At Principled Perspectives, libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara defends unregulated capitalism…
The basic feature of capitalism, which is integral to Americanism, is individual autonomy and self-governance, within the confines established by the same rights of others. Consequently, the individual needs the freedom of action, as defined by the principle of individual rights, to live by the judgement of his own mind without coercive interference from others, including others as government officials.
…and attacks democracy.
Democracy is the rule of mob might, not objective law. “Freedom” is basically government permission, and individual “rights” can be restricted or discarded any time the government can claim it is acting on the “will of the people: that is, there are no inalienable rights-which means, no rights at all. Democracy, properly understood, is a manifestation of totalitarian collectivism.
We have a reader response from Trey:
No.
The basic feature of capitalism is where ownership lies. In capitalism, ownership is private. Private ownership of resources and the means of production. Capitalism has nothing to do with individual autonomy or self-governance as neither of those things has anything, whatsoever, to do with economics and the economy. Capitalism is, at best, indifferent to individualism. Capitalism doesn’t care if a coal mine is owned by John Osgood or if it’s owned by a Hippy-Dippy co-op, so long as it’s not a government entity.
Another helping of Libertarian Word Salad with Definitions Are What I Want Them To Be in a small carafe on the side for easy dipping.
I’m also curious as to what an “Objective Law” is. Looking it up, I only find Randian definitions which seem to forget that laws are malleable, alterable and imperfect. It’s like these people think living life is like playing a game of Monopoly. Except these people forget, and get upset, that most people make up their own house rules for Monopoly.
And from Art:
As far as I can tell the electoral college has never protected any minority, racial or economic (whathaveyou) from anything. Nor has it protected the nation from the morally and ethically deranged crowds or leaders. They had every reason and opportunity with Trump but utterly failed.
Of course there is another mechanism designed to protect individual rights; the Constitution.
Capitalism wants control over the market and consumers, monopoly if at all possible. Democracy, with its focus on listening to the people, and the fact that monopolies tend to cause a lot of economic pain, are always going to be in conflict. Capitalism is also always in conflict with free markets. Whereas democracy and free markets work together quite well, often as synergy.
A lesson can be learned, by design, from the game Monopoly. In the end one player has most of the money and is having all the fun. Of course there is one part of the game that often gets overlooked: the end. The part where all the players, even the winner, gives up all their money and it all goes back into the bank so the game can be played again. In the end thew game Monopoly includes the ancient tradition of Jubilee.
