Libertarians have much to offer that I find absolutely true and totally appealing, much of it I find irrational, such as open borders, illegal drugs, and prostitution, all predicated on and absolute right to individual liberty. Sounds good, but there are consequences for which they have no answers.
Libertarian thinking reminds me very much like military strategies. Did you know that every military strategy ever devised was perfect? At least until they met the enemy. It turns out the enemy also had a "perfect" plan in place. That's when everything starts to fall apart and that's when perfect plans are so often found to be seriously flawed.
The one most able to recognize the lack of perfection in their “perfect plan”, and quickly adapts it to whatever difficulties the enemies “perfect plan” has, is the one who will be the victor.
Libertarianism is basic fundamental morality, a morality that's foundational to the human makeup. It is a reality that is imprinted in our makeup and governed by a force we call - conscience!
The trouble with conscience as an absolute arbiter of right and wrong is that the conscience can be changed, adjusted…..or…lets just say the conscience can be “trained”, and even seared "as with a branding iron', and scarred to be unfeeling with continuous acts that violate it. And what molds the conscience? Time and circumstance!
If the entire world practiced libertarianism as outlined as:
"moral premises and intuitions that in principle are shared by virtually everyone, including children, that being, don't hurt anyone. Don't steal from anyone, and mind your own business".
That would be very nice. At least until someone desired those things others have. Then what?
In spite of the governing morality imprinted on our conscience, The Ten Commandments apparently needed to be outlined as the ten "commandments", not the ten "recommendations". Why? Because people will always be people, and people will always find ways to rationalize their views to their own benefit.
While reading this start to think about the Jews as they entered the Promised Land. What form of government did they have? None to speak of! The land was broken up into tribal areas and those tribal areas were broken up into homesteads that became hereditary holdings. Even if they sold the land it was returned at some point in the future. But people were pretty much able to “do that which was right in their own eyes”.
What happened? It didn't work, and they eventually demanded a king to rule over them, judge them, and defend them against foreign enemies.
Libertarianism is a nice foundational philosophy that will be a moving force for conservatives, but it holds little appeal as a lasting, effective stand alone governing philosophy that will stand the test of time.
Why?
Because for libertarianism to work it would require people to become much more introspective and less self serving, and always be that way, and that just ain't gonna happen.
A Catholic priest once said:
"If you ever find the perfect organization, join it. However, once you have joined it; it is now become somewhat less than perfect!”
I have yet to find any flaw in that thought, because people will always be people, and the foundational social foundations, many times centuries old, will be the controlling force in societies.
Muslim controlled nations are nothing more than Medieval tribal cultures with modern trappings and military hardware. After you scrap away the surface horsepucky you begin to realize these countries are still tribal societies that are still fighting the same wars they have been fighting for centuries, and not a one of them are good guys.
They hate everyone except their own. They only love their own tribal members, their own brand of Islam, their own financial interests and their own power. All else, and everyone else is the enemy and in their minds their enemies deserve death delivered in any way that works best.
Conclusion? Libertarianism is a dream if put into practice becomes a nightmare.
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