19 November 2008

Adam Smith needs him a bayonet

Somewhere in the Congo, there's a libertarian wondering why the free market hasn't sorted everything out by now.


  1. Meh, this is a great time to make the distinction between libertarianism--where property rights and contract law are enforced by a single minimal government--and anarchy, which as you know means "no government". :)

    The situation in the Congo appears to be the latter. See: http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=CongoDemocraticRepublic

  2. You did not just seriously use the Heritage Foundation as a resource for anything. Oh no you did not.

    But yeah, it was just a joke. Obviously libertarianism is not synonymous with anarchy. But there are some pretty far-libs who do almost hold that position.

  3. Yeah but I think those are mostly the anarcho-capitalists who live in the woods with a bunch of guns and a closet full of canned baked beans.

    I don't think it's particularly useful to just dismiss a study out of hand based solely on the source. The economic freedom rankings are actually really interesting, even if they do stray towards the normative.

  4. I make it a matter of policy to deride Heritage, AEI, and Cato whenever possible. It's a lifestyle decision.

  5. I actually like Cato a lot. Unlike the other two, they don't get hung up in the BS that passes for conservatism today (socons, neocons, Sarah Palin, etc).