Questions for Libertarians
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Local television ran a lecture given by Dinesh D'Souza at
Oregon State University about a month ago.
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Among the points he made was one about the "liberal
assumption"
that if you grant freedom to people they will almost always
use that freedom wisely, to good effect, for the best.
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Needless to say, and D'Souza was quick to point this out,
this is also the exact same assumption at the heart of
Libertarianism.
Trouble is, he said, this is the exact opposite of
the Christian view
that mankind is born in sin and, lacking redemption, will
almost
invariably --sooner more probably than later-- misuse
that
freedom and screw things up for all concerned.
.
Needless to say this poses a problem for libertarians.
If freedom just about guarantees that its exercise will
result in
bad behavior, bad outcomes, and bad moral decisions,
how can anyone justify a politics based on unfettered
freedom ?
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Answer : You can't. Hence the US system
is based on checks
and balances and rule of law.
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This also leads to the question :
How can libertarianism be justified when its basic
operating premise
denies original sin ?
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Or, to use an example that D'Souza employed :
What would libertarianism look like if it started out with
the
Christian assumption that human beings will normally act in
sinful ways
that ultimately are anything but rational self-interest
optimization ways ?
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I would like to see an answer to that.
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Billy
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