Mr. Moderate

Libertarianism is a philosophy and economic system devoted to maximizing individual freedom. According to the best known libertarian writers, freedom occurs on two axes: personal freedom and economic freedom. Libertarians distinguish themselves from left-wing thinkers by asserting that left-wing thinkers only promote personal freedom, but want a form of economic totalitarianism (which is probably overly-broad rhetoric). Libertarians distinguish themselves from right-wing thinkers by asserting that right-wing thinkers only promote economic freedom (unrestricted capitalism) while advocating a minimum of personal freedom (in other words, the right-wing politicians in the United States advocate many laws imposing restrictions on personal or social activities).

In general, libertarians do not advocate unrestrained capitalism. They recognize two limits on an otherwise-capitalistic economic system: it is proper for the state to prevent the use of force or fraud in economic activities. Acknowledging that the state has a role for protecting people will bring libertarianism within at least the broadest definition of socialism: it is a “system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community.” Of course, the avoidance of force and fraud constitute only the barest form of “control by the community.”

Libertarianism is probably impractical in the context of a large and complex mass of highly-technological civilized people. It depends entirely upon individual initiative to produce anything, and that is a kind of economic system we have not had since the Industrial Revolution. It also refuses to recognize the evil inherent in economic power short of outright fraud. Monopoly power is perfectly acceptable to the true libertarian. For these reasons, libertarianism is easily dismissed as a model for future human economic activities.