I have read and heard assertions by libertarians that the prospects for liberty, in general, are gloomy because liberty entails responsibility and people naturally shun responsibility. I think there are many reasons to be optimistic about the prospects of liberty, even in the near term:
Humans are naturally responsible for themselves. Those humans who were not responsible in our ancestral past perished and did not pass on their irresponsible genes. We are the descendants of those with enough wherewithal to stay alive long enough to make children.
Everyone is pro-liberty regarding their own interests. Even though most people are more distrustful of their fellow citizen than they are of their government (I cannot understand why), when directly faced with the choice between pursuing their own interests and maintaining a self-image as a “law-abiding citizen”, most people opt to pursue their own interests and, more importantly, feel theyhave a right to do so, even if they refrain out of fear. The prohibition on drugs is a good example of this. I don’t meet a lot of people in my age group (late 20’s) or younger who consider it a moral obligation to obey the government with respect to the consumption of illegal drugs. You only don’t do it because you think it’s stupid or you can go to jail if you do. There is no higher reason than that.
Government’s success in monopolizing carries the seeds of its own destruction. The more economic activity that the government succeeds in monopolizing under its own control, the less it can escape blame when things go wrong. Soviet Russia is a great example of this. If the government is in charge of everything and everything sucks, who can the government point its finger at to shift the blame? Blaming “international capitalism” and political dissent can only work for so long. The recent inflationary bubble burst is another good example - if the Federal Reserve has complete autonomy to take any action it pleases to “regulate” the economy, then how can it not be to blame when the economy keeps crashing every 5 or 6 years? The Federal Reserve has not escaped public criticism this time around.
Now, in the United States, things are probably going to get a lot worse before they get better. How much worse is anybody’s guess. Do you have other reasons for optimism regarding the prospects for liberty in the near term?
Turn on Jerry Springer, natural selection does not get them all…
What of the people that say, I am rich, take my tax dollars and feed the poor, oh and by the way since you are taking mine, take everyone else’s…
Your example is false, there is nothing morally wrong with taking drugs is it a good idea, maybe not, but nothing morally wrong with doing it…
Now ask them why they are not contract killers and see if you get the same answer…
You have no idea the power of the good will propaganda machine, our government pulls almost 3 trillion in revenue this year, and still bitches of the millions in unpaid taxes, despite the billions it allows the illegal immigrants get away with receiving and not pay taxes at all… But this still seems like a good idea to people…
Do you know why it is not hopeless, because it is right, that is the only reason why, it is morally right, it is ethically right, it is right by all accounts of reason and logic… When you are right you may lose, but there is honor in fighting for the right cause…
It is that it will get too bad very soon that gives me the most optimism, it will give the chance I need to settle, state sovereignty and then come from the position of a truly free man…
What Harry said. The people that have managed to insulate themselves and their families from the cultural wreckage of the 60’s will withdraw into various pockets with the assistance of renegade military and police units.
The monopoly does sow the seeds of its own destruction, it is just that these seeds take time to grow, a lot of time. The USSR lasted 70 years. How do you say that was not successful to the Commies and the bureaucrats? They destroyed more wealth and were only surpassed in mass murder by Hitler and Mao. The Chinese are still technically Commies.
Go to the US, Japan and Western Europe. These countries having been in the past somewhat free have accumulated vast amounts of wealth and technology. All that means is that it is going to take some time to destroy it. Remember 80 percent of Russian GDP was lost in the revolution and yet the commies managed to hold on for 60 more years. In the US, our Fascists running the country, known as Democrats and Republicans, have a whole lot more to destroy. The could hold on for hundreds of years at least.
Not to quibble, but I believe the Nazis rank behind the USSR in terms of death numbers. If you are using total WWII casualties, you have to subtract the victims of the Imperial Japanese, who included 20 million Chinese. The PRC itself is an interesting case, though I think it’s current monetary policies do not bode well for it’s economy in future decades.
True, but the populace of Russia and Eastern Europe were not used to the sort of luxuries the US, Western Europe and Japan’s citizenry are. The standard of living in any of these countries at the time of the Russian Revolution doubtless exceeded that of the Russian Empire’s serfs and farmers (though, Japan’s industrialization is a fairly recent phenomenon dating back around 110 years, to the Meiji Restoration). As such, in order to keep the populace content with “bread and circuses”, those who wish to establish totalitarian government will need to offer more, which will eat through resources faster as their own inability to calculate destroys them. Also, there is the rise of new factors such as the Internet, virtual banking, vast expansions of black and grey market economies and movements like the free culture movement to consider, which would create considerable difficulties in comparison to the populace of Russia, which had long lived under the chains of the Tsar and his cronies.