It just so happens that Walter Block is out today with one of his trademark dissections of non-libertarian thinking. This one focused on the one-time anarcho-capitalist Barnett.
Writes Walter:
[I]t is a puzzle, wrapped in the proverbial enigma that such a staunch and brilliant libertarian would put it all aside and embrace government ownership, management and regulation of roads and highways, and, of all things, building codes. Were these his only deviations from the one true “faith,” liberty, I would dismiss it as an aberration; as a sort of typographical error. I would adopt Murray Rothbard’s policy of “every dog gets one bite.” For Randy, I would extend this to several bites. But when this latest support for government comes in the train of his advocacy of war-mongering imperialism, see above, it is hard to do so.
Read the full important piece here: Randy Barnett, One Time Libertarian.
-RW
Fascinating story. Why did Rand hire Mr. Barnett now? While Mr. Barnett has chosen to eschew the intellectual purity of an-cappery, to his credit, he has also chosen to act to advance the larger cause of liberty in the reality based world by serving as a "key" adviser to a candidate for president. Meanwhile, Walter Block is sharing his signed high school yearbook photo of Bernie Sanders.
ReplyDelete─[I]t is a puzzle, wrapped in the proverbial enigma that such a staunch and brilliant libertarian would put it all aside and embrace government ownership, management and regulation of roads and highways, and, of all things, building codes.─
ReplyDeleteSomebody found out his price, I guess.