Dear Government Supremacists, Self-Ownership Needs No Explanation

by | Aug 29, 2022

Dear Government Supremacists, Self-Ownership Needs No Explanation

by | Aug 29, 2022

fpc

Lately I’ve heard libertarians ridiculed because their argument against some law boils down to, “Because freedom.”  Why shouldn’t we have inheritance taxes?  Because freedom.  Why shouldn’t we ban handguns?  Because freedom.  Why shouldn’t we have an affirmative consent standard for rape?  Because freedom.

The ridicule is often unfair on its own terms.  There are consequentialist arguments for these libertarian positions, if you care to listen.  Still, critics correctly sense that even self-styled consequentialist libertarians have a strong pro-freedom, anti-government presumption.  If the consequences of government action are anywhere in the vicinity of “bad overall,” libertarians frequently do say, “Because freedom” to get over the hump.

What few critics care to admit, though, is that they too routinely makes the same intellectual move.  Almost everyone does.  Whenever an honest assessment of consequences of government action fails to yield ideologically palatable answers, non-libertarians retreat to “Because freedom” too.

Why not ban Satanism?  Because freedom.

Why shouldn’t societies where homophobes vastly outnumber gays legally persecute gays?  Because freedom.

Why not punish strangers who have unprotected sex without being tested for STDs?  Because freedom.

Why not forbid climbing Mount Everest?  Because freedom.

Why not require adults to get a Non-Alcoholic’s License to buy alcohol?  Because freedom.

Why let the Nazis march in Skokie?  Because freedom.

Why let parents prevent grandparents from visiting their grandchildren?  Because freedom.

Sure, you can offer consequentialist justifications of these policies.  But if you’re convinced all of these consequentialist cases are clear-cut against government intervention, you’re guilty of wishful thinking.  Honestly, can you point to anyone who knows enough to do passable cost-benefit analysis of all of these issues?  Doubtful.  The argument that gets you to your conviction is “Because freedom.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  “Because freedom” isn’t the only morally relevant political argument.  But truth be told, it’s one of the best.

This article was originally featured at EconLib.org and is republished with permission.

About Bryan Caplan

Dr. Bryan Caplan is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and New York Times Bestselling author. His most recent book is titled, Labor Econ Versus the World: Essays on the World's Greatest Market.

Our Books

thisone

Related Articles

Related

Our Postmodern Empire

Our Postmodern Empire

The American Empire is engaged in one of the greatest rhetorical cons of the past century, one that involves an endless differentiation and deferral of meaning. Its “post-colonial” warfare is therefore downright postmodern. Many conservatives believe there is a plot...

read more
To Fight the State, Build Alternatives to the State

To Fight the State, Build Alternatives to the State

Throughout its history, liberalism—the ideology today called “classical liberalism” or “libertarianism”—has suffered from the impression that it is primarily against things. This is not entirely wrong. Historically, liberalism coalesced as a recognizable and coherent...

read more
Vladimir Putin vs. The International Criminal Court

Vladimir Putin vs. The International Criminal Court

On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest for Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal for allegedly deporting and transferring children from Ukraine to Russia. The 1946 Nuremburg Tribunal declared that, “To initiate a war of...

read more
The Crony Capitalist Origins of Our Oligarchy

The Crony Capitalist Origins of Our Oligarchy

Republicans have of late been setting the stage for war with China, which would seem to explain the sudden interest—after years of apathy on the part of nearly everyone but Senator Rand Paul—in determining the origins of the COVID-19 virus. Was or was not the deadly...

read more
Here’s How We Protect U.S. Troops in Syria…

Here’s How We Protect U.S. Troops in Syria…

Last week saw a sharp increase in attacks on U.S. troops occupying northeastern Syria, with a drone strike against a U.S. base blamed on “pro-Iran” forces and a U.S. counter-strike said to have killed at least 19 people. After the U.S. retaliation, another strike by...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This