Happy Friday everyone!

Welcome to the finale of the response to the cartoon 24 types of libertarians. If you’re just joining our program, TOL posted this coming last Friday and it was a bit controversial. Even though the comic could be taken to be a good-natured poke a libertarians (and some crazy ones), it seems like the panels presented a great opportunity to correct misconceptions. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 all tackled six panels. We now bring you the last set.

5×3 — Pro-life libertarians are hypocritical

I have touched on this issue before, and I will do so again in the future. However, this panel does not do a good job in attempting to understand the pro-life position. If you accept that a fetus is a life guaranteed rights, then it follows 100% that the government has the just authority to intervene when that life is threatened.

Where, when, and under what circumstances it is appropriate for the government to intervene is all a part of the mess of abortion politics. But it is important to note that pro-life libertarians are not hypocritical in the slightest. They say that the government must intervene when someone’s rights are violated. For some, that applies to the fetus too.

5×4 – Some libertarian policies are tempting but not worth the cost

There has been a bit of a debate about what this panel really means. My interpretation of it is to say that the cartoonist does find some tenants of libertarianism very appealing. Like ending the drug war, police abuse, and war. Naturally, these are common causes we have with progressives.

However, the ‘briefly’ part is the key here. Libertarians take a more hard-line stance on these issues and so liberals might be open to aligning with them. However, I think the point is to say that, given all the other kinds of libertarians, these few issues are not worth the “high cost” of what they see as the ends of free markets: corporate corruption, worker alienation and abuse, etc.

6×1 – Libertarians are ignorant of their white privilege

I’ve written on this issue before. But it seems by the panel here that the cartoonist did not really do good research on the issue itself, or the variety of opinions that came down around it.

It’s unfair and wrong to attribute a policy stance to a race. Libertarians of all races came down on different sides of this issue and indeed on many race issues. The claim wasn’t that it wasn’t racist, but rather a violation of a more fundamental rights: property. Because libertarians think that property rights are the foundation upon which other rights are built, it is a result of principle and reason that they are suspicious of Title VII. Not always because of their race.

6×2 — Libertarians are Rand Worshippers

This is another one I chuckled at. There are indeed some libertarians who think that Rand created the universe. Many objectivists are funny in their fervor, candor, and thought that IF ONLY everyone read Rand, the world would be a better place. Clearly, though, they are not all this way.

I think it is fair to say that Rand has had a considerable impact on the number of people who come to libertarianism. So for someone who wants the world to be libertarian, Atlas Shrugged is a great place to start. But again, this caricature is only that.

6×3 — Libertarians don’t know their own limits

Oh, this is just silly. No person, especially a libertarian, thinks that they could possibly test all their products for everything that could go wrong with them. Caveat emptor (“let the buyer beware”) is a tenant of libertarian philosophy, but more importantly is the idea that private institutions can perform crucial societal functions better than government. An individual can’t test for botulism, but a private company could offer the same service to companies who want an approval that their products are clean.  Buyer beware would apply in that individuals can check on sanitation labels and see which ones are best.  To think that any libertarian would say that individuals should be responsible for testing their own food is just ludicrous.

6×4 — Libertarias are stoners

See, this one made me laugh, too. There ARE certain populations of libertarians that are one-issue libertarians, and one of the issues that libertarians focus on is marijuana legalization. I think it’s funny to portray them this way, because, well, it is.

If I had to respond all serious-like, I would say that it doesn’t, and shouldn’t matter whether or not a person smokes pot when you determine the legitimacy of a person’s politics. A person could be completely baked, I am told, and still think and function properly, and reason libertarian-ly!

Some Brief Conclusions

Like I said, I really did think this comic was funny and cute at first. I think the main operative that makes it not so is the title: “THE 24 types of libertarians.” The comic implies that these are the bounds of libertarianism.

I think we all understand that cartoons are inherently simplified and cheeky, but it’s important to correct the simplifications that are just false. You can do this and maintain your sense of humor.

So what about you? What straw man do you think your opinions would be wrested into? How do you think you can work to counter misconceptions of your brand of libertarianism?

V.A. Luttrell