Liberaltarianism
I’ll add my two cents to the Kos post Gene Healy and Will Wilkinson address below.
I too find myself sympathizing more with the left these days than the right, but I suspect that’s merely because the right happens to be in power at the moment. I’ve always thought libertarians’ best bet is to forge alliances on an issue-by-issue basis.
Even that is proving difficult. I cover a lot of issues for which there ought to be some common ground with the left. But I can count on one hand the number of Democrats in Congress who care much about the effects of drug prohibition, for example, or how the DEA is hampering the treatment of pain. So any wholesale casting of lots with either side doesn’t seem all that productive to me.
Like Will, I’m also curious as to what issues Moulitsas might offer up for “libertarianization.” Recent events offer plenty of room for skepticism:
- The left generally supported the Supreme Court’s decision in Raich (the five most liberal justices plus Scalia formed the majority in that case). There were a few exceptions. But by and large, the left approved. (Moulitsas himself took a more middling position). The reasoning I read from leftist pundits was that opposing it would have opened the door just a hair more for the short-lived Rehnquist federalism revolution. In other words, a ruling for Angel Raich would have put the slightest of curbs on federal power. And that was too much. In this case, the left couldn’t even bring itself to support a decision allowing sick people to get access to the medication they needed, because it might have hampered the ability of the federal government to enforce hiring quotas, or the EPA’s ability to save endangered, cave-dwelling toads in Texas (the latter argument was actually made by the Washington Post editorial board). It’s hard to take in the left’s reaction to Raich and believe modern American liberalism stands for much of anything anymore, save for raw, unfettered government power.
- Same goes for the Kelo decision (again decided largely by the Court’s left). Some on the left at the time seemed to sympathize with the fifth-generation homeowner who loses his house to, say, Wal-Mart or General Motors, yet still couldn’t get too worked up over a decision that, after all, (1) struck a blow to demon “property rights” advocates, and (2) once again, gave more power to government.
- How about the broader drug war? It’s true that a few of Kos’s diarists have been eloquent opponents of drug prohibition. Bully to them.
Filed under: General; Government and Politics; Law and Civil Liberties
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