tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497093028548856666.post4981806112303038407..comments2024-03-22T11:14:05.861-04:00Comments on UncleBob's Treehouse: Leftist Libertarians as Potential Mass MurderersAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16046202647270439670noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497093028548856666.post-5357070727400942442014-03-07T18:06:04.652-05:002014-03-07T18:06:04.652-05:00"For hundreds of years the area around Irelan..."For hundreds of years the area around Ireland, Scotland and Northern England was a land also of murder, theft and slaughter."<br /><br />I once went through an English translation of the Annals of the Four Masters, looking for references to the clan from which my surname originates. In a 600-year period I found over 50 references, nearly every single one of which involved violent death of some kind. At one point, a chieftain died peacefully in his bed, and the chronicler actually thought it necessary to <i>explain</i> why such a bizarre and unexpected thing had occurred.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497093028548856666.post-56130344377655000942014-03-06T15:57:28.545-05:002014-03-06T15:57:28.545-05:00"Some libertarians quote Murray Rothbard, a g...<i>"Some libertarians quote Murray Rothbard, a good economist but a poor historian. He used the examples of Ireland and Iceland as "anarchist" societies."</i><br /><br />Rothbard's examples are quite revealing for other reasons- Ireland and Iceland in what he calls their respective anarchic "Golden Ages" were both ethnically homogenous, geographically isolated island nations with nothing much worth stealing. It's true that Ireland had something of a minor intellectual Renaissance (by the very, very low standards of Dark Age Europe) in the centuries after Christianization, but once the Vikings got wind of its existence, the stateless island was basically defenseless. Irish civilization never impressed anybody after that. (Not that the end of the "Golden Age" was all the Vikings' fault, though; historians have calculated that internecine violence between different clans had already been steadily on the rise for 50 years or more before the longships arrived).<br /><br />The lesson, then, seems to be this: if you want to have "Anarcho-Capitalism", first find a desolate, worthless island somewhere that has absolutely no strategic importance to anyone (somewhere like Kerguelen Islands might work). Then, colonize it exclusively with people from one close-knit ethnic group. Next, instruct everyone not to, under any circumstances, accumulate, produce, or discover any significant source of wealth that can be easily stolen or removed (if you find oil on the sea-bed somewhere, keep it a secret). Finally, stock up on weapons and hand them out to the able-bodied men, so that strangers will know not to trespass. There! Now you can live in a stateless paradise, herding sheep and living without modern medicine on a frozen rock in the middle of the ocean.<br /><br />Actually, now that I describe it, I sort of like that idea, no doubt for atavistic reasons. I'm pretty sure most cosmopolitan left-libertarians wouldn't, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497093028548856666.post-11144460576921013452014-03-04T17:33:53.198-05:002014-03-04T17:33:53.198-05:00What in the world is a "leftist libertarian&q...What in the world is a "leftist libertarian"? I wouldn't have thought there is such a thing. Maybe many hard core leftists think that wanting pot legalized makes you a libertarian.Robert What?https://www.blogger.com/profile/03863449539859132763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497093028548856666.post-31034096009500069462014-03-04T16:12:50.075-05:002014-03-04T16:12:50.075-05:00Oops I forgot to add that they all worship MLK. Re...Oops I forgot to add that they all worship MLK. Really worship him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497093028548856666.post-12817062358200828892014-03-04T16:09:20.325-05:002014-03-04T16:09:20.325-05:00// The easiest way to tell them apart is their vie...// The easiest way to tell them apart is their view of "Martin Luther" King<br /><br />True. This is insightful. My last straw with libertarianism came in 2002, when Trent Lott (no hero to be sure) said something polite to Strom Thurmond and the libertarian punditocracy came down on him with both feet. We were informed that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was pro-liberty and anti-government. That freedom of association was statist, because it necessarily relies on law enforcement (which by golly is gummit!). Virginia Postrel and all the Ayn Randers of every schism and others were saying these inanities (when they weren't busy saying either "they hate us for our freedoms" or "bomb Iran!"). Basically these people are neocons - leftists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8497093028548856666.post-14679210985814642012014-03-04T11:21:47.023-05:002014-03-04T11:21:47.023-05:00Americans are increasingly growing apart from each...Americans are increasingly growing apart from each other. People are now seeking to live where like-minded people live. It's shown up in election results. Only about 10 states are competitive in Presidential elections now, which has not been the case since the Gilded Age. It's known in D.C. as the Red State/Blue State divide, a term you may have heard before. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com