I think all libertarians who oppose socialism and communism should abandon the label libertarianism, since this characteristic is historically absurd, and in virtually every country besides the US with a libertarian presence, is still just as absurd. Libertarianism started as a progressive and socialist movement, and libertarian socialists and communists existed long before the present conception of libertarianism in the US (which really didnt develop into its modern form until the 70s), yet modern libertarians make absurd assertions like libertarian socialism is an oxymoron and real conservatives are libertarian. If American libertarians actually studied the history of the libertarian philosophy and took a good look at how the rest of the world views libertarianism, theyd feel pretty foolish. What we consider libertarianism here in the US is actually closer to anarcho-capitalism than anything. In fact, I really dont see why they dont just call them that. The fact that they continue to define themselves by this clearly inappropriate label suggest that, rather than being willing to define themselves honestly, bearing the stigma associated with anarchism, the majority of libertarian supporters in the US would rather piggyback on an ideology with more widespread support in the world, depending on the universal appeal of the cause of liberty rather than deal with the downsides of intellectual honesty.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 00:57:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015