[quote=davelj]Libertarianism is a fraud just as communism is a fraud. To think that one extreme system (albeit more “logically consistent” in the case of libertarianism) is the best system for a diverse group of humans is the height of silliness.

I sympathize with the libertarians. (And I would consider myself a small-l libertarian – which is that I have libertarian leanings.) Libertarianism looks good on paper in a lot of ways, and brings a lot of good ideas to the table. But… to not acknowledge (1) market failures, and (2) the civil and social unrest that would result from an even greater concentration of wealth and power than we have now is to ignore some rather large problems with the philosophy as a whole.

Markets are GENERALLY better at allocating resources than any government, with all that implies. But, that’s not always the case. The hard core libertarians have a hard time acknowledging this. Which brings us to Emerson, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”[/quote]

I agree that Libertarianism and communism look good on paper but in reality, not so.