Reason Writers Around Town

In the LA Times, Brian Doherty looks at the political successes and shortcomings of libertarianism.

Comments

[Warren]

Thanks, I needed that.

Hey Brian, great job at the CATO thing. Sometimes I wish CATO would bring in more dissenting voices. But for a book like yours, I think the critique should have come from more of an insider.

[James]

Nice pep talk, but hardly original. Historically, the purpose of third parties has always been to experiment with new philosophies and act as a refuge for voters disgruntled with the current system. In the end, once the ideas the third party espouses begins to attract a significant number of voters, a major party coopts the most palatable parts of the platform and retrieves its lost base. Whatever you might think of the New Deal, Roosevelt gutted the socialist parties in the US by luring the working class towards reform rather than revolution. So the criticism of the Libertarian Party is probably out of place. It's really not their job to win elections, but to spoil them.

[Mike Laursen]

OK, let's say the Libertarian Party purpose is to spoil elections rather than winning them. (I don't agree, by the way.) It hasn't done well in that goal.

[Eric the .5b]

Well, the LP sucks. Next topic. 🙂