Leo D.M.J. Aurini - October 17, 2016


Libertarianism is an Effect, Not a Cause


Episode Stats


Length

14 minutes

Words per minute

138.67975

Word count

2,063

Sentence count

136

Harmful content

Toxicity

8

sentences flagged

Hate speech

12

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Libertarianism is a no-brainer for people at all levels of society. So why does it consistently fail to achieve its goal? And why is this a problem? In this episode, I try to answer these questions and explain why.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 There's been a lot of ink spilled lately, far too much ink in my view, given the gallons
00:00:07.180 of blood that are about to be tipped over, over the conflict between libertarian principles
00:00:11.780 and the spirited energy of the alt-right.
00:00:15.120 The former reject the nationalism advocated by the latter, the focus on ethnic homogeneity,
00:00:20.180 on foundational cultural values, and the importance of ethos and of having a national direction.
00:00:26.120 The latter respond mostly with ridicule, pointing out that libertarians have repeatedly failed
00:00:31.940 to achieve their goal.
00:00:33.960 You can hardly call this a robust argument, but, as observations go, it's damning.
00:00:40.360 Within the halls of academia, you can expect to receive partial credit for an argument well
00:00:44.800 argued, even if the conclusion is false.
00:00:47.620 But outside of those airy towers, failure is death.
00:00:51.780 As Robert A. Heinlein once observed,
00:00:54.040 What good is a moral philosophy which leads to extinction?
00:00:57.700 After all, an extinct animal has no moral behavior.
00:01:02.660 This repeated failure demands an explanation.
00:01:05.700 It is particularly worrisome, given how self-evident libertarianism seems to be.
00:01:10.760 Free markets lead to a rising tide which lifts all boats, and they are more effective at resisting 0.98
00:01:16.100 monopoly than governments which fall prey to regulatory capture.
00:01:19.720 The recognition of human rights, and principles such as non-aggression, are likewise self-evident.
00:01:26.040 Respecting another man's property and right to free thought takes nothing away from any sane 0.71
00:01:30.140 and ordered individual, and provide much better security in return than that offered by any
00:01:35.300 police officer or Stasi agent.
00:01:38.120 The accomplishments of the free market harnessing human potential are nearly incredible.
00:01:42.820 Even something as mundane as a fully stocked grocery store is a wonder to behold, a logistical
00:01:48.280 accomplishment that puts army quartermasters to shame, and compared to the breadlines and
00:01:52.900 mass starvation of central planners, there's no contest at all.
00:01:57.980 Libertarianism offers wealth, peace, and freedom.
00:02:01.080 All that we have to give up is dependence, war, and slavery.
00:02:05.860 Even the lowliest are granted the ability to own and maintain their own home, free of coercion
00:02:10.720 or threat, whether it be through inflated currencies or seizure by state agents.
00:02:15.940 All that the managed economy offers is an ever-growing population living in the projects.
00:02:22.320 Libertarianism is a no-brainer for people at all levels of society.
00:02:27.460 So why does it consistently fail?
00:02:31.080 To answer this question, let's take a step back.
00:02:35.440 While libertarianism is an obviously superior system, it also involves some radical proposals.
00:02:41.340 Asking, but who will build the roads, is a bit of a joke in libertarian circles, one which
00:02:46.800 results in frustrated ideologues and extensive lecturing.
00:02:50.600 But nonetheless, it is one of the many intellectual barriers for those who are new to the movement.
00:02:55.860 So instead of taking the whole grand work of the libertarian edifice in one go,
00:03:00.180 So let's start with a smaller question.
00:03:04.000 War.
00:03:05.120 What is it good for?
00:03:07.760 Military conflict has always been an expensive activity.
00:03:11.280 It requires a massed number of people, operating abroad, using the latest and greatest technology
00:03:16.580 that society has to offer.
00:03:17.860 Think of the expense that companies go to for annual conferences, and then multiply that tenfold.
00:03:26.560 Reuters estimates that the war in Iraq has cost over $1.7 billion.
00:03:30.520 And what do we have to show for it?
00:03:33.000 Burned-out cities and dead bodies.
00:03:35.920 War is the anti-economy. 0.85
00:03:39.480 It burns up a lot of money for the sake of destroying wealth.
00:03:44.660 War is distinct from other necessary evils that all societies must provide for.
00:03:49.800 Fire departments, for instance.
00:03:52.000 Firemen produce nothing of value, and yet they're an expense that must be paid to mitigate the
00:03:56.680 damage done when fire inevitably breaks out.
00:03:59.320 Courts, lawyers, and police officers are similarly unproductive, and yet equally necessary.
00:04:06.580 Even on the individual level, we pay for insurance, we stock up for lean times, and we maintain
00:04:11.820 a basic level of security on our homes, even though none of these create benefit.
00:04:16.900 All they do is mitigate risk.
00:04:20.180 But war is something different.
00:04:22.920 Five hundred years ago, you could have made a case for it.
00:04:27.260 Once upon a time, there was some profit to be found in it.
00:04:30.800 The infrastructure was less sensitive and easier to rebuild.
00:04:34.160 The disparities of wealth allowed for substantial loot and plunder.
00:04:38.060 Installing your own tribe as the new rulers was a distinct possibility, with concrete benefits. 0.75
00:04:43.720 Granted, very few wars proved to be profitable for anybody, even back then.
00:04:47.960 But at least there was an argument to be made for those pursuing rational self-interest.
00:04:54.320 That is no longer the case today.
00:04:57.980 War has not been profitable for anybody for several centuries at least.
00:05:03.020 Borders have barely changed because of it.
00:05:05.540 Political advantage have been temporary at best.
00:05:08.980 And no matter how decisive the victory, the victors have come out of it in worse shape
00:05:13.420 than when they entered.
00:05:14.240 All victories are pyrrhic victories in the modern world, and almost everybody knows this.
00:05:21.540 And yet war still remains.
00:05:24.220 It is senseless, destructive, it benefits no one, and we'd all be better off if we stopped
00:05:30.280 waging it.
00:05:31.800 And yet war still remains.
00:05:35.960 Let's get smaller still.
00:05:38.040 The challenges of international diplomacy are, much like the arguments for libertarianism,
00:05:42.440 rather esoteric.
00:05:44.580 Despite most people acknowledging the senseless destruction of war, there are no obvious solutions
00:05:49.900 forthcoming.
00:05:51.180 There remains a sense that, even if war is destructive, the alternative is even worse.
00:05:56.700 So instead of looking at the world stage, where we fight against the unknown other, let us
00:06:02.060 consider something closer to home.
00:06:04.760 Race riots, where the protesters destroy their own communities.
00:06:08.860 Black Lives Matter has been terrorizing the nation for three years at this point, and they 1.00
00:06:15.040 have utterly failed to advance the cause of black America.
00:06:18.780 Their primary effect has been to gut the inner cities, destroying the very businesses that 0.91
00:06:23.580 blacks rely upon, and engender militancy in the police forces nationwide.
00:06:28.460 The secondary effect, which they will soon come to regret should it occur, will be the nationalization 0.92
00:06:34.640 of police forces, turning them into an impersonal bureaucracy, rather than a representative local
00:06:40.320 group which is capable of community outreach.
00:06:43.940 And yet, despite all of this, belief in the movement remains high.
00:06:48.540 According to Pew Research, 65% of blacks support the movement, with only 12% opposing it.
00:06:55.080 There are many reasons for this, of course.
00:06:57.480 Black Lives Matter is hardly occurring in a vacuum.
00:07:00.220 George Soros' Open Society Institute has funded the movement to the tune of $670,000.
00:07:06.680 The corrupt media establishment has misrepresented the situation, exaggerating and outright manufacturing
00:07:12.460 the supposed racism of various police departments, while covering up the senseless destruction being
00:07:17.920 waged.
00:07:18.920 The Democrats have been very effective in keeping blacks on the reservation, denying them political 1.00
00:07:23.600 agency through the gimme dat and spread the wealth around culture. 0.84
00:07:27.620 And finally, there's the fact that your average black American scores lower on IQ tests and 0.97
00:07:33.300 has a higher time preferences than their white counterparts.
00:07:36.900 All of this is true, and yet it's also completely irrelevant when we consider the obvious solution
00:07:42.900 to the problems that exist.
00:07:45.400 Question.
00:07:46.960 What could blacks do to improve their lot in life and their standing in America?
00:07:50.920 Answer. 0.99
00:07:53.480 Stop slinging drugs, having children out of wedlock, and burning down local businesses. 1.00
00:07:59.720 The biggest problem in the black community is the degenerated culture. 1.00
00:08:04.740 And the number one solution is to rebuild that culture. 0.96
00:08:08.020 The result.
00:08:09.100 Stable families, employment, home ownership, entrepreneurship.
00:08:12.480 These start to look like the ideal society that libertarians talk about.
00:08:17.660 They're certainly a step in the right direction.
00:08:20.280 And yet, libertarianism has nothing to do with creating this solution.
00:08:24.660 Focusing on individual morality and community direction are the tools through which black success 0.98
00:08:30.180 could be achieved.
00:08:31.920 Talking about voluntarism and the non-aggression principle will do nothing but get you mugged.
00:08:36.840 When we zoom out from the particular, and look at Western civilization in general, the solution
00:08:43.300 stays the same.
00:08:45.140 Yes, there are hostile forces out there who seek the degradation and enslavement of Western
00:08:49.840 peoples, and their primary tool of coercion is state bureaucracies.
00:08:54.520 But a tool is all it is.
00:08:57.200 And it's just one tool among many.
00:09:00.480 Abolishing the state would take that particular tool away from them, but there are plenty of
00:09:05.640 others, and our people would remain just as vulnerable, if not more, to the weapons at
00:09:11.280 their disposal.
00:09:13.900 This presents us with a dilemma.
00:09:17.380 On the one hand, government is the problem.
00:09:20.680 Socialism preys upon broken people by incentivizing their bad behavior, thus producing more broken
00:09:26.360 people to serve.
00:09:28.100 At the same time, government is necessary.
00:09:31.580 When your society is full of broken people, only a monopoly of force can keep their negative
00:09:37.480 behavior in check.
00:09:39.460 In the ideal, realized world of libertarianism, the negative fallout from exploitative businesses
00:09:45.680 and broken individuals would be minimal and swiftly corrected.
00:09:50.460 But in the interim, we're left with questions of practicality and realistic policy.
00:09:55.400 And when it comes to libertarian proposals, which ones are going to be adopted first?
00:10:04.360 Consider the libertarian stance on drugs.
00:10:06.860 That, whatever their negative effects might be, they're not so great an evil as the state-run
00:10:12.380 apparatus which interdicts them.
00:10:15.280 On this question, many will agree.
00:10:18.260 The war on drugs has been an abysmal failure.
00:10:20.540 But outside of political conjecture, is drug legalization a high priority?
00:10:28.320 Is it a sensible policy to introduce when heroin overdoses have quadrupled since the turn
00:10:34.040 of the century?
00:10:35.460 Will legalizing drugs move us closer to, or further away from, the free society that libertarians
00:10:42.600 hope to achieve?
00:10:43.620 Now consider the fact that drug legalization has become one of the few topics which active
00:10:50.040 libertarians are able to agree upon, the other being their celebration of pornography and
00:10:55.500 sodomy in general.
00:10:58.260 The merchant sells and the goyim buys. 1.00
00:11:02.520 The problem in our civilization aren't caused by a lack of liberty.
00:11:06.860 Rather, the erosion of liberty is a result of the problems with the general population.
00:11:15.140 There is a statement from John Adams, founding father and second president of the United States,
00:11:20.800 which many of you have heard in snippet, that is worth quoting in full.
00:11:25.240 While our country remains untainted with the principles and manners which are now producing
00:11:32.140 desolation in so many parts of the world, while she continues sincere and incapable of
00:11:38.040 insidious and impious policy, we shall have the strongest reason to rejoice in the local
00:11:43.940 destination assigned us by Providence.
00:11:46.860 But should the people of America once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another
00:11:52.460 and towards foreign nations, which assumes the language of justice and moderation, while it
00:11:58.060 is practicing iniquity and extravagance, and displays in the most captivating manner the
00:12:03.740 charming picture of candor, frankness, and sincerity, while it is rioting in rapine and
00:12:09.280 insolence, this country will be the most miserable habitation in the world.
00:12:15.300 Because we have no government armed with power, capable of contending with human passions
00:12:21.240 unbridled by morality and religion.
00:12:25.120 Avarice, ambition, revenge, and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our constitution
00:12:31.940 as a whale goes through a net.
00:12:34.820 Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. 0.67
00:12:39.980 It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
00:12:45.320 This spirit is present in the alt-right.
00:12:47.840 It may not be understood in its full philosophical glory, but nonetheless there is a realization
00:12:54.180 that freedom without community is nothing more than atomization leading to tyranny.
00:13:00.920 Freedom is a desirable state of affairs, but it is an end, not a means.
00:13:07.780 At present, the demands for more freedom will only be granted in cases where greater freedom
00:13:13.400 will harm us.
00:13:15.140 Freedom from responsibility.
00:13:17.600 Freedom from consequences.
00:13:19.460 Freedom from hard work.
00:13:21.940 These are all being made readily available, and they just so happen to be the types of freedom
00:13:27.260 which the bulk of libertarians most vociferously demand.
00:13:32.960 What the alt-right demands is community.
00:13:36.000 What they desire is leadership.
00:13:40.280 What they celebrate are the heroic virtues which purify not only the individual, but the
00:13:46.740 society as a whole.
00:13:49.740 To achieve liberty, we must first return to discipline.
00:13:54.420 We must embrace the social norms which are decried by the globalists.
00:13:58.680 We must rediscover our fate.
00:14:00.340 We must rediscover our soil, and we must rediscover the blood pumping through our veins.
00:14:08.420 Libertarianism offers a hospice, pleasing distractions during the inevitable decline.
00:14:17.160 The alt-right offers toil, sweat, blood, tears, and hope for a better tomorrow.
00:14:30.340 A point.
00:14:32.080 A point.
00:14:33.060 A point.
00:14:49.840 A point.
00:14:50.180 A point.