"Ayn Rand is a perennial favorite among youth because her philosophy is tailored for the self-centered. It is a philosophy of immaturity, of high school students who think that selfishness is rebellion." -- Donald DeMarco
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year-old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers
Great thought piece. Watching my country, the mislabled 'United States' enter into a mass psychosis with the incoming malignant Narcissist Trump - not my opinion , the assessment of 40+ forensic psychiatrists - is truly terrifying. It's beyond liberalism and communitarianism: this is the 3rd president in a row we've had who is mentally unfit to be in a position of formal authority. This is the result of an explicit campaign by the CEO roundtable in the 1070s to turn the US into a Corpocracy, and they've succeeded. Or as Warren Buffet put it, "There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
― Warren Buffett
America is already in decline and this dog-eat-dog corpocracy is accelerating it. But it ain't over 'til it's over. We/US went through this before in the 'gilded age' in the 1880's of the robber barons, and it was corrected by the outrage of society and some muscular liberalism of Teddy Roosevelt and FDR; we are sorely lacking that today. And whether the other America can overcome the stone cold idiots that voted in Trump....stay tuned! I doubt it.
It is your supreme court that bears most of the blame Scott. When they allow corporations to bribe the congressmen, to bankroll the presidential candidates, and a few men to own the media, what else can you expect?
Yes, agreed Frank. I don't think the founding fathers ever envisioned a world where the corporate and financial elite would be able to capture the judiciary; they were supposed to be the 'check'. And until the 1990's it was still a gentleman's game, but the Tea Party and the Newt Gingrich types destroyed all that. The only one talking about campaign reform was Saunders and his own party buried 'em. And it was Clinton who repelled anti-trust legislation to apply to media ownership deliberately allowing an oligopoly in media ownership. Very sad.
Great article JK, and beautifully written. But bear in mind that Cuba is in the state it is after 50 years of sanctions. Here in the UK we would have a crisis if the US even threatened to impose sanctions. And I dare say, Russian communism was driven to its cruel extremes by the threats to its existence from other countries. China is far less individualistic than the US and yet its economic success is probably beyond that of any other country. Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and most other countries in SE Asia have seen their GDP rising much faster than ours or the EU, with industrial policies far nearer to China than to the west. I have lived and worked in those countries and I know.
I am intrigued with the line "libertarianism is to the right what communism is to the left". The problem with this statement is that there are lots of left-wing libertarians e.g. Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, Robert Kennedy Jnr (who, not so strangely, have aligned themselves with Donald Trump). Many libertarians do not consider themselves conservative (which initially was confusing to me as I often define myself as a conservative libertarian). Maybe, Trump is just disruptive (or so the majority hope).
Collectivism, as promoted by the left-wing, seems to be going out of fashion. But, one way or the other, politics will continue. Please consider this a friendly critique, as I likely will continue to enjoy your columns.
Hi Malcolm, thanks for the response and the critique. that is absolutely fine and I encourage more of it.
I agree with your sentiment that many traditional libertarians try to distance themselves from traditional conservatives. But as you rightfully point out, the meaning of left and right is shifting (or rather has increasingly become meaningless). Maybe better to differentiate between progressive and reactionary (in their social/cultural meaning, not progressive as in its current political meaning)? Please don't take offense art this terminology. Reactionary is not meant to be derogatory but it's the only term I can come up with that describes the pushback (reaction) to the aggressive push to move the agenda forward on the side of the progressives (in things like DEI, etc.)
In that respect, I doubt that Elon Musk or Joe Rogan are left-wing libertarians. I would consider them to be reactionaries just like Trump. People who have always been libertarian-minded but have become alienated by the progressives and are now reacting to that movement in a more 'conservative' way.
Interesting read. I think there is a key misconception though:
"Libertarians deny the existence of the communal and social nature of humans and by doing so, they undermine society and people’s ability to live together as a group."
I think that this does not hold true in the light of key concepts and ideas of leading "libertarian" economics from the Austrian School of Economics.
When looking at the famous "Methodenstreit" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodenstreit), it was the "Austrian" perspective of Menger, Schumpeter, Hayek, Mises et al. that emphasized the agency theorem and subjective, bounded-rational nature of humans. Unlike their socialist and neoclassical counterparts, this school of thought emphasizes the social nature of humans, expressed in voluntary trade and cooperation via information, prices i.e.: markets. As opposed to the pseudo-physics of neoclassicals, keynesians, and others, were humans are just robots in a one dimensional world, fully neglecting the human nature.
If I may add: if you take the world-views of Ayn Rand, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and others as the baseline for this discussion - it is a whole different level ;-)
Interesting opinion, which matches this recent Atlantic article: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/
"Ayn Rand is a perennial favorite among youth because her philosophy is tailored for the self-centered. It is a philosophy of immaturity, of high school students who think that selfishness is rebellion." -- Donald DeMarco
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year-old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers
Tell that to Alan Greenspan...
Great thought piece. Watching my country, the mislabled 'United States' enter into a mass psychosis with the incoming malignant Narcissist Trump - not my opinion , the assessment of 40+ forensic psychiatrists - is truly terrifying. It's beyond liberalism and communitarianism: this is the 3rd president in a row we've had who is mentally unfit to be in a position of formal authority. This is the result of an explicit campaign by the CEO roundtable in the 1070s to turn the US into a Corpocracy, and they've succeeded. Or as Warren Buffet put it, "There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
― Warren Buffett
America is already in decline and this dog-eat-dog corpocracy is accelerating it. But it ain't over 'til it's over. We/US went through this before in the 'gilded age' in the 1880's of the robber barons, and it was corrected by the outrage of society and some muscular liberalism of Teddy Roosevelt and FDR; we are sorely lacking that today. And whether the other America can overcome the stone cold idiots that voted in Trump....stay tuned! I doubt it.
It is your supreme court that bears most of the blame Scott. When they allow corporations to bribe the congressmen, to bankroll the presidential candidates, and a few men to own the media, what else can you expect?
Yes, agreed Frank. I don't think the founding fathers ever envisioned a world where the corporate and financial elite would be able to capture the judiciary; they were supposed to be the 'check'. And until the 1990's it was still a gentleman's game, but the Tea Party and the Newt Gingrich types destroyed all that. The only one talking about campaign reform was Saunders and his own party buried 'em. And it was Clinton who repelled anti-trust legislation to apply to media ownership deliberately allowing an oligopoly in media ownership. Very sad.
Great article JK, and beautifully written. But bear in mind that Cuba is in the state it is after 50 years of sanctions. Here in the UK we would have a crisis if the US even threatened to impose sanctions. And I dare say, Russian communism was driven to its cruel extremes by the threats to its existence from other countries. China is far less individualistic than the US and yet its economic success is probably beyond that of any other country. Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and most other countries in SE Asia have seen their GDP rising much faster than ours or the EU, with industrial policies far nearer to China than to the west. I have lived and worked in those countries and I know.
I am intrigued with the line "libertarianism is to the right what communism is to the left". The problem with this statement is that there are lots of left-wing libertarians e.g. Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, Robert Kennedy Jnr (who, not so strangely, have aligned themselves with Donald Trump). Many libertarians do not consider themselves conservative (which initially was confusing to me as I often define myself as a conservative libertarian). Maybe, Trump is just disruptive (or so the majority hope).
Collectivism, as promoted by the left-wing, seems to be going out of fashion. But, one way or the other, politics will continue. Please consider this a friendly critique, as I likely will continue to enjoy your columns.
Hi Malcolm, thanks for the response and the critique. that is absolutely fine and I encourage more of it.
I agree with your sentiment that many traditional libertarians try to distance themselves from traditional conservatives. But as you rightfully point out, the meaning of left and right is shifting (or rather has increasingly become meaningless). Maybe better to differentiate between progressive and reactionary (in their social/cultural meaning, not progressive as in its current political meaning)? Please don't take offense art this terminology. Reactionary is not meant to be derogatory but it's the only term I can come up with that describes the pushback (reaction) to the aggressive push to move the agenda forward on the side of the progressives (in things like DEI, etc.)
In that respect, I doubt that Elon Musk or Joe Rogan are left-wing libertarians. I would consider them to be reactionaries just like Trump. People who have always been libertarian-minded but have become alienated by the progressives and are now reacting to that movement in a more 'conservative' way.
Interesting read. I think there is a key misconception though:
"Libertarians deny the existence of the communal and social nature of humans and by doing so, they undermine society and people’s ability to live together as a group."
I think that this does not hold true in the light of key concepts and ideas of leading "libertarian" economics from the Austrian School of Economics.
When looking at the famous "Methodenstreit" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodenstreit), it was the "Austrian" perspective of Menger, Schumpeter, Hayek, Mises et al. that emphasized the agency theorem and subjective, bounded-rational nature of humans. Unlike their socialist and neoclassical counterparts, this school of thought emphasizes the social nature of humans, expressed in voluntary trade and cooperation via information, prices i.e.: markets. As opposed to the pseudo-physics of neoclassicals, keynesians, and others, were humans are just robots in a one dimensional world, fully neglecting the human nature.
If I may add: if you take the world-views of Ayn Rand, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan and others as the baseline for this discussion - it is a whole different level ;-)