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

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

Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

See the original post here:
Libertarianism didn't work after slavery, won't work now