genocidal maniacs, intent on conquering the world and imposing a new racial order? Not at all. Yet it is hard to deny that modern progressivism and classical fascism shared the same intellectual roots. We often forget, for example, that Mussolini and Hitler had many admirers in the United States. W.E.B. Du Bois was inspired by Hitler's Germany, and Irving Berlin praised Mussolini in song. Many fascist tenets were espoused by American progressives like John Dewey and Woodrow Wilson, and FDR incorporated fascist policies in the New Deal. Fascism was an international movement that appeared in different forms in different countries, depending on the vagaries of national culture and temperament. In Germany, fascism appeared as genocidal racist nationalism. In America, it took a “friendlier,” more liberal form. The modern heirs of this “friendly fascist” tradition include the New York Times, the Democratic Party, the Ivy League professoriate, and the liberals of Hollywood. The quintessential Liberal Fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore. These assertions may sound strange to modern ears, but that is because we have forgotten what fascism is. In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg turns our preconceptions inside out and shows us the true meaning of Liberal Fascism. |
| libertarian left politicians: Removing the Commons Eric Roark, 2013 Removing the Commons defends a Lockean Left-Libertarian account of the moral conditions in which people may remove, either via use or appropriation, natural resources from the commons. I conclude that self-owning agents may remove natural resources from the commons just so long as they leave others the competitive value of their removal in a way that best affords others an equal opportunity for welfare. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Libertarian Mind David Boaz, 2015-02-10 A revised, updated, and retitled edition of David Boaz’s classic book Libertarianism: A Primer, which was praised as uniting “history, philosophy, economics and law—spiced with just the right anecdotes—to bring alive a vital tradition of American political thought that deserves to be honored today” (Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago). Libertarianism—the philosophy of personal and economic freedom—has deep roots in Western civilization and in American history, and it’s growing stronger. Two long wars, chronic deficits, the financial crisis, the costly drug war, the campaigns of Ron Paul and Rand Paul, the growth of executive power under Presidents Bush and Obama, and the revelations about NSA abuses have pushed millions more Americans in a libertarian direction. Libertarianism: A Primer, by David Boaz, the longtime executive vice president of the Cato Institute, continues to be the best available guide to the history, ideas, and growth of this increasingly important political movement—and now it has been updated throughout and with a new title: The Libertarian Mind. Boaz has updated the book with new information on the threat of government surveillance; the policies that led up to and stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis; corruption in Washington; and the unsustainable welfare state. The Libertarian Mind is the ultimate resource for the current, burgeoning libertarian movement. |
| libertarian left politicians: Why We Left the Left Tom Garrison, 2013-09-12 One political question intrigues almost everyone who studies, participates, or is interested in politics: “Why do people identify with a certain ideology and/or political party?” Numerous scholarly and popular books examine political ideology/party identification and why certain ideologies attract certain individuals. This book examines that question in two separate, yet joined phases. Why do people initially identify with the Left/liberalism and why do these same individuals abandon that ideology to evolve into libertarians? This inquiry is unique in its focus on former liberals/leftists who become libertarians.Included are 23 stories from Americans and one Irishman, baring at least part of their souls to answer these questions. All contributors at one point identified with the Left/liberalism. Each explains what originally drew them to the left part of the political spectrum. Virtually all mention some version of the popular stereotype of liberals/leftists “caring for the average person.” And all came to see that as a wispy apparition, based more on intention than fact.A common theme for why the liberals/leftists abandoned their ideology is the ugly discovery of the inherent elitism of leftists/liberals. Over and over in these stories, the contributors give examples of their liberal/leftist “comrades” explaining how they (liberals/leftists) are needed to steer the people in the proper direction, for their own good of course. The true believing leftists/liberals cling to this illusion. Through many different paths, the contributors to this volume come to see the anti-democratic, elitist nature of this belief.An equally common denominator is the lack of respect for, or even acknowledgement of, personal responsibility in ones behavior. A core value of the Left/liberalism is victimhood. Everyone—women, gays and lesbians, people of color, public employee union members, the working class, and so on—is an actual or potential victim. As such, any dysfunctional behavior can always be excused as the result of societal oppression, racism and sexism, rich people and capitalists, corporations, “the man”, and on and on. Of course, negative external forces do exist, but they are not always (or even most of the time) the cause of crappy behavior or failure. Many of the stories in this book note that this refusal to acknowledge personal responsibility strongly influenced the contributor to turn away from the Left/liberalism.Of course, disillusionment with the notion that government action is needed for every problem—real or imagined—is inherent in turning from leftism/liberalism to libertarianism. Many contributors expound upon this theme.Many contributors also cite the power of classical liberal economic theory—truly free markets—as a factor in their leaving the Left. Real world examples of the failure of socialist/welfare state economic policy became too difficult to ignore.Finally, a minor, yet telling, theme is the lack of humor or playfulness in liberals and the Left. Several contributors note the feeling of liberation once they rejected the dour self-importance of the Left/liberalism.One popular conception of libertarians is that they are, for the most part, disgruntled old white guys. While that group is represented, more than 25 percent of the stories are from women and more than two-thirds are by people younger than 50. This gender and generational diversity extends to occupations—contributors include college students, law students, an attorney, a professional artist, public school teachers, a chemist, writers, a filmmaker, a law professor, a stay-at-home mom, a firefighter, the CEO of a $40 million company, a TV reporter, an editor, the CEO of a free market environmental think tank, and a research engineer.It is my fervent hope that this collection of stories will hasten the day when libertarianism is widely recognized for what it is—the political movement for adults. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Declaration of Independents Nick Gillespie, Matt Welch, 2012-06-26 Everywhere in America, the forces of digitization, innovation, and personalization are expanding our options and bettering the way we live. Everywhere, that is, except in our politics. There we are held hostage to an eighteenth century system, dominated by two political parties whose ever-more-polarized rhetorical positions mask a mutual interest in maintaining a stranglehold on power. The Declaration of Independents is a compelling and extremely entertaining manifesto on behalf of a system better suited to the future--one structured by the essential libertarian principles of free minds and free markets. Gillespie and Welch profile libertarian innovators, identify the villains propping up the ancien regime, and take aim at do-something government policies that hurt most of those they claim to protect. Their vision will resonate with a wide swath of frustrated citizens and young voters, born after the Cold War's end, to whom old tribal allegiances, prejudices, and hang-ups about everything from hearing a foreign language on the street to gay marriage to drug use simply do not make sense. |
| libertarian left politicians: Libertarian Socialism A. Prichard, R. Kinna, S. Pinta, D. Berry, 2012-11-14 The history of the left is usually told as one of factionalism and division. This collection of essays casts new light to show how the boundaries between Marxism and anarchism have been more porous and fruitful than is conventionally recognised. The volume includes ground-breaking pieces on the history of socialism in the twentieth-century. |
| libertarian left politicians: Markets Not Capitalism Gary Chartier, Charles W. Johnson, 2011 'Markets Not Capitalism' explores the gap between radically freed markets and the capitalist-controlled markets that prevail today. The contributors argue that structural poverty can be abolished by liberating market exchange from state capitalist privilege, as well as helping working people to take control of their labour. |
| libertarian left politicians: A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, 2020-09-15 A tiny American town's plans for radical self-government overlooked one hairy detail: no one told the bears. Once upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, they set their sights on Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road. When they descended on Grafton, public funding for pretty much everything shrank: the fire department, the library, the schoolhouse. State and federal laws became meek suggestions, scarcely heard in the town's thick wilderness. The anything-goes atmosphere soon caught the attention of Grafton's neighbors: the bears. Freedom-loving citizens ignored hunting laws and regulations on food disposal. They built a tent city in an effort to get off the grid. The bears smelled food and opportunity. A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is the sometimes funny, sometimes terrifying tale of what happens when a government disappears into the woods. Complete with gunplay, adventure, and backstabbing politicians, this is the ultimate story of a quintessential American experiment -- to live free or die, perhaps from a bear. |
| libertarian left politicians: Hunters of Dune Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, 2006-10-17 Book One in the classic conclusion to Frank Herbert's worldwide bestselling Dune Chronicles Hunters of Dune and the concluding volume, Sandworms of Dune, bring together the great story lines and beloved characters in Frank Herbert's classic Dune universe, ranging from the time of the Butlerian Jihad to the original Dune series and beyond. Based directly on Frank Herbert's final outline, which lay hidden in a safe-deposit box for a decade, these two volumes will finally answer the urgent questions Dune fans have been debating for two decades. At the end of Chapterhouse: Dune--Frank Herbert's final novel--a ship carrying the ghola of Duncan Idaho, Sheeana (a young woman who can control sandworms), and a crew of various refugees escapes into the uncharted galaxy, fleeing from the monstrous Honored Matres, dark counterparts to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. The nearly invincible Honored Matres have swarmed into the known universe, driven from their home by a terrifying, mysterious Enemy. As designed by the creative genius of Frank Herbert, the primary story of Hunters and Sandworms is the exotic odyssey of Duncan's no-ship as it is forced to elude the diabolical traps set by the ferocious, unknown Enemy. To strengthen their forces, the fugitives have used genetic technology from Scytale, the last Tleilaxu Master, to revive key figures from Dune's past—including Paul Muad'Dib and his beloved Chani, Lady Jessica, Stilgar, Thufir Hawat, and even Dr. Wellington Yueh. Each of these characters will use their special talents to meet the challenges thrown at them. Failure is unthinkable--not only is their survival at stake, but they hold the fate of the entire human race in their hands. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. |
| libertarian left politicians: Against the Left Llewellyn H Rockwell Jr, 2019-11-01 Against the Left explores something basic to libertarianism that many people today have forgotten. As everyone knows, libertarians view the State and the individual as fundamentally opposed. People who freely interact in the market create on their own a wonderful society that advances progress. In Against the Left, we examine some key battlegrounds in the struggle to preserve and advance real libertarianism against its enemies. These include the assault on the family, civil rights and “disabilities,” immigration, environmentalism, economic egalitarianism, and the left–libertarian impostors who want to take libertarianism away from us. |
| libertarian left politicians: For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto Murray Newton Rothbard, 1978 |
| libertarian left politicians: The Politics of Freedom David Boaz, 2008 Author David Boaz discusses the roots of American freedom, the growing libertarian vote in America, the arrogance of politicians, and everything from taxes and education to terrorism and the war on drugs. |
| libertarian left politicians: Democracy in Chains Nancy MacLean, 2017-06-13 Winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist for the National Book Award The Nation's Most Valuable Book “[A] vibrant intellectual history of the radical right.”—The Atlantic “This sixty-year campaign to make libertarianism mainstream and eventually take the government itself is at the heart of Democracy in Chains. . . . If you're worried about what all this means for America's future, you should be.”—NPR An explosive exposé of the right’s relentless campaign to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatize public education, stop action on climate change, and alter the Constitution. Behind today’s headlines of billionaires taking over our government is a secretive political establishment with long, deep, and troubling roots. The capitalist radical right has been working not simply to change who rules, but to fundamentally alter the rules of democratic governance. But billionaires did not launch this movement; a white intellectual in the embattled Jim Crow South did. Democracy in Chains names its true architect—the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan—and dissects the operation he and his colleagues designed over six decades to alter every branch of government to disempower the majority. In a brilliant and engrossing narrative, Nancy MacLean shows how Buchanan forged his ideas about government in a last gasp attempt to preserve the white elite’s power in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. In response to the widening of American democracy, he developed a brilliant, if diabolical, plan to undermine the ability of the majority to use its numbers to level the playing field between the rich and powerful and the rest of us. Corporate donors and their right-wing foundations were only too eager to support Buchanan’s work in teaching others how to divide America into “makers” and “takers.” And when a multibillionaire on a messianic mission to rewrite the social contract of the modern world, Charles Koch, discovered Buchanan, he created a vast, relentless, and multi-armed machine to carry out Buchanan’s strategy. Without Buchanan's ideas and Koch's money, the libertarian right would not have succeeded in its stealth takeover of the Republican Party as a delivery mechanism. Now, with Mike Pence as Vice President, the cause has a longtime loyalist in the White House, not to mention a phalanx of Republicans in the House, the Senate, a majority of state governments, and the courts, all carrying out the plan. That plan includes harsher laws to undermine unions, privatizing everything from schools to health care and Social Security, and keeping as many of us as possible from voting. Based on ten years of unique research, Democracy in Chains tells a chilling story of right-wing academics and big money run amok. This revelatory work of scholarship is also a call to arms to protect the achievements of twentieth-century American self-government. |
| libertarian left politicians: Nozick's Libertarian Project Mark D. Friedman, 2011-03-17 Elaborating on and defending a rigorous, rights-based libertarianism, Mark D. Friedman here develops the seminal ideas articulated by Robert Nozick in his landmark work Anarchy, State and Utopia. Consolidating more than three decades of scholarly and popular writing to have emerged in the wake of Nozick's text, Friedman offers a 21st century defense of the minimal libertarian state. In the course of this analysis, and drawing on further insights offered by the work of F.A. Hayek, Nozick's Libertarian Project shows that natural rights libertarianism can offer convincing answers to the fundamental questions that lie at the heart of political theory. The book also rebuts many of the most common criticisms to have been levelled at this worldview, including those from left libertarians and from egalitarians such as as G.A. Cohen. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Good, the Bad and the Greedy Martin Vander Weyer, 2021-10-26 Timely, thoughtful and witty – Merryn Somerset Webb From the Industrial Revolution to the internet, capitalism has been a great engine of human progress. But now it stands accused of allowing the greedy few to run riot over the rest of society, exploiting workers and suppliers and recklessly damaging the planet in pursuit of profit. Where did these accusations come from – and are they true? In this lively critique, Spectator business editor Martin Vander Weyer argues that capitalism has indeed lost its moral compass, has lost public trust and is in urgent need of repair. But this is no far-left analysis seeking to champion a thinly veiled Marxist platform. Written from the point of view of a deep admirer of entrepreneurship and private-sector investment as a proven path to innovation and prosperity, The Good, the Bad and the Greedy argues that businesses always operate in a social context and that a 'good' business in a moral sense can also, in a perfect world, be a business that richly rewards its creators and backers. From the writer whom Boris Johnson called 'the most oracular and entertaining business commentator' in London, this thoughtful critique of 21st-century capitalism formulates core principles that separate the good from the bad and the greedy and warns that the system must be reformed and faith in it restored – before the next generation commit the ultimate act of self-harm by rejecting capitalism in favour of something worse. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Left Libertarianism of the Greens Kire Sharlamanov, 2023-09-04 This book offers a systematic and multifaceted analysis of the Greens on the levels of political philosophy, political concepts, social movement, political parties, and political ideology. The originality of the book lies in the determination of the political philosophy of the Greens as left libertarianism. Such a determination of the Greens can already be found in the writings of Herbert Kitschelt, but while he only makes a cursory mention of it, this book offers a detailed elaboration of the points of contact between left-libertarianism and the Greens. The book also attempts to explain the acceptance of left-libertarianism by the Greens with social processes in Western Europe, the emergence of a new middle class and post-materialist values. At the same time, the book examines the relationship between the left-libertarian political philosophy of the Greens and the organizational structure of the Green parties, their relationship to the state, and to democracy. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Righteous Mind Jonathan Haidt, 2013-02-12 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed social psychologist challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to conservatives and liberals alike—a “landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself” (The New York Times Book Review). Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns. In this subtle yet accessible book, Haidt gives you the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the curse of our eternal divisions and conflicts. If you’re ready to trade in anger for understanding, read The Righteous Mind. |
| libertarian left politicians: A Generation Divided Rebecca E. Klatch, 2023-09-01 The 1960s was not just an era of civil rights, anti-war protest, women's liberation, hippies, marijuana, and rock festivals. The untold story of the 1960s is in fact about the New Right. For young conservatives the decade was about Barry Goldwater, Ayn Rand, an important war in the fight against communism, and Young Americans for Freedom (YAF). In A Generation Divided, Rebecca Klatch examines the generation that came into political consciousness during the 1960s, telling the story of both the New Right and the New Left, and including the voices of women as well as men. The result is a riveting narrative of an extraordinary decade, of how politics became central to the identities of a generation of people, and how changes in the political landscape of the 1980s and 1990s affected this identity. |
| libertarian left politicians: Radical Identity Politics Torben Bech Dyrberg, 2020-08 This book outlines significant traits of radical leftist identity politics. In this type of discourse, arguments are organized around global friend/enemy schemes in ways that are at odds with the right/left matrix of democracy. This is shown by combining discourse analysis of how leftist critics argue in public debates centred on their reactions to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in 2015 and theoretical discussions on leftist identity politics orbiting around Schmitt, Marcuse and Mouffe. It is argued that the friend/enemy approach sacrifices the egalitarian and libertarian core values of the Left, leading it to adopt positions used to brand the reactionary Right. It also holds that leftist identity politics undermines democracy by moralizing enmity and stigmatizing dissent, and by promoting an elitist and relativist agenda. Against this background, the book looks at the nature of the right/left distinction and its political functions in modern democracy. This is further elaborated in relation to the works of Foucault and Rawls's analyses of parrhesia (free speech) and public reason, which provide a more fruitful approach to right/left and democracy than those based on enmity. For Foucault and Rawls, a vibrant pluralist democracy relies on the autonomy of politics, which secures a space in which citizens are free and equal, which is crucial for free speech and assembly. They focus on issues related to the autonomy of politics and the freestanding nature of public reason; right/left as lateral political orientation coupled with fairness as political justification and the links between regime form and political community as decisive for democracy. |
| libertarian left politicians: Leftism: from de Sade and Marx to Hitler and Marcuse Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, 1974 |
| libertarian left politicians: Anarchy, State, and Utopia Robert Nozick, 1974 Robert Nozicka s Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a powerful, philosophical challenge to the most widely held political and social positions of our age ---- liberal, socialist and conservative. |
| libertarian left politicians: Burning Down the House Andrew Koppelman, 2022-10-04 A lively history of American libertarianism and its decay into dangerous fantasy. In 2010 in South Fulton, Tennessee, each household paid the local fire department a yearly fee of $75.00. That year, Gene Cranick's house accidentally caught fire. But the fire department refused to come because Cranick had forgotten to pay his yearly fee, leaving his home in ashes. Observers across the political spectrum agreed—some with horror and some with enthusiasm—that this revealed the true face of libertarianism. But libertarianism did not always require callous indifference to the misfortunes of others. Modern libertarianism began with Friedrich Hayek’s admirable corrective to the Depression-era vogue for central economic planning. It resisted oppressive state power. It showed how capitalism could improve life for everyone. Yet today, it's a toxic blend of anarchism, disdain for the weak, and rationalization for environmental catastrophe. Libertarians today accept new, radical arguments—which crumble under scrutiny—that justify dishonest business practices and Covid deniers who refuse to wear masks in the name of “freedom.” Andrew Koppelman’s book traces libertarianism's evolution from Hayek’s moderate pro-market ideas to the romantic fabulism of Murray Rothbard, Robert Nozick, and Ayn Rand, and Charles Koch’s promotion of climate change denial. Burning Down the House is the definitive history of an ideological movement that has reshaped American politics. |
| libertarian left politicians: Peak Oil Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, 2015-10-14 In recent years, the concept of “peak oil”—the moment when global oil production peaks and a train of economic, social, and political catastrophes accompany its subsequent decline—has captured the imagination of a surprisingly large number of Americans, ordinary citizens as well as scholars, and created a quiet, yet intense underground movement. In Peak Oil, Matthew Schneider-Mayerson takes readers deep inside the world of “peakists,” showing how their hopes and fears about the postcarbon future led them to prepare for the social breakdown they foresee—all of which are fervently discussed and debated via websites, online forums, videos, and novels. By exploring the worldview of peakists, and the unexpected way that the fear of peak oil and climate change transformed many members of this left-leaning group into survivalists, Schneider-Mayerson builds a larger analysis of the rise of libertarianism, the role of oil in modern life, the political impact of digital technologies, the racial and gender dynamics of post-apocalyptic fantasies, and the social organization of environmental denial. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Revolution Ron Paul, 2008-04-30 This Much Is True: You Have Been Lied To. The government is expanding. Taxes are increasing. More senseless wars are being planned. Inflation is ballooning. Our basic freedoms are disappearing. The Founding Fathers didn't want any of this. In fact, they said so quite clearly in the Constitution of the United States of America. Unfortunately, that beautiful, ingenious, and revolutionary document is being ignored more and more in Washington. If we are to enjoy peace, freedom, and prosperity once again, we absolutely must return to the principles upon which America was founded. But finally, there is hope . . . In The Revolution, Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul has exposed the core truths behind everything threatening America, from the real reasons behind the collapse of the dollar and the looming financial crisis, to terrorism and the loss of our precious civil liberties. In this book, Ron Paul provides answers to questions that few even dare to ask. Despite a media blackout, this septuagenarian physician-turned-congressman sparked a movement that has attracted a legion of young, dedicated, enthusiastic supporters . . . a phenomenon that has amazed veteran political observers and made more than one political rival envious. Candidates across America are already running as Ron Paul Republicans. Dr. Paul cured my apathy, says a popular campaign sign. The Revolution may cure yours as well. |
| libertarian left politicians: Democracy and Disorder Sidney G. Tarrow, 1989 A study aiming to reconstruct the cycle of protest in Italy from 1965 to its end in the organized terrorism of the mid-1970s. The author analyzes the involvement of three major groups and concludes that this period was the latest in a sequence of cycles of protest in capitalist society. |
| libertarian left politicians: Getting Libertarianism Right Hans-Hermann Hoppe, 2018-11-07 Useful as a brief statement of where Hoppe stands on the most important issues within the libertrarian movement - and the most important issues of our age. Some regard Hoppe as the greatest living libertarian, others as the devil. The only point of agreement is that he is a thinker who cannot be ignored. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Routledge Companion to Libertarianism Matt Zwolinski, Benjamin Ferguson, 2022-04-28 Have you ever wondered what libertarians think about vaccine mandates? About gun control? About racial and sexual inequalities? While libertarianism is well known as a political theory relating to the scope and justification of state authority, the breadth and depth of libertarian work on a wide range of other topics in social and political philosophy is less well known. This handbook is the first definitive reference on libertarianism that offers an in-depth survey of the central ideas from across philosophy, politics, and economics, including applications to contemporary policy issues. The forty chapters in this work provide an encyclopedic overview of libertarian scholarship, from foundational debates about natural rights theories vs. utilitarian approaches, to policy debates over immigration, punishment and policing, and intellectual property. Each chapter presents a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of historical and contemporary libertarian thought on its subject, and thus serves as an essential guide to current scholarship, and a starting place for discovering future lines of research. The book also contains a section on criticisms of libertarianism, written by leading scholars from the feminist, republican, socialist, and conservative perspectives, as well as a section on how libertarian political theory relates to various schools of economic thought, such as the Chicago, Austrian, Bloomington, and Public Choice schools. This book is an essential and comprehensive guide for anyone interested in libertarianism, whether sympathizer or critic. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Psychopathology of Political Ideologies Robert Samuels, 2021-09-28 Inspired by Freud’s The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, this book examines the unconscious processes shaping contemporary political ideologies. Addressing ten fundamental questions, Robert Samuels identifies four basic political ideologies: liberal, conservative, Left, and Right, which are often placed in the structure of a logical square, determined by two binary oppositions, with a fifth structure of centrism complicating the square. He turns to psychoanalysis to explain the unconscious defense mechanisms that structure these political ideologies. Each chapter uses a recent, influential title as a gateway to the analysis of the ideologies and structures identified. Through this analysis, Samuels argues that belief in ideological structures is tied to triumvirates of institutions and ideals; conservatives being tied to premodern institutions of religion, feudalism, and monarchy, while modern liberals are tied to ideals of universality, objectivity, and empiricism. He concludes that this investment in universality shapes the ethics of modern globalization and democratic liberalism. Unlike other books, conclusions are reinforced through examples drawn from current events with an integrated model of different psychopathologies. The Psychopathology of Political Ideologies moves beyond providing an understanding of what drives different political investments, to offer a more rational and conscious comprehension of subjectivity and social organization. This book will be a great resource for those interested in politics, political science psychology, social psychology, globalization, and ideology. |
| libertarian left politicians: Libertarianism Today Jacob H. Huebert, 2010-07 This engagingly written introduction examines modern libertarianism and its answers to today's most pressing issues—the economy, war, health care, and more. As government grows by leaps and bounds, libertarianism is receiving more attention than ever. Written from a contemporary perspective by an attorney and law professor who is also an award-winning journalist, Libertarianism Today provides an engaging introduction to the movement's ideas and people, serving as a jumping-off point for readers who want to know more. Beginning with the general libertarian principle that one person cannot initiate force against another, even if that person is part of the government, the book examines the implications of this principle for a wide range of contemporary issues: war, health care, personal liberties, economic policy, monetary policy, and intellectual property rights. It introduces the people behind the libertarian movement and explores the strategies—including education, activism, and litigation—libertarians are pursuing to advance their ideas. By laying out the current state of the movement, author J. H. Huebert shows how, even as it gets more mainstream-media exposure than ever, today's libertarian movement has only become more radically opposed to the Washington DC status quo. |
| libertarian left politicians: Woke, Inc. Vivek Ramaswamy, 2021-08-17 AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! A young entrepreneur makes the case that politics has no place in business, and sets out a new vision for the future of American capitalism. There’s a new invisible force at work in our economic and cultural lives. It affects every advertisement we see and every product we buy, from our morning coffee to a new pair of shoes. “Stakeholder capitalism” makes rosy promises of a better, more diverse, environmentally-friendly world, but in reality this ideology championed by America’s business and political leaders robs us of our money, our voice, and our identity. Vivek Ramaswamy is a traitor to his class. He’s founded multibillion-dollar enterprises, led a biotech company as CEO, he became a hedge fund partner in his 20s, trained as a scientist at Harvard and a lawyer at Yale, and grew up the child of immigrants in a small town in Ohio. Now he takes us behind the scenes into corporate boardrooms and five-star conferences, into Ivy League classrooms and secretive nonprofits, to reveal the defining scam of our century. The modern woke-industrial complex divides us as a people. By mixing morality with consumerism, America’s elites prey on our innermost insecurities about who we really are. They sell us cheap social causes and skin-deep identities to satisfy our hunger for a cause and our search for meaning, at a moment when we as Americans lack both. This book not only rips back the curtain on the new corporatist agenda, it offers a better way forward. America’s elites may want to sort us into demographic boxes, but we don’t have to stay there. Woke, Inc. begins as a critique of stakeholder capitalism and ends with an exploration of what it means to be an American in 2021—a journey that begins with cynicism and ends with hope. |
| libertarian left politicians: Prison Break David Dagan, Steven Teles, 2016-05-02 American conservatism rose hand-in-hand with the growth of mass incarceration. For decades, conservatives deployed tough on crime rhetoric to attack liberals as out-of-touch elitists who coddled criminals while the nation spiraled toward disorder. As a result, conservatives have been the motive force in building our vast prison system. Indeed, expanding the number of Americans under lock and key was long a point of pride for politicians on the right - even as the U.S. prison population eclipsed international records. Over the last few years, conservatives in Washington, D.C. and in bright-red states like Georgia and Texas, have reversed course, and are now leading the charge to curb prison growth. In Prison Break, David Dagan and Steve Teles explain how this striking turn of events occurred, how it will affect mass incarceration, and what it teaches us about achieving policy breakthroughs in our polarized age. Combining insights from law, sociology, and political science, Teles and Dagan will offer the first comprehensive account of this major political shift. In a challenge to the conventional wisdom, they argue that the fiscal pressures brought on by recession are only a small part of the explanation for the conservatives' shift, over-shadowed by Republicans' increasing anti-statism, the waning efficacy of tough on crime politics and the increasing engagement of evangelicals. These forces set the stage for a small cadre of conservative leaders to reframe criminal justice in terms of redeeming wayward souls and rolling back government. These developments have created the potential to significantly reduce mass incarceration, but only if reformers on both the right and the left play their cards right. As Dagan and Teles stress, there is also a broader lesson in this story about the conditions for cross-party cooperation in our polarized age. Partisan identity, they argue, generally precedes position-taking, and policy breakthroughs are unlikely to come by reaching across the aisle, promoting compromise, or appealing to expert opinion. Instead, change happens when political movements redefine their own orthodoxies for their own reasons. As Dagan and Teles show, outsiders can assist in this process - and they played a crucial role in the case of criminal justice - but they cannot manufacture it. This book will not only reshape our understanding of conservatism and American penal policy, but also force us to reconsider the drivers of policy innovation in the context of American politics. |
| libertarian left politicians: Green Parties in Europe Emilie van Haute, 2016-04-28 The emergence of green parties throughout Europe during the 1980s marked the arrival of a new form of political movement, challenging established models of party politics and putting new issues on the political agenda. Since their emergence, green parties in Europe have faced different destinies; in countries such as Germany, Belgium, Finland, France, and Italy, they have accumulated electoral successes, participated in governments, implemented policies and established themselves as part of the party system. In other countries, their political relevance remains very limited. After more than 30 years on the political scene, green parties have proven to be more than just a temporary phenomenon. They have lost their newness, faced success and failure, power and opposition, grassroots enthusiasm and internal conflicts. Green Parties in Europe includes individual case studies and a comparative perspective to bring together international specialists engaged in the study of green parties. It renews and expands our knowledge about the green party family in Europe. |
| libertarian left politicians: Betrayal of the American Right, The Murray Newton Rothbard, 2007 |
| libertarian left politicians: Verbal Behavior B. F. Skinner, 2014-05-26 In 1934, at the age of 30, B. F. Skinner found himself at a dinner sitting next to Professor Alfred North Whitehead. Never one to lose an opportunity to promote behaviorism, Skinner expounded its main tenets to the distinguished philosopher. Whitehead acknowledged that science might account for most of human behavior but he would not include verbal behavior. He ended the discussion with a challenge: Let me see you, he said, account for my behavior as I sit here saying, 'No black scorpion is falling upon this table.' The next morning Skinner began this book. It took him over twenty years to complete. This book extends the laboratory-based principles of selection by consequences to account for what people say, write, gesture, and think. Skinner argues that verbal behavior requires a separate analysis because it does not operate on the environment directly, but rather through the behavior of other people in a verbal community. He illustrates his thesis with examples from literature, the arts, and sciences, as well as from his own verbal behavior and that of his colleagues and children. Perhaps it is because this theoretical work provides a way to approach that most human of human behavior that Skinner ofter called Verbal Behavior his most important work. |
| libertarian left politicians: The Problem of Political Authority Michael Huemer, 2012-10-29 The state is often ascribed a special sort of authority, one that obliges citizens to obey its commands and entitles the state to enforce those commands through threats of violence. This book argues that this notion is a moral illusion: no one has ever possessed that sort of authority. |
