A Libertarian Critiques Libertarianism

by | Nov 27, 2019 | Success | 0 comments

Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a President who cared about freedom as much as we Libertarians do? Nope. It would not. 

Let me explain why.

Jack Heald

Libertarian

Jonathan Haidt has done some great work in the field of social virtues. I won’t repeat his research here. But it will help you to understand his findings. I’ll summarize them. 

Haidt’s 6 Social Virtues

Americans as a group recognize six social virtues:

  1. Caring
  2. Fairness
  3. Liberty
  4. Authority
  5. Loyalty
  6. Purity

Not every American shares these 6 social virtues though. Conservatives value all six. Leftists value only two: Fairness and Caring. Libertarians value only a single social virtue: Liberty.

Now, before you argue with me about the validity of these characterizations, read Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind. Then argue with him, not me. He provides the supporting arguments. I agree with his conclusions.

Haidt believes these social virtues originate in our biology. If that is true, then our political differences go much deeper than mere belief. The differences are physical.

Here’s what that means:

A conservative feels a deep moral offense occurs when he perceives a violation of any of the social virtues.

A leftist feels no offense when four of the social virtues are violated: Liberty, Authority, Loyalty &  Purity.

Why? Because these are not moral virtues for a leftist . They are mere social conventions. Useful, but not moral absolutes.

The situation is really bad for us Libertarians. We feel revulsion at the violation of only one of the social virtues: Liberty.

This is me. I understand the value of all the virtues. They make sense.

But I feel deep, moral indignation when only one is violated: Liberty. When I see liberty infringed, it infuriates me. All other social virtues fall into the category of “good ideas, but not moral absolutes.”

And this is why libertarians suck at governance.

We are not wired to govern a complex modern society. We do not value the things that most of the population values. We have a single social virtue. It is vital. But it is not the only social virtue.

This is not a criticism of anyone, leftists, conservatives or libertarians. We do not control our own genetic makeup. We don’t choose which social virtues motivate us any more than we choose our own sexuality.

I cannot make myself feel moral revulsion when someone dishonors the flag. I do think it’s a stupid, juvenile gesture. But I’m not sickened by it.

Why? Because for me, Loyalty and Authority lack any moral valance.

A born leftist cannot make herself feel revulsion when someone exhibits fringe sexual behavior. But careless or unfair treatment of an oppressed minority sickens her to the core of her being.
 
Conservative value all six social virtues. However, the social virtues leftists value – Fairness and Caring – resonate less with conservatives.
 
We already have some idea of what a libertarian government would look like. Ayn Rand’s imaginary town of Galt’s Gulch from Atlas Shrugged is the libertarian vision of Nirvana. If libertarians governed, that’s the kind of town we’d set up.
 
And if we were responsible for an entire planet, it would look like the moon in Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
 
Those sorts of societies horrify most people. And for good reason. Most people are not libertarians.
Leftists want government to dispense justice for the oppressed and care for the hurting. Conservatives want all that, too. And they want authority respected, borders protected and loyalty in general.
The role of the libertarian in modern society is the same as the role of salt in a meal: it helps to season it, preserve it and improves the health. But a diet of salt alone not only tastes lousy, it’ll kill you.

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