Comments on: Minding the Philosophy Gap

By: Matthew Yglesias

Matthew Yglesias — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I have no ideas and no coherent philosophy. Just a vehement hatred of rightwingers, a lust for power, a love of both the game of politics and the joys of policy wonkery, and a taste for polemics. If I wanted to develop coherent ideas, I would have stayed in school!

By: Will Wilkinson

Will Wilkinson — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

As I suspected!

By: praktike

praktike — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Intellectually serious?

You know, you libertarians are pretty strange … always valuing ideology over a mixed economy that has worked fairly well over the years. Sure, there are some problems, but you folks have been agitating on moral grounds while talking about what a disaster our current setup is for some time now and, truth be told, America has done pretty well regardless.

Carry on.

By: Will Wilkinson

Will Wilkinson — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

praktike, I’m pretty heterodox among libertarians on the mixed-economy issue. So careful about the “you folks” business. I’m willing to admit that Sweden is a huge triumph of civilization, and that almost all existing high-growth liberal democracies approximate ideal societies, given the constraints to which they are subject. The argument for a freer market and polycentric structure of governance is that it works even better.

By: praktike

praktike — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I hereby welcome you to the Order of ProSwedish Libertarians.

By: Gil

Gil — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Is the membership above two yet?

By: Will Wilkinson

Will Wilkinson — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Who won't join me in applauding my friends at Timbro, working tirelessly to help Sweden ever more closely approximate the ideal of liberal order?!

By: Wild Pegasus

Wild Pegasus — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

If I wanted to develop coherent ideas, I would have stayed in school!

Let’s not get carried away. Academia isn’t exactly swimming in in coherent ideas.

- Josh

By: dfad

dfad — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

to what extent is a coherent governing philosophy a strategic necessity? Answer: To a very large extent.

Wait. Are you seriously taking the position that what we’ve been witnessing for the last four years is a “coherent governing philosophy”?

By: Micha Ghertner

Micha Ghertner — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

always valuing ideology over a mixed economy that has worked fairly well over the years.

Compared to what? I never understand this criticism. Without some sort of conception of the ideal, how can we say whether welfare capitalism works well or not? Sure, it might be better than command-and-control economies, but that’s like saying, “I’m not such a bad person, at least compared to Hitler.” Wow, great accomplishment, mixed economy. Kudos.

Or as Chris Rock so eloquently puts it,

“Niggers always want credit for some shit they’re supposed to do. They’ll brag about stuff a normal man just does. They’ll say something like, ‘Yeah, well I take care of my kids.’ You’re supposed to, you dumb motherfucker. ‘I ain’t never been to jail.’ Whaddya want? A cookie? You’re not supposed to go to jail, you low-expectation-having motherfucker!”

By: mdf

mdf — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The people who make the rules make the rules benefit themselves, the more so the better – don’t get in the way of that.

Is that libertarianism?

By: Micha Ghertner

Micha Ghertner — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

A pretty good description of its opposite. Sounds a lot like the Public Choice (and Marxist) critique of the state.

By: Tom Hanna

Tom Hanna — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Liberalism’s coherent governing philosophy is that governing is a good in itself. If there’s a reason that their strategy is all about getting elected, it’s because their philosophy is all about centralizing power and if you’re centralizing power you sure don’t want the other guy to get elected.

By: mdf

mdf — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I’m a duck soup marxist.

If the rich and powerful keep ratcheting down on everybody else and the philosophisers and pundits say “well, that’s just the way it is” – where are we headed?

By: monkyboy

monkyboy — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I wouldn’t worry about it, mdf. The rich and powerful of this generation are just passing on their debt to the rich and powerful of the next generation.

Once the Democrats are back in power, estate taxes and income taxes and capital gains taxes will be raised. When I started working, the maximum income tax rate was 92%, I expect we’ll see it get back up there in the future.