Occam's Banana
06-12-2013, 03:46 AM
They're at it again!
First, Michael Lind. (see here: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?416664-%91The-Question-Libertarians-Just-Can%92t-Answer%92-Tom-Woods-replies-to-Salon )
Now E.J. Dionne ...
‘The Question Libertarians Can’t Answer,’ Part II
Last week, Michael Lind (http://www.salon.com/2013/06/04/the_question_libertarians_just_cant_answer/) posed what he thought was a devastating question for libertarians: if your system is so good, why aren’t there any libertarian countries?
This was more a funny question than a difficult one, since while Lind really seems to have thought he’d gotten us good, the question is one libertarians themselves address constantly. By rephrasing his question, I teased out the answer (http://www.tomwoods.com/blog/the-question-libertarians-just-cant-answer/):
[...]
Now we have E.J. Dionne (http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130611_E__J__Dionne__The_libertarian_problem.htm l), who’s come along to remind everyone why we need our overlords. He thinks Lind’s question is a super one, too. I will have plenty to say if I confine myself to this one Dionne paragraph:
We had something close to a small-government libertarian utopia in the late 19th century, and we decided it didn’t work. We realized that many would never be able to save enough for retirement and, later, that most of them would be unable to afford health insurance in old age. Smaller government meant that too many people were poor and that monopolies were formed too easily. And when the Depression engulfed us, government was helpless, largely handcuffed by this antigovernment ideology until Franklin Roosevelt came along.
Every aspect of this statement is false.
More at link: http://www.libertyclassroom.com/the-question-libertarians-cant-answer-part-ii/
First, Michael Lind. (see here: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?416664-%91The-Question-Libertarians-Just-Can%92t-Answer%92-Tom-Woods-replies-to-Salon )
Now E.J. Dionne ...
‘The Question Libertarians Can’t Answer,’ Part II
Last week, Michael Lind (http://www.salon.com/2013/06/04/the_question_libertarians_just_cant_answer/) posed what he thought was a devastating question for libertarians: if your system is so good, why aren’t there any libertarian countries?
This was more a funny question than a difficult one, since while Lind really seems to have thought he’d gotten us good, the question is one libertarians themselves address constantly. By rephrasing his question, I teased out the answer (http://www.tomwoods.com/blog/the-question-libertarians-just-cant-answer/):
[...]
Now we have E.J. Dionne (http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130611_E__J__Dionne__The_libertarian_problem.htm l), who’s come along to remind everyone why we need our overlords. He thinks Lind’s question is a super one, too. I will have plenty to say if I confine myself to this one Dionne paragraph:
We had something close to a small-government libertarian utopia in the late 19th century, and we decided it didn’t work. We realized that many would never be able to save enough for retirement and, later, that most of them would be unable to afford health insurance in old age. Smaller government meant that too many people were poor and that monopolies were formed too easily. And when the Depression engulfed us, government was helpless, largely handcuffed by this antigovernment ideology until Franklin Roosevelt came along.
Every aspect of this statement is false.
More at link: http://www.libertyclassroom.com/the-question-libertarians-cant-answer-part-ii/