Free Libertarian
Check out this site:
Free Libertarian
I have always found Libertarian philosophy quite interesting. Now I don't mean the ridiculous Lyndon LaRouche crap that has been pushed for many years, but actual philosophical Libertarianism.
You see, Libertarianism seems, to me at least, as a bit of a contradiction. Its principle arguments seem to be the individual as the determining factor in society- all rights, freedoms, and priviledges should be considered as they apply to the individual. Yet the individual exists as a member of a society, which, by definition, is a collective.
Therefore, Libertarianism has innate contradictions. The rights/desires/intentions of the individual are supreme, yet they must be delineated within the bounds of a group collective. It seems a house of cards- the greater the demands on society that the independent individuals assert, the weaker the societial capacity to assure them of those demands.
Oh well, maybe Pen Jillette will pull a magic trick to get it all to work.
Free Libertarian
I have always found Libertarian philosophy quite interesting. Now I don't mean the ridiculous Lyndon LaRouche crap that has been pushed for many years, but actual philosophical Libertarianism.
You see, Libertarianism seems, to me at least, as a bit of a contradiction. Its principle arguments seem to be the individual as the determining factor in society- all rights, freedoms, and priviledges should be considered as they apply to the individual. Yet the individual exists as a member of a society, which, by definition, is a collective.
Therefore, Libertarianism has innate contradictions. The rights/desires/intentions of the individual are supreme, yet they must be delineated within the bounds of a group collective. It seems a house of cards- the greater the demands on society that the independent individuals assert, the weaker the societial capacity to assure them of those demands.
Oh well, maybe Pen Jillette will pull a magic trick to get it all to work.
posted by Fool Ishy at 10:08 PM
1 Comments:
I found your comments about libertarianism interesting and responded to your post on my blog. Allow me to respond to yours on mine. While I understand many concerns about libertarianism's 'contradictions' like your example of belonging to 'society'. However, what libertarianism is about is the rights of individuals to be free to choose what they do with their lives as long as they do not do physical harm to anyone else. The philosophy itself is a philosophy based on free will. It is true that individuals (like you and I) make up society and I am a part of it. The difference is, that I voluntarily participate in the activities that I feel benefit myself and they just so happen to benefit society as a whole as opposed to socialism and fascism where almost all of your life and individual will is determined by and you exist soley for the benefit of the state (i.e. a collective). Living in society should be a peaceful choice. The way things are today, it is slowly going in the opposite direction. In the case of Rush Limbaugh, while he was legally wrong to have stocked up on drugs, he was morally correct because he has a right to decide if he wants to take painkillers. Aside from the fact that he disobeyed a stupid law prohibiting him from using pain killers in amounts presecribed by a doctor, Limbaugh followed his own self interest by deciding his ability not to feel pain was more important than following the law and his taking the painkillers does harm to no one but himself. I would hope you would agree that as long as people, like Rush Limbaugh, do not do physically harm to others they should be free to decide how they want to live their lives. Hope this explains!
Post a Comment
<< Home