libertarians – 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

Capitalism or Crony Capitalism? Why terminology matters.

Posted on March 3, 2015March 6, 2015 by Gus

[This post has been replaced by one somewhat newer that addresses these issues more completely. It does not reject any of what is written here but improves the analysis. I am keeping it here primarily for historical reasons and … Read more

Libertarian critique II: Property rights

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Gus

If anything sets libertarianism as an ideology off from other more reasonable points of view, along with the ‘nonaggression principle’ it is their doctrine of property rights. As with nonaggression, they take a principle nearly all agree on, and then … Read more

Libertarian Critique I: The ‘nonaggression principle’

Posted on July 27, 2014July 27, 2014 by Gus

This is the first of what will be a series of posts criticizing libertarian ideology as not up to the claims its advocates claim for it. Perhaps some will even seek to enter into dialogue on this or other issues … Read more

Private prisons as an example of the bankruptcy of libertarian ideology

Posted on April 17, 2014April 19, 2014 by Gus

As a young man I was a libertarian. In time the accumulated problems with the ideology led me to abandon it. But I remain a believer in its most fundamental moral insights (and argue libertarians haven’t any real understanding of … Read more

Confusions about contract and freedom in libertarian and free market thinking

Posted on October 21, 2013October 21, 2013 by Gus

Libertarians argue a free society is a contractual society, one based on agreement between equals rather than force by the strong against the weak. In my view they are correct. But I have long since ceased to call myself a … Read more

Understanding Democracy II: Fallacies about majority rule

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Gus

Today it is common to define democracy as a system of “majority rule.” Unfortunately. This claim is false in three senses. First, except in very small and homogeneous polities, perhaps a village, there is no “majority” that could “rule” in … Read more

Understanding Democracy, part I: Democracies are not states

Posted on May 7, 2013October 3, 2013 by Gus

Sunday I joined some Bay Area libertarians for dinner and conversation at a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley. I had been invited as a result of one reading my chapter on libertarianism in Uncivil Liberties: Deconstructing Libertarianism. At his request … Read more

What Libertarians can add to American life – if they take the time to understand their principles

Posted on April 24, 2013May 2, 2013 by Gus

UPDATE 4/26, 5/2

I have written a number of critiques of libertarian thinking recently, one a chapter in a just published book, and several shorter pieces on this blog. Along the way I have emphasized I agree with their fundamental … Read more