Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 13:29:57 -0500 (EST) From: "Chris M. Sciabarra" <sciabrrc-AT-is2.NYU.EDU> Subject: Re: M-TH: Re: Trust/state On Fri, 24 Jan 1997, Doug Henwood wrote: > Chris Sciabarra's recent postings on the state make me wonder about > another, related question: the anti-democratic aspects of libertarian > thought. Libertarians, of course, valorize individual freedom above all > (and I'll leave aside the freedom from/to controversy for simplicity's > sake). So if the majority of a society decides to do something - > redistributionist economic policy or a public investment program to take > two relevant examples - this would presumably violate the liberties of the > individual, and be therefore verboten in the libertarian utopia. This > becomes a formula for minority rule, and we all know which minority, the > rich. Libertarians profess to hate institutions of concentrated power, but > they never seem to turn their critical attentions onto money, which, as > Negri pungently put it, has one face, that of the boss. > The only problem is this: it is in the nature of state action that redistribution MAY benefit a majority of people in any single instance, but it is NOT designed to benefit a majority. In the United States, redistribution is usually TO the wealthy via many schemes which ultimately benefit them. This goes beyond mere corporate welfare; laws are simply a mess of contradictions and the whole legislative process enshrines the warfare between groups that seek benefits at each other's expense. Money is important to concentrations of power, but the concentrations can only survive because of political mechanisms that create stratification and privilege. - Chris =================================================Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Ph.D Visiting Scholar, NYU Department of Politics INTERNET: sciabrrc-AT-is2.nyu.edu http://pages.nyu.edu/~sciabrrc ================================================= --- from list marxism-thaxis-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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