Word: libertarianism
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...recent books are sure to capture the minds of Harvard students. The first is What It Means to Be a Libertarian by Charles A. Murray '65, infamous co-author of The Bell Curve, an inflammatory work that made him an outcast in intellectual circles. (Harvard students will most likely forgive that transgression after this newest publication.) The second is Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz, who is vice-president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank in Washington, D.C. Both books extol the virtues of a libertarian doctrine for American governance...
There are many reasons to be a libertarian. One is vanity. It is nice to think that you are responsible for all the good fortune and success you achieve. Another is naivete, for you are surely naive if you believe the immediately preceding proposition. Still another reason is selfishness: since you are fortunate and successful, you are likely to want to hoard that fortune and success. Each of these reason, and others, point to the central fact of libertarianism, which is that practically all of its adherents belong to a self-regarding and sanctimonious elite. Little surprise, then, that...
Last fall, campus publications fell over themselves to praise the Libertarian Party candidate for president Harry Brown as "a breath of fresh air." In philosophy-for-the-masses courses, On Liberty, the manifesto of libertarianism, consistently tops the list of favorite student readings. In all areas, Harvard students find it preposterous to adhere to anything other than their own unfettered will. Imagine, the audacity of such a notion that the community should subject us to any laws surpassing the "no-harm principle...
Regardless of all of these shortcomings, however, there is another, purely practical reason to dismiss libertarianism--the reason why the American people dismiss it. Contemplate for a few moments what it would be like to live in a truly libertarian society (a lovely and noxious oxymoron). Even the most self-congratulatory Harvard student would find it unrewarding and destructive. I hope...
Stewart, while calling herself a libertarian, said she saw the student activities fee as a voluntary tax. As such, the council should not have second thoughts about spending money for the students' benefit...