Libertarian philosophy in the real world : the politics of natural rights

297 Pages·2015·1.7 MB·English

by  Friedman

Libertarian

Philosophy in
the Real World
Also AvAilAble from bloomsbury

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Nozick’s Libertarian Project, Mark D. Friedman
Libertarian

Philosophy in
the Real World
The Politics of Natural Rights
mArK D. frieDmAN
LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY
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First published 2015
© Mark D. Friedman, 2015
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eISBN: 978-1-47257-341-4
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To My Three Great Loves: Aracelly, Judah, and Asher
“Liberty and good government do not exclude each other;
and there are excellent reasons why they should go
together. Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is
itself the highest political end. It is not for the sake of a good
public administration that it is required, but for security in the
pursuit of the highest objects of civil society, and of private
life. Increase of freedom in the State may sometimes promote
mediocrity, and give vitality to prejudice; it may even retard
useful legislation, diminish the capacity for war, and restrict the
boundaries of Empire.
LORD ACTON, The History of Freedom
in Antiquity [1877]
CoNTeNTs

Preface viii
Introduction 1
1 Natural rights, the minimal state, and

its legitimate functions 13
2 Property rights, eminent domain, regulatory

takings, and zoning 33
3 Rights of expression and association 49
4 Paternalism 63
5 The regulatory state 77
6 The federal income tax and the federal reserve

system 93
7 Corporate welfare and the welfare state 111
8 Public education 125
9 Health care 135
10 Political issues for which there is no doctrinaire

libertarian position 151
11 What is to be done? 169
Notes 179
List of useful internet resources 249
Bibliography 253
Index 275
PrefACe

This study is a natural outgrowth of my previous work, Nozick’s
Libertarian Project: An Elaboration and Defense, Continuum
International, 2011. There, I argued for the continuing vitality
of Nozick’s rights-based defense of the (no more than) minimal
state. Having completed this task, it seemed worthwhile to explore
the public policy implications of his libertarianism, an important
question that has received little attention in the literature.
I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to a number of
people in connection with this project. First and foremost, I thank
my wife Aracelly for her unwavering understanding and patience,
which made this study possible. For their helpful comments on
portions of earlier drafts of my manuscript, I wish to thank Tevi
Troy, Steve Horwitz, Tom Palmer, Aaron Gordon, Steve Karavitis,
and Fernando Téson.
I owe a special debt to Danny Frederick, whose penetrating
criticisms deepened my understanding of Nozick’s theory of rights,
enabling me to make here what I hope is a more cogent and persuasive
presentation of this important subject. Of course, the remaining
errors and omissions are entirely my own responsibility.
Introduction

By any standard, we live in interesting political times. In just the
past several years, our policymakers have undertaken an unusual
if not unprecedented series of deep and momentous economic
interventions that have affected virtually every American. These
include costly bailouts of our banking and automotive industries;
huge, debt-fueled federal spending programs intended to “stimulate”
growth; the reorganization of our health care system in a way that
greatly expands the role of the state; the Federal Reserve’s massive,
ongoing campaign of quantitative easing; and the comprehensive
reregulation of our financial services industry. Yet in the face of
this epic display of governmental activism, libertarianism has
never been more popular, perhaps at least in part as a response to
such policies.
Evidence of this trend is seen in the more than 1.2 million votes
garnered by Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s candidate in
the 2012 United States presidential election; the emergence and
influence of the “Tea Party” movement; the mass media exposure
given to such self-identified libertarians as John Stossel, Neil
Boortz, and Judge Andrew Napolitano; and the continuing strong
sales of Ayn Rand’s two major novels, The Fountainhead [1943]
and Atlas Shrugged [1957].
Moreover, while only a small percentage of Americans will
spontaneously identify themselves as “libertarians,” there is
persuasive evidence that a much larger number of persons actually
hold views consonant with this philosophy. A January 2010 survey
of the US electorate reveals that 14 percent are libertarians, based
on the respondents’ answers to three key, ideologically loaded
questions.1 Other polls indicate that a substantially higher portion
of the electorate hold views that are at least somewhat sympathetic
to this worldview.