How Libertarianism Erodes Individuality (and Makes Government Bigger)

In a brilliant essay in Salon, David Masciotra distills Libertarianism down to its selfish, anti-intellectual core—and in doing so makes the case for why the movement is neither contrarian, independent nor a foundation for liberty.

While I don't agree with all of Masciotra's analysis (his dismissal of the ideas and efforts of the Founders is both over-simplistic and anachronistic), his indictment of the deep conservatism and social conformity at the root of the post-Ayn Rand cult of individualism is spot on.

Libertarianism is Anti-Populist

"Libertarians," Masciotra writes, "proclaim an anti-government position, but they are only opposing the last measures of protection that remain in place to prevent the government from full mutation into an aristocracy." The dismantling of social programs, regulations and campaign finance rules empower the establishment at the expense of the have-nots and "transform the legislative process into an auction."

Libertarian Small-Government Goals Achieve the Opposite

Individualism tied to a sense of contributing to the collective good is the driving force of social progress. It also creates more autonomous souls. The "me first" mentality of simplistic bootstraps capitalism leads not to individual liberty but to a what-can-I-get approach that, ironically, fails to contribute to the Libertarian's goal of making government irrelevant. We see it in tax evasion among the wealthy and public benefits fraud among the less well-off. We see it in government bailouts and selfish, short-term policies (such as defunding infrastructure, robbing pension funds and neglecting schools) that lead to huge social costs—and government interventions—later on.

By rejecting the idea of an activist government, Libertarians do not eliminate it—they simply make it less efficient, less strategic and more crisis-bound. Investments critical to the future of the public and private economy are left unmade.

Libertarianism is Anti-Responsiblity

Libertarianism devalues the individual's responsibility to the greater good. Paraphrasing the philosopher Charles Taylor, Masciotra notes that ideas of personal freedom are "empty and meaningless without connections to 'horizons of significance'… bonds of empathy and ties of solidarity with people outside of one's own individual pursuits."

Libertarianism erodes the idea of a general sense of societal responsibility—public or private—leaving ideologically-driven largesse a pursuit and privilege of the rich (in nearly every case, aimed not at encouraging social solidarity but in reinforcing a "maker-taker" worldview).

Libertarianism: A Step Backward

How different we are as a nation from when John F. Kennedy famously said in his 1961 inaugural, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

Kennedy's idea encompasses individual responsibility—to self and others—as well as public activism and service. It's a mid-20th century notion that helped launch a host of social initiatives—from the Peace Corps to the Voting Rights Act to Freedom Riders to Sesame Street—driven by something other than the profit motive.

Though Masciotra seems to believe otherwise, this approach is as native to our culture as free markets, dating back at least as far as the social movements of the 19th century. We should not let modern perversions of the idea of individual liberty—such as Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's attempts to strike public service from his state's public university charter—stamp it out.