Libertarianism: The Only Philosophy That Allows for All Others

I’m sure I’ll catch some flak for this article from the real die hard libertarians and anarcho-capitalists. I’ve already had this debate with ANCAP friends of mine. If you fall into those camps, bare with me and understand that just because I don’t label myself an ANCAP doesn’t mean I disagree with those ideas, but thats a topic for another time.

Today, I want to talk about why I think libertarianism is such a great way to structure society, even if you don’t believe in libertarian ideas. Even socialism has a place in a libertarian world. Now is when I’ve undoubtedly lost people! Like I said, bare with me. Don’t be like those other sheep who read something that makes them uncomfortable and they bury their heads in the sand.

As we’ve talked about in previous articles, the core principles of libertarianism are property rights and the NAP (If you haven’t read it yet, check out my article on the Non-Aggression Principle). People have the right to do whatever they want so long as it doesn’t violate the NAP and the property rights of others.

Now I understand there will be libertarians from different points on the political spectrum that want to debate what libertarianism means to them. There are a whole set of principles that fall under the umbrella of liberty, but they all boil down to not violating the rights of others. With that understanding, we could live in a libertarian world that also includes socialism, communism, or whatever hair brain scheme comes along next.

In today’s society, you can purchase a house in a neighborhood with a Home Owners Association. Under the HOA that they voluntarily agreed to, there are certain rules and regulations that they have agreed to live by and they ceed certain powers over to the association. I think any libertarian would agree that this is fully in compliance with libertarian ideas. All of these actions were voluntary and people have agreed on a set of rules to live by without forcing them on others.

In a libertarian world, what would stop a group of people from voluntarily joining together, buying a chunk of property somewhere and agreeing to live in a socialist or communist community? As long as people entered into this agreement voluntarily, it would be no different than an HOA. Granted, it would presumably be far more invasive, but again, it was done voluntarily.

Even socialist would have to agree that this situation would be far more likely to succeed than forcing an entire nation or society to comply with something that even a portion of the people disagree with. In this example, everyone would be in favor of the agreed upon system. Personally, I believe socialist societies are doomed to fail. History is on my side on that one. But I would concede that if a community of people voluntarily entered into a socialist contract with one another, it would be more likely to succeed. If a doctor, lawyer, or banker knew in advance that they were giving a large chunk of their salary to the community and they agreed with that system, they would have their own personal incentives to work for others.

Forcing people into a system like this will always fail, however, and that is what proponents of socialism and communism don’t seem to realize. In a libertarian world, there is no government monopoly on the use of force to make you comply. But if people choose of their own free will, the chances of success are much higher.

Notice that the flip side of this does not hold true. In a socialist or communist society, there would be no room for libertarian ideas, the free market, private property, or voluntary charity. In a socialist or communist society, there is no room for outside ideas. Everyone must fall in line with the state and its ideology.

Competing ideologies throughout history have always suppressed outside ideas and prevented growth. Libertarianism is the only ideology that actually has the capability of accepting and allowing for other ideas to grow and flourish. Even though free market capitalism has proven that it can create and spread more wealth than any other economic system in history, that doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t be replaced by something even better. Under a libertarian society, new ideas are nourished, allowed to grow and be tested, and if they prove themselves, they would happily be incorporated.

As I get older and learn more about the world, people, and belief systems, I realize there are so many different ideas about how to structure society. Most people are engrained in their own beliefs and they are not going to change. As a libertarian, I don’t want to accept that. I want to explain why my way of thinking is correct. But of course, our opponents are trying to do the same thing. At the end of the day though, I know that libertarian ideas are the only ones that allow for the freedom of voluntary action and free will, which means it even allows for other, competing systems, even if they are doomed to fail.