tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post6003481996550425677..comments2024-03-26T04:21:43.535-05:00Comments on Free Association: Scratch a Conservative and You Find a ...Sheldon Richmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15672237234580563637noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-22204042680255015822007-05-13T17:43:00.000-05:002007-05-13T17:43:00.000-05:00Addendum: I am still a beginner in the bloggospher...Addendum: I am still a beginner in the bloggosphere, I did not intend to appear anonymously, and hope that this posting will make me accessible.I.G.T.U.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06784644145252848815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-19313193102726909632007-05-13T17:13:00.000-05:002007-05-13T17:13:00.000-05:00Maybe I am not sufficiently aware of the literatur...Maybe I am not sufficiently aware of the literature, but it seems to me that libertarians need to go beyond their pertinent criticisms of contemporary democracy and produce a positive account of democracy's role in a libertarian society.<BR/><BR/>I do not endorse Sowell's statement, but coup-type action can certainly bring freedom to a people - however, not for long, because freedom is an educational challenge of massive proportions, especially today, when too few people understand the prerequisites of liberty and wealth.<BR/><BR/>Germany has had a libertarian coup, staged by Ludwig Ehrhard, a lonely liberal (European meaning of the word), whose intervention created a libertarian's dream in postwar Germany (minimalist state after the country's war-induced collapse, entrepreneurial freedom and drive as everyone was left to their own devices). But the German people - traditionally socialist-minded - did not understand the freedom they were handed, and when they got rich only 10 or 15 years later, they called the outcome a "miracle" (something one does not understand) and went on to use their wealth to create a somewhat more sophisticated form of socialism.<BR/><BR/>Almost nobody in Germany understood then or understands now the inseparable twins - capitalism and the rule of law. That's why there cannot be a free society in Germany. <BR/><BR/>A coup is not good enough for liberty (not to mention the inherent problems of coup-type action).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com