We may also want to keep in mind that some of the staunchest opponents of the national security state, like Julian Assange and Ed Snowden, describe themselves as being libertarians.
Jim Farmelant http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant http://www.foxymath.com Learn or Review Basic Math
---------- Original Message ---------- From: Marv Gandall <marvgand2 at gmail.com> To: Pen-L Economics <pen-l at lists.csuchico.edu>, LBO <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Subject: [lbo-talk] Libertarianism and Anarchism Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 09:50:58 -0500
Doug H. has a link on his FB page to a document discussing the threatened right wing takeover of Pacifica radio which list members, especially those who are listeners, may find of interest. In essence:
> By pandering to the anti-government sentiment of Pacifica’s left-leaning listeners, stressing the legalization of pot and opposition to foreign wars, “stealth” right wing libertarians like Alex Jones and Summer Reese count on gullible Pacifica listeners not to notice their real agenda. They are careful not to mention their obsession with government plans to take away their guns and that we can do away with government altogether and have the Koch brothers run America.
The controversy helps illustrate the anti-statist affinity between anarchism on the left and libertarianism on the right, each of which appeals to today's young anti-Establishment rebels, particularly in the absence of a mass socialist movement which once challenged the traditional governing parties of the centre-right and centre-left for state power. So it's no surprise that Pacifica's more gullible left-leaning listeners might he easy prey for right-wing demagogues. Along the same lines, here's a short piece from the Financial Times from a few days ago discussing the spread of libertarian ideology in the US. Note the writer (correctly) attributes the rise of right-wing populism to the refusal of the Obama administration to utilize the state to relieve the effects of the economic crisis in the manner of its New Deal predecessor in the 30's:
"Franklin Roosevelt helped dig people out of misery in the 1930s by providing direct public employment. Mr Obama, on the other hand, has stuck largely to economic orthodoxy. He may have missed a golden opportunity to mould a generation of social democrats. He has also inadvertently fuelled scepticism about the role of government. Mr Obama came to power in 2008 on a surge of voluntarism. He did so in part by appealing to youthful idealism about public service. That now feels like a long time ago. Distrust in public institutions has continued to rise during his presidency – most strongly among the youngest generation. The share of voters who identify as independents, rather than Democrats or Republicans, recently hit an all-time high of 42 per cent, according to Gallup."
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