Guest Post by The Zman
There are many reasons to hate libertarians, all of them valid, but the most compelling reason is their totally misplaced self-assurance. Libertarians walk around sure they have gained access to the book of secret knowledge, while everyone else is staggering around in primitive darkness. In reality, modern libertarianism is mostly just window dressing for the oogily-boogily that comes from the Left. Libertarians start from the same misplaced beliefs about the human condition, but seek a different end.
A good example is this post from Reason Magazine (clown horn) celebrating the start of National School Choice Week. According to their website, it is “a week of celebration to raise public awareness of the different K-12 education options available to children and families while also spotlighting the benefits of school choice.” Reason Magazine is a big fan of school choice, so they are doing some celebrating of their own, promoting various studies about the glories of school choice.
Nowhere is the magical thinking of modern libertarianism more evident than in the area of education. While they don’t go so far as to embrace magic dirt theory, like their Progressive counterparts, they do believe in the magic of location. For example, the first bullet point of that post says, “Eighteen empirical studies have examined academic outcomes for school choice participants using random assignment, the gold standard of social science. Of those, 14 find choice improves student outcomes.”
Without reading a single study, anyone with the least bit of math and science knows that these studies are nonsense. There’s simply no way to net out certain immutable facts about the human condition, to isolate the effects of choice. For example, smart parents, who invest in their children, are much more likely to take advantage of school choice programs than dull or indifferent parents. Parents who like learning and value knowledge, will have kids who like learning and value knowledge.
The only way you could really test these various education theories, including school choice, is to do a twin study. One twin is ripped away from his parents and placed with some dullards, who are happy to send him to the local public school. The other twin is ripped from his parents and placed in a home with high parental investment and access to school choice. Then maybe you could get some useful data. That’s monstrous and no one would ever agree to anything close to it, so it will never happen.
Another point on the list states, “Ten empirical studies have examined school choice and racial segregation in schools. Of those, nine find school choice moves students from more segregated schools into less segregated schools.” Since we know the number of parents seeking to send their kids to majority black schools rounds to zero, this is actually a point against school choice for most people, but the modern libertarian has slugged down the multicultural ambrosia, so they can’t follow their own arguments here.
Look. Education is a function of biology. Smart kids tend to have smart parents and dumb kids tend to have dumb parents. Intelligence correlates with things like parental investment, peer selection, community involvement and so forth. The reason the kids at the school in the white suburb do better than the kids at the ghetto school is they came from better parents. Their parents built a stronger community, invest in their children and passed on their intelligence and social fitness to their kids.
The amusing part of the whole school choice debate is the Left fully understands what’s really going on here. Middle-class white parents want to avoid subjecting their kids to vibrancy. They will accept some of it, as long as the vibrancy has to pass through a filtering mechanism to weed out the really vibrant. The Left gets this, while libertarians and conservatives are drunk off their own fumes. If there is such a thing as “systemic racism” it is school choice. Everyone gets this except for the advocates.
This highlights the fundamental flaw of libertarianism. It’s the same flaw that has made Buckley-style conservatism utterly worthless. They accept the Progressive premise that there is no such thing as biology. People come into the world as amorphous blobs that can be shaped into proper citizens with the proper public policies and civic institutions. Once you take the egalitarian pill, the world stops making sense. From there it is an endless search for the right set of policies to make everyone equal.
The fact is, there is no fixing the schools. John Derbyshire brilliantly made this point in his global best seller We Are Doomed. Tens of billions have been poured into every conceivable education scheme. None have done anything to address the achievement gap and none have done anything to mitigate the inheritance gap. The best way to become a smart, educated person is to be born to parents who are smart and well educated. The schools can do nothing to make this happen.
That does not mean schools should be ignored. Public education, like public health, is a thing we expect government to manage. Instead of flushing billions down the drain fighting biological reality, vocational schools and the availability of jobs for people on the left side of the curve is the answer. No society can tolerate an excess of idle men, so fixing the schools in the ghetto means giving all those idle men something to do other than make babies, who will follow in their path. Three generations of imbeciles are enough.
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Americans insist that they live in a free country and just shrug when they are given overwhelming proof that the US is a police state.
Bread and circuses, Stockholm syndrome, head in the sand, fucking lazy, most apathetic bunch of souls on the planet, I could go on. Just concurring with your comment.
Dude, it’s too late.
Yup, we passed the point of no return with the election of HW Bush.
Normally quite wise, Zman just gets stupid and irrational on the subject of libertarianism. Zman wants the government to run trade schools while libertarians want to get the government out of the education business entirely. I will leave it to the TBPers to judge which is the better idea while imagining gangbangers and cholos practicing mayhem with band saws in shop class under the careful supervision of teacher union bureaucrats which Zman recommends here.
Far from being egalitarian, libertarians believe the individual has an inalienable right to his/her body and the fruits of his/her labor. Biological arguments are not necessary here. Your mileage may vary and that’s the whole point – libertarians are not Egalitarians. Geeze, it’s as if he set out to write about football without understanding a team gets 4 tries to make 10 yards.
You’re exactly right, Captain. A real Libertarian believes the only real school choice is parents deciding to home school or send their kids to private school that they themselves pay for. School choice in this article will only bring private schools under the rule of the federal government since the gov will be giving money to the school, and you know what that means.
Clearly Zman started his day badly by eating his Cheerios dry. My Mama was right when she’d say that it ‘s best to sit quietly and listen if you have nothing intelligent to say. (Or write)
Physician, heal thyself.
This is from Robert Gore. I forget to enter my email address:
There is a fundamental contradiction in the Zman’s political philsophy. Libertarianism, we are repeatedly told, is not the answer, because it supposedly ignores biology, while those on the alt-right don’t. By supposedly “misdiagnosing” problems with a racial or ethnic aspect, libertarians invariably propose the wrong solutions.
True libertarians propose either a minimalist government completely subordinated to the protection of individual rights, or no government at all (if you want to group anarchists with libertarians). Nobody can say what the outcome would be, but if, as the Zman argues, biology is destiny and tribalism is inbred, outcomes would reflect biological destiny and people would sort themselves and segregate into their appropriate tribe. This is probably only possible in a free political order, where people’s rights to achieve what they can achieve, keep what they earn, and associate with whomever they want to associate are protected. Can the Zman offer any other political system that would protect those rights and offers the possibbility of what is presumably his preferred outcome? I’ve read him intermittantly for years. He criticizes present arrangements (and predicts their downfall), liberals, squish Republicans, and libertarianism, but I’ve never seen him elucidate his own ideal political order. However, I can see no way other than real libertarianism (as opposed to Reason’s tinker-at-the-edges-of-statism “libertarianism”), that could possibly lead to what I guess is what he wants.
Anybody who pays more attention to Zman than I and wants to clarify his position or political philosophy, feel free to do so.
Thank you Robert Gore. You said what I wanted to say and did it so well. If more than one thumbs up were available, I would send it.
There’s no problem with the philosophy of Libertarian ideals, the problem is in who they think it works for and applies to. All human beings are not interchangeable widgets. Not everyone has grit, not everyone cares about liberty and most people will head towards free stuff rather than turn it down. Libertarians are the alpine skiers of the political world.
Well said, HSF.
To whom does your farm and your labor belong? If your answer is “to me, the HSF”, you’re something of a libertarian. Get well soon!
Yes they are. Multiple thumbs to you as well. Hope your healing is going well.
Once again you’ve said it well Robert. As a practical matter libertarianism represents the socio-politico-economic order of the United States from the end of the Revolutionary War to the beginning of the Civil War, and, to a more limited extent, from the end of Reconstruction to the election of Woodrow Wilson. Those times are irrevocably gone but the basic philosophy of freedom can still inform certain options with regard to specific problems such as public schooling. e.g., even of there’s no “scientifically” demonstrable academic benefit from “school choice” one can still select the option for parents because it enhances their overall “freedom” w/regard to their children’ upbringing and surely, overall, that is to be desired by all TBPers.
You’re correct A.R.Wasem on Libertarianism prior to the Civil War and, limitedly, to Wilson.
The non-aggression principle allows you to defend yourself.
Indeed.
Zmans recent “The Radical End” was superb and thought provoking. Check it out if you missed it.
This one is a good paper, but I’m a bit bewildered by paragraphs 7/8.
No mention of the ARSON, BOMBINGS, and SHOOTINGS that accompanied busing of white kids from Southie to Niggerville and vice versa in the 1970’s for their daily vibrancy injections? Unreported, underreported, covered up, and much worse than you were told. It would seem the ghetto vs suburbs issues relative to this SEMINAL EVENT are completely missed here.
So what if smart kids come from smart parents in the suburbs? Great- they have some book smarts so they can enter the corporate cubicle world and help play a small role is designing the next technological monstrosity. How about street smarts, moral compasses, and real world experience? Are those things reserved for the dumb kids from dumb parents in the ghetto?
One thing is for sure coming from a military background, I don’t want to share a foxhole in the SHTF-Zombieland-Revolution with the grown “smart” kids.
I’d fight beside most white trash and certain “dumb” black men without hesitation.
What would you fight for?
A white nation ! Or at least part of this nation in what was once a decent white nation . Just to get away from niggers and the rest of the Free shit army would be a blessing for any white tax payer. I don’t know how any white person could think this shit is going to work as one country without whites losing everything and then being genocide out of existence . Look at the last 50 years. It’s only going to snow ball from here and when these ” people of color ” get the numbers ….
Taking the trash out in large numbers isn’t too complicated.
Drum magazines.
Lots of them.
In one unknown yet famous battle, the Rhodesian army took out roughly 6,000 black communist nationalist terrorists on the Russia/Chicom payroll, who were in the country next door and getting ready to invade, with the loss of only like 5 men. Granted it was accomplished largely by air, but then again, which race invented the airplane and has the intelligence overcome gross disadvantages in numbers?
Look it up.
So, slaughter indiscriminately?
I think there are some really good takeaway points in the comment, Captain. People do not realize the impact busing programs had on the schools and communities of this country. The poorly thought-out idea of putting kids on various buses and hauling them to better (or worse) schools, especially during the first oil crisis, was a disaster that could only have come from idiots in bureaucracy.
Met with an old AF buddy yesterday. We are glad our days in the trenches are behind because we wouldn’t want to depend on the idiots we know are still there. We are better off on our own here in flyover.
“The reason the kids at the school in the white suburb do better than the kids at the ghetto school is they came from better parents”
And Whites have a higher IQ.
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“Middle-class white parents want to avoid subjecting their kids to vibrancy. ”
Ahhhh!! Those evil privileged white raycisss bastards!! Got it.
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BTW, you don’t know jack-shit about Libertarianism, so shut your joo piehole.
Fuck you Zman. May God zap me with a bolt of lightning and strike me dead on the spot if I ever read your bullshit again.
I had a friend in elementary school who was black. He had two parents and a sister, and both parents cared very much about the education of their children. He was exceptionally smart (IQ was a criteria for entrance into this school) and went on to become both a doctor and a dentist (dental surgery, etc.). Any parent who cares, will have kids that do well, and any system that forces parents to make value decisions (because nobody is there to wipe their asses, give them free shit, etc.) will eventually force and encourage parents to care. We didn’t get this fucked up as a country in one generation. Before the rampant socialism of FDR and onward, people took care of themselves and their neighbors, and that was the societal expectation. Libertarianism is about freedom, nothing more. But without freedom, there is no point in expecting anything good.
If you are going to make a case against libertarianism, you should at least start with a publication other than the non-libertarian Reason magazine. These folks are beltway “libertarians” looking to advance their “cause” through the use of government force and power. Another fail. And no serious case can be made against libertarianism if you are going to pretend that true libertarians are going to make any claims that libertarianism will bring about “utopia.” Libertarianism is about freedom, liberty, and the rights of the individual above all else. The outcomes will not always be perfect, but the outcomes will never be perfect under tyranny or even tyranny-lite either. And all along, you still will have to put up with tyranny.
Here’s my unsolicited position: the thing about libertarians is their utopia is anarchy. Which is great. What they fail to acknowledge, perhaps on purpose, is anarchy is a white utopia. White people left to their own devices excel at many things. But anarchy is not the utopia for non-whites. Most of them require/desire the heavy hand. China-men still abide by the mandate of heaven. It works for them, they love it. Blacks perform best when the are directly supervised. Hazard guess is it has something to do with them still being hunter-gatherers dropped in the industrial age.
IMO the alt-right is as dead as the tea party. There is no ‘right-wing’ in this country and most people who are aware of their own position are just waiting until something special comes along they can latch on to. The alt-right died when a scared man’s dodge charger hit a crowd of pinkos and caused a beluga to have a heart attack. The corporate media was given it’s opening and tainted the movement in the mind of milquetoast conservative. The charge of racism still holds sway among the weak.
However, just as the crusty jew and commie whore from the Bronx (trademark) blame capitalism for any and everything, I see a growing push among non-boomer anti-commies (can’t call them right wingers because I just said there is no right wing, oops) to also blame capitalism. But where is there a free market in this country? There’s a reason why they don’t teach you about the federal reserve/ central banking in public school. The very basis of the economy is controlled, and that is not nor will it ever be capitalism.
“Reason” magazine people aren’t true Libertarians. That’s what’s wrong with the entire article.
I tried to get on the school choice bandwagon when I was in college post Air Force career. I picked up a minor in polisci and another in conlaw history, migrating toward school choice issues with a small child just entering private school at the church we attended. (which we attended to gain access to the excellent preschool program for my college attendance, to be blunt and honest). I wasn’t sheltering my child from blacks, but from the Okie from Muskogee kids, but, according to the concepts involved in the dogma surrounding “school choice”, any reference to school choice on my part meant “white flight.”
Apparently, to the underclass, the privilege most reviled is the idea of free will.
How in the world the principled ideals embodied in the eloquent pleadings doggedly taken to the Supreme Court by Thurgood Marshall and the true trench warriors of the Civil Rights battles become the current nonsensical demand for equality in a world where none ever existed and never will. All things being equal is a common prequel to a statement that is immediately, or should be, suspect.
None of the current underclass realizes much about what happened long before that little Brown versus the Board became part of the Law of the Land. Because a study of what happened before is a study about POLITICIZING the Court and turning it into an Organ of the State.
So, if you have the interest to follow the logic of the civil rights law as it developed and changed course, in my opinion, in the transition from MLK to Jesse Jackson and beyond to this horrid mishmash of celebrity caricature of a caricature freaks who are terrible role models for our children of any color, much less those requiring intellectual challenge.
My own stepson, though challenged with a mid-80s IQ, learned to read with Hooked on Phonics and Dr. Seuss (and some Bible stories) has at least been able to continue that interest in reading well enough to hold a decent conversation on many topics. I used to allude to this more often but a vow to change is a vow, so I’ll simply say that WORDS and the meanings of those WORDS matter. When anyone is encouraged morph the meaning of words for selfish purpose (advertising law history) the law morphs itself to accommodate the new meanings, because, well, it is a living document (in my opinion, “living document” means “subject to interpretation”), then you are allowed to use the law for your purpose as well.
I usually steer clear of articles which make me want to converse. I’ll try to avoid Zman’s interesting essays, especially since he is coming into his own.
Oh, and Stucky? You don’t like Zman’s articles because you don’t agree with a lot of his points. But, he supports them well and writes engagingly, so you read it. Then you get all pissed off because you read it. You’ll be back. Just like you know who.
The light approaches; I must feed goats. (Seven words is haiku, right?)
Zman, have you not read anything by Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Emerson, or Harry Browne?
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Jefferson
Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined. Patrick Henry
Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect. Emerson
The Bill of Rights isn’t some legalistic fine print. It was written to make our lives freer, more prosperous, and happier. By forsaking it, America has become no better than any other country in the world. Browne
Libertarians know that a free country has nothing to fear from anyone coming in or going out – while a welfare state is scared to death of poor people coming in and rich people getting out. Browne
In the 1880s, people all over the world looked to America for inspiration. Its very existence was proof that it was possible to have a relatively free and peaceful country. No income tax, no foreign wars, no welfare state, no intrusions on civil liberties. Browne