Reason Foundation: Trump's Unjust and Illegal Killing of 11 Venezuelans. Really!

Ah, the libertarians are also coming out on this incident! As usual very naive!

I blogged e.g. here yesterday about this issue.

Trump's Unjust and Illegal Killing of 11 Venezuelans - Reason.com "Killing suspected drug traffickers is both unjust and illegal. And it could be the start of an effort to turn the already awful War on Drugs into something more like a real war, thereby making it even worse."

The gauchos are flying Gadsden flags (Don't tread on me) in the streets of Buenos Aires

After more than 40 years of experimenting with socialism in this South American country! This is so refreshing!

Supporters of the Argentine presidential candidate for the La Libertad Avanza alliance, Javier Milei, celebrate his victory in the presidential election runoff at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires on November 19, 2023. (Source)

Introducing Defending Globalization, a New Cato Institute Project. Really!

Why this well known libertarian Cato Institute uses this ambiguous and controversial term "globalization" for its own projects is not exactly smart. It seems to be pretty wrong headed!

Classical liberalism is about the individual not global!!!

Why not A Liberty Bell Around The World!

"Unfortunately, the most common anti‐​globalization narratives are not just inaccurate; they ignore the fundamental humanity of globalization and that, for all its foibles and missteps, global capitalism [???]’s long‐​term direction is undeniably positive. ..."

Introducing Defending Globalization, a New Cato Institute Project | Cato at Liberty Blog Today we’re launching a new multi‐​year, multimedia Cato project, Defending Globalization. The last few years have witnessed renewed criticism from the left and the right — in the United States and abroad — on the relatively free movement of things, people, capital, and ideas across national borders, a.k.a., “globalization.”

Leading American libertarian: Why Die for Ukraine?

What a naive and unrealistic fool this Chairman of the The Mises Institute is! Here is one reason not to like libertarianism!

Or is the Mises Institute financed by Putin the Terrible or the Communist Party of China? Possible!

".... We threaten [????] China with a new Cold War. But it isn’t enough. Now Biden wants to ignite a war with Russia [???] that could easily turn nuclear and destroy us. ..
The saddest part of this whole manufactured crisis [???] is that it should make absolutely no difference to us whether Russia controls Ukraine. ..."

Why Die for Ukraine? | Mises Wire

Libertarianism: Legalize Heroin to Save Lives

If it only was that simple! More nonsense from stupid and naive libertarians! In a very narrow sense this author is probably right!

 

How about potentially more addicted children? How about making it easier for drug addicts to receive prescribed opiates while they are in treatment etc.? How about more research in immunizing or treating drug addicts so they can resist taking drugs (I recently blogged here about it)? Here is my blog post on the decriminalization of psychoactive drugs.

Legalize Heroin to Save Lives | Cato Institute Our infatuation with prohibition, and our unease with drug use, is killing tens of thousands every year. With 93,000 dead last year, America’s overdose crisis has reached new heights. Deaths were up 29% over 2019, which exceeded the expectations of many who anticipated a significant increase. More Americans die each year of overdoses than died in any war except the Civil War and World War II. Tragically, prohibition is the primary cause of these deaths, and we could save tens of thousands of lives next year if we legalized drugs, especially opiates.

Libertarianism: America the Humble: The End of Post-9/11 Militarism

Here is another nice example how stupid and naive libertarians can be! One might even detect here Trump Derangement Syndrome. Too often libertarians come across as simple minded talking heads!

For someone to confuse the Afghanistan debacle with humbleness you have to be an extraordinary fool!

To glorify the demented and senile 78 years old lifetime career politician and longtime habitual liar, the 46th President of the U.S. in the opening paragraph is mind blowing!!!

Just reminder, it was none other than President Trump who was going to disengage from the longest U.S. war in Afghanistan and who accomplished the Abraham Accords!

"At the United Nations last week, President Joe Biden contended that the United States now stands at “an inflection point in history” during which “relentless war” is being replaced by “relentless diplomacy.” He also pointed out that “many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms.” This could mark a notable departure from the last 20 years, when military ventures largely defined U.S. foreign policy. ..."

America the Humble: The End of Post-9/11 Militarism | Cato Institute (This article appeared in Foreign Affairs on September 30, 2021.) After the extended aberration caused by the overreaction to 9/11, American military humility appears to be back.

Libertarianism: Haitians Assimilate Well in the United States

Goes to show how stupid and naive too many libertarians are like ones at the Cato Institute think tank! Thereby, these fools are not helping to promote the cause of classical liberalism! Au contraire!

This author is not distinguishable from e.g. the leftist Squad in the U.S. Congress! This is incredible!

It has not occurred to this fool that most of these Haitian illegal immigrants had previously migrated to other Latin American countries from Haiti before they moved to the U.S. They were allowed to stay in these countries etc. Some of these illegal migrants had lived for years in those Latin American countries before they were invited by the the demented and senile 78 years old lifetime career politician and longtime habitual liar, the 46th President of the U.S.

Haitians Assimilate Well in the United States | Cato at Liberty Blog Haitian immigrants have received more attention in recent weeks after the U.S. government trapped them in terrible conditions (????) at a camp along the U.S.-Mexico border and is now using extraordinary legal methods to expel (????) more than 500 per day. But there is no reason to oppose Haitian immigration (????) Despite extreme challenges, Haitians integrate well into the U.S. economy and society. Across numerous economic and social measures, Haitians and their U.S. descendants contribute to and prosper in their new country.

Opium Suppression in Afghanistan Was a US-Led Failure

The Cato Institute (a libertarian think tank) comes up with their explanation of the Western debacle in Afghanistan!

You have to admire naive libertarians for always trying to sell the legalization of opioids and other drugs no matter what the circumstances!

"Suppressing Opium in Afghanistan Played a Role in the Country’s Collapse

No single factor can explain the recent swift collapse of the US-backed Afghan government. But one underappreciated mistake has been Washington’s long‐running effort to suppress the cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan and, in turn, the production of heroin and other opioids."

Opium Suppression in Afghanistan Was a US-Led Failure | Cato Institute The basics of supply and demand still applied.

Naive Libertarians

Posted: 6/26/2016

Introduction

First, of course, not all libertarians are naive.

Second, I find the name libertarian awful and appalling. It sounds infantile. How it ever happened that the leftists/socialists in the U.S. were able to claim the term liberal for themselves to fool everyone (at least once) is still a mystery to me. They are anything, but liberal!

Third, libertarians quite often appear to be quite unaware or ignorant of realities not unlike a fundamentalist or orthodox sect. Not infrequently, they appear to be uncompromising as if they were morally superior.

Fourth, I just read this article Immigration Is a Fundamental Human Right published by the Foundation for Economic Education (Don’t get me wrong, many of their articles are great, just not this one. :-) ). Even if this article was not written by a libertarian or even if the FEE were not a libertarian think tank, then I still would say a libertarian would argue along similar lines.

This blog post is not about refugees fleeing from armed conflict like war. This article is more about individuals seeking better economic opportunities for themselves and their families beyond their current location.

Immigration As An Example

Yes, immigration is a fundamental human right, however, it is an individual human right. Therefore, libertarians also tend to argue for open borders to human mobility.

Once tens or  hundreds of thousands or millions of individuals decide to migrate (mass migration) from one country to another within a short span of time (e.g. less than a year, a year, or a few years), it becomes a whole different issue.

For as long as we have still very different or drastically changing economic systems or environments on this planet, mass migrations will remain a common and, I am afraid, often unpredictable phenomenon.

Libertarians try to counter e.g. that welfare states could introduce e.g. time limited exclusion or restrictions to welfare entitlements for immigrants (as does the above article). This might dispel to some extent the widely held, controversial fear that migrants are at least partially motivated by welfare entitlements. Well, this is perhaps not a bad solution, but it is not sufficient.

Any country accepting migrants would probably still need quotas to manage the flow of immigrants. This aspect of the immigration issue will likely not be addressed by libertarians and was not addressed at all by the above article about immigration. How to define such quotas is a thorny or controversial issue itself, should they be based on e.g. the health and/or age of the migrant, country of origin, professional skills or any combination of conceivable, reasonable criteria etc.

From a perspective of individual freedom, the least controversial selection criteria of an immigration quota system would be health and age of the migrant in combination with random drawing. Selection criteria like country of origin or professional skills introduce bias/distortion or worse allows the government to select “winners” according to some probably misguided goal or fancy of the time.

Unfortunately, the U.S. has evolved a very convoluted and complicated system of immigration for the past 100 years or so.

Other, related issues: 1) Are accepted migrants allowed to settle anywhere they like or not

Libertarian Anti-Militarism And Non-Intervention Is Naive

Posted: 10/19/2014

Violence Still Rules!

In a world, where violence and authoritarianism still dominates large geographical areas and 100s of millions of people, it is downright foolish and simply naive to think by staying out you accomplish anything.

On the contrary, violent people will try to rule wherever they can.

Allies Help Each Other

In a world full of threats from violent people, peaceful, freedom loving people have to voluntarily join together to defeat them whenever and wherever necessary (e.g. coalition of the willing).

This is not Realpolitik, but common sense! That the mighty U.S. military is especially qualified to play a prime role is normal.

This is probably the strongest argument against any libertarian arguments pro anti-militarism or isolationism etc.

Military Readiness Of Allies

Not every ally will always be ready to engage in military campaigns when peaceful, freedom loving people are threatened. But allies should insist that everyone do their best to maintain a capable military force.

That e.g. the Western European plus Turkey allies of NATO have irresponsibly neglected to maintain their military readiness for several decades is inexcusable. Diplomacy has to be backed up by military strength. Paper tigers are not to be feared by violent people.

Unconvincing Examples

Yes, you can argue that U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was an imperialist and should not have intervened in Cuba, Panama etc.

Yes, you can argue that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had no business to intervene in Europe and World War II would likely not have happened without this professor’s ill conceived engagement.

Yes, you can argue that U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was too eager to get involved in World War II.

Some libertarians are strenuously arguing about the U.S. interventions in Iran or Chile. This so laughable! It is almost as if these libertarians are being paid by someone (e.g. Iran, Russia) to spread such arguments. These interventions happened during the Cold War when the U.S.S.R was aggressively taking over or destabilizing any country possible for their purposes.

However, these bad examples and other like that are ultimately not convincing to defend a strict non-interventionist posture!

Eugene Fama - An Extreme Or A Phony Libertarian?

One Of Three Economics Nobel Prize Laureates Of 2013

Just in case, the reader is not familiar with Eugene Fama.

Self-Professed Libertarian

Prof. Fama stated that “Well, I’m an extreme libertarian, but I realize we’re in a democracy, and in a democracy people can have views of all stripes and there’s no reason to argue about it.” in an interview with the New York Times dated 10/26/2013 (here).

In that same interview he praised Hayek’s book Road to Serfdom. To quote “What Hayek is basically saying is that to the extent you let government take over economic activity you’re basically giving up freedom, and I think that’s a point Milton Friedman made quite emphatically throughout his lifetime. I consider myself closer to Milton in my thinking than to anybody else. And Milton was also an enthusiastic libertarian.”.

Prof. Fama also stated “I think we need Social Security, things like that.” Uh, any classical liberal would raise their eyebrows and dismiss him!

“[Q:] In the financial crisis, do you think the government should have bailed out the big banks?

[Fama] No, I don’t. I would’ve favored nationalizing the banks, not bailing them out.

[Q;] Really? That’s not very libertarian, is it?

[Fama] Well, we’re talking about realistic alternatives. It’s not credible that in a financial crisis, the government will do nothing. It never has. There are going to be demands for it to do something. So you’ve got two choices now. Nationalize them or bail them out. Bailing them out gives them terrible disincentives; it encourages them to take risks because they’ll be bailed out. So I’d nationalize them — and clean them up and then reprivatize them.”

Prof. Fama is a phony libertarian at best. Who would be this benevolent executor of such a plan? Prof. Fama himself? Why does Prof. Fama think that government would do a better job than free markets to clean up and reprivatize bankrupted banks and their assets?

Does Prof. Fama Speak With Two Tongues?

I love people who make such boisterous claims.

Well, in two recent blog posts (here and here) covering two recent interviews given by Prof. Fama to leading German language newspapers you will also come away that he is anything but a libertarian.

Previous, Related Blog Posts

Here and here.