Quote:
Originally Posted by Hektore
This point hits close to the point I want to make about one common failing I see in other libertarian thinkers, which is a failure to realize that providing individuals with certain freedoms allows them to control the freedoms of others indirectly.
Hopefully this (long) example will illustrate my point.
Suppose we go out to some poor, starving, partially westernized society and offer to hold an annual footrace, where the winners gets 1,000 head of cattle and rights to enough lands to graze them, etc divided up amongst themselves (say 500 to the winner, 300 to second 200 to third).
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This is a great illustration of one of my primary problems with libertarianism (at least, in so much as it can be defined).
Beyond that, I'd love to hear a libertarian response to Will's smallpox example.
To me, libertarianism and communism are more similar than their adherents would like to think. They both sound good in theory, and fail miserably in practice. Has anyone ever come up with a successful political theory based upon reason alone? I think any pure ideology has to either fall apart or get messy when it intersects with the real world.