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Category Archives: Libertarianism

Christopher Hitchens on Abortion, Campaign Finance, Christianity, Libertarianism (1992) – Video

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Christopher Hitchens on Abortion, Campaign Finance, Christianity, Libertarianism (1992)
Hitchens stated that "[an] unborn child seems to me to be a real concept. It #39;s not a growth or an appendix. You can #39;t say the rights question doesn #39;t come up...

By: The Film Archive

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Christopher Hitchens on Abortion, Campaign Finance, Christianity, Libertarianism (1992) - Video

Jan Lester "A Response To Walter Block’s "David Friedman and Libertarianism: A Critique"" Part 2 – Video

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Jan Lester "A Response To Walter Block #39;s "David Friedman and Libertarianism: A Critique"" Part 2
On Monday 09th June 2013, Jan Lester gave the second part of "A Response To Walter Block #39;s "David Friedman and Libertarianism: A Critique"" to the Libertaria...

By: LibertarianAlliance

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Jan Lester "A Response To Walter Block's "David Friedman and Libertarianism: A Critique"" Part 2 - Video

Libertarianism didn’t work after slavery, won’t work now

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Re "Libertarians have a clear creed, but also an Achilles' heel" (Viewpoints, June 10): Libertarianism and the coming national Juneteenth African-American freedom celebrations: Nearly 4 million African Americans were freed into a libertarian-like reunited nation in 1865. They were people for whom it had been illegal to learn to read or do arithmetic or learn civics or their rights. There was no national income tax or policy to provide them any help, after they went from being owned and kept ignorant by other humans, towards the goal of becoming knowledgeable citizens of that libertarian-like USA. They were on their own, with no help from the Congress, the president, or the state legislatures.

Libertarian-loved citizen programs of aid were completely inadequate to the desperate needs of millions of now fellow citizens. Today, a return to libertarian principles would stifle almost everyone's chances, except those with the right connections and those who already "have theirs" from the accident of birth.

-- Pete Martineau, Fair Oaks

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Libertarianism didn't work after slavery, won't work now

Dionne: Libertarianism’s Achilles’ Heel

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WASHINGTON In politics, we often skip past the simple questions. This is why inquiries about the fundamentals can sometimes catch everyone short.

Michael Lind, the independent-minded scholar, posed one such question last week about libertarianism that I hope will shake up the political world. Ill get to his query in a moment. Its important because many in the new generation of conservative politicians declare libertarianism as their core political philosophy.

Libertarians have the virtue, in principle at least, of a very clear creed: They believe in the smallest government possible, longing for what the late philosopher Robert Nozick, in his classic book Anarchy, State and Utopia, called "the night-watchman state." Anything government does beyond protecting people from violence or theft and enforcing contracts is seen as illegitimate.

If you start there, taking a stand on the issues of the day is easy. All efforts to cut back on government functions public schools, Medicare, environmental regulation, food stamps should be supported. Anything that increases government activity (Obamacare, for example) should be opposed.

In his bracing 1970s libertarian manifesto For a New Liberty, the economist Murray Rothbard promised a nation that would be characterized by "individual liberty, a peaceful foreign policy, minimal government and a free-market economy."

Rothbards book concludes with boldness: "Liberty has never been fully tried in the modern world; libertarians now propose to fulfill the American dream and the world dream of liberty and prosperity for all mankind."

This is where Linds question comes in. Note that Rothbard freely acknowledges that "liberty has never been fully tried," at least by the libertarians exacting definition. In an essay in Salon, Lind asks:

"If libertarians are correct in claiming that they understand how best to organize a modern society, how is it that not a single country in the world in the early 21st century is organized along libertarian lines?"

In other words, "Why are there no libertarian countries?"

The ideas of the center-left based on welfare states conjoined with market economies have been deployed all over the democratic world, most extensively in the social democratic Scandinavian countries. We also had deadly experiments with communism, aka Marxism-Leninism.

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Dionne: Libertarianism’s Achilles’ Heel

Christopher Hitchens on Chechnya, Corporate Welfare, Smoking, and Libertarianism (1996) – Video

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Christopher Hitchens on Chechnya, Corporate Welfare, Smoking, and Libertarianism (1996)
The Chechen Republic (Russian: #1063; #1077; #1095; #1077; #769; #1085; #1089; #1082; #1072; #1103; #1056; #1077; #1089; #1087; #1091; #769; #1073; #1083; #1080; #1082; #1072;, Chechenskaya Respublika; Chechen: #1053; #1086; #1093; #1095; #1080; #1081; #1085; #1056; #1077; #1089; #1087; #1091; #1073; #1083; #1080; #1082; #1072;, Noxiyn Respublika), commonly referred to...

By: thefilmarchived

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Christopher Hitchens on Chechnya, Corporate Welfare, Smoking, and Libertarianism (1996) - Video

Penn Jillette has DOUBTS about Libertarianism (but not atheism) – Video

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Penn Jillette has DOUBTS about Libertarianism (but not atheism)
Penn talks about his questions and doubts about Libertarianism. I enjoyed reading the comments on the Bill Nye/Penn debate over Libertarianism. While I find Libertarian arguments to sound...

By: BackfirePictures

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Penn Jillette has DOUBTS about Libertarianism (but not atheism) - Video


  1. Libertarianism