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Libertarian Quotes

Browse 1798 quotes about Libertarian.

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Libertarian Quotes

“The general uncertainty about the prospects of medical treatment is socially handled by rigid entry requirements. These are designed to reduce the uncertainty in the mind of the consumer as to the quality insofar as this is possible. I think this explanation, which is perhaps the naive one, is much more tenable than any idea of a monopoly seeking to increase incomes.”

ThinkingMindIdeasQualityIncreaseSeekingLibertarianMedicalIncomeConsumersUncertaintyExplanationTreatmentRequirementsNaiveMonopolyEntryProspectsMedical Treatment
Book:Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow: Applied economics
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“No longer enslaved or made dependent by force of law, the great majority are so by force of property; they are still chained to a place, to an occupation, and to conformity with the will of an employer, and debarred by the accident of birth to both the enjoyments, and from the mental and moral advantages, which others inherit without exertion and independently of desert. That this is an evil equal to almost any of those against which mankind have hitherto struggles, the poor are not wrong in believing.”

BelieveMadeStillsLawEvilForcePoorMoralStruggleMankindBirthEqualAdvantageMajorityPropertyAccidentsLibertarianDesertEnjoymentDependentOccupationConformityEmployersExertionChained
Book:Socialism: Mill's Works
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“Even those who identify themselves as libertarians follow an overtly anti-rationalist philosophy, as even a brief acquaintance with the work of Friedrich Hayek should make clear. The argument against reason in this literature is straightforward: it is impossible for any individual to acquire enough reliable information to make a rational decision, any actions founded on rational thought will therefore be delusional, any attempts at reason should therefore regarded as dangerous, and all action should instead be guided by tradition.”

ShouldReasonEnoughPhilosophyActionLiteratureIndividualDecisionClearImpossibleDangerousInformationArgumentTraditionLibertarianRationalAcquireAcquaintanceStraightforwardDelusionalHayekRational ThoughtFriedrich HayekRational Decisions
Author:Philip E. Agre
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“I'll tell you what I'd do if it were up to me: I would establish a strictly controlled distribution network through which I would make most drugs, excluding the most dangerous ones like crack, legally available. Initially I would keep the prices low enough to destroy the drug trade. Once that objective was attained I would keep raising the prices, very much like the excise duty on cigarettes, but I would make an exception for registered addicts in order to discourage crime. I would use a portion of the income for prevention and treatment. And I would foster social opprobrium of drug use.”

IfsEnoughUseOrderSocialDangerousCrimeDutyDrugLowsTradeAvailableLibertarianIncomeObjectivesExceptionTreatmentCracksControlledPortionsCigaretteAddictDistributionDiscouragingPreventionDrug Use
Author:George Soros
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“[What Hayek] does not see, or will not admit, [is] that a return to "free" competition means for the great mass of people a tyranny probably worse, because more irresponsible, than that of the State. The trouble with competitions is that somebody wins them. Professor Hayek denies that free capitalism necessarily leads to monopoly, but in practice that is where it has led, and since the vast majority of people would far rather have State regimentation than slumps and unemployment, the drift towards collectivism is bound to continue if popular opinion has any say in the matter.”

PeopleIfsMeanDoeMatterStatesWinningOpinionPracticeTroubleReturnMassCapitalismMajorityCompetitionBoundsDenyLibertarianTyrannyProfessorsUnemploymentMonopolyIrresponsibleCollectivismPopular OpinionHayekSlumpsRegimentation
Book:Orwell: The Observer Years
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“These days, however, the main problem comes from the right - from conservatives who, unlike most economists, really do think that the free market is always right - to such an extent that they refuse to believe even the most overwhelming scientific evidence if it seems to suggest a justification for government action.”

IfsThinkingBelieveProblemSeemsGovernmentActionEvidenceRefuseLibertarianThese DaysOverwhelmingJustificationEconomistFree MarketScientific Evidence
Author:Paul Krugman
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“Unfortunately for ethical egoism, the claim that we will all be better off if every one of us does what is in his or her own interest is incorrect. This is shown by what are known as "prisoner's dilemma" situations, which are playing an increasingly important role in discussions of ethical theory... At least on the collective level, therefore, egoism is self-defeating - a conclusion well brought out by Parfit in his aforementioned Reasons and Persons.”

IfsWellsPersonsDoeImportantSelfReasonInterestLevelsSituationKnownRolesTheoryClaimsLibertarianConclusionDiscussionCollectivesEthicalPrisonerBetter OffDilemmaEgoism
Author:Peter Singer
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“Markets are interested in profits and profits only; service, quality, and general affluence are different functions altogether. The universal, democratic prosperity that Americans now look back to with such nostalgia was achieved only by a colossal reigning in of markets, by the gargantuan effort of mass, popular organizations like labor unions and of the people themselves, working through a series of democratically elected governments not daunted by the myths of the market.”

PeopleLooksDifferentGovernmentEffortQualityMassLaborOrganizationUniversalFunctionUnionsDemocraticSeriesProfitProsperityMythLibertarianNostalgiaAffluenceColossalLabor UnionQuality Service
Author:Thomas Frank
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“On the conservative side, today's libertarianism is far more dogmatic and devoid of qualification than the liberalism of Adam Smith or J.S. Mill. Like Marxism, libertarianism is a utopian worldview based on an economic-determinist vision of history. Unlike Marxism, libertarianism is highly specific in its predictions about the transition to the utopian world order, rendering it vulnerable to fact.”

WorldFactsTodayOrderSidesVisionEconomicConservativeLibertarianVulnerableLiberalismTransitionAdamLibertarianismPredictionsMarxismWorldviewWorld OrderMillsQualificationsUtopianDogmaticRendering
Author:Michael Lind
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“For over a century, popular struggles in the democracies have used the nation-state to temper raw capitalism. The power of voters has offset the power of capital. But as national barriers have come down in the name of freer commerce, so has the capacity of governments to manage capitalism in a broad public interest. So the real issue is not "trade" but democratic governance.”

RealStatesGovernmentUsedNamesNationsInterestStruggleDemocracyIssuesCenturyCapitalismCapacityTradeDemocraticLibertarianManageBarriersBroadsVotersTemperCommerceGovernanceDemocracies HavePublic Interest
Author:Robert Kuttner
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“One of the most extraordinary examples in recent decades [of unitary visions of constitutional enterprise] is found in a book called "Takings"... Epstein makes an extremely clever but stunningly reductionist argument that the whole Constitution is really designed to protect private property... Can a constitution reflecting as diverse an array of visions and aspirations as ours really be reducible to such as sadly single-minded vision as that?”

BookWholeFoundVisionExampleProtectArgumentConstitutionPropertyExtraordinaryLibertarianDecadesCleverAspirationEnterpriseDiverseReflectingPrivate Property
Author:Laurence Tribe
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“Companies like Enron have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programs or hiring moonlighting professors can return big payoffs in generating books, reports, articles, testimony and other materials to push for and rationalize public policy positions that damage the public interest but benefit corporate bottomlines.”

BookBigsInterestCompanyPolicyPositionMaterialsReturnBenefitsResearchProgramInvestmentLibertarianCorporateDamageReportsChairsProfessorsArticlesTestimonyHiringPublic PolicyPublic InterestRationalizePayoffEnron
Author:Ralph Nader
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“Though editorialists at The New York Times and The Washington Post still don't get it, most Democrats in Congress finally do: Today's trade disputes are no longer mostly about tariffs, quotas, or free entry of goods. They are about the ground rules for capitalism. Are there to be only property rights? What about the other rights that liberal democracies have fought for since the 1880s?”

StillsTodayDemocracyRightsNew YorkCapitalismTradePropertyDemocratCongressLibertarianPostsGoodsDisputesNew York TimesEntryProperty RightsDemocracies HaveQuotaTariffsLiberal DemocracyGround Rules
Author:Robert Kuttner
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“One cannot overstate the childishness of the ideas that feed and stir the masses. Real ideas must as a rule be simplified to the level of a child's understanding if they are to arouse the masses to historic actions. A childish illusion, fixed in the minds of all children born in a certain decade and hammered home for four years, can easily reappear as a deadly serious political ideology twenty years later.”

IfsYearsMindChildrenIdeasRealHomeActionPoliticalCertainUnderstandingBornLevelsFourSeriousMassIllusionTwentiesLibertarianDecadesIdeologyFixedFour YearsHistoricHammeredPolitical IdeologyChildishness
Book:Defying Hitler: A Memoir
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“The key reason executives are paid so much now is that they appoint the members of the corporate board that determines their compensation and control many of the perks that board members count on. So it's not the invisible hand of the market that leads to those monumental executive incomes; it's the invisible handshake in the boardroom.”

ReasonHandsKeysMembersPaidDetermineLibertarianInvisibleIncomeCorporateBoardsExecutivesCompensationPerksHandshakeInvisible HandBoard Members
Author:Paul Krugman
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“How is property given? By restraining liberty; that is, by taking it away so far as necessary for the purpose. How is your house made yours? By debarring every one else from the liberty of entering it without your leave.”

MadePurposeHouseGivenLibertyPropertyLibertarianEnteringRestraining
Book:Benthamiana: Or Select Extracts from the Works of Jeremy Bentham. With an Outline of His Opinions on the Principal Subjects Discussed in His Works
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“The function of State coercion is to override individual coercion, and, of course, coercion exercised by any association of individuals within the State. It is by this means that it maintains liberty of expression, security of person and property, genuine freedom of contract, the rights of public meeting and association, and finally its own power to carry out common objects undefeated by the recalcitrance of individual members.”

MeanPersonsStatesCoursesIndividualCommonLibertyRightsSecurityObjectsExpressionMembersFunctionPropertyMeetingsLibertarianGenuineContractsAssociationCoercionUndefeated
Book:Liberalism
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“Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.”

IfsGivingHeartCompanyOne ThingConditionsGoodnessBenefitsStandardsPercentLaborUnionsWorkersCorruptionLibertarianCorporationsBoardsDecentOrganizeSalaryLabor UnionAmerican WorkersOrganized LaborUnionismUnion SolidarityWorking Conditions
Author:Molly Ivins
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“In philosophical terms, the opposite of rationalism is not irrationalism but empiricism, that is, a willingness to form beliefs on the basis of experience rather than from a priori deduction. Empirical evidence never yields the dogmatic certainty that accompanies logical deduction.”

FormBeliefTermEvidenceOppositesBasesPhilosophicalLibertarianCertaintyLogicalWillingnessYieldAccompanyRationalismDogmaticDeductionsEmpiricismEmpirical Evidence
Author:John Quiggin
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“The absurdity of public-choice theory is captured by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen in the following little scenario: "Can you direct me to the railway station?" asks the stranger. "Certainly," says the local, pointing in the opposite direction, towards the post office, "and would you post this letter for me on your way?" "Certainly," says the stranger, resolving to open it to see if it contains anything worth stealing.”

IfsWayLittlesChoicesAsksWinningTheoryOfficeDirectLettersOppositesFollowingStrangerLibertarianStealingLocalsPostsPrizeStationsAbsurdityEconomistPointingScenariosCapturedNobelNobel PrizeRailwayPost OfficeRailway StationPrize Winning
Book:All you can eat: greed, lust, and the new capitalism
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“Throughout the history of the Internet, most of the innovation has come as a by-product of efforts to facilitate communication within social groups of various kinds (academics, bloggers, peer-to-peer file sharing), rather than as the result of profit-oriented investment. Rather than taking the lead, the business and government sectors have adopted innovations developed in Internet communities, and realised significant productivity gains as a result.”

KindGovernmentSocialCommunityResultsEffortGroupsProductsCommunicationInternetGainsInnovationInvestmentProfitVariousLibertarianProductivitySignificantPeersAdoptedFilesRealisedFacilitateBloggersSocial GroupsFile Sharing
Author:John Quiggin
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“Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values, sought for themselves alone; yet when they are incompatible, they cannot all be attained, choices must be made, sometimes tragic losses accepted in the pursuit of some preferred ultimate end.”

HumansMadeEndsSometimesValuesChoicesJusticeLossLibertySecurityMercyUltimateLibertarianAcceptedPursuitTragicSpontaneityHuman ValuesLiberty And EqualityTragic Loss
Book:The Power of Ideas
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“In contrast, markets - oft mythologized as "natural" are the most unnatural things going. Libertarians will tell you "market laws are laws of nature", what baloney. Markets - and the other great modernist cornucopian tools - are magnificent wealth generating machines, built ad-hoc, through trial and error, constantly fine-tuned and refined, tinkered, adjusted.”

LawNaturalWealthFineBuiltToolsMachinesErrorsLibertarianTrialsAdsContrastMagnificentLaws Of NatureUnnaturalRefinedTrial And ErrorBaloney
Author:David Brin
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“The term "rational" and its variants (rationality, rationalism) are used in a lot of contexts in economic debate, both positively and negatively, but nearly always sloppily or dishonestly. A specimen I've seen on more occasions than I can count is the line (usually presented with a sense of witty originality) "if you are opposed to economic rationalism, you must be in favor of economic irrationalism"... I've come to the conclusion that the word "rational" has no meaning that cannot better be conveyed by some alternative term and that the best advice is probably to avoid it altogether.”

IfsI CanUsedTermLinesEconomicAdviceWittyLibertarianFavorsDebateRationalConclusionOccasionsAlternativesOriginalityRationalityPositivelyBest AdviceRationalismOf Context
Author:John Quiggin
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“At George Mason University I saw Hoppe present a lecture in which he claimed that Ludwig von Mises had set the intellectual foundation for not only economics, but for ethics, geometry, and optics, as well. This bizarre claim turned a serious scholar and profound thinker into a comical cult figure, a sort of Euro Kim Il Sung.”

WellsSawsFiguresSeriousIntellectualEthicsEconomicsClaimsFoundationProfoundUniversityLibertarianThinkerScholarCultBizarreLecturesGeometryEuroKimMasonsComicalOpticsKim Il SungVon Mises
Author:Tom G. Palmer
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“But Friedman seemed to share Friedrich Hayek's extreme and inaccurate view that socialism of the sort that Britain embraced under the old Labour Party was incompatible with democracy, and I don't think that there is a good theoretical or empirical basis for that view. The Road to Serfdom flunks the test of accuracy of prediction!”

ThinkingViewsPartyDemocracyShareTestsBasesExtremesLibertarianSocialismBritainLabourPredictionsTheoreticalAccuracyLabour PartyHayekRoad To SerfdomFriedrich Hayek
Author:Richard Posner
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“I can't resist telling you that when the Vienna Economics Institute celebrated its centennial, many years ago, they invited, as their keynote speaker, my father [John Kenneth Galbraith]. The leading economists of the Austrian school- including von Hayek and von Haberler - returned for the occasion. And so my father took a moment to reflect on the economic triumphs of the Austrian Republic since the war, which, he said, "would not have been possible without the contribution of these men." They nodded - briefly - until it dawned on them what he meant. They'd all left the country in the 1930s.”

MenYearsHas BeensSaidI CanWarCountryMomentsSchoolFatherLeftEconomicYears AgoEconomicsIncludingLibertarianOccasionsTriumphContributionRepublicSpeakersEconomistInvitedInstitute1930sViennaHayekKennethCentennialVon Hayek
Author:James K. Galbraith
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