Chomsky spoke of his position as libertarian socialism in the older, European sense equivalent to anarchism.
He rejects the newer, American sense of libertarianism, as it's used for e.g. Ron Paul's views.
On Sep 21, 2011, at 12:47 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote:
> C. G. Estabrook writes:
>
>> [...] it seems to me that Chomsky has it right ...
>
> Quoting Chomsky:
>
>>> Chomsky: "Dismantling of big government" sounds like a nice
>>> phrase. What does it mean? Does it mean that corporations go
>>> out of existence, because there will no longer be any guarantee
>>> of limited liability?
>>> [...]
>>> Does it mean that we should be ruled by private tyrannies
>>> with no accountability to the general public, while all
>>> democratic forms are tossed out the window?
>
> I guess Chomsky doesn't actually understand Libertarianism in
> general and Ron Paul in particular. Like I said, Paul is a lunatic,
> but no Libertarian wants to dismantle the state completely.
> Libertarians have the state play a central role (specifically in the
> realm of enforcement of property rights and contracts), but claim
> that it has overstepped it's boundaries in the US. They wish to
> roll-back those specific items, not remove it completely.
>
> I think what Chomsky is doing here is called "hyperbole" ...
>
> There's lots of ways to criticise the empty hole that's
> Libertarianism without making stuff up.
>
> # "Does Mr. Paul want us to kill all the puppies!?"
>
> /jordan
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