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Libertarian Party and ‘anarchism’

An interesting video from circa 1980.

10 Comments

  1. Melty Rox September 10, 2008

    This is from before “liberal” became a dirty word. Both “liberal” and “conservative” at this point seem to me bereft of meaning.

    “Constitutionalist” is a good word to use. “Libertarian” is more popular lately as an idealogical word. I think “minarchist” is good to use for the novelty of it, and it’s two syllables shorter.

  2. Thomas M. Sipos September 10, 2008

    G.E. “Left-wing “anarchists” = Violent thugs

    Real anarchists (anarcho-capitalists) = Men and women of PEACE.

    Well, no. That’s like Communists saying that “real” Communists are freedom-loving.

    1. Real anarchists are those who exist in reality. Some are peaceful philosophers. Some are violent thugs. No anarchist owns a trademark on the word.

    2. Some anarchists are also libertarians. Some are not.

    3. Libertarians include anarchists, conservatives, liberals, and Constitutionalists.

    4. However, not all anarchists, conservatives, liberals, or Constitutionalists are libertarian.

  3. Deran September 10, 2008

    LOL. Dude, you just did that to get my goat! I could see you doing very well in vaudiville!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-pacifism

    The vast majority of people on the libertarian left, the historical libertarians, are not “Black Bloc” fashion victims and wannabe news blurbs.

    Through out the course of history (yes, history), people have used nonviolence, passive resitance, active resitance, and even revellion in respinse to authoritarianism, etc. Why, even the US of away was founded via a violent sort of civil war/nationalistic insurgency.

    No one, when faced with tyranny, and who had the reasonable opportunity, would not voice their opposition to that tyranny. At least no one that posts to this blog’s comment threads.

    Left libertarians are the historical response of people to the modern tyranny of the state AND capital. That clearly seperates them from the very recent libertarian capitalist movement. In the course of that historical response people have organized into strikes and other forms of civil disobedience. And the capitalist controled state, and corporations themselves, have resorted to violence, to which strikers responded.

    It’s being going on since the first slave revolts recorded in Egypt, four, five thousand years ago. The violence of the state and corproations becomes more intense, and the people getting the painful end of the stick respond in defense of their liberty, and seeking justice and fairness.

    Yes, thre have been persons in history that have committed acts of “terrorism” (the first ‘car bomb’, was a wagon loaded with explosives on Wall Street by a self proclaimed “Anarchist”), as there have been by crypto-fascists and “patriots” as well in this country (the US).

    Violence that targets random victims out of some demented belief that it advances humanity toward any of many utopias is a terror from both certain elements on the Left and Right. Historically speaking, I mean.

  4. G.E. Post author | September 9, 2008

    “bomb-throwing collectivists against everything”

  5. Denver Delegate September 9, 2008

    I love those cartoons in the video!

    Who is the artist?

    And where can one look at them in a book or online?

  6. G.E. Post author | September 9, 2008

    The delineation is pretty clear, and Ed Clark gets it:

    Left-wing “anarchists” = Violent thugs

    Real anarchists (anarcho-capitalists) = Men and women of PEACE

  7. G.E. Post author | September 9, 2008

    BTW: I just found out that video is from this series…

    Anarchism in American (8 parts)

  8. Trent Hill September 9, 2008

    Clark was also keenly aware of all of the inter-party disputes, while Barr probably isnt.

  9. G.E. Post author | September 9, 2008

    Clark answered the question tactfully and respectfully.

    I wonder how Barr would answer?

  10. Dodge Landesman September 9, 2008

    Ed Clark doesn’t sound anarchist. Just sensible. Clark proves a good point that they’re different.

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