Libertarianism: The Marxism of the Right
This article by Robert Locke hits home and explains why I have simultaneously flirted with and been repulsed by Libertarianism. Money quote:
If Marxism is the delusion that one can run society purely on altruism and collectivism, then libertarianism is the mirror-image delusion that one can run it purely on selfishness and individualism. Society in fact requires both individualism and collectivism, both selfishness and altruism, to function. Like Marxism, libertarianism offers the fraudulent intellectual security of a complete a priori account of the political good without the effort of empirical investigation. Like Marxism, it aspires, overtly or covertly, to reduce social life to economics. And like Marxism, it has its historical myths and a genius for making its followers feel like an elect unbound by the moral rules of their society.
This article gives a pretty clear explanation of why Lefties like David Horowitz and myself end up on the Right. I bought into the Marxist interpretation of history (history driven by economics) and have recently considered some of the writings of Ayn Rand.
Gotta keep an eye on that…
