Kinsley's Refresher Course on Libertarianism

[monk222]

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Michael Kinsley gives us a refresher course on libertarianism, it's pros and cons. I like this one nugget:

Llibertarians are quick to see hidden costs of ignoring libertarian principles and slow to see such costs in adhering to them. For example, Tucker Carlson reports in the Dec. 31 New Republic that Ron Paul wants to end the federal ban on unpasteurized milk. No one should want to drink unpasteurized milk, and almost no one does. Paul himself doesn't. But it bothers him that the government tells people they cannot do something they shouldn't do.Libertarians would say that if most people want pasteurized milk, the market will supply it. Firms will emerge to certify that milk has been pasteurized. These firms will compete, keeping them honest.

So yes, a Rube Goldberg contraption of capitalism could replace a straightforward government regulation. But what if you aren't interested in turning your grocery shopping into an ideological adventure? All that is lost by letting the government take care of it is the right of a few idiots to be idiots. That right deserves respect. But not much.

Kinsley is giving a backhanded tribute to the school of thought, as it is a good prism through which to ask first questions about government and policies, but he is also clearly on the popular side of appreciating the limits of this political philosophy.

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