[lbo-talk] von Mises Inst on WIlde on socialism

[Tayssir John Gabbour]

On Nov 23, 2007 3:19 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> After examining these remarks it appears that Wilde was perhaps far
> more an opponent of socialism than he was its champion, and although
> he was no anarchocapitalist, Wilde clearly understands the problems
> inherent in any system of coercive power. Even though he is
> incorrect to equate socialism with the abolition of the modern
> state,

Easy to see the extreme blindspot that right-wing libertarians have.
Many can't imagine a socialism free of central state control. It's in
their definitions, and they stick to it like an Axiom of the Universe.

I'm not kidding -- they'd throw dictionary definitions at you all day.
Because it's a central brick to their entire ideology.

And it's extreme -- this author apparently thinks that you have to be
an "anarchocapitalist" to critique the state.

There was a humorous blog post, "How to explain things to
libertarians," which portrayed this well. (Unfortunately it's
currently down.)

Tayssir