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| Libertarianism |
| John
Speaking
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 I'm not a libertarian, but I
respect libertarianism and I want to say something in its favor.Libertarians are primarily concerned to defend individual liberty against the state. To many welfare state liberals -- and that includes me -- that seems like a crazy notion. But all of us who are so quick to criticize libertarians should pause for a moment and think about some of what they are saying. Libertarians are surely correct in saying that many, if not most, of the great crimes of history were either directly carried out by the state or would have been impossible without state support. Think about it. American slavery required state support. The mass murders of World War II were carried out by the state. The purges and murders and imprisonments of Stalinism were carried out by the state. The mindless slaughter of World War I was carried out by states. And so forth. I'm not going to argue that the state is the root of all evil, but you don't have to be crazy to believe that it has contributed more than its share to human misery. When welfare state liberals argue for a strong state, they are gambling that they can avoid the crimes of the past. Maybe we can. But we should realize that it is a gamble. |
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