Pages

Monday, December 27, 2010

Libertarian triumphalism

Over at FrumForum, I ask: "Is the Libertarian Revolution Finally Here?" Excerpt:
Ron Paul gets considerable play in the New York article as an exemplar of libertarianism (and Reason has largely embraced him as such too, despite some past qualms). It is highly debatable whether Paul’s political prominence signifies a “libertarian moment” or rather just a tragedy whereby libertarianism becomes conflated with a particular strain of illiberal, conspiracy-minded twaddle. It is also quite questionable whether Paul’s particular policy preferences (such as, notably, ending the Fed) will have any substantial impact on actual policy (as the New York article acknowledges).
Whole thing here. UPDATE: Title changed to "Libertarian Revolution? Not Exactly."

UPDATE 12/28: The Atlantic has a roundup regarding the Beam piece, with a summary of my article but my name misspelled. Ah, fame, so fleeting....

UPDATE 1/2: If interested in any of the above, don't miss David Frum's piece "Were the Founding Fathers Libertarian?"