Ayn Rand – Gus diZerega

Foster Gamble Again

Posted on December 14, 2015December 14, 2015 by Gus

A couple of days ago I received an email from a Pagan list connecting to a “New Paradigm” conference where prominent speakers would be libertarians mixing a dose of conspiracy theory, libertarian boilerplate, and New Age rhetoric into a supposed … Read more

Turning the Tables: The pathologies and unrealized promise of libertarianism

Posted on June 30, 2015February 19, 2016 by Gus

As a scholar and former libertarian, I have been disappointed at libertarians’ general failure to engage in serious debate with their critics, but I have also been disappointed with most critics’ relatively simplistic attacks on libertarian ideology. I wrote this … Read more

Liberalism, Conservatism and spirituality, Part III: the crisis of nihilism and the decline of liberty

Posted on September 13, 2013September 13, 2013 by Gus

Witches and Pagans now has Part III of my essay on liberalism, conservatism, their intellectual and moral collapse and what spiritualities of immanence might be able to do to revitalize them. If you wonder why liberals are so weak and … Read more

Exploring economic freedom as if freedom and people actually mattered

Posted on July 20, 2013August 26, 2013 by Gus

Two quotations, juxtaposed, summarize the errors into which modern American defenses of ‘free markets’ and capitalism have entered. In the process these errors led to abandoning any real meaning for liberty or human well-being. Right wing libertarians in particular sincerely … Read more

The Pagan community neeeds to repudiate libertarianism as it currently exists

Posted on April 5, 2013April 10, 2013 by Gus

After some frustrating encounters with Pagans who called themselves libertarians I decided to write why Pagans once had a libertarian connection and why there really is no longer any reason to do so until libertarians do a thorough house cleansing … Read more

Cities and the incoherence of libertarian theory and practice

Posted on February 10, 2013February 11, 2013 by Gus

One of the top right-wing illusions about reality (there are so many) is that high taxes and regulations are always bad for businesses, and reducing both will attract them. It comes from their apparent incapacity to think in contexts: what … Read more

Paul Ryan’s ideal: Ayn Rand and the nihilism of the American right

Posted on August 14, 2012August 17, 2012 by Gus

By naming her as his favorite thinker, and requiring his staffers to read her, Paul Ryan has brought the right wing’s dominant yet usually little mentioned philosopher to center stage, where she belongs. Understanding Ayn Rand, and her impact … Read more

The Paradox of Individualism vs. Individuality

Posted on August 3, 2012August 3, 2012 by Gus

I have become fascinated by a paradox that runs like a connecting thread through much that seems to me most problematic about our culture: that those who talk the most about individualism seem most hostile to individuality. … Read more