Libertarianism is not an ideology fit for Humans

Thing is about that ideology.

You have to work out that you’re actually a human to understand how it doesn’t really work - for humans.

It was OK for the one-dimensional ruler-drawn characters of Ayn Rand, when I read and was impressed with Ayn Rand. After the laws of thermodynamics became part of my life it became obvious that the world she created violated those laws egregiously to make the whole thing work.

I had to re-examine what it meant.

Human nature evolved as it did because one-human-alone is not a survival unit for humans. We live in groups and tribes and when we were apes “troops”. We simply don’t survive well as individuals, and all of our more important advantages have to do with our ability to communicate and work together as groups. All of our best traits have to do with sharing and helping each other out. All of our greatest successes come from having good social rules instilled in us to keep the societies we are in cohesive and working together.

Which is why we have to have governments and religions and social norms to guide us.

The communications we need to do it are the reason we need to be honest with others, our civilizations are constructed on a foundation of honesty. It is not just a notion that former Boy Scouts adhere to, to their disadvantage, in an otherwise honesty challenged society.

Real libertarianism requires a degree of knowledge that only a handful of people are capable of having and standards of behaviour and honesty that would daunt a deity.

Worse - when we humans fall short of that standard, and we always do - the result is greater inequality and social suffering than anything else - even slavery - can create.

It was simply never as good an idea as it seemed to be when I was young and infallible.