Somin on Gary Johnson and Ron Paul: A Reply

(Austrian) Economics, Immigration, Libertarian Theory, Vulgar Politics, War
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Ilya Somin over at The Volokh Conspiracy, it seems, is no more a fan of Ron Paul now than he was four years ago. His criticisms remain about the same. This time around, though, he’s got a candidate to contrast Paul with in Gary Johnson. His conclusion? Johnson is a better libertarian than Paul. My first response to this was laughter. This is my second response:

To start, Somin nearly lost me in his first sentence when he suggested that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels was even on the radar for libertarians considering voting. If anyone thinks a hypocritical drug warrior, who might be most charitably described as untested on foreign policy issues (and much less charitably described as a propagandist for the Empire), should even be in the running, then they should probably be disqualified from commenting on the question of who the most libertarian candidate is. All that said, we’ll give him the benefit of his doubts about Daniels for now and move onto his criticisms.

Ron Paul’s Unlibertarian Positions?

Somin claims that Ron Paul “has very nonlibertarian positions on free trade, school choice, and especially immigration.” He goes on to criticize Paul’s views on the Fourteenth Amendment. He doesn’t spell these criticisms out in this piece, but rather directs us to an older article from 2007. We’ll take each one by one.

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Are Libertarians No Different Than Statists?

Corporatism, Legal System, Libertarian Theory, Nanny Statism, The Basics
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There are some seriously mistaken individuals who seem to think so. Take a quote like this:

The recognition of the insuperable limits to his knowledge ought indeed to teach the student of society a lesson in humility which should guard against him becoming an accomplice in men’s fatal striving to control society [and destroying] a civilization which no brain designed but which has grown from the free efforts of millions of individuals.
— F.A. Hayek

They say that Hayek’s insight also applies to libertarians and, for example, our attempts to “force” free trade and unregulated labor markets on “society.”

Guilds, poor laws, and limits on trade also grew from the free efforts of millions of individuals, did they not? Well, no, actually they didn’t — at least not insofar as they attempted to use the state to impose the preferences of some on others by force!

Libertarians, of course, have no quarrel with voluntary associations and such voluntary actions as charity and boycotting. But… guilds and labor unions have  tended to employ the state to impose their preferences on others; poor laws were historically and are by definition instruments of state policy; and limits on trade have historically been imposed on us by the state. There is nothing free or voluntary about them.

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Is Libertarianism a Gnostic or Utopian Political Movement?

Libertarian Theory, The Basics, The Right, Vulgar Politics
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This post is excerpted and adapted from the concluding chapter of my dissertation, wherein I addressed two related objections to libertarianism in general and to my account of Aristotelian liberalism in particular: utopianism and gnosticism, the latter being sort of a theological version of the former. Does the theory of virtue ethics and natural rights described in my dissertation represent an impossibly high standard of ethical excellence? On a related note, is it foolishly impractical given the current shoddy state of the world? And is the ideal society suggested by my nonstatist conception of politics and severe critique of the state an impossible goal? Even if it is achieved, will it ring in a perfect world of peace, love, and happiness without violence, misfortune, and suffering? Naturally, my short answer to all of these questions is “No.”

First, I wish to answer the charge of gnosticism that might be leveled by followers of the political philosopher Eric Voegelin. Voegelin is very popular in certain conservative and communitarian circles, particularly those averse to philosophical systems and principled, as opposed to practical or pragmatic or “realist,” politics.1 I should know; I studied political science and philosophy at Louisiana State University where Voegelin had been a prominent professor. Indeed, LSU is home to the Eric Voegelin Institute for American Renaissance Studies. I was introduced to the work of Voegelin by Professor Ellis Sandoz, a student of Voegelin himself and the director of the institute.

Gnosticism, as Voegelin uses the term, essentially means a “type of thinking that claims absolute cognitive mastery of reality. Relying as it does on a claim to gnosis, gnosticism considers its knowledge not subject to criticism. As a religious or quasi-religious movement, gnosticism may take transcendentalizing (as in the case of the Gnostic movement of late antiquity) or immanentizing forms (as in the case of Marxism).” Now, does that sound like it applies to libertarianism, much less Austro-libertarianism? Rather, it makes me think in particular of the constructivist rationalism, criticized incisively by Friedrich Hayek, that arose out of the Enlightenment and pervades various forms of modern statism.

In his political analysis, Voegelin uses the term to refer to a certain kind of mass movement, particularly mass political movements. As examples, he gives “progressivism, positivism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, communism, fascism, and national socialism.”2 In his view, the consequences wrought by these movements have been disastrous. With few and only partial qualifications, I do not disagree. What makes them gnostic are certain similar characteristics they share with the original Gnostic religious movement of antiquity. Before listing the main characteristics, it first bears pointing out that even the broad libertarian movement as a whole might not yet qualify as a mass movement. However, as Voegelin points out, “none of the movements cited began as a mass movement; all derived from intellectuals and small groups,”3 so contemporary libertarianism and Aristotelian liberalism are not off the hook yet! With regard to the following list, Voegelin cautions that the six characteristics, “taken together, reveal the nature of the gnostic attitude.”4

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  1. In Science, Politics, and Gnosticism, Voegelin writes: “Gnosis desires dominion over being; in order to seize control of being the gnostic constructs his system. The building of systems is a gnostic form of reasoning, not a philosophical one” (p. 32). It can never be an attempt to understand being at it is? I think Voegelin makes a spurious generalization here. When one reads further, it becomes apparent that he makes this mistake at least in part because he believes in a Christian Beyond that is not amenable to (human) reason. ↩

  2. Eric Voegelin, Science, Politics, and Gnosticism (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 1968 [2004]) p. 61. See also, Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics: An Introduction (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1952 [1987]). ↩

  3. Ibid., p. 62 ↩

  4. Ibid., p. 64; emphasis mine. ↩

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Secondhand Statism

Anti-Statism, Education, Libertarian Theory, Statism
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A common charge leveled at free-market advocates is that, if as FMA’s claim  the free-market could/would be superior to the existing “mixed economy”, then why hasn’t it already been widely adopted due to it’s supposed superiority– and furthermore, FMA’s should accept that this shows that their minority position is rightly deserved to be such. Obviously, this is a weak claim, but in my estimation a fairly common one.

I can think of a number of reasons why this charge is without merit. For one, it assumes that the knowledge regarding the operational structure necessary for a freed-market [sic] is widespread. A casual glance at political commentary that emanates from likes of expert talking-heads, down to the teeny-boppers in school reveals that many people conflate a Dickensian perception for a free society.

Secondly, the claim is based on a flawed understanding of the concept of rationality. Rationality does not mean for someone’s actions to be considered “normal”. To illustrate this, think of a smoker, who we will assume for this day and age is well aware of the dangers of cigarette smoke. Most people would say the smoker’s actions demonstrate irrationality, but as Ludwig von Mises taught, all purposeful action is rational by definition. In other words, the smoker is aware of the costs to his actions, but in his estimation, the immediate benefits outweigh those long-term risks (the costs) that he is willing to undertake.

In this sense, the smoking habit is rational. To claim otherwise is akin to dictating to another person what is their favorite ice cream flavor, despite whatever that person may say about his own likes. What people actually mean regarding the smoker, is that if the smoker presumingly values his good health and lifestyle as much as they do, then how could he possibly still choose to smoke. But this is a disagreement over ends, and not the means advocated to obtain those ends. Quite correctly, a smoker could agree with the anti-smoking advocate in concern to the effectiveness of the means, and would simply prefer different ends. (It’s likely that he would prefer good health too, but in his preference scale, the immediate enjoyment of a smoke is more highly preferred than to a distant risk.)

Another explanation is that the smoker is simply not aware of the severity of the risks involved and in effect he doesn’t have enough knowledge to internalize those costs into his decision process. Presumingly, once he is made aware he would make the attempt to change his habits– but it’s still subject to a cost-benefit analysis! (A person on or nearer his deathbed may choose to continue smoking, while someone with long-term life expectancy may choose to value the good health of a protracted life associated with quitting the habit.)

The only valid way to term the smoker’s habit as irrational would be if the smoker’s means were knowingly incompatible with his ends. Meaning, that if there was a person who valued his good health above the enjoyment of the smoke and yet continues to smoke, then can we term his actions irrational, and such a person would be in need of psychiatric help. Of course, most people who continue to smoke might only claim to value their good health above all, while their actions simply demonstrate, or reveal their higher-ranked preference is for smoking.

To get back on subject, the interlocutor was in effect asking the FMA, are you really saying that all state-supporting people are irrational– how can the FMA hold that 99% of the population is irrational? To this the FMA can genuinely respond in the negative, that he does not think statists to be irrational. After all, the FMA can be charitable to assume that most statists believe statism to be beneficial. And just like with smoking, prior to the knowledge of the risks and costs being acknowledged and understood by the public at large, the FMA is likewise trying to educate others about the inherent dangers and costs of statism.

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