Oh my, the THIRD person I've ever seen
or read with a "Progressive-Libertarian" bent. The other two have
now sold out Libertarianism for today's Progressive movement. I
wonder if this one has made that leap by now. A lot can change in
ten years.
David
"There is no virtue in compulsory government
charity, and
there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who
portrays himself as
"caring" and "sensitive" because he wants to expand the
government's charitable programs is merely saying that
he's willing to try to
do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a
voter who takes pride
in supporting such programs is telling us that he'll do
good with his own money
-- if a gun is held to his head."--P.
J.
O'Rourke
On 6/14/2013 11:26 PM, [email protected] wrote:
The Radical Centrist
November 12, 2004
Chris Nolan has more on her "progressive-libertarian"
idea
Chris
has responded to the response to her
earlier post. Apparently I wasn't the only one to
experience an allergic reaction to the term
"progressive-libertarian". She explains that she means to
use both terms in their traditional way, shorn of the
unfortunate code-meanings newly attached. I can buy that.
I'm a big fan of Teddy Roosevelt, who wore the
"progressive" label with pride, and a low-level
libertarian inclination is a common link for most
centrists. I'm wary, however, of trying to swim against
the tide when a term catches on as a code word or buzzword
with very specific connotations. But these are good words
that ought to be rescued and re-introduced into the
conversation, so let's try the progressive-libertarian
label for a while.
I have no disagreement at all with the concept she is
describing. I live a few miles down the peninsula from
Chris and this generally unnamed and unrecognized
"movement" (really a trend, not yet sufficiently
self-conscious to be a movement) is very strong here. In
Silicon Valley it can be very difficult to tell the
Democrats and the Republicans apart. Here's a quote from
Chris:
The movement isn't without its faults.
Progressive libertarians don't think big in the political
sense because, fundamentally, they have contempt for
politics. They see a problem – education is big here in
California – they come up with a solution. They move on.
They emphasize the ROI – return on investment – but in
many cases the work that government does has little, if
any return. They haven't really come up with a solution
for the increasing economic disparity in this country.
Their attitudes toward the poor, the ill, the
disenfranchised are often dismissive, sometimes cruel. In
short, no these are not classic Liberals although many are
loathe to say so. And yes, the could well be Rockefeller
Republicans but most of 'em don't know what that means.
They are what's new in politics, however. And they're
growing before our very eyes.
Well, I'm old enough and East-Coast enough to know
exactly what "Rockefeller Republicans" means. I prefer to
look back to T.R. for inspiration, but both were a bit
"old money" for my taste. The movement in this area seems
more tied to an entrepreneurial spirit. Perhaps that
energy, so ready to break out and embrace the future, can
be harnessed to remake the political landscape the same
way it is remaking the economic world.
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