A quick critique of left libertarianism: I really despise the fact that left libertarianism masquerades as free market anarchy. I think they have a lot of things right, but arent consistent with private property rights...which are the basis for any political philosophy so this is a significant distinction. Here is a quote from C4SS that says what left libertarianism entails at a MINIMUM: The minimum list of demands of left-libertarianism should include abolition of all ARTIFICIAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, artificial scarcities, monopolies, entry barriers, regulatory cartels and subsidies, by which virtually the entire Fortune 500 gets the bulk of its profits. IT SHOULD INCLUDE AN END TO ALL ABSENTEE TITLE TO VACANT AND UNIMPROVED LAND ...... c4ss.org/content/28216 The caps were added to show where left libertarianism departs from actual free market anarchy. First of all, ALL PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE ARTIFICIAL. Property rights are norms...norms created by man i.e. artificial. The artificial nature of norms is not what makes some of them unjust or invalid, with property norms specifically, valid ones must apply to all moral agents at all times and places, they must be practically achievable, and they must be consistent with the necessary normative presuppositions of argumentation. Why does being absent preclude one from being able to own land? And for how long? A second? A minute? An hour? A day? A week? A month? A year? The answer must be arbitrary and is therefore unjust. Also what is unimproved land. This too is arbitrary and subjective. The only thing one must do to acquire property of any kind, land or otherwise, is to originally appropriate/homestead it or receive it via voluntary exchange. Once ownership is established it may only be relinquished by voluntary exchange or explicit abandonment period. Thats the end of my diatribe.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 01:28:30 +0000