I had lunch with a good friend today. We talked libertarian nutballs for a few minutes and then moved on to discuss some of the pillars of libertarian theory. Take the pillar that states government welfare could be replaced by private enterprise if given an opportunity. We hear about it all the time. Ron Paul referred to it as the "generous society" during his failed presidential bid. It is a theory that states people, companies, and social organizations would step up to take care of those in need if government programs ended. Although the theory is a nice-to-believe libertarian staple, practical experience and world travel tells me that the absence of a government safety net results in anarchy, neglect, and death. Some people or organizations step up, but its never enough. People starve, or die from infections, or are victimized in some other horrible way. The world is a hard place. Survival of the fittest should not extend to human society. Social Darwinism is not libertarian thinking. It is a libertarian mental illness.
Enough of my ranting. My real question, and the subject of today's friendly lunch discussion, are there any well-known libertarian charity efforts? I thought long and hard about the questions and came up dry. In fact, I cannot remember charity being discussed in any group meeting or online forum except as something other people would do if needed. I realize I have a limited sample size, but I just don't know of many local or national libertarian charities or charity events. I certainly don't see it at the local or State levels. We don't eat our own dog food. How sad is that?
People, and by people I mean non-libertarians, would take us more seriously if we were able to actually help the needy. Hell, if we could just organize a quarterly food drive it would help establish the principle that we practice what we preach; but we don't. Instead, we preach as if charity happens by libertarian magic.
Do you know of a libertarian charity effort? Drop me a note in the comments. I'd love to promote it here on my blog.
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denelian 2p · 651 weeks ago
as a point, some years ago, a Secular Humanism group i was involved with [being a theist, i wasn't considered really part of the group, but we worked together on things fairly often] was trying to get other groups to start local micro-charities. one of the groups we approached was a local college's Libertarian Society [they had a more official name, but i can't remember it - we called everything a "club", but they hated being called "The Libertarian Club", so...] and to be honest, we weren't [as a group] hopeful when we approached them. Libertarians have a sort of bad name in the "Charity" field. i was one of the few who didn't think we'd be wasting our time, because even if the *GROUP* didn't participate, members might [i was raised on Heinlein...]
and the whole club decided to. quickly. like, RIGHT THEN. the president? guy in charge, anyway, heard us out, and then said something like "This is a great idea! we can spread the word while helping people, and helping people makes us look better, and then maybe people will actually LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT WE BELIEVE! why didn't we think about this before?"
sadly, it didn't last long - that guy graduated, and the next guy basically said "we aren't a church" - but while it lasted, it was good. they gained several members and etc.
there are many aspects of the Libertarian position i agree with; the general stance on charity is where i start to fall off. if that follows. [not the only place, but it's one of the big stumbling blocks]
there are places where it might be easier - Atheism+ is a new movement that is, in part, focused on activism and charity outside/without government *AND* religion.
and as the guy said - it makes you look good, helps spread the message AND helps people in general. i don't see a downside :)
[PS: here via Vyckie]