Comments on: Liberate San Francisco! http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/ "Austro" as in Rothbard and Wittgenstein, "Athenian" as in Aristotle and smashing-the-plutocracy. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 05:00:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: MBH http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355299 MBH Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:38:54 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355299 I've heard an interview in which you talk about the first Iraq war as the event which made you first consider anarchism. Will you say what it was that made you reconsider Right-Libertarianism and move to Left-Libertarianism? I’ve heard an interview in which you talk about the first Iraq war as the event which made you first consider anarchism. Will you say what it was that made you reconsider Right-Libertarianism and move to Left-Libertarianism?

]]> By: Aster http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355272 Aster Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:09:44 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355272 Yes. My taste differs with Charles as to precise flavours of emancipatory politics, but those are mostly lesser details. However, Johnson's cultural libertarianisms aren't canon the way that Kevin's anti-classisms are. And more importantly, left-libertarianism refuses to ground itself in Enlightenment reason and a firm commitment to the Enlightenment refounding of civil society upon abstract liberty and equality as opposed to an inherited sense of place. Unless left-libertarianism explicitly sides with reason and 1789 over tradition and relativism there's nothing to keep it from drifting with the sentiments of the times and future constituencies. The first libertarian movement reacted against Ayn Rand's narrow demands for conformity by jettisoning all value commitments outside formal politics altogether, and the result has been Lew Rockwell. There's currently nothing to keep left-libertarianism from doing the same, and the natural weight of social tradition and conformity will pull any movement without firm grounding to betray minorities and nonconformists absent firm structural guarantees to the contrary. Yes. My taste differs with Charles as to precise flavours of emancipatory politics, but those are mostly lesser details. However, Johnson’s cultural libertarianisms aren’t canon the way that Kevin’s anti-classisms are. And more importantly, left-libertarianism refuses to ground itself in Enlightenment reason and a firm commitment to the Enlightenment refounding of civil society upon abstract liberty and equality as opposed to an inherited sense of place. Unless left-libertarianism explicitly sides with reason and 1789 over tradition and relativism there’s nothing to keep it from drifting with the sentiments of the times and future constituencies. The first libertarian movement reacted against Ayn Rand’s narrow demands for conformity by jettisoning all value commitments outside formal politics altogether, and the result has been Lew Rockwell. There’s currently nothing to keep left-libertarianism from doing the same, and the natural weight of social tradition and conformity will pull any movement without firm grounding to betray minorities and nonconformists absent firm structural guarantees to the contrary.

]]> By: Roderick http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355269 Roderick Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:07:09 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355269 Fair enough; but I'd say Charles' work is doing for that side something analogous to what Kevin's work is doing for the economic side, no? Fair enough; but I’d say Charles’ work is doing for that side something analogous to what Kevin’s work is doing for the economic side, no?

]]> By: Aster http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355266 Aster Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:22:47 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355266 I think that there's hope for economically rightist libertarians with broadly Enlightenment philosophical premises. But there's no hope for the paleolibertarians whose essential loves are for patriarchal religions and closed societies. You can't reason with people whose souls are constructs of tradition and authority, or those whose identities are inseparable from their positions of power as bosses, or as dominant husbands and fathers. Libertarians should be creatures of the future, not enchanters of mythical pasts. My trouble with left-libertarianism is that it doesn't have any conceptual anchor to liberatory values on social issues. Left-libertarianism has inherited the operational relativism of the 60s-70s libertarian movement which it is attempting to recreate, and this relativism makes it impossible to take binding stands on cultural issues which require ethical as well as political commitments. Carson's anti-classist free-market economics are a step forward, but there isn't a parallel structural commitment to feminism, anti-racism, and LGBT rights equivalent to those of social anarchist society. I think that there’s hope for economically rightist libertarians with broadly Enlightenment philosophical premises. But there’s no hope for the paleolibertarians whose essential loves are for patriarchal religions and closed societies. You can’t reason with people whose souls are constructs of tradition and authority, or those whose identities are inseparable from their positions of power as bosses, or as dominant husbands and fathers. Libertarians should be creatures of the future, not enchanters of mythical pasts.

My trouble with left-libertarianism is that it doesn’t have any conceptual anchor to liberatory values on social issues. Left-libertarianism has inherited the operational relativism of the 60s-70s libertarian movement which it is attempting to recreate, and this relativism makes it impossible to take binding stands on cultural issues which require ethical as well as political commitments. Carson’s anti-classist free-market economics are a step forward, but there isn’t a parallel structural commitment to feminism, anti-racism, and LGBT rights equivalent to those of social anarchist society.

]]> By: MBH http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355256 MBH Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:53:53 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355256 This should be interesting. Rachel Maddow has Ron Paul on tonight to talk about "mutiny in the tea-party." I didn't mean to plug for MSNBC. :( This should be interesting. Rachel Maddow has Ron Paul on tonight to talk about “mutiny in the tea-party.”

I didn’t mean to plug for MSNBC. :(

]]> By: Roderick http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355254 Roderick Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:05:57 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355254 And "left-libertarian" is used, depending on the speaker, to mean a) social anarchists, b) neo-Georgists, c) Konkinite agorists, d) libertarians who care about (some) lefty issues, e) libertarians who compromise libertarian principle in order to promote (some) lefty issues [that's how the paleos used to use it, though they tended to run (d) and (e) together], and e) whatever it is that the members of ALL have in common. (Not all of those are mutually exclusive, of course.) Let's inscribe (e) on our banners! <img src="http://praxeology.net/confused-ALL-flag.PNG" alt="confused-ALL-flag.PNG" /> And “left-libertarian” is used, depending on the speaker, to mean a) social anarchists, b) neo-Georgists, c) Konkinite agorists, d) libertarians who care about (some) lefty issues, e) libertarians who compromise libertarian principle in order to promote (some) lefty issues [that's how the paleos used to use it, though they tended to run (d) and (e) together], and e) whatever it is that the members of ALL have in common. (Not all of those are mutually exclusive, of course.)

Let’s inscribe (e) on our banners!

confused-ALL-flag.PNG

]]> By: MBH http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355251 MBH Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:15:53 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355251 Oops. I didn't know that meant for this particular post. I thought it meant for all posts. My bad. Oops. I didn’t know that meant for this particular post. I thought it meant for all posts. My bad.

]]> By: Brandon http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355249 Brandon Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:18:38 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355249 Not necessarily. Comments will never be closed on a popular post. It's impossible to say exactly when any post here will be closed. Not necessarily. Comments will never be closed on a popular post. It’s impossible to say exactly when any post here will be closed.

]]> By: Anon73 http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355248 Anon73 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:51:42 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355248 Kind of funny how right-libertarian is normally a social anarchist term which loosly means "any person in America calling themselves a libertarian". Kind of funny how right-libertarian is normally a social anarchist term which loosly means “any person in America calling themselves a libertarian”.

]]> By: MBH http://aaeblog.com/2010/02/09/liberate-san-francisco/comment-page-1/#comment-355247 MBH Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:38:53 +0000 http://aaeblog.com/?p=4662#comment-355247 That's totally fair. Are comments going to be closed for good May 20, 2010? That’s totally fair.

Are comments going to be closed for good May 20, 2010?

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