Young, a libertarian herself, explains why she is very uncomfortable with Ron Paul’s views on foreign policy. I suspect the column reflects the views of many other libertarians who appreciate Ron Paul’s long record of defending individual freedom, but wouldn’t want him anywhere near the Oval Office because of his foreign policy positions, among other […]
Archive | Libertarianism
Tim Thomas, Libertarian?
Earlier today, the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins visited the White House. But playoff MVP goaltender Tim Thomas chose not to attend. He issued a very libertarian-seeming statement explaining his reasons: I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People. This is being done at […]
My Politico Commentary on Ron Paul and his Racist Newsletters
The Politico website recently asked its contributors for commentary on the controversy over Ron Paul’s racist newsletters. Here is an excerpt from my response: Ron Paul clearly deserves substantial blame for publishing racist and anti-Semitic material in his newsletters in the early 1990s. Although he almost certainly did not write those articles himself, it is […]
Libertarians and Ron Paul’s Racist Newsletters
James Kirchick of the New Republic has an article taking libertarians to task because they allegedly don’t “care about Ron Paul’s bigoted newsletters,” which have reentered the limelight since Paul’s recent rise in the GOP primary polls: Ultimately, Paul’s following is closely linked with the peculiar attractions of the libertarian creed that he promotes. Libertarianism […]
Libertarians for Huntsman?
It’s no secret that the potential GOP presidential candidates with the greatest appeal for libertarians either stayed out of the race or haven’t done very well. Mitch Daniels and Paul Ryan fall in the former category. Gary Johnson, whom I praised here, has failed to gain traction and looks like he may drop out soon. […]
Single-Payer, the Individual Mandate, Liberty and Accountability — a Surreply to Orin
Would defeating the individual mandate today lead to something worse tomorrow? I don’t know. I don’t have a crystal ball, but neither does Orin. We can’t answer this question, but we can identify reasons why mandate-style approaches to health care reform can increase the threat to individual liberty and undermine democratic accountability. My point below […]
Is the Mandate More “Market-Oriented” than Available Alternatives (and Does It Matter?) — A Response to Orin
Orin Kerr’s post below suggesting that the individual mandate is less of a threat to liberty than some of the available alternatives has drawn quite a response. See, for instance, these posts by Timothy Sandefur at PLF and Trevor Burrus at Cato@Liberty. They make some important points, but I wanted to add a few of […]
Audio of My Debate with Bryan Caplan on Libertarianism and Foreign Policy is Now Available
The audio of my debate with economist Bryan Caplan on libertarianism and foreign policy is now available here. Thanks to Chris Baylor for organizing and producing the audio, and to Bryan for posting it. Note that I had trouble downloading the file from Mozilla Firefox, but was able to download it easily using Internet Explorer. […]
Debate on Libertarianism and Foreign Policy
On July 13 at 7 PM, I will be debating George Mason University economist and prominent blogger Bryan Caplan on libertarianism and foreign policy. The debate will take place at George Mason Law School, 3301 Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA, in Room 221. Bryan summarized his case for “pacifism” (by which he means opposition to all […]
Assessing My Ideological Turing Test
Reactions to my attempt to take Bryan Caplan’s ideological Turing test by simulating liberal arguments varied widely. But, on the whole, more people thought I missed the mark than that I hit it. What caused this relative failure? Part of the problem was that it wasn’t a true Turing test at all. In the original […]
Taking the Ideological Turing Test
In this post, I’m going to take Bryan Caplan’s ideological Turing Test, which requires me to “simulate” an advocate of an ideology I oppose. In this case, I’m going to simulate an advocate of liberalism and focus on issues where liberals and libertarians disagree. And I’m going to try simulate an advocate who is reasonably […]
The Ideological Turing Test
In a recent interview, Paul Krugman argued that liberals generally understand conservative arguments better than vice versa: A liberal can talk coherently about what the conservative view is because people like me actually do listen. We don’t think it’s right, but we pay enough attention to see what the other person is trying to get […]
Is Public Opinion Becoming More Libertarian?
New York Times polling expert Nate Silver (who is no libertarian himself) summarizes some recent data suggesting that the public is becoming more libertarian: Libertarianism has been touted as the wave of America’s political future for many years, generally with more enthusiasm than evidence. But there are some tangible signs that Americans’ attitudes are in […]
How Much Good Could a Good Leader Do?
By Ilya Somin on June 1, 2011 3:30 pm in Constitutional Theory, Democracy, Libertarianism, War on Drugs
Libertarians, economists, and my fellow constitutional theorists are all known for arguing that the conventional wisdom overstates the importance of individual political leaders. Instead, we emphasize the the constraining impact of institutions, public opinion, and political incentives. The structure of the system matters a lot more than the individual leader. Libertarian economist Bryan Caplan, however, […]
The Tea Party Movement and Popular Constitutionalism
By Ilya Somin on May 31, 2011 10:30 am in Conservatism, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Democracy, Libertarianism, Political Ignorance
My article, “The Tea Party Movement and Popular Constitutionalism,” is now available on SSRN. It is part of a recent Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy symposium on the Constitutional Politics of the Tea Party Movement. Here is the abstract: The rise of the Tea Party movement follows a period during which many scholars have focused […]