shuggy's blog
"the 'libertarian' imagines a political class occupied by people whose essential nature is more disfigured than the rest of us,"
There must be libertarians like this, but only at the fringes. In fact, I would say your posting is classic libertarianism in its impulse. Libertarians believe that government actors will behave like all other people and should not be expected to rise above their 'animal spirits' )to get modish), that is all. They believe in limited government. Like you do. See Will Wilkinson for the sane libertariansim that I think you share.
The libertarians you encounter online tend to be Ayn-Rand-addled cretins, though.
It's a word that needs reclaiming from them. And not by the right.
And I think you may have understood the sense of "limited" being used here, John.
Shuggy,
Yes and no...
"For they carry the human stain in equal measure - no more and no less. "
Yes.
"the 'libertarian' imagines a political class occupied by people whose essential nature is more disfigured than the rest of us,"
No.
They are just as disfigured, no more no less. However, because they have POWER over others, their disfigurement is both FAR more potent/dangerous AND much more likely to surface.
I would say the libertarian extreme is, in engineering terms, "fail safe": assume they're bastards who are out to screw you over and you at least retain a chance of limiting the damage.
"No - all human beings can be, and often are, selfish, destructive, venal, vicious, stupid and desperately wicked. Rather, it is based on an insistence that the political class are made from the same human material." Bugger me - Shuggy outs himself as a conservative. At least in part.
Oh sorry, Shuggy, I may go a tiny bit further.
It is also held by libertarians, possibly not unreasonably, that the political class IS worse than average purely on the basis that they have, to a large degree, put themselves up for the job - they want the power over others. The very act of doing so, pace Groucho Marx and clubs, marks them out as unsuitable.
Dearieme,
I suspect that Shuggy has either been mugged recently (he works in a school in Glasgow - it's a near certainty he's going to be mugged sooner or later) or he's, to paraphrase Churchill, fast approaching the age of 30.
;-p
"And I think you may have understood the sense of "limited" being used here, John."
I don't think so, 'Limited' does not need to mean 'small'. See Will Wilkinson (everybody should see WW every day)on this. I agree that there are some barmy libertarians on the internet but the sanity of Chris Dillow and Will Wilkinson is a good antidote.
Thoughtful as always Shug, the comments are pertinent too.
OT - Back in the supply mix, I am gobsmacked by the utter chaos in the classes I`ve been taking - regular confrontations about trivia like removing jackets, switching off mobies, iplayers, chewing gum ...
... being libertarian is not an option.
Discuss:
... being libertarian is not an option.
Discuss:
Indeed not. On reading list for all new teachers: Lord of the Flies, Leviathan, The Prince. Been watching the Wire. That's very good. This should be watched. Certainly by anyone thinking of working in Glasgow.
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