Archive | Trevor Burrus RSS feed for this section

Today’s top libertarian updates

27 Aug
1) J. Buzz Webb on FaceBook

Let’s see if I’ve got this right. I’m accused of hatred if I hold those in elected office to the same standards of accountability across the board, regardless of the R or D following their names. I am considered a hater if I am morally, philosophically, and intellectually consistent. If I don’t conflate government and society as being the same thing, then I hate the US. I’m full of hatred if my opposition to war, governmental abuse, and corruption isn’t contingent upon *who* is in office. If I’m not willing to compromise my integrity and humanity for political aims, then I’m full of hate. Well, if that’s what constitutes a hater these days, then SIGN ME UP!!!

“Folks, it’s time to evolve. That’s why we’re troubled. You know why our institutions are failing us, the church, the state, everything’s failing? It’s because, um – they’re no longer relevant. We’re supposed to keep evolving. Evolution did not end with us growing opposable thumbs. You do know that, right?”
― Bill Hicks


2) Trevor Burrus on FaceBook


“I’m not a believer in “dog whistles,” but there’s clearly something about the way in which Ron Paul and those who share his views are communicating their ideas that make them sound attractive to people who I would prefer thought we were the “enemy.” One part of the explanation is that socialism has led many modern libertarians to think of themselves on the “right” because they oppose it and, therefore they think they should oppose the rest of the “left.” Once seeing themselves this way, it’s perhaps easier for some libertarians to adopt the rhetoric and pose of those who oppose all that the left stands for (including the good stuff, like such controversial positions such as heliocentricism and a belief in racial equality), even if those libertarians never say anything explicitly racist.

Once libertarians start to see themselves as “enemies of the left,” it’s also easy to excuse alliances with the unseemly end of the right wing, apparently on the belief that the enemies of their enemies are their friends. Such are the fruits of the seeds of what I’ve called “libertarian contrarianism:” the unfortunate tendency in some quarters of the libertarian world to think that if the “mainstream” believes it, it must be wrong.”