Monday, September 4, 2017

New Jeff Tucker Book Coming on 'Right-Wing Collectivism'

Deirdre McCloskey writes in a preface to the soon-to-be published book, Right-wing Collectivism: The Other Threat to Liberty by Jeffrey Tucker:
We call it “populism.” That makes it sounds even a little good, at any rate to people who cannot remember the past. Why shouldn’t the will of the people trump all? Surely the result of a vote is the volonté generale, said Rousseau, believing he had thereby solved the problem of unfreedom in a collective. Surely populism is a Good and General Thing? So one might feel, at any rate until vague memories of Huey Long and Juan Peron and Benito Mussolini crowd in.
Jeffrey Tucker in his brilliant book calls right-wing populism what it actually is, namely, fascism, or, in its German form national socialism, nazism. “Fascism” has of course been corrupted by its promiscuous use on the left, as by Anti-Fas nihilists in Berkeley throwing rocks and insults at the police and the non-violent protestors against President Trump’s latest. Tucker dusts off the word for present use. It’s exactly the word we need. Urgently.
Tucker has often attempted to link libertarianism with some politically correct sentiments which I have not been a fan of. However, this book appears to explore the question of whether Donald Trump populism is really fascism. It will be interesting to see the case Tucker makes.

-RW

5 comments:

  1. The brutalist thick-thin debate lives...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I find it nearly impossible to believe that Tucker will come to the conclusion that Donald Trump is not ..literally.. the reincarnation of Adolph Hitler.

    ReplyDelete
  3. --- Tucker has often attempted to link libertarianism with some politically correct sentiments which I have not been a fan of. ---

    I, too, am skeptical of the calls to all libertarians to become priests. But lately I've come to at least accept the idea that Tucker is right about right-wing Socialists' (supremacists, nationalists, populusts) attempt to misrepresent their ideology (of state force and aggression against people who don't look like them) as being, somehow, consistent with libertarian principles. In that aspect, Tucker has a good point. We would be remiss if we forget that populists like Trump and his band of dangerous Trumpistas are vehemently, virulently anti-capitalist and anti-markets. They may pay lip service to markets but never exalt all its implications. They're hypocrites, as well as liars and cheats. Just like their fellow travelers on the Progressive left.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have a question. Other than the nutcase Christopher Cantwell, just who is an officially pledged NAP AnCapper who thinks foreigners are scum? I see lots of whining from Alt-Righties complaining that libertarianism can't deal with the "problem". Those people are not attributable to advocates of a PPS.

    Further, why wouldn't we want Nazis and all people with odious viewpoints to adopt the NAP and the "no lying with contracts" ethic?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stefan Molyneux?

      Also, I personally don't care if people want to creare ethnic enclaves on private property. However, many alt-righters seem to support state enforcement of immigration.

      Delete