You've Put Your Libertarian in My Meatspace!

Matt Welch | July 25, 2005

In a column about how people act all mean on the Internet, and which includes the words "cyberspace" (12 times), "denizens," "meatspace," "cyberoid" and "cybernauts," Michael Kinsley uncorks this unlikely description/critique of libertarianism:

It's not surprising that cyberians make lousy communitarians. Libertarian instincts are a more natural political fit with the silicon lifestyle. "Do your own thing and let others do theirs" is one of the big themes of the 1960s that had an unexpected second wind thanks to the geek counterculture.

But here too, the ugliest aspects of libertarianism -- the me-me-me, the stay-out-of-my-space -- have dominated, while the more attractive libertarian vision (people wandering around in robes, picking flowers and writing poetry and ignoring each other and enjoying the silence, or something like that) hasn't played much of a role.