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Nassim Taleb Takes a Shot at Libertarianism
I wish to add a bit more to my comments.
Taleb’s own “Skin in the Game” is dedicated to Ron Paul, “a Roman among Greeks”. By this he means Ron Paul saw what worked instead of following false ideologies. But of course, Ron Paul’s motivation was chiefly ethics, libertarian ethics; the very same ethics Taleb denigrates.
While Taleb might prefer his own cerebral localism or scalable government (a point known to libertarians already, see here regarding James Madison’s fiction), the important question is how to bring it about. Who will go the barricades based on a mathematical abstraction?!
To quote Murray Rothbard:
… Never in history has pragmatism inspired any sort of radical or revolutionary movement for social change. For who in hell would join a radical minority movement, and commit him- or herself for life to social obloquy and a marginal existence, for the sake of 20% more bathtubs, or 15% more candy bars? Who will man the barricades either physically or spiritually, for more peanuts or Pepsi? Look at all radical or revolutionary movements of the 20th century, whether they be Communist or fascist or Khomeiniite. Did they struggle and move mountains for a few more goods and services, for what we used to call “bathtub economics?” Hell no, they moved mountains and made history out of a deep moral passion that would not be denied. What moves men and women and changes history is ideology, moral values, deep beliefs and principles.
It is no coincidence, then, that even in the libertarian movement, the people who have stuck to it over the years have been almost exclusively the believers in rights and possessors of moral passion. The libertarian pragmatists, what the Marxists call “economists,” have generally hived off to good jobs and have forgotten any movement concerns. And, by their lights, why not? Why not let the crazy ideologues worry about the movement and about liberty? The pragmatists, as usual, will just take what comes.
Nassim Taleb once stood up at a libertarian gathering and gave great advice: Stand on principle, and stay intransigent. The most intolerant wins.
That’s great advice and we plan on taking it!