Thomas Jefferson said, “I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent.” Some people become religiously addicted to political philosophies – liberal, conservative, libertarian – to the extent of dismissing facts that question their beliefs. This page is mostly meant to point out bad arguments, not to be confirmation bias for any ideology. A fallacious argument doesn’t necessarily mean the conclusion is wrong. I can criticize a meme or article for being illogical while still agreeing with the conclusion. For example, novelty, bandwagon, and appeal to emotion are often used for the case of legalizing gay marriage. These are bad arguments, but I can still personally believe in legalization while pointing out the fallacies. I’m writing this status because some people come here laughing at a bad liberal meme but then act like I insulted their mother when I do the same to a libertarian one. I don’t do this to make any one group of people look bad. It is about finding the most reasonable arguments. This will be somewhat long and I’m sure will have some push back. Political philosophies can usually be summed up with a few bullet points. These are sometimes too general and don’t always apply to the real world. Here are some examples where empirical evidence contradicts ideology; Progressive policies, in both America and Europe, have largely failed. Socialized systems that once worked are now falling apart. They rely on shifting resources from a younger working generation to an older retired one. When the working generation shrinks the economy becomes more top-heavy. This is becoming a dire issue in many European countries where birth rates are below replacement level and life expectancy is longer. In America, Social Security now has a negative expected return for those entering the work force. No one would voluntarily sign up for it. Unions are another problem. They have been shown to be a factor in long term unemployment. Unionization also artificially raises the price of goods and services. This comes as a benefit to a very small group of people but at a cost to the vast majority. Minimum wage laws have been used in several countries to price out minorities from the job market. In America, the War on Poverty has been ongoing for 50 years, but at 15% poverty rates are the same today as they were when Lyndon Johnson was president. After decades of evidence there is little to show for progressive policies. Neo-conservatives also have a bad scorecard. They argue that America has a moral duty to have a large military presence in the world. Being an economic powerhouse, America should bring democracy and aid to other countries while policing the world. History has shown that intervention is usually not appreciated by other nations. They have their own values and see Americans as intrusive. Forcibly changing other governments hasn’t shown improvement. Intervention instead is another cost (a cost in lives, in money, and even in security). Sometimes both statists and libertarians can be wrong on the same topic. Consider the environment. Statists (wrongly) assume that businesses need regulating to prevent the environment from being destroyed. The evidence says otherwise. There are more trees today than there were 100 years ago. This is true both in rainforests and in countries like the US. One reason is technological development. When less people need to be farmers more land is available for forests. Another reason is the privatization of many forests. Businesses know better than government how to sustain their trees. Preservation is goal because they would go out of business otherwise. A similar idea was seen with fisheries in Alaska. When the state decided to get out of regulation the fisheries became MORE sustainable, not less. They regulated themselves, and more efficiently at that. But libertarians who think this is always true are mistaken. Pollution is a negative externality, meaning it hurts a third party. Some negative externalities can be solved by extending property rights. In other cases, such as air pollution, this is impossible. Without a market solution government needs to intervene (this can be done several ways). The only other option to government is to simply live with the externalities. Negative externalities are only one example where government is necessary (even though it is usually counter-productive). Another area is public goods. Public goods are non-exclusive and non-rivalrous. These are naturally a market failure and understood by the “free rider” problem. One example is national defense. Everyone benefits from the defense whether they pay or not. If defense was shifted to a private enterprise many people would stop voluntarily funding it (human nature is selfish). An underfunded defense would fall apart. Anarchists like to say they never signed a contract for government and never gave their consent. Okay. But you give de facto consent to protect your life wherever you go. If you walk into an office or hospital you don’t need to sign a piece of paper; you expect to be safe. The same goes for living in a country. It is reasonable that the government can tax you for a service you need and expect, if it can’t be solved without government. Ask, Can this be solved with more freedom and more efficiency? Usually the answer is yes, but not always. The guys at Being Classically Liberal looked at empirical studies showing the optimal size of government is around 20%. In the US that size is now closer to 45% (in many other countries it is higher). If we consider individual topics we can understand why sometimes government is harmful and other times it is necessary. There are reasons why capitalism under limited government is more powerful than either large government or zero government. I could continue but this has already become too long. Feel free to disagree. This can be a debate.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 19:57:02 +0000
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