The 6 Strangest Libertarian Ideas

[unhappycamper]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/richard-eskow/57977/the-6-strangest-libertarian-ideas

The 6 Strangest Libertarian Ideas
Libertarianism
by Richard Eskow | August 30, 2014 - 9:56am

~snip~

1. Parents should be allowed to let their children starve to death. We’re not making this up. From progressive writer Matt Bruenig (via Sean McElwee at Salon) comes this excerpt from libertarian economist Murray Rothbard:

“a parent does not have the right to aggress against his children, but also … should not have a legal obligation to feed, clothe, or educate his children, since such obligations would entail positive acts coerced upon the parent and depriving the parent of his rights. The parent therefore may not murder or mutilate his child, and the law properly outlaws a parent from doing so. But the parent should have the legal right not to feed the child, i.e., to allow it to die.”]

~snip~

2. We must deregulate companies like Uber, even when they cheat. So-called ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber are actually taxi services using unlicensed contractors. They’re heavily promoted by libertarians who tout them as ideal examples of the free market as a counter to bureaucratized, more traditional taxicab services.

~snip~

3. We should eliminate Social Security and Medicare. Libertarian/Republican icon Rand Paul holds with the libertarian faith in his steadfast opposition to both Medicare and Social Security. “The fundamental reason why Medicare is failing is why the Soviet Union failed,” says Paul. “Socialism doesn’t work.”

~snip~

4. Society doesn’t have the right to enforce basic justice in public places of business. From Rep. Ron Paul, Sen. Paul’s father:

“… the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not improve race relations or enhance freedom. Instead, the forced integration dictated by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 increased racial tensions while diminishing individual liberty.”

[Scootaloo]

1. well, when you live in the bubbles they do...

They are unburdened by reality, since they will never have to apply their ideas to actual people - instead they engage in pure theorycraft, based on the assumption (of course) that everything will work out because they want it to. They then strain and sand and whittle their "ideas' down into whatever the hell engages the absolute least restraint on anyone anywhere (but most especially white male libertarians, as evidenced in their hostility towards enfranchisement of women and minorities.)

The result is a whirlwind of insanely bad and unrealistic ideas that htye have convinced themselves are essential to improve the way the world works.