What is libertarianism?

Loosely speaking, libertarianism is the belief that the government should not interfere with how we choose to live our lives.  Very few people identify themselves as libertarians, but almost anyone will adopt a libertarian stance on occasions.

It has been argued that there is not one libertarian society anywhere in the world, although that is a subjective statement.  For example some people might regard Taiwan or Singapore as libertarian societies.  It is also fair to say that every country in the world – with the possible exception of North Korea – is libertarian to some extent.  I am free to make a lot of choices about how I spend my time and my money.

Libertarian economics tends to hold that governments should not regulate employers, that there should be no nationalised industries, that taxes and government spending should be minimal, and that there should be no government debt.  One of the champions of libertarian economics was John Cowperthwaite, who was the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1961 to 1971.  Cowperthwaite was unwilling to agree to any increase in government spending or government intervention, and the economy of Hong Kong expanded rapidly during his time in office.

Many libertarians also oppose state intervention in other areas.  For example, many libertarians hold that there should be no illegal substances.  While many of us would find that point of view offensive, the libertarians do not find it hard to argue their case.

We live in a country where anyone can buy satsumas legally, and many people do.  Suppose that the government outlaws satsumas.  People still want to eat satsumas, and so a black market develops.  Some people smuggle satsumas into the country, while other people grow satsumas in greenhouses deep in the countryside.  Nevertheless the people who engage in this black market risk prosecution and imprisonment, and so the supply of satsumas is not as abundant as it was when satsumas were legally available.

The prices charged for satsumas has to reflect their scarcity as well as the danger inherent in producing or importing them.  Potentially there is a lot of profit to be made, and yet there is a downside which is that people who are involved in the supply of satsumas effectively put themselves outside the protection of the law.  If you are selling satsumas illegally, and someone steals your money, then it would be unwise to report the theft to the police.

The logical next development is that violent criminal gangs arise and take control of the supply of satsumas.  Gangs control certain areas through violence and intimidation so that they alone can enjoy the illegal revenues of the satsuma industry.  When people find out about the violent crime, some of them may choose not to buy satsumas so as not to contribute to the crime situation, but not everyone will be so public-spirited.

An obvious solution to the problem would be to legalise satsumas once more.  We need only replace the word satsumas with the word alcohol in the above three paragraphs, and we could be describing the prohibition era in the USA which lasted from 1920 to 1933.  Replace the word satsumas with the word cannabis (or heroin or cocaine or MDMA) and we could be talking about the United Kingdom in the present day.

A critical difference between satsumas and illegal drugs however is that illegal drugs are dangerous in themselves – that is they would be dangerous even if they were legal.  Let me rephrase that.  They are dangerous when they are legal, as evidenced by recent events in Colorado.

The libertarian point of view has much to recommend it, but they are wrong about the legalisation of drugs.

Whenever someone adopts a libertarian point of view – regardless of whether or not they regard themselves as libertarian – they will often urge you to accept that you should not impose your belief system on other people.  It is important to be aware however that libertarianism is as much a belief system as communism or vegetarianism or national socialism.  Therefore the libertarian who urges you not to impose your belief system on other people is seeking to impose his (or her) belief system on you.

Anyone who is interested in politics should have an awareness of libertarianism, but that is not the same as to say that everyone should adopt a libertarian stance on every conceivable issue.

A related previous post:  The story of King Ed

Update: since writing this, it has emerged that a famous actor who recently died after abusing drugs was not, despite earlier rumours, in possession of a particularly deadly form of drug.  This surely is another reason to be suspicious of the  libertarian argument.