Sunday, March 9, 2008

A shocking philosophical discovery

A libertarian discovers in the wisdom of his old age that there's actually a subtle downside to libertarianism:
Many of us have had a change of heart about government action when we encounter unexpected and otherwise insurmountable challenges. Consider the value that my friend, Dennis Sanders, found in Minnesota’s Medicaid program when he needed its assistance back in 1996. Or my experience, when I realized that had it not been for government action, our only child, who suffers from a severe case of Tourette Syndrome, might never have had access to the medications that help him lead a reasonably normal, productive life.

These cases and others suggest that “pure” libertarian conservatives are comprised of those who have not yet hit the brick wall of non-solutions; have not yet needed (nor had an opportunity to appreciate) just how valuable government “interference” can sometimes be.

This strikes me as just silly. It's as if a life-long vegetarian were to realize that a crucial trade off of vegetarianism is that you must forgo the enjoyment of meat.

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