Thursday, October 13, 2011

Libertarians Choose Authoritarian Capitalism over Social Democracy

Hayek & Friedman's Pet Dictator Augusto Pinochet of Chile
They hate democracy.  Libertarians will always side with capitalist autocracy. Every time.

From von Misses' admiration of Mussolini...
It cannot be denied that Fascism and similar movements aimed at the establishment of dictatorships are full of the best intentions and that their intervention has for the moment saved European civilization. The merit that Fascism has thereby won for itself will live on eternally in history.
...to Hayek's love of Pinochet
Hayek glimpsed in Pinochet the avatar of true freedom, who would rule as a dictator only for a “transitional period,” only as long as needed to reverse decades of state regulation. “My personal preference,” he told a Chilean interviewer, “leans toward a liberal [i.e. libertarian] dictatorship rather than toward a democratic government devoid of liberalism.” 
the libertarian admiration of dictatorial leaders is well documented.  In what perhaps represents the most egregious example of ends-justify-the-means, Patri Friedman, Milton's grandson had this to say at a Cato Institute event:
Democracy Is Not The Answer

Democracy is the current industry standard political system, but unfortunately it is ill-suited for a libertarian state. It has substantial systemic flaws, which are well-covered elsewhere,[2] and it poses major problems specifically for libertarians:

1) Most people are not by nature libertarians. David Nolan reports that surveys show at most 16% of people have libertarian beliefs. Nolan, the man who founded the Libertarian Party back in 1971, now calls for libertarians to give up on the strategy of electing candidates! …

2) Democracy is rigged against libertarians. Candidates bid for electoral victory partly by selling future political favors to raise funds and votes for their campaigns. Libertarians (and other honest candidates) who will not abuse their office can’t sell favors, thus have fewer resources to campaign with, and so have a huge intrinsic disadvantage in an election. 
I'm appalled.  This is so un-American I don't know where to begin.  No wonder nobody take them seriously.

1 comment:

  1. There's more: As Thomas Frank has noted, Grover Norquist --the very libertarian-minded Republican party strategist-- has repeatedly stated his admiration for Stalin and his methods.

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