As Deluded as Marx but With Some Economic Literacy Thrown in The Mix to Dazzle and Confuse People.

Oct 5, 2019, 11:04 AM

By: Daniel Jordan via Michael Hayes

I think it’s difficult for some people to get their brain out of a certain loop.

Once someone destroys the illusion that the wealthy are not by necessity rich due to exploitation of the poor because the pie isn’t fixed (only the past is a fixed pie). The next illusion that gets propped up is created by applying this logic to other avenues of life. The idea that mass migration cannot possibly effect you because again the ‘pie isn’t fixed’ or that it simply should not effect you if not for bad policies (excessive welfare state brought onto you by force of the government) and so the next illusion that is propped up in tandem with the non fixed pie view of immigration is the NAP(non aggression principal). And this farcical idea of speculative harm being out of the question for use of force.

Now we see the axiom that lays at the root of the ex socialist, neo-liberal.

The most important commodity in the commons is trust. Trust that for various biological/cultural reasons can be eroded.

NAP can collapse on its own merits if we even allow one iota of punishment for the most heinous of crimes such as murder. It’s not an axiom/ethic congruent with our nature to simply let evil walk free in the name of NAP. Consider the fact that the whole reason you lock someone up for murder is based on speculative future harm.

Take the idea of air pollution or water pollution. The latter can generally be solved efficiently through property rights and give people all the protection we need. The former requires targeted regulation due to the nature of the problems and that it’s not really possible to have someone own the air (other than perhaps air traffic rights). Both of these things however have to be backed up by the courts (force, aggression if you will) and both require proactive (speculative) measures.

Libertarians generally get economic issues, but they do not have a consistent view of the use of force. I suppose they are perfectly consistent if they are genuine ancaps, but really very few of them are, and that kind of Rothbardian view of humanity is pure fantasy, just as deluded as Marx but with some economic literacy thrown in the mix to dazzle and confuse people.