Date: Thu, 6 Feb 1997 10:41:26 -0500 (EST) From: "Chris M. Sciabarra" <sciabrrc-AT-is2.NYU.EDU> Subject: Re: M-TH: Whether Freedom Has Any Chance On Wed, 5 Feb 1997, Justin Schwartz wrote: > > Chris thinks that ideas can bring about a libertarian society without > there being a social basis to those ideas. I guess I don't see it. A good > thing, I think, since I think that freedom depends on our getting > socialism, not libertarrianism. > > --jks > Cute... but no, it is not that I believe ideas can bring about a libertarian society; it is that I think the social basis, namely the distinction between privileged and non-privileged is as much a political as it is an economic one, and that a libertarian perspective might shed light on this social basis. And like Marx, I'd say that "objective" conditions are not enough -- the "subjective" or ideational ones are just important, and winning the battle of ideas is ultimately a function of the efficacy of these ideas. Which is why socialism is in retreat in most of the world -- at least the kind of "socialism" that dominated the Iron Curtain. - Chris ==========================================Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Ph.D Visiting Scholar New York University Department of Politics Email: sciabrrc-AT-is2.nyu.edu Website: http://pages.nyu.edu/~sciabrrc ========================================== --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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