Libertarian political philosophy, as a practical matter, does not offer a prefabricated set of solutions to collective problems. Rather, it’s a liberty-based approach to ameliorating collective problems that begins by acknowledging (among other things) the dispersion, incompleteness, and tacit dimension of relevant knowledge. Thus, the approach favors decentralization, competition (in ideas and services), and choice about what trade-offs to make and with whom to cooperate. Perhaps ironically, to succeed, individualism requires and produces the collective intelligence that only markets embody.
Ron Paul and the Consistent Life Ethic
For decades, Ron Paul has been the most high-profile supporter of the consistent life ethic in American political life. Consistent life ethicists subscribe to the “premise or theory that all human life is inherently valuable, and therefore, that all humans deserve to...














