Libertarians as Corporate Whores
I am amazed lately as the left has tried to pitch libertarians as corporate whores, taking certain small-government positions because they have been paid off by Koch or Exxon.
I can understand how this charge might bite for Democrats and Republicans whose positions tend to be a hodge-podge of individual liberty and state control (and which seem to morph back and forth depending on which team is in the White House). When there is no consistent, temporally stable philosophy that drives political positions, then it might be appropriate to look at other factors that might drive a public stance on an issue. If, for example, I had always supported tight regulation of corporate market share, one might wonder why I defend Google against anti-trust scrutiny and reasonably look for other motives.
But as a libertarian, I consistently support market solutions over government regulation. On this site I have supported the right of hair threaders and interior designers and real estate agents and casket sellers to ply their trade without government permissions. I have supported legalization of gambling, marijuana and narcotic sales, and prostitution.
So why is it that I can plow along trying my best to be a consistent advocate of individual liberty, without a hint that I am in the pay of hair threaders or hookers, but as soon as I write on, say, natural gas fracking I am in the pay of the Koch brothers? This strikes me as the lamest possible argument.
On this blog, think of me as sitting at a roulette table and always betting on black (yes, the house will eventually win but welcome to the world of being a libertarian in modern statist politics). Spin after spin I bet black. Imagine a couple of folks walking up and seeing me place my next bet on black. Why do you think he did that? Was it because the last number was a 6? Or because three of the last five were red? No guys, it's because I always bet black.
Of nearly all the political groups, libertarians should be the most transparent. We always side with individual liberty, and searching for other motives for these positions is generally futile.
Brad Warbiany:
Of course, people on all sides generally think that politics is pay-for-play, with money buying influence.
If you give money to a libertarian, exactly what f*****g influence are you buying? We don't have any!!
July 11, 2011, 11:46 amJIMC5499:
It's because the morons on the Left think that if you don't share their enlightened viewpoint, you have to be either a greedy capitalist or are being paid by one.
July 11, 2011, 1:17 pmMNHawk:
Simple. If a leftist knows they can't argue an idea, they demonize the person.
Thus, Argentinian economists are going to jail, because leftists in government, can't argue a 20% inflation figure.
Leftism is a disease.
July 11, 2011, 1:36 pmJohn Moore:
You guys scare the lefties, so they will demonize you. If they can't call you a racist (oops, that's a tactic of Coyote on immigration), they'll call you greedy.
July 11, 2011, 7:37 pmJoseph Hertzlinger:
The odd part is that there are examples of people hired by supposedly-corrupting think tanks who went against the will of their "corporate masters." This is ignored by the left.
July 11, 2011, 10:54 pmIan Random:
There is a difference between pro-business and pro-market. The demoncats are pro-business as seen by GMAC and Chrysler bailouts. A pro-market stance would let them go bankrupt along with AIG.
July 12, 2011, 8:37 am