Cato's David Boaz Talks Politics, History, and His Path to Libertarianism

[@Herreken]

Damn it, I just finished Libertarianism: A Primer. I didn't know he updated the book and gave it a different title.

[@xxcrysad3000xx]

+Herreken I'm in the same boat! I'll likely pick this edition up if I can find it on the cheap, but for now I'll just be reading other classics like Mises' Liberalism, Rand's Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, and Rothbard's The Ethics of Liberty.

[@garrettlees]

Yellow card penalty at 31:00. "Now, I always say to the anti-immigration people..." David, I'm blowing the whistle and pulling out a yellow card (not a red card) for the sake of clarity and academic honesty. Please be more careful not to confound "anti-immigration" with "anti-illegal-immigration." Fair enough? Play on.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Maybe he just doesn't care if immigration is legal or illegal. A lot of the nationalistic types don't really care either.

[@GOBIAS.INDUSTRIES.]

@@MilwaukeeF40C I agree with Garrett Lees, but you make a great point 👌

[@sleedolfine15]

I just purchased this book.

[@sleedolfine15]

***** It's a good book. It's a decent introduction to libertarianism,but it is less valuable to anyone who already knows a lot about the philosophy. It's the sort of book that would be good in a libertarian 101 college course. The book was clearly meant to be for libertarians what Russell Kirk's classic Conservative Mind was for conservatives. It defines libertarianism and describes its different philosophical foundations from utilitarianism to natural rights. The book describes the historic roots of the philosophy as well as contemporary issues.

[@sleedolfine15]

***** You're welcome. Atlas Shrugged is a real workout,but I enjoyed it. My college roommate was a real Rand fan. She would read it every year with the same dedication that some would give to the Bible. Anyway,I hope you enjoy your reading.

[@sleedolfine15]

***** Yes,it's a great novel of ideas. I've been doing a lot of that type of reading lately. I've been working my way through a great books list. I've been reading stuff by the likes of Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, etc. All of those authors are challenging,but Rand is especially so because her system of values is so different from normal western values.

[@oanarquista1945]

Thanks for sharing this information!

[@magister343]

I don't want Bill Gates to get richer _from the government granted privilege of "intellectual property" monopolies._ I also don't want oil magnates or slum lords to get rich from government-granted land titles. I want an unfettered free market in genuine capital, but the equal redistribution of rents to every individual member of the community rather than their concentration in private hands.

[@schumanhuman]

It is a shame most Libertarians miss that land patents are the most damaging, as if the insights of Ricardo,Smith and the Physiocrats could be brushed aside. Laissez faire was predicated on the return of such damaging economic rents to the community which creates them. The removal of other dead weight taxes would be made possible by such action.

[@quintessenceSL]

schumanhuman The more educated libertarians, like Friedman, understand realpolitik concessions and favor things like LVT even if they don't necessarily buy someone like George's arguments, with a smattering from both the left and right also in support. The you have self-styled libertarians a la Reason (see Nick Gillespie's "Rolling Stone's Sad "5 Economic Reforms Millennials Should Be Fighting For") who love to quote Smith, but apparently have never read him, who wax ecstatic about the near-divine wisdom of the Founding Fathers and look blankly at you with the mention of Thomas Paine; those libertarians will decry such observations as creeping socialism, with maybe one in thousand able to mention Rothbard's arguments against. Which is a shame really, as that type of tax reform would cut to the heart of several libertarian concerns all at once, and is at least approachable within this lifetime, but too many don't quite Get It, and are eclipsed by the good being the enemy of the perfect. At least other countries are seemingly working towards it. It will be interesting to see the results 100 years from now.

[@magister343]

The very rich typically are motivated by earning more money--not more money than they themselves currently have, but more money those other rich guys they know who clearly don't deserve their wealth as much. They'd be happy earning $250k if they didn't know some asshole who earned over $1 million yet without working half as hard or being half as smart. Once one has enough money to live comfortably, further wealth is mostly just a measure of social status. Being provided only a modest income is more socially insulting than being asked to work for free out of charity.

[@schumanhuman]

***** Friedman is a funny case, he kept pretty quiet mostly about his Land tax support (too busy supporting fascist coups in South America perhaps)apparently he told a young economist -Nick Tidelman if I remember correctly 'Don't tell anyone you're a Georgist if you want to get on in this world!' William Buckley too was a closet Georgist, apparently beaten down by his other right wing friends. Interestingly to his credit Hayek said there was a 'Strong argument' in theory for land taxes, but he thought they couldn't be done practically - he was wrong then and even more so now as techniques for assessment are vastly improved via gis. Land tax isn't perfect, but it's by far the best (or least worst as Friedman put it). Rothbard's arguments have been debunked, they range from petty to nonsensical. Most Rothbard type Libertarians simply argue from the point of view all tax is bad so the though of a tax that actually works and promotes capital creation pisses them off too much to actually analyze Rothbard's objections so they simply take them as articles of faith.

[@nustada]

Daryl Christensen "If someone makes 500 times more than everyone else, that's bad for society." Why? The pie is not fixed. If someone makes 500 times more, that means someone is willing to pay 500 times more. Who are you to interfere with that. I don't care how poor you think you are, but you a %1er when you include all humanity past and present. The quality of life we enjoy is due largely to people who wanted to work for high income. "If automation removes up to 45% of available jobs, industry will have fewer customers" The same arguments could have been made in the agricultural and industrial revolution. Automation may reduce wages for some, but it also reduces costs of goods. Also it creates more valuable jobs. With the new wealth more new jobs are created. Its not a loss, its a redistribution.

[@EmWarEl]

There is no anti-immigrant or anti-immigration sentiment in Conservative circles. America was built on immigration. The problem is UNMONITORED ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSING. Is it really that hard for Reason (or FEE, or Cato) to get this?

[@toddwelch3857]

How do we work foreign policy (foreign intervention) when Russia and China intervene or expand their influence in the world? Does the United States as a the world's super-power need to have some influence?

[@punkrockparents]

Sure...If YOU want to go over there and arm wrestle with Russia and China into forcing their use of the private Federal Reserve notes to engage in trade, then that is certainly YOUR perogative....I, for one, am NOT springing for your arms, nor even your plane ticket for that matter. Frankly, I am pretty fed up with this government forcing our future generations into debt to use them myself.

[@AnkhDjedSeneb]

Crass Frazier What about the jihadis that are working their way into America. Is it worth stopping them outside your borders or would you prefer to wait until they are stronger and you can fight them in your own cities? ps. for those that have zero clue about Islamic doctrine, Koran 9:29 is the last non-abrogated verse that replaces every other verse of the Koran. It commands Muslims to take over the World and subjugate all non-Muslims. 9/11 didn't happen because you were in Iraq (since it happened two years before - Boaz is a muppet on this issue), nor the Cole nor Tanzania bombings, etc. The very existence of non-Muslims in the World is an affront to Islam (which is a political system, not a personal faith). Libertarians are usually pretty smart, but on Islam they have zero clues, because they fail to understand Islamic ideology as Muslim are taught to understand it. Military isolationism is not possible in the age of global jihad and ICBMs. Libertarians must adapt to this reality - your oceans will not save you from these.

[@briangalloway4193]

Hmmm, I like the idea of limited government and civil rights, but historically, it's been the federal government in the USA that intervened to protect certain groups in society from their fellow citizens. There's an inherent conflict here, because people unrestrained tend to oppress others for their own gain.

[@cosmofox]

Well Brian, you're wrong on this. When the government intervenes to protect some people (and their rights) from others, that is an expression of libertarianism, not a refutation. Libertarianism doesn't mean to let anyone do to others whatever they want.

[@dantean]

Nick affords access to some of the only thinking around.

[@jordancotter5885]

All this talk about Rand Paul. I'm really surprised Gary Johnson never came up.

[@flashtomgordon]

I don't know if Nick was just playing devil's advocate but his discussion of Picketty and Billionaires was a little frightening. For one of the top 5 advocates of libertarian thought to act like we have a problem because we have billionaires and billionaires are doing well is a little scary.

[@johnsmith4630]

can someone please tell Mr Smartypants that it is "Scott-Irish," NOT "Scotch" lol

[@illinois_institutionalserv5825]

Learned a lot. But please, don't paint me as anti-Hispanic because I am deeply concerned about our ridiculous immigration mess -- rule of law is my sole issue, and it is not a small issue because our current administration flaunts the law whenever and wherever deemed comvenient. Boaz mentions this but puts all kinds of nasty labels first.

[@AnarchyEnsues]

Dude. David boaz wants to destroy white America, because he is not a white Christian American. He is little hat gang, and they benifit by destroying white people.

[@wingitprod]

@14:00, Really, gay marriage is a libertarian moment??? We are being taxed into submission and forced to purchase a product at gun point and gay marriage is a victory??? Sounds like a statist victory to me. Now if judges started nullifying marriage licenses Boaz might have a point:-P

[@wingitprod]

This is the kind of crap that aids Republicans in saying a libertarian is just a democrat that got tired of having his pocket picked and wants to smoke dope.

[@dalegribble5661]

wingitprod Lol or.....I DONT LIKE JUDGMENTAL HARD RIGHT WINGERS!!! Cant take either EXSTEEM!!

[@AnarchyEnsues]

Yes it's a libertarian victory because libertarians have the wrong values. This is why libertarianism is over, thankfully

[@wingitprod]

@@dalegribble5661 guns don't kill people...

[@johnsmith4630]

libertarianism is not a political philosophy. It is a morwl argument that coercion/aggression against peaceable people is wrong. It has some political implications, but that is a subcategory of the basic concept. It implicitly accuses the means-end justification of government.

[@dominicewing8940]

Libertarianism isn't a moral philosophy, it is a legal one. There are few morals within Libertarianism, but there are a plethora of legal arguments within it.

[@johnsmith4630]

@@dominicewing8940 cringe as it is, lolbertarianism’s legal arguments are all based on a very few moral premises about ownership of one self and property, and consent.

[@dominicewing8940]

@@johnsmith4630 you said it was a moral Philosophy, and not a political one, I was simply saying that it isn't a moral philosophy. It is a legal one. For example, we Libertarians aren't saying drug usage is moral. We're simply saying you have to right to do it if you so choose.

[@johnsmith4630]

@@dominicewing8940 its applications are mostly political, this you could say its mostly political. But its all built on foundational moral premises. Diff libertarians doubtless have diff opinions about diff drugs and their morality, but they all* agree that it should be up to the individual as coercion is a greater evil. Notions about whether someone should be able to choose this or that, notions about (high)taxes basically being a form of theft etc, these are all moral assumptions. A legal framework or political platform is all built upon those moral assumptions. No one said they had to exactly be like traditional or christian or whatever assumptions

[@dalegribble5661]

U know...i believe ANY EXSTEEM IS NOT ME MAN

[@orlamcmanus9019]

Scots Irish and Irish are not the same thing, the former are of British colonial stock going to America as indentured servants, the Irish were sent to the Islands as rebel convicts used like slaves, and immigrated in 1840s to America. I hate when American ignorance conflates these things.

[@aeronomer8389]

FFS...global warming...

[@johnsmith4630]

the problem withany immigrants is that they bring their authoritarian attitudes with them and feed the growth of state power. Why does reason, puporting to speak for all but a "smattering" of libertarians not address this objection. The talk about everything but that....

[@AnarchyEnsues]

The problem is non Christian Americans, like boaz, wants to destroy white Christian America.

[@davidniggemeyer4944]

Gay Marriage? Why is it ALWAYS the measuring stick for freedom and tolerance? As a Christian I find it unnatural and sinful, but I don't want to regulate someone's bedroom. Yet, that's NOT enough! I have to accept it as "normal" and give it a stamp of approval in order to not be a bigoted nutjob. What about tolerance for my religious convictions as well as my TOLERANCE for EVERYONE to sin without government persecution?

[@AnarchyEnsues]

Dude. Libertarianism is anti Christian. The libertarianism David boaz promote is just the Talmud.

[@barbaragrahamgrabowski9330]

All political and philosophical positions will go amuck without the Supreme Creator 's guiding Word. The Constitution was the document inspired to govern a free and independent people but the people have turned their back on God and lost their way.

[@Larkinchance]

More cover for abusive corporations.