Haters Gonna Hate

I couldn’t have said it better myself.  Why does Ron Paul’s libertarianism resonate so well with the racist white paleoconservative community?  Because it gives them an “out” when it comes to doing their own bullying.  Modern libertarian thought is all about the “big bully” that is the government, but has very little to say about the schoolyard bullies that invariably pop-up in the absence of authority.

Not surprisingly, this gigantic loophole has made modern American libertarianism the favorite philosophy of a vast array of local bullies, who want to keep the big bully (government) off their backs so they can bully to their hearts’ content. The curtailment of government legitimacy, in the name of “liberty,” allows abusive bosses to abuse workers, racists to curtail opportunities for minorities, polluters to pollute without cost, religious groups to make religious minorities feel excluded, etc. In theory, libertarianism is about the freedom of the individual, but in practice it is often about the freedom of local bullies to bully. It’s a “don’t tattle to the teacher” ideology.

Therefore I see no real conflict between Ron Paul’s libertarianism and his support for the agenda of racists. It’s just part and parcel of the whole movement. Not necessarily the movement as it was conceived, but the movement as it in fact exists.

Libertarianism, Objectivism and the associated doctrines of the individual as the atomic unit of society are all about freeing people from the constraints of their responsibilities to their neighbors.  It’s a vision of a society without social responsibility.

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1 thought on “Haters Gonna Hate

  1. It occurs to me that this same argument can be made for the so-called “state’s rights” advocates as well. Their desire to maintain Jim Crow is couched in a veiled attack on judicial overreach. This would be the Gingrich position.

    I don’t think this is what Teddy Roosevelt had in mind when he referred to the “Bully Pulpit,” do you?

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