I’d like to read your views on a Constitutional Convention. I could not find a post in the FAQ.
Thank you a lot, Bonnie. 
A Couple Quick Questions, Ed. 8
Posted on March 6, 2011 at 3.28 pm
Q. so personally i am a socialist, yet you state that libertarians are not socialist, and so of course they are not communist, does this mean you are capitalist? or do you have a personally tailored form of government in mind? — mattgaw, from tumblr.
A. Let’s see how confusing I can make this.
Libertarianism most basically says you should be allowed to do anything you want as long as you don’t infringe on anyone else’s right to do the same.
Within that framework, there are many different kinds of libertarians. For instance, I support minarchy, which calls for limited government that is only allowed to protect people’s persons and properties against aggression.
However, a libertarian society would by no means eliminate the possibility of socialism: If you and 100,000 of your friends wanted to live as socialists within my hypothetical libertarian country, more power to you! Just don’t force anyone who doesn’t want to join you to do so. Likewise, if you want to voluntarily live as communists, go for it. Just make sure it’s voluntary. That’s the whole point of libertarianism: You do what you want, I’ll do what I want, and the government only steps in if what I want is to commit aggression against you.
So for myself, I’ll stick with the free market. As for the term “capitalism” — well, it’s loaded at best, so I generally don’t use it. However, I do like this breakdown:
- Capitalism: An economic system based on market competition and private ownership (as opposed to collective, state, or public ownership) of the means of production. This definition is the one usually used to contrast capitalism with socialism, communism, syndicalism, and left-anarchism.
- Capitalism (Free Market Capitalism): A political economy based on individual rights and voluntary individual interaction. This definition is the one used to contrast capitalism with statism.
- Capitalism (Cultural Capitalism): A socioeconomic norm that encourages/results in selfishness, greed, materialism, social alienation, and conformism… especially in people’s personal lives. This definition is usually used to contrast capitalism with community or cooperation.
- Capitalism (State Capitalism): The current, worldwide “mixed economy” approach where the state subsidizes corporations, banks, big hospitals, big pharma, RIAA, no-bid military contracts, central banks, government unions, AMA, etc.
Number 2 is essentially what I support, and I think it allows for Number 1 (as well as the other systems mentioned there, so long as they’re voluntary) to exist within it. Numbers 3 and 4 I do not promote at all — 4 is, in fact, the antithesis to 2.
Q. Would Libertarianism support the abolition of public institutions that effectively work for the public good just on the philosophical principle of individual liberty? in speak in relation of the British NHS, which is where im from. I find libertarianism interesting as a political philosophy because there isn’t much of it in the UK and i like the exchange of new ideas. : ) — sxynx, from tumblr.
A. Libertarianism would support gradually and humanely eliminating government agencies like the NHS, but not because of an abstract philosophical principle.
Take a look at these past posts I’ve written — I think they’ll better answer your question than something new I might type up here (but feel free to message me again if you don’t see what you’re looking for):
- Does libertarianism mean profits over people?
- How do we care for the poor and marginalized without big government?
- How would private charity fill the gap left by government in a libertarian society?
- Why would you not support universal health care?
- What’s the libertarian alternative to universal health care?
- Should insurers be able to deny people with preexisting conditions coverage? Isn’t that immoral?
Hopefully that helps! And thanks for the question — I like exchanging ideas across the pond too.
Q. I’d like to read your views on a Constitutional Convention. I could not find a post in the FAQ. Thank you a lot, Bonnie. : )– freemarketliberal, from tumblr.
A. On an amusing related note: When I was volunteering at Ron Paul’s 2008 campaign before my internship there, I answered an email about Ron Paul’s support of an Article 5 Convention. The askers (who were apparently big Article 5 people) posted my answer online, and I happened to find it and clarify what I’d said. For months afterward it remained one of the top results Google would bring up for my name. But anyway…
First, I should note that I’m not clear on whether you mean a convention to propose amendments to the Constitution (an Article 5 Convention, in fact) or a convention to draft an entirely new Constitution. In either case, I have mixed feelings on the subject.
Obviously the current state of our government is not good: We’ve got so much debt, war, corruption, torture, irresponsibility, and broken promises that I fail to see how anyone could be happy with Washington. But it strikes me as overly optimistic to say that things couldn’t get worse.
The Constitution is a flawed document, certainly, and were I allowed to start a country from scratch, I wouldn’t use it. But I would want to have it on hand as an important reference. Likewise, though the idea of getting more non-politicians involved in determining how our country should be governed appeals to me, there are also a lot of bad political philosophies in America. Of course, there are a lot of good ones as well.
I don’t know, frankly, if a Constitutional Convention would produce good or bad results. I don’t know if it would end up being monopolized by the exact same political and media establishment currently in control. I don’t know if it would create so much controversy that violence might break out. I just…don’t know. Wiser heads than mine should decide this one, I think.
