September 11, 2014 Libertarianism
Libertarianism is a term I was not familiar with until a few years ago. Oh, I might have read about it before in regards to to the French Revolution or something, but I didn’t realize that it was a present day political group here in the US. References to Libertarianism on Facebook made me curious, so I looked it up. Two Friends of mine are definitely of this school of thought.
So what is Libertarianism? In one word—Freedom. However, there are a lot of ideas within the philosophy on how to achieve that goal. Generally, those who support freedom support a constitution in place, but are against Authoritarianism. Coercion, Imperialism and Racism are also rejected. Self-Management, Self-Ownership and Self-Sufficiency are embraced.
Like any philosophy, there is a spectrum of thought within the school. Some Libertarians believe that freedom can only be achieved in a Free Market Capitalist society while others believe that Socialism provides freedom from the unfair wage system.
This is where my friends and and I disagree. My friends do not like that idea of a government coming and taking their stuff away from him. They earned their car and the roof over his head. Why should some lazy ass down the street be given their stuff that they worked so hard to get? Socialism means some big government telling him what to do and that goes against his right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I see their point, but Socialism doesn’t have to be about a Centralized Government telling us what to do. The Communism of the Cold War has poisoned a lot of people against the very words Communism and Socialism. The corruption and atheism of the Soviet Union leaves a bitter taste in most patriot’s mouths. But there are alternatives.
Social Anarchism is one such alternative. Anarchism advocates a government free society. Well, a stateless society anyway. Non-Hierarchical Free Associations can be put in place, but for the the most part people are left to govern themselves. The most common form of Anarchy is Individual. It is perhaps the most logical extension of the philosophy, but it is not the only extension. Social Anarchism is dependent upon people helping each other out. They are not bound by law to do so, but they know it is for the good of all. Social Anarchism hinges on Mutualism and Mutualism respects property rights. So you can keep your property while helping others in whatever way you want. It fits in with Libertarianism and with Socialism. The two can overlap.
carilynn27 