libertasbella
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Talking about libertarian politics will likely leave many people confused. It’s no secret that libertarians have fierce independent streaks, which makes it next to impossible for them to organize in large groups. Large splinter factions abound, all with their own infighting, disagreements, and factionalism. Just look at the radical anarchist wing of libertarianism. There’s even schisms among anarchist libertarians with regards to ideology and strategy. This is best exemplified by the agorism vs anarcho capitalism debate in the libertarian movement. While both ideologies are anarchist in outlook, they differ substantially in strategy and to a lesser degree in terms of overall market analysis, which will be discussed below.

“If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor. You can keep on with your books and your ideas.” – Down and Out in Paris and London “Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.” – The Ethics of the Detective Story from Raffles to Miss Blandish “There are occasions when it pays better to fight and be beaten than not to fight at all.” – Homage to Catalonia

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.” – Salman Rushdie, In Good Faith “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” – Potter Stewart, Dissenting to Ginzburg v. United States “If you live in self-punishment or self-imposed ignorance or lack of self-awareness it genuinely diminishes your existence. Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.” – Ai Weiwei, Truth to Power “If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.”

“To name Voltaire is to characterize the entire eighteenth century.” – Victor Hugo Why should you, an extremely intelligent – and, for that matter, attractive – person care about Voltaire quotes? François-Marie Arouet (1694 – 1778), who is better known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was one of the most prolific writers of the French Enlightenment. As a historian, philosopher, polemicist, and pen pal to numerous important figures of his time, Voltaire was a vehement advocate for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, civil liberties, and the separation of church and state. (His most pointed attacks were aimed at the Catholic Church, given its dominance within the Kingdom of France, although he was by no means an atheist.) Voltaire is best known for his novella Candide, ou l’Optimisme. Taken out of context Candide is the meandering adventure of a well-meaning if not somewhat goofy fellow who is optimistic to a fault. Taken in context, Candide is a rejection of the philosophical optimism of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a parody of the romantic clichés prevalent during Voltaire’s time, and a commentary on recent events such as the Great Lisbon Earthquake and Seven Years’ War. Although its subject matter has become somewhat dated, Candide remains a funny read as well as one of Western civilization’s most influential novels. Candide is only the tip of the Voltaire iceberg. The prodigious writer penned over 2,000 books, 20,000 letters, and an unknown number of shopping lists. His other best known works are Essay on the Customs and the Spirit of the Nations, The Age of Louis XIV, Commentaire sur Corneille, and Henriade.

Why should you give a fig about liberty quotes? Have you ever spoken with someone who has just discovered a new television show, and they’re going absolutely bananas about how you need to watch it too? “Oh, I just know you’re going to love The Foolish Man and the German Shepherd Dog,” they’ll coo. “I know the title sounds a little weird, but it stars an actor I love, and there’s this one episode where the German Shepherd Dog gets jam on his necktie before a big job interview that will split you in half with laughter!” And you kind of have to smile and promise you’ll watch it, and ask them to please stop touching you. Libertarians are the same way about liberty. “Don’t you love liberty?” they will ask you. “Well, how would you like more liberty? Imagine how much more liberty everyone could have if we only did X, Y and Z! I love liberty so much I’d squirt it on my waffles every morning if only it were viscous instead of an abstract concept!” But in the libertarian’s defense, liberty really is that good.

“Eventually, the question you ask stops being ‘Who is John Galt?’ and becomes ‘When will John Galt shut up?'” – Anonymous, not so subtly critiquing Galt’s 56-page long speech in Atlas Shrugged Who is John Galt? And why should you care about Atlas Shrugged quotes? Atlas Shrugged tells the story of Dagny Taggart, a railroad executive living in a United States that is on the verge of economic collapse. The government is increasingly expanding its control over private enterprise, choking it out of existence; Dagny’s friend and childhood love Francisco d’Anconia may soon lose his family’s copper company as the Mexican government nationalizes it; and Hank Rearden, who refuses to sell his revolutionary Rearden Metal to the government, subsequently learns his invention has been condemned by the same for no real reason. To summarize the magnum opus of Ayn Rand – or spoil its ending by revealing Galt’s identity – in so few words would be a sin. The lengthy book is worth a cover-to-cover read for its extensive exploration of Objectivism, Rand’s own philosophy which conceives of man as a heroic being whose greatest moral purpose is the achievement of his own happiness: to make one’s life one’s own life. If you have ever bristled when bureaucrats demanded greater control over the private sector for the good of society, Atlas Shrugged will explain exactly why you felt that way. Oddly enough, many people bristle at the mere mention of Ayn Rand. They may describe her as a reactionary, an extremist who categorically rejects any government interference in private life as the result of her having been exposed to the worst excesses of communism while growing up in Russia. One might argue in turn that Rand already saw the ending of the story and didn’t wish to see it again.