A defense of libertarianism

“Someone who can’t be trusted to run his or her own life cannot be trusted to run the lives of other people.”

My friend Don Boudreaux was kind enough to allow me to reprint this defense of libertarianism. I believe it is required reading for the informed and uninformed alike.

Here’s a letter to a new and very angry correspondent.

Ms. Becker:

I’m sorry that you so strongly disapprove of my recent AIER column in

defense of libertarianism. Your core complaint is this:

You libertarians have ridiculously high opinions of human nature,

assuming most people can approach saintliness. Serious

conservatives don’t. We are sober. We are grounded in reality.

We know that man is weak, fallible and most of all tempted into

sin.

With respect, I disagree that we libertarians have such a high opinion

of human nature. Precisely because we understand, as you put it, that

humans are “weak, fallible and most of all tempted into sin,” we insist

that the power of some individuals to coerce other individuals should

be kept to an absolute minimum.

No serious libertarian argues that freedom produces anything close to

heaven on earth, with no one succumbing to self-destructive or anti-

social temptations. But we recognize two related realities that are

missed by many conservatives as well as by progressives.

First, when adults are free to use their own (and only their own) private

property – including their own bodies – under a rule of law, each

individual personally experiences more of the costs of his or her bad

behavior, and reaps more of the fruits of his or her good behavior, than

is the case when that freedom is curtailed. This ‘internalization’ of

consequences obviously doesn’t turn everyone into a saint – or

prevent everyone from being a devil – but it does keep to a minimum

the amount of ‘bad’ behavior while encouraging the greatest possible

amount of ‘good’ behavior.

Second, any curtailment of libertarian freedom necessarily empowers

some individuals to coerce other individuals. Given that we humans

are indeed imperfect creatures, it is you – not any libertarian – who is

unrealistically optimistic about human nature. I cannot fathom your

faith that political power transforms individuals who cannot voluntarily

manage their own affairs well into individuals who can coercively

manage other individuals’ affairs well.

A truly sober and realistic assessment of human nature leads people

of goodwill naturally to a wish to reduce as much as possible the

power of the state.

Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux

Professor of Economics

and

Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market

Capitalism at the Mercatus Center

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA 22030

Someone Who Can’t Be Trusted to Run His or Her Own Life Cannot Be Trusted to Run the Lives of Other People