Re: Libertarians and the Left

Robert Stephens sends along the following thoughtful reply to my first post:

“The issues in question are likely tied to the left only in the sense that for the vast majority of people they are strongly correlated with the left simply because, for whatever reasons, the left are the only ones talking about them (or the only ones seen to be talking about them). Guilt by association is a fallacy after all. Libertarians should be especially sensitive to this fallacy since we are alternatively dismissed by those not familiar with libertarianism as either “liberal nut cases” or “ultra-right-wingers” depending upon the issue under discussion.

Mr. Long is correct to observe that, at least for this from-the-right libertarian, there’s often a reflexive dismissal of issues traditionally correlated with the left (mea culpa). That’s a reflex that should be checked. I thank Mr. Long for the correction.

It seems to me that issues like patriarchy etc. might afford the opportunity for libertarians to do new (groundbreaking?) work. Those issues should be seriously considered, and appropriate libertarian responses developed. If it turns out that some of them are intrinsically statist, at least then we’d be able to give thoughtful reasons for dismissing them. If not, works in those areas might be an attraction to libertarianism for individuals who might otherwise end up as leftists simply because the leftists are the only ones who appear to be taking their concerns seriously. Build a better mousetrap….

In any event, short of developing thoughtful libertarian positions on these issues, we should probably remain silent (except, of course, when it comes to opposing whatever clearly statist entailments the left claims for them). After all, it’s not like there’s enough sympathy for libertarianism around that we can afford to carelessly antagonize anyone.”

I think libertarians should be open to exploring issues that are traditionally thought of as belonging to the “left” just like we should be open to developing a libertarian perspective on issues thought of as belonging to the right.

Roderick has posted some more thoughts on the issue (scroll down to “A Lefter Shade of Thick”.) In particular, Roderick responds to the arguments about whether libertarians should be concerned about “social” coercion:

“Many leftists seem to be relying implicitly on something like the following argument:

1. Nonviolent forms of influence are sometimes oppressive.
2. All forms of oppression are rights-violations and so may legitimately be combated by force.
3. Therefore: nonviolent forms of influence are sometimes rights-violations and so may legitimately be combated by force.
On the other side, many libertarians appear to be tacitly assuming that argument’s mirror image:

1. Nonviolent forms of influence are never rights-violations and so may not legitimately be combated by force.
2. All forms of oppression are rights-violations and so may legitimately be combated by force.
3. Therefore: nonviolent forms of influence are never oppressive.
But to my mind both these arguments are making the same mistake, because premise 2 is false in both cases: there can be, and are, forms of oppression that are not violations of rights – and so are appropriately addressed by means other than force. Treating injustice as the only serious social evil unduly flattens the moral landscape. Nonviolent forms of oppression are evil partly because they tend to reinforce violent ones, and partly because they’re just bad in their own right.”

I am not sure what a non-violent form of oppression is, or even if there is such a thing. Which is not to say I don’t think Roderick is right to suggest libertarians should engage these issues, merely that it confuses the issues to refer to non-state, non-violent oppression. Also, maybe some of what the left complains about as oppression is totally justified, such as an employer imposing a dress code on employees.

I also agree with Roderick that certain attitudes and values, while not statist in themselves, may justify and promote statism and thus should be of concern to libertarians.

Finally, check out Roderick’s post called “Reunification” for some thoughts on whether libertarians should assume leadership of the radical left.