A libertarian response to Robert Locke

This post is meant to rebut some of the common criticisms of libertarianism. Many such criticisms can be found by a simple web search and are mostly variants of a few recurring themes. Typically, libertarians are accused of being utopian, unrealistic, dogmatic, immoral, simplistic, nihilistic or simply extreme. Unfortunately, it is impossible to address these claims when phrased in such [...]

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Late night incoherent rambling

The posts on this blog are mostly socio-political commentary from a libertarian perspective which might lead regular readers (if any exist) to falsely conclude… 
It is almost 2 am now. Having spent the last two hours reading old posts on “Overcoming Bias” and other excellent blogs (some of which, like this one, I just discovered), I am fatigued. [...]

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Wrong in the right direction

“The (top-billed) Libertarians are wrong, just like everyone else, but they are wrong in the right direction to correct several major problems.  When the country becomes too deregulated, I’ll let you know.”
 – Eliezer Yudkowsky

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Noam Chomsky on pornography

(Post updated)
Via Reason, I discovered this old video of Chomsky pontificating about pornography and expressing his view that the government should ‘eliminate the conditions in which women can get these jobs’, which is, of course, a long-winded way of saying ‘ban it’.

Chomsky’s argument is wrong on so many levels that it is impossible to salvage anything useful out [...]

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Bob Barr on supreme court appointments

Bob Barr, the Libertarian nominee for president, speaks out on the jurisprudence on the two major presidential contenders and argues that people who will be voting for McCain because of worries about a possible left-turn of the supreme court under an Obama administration will be making a mistake.
The judiciary is becoming an important election issue. John [...]

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Bill Clinton or George Bush?

Moblogic interviews Bob Barr, the Libertarian nominee for president.

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A paradox for the outraged libertarian

If you are a rebel and the law comes in the way of your natural course of action, you would probably feel justified in violating it. But what if those in power decide they are going to stop you from doing something that you hadn’t planned on doing anyway? What do you do if there is [...]

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The Kozinski affair

Since the Judge Kozinski story broke three days ago, I have frequently visited The Volokh Conspiracy hoping that Eugene Volokh — an outstanding blogger who I frequently cite —  would post on the issue. My interest was piqued not only because I admire Kozinski — a brilliant judge with a libertarian streak — but because Volokh had once clerked for him. Here [...]

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Bob Barr, ex-drug-warrior

So Bob Barr, former Republican, presently the Libertarian candidate for president, was once at the forefront of the war on drugs. How did he change his mind?
Now, you may be asking how this happened and my answer is simple: “The libertarians won.”
For more than three decades, the Libertarian Party and small “l” libertarians have done their part to [...]

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Libertarian blog

I discovered this blog the other day. It has very few posts currently, but I really like all of them. The blog is called “Hard Cases: A Critique of Pure Libertarianism” and serves as a preview of an identically-titled book the author is writing.
My favourite post is probably this one, where the author describes his personal [...]

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Barr’s the man

Bob Barr is the Libertarian party nominee for president. He defeated Mary Ruwart and others after days of political drama, debates and discussions at the Libertarian national convention at Denver, Colorado.
Dave Wiegel from Reason has a stellar coverage of the Libertarian convention here. Highly recommended.

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The politics of South Park

An excerpt from an interview of South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker by Reason Magazine.
Reason: Each of you at various points have called yourself libertarian. Is that an apt description?
Parker: People started throwing that word around to describe us right around the second or third season. They would sit us down and go, [...]

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Social nudges

Another post by Cass Sunstein in the libertarian paternalism series.
Meanwhile, I agree with those who do not like the term ‘libertarian paternalism’. Among the serious alternatives I have encountered so far, I think ‘non-coercive paternalism’ fits best.

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Libertarian paternalism

A guest-blog at Volokh by Cass Sunstein on libertarian paternalism. Hopefully we will see more writings on the subject.
Unlike some hardcore libertarians, I am sympathetic to the idea of libertarian paternalism, particularly the “one-click” variety that Cass mentions. In any case, as even libertarian opponents of the idea will agree, libertarian paternalism is certainly a huge improvement over [...]

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